Looking into Concubine’s eyes, Luo Yu called out again, “Concubine…” For some reason, she felt her nose tingling and her eyes growing warm.

Yun Shuyao’s heart was filled with endless emotions. She removed most of the hairpins from Luo Yu’s hair, and Luo Yu immediately leaned her head against Concubine’s embrace, closing her eyes. “Concubine.”

Yun Shuyao gently massaged her acupressure points. “Are you tired?”

Luo Yu replied, “Tired, so I need to rest for a while.”

She hadn’t slept well last night because she was too excited about being able to come home.

Of course, her rest wouldn’t last long, because unlike her eldest sister and brother-in-law who could stay at home for the full month, her return visit was only for today.

They had to return before dark.

She just closed her eyes and slept for less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. When she opened her eyes again, she was clearly much more spirited.

Yun Shuyao’s hand moved to her wrist position to take her pulse.

There were no abnormalities.

Luo Yu knew Concubine was worried about her. She didn’t speak, just smiled as she looked at Concubine.

After confirming there were no abnormalities, Yun Shuyao finally lowered her hand. “How did it go when you went to the palace to pay respects? Was it smooth? You saw His Majesty and the Empress Dowager, didn’t you?”

Luo Yu replied, “Yes, I saw them, but His Majesty was very busy and didn’t stay long. After we kowtowed to pay our respects, we left.” After thinking for a moment, she added, “His Majesty does indeed look very healthy.”

“We didn’t stay long at the Empress Dowager’s either. She’s a kind person, though she’s not very proficient in Chinese.” Fortunately, Luo Yu knew the language, otherwise someone would have had to translate.

Then there was Noble Consort De.

Compared to her attitude when she had summoned the two sisters during the selection, Noble Consort De’s attitude now was much colder.

At first, Luo Yu thought this was directed at her specifically, but later she discovered that even Fujin couldn’t say much in Noble Consort De’s presence. Only then did she confirm that it really wasn’t necessarily targeting her alone, or rather, Noble Consort De preferred the younger of her two sons.

The Fourteenth Fujin received different treatment at Noble Consort De’s place. That manner made one believe they were birth mother and daughter.

Perhaps it was also because the Fourteenth Fujin was pregnant?

But according to what she’d heard, even when she wasn’t pregnant, the consort still preferred her younger son and daughter-in-law more.

Upon careful thought, it wasn’t difficult to understand why she would favor her younger son and daughter-in-law.

Noble Consort De was undoubtedly the goal many palace women strived toward.

She entered the palace in the fourteenth year of Kangxi’s reign along with Wanliuha Shi and others.

In the seventeenth year of Kangxi, she gave birth to the Fourth Prince. Because Tong Jia Shi had no son, the Fourth Prince was adopted and raised under Tong Jia Shi’s care. The following year, she was promoted to Consort De. Not only that, but the year after being promoted to Consort De, she gave birth to the Sixth Prince. The year after giving birth to the Sixth Prince, she was enfeoffed as Noble Consort De.

Unfortunately, the Sixth Prince was not blessed and later died young.

After that, she gave birth to three daughters in succession before finally giving birth to the Fourteenth Prince in the twenty-seventh year of Kangxi’s reign.

Compared to the Fourth Prince who had been adopted and raised by Tong Jia Shi since childhood, the Fourteenth Prince was the one Noble Consort De had raised with her own hands.

Although both sons were her biological children, they weren’t both raised by her, so naturally their emotional bonds had different depths.

Even if she wouldn’t show her favoritism too obviously on the surface, in reality, more than just one or two people knew about her partiality.

Yun Shuyao said, “Let her be partial then. She’s an elder. You just need to be respectful on the surface and not speak carelessly.”

Luo Yu nodded. “Concubine, I’m not foolish. I know. She’s the imperial mother consort. I won’t speak carelessly.”

“When I was leaving, I also saw Cousin Yuan Chun in the consort’s palace.”

Yun Shuyao couldn’t help but look sideways. “Did she approach you on her own initiative?”

Luo Yu shook her head. “No, at the time she seemed to have some task. We met by chance. She seemed to want to say something to me, but didn’t have the opportunity. Noble Consort De apparently didn’t want her to speak with me.”

