After the autumn rains, a cold wave arrived.

Small-scale flu outbreaks occurred one after another in the imperial harem; in this era, the flu was called typhoid fever.

Having typhoid fever is a very serious matter. The masters are relatively okay, but the palace servants are all worried. Some with money can use their connections to get a couple of doses of typhoid medicine from the Imperial Hospital to treat the illness, while those without connections can only be carried away and left to die.

Xiuning was in charge of palace affairs and received a lot of related information during this period.

Those who lost their lives were mostly lowly palace maids and eunuchs without any powerful connections or backing. These were the most numerous in the harem, and if one or two of them disappeared, no one would even notice.

"However, this cannot continue. The power in my hands cannot be compromised."

Chunyu, go to the Imperial Hospital and ask the physicians to prescribe more medicine for typhoid fever.

There's no need to treat them with the same meticulous care as masters; just give each of them a simple two sets so they can peacefully enjoy the New Year.

Xiu Ning rubbed her forehead, looking at the stacks of accounts in front of her, feeling utterly dizzy and disoriented.

It's so difficult, really so difficult.

Winters in previous years have never been this hard to endure, so what's going on this year?

Xiuning couldn't understand it. She felt that the weather outside was no different from previous years, but there were still quite a few people getting sick in the palace.

If the imperial physicians of the Imperial Hospital had not repeatedly confirmed that it was just a common cold and not some epidemic, Xiuning would probably have reported it to the Emperor for a decision.

After listening to her master's words, Chunyu nodded in agreement, then carefully added that the Imperial Hospital might not have enough medicinal herbs.

"...They said there was a problem with the truck transporting the medicinal herbs, and the original schedule will be delayed by half a month."

Upon hearing this, Xiu Ning looked up and glanced at Chun Yu, "If there are no medicinal herbs, send some inexpensive tonics, or put more effort into their daily diet."

The crown prince arrested two groups of people, and released another group out of the palace just before winter.

New concubines won't enter the palace until next spring; we can't let anything happen in the harem during this time.

With fewer people to serve, some people in the harem will definitely cause trouble.

Xiuning had anticipated this scene, so she had explained it to Chunyu beforehand.

Take the opportunity to subdue the dishonest ones, and reward the honest ones as a treat.

And so, Xiuning successfully spent the Spring Festival of the 29th year of Kangxi's reign and welcomed the 30th year of Kangxi's reign at Qixiang Palace.

By the way, on the occasion of the Spring Festival, Emperor Kangxi also announced some good news: the final choice of Yin Yi's consort has been made.

Hmm, how should I put it?

She was a direct descendant of the Shumulu clan.

It's a mixed bag, with both advantages and disadvantages.

It was acceptable to Xiuning, but somewhat unpleasant to Yinyi. Overall, however, the Shumulu clan was more suitable than the other major clans.

The Shumulu clan was famous for being a favored concubine who emerged during the reign of the previous emperor.

Before Xiuning entered the palace, she had already heard about the abilities of that Consort Chen.

Later, it was learned that Consort Chen was a time traveler who died after being rejected by the world's consciousness.

And that person is quite pitiful; on the surface, she looks glamorous, but in reality, everyone is plotting against her behind her back.

Because of this person, the Shumulu clan was ashamed of their reputation, and it was only after Emperor Kangxi had been on the throne for a long time that things gradually improved.

Over the years, Shumulu clan did send people into the palace, but with little success, none of them yielded good results. In the end, Shumulu clan had no choice but to give up and focus all her attention on the previous dynasty.

The fact that a young lady from the Shumulu clan has been betrothed to Yin Yi is good news for the Shumulu clan.

Investing in the next generation is far better than directly confronting the victims of a favored concubine.

Shumulu was also afraid, and in recent years she has mostly kept to herself and rarely interfered in certain matters.

Based on this, Kangxi arranged an official marriage between Yinyi and the other party.

This was intended to ease tensions between the royal family and the Shumulu clan.

Ahem, because when Shumulu was given away, Kangxi did not protect her (mainly because he did not care), which led to several members of Shumulu being imprisoned in the palace.

The bestowal of this marriage is like adding icing on the cake for Shumulu.

"Your Majesty, I congratulate you on having such a wonderful daughter-in-law. It is truly enviable."

Consort Yi and Xiu Ning met by chance, and since there was nothing to discuss, they exchanged a few casual words.

One of these matters was Yin Yi's upcoming marriage. Although Consort Yi believed that Shumulu had obvious shortcomings, her strengths were also undeniable.

"What's there to envy? Yinqi is getting older, and it won't be long before Consort Yi becomes a grandmother."

Yinqi was two years younger than Yinlu, and Yinlu was three years younger than Yinyi.

Time flies by; it's gone in the blink of an eye.

Consort Yi was speechless with embarrassment at Xiu Ning's words; her son, Yinqi, was still just a child.

Xiuning inwardly scoffed. What children? The children in the palace are all precocious, especially since they have fathers like Kangxi who married and had children at an early age.

If she remembered correctly, the Crown Prince and the First Prince had concubines to serve them at a young age. If it weren't for her watching over them, Yin Yi and Yin Lu would definitely have gone astray at a young age, which would have ruined their health and prevented them from growing taller.

With a smile, Xiu Ning exchanged some polite words with Consort Yi before leaving first, as she had to rush to the Qianqing Palace.

Consort Yi watched Xiu Ning walk away, then sat in her sedan chair and sighed softly. Consort Jing was several years older than her, but just by looking at their faces, she seemed to look much older. Alas, God is so unfair.

The unfairness of God doesn't stop there. After all, Xiu Ning is a mission taker, and her purpose in coming here is to complete the mission assigned by the world consciousness.

The sedan chair stopped at the entrance of the Qianqing Palace.

Xiu Ning stepped down from the sedan chair and faced Li Dequan directly.

"This humble servant, Li Dequan, greets Your Highness, Consort Jing."

Li Dequan bowed respectfully and greeted them, his obsequious smile impossible to conceal.

Xiuning nodded, "You're too kind, Eunuch Li. Is His Majesty busy right now?"

She was invited by Emperor Kangxi, but one cannot enter the main hall of the Qianqing Palace at any time.

As a concubine, the most important thing for Xiuning is to be sensible.

Li Dequan pointed lightly to the doorway, "Lord Mingzhu and Lord Suo'etu just entered the hall, so we'll probably have to wait a while."

These two were mortal enemies in the imperial court, and now that they've been summoned by Emperor Kangxi together, it can't be anything good.

Xiuning glanced at it and then looked away. She turned and went to a side hall. "In that case, I will go to the side hall and wait."

She was no longer a lowly concubine without any connections, so she didn't need to wait at the door in the dead of winter.

Li Dequan responded with a "yes" and led the way. As for the side hall, it had already been prepared, knowing that Xiuning was coming.

As it turns out, it wasn't that the palace servants didn't know how to serve, but rather that some of them weren't of high enough status to warrant excessive service.

"Eunuch Li, hurry up and get busy."

"I have nothing to do here, so don't keep you any longer."

Xiuning knew that Li Dequan had many and heavy tasks to attend to at this time.

She didn't want to cause trouble in this regard, so she waved to see Li Dequan off, leaving only Chunyu to serve her.

Li Dequan smiled and agreed, and before leaving, he didn't forget to send two more palace servants to wait on him.