Chapter 38 – All Living Beings

Music began to play inside the hall—

Everyone started their meal.

Yu Ying had already been eyeing the shrimp balls nestled inside the “Phoenix Spreads Its Wings” dish in front of her for a long time. The moment she heard they could start eating, she couldn’t wait to pick one up with her chopsticks and stuff it into her mouth.

Beside her, Virtuous Lady Fang seemed not to have expected her to be so unrestrained and stared at her blankly.

Seeing this, Qingtao tugged at her mistress’s sleeve and leaned over to whisper, “My lady, be mindful—people are watching!”

Yu Ying froze.

Oh no—she’d been so happy eating that she’d forgotten this was basically a company dinner.

She quickly set down her chopsticks and, thinking she was being very subtle, glanced around. She saw that aside from Virtuous Lady Fang next to her and Consort An not far away, everyone else was busy with their own affairs. Who would be paying attention to her in this little corner?

When she saw Consort An frowning at her disapprovingly, Yu Ying hurriedly gave her a placating smile, promising she would be more careful.

And this whole exchange happened to fall into the eyes of someone observant.

Kangxi’s gaze carried a hint of amusement. The Grand Empress Dowager beside him followed his line of sight and saw a bright, lovely young concubine. That must be the little noble lady who had been monopolizing her grandson’s favor lately.

She’d heard that Kangxi had repeatedly broken precedent for her—even keeping her overnight in the Qianqing Palace.

Thinking of this, Xiaozhuang’s eyes inevitably turned a little scrutinizing. She wanted to see for herself—what was so special about this girl? What made her so worthy of her grandson’s affection?

Looking at her delicate, tender face, a trace of dislike flickered through Xiaozhuang’s eyes. Seeing a face like that, she couldn’t help remembering Hailanzhu and Consort Dong’e in the past—both equally frail, both seeming as though they could only survive by clinging to a man’s favor.

“What are you looking at, Aunt Grandmother?” The Empress Dowager, noticing that the Grand Empress Dowager’s gaze had not shifted, set down her chopsticks and asked curiously.

She followed her gaze and saw it was fixed on a young concubine. She understood immediately.

She then smiled and said, “So you’ve taken a liking to that pretty little girl.”

Xiaozhuang came back to herself, her expression hard to read as she looked at Qiqige beside her.

Had she been overthinking it? Otherwise, why was it that Qiqige—who had also lived through Consort Dong’e’s time—didn’t seem to notice this girl was the same type?

Xiaozhuang smiled faintly and shook her head, withdrawing her gaze.

Seeing that nothing was wrong, the Empress Dowager happily resumed eating.

From start to finish, Yu Ying had no idea that just because of her face, she had already made her highest superior dislike her.

Only after she was full and had her thirst quenched did Yu Ying finally have the leisure to look around at the other people in the hall.

Not to mention the display of fatherly kindness and filial piety between Kangxi and the Crown Prince—just the Grand Empress Dowager seated by Kangxi’s side already felt legendary to Yu Ying. Now she was finally seeing her in person, but she felt the real woman looked a bit different from the bold, resolute figure in history books. She merely appeared to be a kindly old lady—except for that sharp gleam in her eyes, which warned one not to mistake her for some ordinary grandmother.

Seeing that she was about to meet the Grand Empress Dowager’s gaze, Yu Ying hurriedly shifted her eyes guiltily and let them fall instead on Imperial Noble Consort Tongjia.

For once, Tongjia didn’t have that proud, aloof look on her face. She even had something of a gentle, motherly air about her.

That was surely thanks to the little child sitting next to her.

That must be the future Emperor Yongzheng—currently the Fourth Prince, Yin Zhen!

Yu Ying’s eyes lit up with surprise, and she stared unblinkingly at the little boy.

Perhaps her gaze was too intense, because Yin Zhen sensed it and looked up to meet her eyes. Not feeling any malice, he gave Yu Ying a sweet smile.

Yu Ying was instantly struck by that well-behaved little smile.

Human children were just too adorable!

Was this really the cold-faced Fourth Prince of the future?

Yin Zhen only felt that his father’s concubines were all rather odd—some looked at him and cried, while others looked at him and grinned foolishly. His own mother was still the best!

Thinking this, Yin Zhen scooped up a spoonful of food and put it into Tongjia’s bowl. “Mother, eat.”

Tongjia patted his head and praised him. “Mother’s Yin Zhen is so good.”

