TPNCQ CHAPTER 51
she never puts any effort into me
Su Limo watched as the Empress Fuca and Xian guifei played their parts, understanding that they were about to release Ling pin. After all, Jia fei had been too arrogant and overbearing for the past month.
"The Empress Dowager has ordered her to pray and recite
sutras for thirty days. Now that the time has passed and my health has greatly
improved, I believe her prayers and recitations have contributed to it. Inform Ling
pin to return to her residence and attend the Dragon Boat
Festival." Empress Fuca paused, then looked at the other concubines and
asked, "Does anyone have any objections?"
"The Empress has made a wise decision, this concubine
has no objections." Shu pin replied first, and the other concubines
also stood up to reply.
Jia fei could only say in agreement, "This
concubine has no objections."
"Very well, since everyone agrees, Xian guifei,
please go ahead and arrange it." Empress Fuca nodded to Xian guifei.
After sitting and chatting for a while in Empress Fuca's palace, she went to the Cining Palace to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager and chatted for a while before leaving.
*
In the evening, Su Limo personally cooked a bowl of green
bean and lily soup, cooled it and added some honey, and also made two fresh and
savory snacks, sesame-filled pastries and fried oyster mushroom strips, and
took them to the Prince's Residence.
She had received news in the afternoon that during the
martial arts practice, the Emperor had praised Yongzhang's progress in archery
and had personally ordered Li Yu to take him to the Imperial Stable to
select a top-quality yellow colt. Yongzhang must be very happy to have his wish
fulfilled.
When Su Limo stepped into the small courtyard, the sixth
prince, Yongrong, was sitting on a stone bench, nodding his head as he recited
the Three Character Classic. Although he stumbled a bit, he could recite most
of it accurately. Su Limo stood by and listened before going in.
"E'niang is here," Yongrong almost jumped up, ran to Su Limo, and held her hand, calling out affectionately.
"Yongrong is so good, Mother heard that you can already
recite the entire Three Character Classic," Su Limo praised, sitting on
the stone bench. It had only been three months.
"If I didn't recite it, my ears would have calluses by now. E'niang, you don't know this, teacher Wang , besides teaching Yongrong to recognize characters, makes Yongrong recite the Three Character Classic with him every day, day and night. It's so boring," Yongrong pouted and stood close to Su Limo, acting coquettishly. "Or next time E'niang comes, bring Fourth Sister to play with me. Seventh Brother is already one year old, and the nannies never carry him out to play in the courtyard, they always stay in the room. Even if Yongrong wants to play with him, he can't. And there are so many people around him every day. Eighth Brother is only a few months old and can't even speak, and he just bubbles when you ask him anything. And the nanny who takes care of Eighth Brother doesn't allow me to stay for long, she's so annoying."
"Yongrong misses his sister." Su Limo smiled and
brought out a bowl of green bean and lily soup from the food box.
“I want to teach Fourth Sister to recite the Three Character Classic myself,” Yongrong giggled, acting older than his years.
“When you start reading the Mencius, E'niang will bring Jingshun to you,” Su Limo handed a spoon to Yongrong.
“No, no, Fifth Brother was a few years older than me when he
started learning the Mencius. I don’t know when I’ll start learning the
Mencius. No, I want to see Fourth Sister next time,” Yongrong huffed and turned
his head away.
“Alright, next time, E'niang will bring your sister to play
with you,” Su Limo smiled and relented. Mentioning the Mencius was just to
tease him.
“Really? E'niang is the most beautiful and kind e'niang!”
Yongrong exclaimed happily.
“But there’s one thing E'niang wants to tell you. Your
seventh brother, Yongcong, is weak, so the nannies take extra care of him. You
must not disturb him in the main hall. Can you promise E'niang? When he grows
up, you’ll have plenty of time to play together, to ride horses and shoot
arrows, but not now.” Su Limo gently reminded him. Seventh Brother’s lifespan
was only a few months, and during these few months, it would be best if
Yongrong didn’t appear in the main hall, otherwise, in case something
unexpected happened.
“Oh, I see. Being sick is the worst, you have to take bitter
medicine, and Yongrong can’t even swallow it, let alone Seventh Brother.”
Yongrong nodded, suddenly realizing.
