allonlinenovel Chapter 169 Yuanshou
Chapter 169 Yuanshou
Chapter 169 Yuanshou
Soon, a young eunuch came over to deliver a message that Princess Kejing and her husband were on their way to the Qianqing Palace to pay a visit to the emperor. At this time, the emperor had already brought everyone here to pay their respects to the empress dowager.
Hearing that the emperor was about to arrive, no matter what their mood was, everyone subconsciously began to tidy themselves up, and the expressions on their faces all turned into happy smiles.
It is not terrible to have conflicts among family members, but if the joke is made in front of outsiders, the Heshuo Princess loses face, and the Khalkha Prince becomes a laughing stock of the royal family, then even a high position and family background cannot save them. The emperor may not be in any trouble at the time, but it is hard to say whether he can appear again later.
The sound of a whip was soon heard. Walking in front was Kangxi with big strides. On Kangxi's left was the current Crown Prince Yinreng, and on his right was Princess Kejing, the protagonist of today's visit.
At this time, Princess Kejing was holding Kangxi's hand, laughing as they walked, and the two would exchange a few words from time to time. It was obvious to everyone how favored Princess Kejing was in front of the emperor.
The Queen Mother was already waiting at the entrance of the main hall with a group of people. When she saw the scene before her, tears immediately flowed down her face: "Is it my Ke Jing who has returned?"
Hearing the Queen Mother's voice, Ke Jing put away his smile and let go of the arm around Kangxi. Like a young swallow returning to its nest, he trotted into the Queen Mother's arms, "Madam, Ke Jing is back. I missed you so much!"
As Ke Jing spoke, tears began to flow unconsciously, which made the people watching the scene cry as well. The scene suddenly changed from the joy of Ke Jing's return to a bit sad.
Seeing that the Queen Mother and Ke Jing had been hugging each other for almost two minutes, Buerhe intervened and pulled Ke Jing out of the Queen Mother's arms. "Alright, it's a happy occasion that Fourth Sister is back today. You can't keep crying. Besides, the Queen Mother's body can't handle it if you keep crying. Come on, let's not stand at the door anymore. Let's go into the hall first. Let's sit down and talk about what's going on."
Burhe spoke and helped the empress dowager into the hall. The emperor also hurriedly brought the Khalkha Prince in.
Seeing the Empress Dowager seated, Ke Jing, accompanied by the Prince and a little boy who looked about eight or nine, walked back to the center of the hall and knelt down to pay their respects. "Greetings to the Empress Dowager, may the Empress Dowager be blessed with good health and a long life. Greetings to the Emperor, may the Emperor be in good health and may everything go smoothly. Greetings to all the Empresses, to the Crown Princess, and to all the Consorts."
As early as when Ke Jing was kneeling on the ground, the Queen Mother had already glanced at Bu Erhe, so when the Emperor called her up, Bu Erhe had already come to Ke Jing and helped her up with her own hands, and then pulled her to sit next to the Queen Mother.
Ke Jing took Buerhe's hand and held it tightly. Buerhe knew how the other person felt, so he just patted it gently with his other hand to comfort him.
Although the emperor didn't say anything, the empress dowager waved to the little boy who was still standing in the middle of the room: "Come here, let Ukuma take a look. Is this our Kejing's child? He's so handsome and strong, he really looks like a Baturu."
At this time, Ke Jing introduced: "Imperial Mama, this is my granddaughter's eldest son. His full name was given by my royal father, Olezheyidorji. Later, my granddaughter gave him a Chinese name, Yuanshou. Yuanshou, come here quickly. This is your Wukuma Mama."
Upon hearing this, Yuanshou followed his mother's instructions and walked to the Queen Mother. He smiled at her innocently and said, "Hello, Ukuma Ma."
The Queen Mother smiled upon seeing this and said, "Good boy, you are such a good boy. I like you very much. Come, there are many snacks here. See which one you like?" After that, she asked Nanny Naren to bring several plates of snacks from Ciren Palace.
The Emperor nodded approvingly upon seeing this. "This is a good name. I like it very much. However, I remember that you have two sons. Where is my youngest grandson?"