Yun Shuyao nodded. “You won’t have many opportunities to enter the imperial palace. You probably won’t encounter her often in the future either.”

This was indeed true. The Fourth Prince had already left the palace and established his own residence outside. Their womenfolk wouldn’t enter the palace very often, and in most cases, it would be Fujin who went more frequently.

“If she asks you for help, don’t agree right away.”

Luo Yu couldn’t help but sigh. “I know. It’s just that Cousin Yuan Chun has been in the palace for several years now. I don’t know if she’ll wait until she reaches the age to be released for free marriage.”

Luo Yu knew this definitely wouldn’t be what Cousin Yuan Chun or the Jia family behind her wanted to see.

For ordinary people, entering the palace as a palace maid and becoming a female official to raise one’s status, then being released at the appropriate age to marry into a better family was a way out. But for Cousin Yuan Chun, this was unnecessary.

Even if she became a female official, it wouldn’t help much with the choice of husband after leaving the palace. On the contrary, the disadvantages were greater, because at that age she could basically only marry someone as a second wife, which would be worse than not entering the palace at all and directly choosing a husband to marry.

Yun Shuyao didn’t know when Jia Yuan Chun would become a consort, nor whose consort she would be. She only remembered that she would become a consort, because the famous Grand View Garden was built for her.

She didn’t know if there would still be a day when she would be enfeoffed as a consort now, but presumably she should have such thoughts.

Otherwise, if she wanted to leave the palace, it wasn’t impossible to request a special favor.

“She’s been in the palace for so long now. Who knows if her character has changed. When she comes looking for you, be careful.”

If she could be used, Yun Shuyao didn’t think she would let the opportunity pass.

As for the others like Consort Hui and Consort Yi, Luo Yu only mentioned them briefly, because they weren’t the ones who had given birth to the Fourth Prince. She went to pay her respects to them according to protocol, received greeting gifts, and it was done.

There was one more person who had to be mentioned, and that was the Crown Princess.

The Crown Princess’s reputation for virtue spreading far and wide wasn’t without reason. Just meeting her briefly made one feel like bathing in spring breeze, producing a sense of trust.

“Even though she hasn’t given birth to a legitimate son, her position in the imperial palace is as stable as Mount Tai.”

Yun Shuyao nodded. “How is it getting along with the other Fujins?”

Luo Yu replied, “It’s fine. At most it’s a matter of meeting soldiers with generals and water with earth. As long as they don’t act recklessly, I won’t either…”

After saying everything she wanted to say in one breath, while no one had come to remind her it was time to return, Luo Yu reluctantly suggested going to sit with her eldest sister.

Their birthdates were only one day apart. Since they began their studies, they saw each other every day. Accumulated day by day, their feelings ran deep, though now occasionally thinking about it gave a sense that things had changed.

Because Luo Yu still remembered that in the past when eldest sister’s health wasn’t as good as it was now, Concubine Mei was very resistant to the two sisters being too close. However, this idea of hers was quickly corrected by Grandmother, Father, and the others.

Yun Shuyao said, “Go ahead.”

In the future, she would have few opportunities to see Luo Yu, and the two sisters wouldn’t have many chances to meet either.

Ying Yu was sitting in her own courtyard, clearly also waiting for her.

Seeing her arrive, her eyes curved in a smile.

Luo Yu walked over and took her hand. “Sister, how are you at the Silinggioro family? Is brother-in-law treating you well?”

Speaking of this, Ying Yu blushed a little. “Fine. What about you? How is the Fourth Prince treating you?”

The two sisters looked at each other and smiled, understanding without words.

Overall, Ying Yu was more worried about Luo Yu, because she herself was, after all, Da Chun’s legitimate wife, and Da Chun was a legitimate son.

Although he was the second legitimate son, with an older brother above and younger brother below, people in the middle were relatively easier to overlook, but he was still biological, and had everything he should have.

Moreover, her mother-in-law was somewhat dissatisfied. She had originally wanted to marry a girl from a prominent Manchu family, and there were even vague rumors that she wanted to marry her natal family’s niece. But later this was also proven to be a rumor, and that natal niece had already been betrothed to someone else. Furthermore, her mother-in-law was about to go to Fengtian Prefecture to accompany her father-in-law at his posting.