Yu Ying couldn’t help feeling moved seeing how close the Imperial Noble Consort and the Fourth Prince were. But then she remembered—in just two years, the Imperial Noble Consort would no longer be alive. The Fourth Prince would have to return to his birth mother, Consort De.

Thinking of this, Yu Ying looked at Consort De with a touch of pity in her eyes.

She also recalled that, historically, Consort De didn’t seem to treat the Fourth Prince very well.

Her gaze shifted again, falling on Consort De.

Yu Ying had seen Consort De a few times. She was always so gentle and serene, showing not the slightest sign of favoritism toward her youngest son in the future.

At present, Consort De’s side was quite lively—on either side of her, palace maids were each holding a swaddled infant. Yu Ying thought for a moment and guessed that must be the Seventh Princess and the adopted Thirteenth Prince.

She didn’t know much about her youngest daughter—only that she had died young. But she did know more about the second daughter, Princess Wenxian, who had been raised by the Empress Dowager.

Speaking of which, wasn’t there also the Fifth Prince, son of Consort Yi, who was raised by the Empress Dowager?

Ah, look!

Wasn’t that Consort Yi herself, staring intently at the young boy next to the Empress Dowager?

Consort Yi had two other children with her—both even younger. Yu Ying’s eyes fell on the older of the two.

That must be the Ninth Prince—future supporter of the Eighth Prince.

At this moment, Yin Tang was only about two years old and very hungry for his mother’s affection. Seeing that his mother’s attention wasn’t on him, he started fussing.

He tugged at Consort Yi’s sleeve and climbed right up into her lap, even reaching out his little hands to forcibly turn her face toward him.

Yu Ying was thoroughly amused watching this. Consort Yi seemed helpless with her son’s domineering ways, and she had no choice but to look back at him and coo a few comforting words. Only when Yu Ying saw the Ninth Prince finally break into a wide grin—showing all his little teeth—did she feel satisfied enough to look away.

This palace banquet had been worth attending after all. No wonder it was the liveliest event of the year in the Inner Palace.

At such a time, even the most arrogant and domineering concubines wouldn’t dare stir up trouble—here’s looking at you, Consort Xi.

And what was Consort Xi doing?

She was staring fixedly at the front, eyes unblinking—but no one could say whether she was staring at Kangxi or the Crown Prince sitting beside him.

Over there, the Niohuru Noble Consort was completely tied up dealing with her plump, boisterous son and couldn’t spare a hand to eat. In contrast, Consort Hui beside her was calmly enjoying her meal.

Consort Hui also had a little child next to her. Unlike the domineering Ninth Prince or the lively Tenth Prince beside the Niohuru Consort, this boy was quiet and easy to care for, eating whatever was offered—clearly a child who was easy to raise.

This was the Eighth Prince, Yin Si, who was fostered by Consort Hui.

Yu Ying hadn’t expected the Eighth Prince to look like such a little pitiful thing. But thinking about it, it made sense—his birth mother was low in rank, and his foster mother already had older sons. It was normal that he wasn’t valued.

At another table, the First Prince, Yin Ti, had brought his wife to attend the banquet. The First Princess Consort looked young but carried herself with poise and propriety.

It was Yin Ti who was glaring at the Crown Prince with clenched teeth. It took the Princess Consort patting him on the arm before he restrained himself a little—though he then bit savagely into the meat in his bowl, as if he were taking out his anger on it.

Time passed quickly, and soon the palace banquet was drawing to a close.

A group of eunuchs came to clear away the dishes from each table.

Next came the performances.

…

When the performances ended and a few auspicious words were spoken, the banquet was finally, officially over.

The Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager left first. Then Kangxi, with the Crown Prince, also departed.

As they passed Yu Ying, Kangxi seemed to pause slightly, as if he wanted to say something but thought better of it.

Yu Ying didn’t care whether he had something to say to her or not. She’d drunk quite a bit of wine and was feeling drowsy.

Once those four had left, the remaining concubines finally began to leave in twos and threes, returning to their own palaces.

Yu Ying still traveled back with Consort An.

Night had fallen completely. The palace paths were lit with rows of lanterns, making the way home bright and easy to walk.

Snow had started falling again.

By the time she woke up the next morning, it was likely many tree branches would be bent low under the weight.

And so, the twenty-fifth year of Kangxi’s reign quietly passed away in the swirling snow.