When Ke Jing heard the emperor mention his youngest son, she sighed with some worry. "The journey from Mobei to the capital is too long. I was afraid the little one wouldn't be able to handle it, so I didn't plan to bring him with me at first. But he and Yuanshou had a good relationship, and he was determined to come, so I gave in. But who knew he would catch a cold two days before departure? Although the doctor said he was fully recovered before departure, I was still worried, so I left him in Mobei."
After hearing Ke Jing's explanation, the Queen Mother couldn't help but touch Ke Jing's head and said, "Good boy, it's okay. He's staying in Mobei now, the place he was born and raised in. He should have recovered by now."
Seeing that she had caused the Imperial Madam to worry, Ke Jing quickly smiled and said, "Imperial Madam, it's my fault for causing you so much worry. Actually, I received the letter when we were almost in the capital. Little Elin is all right now. I heard that he can eat two large pieces of beef in one meal now."
The Queen Mother also laughed when she heard this: "Elin, is that his name?"
Speaking of his youngest son, Ke Jing also laughed out loud. "That's right, his name is E'linqin Dorji, and we all call him E'lin in private. He's much more mischievous than Yuanshou, but because he was born in the coldest part of winter, his health has been poor since he was a child. It's only in the past two years that he's been nourished with good medicinal herbs. The imperial physician said that if he continues like this, he'll be fine after he turns five, and by then he'll be as strong as other children his age."
Bu Er and Ting Wen also took Ke Jing's hand and said, "Tell us what you need immediately. If you need any good medicinal herbs, I will collect them for you."
Ke Jing smiled gratefully at Buerhe: "This is all thanks to my second sister-in-law. If it weren't for the female doctor and the imperial physician you sent over, E'lin would have been in danger. Later, thanks to the good medicinal herbs my second sister-in-law sent over, E'lin was able to grow up safely over the years."
Buerhe knew how difficult it was to raise a child in that place. Upon hearing this, he just patted Kejing's hand and said everything without saying a word.
Seeing Yuanshou quietly eating snacks on the side, Buerhe felt that Yuanshou was honest and well-behaved. He waved to him to come over, then took out a jade pendant that he had prepared long ago and hung it on his waist.
Yuanshou looked at Kejing, who tried to stop him: "Second sister-in-law, this is unacceptable. You always prepare gifts for Yuanshou's birthday every year. This year's has already been given. Besides, my second brother also gave him a gift when we were just in the Palace of Heavenly Purity. Please take back this fine jade pendant!"
Buerhe raised his eyes and glared at Ke Jing. "How can you have too many gifts? Besides, this is a gift from your aunt to our Yuanshou. How can it be confused with the Crown Prince's? This jade pendant was prepared for our Yuanshou a long time ago, waiting for you to bring it back to give to him when you visit your parents. It has been lying in my storeroom for seven or eight years, and now it has finally met its owner."
After hearing this, Ke Jing stopped trying to stop him and nodded to Yuanshou to indicate that he should accept it. However, he was grateful in his heart: It was really a blessing from God to have a close friend like his second sister-in-law in this life. Apart from his aunt Concubine Yi, the only person in the entire Forbidden City who looked forward to his return every year was his second sister-in-law Buerhe.
With the Crown Princess taking the lead in sending the gift, soon the concubines and princes' wives who came today presented their gifts one after another. Ke Jing asked Yuanshou to take the gift from Buerhe, and gave the rest to the servants for safekeeping.
The Emperor had other matters to attend to in the Qianqing Palace, so he left with the other princes shortly after. The Duke and Yuanshou also left with them. The evening banquet at the Ciren Palace was next. Seeing this, the Empress Dowager, feeling somewhat tired, dismissed everyone and returned to the rear hall to rest.
The concubines and wives said goodbye and left one after another. Those who had mothers-in-law followed them back to the palace, and those who did not, such as the Fourth Wife, went to Concubine Tong's palace, the Seventh Wife went to Concubine Shuhui, and the Tenth Wife went directly to Concubine Yi.
Before parting, Buerhe patted Kejing's hand and said, "Let's go to Concubine Yi first. She must miss you very much. Tomorrow when we have time, let's go to Yuqing Palace to get together alone."
Ke Jing nodded in understanding and followed Concubine Yi to the Yiku Palace.