“And your eighth brother, Yongxuan, is only ten months old
now, he’s still a baby in swaddling clothes, and what he needs most every day
is sleep. You can’t disturb him in the side hall either, understand? When he
grows up to be three years old and is strong and healthy, then you can teach
him to read the Three Character Classic. But not now, can you promise E'niang?
If you can promise E'niang, E'niang will bring you your favorite osmanthus cake
next time.” Su Limo stroked Yongrong’s little head. This mischievous boy could
never sit still, he loved to play, and since he was the youngest before, with
only older brothers, now that he had two younger brothers, he naturally wanted
to take on the role of the older brother, but Su Limo was not at ease with
Yongrong going to play with Seventh and Eighth Brothers.
“Sleep is really important. If Yongrong is woken up in the
middle of the night, I’ll have a bad temper, so I won’t disturb Eighth Brother
anymore.” Yongrong nodded, thought for a moment, and whispered into Su Limo’s
ear, “E'niang, don’t tell Father that I sometimes have a bad temper and even cry
to the nanny.”
Hearing this, Su Limo almost laughed out loud, she held back
and stroked Yongrong’s little head, “Don’t worry, Mother won’t tell your
Father.”
Hearing his mother say this, Yongrong was relieved and sat
back down to drink the green bean and lily soup.
Soon, Third Brother Yongzhang returned, washed his hands and
sat down, smiling and saying, “Mother, the Father Emperor also let me choose a pony
today. I chose a little yellow horse with a high mane, it’s so majestic. And
I’ve asked the master to teach me how to ride starting tomorrow.”
“Very good, when learning to ride, listen to your master
carefully and don’t be careless or arrogant. Although the horses in the
imperial stable are well-trained, you’re just starting to learn and haven’t
mastered the art of horsemanship yet, so listen and watch carefully.” Su Limo
told Yongzhang.
“Understood. I will definitely study hard under my master and listen and watch carefully.” Yongzhang nodded.
Su Limo, seeing that Yongzhang had taken it to heart,
continued, “E'niang had new clothes made for you a few days ago. Shuangjiang has
already taken them to your nanny. You can wear them tomorrow when you go horse
riding. They are comfortable, breathable, durable, yet soft, perfect for
horseback riding.”
“Fourth Brother is also making progress. Father saw that he
was very skilled at riding and asked the master to start teaching him archery
tomorrow. Today Father also praised me, saying that my archery skills have
improved, and Father even patted me on the shoulder and encouraged me to keep
up the good work.” Yongzhang said excitedly. It felt so good to be recognized.
“You are all good sons of the Emperor. Seeing your progress,
of course, Father will praise you.” Su Limo said softly, then lowered her voice
and instructed Yongzhang, “Your seventh brother is weak, and your eighth
brother is still in swaddling clothes and needs to be taken care of carefully.
Yongrong is lively and active and young, you should keep a close eye on
Yongrong, don’t let him run around causing trouble, understand?”
Yongzhang thought for a moment and understood, “E'niang,
don’t worry, I will definitely take care of Yongrong.” There are many nannies
guarding the main hall and the eighth brother, and they don’t easily let people
in. Seventh brother Yongcong is weak and often visited by the imperial
physician, Yongzhang knew all this.
“E'niang made two new snacks today, you try them.” Su Limo
said as she brought out two plates of snacks.
As usual, Yongzhang and Yongrong took napkins and left some
for Yongqi and Yongcheng before starting to eat.
Seeing that it was almost time, Su Limo took Shuangjiang and
walked out. As soon as she reached the door of the small courtyard, she saw Yu fei
coming with her palace maids. Seeing her, she came forward to greet her.
“This concubine greets Chun guifei niangniang, may the guifei niangniang be blessed with eternal peace.” Yu fei said, being respectful
and obedient.
Su Limo stepped forward to help her up and said softly, “My
sister is here to see Fifth Prince.”
“This concubine often hears Yongqi talk about how well Chun guifei niangniang treats him and takes care of him. This concubine would like to thank Chun guifei niangniang here.” Yu fei said sincerely. Children cannot lie, and moreover, she knew her own son. If it weren’t truly good for him, Yongqi wouldn’t mention it to her so often.
