Chapter 37 – New Year’s Eve

Perhaps because there was something weighing on his mind, for the first time, Kangxi felt that time passed too slowly. No matter how many memorials he read, they just wouldn’t be finished. And then this person and that person came to pay respects—what was the point of sending all these pointless memorials? Kangxi grew increasingly impatient.

Clearly, he had never experienced this feeling before.

When Kangxi finally finished reading all the memorials, he let out a long sigh of relief.

Standing to the side, Liang Jiugong saw that the Emperor’s expression had improved, and the heart he had been holding in his throat finally settled back down.

Who could understand? Just now, he had watched the Emperor’s face grow darker and darker, afraid that if he was even the slightest bit careless, His Majesty would toss all the memorials out of his hands. But fortunately, in the end, that didn’t happen.

Seeing that Kangxi had put down his brush, Liang Jiugong signaled with his eyes, and a palace maid timely stepped forward to present a cup of hot tea.

Seeing Kangxi take it, Liang Jiugong finally spoke up. “Your Majesty, why not rest a while?”

Kangxi didn’t respond, but seeing how he put down the tea bowl and was about to stand up and leave, it was obvious he agreed.

…

The Emperor was once again taking a steady stream of rewards to the Changchun Palace!

When the concubines in the various palaces received this news, none of them were surprised in the least. After all, in these past two months, not only had the Emperor come to the harem rarely, but whenever he did, it seemed he only knew the way to Changchun Palace. He wouldn’t even glance at the other palaces. No one knew what was so good about Changchun Palace.

It wasn’t that no one had tried to intercept him—the last concubine who tried to cut off Changchun Palace’s favor was still under confinement and punishment copying scriptures. She’d probably be locked up until after the New Year.

With this example of killing the chicken to warn the monkeys, no one else dared to act rashly. What’s more, the New Year was approaching. Who would want to be punished at such a time?

Didn’t that just make things convenient for Changchun Palace?

For Kangxi, in the early years, there were few children in the palace—few born, and even fewer who survived. Since there were so few, he’d tried hard to have more. Once there were more children, there would naturally be more who could survive and stand firm.

Now that there were many children in the palace, Kangxi no longer needed to concern himself with spreading his favor evenly. He could simply follow his own wishes.

And just at this time, Yu Ying had appeared.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was the 28th day of the twelfth month. A few days earlier, Lady Zhangjia had also completed her month of postpartum confinement. Consort An was not the type to make things difficult for the concubines below her rank, and ever since Yu Ying had gained favor, all sorts of nourishing gifts had been sent by Kangxi. Yu Ying herself was generous and sent a share to Lady Zhangjia. With the care of these two, Lady Zhangjia’s recovery could be said to have been excellent.

Now that her confinement was over, her complexion was rosy, and even her cheeks were smooth like a freshly peeled egg. Of course Yu Ying had to spend a few days clinging affectionately to her.

But Kangxi didn’t like it. During the day, it wasn’t enough to summon Yu Ying to the Qianqing Palace to assist him with ink—at night, he would still keep her there to tease and toy with her.

These past few days, Yu Ying felt as if she was being drained of yin to replenish yang. She would doze off even during the day.

And so, a famous scene was born in the Qianqing Palace.

Kangxi sat upright at the imperial desk, while Yu Ying sat beside him, her head bobbing lower and lower. Liang Jiugong, standing to the side, was afraid this Noble Lady Jin would nod off so much she’d bump her head right into the inkstone.

His Majesty was truly too much—knowing perfectly well that Noble Lady Jin was exhausted yet still refusing to let her go.

Of course, Kangxi absolutely wouldn’t allow such a thing to really happen. Over the past few days, all the memorials had been dealt with, and with free time on his hands, Kangxi was writing the character for “fortune” to bestow upon his ministers. Though his hand never stopped moving, the corner of his eye remained on the person beside him.

All of Kangxi’s “fortune” characters were sent out before New Year’s Eve.

