After returning to Cining Palace, the Empress Dowager sat down and patted her legs, saying, "I'm getting old, I'm useless now, I can't even walk for a short while!"

Granny Su massaged the Empress Dowager's legs, saying, "We were offered a sedan chair, but you insisted on walking back yourself! Now your legs hurt!"

"Su Mo'er, get up quickly, no need to rub anymore. Let the palace maids do these things. You're not young anymore! You should rest for a while!" The Empress Dowager tried to pull Su Mo'er up, but Su Mo'er did not get up.

"It's alright, I'll continue to serve you! So please take good care of yourself, I'll stay with you forever!" Granny Su said with a smile.

"We're all getting old!" the Empress Dowager sighed.

"Yes! The eldest prince is about to get married, and the emperor will soon be a grandfather!" Granny Su said with emotion.

"What do you think of Suhetai's daughter?" the Empress Dowager asked Su's nanny.

Granny Su knew that the Empress Dowager wouldn't summon He Xue to the banquet without a reason. "Innocent and lively, well-mannered, and fluent in your presence, she is quite courageous."

Seeing that the Empress Dowager remained silent, Granny Su asked, "What do you mean?"

"Xuan Ye was a good emperor, but he was also a sentimental emperor. Because his mother died early, he made up for his debt to her by supporting the Tong family. Over the years, he has been supporting the Tong family."

Moreover, the Imperial Concubine is now the most respected concubine in the harem. Although Emperor Xuan Ye has not explicitly stated that he wants to make the Imperial Concubine Empress, I can guess that he has such thoughts!

Baoqing and Baocheng are now quite close to that girl, especially Baocheng, who has been making quite a few trips to Chengqian Palace lately.

This girl has half Tongjia blood in her, and for the sake of the stability of the Qing Dynasty, she cannot marry into the royal family.

If this girl marries the Crown Prince, there will be another concubine with Tongjia blood in the harem. It's hard to guarantee that the Tongjia clan won't harbor rebellious thoughts.

If she were to marry another prince, she might become a threat to the Crown Prince's position in the future. The Empress Dowager had dedicated her life to the Qing Dynasty, and she wanted to eliminate all possible threats to the Qing.

Only in this way could she live up to the Aisin Gioro family and not let down Emperor Taizong.

"Empress Dowager, you should now rest and enjoy your retirement. The Emperor will take care of everything!" Granny Su felt sorry for the Empress Dowager, who had worked hard for the Qing Dynasty all her life and deserved a rest.

"How can I be at ease! I originally thought Xuan Ye was different from his father, but who knew that Xuan Ye would play tricks on us!" the Empress Dowager said angrily.

Granny Su hesitated for a moment, but didn't dare to speak.

Everyone knows how much the late emperor doted on Consort Dong'e, so the Empress Dowager was most wary of her grandsons favoring a concubine in the same way their father did.

They also thought that Kangxi would learn from the lessons of the previous emperor and treat the concubines equally. Kangxi did not disappoint them and always behaved very well.

But everything changed after Consort Tongjia gave birth to the Eighth Princess.

In order to help Consort Tongjia recover from the loss of her daughter, Emperor Kangxi made a special arrangement to allow Suhetai's daughter to freely enter and leave the palace.

Emperor Kangxi would spend half of the month staying at Chengqian Palace.

At first, the Empress Dowager thought that Kangxi felt sorry for Consort Tongjia, and since Consort Tongjia was Kangxi's cousin, she didn't say anything.

But after so many years, Kangxi remained the same, and the Empress Dowager finally understood what was going on.

At first, Kangxi did not show concern for Consort Tongjia simply because he did not want her to become the target of public criticism. Now that Kangxi was capable of protecting Consort Tongjia, he no longer needed to hide anything.

The Empress Dowager felt that she should have discovered it long ago. She should have realized it when Xuan Ye bestowed Chengqian Palace upon Consort Tongjia. Chengqian Palace was where Consort Dong'e had lived!

She was wrong; she underestimated the grandson she had raised!

Therefore, she had to cut off the possibility of He Xue entering the palace, and could not allow the Tongjia clan to become too powerful.

The Empress Dowager wondered if she had prepared a decree to bestow marriage upon He Xue in advance, but later events made her very glad that she had not prepared such a decree.