“Respect your own elders and extend that respect to the elders of others. Care for your own young and extend that care to the young of others. These two phrases are excellent. Yongqi is so intelligent and
sensible, it is also because of Sister Yu’s good teaching. Yongqi is always
close to Yongzhang and Yongrong, they are of similar age, and it’s good for
them to play together. I don’t have anything else, I’m just good at making some
pastries. It makes me happy to see them brothers happy eating them.” Su Limo
nodded with a smile.
“Thank you again, Chun guifei niangniang. Then this concubine will go in.” After saying that, Yu fei respectfully stepped back and made way, then walked inside.
Su Limo watched Yu fei’s figure disappear and turned
back to Jingren Palace.
Yu fei, came from Qiandi Palace, had neither
much favor nor a powerful family background. She was granted the title of
Fei for giving birth to Fifth Prince Yongqi. She had always been low-key
and cautious, honest and simple, and her whole person seemed dull and clumsy,
not good at speaking.
But Su Limo knew that if she were truly as dull and inarticulate as she seemed, how could she have survived the palace intrigues and successfully given birth to the Fifth Prince, and raised him so well? And she was one of the longest-lived concubines in the palace, living to be seventy-eight years old. Another living textbook.
This palace was truly a den of tigers and dragons, with no
one to be underestimated.
It was just that everyone had different goals.
Some sought the Emperor's favor, some sought to climb the ranks step by step, some sought to survive, some sought power, some suppressed their own desires for the sake of their children, and there were others out there somewhere, pursuing goals unknown.
....
*
On the fifth day of the fifth month, the Dragon Boat
Festival, it was a bustling day. The Qianlong Emperor was in high spirits and
had the imperial guards form two teams to race dragon boats. The prize was two
baskets of specially made zongzi from the imperial kitchen and two hundred
taels of silver.
The Emperor's reward was a special honor. The young men gave
it their all, with thunderous drums and loud cheers.
"Hey, ha, hey, ha, hey, ha."
"One, two, one,
two, one, two."
Neither team was willing to be outdone.
Su Limo had never seen such a fierce competition before and
was completely captivated. These imperial guards were all elite soldiers with
strong physiques. Not to mention, a few of them were quite handsome. In sports,
besides the competitive spirit, the most important thing was the walking
hormones.
Su Limo was so engrossed in the spectacle that she forgot
about the snacks and fruits on the table, her eyes fixed on the dragon boat
teams.
Ling pin, having been granted a pardon by the
Empress, was able to leave the Fahua Palace to participate in the dragon boat
festival and had naturally dressed up carefully.
The Qianlong Emperor, remembering her hard work in praying
for Empress Fucha, had her stand beside him. Ling pin was also quite
tactful, and from time to time she personally poured wine for Empress Fucha and
the Qianlong Emperor, and chatted with them pleasantly.
Sitting below, Jia fei, her mind not at all on the
loud cheers, watched Ling pin's obsequious manner with irritation.
"I really don't know how she can serve people so lowly. A person like that
can become the master of a palace and receive the Emperor's favor. It's a
disgrace to the royal family."
Lamei thought this was inappropriate. Fortunately, the surroundings were noisy and it didn't matter. It was a servant's duty to attend to the emperor and empress, but it was rare to see someone as brazen as Ling pin. 'A palace maid, how noble can she be? Even if she's the master of a palace, she can't shake off this servile nature.'
"The Empress Dowager hasn't released her, but the
Empress couldn't sit still. Isn't she just afraid that I will one day
overshadow her, so she release Ling pin, this pawn, to compete with me for
the Emperor's favor? Don't think I can't see through her intentions." Jia fei
scanned the people present and found them all detestable, her gaze finally
settling on Empress Fucha.
How irritating. To catch the thief, one must catch the king.
These people dared to be arrogant and overbearing in front of her, all because
they had the Empress to back them up.
If one day the Empress didn't have her back...
*
Around noon, the dragon boat race finally ended. The Qianlong Emperor had wine poured and distributed the rewards, chatted for a while, and then dismissed everyone.
Su Limo was already hungry. Although she had eaten some
snacks to fill her stomach, she had left early and it was now lunchtime.
Hearing the dismissal, she took Shuangjiang and Dong Xue and returned to Jingren
Palace.
