Chapter 6 Concubine Nara is confined to her quarters.

When facing Consort Borjigit, the Empress Dowager's expression softened: "You have only been in the palace for a short time. If there is anything you are not used to in the palace, or if you are missing anything, just tell me. Don't make yourself suffer."

The Empress Dowager had long anticipated that Borjigit's concubine would fall out of favor.

The era when the imperial harem belonged to Mongolian concubines is long gone.

Her son, the Shunzhi Emperor, deposed a Mongol empress. Although he still managed to install a successor empress from the Khorchin under her pressure, she had no children and was not favored, so she was nothing more than a symbol in the harem.

Now it's her grandson, Xuan Ye's turn.

The Mongolian concubines were not even granted the title of concubine upon their initial appointment, which shows his attitude.

However, the Manchu-Mongol marriage alliance was a national policy, and for the sake of the Qing Dynasty and the Khorchin, the imperial harem had to include concubines from Mongolia.

It's just a pity for the girls from Horqin.

Consort Borjigit smiled and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Empress Dowager. Everything is fine in the palace. The meals sent by the Imperial Household Department are always warm and delicious, and the clothes and jewelry are always prepared according to the season. There has never been a shortage. They take very good care of me."

If she had any expectations when she first entered the palace, what if this emperor was not like the previous one?

However, after spending a few months in the harem, her heart turned completely cold.

The Emperor never set foot in Xianfu Palace, nor did he ever choose her.

Her father was a prince, and she was a noblewoman from Khorchin, a Mongolian family whose status was comparable to that of the eight great Manchu clans.

However, she was actually on equal footing with bondservantes, and didn't even have the rank of a concubine.

But what could she do?

Rebellion?

complain?

If she dared to express even the slightest dissatisfaction, it would only bring shame upon the Khorchin people if it reached her father's ears.

If she were to cause trouble for the Empress Dowager, she would truly be left without any support in the palace.

She knew perfectly well that her only way out was to rely firmly on the Empress Dowager, stay quietly in the palace, and serve as a living example of the Manchu-Mongol marriage alliance.

As long as the Empress Dowager is still alive, the Emperor, out of respect for her and for the sake of the Khorchin people, will not truly mistreat her. At the very least, he will ensure that she has enough to eat and wear and can live a peaceful life.

That's settled then.

Looking at the calm and composed face of Consort Borjigit, the Empress Dowager sighed inwardly.

She knew Xuan Ye, her grandson whom she had watched grow up, very well.

When Borjigit's concubine entered the palace, he promoted a bondservant concubine who had entered the palace in the same year and showered her with favor.

On the one hand, Consort Guo Luoluo was indeed beautiful.

On the other hand, there was dissatisfaction with Borjigit.

In this respect, he is quite similar to his father, Emperor Shunzhi.

They truly are a father and son from the imperial family.

All she could do was try to stop the corrupt officials in the Imperial Household Department from mistreating her.

Thinking of this, the Empress Dowager lost interest and simply raised her hand to signal them to take their leave.

——

Upon exiting the Cining Palace, Consort Nara and Consort Hesheli were waiting for Yun Yun, and she warmly invited her: "The weather is nice today, would you like to take a stroll in the Imperial Garden together?"

Yun Jun smiled and declined, "I won't go. You guys have fun."

Although the weather is warming up, it is still a bit cold for her, who was born in the south in her previous life.

I'm feeling a bit tired and lethargic, and I just want to stay in Yanxi Palace and continue to spend the winter there.

Moreover, the Imperial Garden is a hotbed of palace intrigue and incidents, and the inner palace has been rather unsettled lately, so she'd better not get involved in this mess.

Consort Nara did not insist.

She bid farewell to Yunyun: "Alright, I'll be leaving with Consort Hesheli."

——

After her afternoon nap, Yunyun decided to practice some calligraphy to pass the time.

Although the original owner could not be said to be proficient in all the arts, such as music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, he was involved in them all, especially calligraphy and painting.

After entering the palace, she discovered that the emperor preferred those who were literate and talented. In order to have more topics to talk about with the emperor, the original owner also put a lot of effort into calligraphy and painting.

Without needing Lingzhi and Fuling to attend to her personally, Yunyun wrote large characters alone in her small study.