Perhaps if they returned to the capital in the future, constantly living under the same roof would easily lead to small conflicts, but she didn’t need to manage the household above, nor did she need to act coquettishly before her mother-in-law below. There were brothers-in-law, and in the future there would be sisters-in-law. By that time, she should already have offspring.

With offspring, she could better integrate into the Silinggioro family. Correspondingly, her second sister had the great mountain of Fujin above her and could only keep her head low.

Whether her days would be easy largely depended on Fujin’s character and conduct. If she was a difficult person, her days wouldn’t be too easy.

Ying Yu said, “I also inquired about the situation at the Fourth Prince’s residence. The Fourth Prince respects Fujin. Previously, it was said he favored that Lady Li the most, and she’s not someone with a good temper. Don’t act impulsively when angry, saying or doing things. Think carefully first.”

Luo Yu didn’t want her to worry. “Don’t worry. Both the Fourth Prince and Fujin are people who value rules. As long as I follow the rules, there won’t be any problems. On the contrary, it’s you—with many sisters-in-law, if you perform poorly, you’ll easily be compared to others. Don’t be too soft. If you retreat one step, others will advance one step…”

Da Chun felt he was exhausted.

Accompanying the Fourth Prince really wasn’t an easy task. If he were the main companion, he suspected he would make a fool of himself. Fortunately, today he was just an attendant.

His appearance was naturally observed by the Fourth Prince. The brother-in-law was one year older than the brother-in-law, but far less mature and steady. In studies, one could still attribute it to talent, but in social conduct, it only showed that his daily life was very comfortable, preventing him from paying attention to this aspect.

Logically speaking, his brother-in-law also hadn’t experienced much or suffered any hardships, yet he had somewhat of the quality of poor children becoming heads of households early.

He was good at studying, but didn’t study mechanically. They discussed many topics about people’s livelihood, and what surprised him was that his brother-in-law could engage with all of them.

Regarding how much eggs cost per wen on the market, how much pork cost per jin, how much rice cost per bushel… he could speak about all these matters.

He had even worked in the fields himself. This was what most surprised the Fourth Prince.

Speaking of this, Chen Yu remembered back then.

He smiled. “When we turned ten, Concubine gave us siblings a small estate and showed us the account books, letting us know how much that estate produced in a year. At the time, I was ignorant and arrogant, saying the annual output was very little, that the steward must not be working, and that if I went, it definitely wouldn’t be like this in the future.”

Both the Fourth Prince and Da Chun became curious. “And then?”

Chen Yu replied, “Then afterward we were sent by Concubine to the estate to investigate why the output was so low. She also assigned us a task, having us work in the fields to experience what ‘sweat dripping onto the soil beneath the stalks, every grain the fruit of hardship’ really means.”

Chen Yu sighed. “In just half a day, I had three blisters on my hands, and then I went to admit my mistake.”

Da Chun laughed out loud.

The corners of the Fourth Prince’s mouth also curved upward.

Chen Yu also smiled. “Working in the fields is really very hard. I stayed there for over ten days, working in the fields every day. The blisters on my hands all broke, and I got two shades darker. But the harvest wasn’t small either. After becoming familiar with the others, I learned many things about cultivation. Planting is very dependent on the right timing.”

When the timing wasn’t right, a year’s hard work could come to nothing—all the elderly had experienced this.

Da Chun’s whole person went numb. Experiencing the fields a bit was one thing, but working in the fields for nearly half a month?

“Did father-in-law agree to this?”

Chen Yu replied, “As long as my studies didn’t fall behind, it was fine.”

Da Chun was stunned.

So he had to both work in the fields and study?

Chen Yu said, “After working in the fields, I liked studying more than usual, because by comparison, studying is much easier. Big brother-in-law, if you don’t believe me, you can try it sometime.”

The Fourth Prince, however, was very appreciative. He nodded secretly, thinking he could have his son try this another day.

Da Chun silently shook his head. He wasn’t foolish. He didn’t want to.

The Fourth Prince saw through this and made the final decision. “Next time I go to the estate, I’ll invite you both to come along.”

Da Chun thought, “…”

Can I refuse?