She had ordered the servants to soak glutinous rice the day before and had personally wrapped zongzi with various
fillings the night before. She had told Bailu to cook them when she left this
morning, and now they were just cool enough to eat.
There were four types of fillings: red bean paste, jujube
paste, salted egg yolk, and fresh meat. Su Limo had Shuangjiang take a few food boxes
and put eight zongzi in each box, two of each flavor, and asked Shuangjiang to take
them to the Empress Dowager, Empress Fucha, and Xian guifei.
After taking care of that, she kept twelve for herself and
had Dong Xue distribute the rest to the palace servants, ensuring that
everyone had at least one zongzi.
When the Qianlong Emperor arrived at Jingren Palace, he saw
this scene: in the Jingren Palace, everyone was holding a zongzi and chatting
in groups, which was quite disorderly.
Seeing the Emperor coming, everyone knelt down and kowtowed.
Su Limo was sitting under the corridor chatting with Dong Xue, saying that the red bean paste would be even better if there were more.
Hearing the noise, she quickly put down the zongzi in her hand and stood up to
greet him, "Your Majesty, ten thousand blessings. I made these zongzi
myself, and for a moment everyone was so happy eating them, please don't be
angry."
The Qianlong Emperor saw that everyone, including the palace maids and eunuchs, had one zongzi, except for him.
He heard that she had sent zongzi to Cining Palace, Changchun Palace, and Yikun Palace, one portion for each palace, except for Yangxin Palace.
"Get up," the Qianlong Emperor said as he entered the hall and sat on the brocade couch.
*
Su Limo quickly had Winter Snow bring a new plate and personally selected four different flavors of zongzi, placing them on the plate. She carried it in and placed it on the desk, smiling and saying, "These are zongzi I made myself. There are jujube paste, red bean paste, salted egg yolk, and fresh meat. Your Majesty, which one would you like to try?"
Su Limo watched the Emperor's expressionless face, and when
he didn't say anything, she peeled one open and placed it on a small plate,
handing a fork to the Emperor and saying softly and gently, "This is the
red bean paste one. Your Majesty, please try it."
The Emperor responded with a hum and took the fork and began
to eat.
Su Limo went outside and told Dong Xue to make tea, then went back and unwrapped another zongzi and
placed it on the plate. Seeing the Emperor eating happily, it seemed he had no
intention of stopping.
It seemed this fellow really liked coming to her palace to eat and drink for free.
Although her palace's food couldn't compare to that of the
Yangxin Palace and Changchun Palace, she had a lot of free time and loved to
experiment, especially with desserts. She was quite happy that he liked these
treats, at least there was one thing they could share. Otherwise, she couldn't
play musical instruments or chess, and playing mahjong would be considered
inappropriate in the Emperor's eyes. At least they could eat and drink
together.
To capture a man's heart, first capture his stomach.
"Is there any fish soup?" The Emperor put down his
fork after eating two zongzi and asked.
"..." Su Limo gasped, paused for a moment, and
replied softly, "I didn't know Your Majesty was coming for a meal, so I
didn't prepare it in advance. I'll have someone go to the imperial kitchen to
ask for some fish soup."
"No need. Didn't you teach Yongrong that if he learned
to recognize characters, he could learn to make osmanthus cake and soup?"
The Emperor asked indifferently.
"..." Su Limo wished she could give Yongrong's
teacher a good beating. For this to reach the Emperor's ears, Yongrong must
have said it in front of his teacher, and the teacher had told the Emperor.
"Yongrong is only three years old, and I was afraid he
would get restless and lose interest in studying, so I said that to him. Your
Majesty knows, Yongrong likes to eat osmanthus cake." Su Limo said more
respectfully.
"A doting mother spoils her child. You just spoil
Yongrong." The Emperor said coldly.
"Yesterday, Your Majesty heard Yongrong recite the
Three Character Classic so well, didn't you also reward him with a plate of
osmanthus cake?" Su Limo said boldly. Hee-hee, nothing in the Prince's
Residence could escape her notice. Was the clinking of silver
coins she give as rewards for the nannies and maidservants just for fun? Hee-hee-hee.
"..." Qianlong was speechless.
Damn, she was quite well-informed.
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty. Although I spoil them, I can still distinguish between right and wrong," Su Limo said solemnly.
"Sharp-tongued," the Qianlong Emperor said as he
got up and left Jingren Palace.