The brush strokes across the rice paper, leaving a neat line that gradually outlines the four characters "宁静致远" (Ningjing Zhiyuan).

I was only halfway through writing when Lingzhi came in: "Your Highness, Consort Hesheli and Consort Nara have been confined to their quarters by the Emperor."

"What's going on?" Yun Jun paused, somewhat surprised.

Is she some kind of jinx? She just thought the Imperial Garden was a hotbed of palace intrigue this morning, and then this accident happened this afternoon?

Lingzhi also only had a vague understanding of the matter, and as soon as she heard the news, she quickly returned to tell her mistress.

"It is said that the two concubines said something inappropriate in the Imperial Garden, which was overheard by Concubine Guo Luoluo and the Emperor, and they were punished. It is also said that the Emperor originally punished them with a three-month confinement and a six-month salary reduction, but Concubine Guo Luoluo pleaded for them, and that was reduced to a three-month confinement."

That's not surprising.

Based on the behavior of Consort Nara and Consort Hesheli these past few days, Yun Jun was not surprised at all.

It's just that these two women are likely to have a grudge against Consort Guo Luoluo.

Although Consort Guoluo seemed unconcerned and even pleaded for her life.

But that was in front of the Emperor.

Who knows what Consort Guo Luoluo is really thinking?

Seeing that the calligraphy was doomed, Yunyun put down her brush, slightly puzzled, "How did they happen to run into the Emperor?"

Even if Consort Nara and Consort Hesheli were not so bad, one of them had given birth to a prince, and the other was once considered favored and had made a name for herself in the harem. They would not be so stupid as to loudly proclaim the badness of Consort Guoluo in the Imperial Garden.

You shouldn't be so proactive in handing over your weaknesses to others.

Lingzhi was also very curious, "Then this servant will go and inquire further."

Life in the harem is dull, especially since this involves the emperor's newly favored concubine. It's estimated that most of the harem is trying to find out what happened.

Yunyun lost her will to write and quietly waited for news.

Although she wanted to live a carefree life in the harem, she didn't want to be deaf and blind. At least she needed to know the information that everyone else knew, so as not to break any taboos.

Living in the same Yanxi Palace, Yunyun quickly learned the whole story.

"Xiao Fuzi found out that there was a patch of forsythia in the Imperial Garden that was in full bloom, and the Emperor was admiring it with Consort Guo Luoluo. The forsythia was right around the corner, and Consorts Hesheli and Nara didn't see it either. They were just walking and talking when they bumped into it."

Lingzhi sighed, as if lamenting how unlucky these two concubines were.

“At that time, Consort Nara mentioned the late Emperor’s Imperial Noble Consort Dong’e and compared Consort Guoluo to this Imperial Noble Consort, making sarcastic remarks, saying that Consort Guoluo was exactly the new Imperial Noble Consort Dong’e.”

"The Emperor was furious and ordered the two concubines to be confined to their quarters. However, Concubine Guoluo tried to dissuade him, saying that for the sake of the prince, a three-month confinement would be a minor punishment."

This statement offended three powerful figures in the imperial palace almost simultaneously.

Grand Empress Dowager, Empress Dowager, Emperor.

The Empress Dowager disliked Consort Dong'e very much during the reign of Emperor Shunzhi. Because of Consort Dong'e, the Empress Dowager and Emperor Shunzhi quarreled many times, and the mother and son became estranged.

The Empress Dowager was the Empress at the time. Emperor Shunzhi wanted to depose this Empress from Khorchin, whom he did not like, and replace her with Dong E. If it weren't for the strong dissuasion of the Grand Empress Dowager and the ministers, the Empress Dowager would have become the second Empress to be deposed.

When Consort Dong'e gave birth to the fourth prince, Emperor Shunzhi was overjoyed and called him "my first son".

The current son is the third son of Emperor Shunzhi.

He completely forgot about his imperial father.

It can only be said that Consort Nara, if she remained silent, would be fine, but once she spoke out, she offended a big shot.

Upon hearing the details, Fuling hesitated, then asked, "Your Highness, how could such a coincidence happen? Could it be that Consort Nara was framed?"

There are no purely coincidental events in the imperial harem.

Yunyun also had the same suspicion, but the target was too big and too broad.

Consort Nara had already offended many concubines with her sharp tongue, and with Consort Guoluo favored, countless people in the harem wanted her to fall from grace.