Tomorrow would be New Year’s Eve. This evening, Kangxi didn’t keep Yu Ying in the Qianqing Palace. After all, there was still the palace banquet to attend the next day, and it was more appropriate for Yu Ying to go with the chief consort.

Early the next morning, Yu Ying woke from her dreams.

Today was the first time she would be attending a palace banquet. In the past, she had never had the right to go.

Sure enough, before dawn even broke, Qingtao and Peier were already getting her washed and dressed. She sat in front of the dressing mirror as they styled her hair and adorned her.

Yu Ying was looking forward to this banquet. After all, this was the state banquet—everyone would be attending. Wouldn’t she get to see Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang and the other nine princes she’d never met?

Although it was stipulated that no one but the Empress could wear bright red, for the sake of festivity, Yu Ying still changed into a peach-red cloak embroidered all over with butterflies among flowers. Her hair was styled from a simple double bun into a more elaborate dianzi style, fixed in place with a silver-gilt jeweled hair ornament and a kingfisher hairpin shaped like a magpie landing on plum blossoms. On her wrist, she wore a pair of gold bracelets strung with coral beads.

Although the look was simple, everything she wore had been personally bestowed by the Emperor—each item was a masterpiece.

Once she was properly dressed, Yu Ying went to the main hall to wait for Consort An.

Consort An’s ceremonial robes were more complicated, so she was slower than Yu Ying.

By midday, the two of them finally set out from Changchun Palace. On the way, they happened to run into Consort Duan coming out of Xianfu Palace.

Consort An and Consort Duan exchanged formal greetings as equals, while Yu Ying had to curtsy to Consort Duan. Fortunately, Consort Duan did not harbor ill will toward this favored concubine of the Emperor, and she didn’t make things difficult for Yu Ying. The three of them went together toward Qianqing Palace.

The closer they got to Qianqing Palace, the more palanquins of concubines they saw along the way. Yu Ying performed so many greetings along the route that her earlier excitement had all but disappeared.

Finally, they arrived at Qianqing Palace. At that moment, the banquet hall had already been prepared, but because it wasn’t yet time to begin, those who arrived early could only wait in a side hall.

Yu Ying really didn’t want to keep greeting people, so she found an excuse, spoke briefly to Consort An, and slipped out of the side hall.

Seeing how far they had wandered, Qingtao couldn’t help but remind her softly, “My lady, we should head back. I’m afraid the banquet will begin soon.”

Although Yu Ying was reluctant, she knew she couldn’t be late for such an occasion, so she obediently turned back.

After all the concubines were seated according to rank, Kangxi entered, accompanied by the Crown Prince, the Empress Dowager, and the Grand Empress Dowager, arriving unhurriedly.

With no Empress in the palace, the seat beside Kangxi was occupied by the Grand Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager sat next to her, while the Crown Prince was seated on Kangxi’s other side.

Once these elders had taken their seats, Imperial Noble Consort Tongjia led all the concubines in rising together to wish the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and the Grand Empress Dowager an auspicious New Year.

Yu Ying’s eyes were still darting around, watching the children standing beside the various concubines and trying to figure out which prince was which. Caught off guard by the sudden movement, she quickly came back to herself and copied the gestures of the Virtuous Lady next to her.

Yu Ying was seated far away—almost at the edge of the hall by the main doors. After all, among everyone here, her seniority was the lowest.

Kangxi sat above, taking in her lively, restless expression. For the first time, he felt the Ministry of Rites was incompetent—how could they seat Yu Ying so far away, where he couldn’t hear her thoughts? Looking at her vivid little face, he could only imagine what she was muttering to herself now.

Heaven knew, if the Ministry of Rites had known the Emperor’s true wish, they would surely have cried injustice. They had done everything strictly according to protocol. Who told His Majesty to have so many concubines?

Once all the concubines had resumed their seats, Kangxi finally stood, raised his cup, spoke a few words, then drained the wine in one gulp, officially announcing that the banquet had begun—