Seeing the bright yellow figure walking away, Su Limo waved
to Dong Xue to bring the zongzi over. She hadn't eaten her fill yet.
In the afternoon, Su Limo gave Dong Xue a tael of silver
to give to the nanny in the imperial kitchen, asking for two fresh and plump
fish and the old tofu they had made that day.
Su Limo took off her court dress, put on a comfortable
outfit, and went to the small kitchen to cook the fish soup herself.
She heated oil in a pot and added some ginger slices. She
placed the fish, which had been salted on both sides, on the ginger slices and
pan-fried it. When one side was cooked, she carefully flipped it to fry the
other side, added some cooking wine, and then added an appropriate amount of
hot water to cook.
After twenty minutes, the milky white and fragrant fish and
tofu soup was ready. She poured it into a soup bowl and sprinkled some green
onions for color. Su Limo tasted it with a small spoon and found it quite good,
so she put it in a food box and covered it, asking Dong Xue to send it to
the Yangxin Palace.
Since her partner had mentioned fish soup, she naturally
had to send a bowl over.
As for why she didn't send it herself... Firstly, there was no need. Her partner wanted the fish soup, not her.
Secondly, cooking left a strong smell on her body, and if she went to the Emperor like that, it would be disrespectful and against the rules... This guy was always very particular about rules, and she didn't want to get scolded for sending a bowl of fish soup.... hmmm.
After finishing her task, Su Limo asked Bailu to fetch water
for her to bathe and wash her hair.
After washing up, Su Limo sat in the courtyard drinking milk
tea while waiting for her hair to dry. The faint scent of the gardenia flower
water she used to comb her hair was quite pleasant.
*
Li Yu was waiting on the side, and when he saw the Qianlong
Emperor finish reviewing the documents, he stepped forward and said, "Your
Majesty, Chun guifei niangniang just sent over some fish soup, saying that she
cooked it herself for Your Majesty."
Upon hearing this, the corners of the Qianlong Emperor's
lips twitched slightly. "Bring it over and let me try it."
"Yes," Li Yu replied cheerfully, gesturing to the young eunuch beside him to bring it over. He personally served a bowl to the Qianlong Emperor, "Chun guifei niangniang has been much more enthusiastic about cooking lately. I heard that she specially invited a nanny from the imperial kitchen to teach her how to make pastries. It's been about two months now."
Li Yu saw that the Qianlong Emperor had finished a bowl and
very thoughtfully took the small bowl and served another half bowl.
"Sometimes I really don't know what's going on in her
mind. She doesn't use her heart where she should, but instead puts so much
effort into these things to eat and drink." The Qianlong Emperor shook his
head. In a moment, he finished the second bowl of fish soup and handed the bowl
to Li Yu.
Li Yu was startled, quickly took the bowl and served another half bowl, carefully accompanying him with a smile, "Chun guifei niangniang certainly has her merits, otherwise Your Majesty wouldn't have drunk three bowls of fish soup in a row."
Although this was a joking remark, Li Yu had been serving
the Qianlong Emperor for a long time and naturally knew what to say and when.
At this moment, the Emperor was in a good mood, and he was willing to chat with
him with such light-hearted remarks.
"Among all the women in the harem, there are those who are truly uninteresting, those who pretend to be stupid, those who are competitive, and those who are dull and foolish. But Chun guifei, the more I look at her, the less I understand. You say she's not competitive, yet she has the protection of the Empress Dowager, and the Empress and Xian guifei are also willing to speak well of her. But if you say she is competitive, it seems that she never puts any effort into me." The Qianlong Emperor looked at the crucian carp in the soup bowl and mused.
"If everyone was fighting tooth and nail for Your
Majesty's favor, the palace would have been filled with blood and turmoil long
ago," Li Yu accompanied him with a smile.
Hearing this, the Qianlong Emperor laughed and put down his
soup spoon, wiping his hands with a handkerchief. "You're too
sharp-tongued, but you're right on the mark."
"The remaining fish soup is a reward for you," the
Qianlong Emperor said, looking at the soup in the bowl again.
"Your servant thanks Your Majesty for his grace,"
Li Yu replied with a smile.
T/N: Merry Christmas to all my dear readers. Here is a Christmas update.