In any case, after this incident, it's impossible for the Emperor to continue favoring Consort Guo Luoluo.

It would be good if she didn't fall out of favor because of this.

The people behind them are really something else, killing three birds with one stone, a single, fatal blow.

Yun Jun could only wave her hand, "Regardless of whether Consort Nara was framed or not, with that mouth of hers, sigh, I hope she can learn a lesson this time."

Are there some things that can be said in public?

Even in one's own palace, there are some things one cannot say at will.

They're really bold and naive.

"Forget it, let's leave it at that. Tell the people in the palace not to go around spreading rumors, or don't blame me for not being able to protect you."

Although it's estimated that the women in the harem already know most of what they need to know.

But are the jokes about those in power really that entertaining?

"And Xiao Fuzi, he's clever. Give him a tael of silver."

A junior eunuch's monthly salary is only two taels of silver.

Lingzhi smiled as if she herself had received a reward, raised her hand and cupped her hands in a gesture of respect, "Then this servant will thank Your Highness for the reward on behalf of Xiao Fuzi."

Yun Jun was amused by her appearance. "Alright, let him do his job well. He'll get his due reward."

-

If a concubine is confined to her quarters, it is natural to notify Consort Niohuru, who is now in charge of the inner palace.

Not wanting to get involved in the infighting among the concubines, Consort Niohuru suppressed her impatience and said, "Speak, what happened?"

After recounting what had happened, Granny Wu cautiously said, "This servant believes that what Consort Nara said makes sense."

"As soon as Consort Guo Luoluo entered the palace, she broke many conventions. She was promoted one rank when she served the emperor, and now she is even more favored. Her promotion depends on the emperor's will."

"She's already like this before even having a child; if she had one, wouldn't she be on the verge of becoming a concubine?"

What she really wanted to say was to be on equal footing with her master.

When the late emperor had an empress, he wanted to depose her and install Lady Dong'e in his place. Now, however, there is no empress in the harem.

"Don't overthink it, Granny," Consort Niohuru sighed.

Granny Wu was indeed loyal to her, but she was too easily swayed and had a rather short-sighted view.

"My current goal is to manage the harem well, demonstrate my abilities, and become the Empress. That is my top priority."

She carefully argued with Granny Wu, “His Majesty suffered greatly at the hands of Consort Dong’e, so he would never favor one person in the harem. Consort Ma Jia and Consort Nara are both favored and have children, so they check and balance each other. I have power in the palace but no favor, while Consort Tong has favor but no power. His Majesty has his own scale in his heart when it comes to matters in the harem.”

"Just wait and see. When Consort Guo Luoluo is favored, the Emperor won't let her raise children."

As Wu Mama listened, the doubt in her eyes gradually dissipated, and she quickly nodded: "What you say is true, my lady. I was short-sighted. But why would Consort Nara, who is so muddle-headed, suddenly bring up the old story of Consort Dong'e? Given her personality, she probably doesn't even know which dynasty Consort Dong'e was from."

In Wu Mama's view

The other concubines might be playing dumb to deceive others.

Only Consort Nara was different; she was a real pig, the kind that she personally verified.

If she hadn't been lucky enough to get pregnant on her first night with the emperor, Consort Nara might be eating steamed buns in some remote, secluded palace right now.

Consort Niohuru's eyes darkened: "This is exactly what I want to investigate."

She paused, her tone growing increasingly stern: "Furthermore, pass on my message: all palace servants and eunuchs must keep their mouths shut and are forbidden from discussing the two concubines' confinement, and even more so from mentioning Consort Dong'e's name. Anyone who dares to gossip in private will be immediately punished with twenty strokes of the cane and sent to the Imperial Laundry!"

In fact, Consort Niohuru knew it in her heart.

This matter cannot be investigated.

There's no need for any physical object; it's enough for Consort Nara to hear a few ambiguous words.

If she were to do this, she would have a hundred ways to prevent anyone from finding fault with her.

Therefore, she only wanted to show the emperor her attitude.

She checked.

This action exists.

As for the others...

She's not the empress yet, is she?

The only thing to be careful about is that Consort Nara is under house arrest. She needs to have someone keep an eye on Prince Zhaoxiang and make sure he isn't neglected.