Chapter 226 The Legend of Zhen Huan, Guarjia Wenyuan 25

"We appreciate the Imperial Noble Consort's kindness, but we still wish to come and pay our respects as a sign of our utmost respect."

Consort Yu smiled. Like Consort Duan, Consort Yu also had a sickly air about her, which made her very gentle and beautiful.

Consort Yu has been recuperating at the imperial palace for years, but now she has returned with the Fifth Prince.

Hongxi was not yet six years old and had not entered the Imperial Study, so his talent was unknown.

The Fourth Prince had finally managed to get the Emperor's attention through Zhen Huan's affair, but the Emperor disliked Zhen Huan and his attitude towards the Fourth Prince returned to what it was before.

For the sake of Consort Qi, the Third Prince openly declared that he would give up his right to compete for the throne and even filed a lawsuit to depose the Empress. In the Emperor's eyes, he was practically abandoned.

The purpose of Consort Yu's return to the palace this time was obvious to those with ulterior motives.

"Fifth Prince looks quite robust; his weakened body must have recovered," Guarjia Wenyuan said with a gentle smile as she looked at Hongzhou.

"Yes, she was tricked when she was pregnant with him. Both her and his health were depleted, so the Emperor sent her to the imperial palace to recuperate. Hongzhou recovered well and his health was restored."

"I'm not doing well, I'm still the same as before." With that, Consort Yu turned her head and coughed a few times.

"Mother." Hongzhou stood up and patted Consort Yu on the back, his eyes full of worry.

"It's all the fault of the deposed empress," Consort Jing sighed.

Consort Yu replied with a gentle smile, "It's also because my body is not strong enough."

"The imperial physicians in the palace are highly skilled; with proper care, you can live longer," Consort Duan reassured her with a smile.

The atmosphere at Chuxiu Palace appears harmonious and peaceful, but that's only an appearance.

Consort Jing and Consort Duan appeared to be very close to Consort Yu, but they had no intention of befriending her, even though she had an older prince.

Consort Yu had only recently arrived at the palace and did not know much about the Imperial Noble Consort. She thought that this young Imperial Noble Consort had only gotten the position of Vice Empress by chance.

I don't know about other things, but the Imperial Noble Consort did give a hint about the Empress's downfall.

Consort Yu was able to go to the imperial palace to escape the Empress's schemes back then, so how could she possibly compete with the Imperial Noble Consort who has now defeated the Empress?

Getting old doesn't mean getting smarter. After so many years of comfort, Consort Yu had long since become rusty in palace intrigue and domestic power struggles, and her ambition was practically overflowing.

After the selection of imperial concubines, the Third Prince was betrothed to a woman of the Dong'e clan, the Fourth Prince to a woman of the Ulanara clan, and the Fifth Prince to a woman of the Wuzhaku clan.

In order to keep the Fifth Prince in the Empress's sight, Consort Yu deliberately raised him to be naughty, since the Fifth Prince did not grow up in the Emperor's presence.

Therefore, in the Emperor's eyes, the Fifth Prince, with his temperament, was not even as good as the Third Prince. The Fifth Prince's temperament was still quite formidable.

Three new concubines entered the harem: Consort Xitala from the Manchu Banner, and Consorts Luo and Sun from the Han Banner.

Consort Xitala and Consort Luo were granted residence in Yanxi Palace, while Consort Sun was granted residence in Yonghe Palace.

Consort Liu became pregnant and was promoted to Noble Lady Liu. After ten months of pregnancy, she gave birth to the Ninth Prince Hongzhan and was then promoted to Consort Qian, becoming the head of Yongshou Palace.

At this time, Hongxi had already begun to show his talent in the Imperial Study, and Hongshi lost his desire to compete and became indifferent.

Hongli tricked Hongzhou into pleading for the Eighth Prince Yinzhi, and Hongzhou actually did so. However, Hongshi witnessed the whole thing and told the Emperor the truth.

The Emperor disliked Hongli to begin with, so he adopted Hongli to the Eighth Prince, but he also became cold towards Consort Yu and Hongzhou.

Feeling that he was physically strong, he began to focus on cultivating several of his younger brothers. Among the remaining princes, Hongxi was the oldest, the twins looked alike and had no right to inherit, and Hongzhan was just born.