CHAPTER 668: [662] QING CHUAN CHENG WANGFEI 31 (2 MORE UPDATES)

Because of her pregnancy, she definitely couldn’t maintain a conjugal life with her husband, yet she didn’t want to push him toward concubines and serving women. As such, she would occasionally indulge him in some marital amusements. Of course, she would never bring it up proactively, but could seduce him into coaxing her into it, and amidst the playfulness, the deed would be done. This way, he’d be content and she would let out a sigh of relief.

Despite Yun Mi’s appearance of being straightforward and honest, he was after all a man, and had grown up with Hongli and Hong Zhou. What kind of worldly scenes hadn’t he witnessed?

Especially Hong Zhou—that man was a lunatic. Were it not for ancestral laws, and the fact that she came from a respectable family, she really wanted to advise Yun Mi not to associate with this nephew.

During her pregnancy, Xiyuan had a particular craving for spicy food. She didn’t believe in the old wives’ tales about cravings determining the baby’s sex. When the weather was still cool, she and Yun Mi would often enjoy eating from a brass hotpot—a culinary practice, it was said, brought over from their lands. For example, she really enjoyed going to Hongmao House restaurant for hotpot.

After finishing the hotpot, she felt completely relaxed and comfortable.

Originally, she had been worried she would have a poor appetite because of her pregnancy, but it turned out the child was quite resilient. Aside from occasional vomiting during the first three months, her appetite had been fairly decent.

In her free time, Xiyuan would visit institutions akin to welfare centers, selecting girls and boys with favorable conditions to buy them. She’d settle them in a courtyard and hire teachers to teach them reading, writing, and to learn medicine and martial arts.

Yun Mi was puzzled by this: "Why buy them? They are orphans and don’t need money; just register them at the government office."

"Paying is meant to make life better for the remaining children. If they rely only on government relief, their lives aren’t good. My people also occasionally go to supervise them and, incidentally, scout good candidates for further training. When our business expands, we are going to need a lot of talented people. Isn’t this a ready source of human resources?"

Moreover, when Yun Mi turned twenty-five, he would become a White Banner Mongolian General, stationed at the frontier. When that time came, she planned to follow him to foster the development of capable medical women to have at her side. She felt this was absolutely necessary.

Although military regulations forbade the families of generals from accompanying them, Yun Mi, as a prince, was not constrained by these restrictions.

Yun Mi had long been aware of his wife’s kindness, as their pharmacy had started offering free consultations with doctors and distributing free medicinal materials to the needy. Initially, he thought this would lead to losses, but to his surprise, not only did they not lose money, they earned even more than before.

In ancient times, clinics were clinics and pharmacies were pharmacies. Pharmacies were only responsible for dispensing medicines, and clinics only for providing medical consultations; the two were not to be confused.

But Xiyuan felt that a pharmacy without a doctor in residence was missing something. Therefore, she specifically hired two senior doctors to take turns on duty, offering free consultations. If someone was too poor, even their medicine could be free. Occasionally, Xiyuan herself would also help out in the pharmacy, learning along the way.

Although Yun Mi felt that this public exposure was unbecoming for a Princess Consort, Xiyuan thought it was definitely right to learn more skills during her lifetime, which could prove useful in the future.

From those children that Xiyuan had brought back, Yun Mi had seen her emphasis on training in medicine and martial arts. She even jokingly said to him that she wanted to organize a clinic exclusively for women, to assist in diagnosing and treating their illnesses, because it was too difficult for women to receive medical care nowadays.

Yun Mi was not a conservative man, and what’s more, with the arrival of foreigners, the Qing Dynasty was becoming more open by the year.

Thinking that what he loved about her was precisely this uniqueness, he waved his hand, giving her his blessings to forge ahead.

With Yun Mi’s approval, Xiyuan grew even bolder. However, during the day when she went to the clinic, she would still dress as a man. Sometimes she would assist the doctors, at other times help the apprentices with dispensing medicines. Even her two maids began what would be a long journey of learning medicine.

Later, when her belly swelled, she stopped helping out as much, instead opting to hit the restaurant and dessert shops, lounging away most of the day. Her life was comfortable and content, for there were no women competing for favor, no detestable characters around her, and no lack of money to spend. With so many attending to her needs, how could she not be happy?

Unfortunately, when people get too cocky, bad luck is bound to wedge itself in.

Just like that, for some unfathomable reason, Qianlong decided to bestow upon Yun Mi two concubines, claiming it had been many years since new additions had been made to his household, and he had to consider his uncle’s plight, especially since his uncle’s wife was pregnant. Despite Yun Mi’s numerous attempts to decline, the imperial command was indisputable. So, one day in June when she returned to the manor, she was greeted by two concubines trailing behind Yun Mi.

Compared to the original owner of her body’s past life, the concubines were Niu Gulu (daughter of Baoping) and Yin (daughter of Chen Dacheng), except for Niu Gulu, all were from the Han people, which naturally meant they couldn’t hold a candle to her status.

In this life, due to the discrepancy in years, there was no Niu Gulu, only Yin and Chen.

In the presence of the two concubines, she didn’t cause a scene. Instead, she assigned them to two yards and had Su Mei and Su He go help with the arrangements. But as soon as the people had left, her lips pouted, and Yun Mi, knowing he was at fault, sighed.

"You know I can’t defy an imperial command, and I have no power to resist. But rest assured, they’re just concubines, they won’t be promoted."

Xiyuan scoffed, "They’re young and beautiful. Who knows if you’ll grow fond of one, and if she gives birth to an heir, it’s only a matter of time before you elevate her status. So don’t make such absolute statements, I won’t believe them."

"But, the arrangements for them entering the manor were made by you, right?"

Seeing the sly glint in Xiyuan’s eyes, Yun Mi knew her thoughts and immediately shook his head.

"No one else can claim them, they were bestowed by the Emperor."

"I know that, what I mean is, they’re in the manor, but if you don’t favor them, that would be enough, right?"

Looking at Xiyuan’s jealous expression, Yun Mi was both amused and resigned.

"Have you forgotten? The eunuchs keep records of our affairs. Although it’s not as complicated as in the Imperial Palace, this is still a matter of the heir’s bloodline. If the Emperor finds out..."

Xiyuan glared at him, "What now, are you contemplating breaking your oath? You promised me you wouldn’t pursue other women. Are you wavering now? Is that appropriate?"

"What are you talking about? I’m just explaining the situation. It’s true that they’ve been brought into the manor, and yes, there are records, but the mistake would be if I want to or not. Do you think my elder brother would trouble me again over two concubines?"

Hearing this, Xiyuan’s eyes lit up, "So, you won’t favor them, right? I don’t want my son to have to guard against these concubines’ sons in the future; that would make life too difficult. You’ll favor only me, correct?"

"Yes, yes, yes, my dear Grandma, but since they’ve entered our home, you’ll..."

"Fine, fine, fine. As long as you don’t favor them, I have no issues here. What’s a few extra mouths to feed? I’ll ensure they’re well-cared for, won’t that suffice?"

Yun Mi pinched her nose and turned to head into the bath, while Xiyuan’s smile grew even deeper. It seemed this man wasn’t likely to break his word after all.