"Your Highness Consort Hui, if there's nothing else, this servant will take his leave."

Li Dequan bowed and looked at Consort Hui standing to the side. He sighed inwardly and turned to leave.

Humans!

Although he was a servant, he had been with the Emperor for so long that even if he didn't fully understand the Emperor and Empress's thoughts, he could guess them pretty accurately.

The reason those concubines were able to be sent away a few years ago was because they had no children.

Whether they leave or stay, the Emperor and Empress will absolutely not make things difficult for them.

Can Consort Ke Hui be compared to her?

She's the mother of the eldest prince, and he's about to get married and start participating in court politics. How could she possibly be released so easily?

No wonder she gave birth to the eldest prince; she's quite simple-minded.

Despite being the head of the four concubines, she was suppressed by several others and unable to rise in rank before the Empress entered the palace.

This brain isn't enough.

Shaking his head inwardly, he soon arrived at Qingxi Palace.

Consort Hui had never expected to be refused; she thought leaving the palace was a sure thing, and was caught off guard.

Looking at the neatly packed underwear, I felt like I'd been slapped in the face.

"If you clearly won't be favored, why won't you let me leave the palace?!"

Afraid of being overheard, he threw the small bundle on the ground and growled in a muffled voice.

But all she could do was get angry; there was nothing she could do.

She still vividly remembered Emperor Kangxi's warning; she dared not gamble, nor could she gamble.

A farce was nipped in the bud, and no one knew that it was actually Harigana who disagreed; everyone assumed that it was Kang who refused.

From beginning to end, no one suspected her.

However, Harigana didn't care, and Kangxi certainly didn't.

When Consort Yi and Consort Rong learned of this, they both shook their heads in secret, and no one came to see her.

There was no schadenfreude, after all, none of them had had a good time these past few years.

Yinqi was raised under the Empress Dowager's care, and after being frightened by Consort Yi last time, he became noticeably distant.

Although he would still visit her from time to time and even bring her new gadgets, his heart was not with her.

Coupled with Consort Yi's complaints and disdain during those years, as well as her words about the Empress Dowager behind her back, all of these were the fuse that eroded the mother-son relationship.

Harigana never spoke ill of Consort Yi, but he never mentioned her name in front of Yinqi.

Therefore, it has nothing to do with her whichever way the concubine and Yinqi get.

As for Consort Rong, although she still harbored resentment over the years, with her children growing up and Yin Fu's position as crown prince becoming more secure, no one would support her even if she had any ideas.

Moreover, while Yinzhi was very learned, she lacked Yinfu's innate charisma; in comparison, she was the clown.

These three were honest and upright people, so the rest of the people were even more honest and upright, and dared not cause any trouble.

At the New Year's Eve palace banquet, Consort Hui met Yinti.

"Mother, is there something you want to tell your son?"

Yinti looked at Consort Hui, who seemed hesitant to speak, wanting to hear what she would say.

Since the incident at the Mulan Hunting Grounds, he has learned to remain expressionless when facing Consort Hui.

"It's nothing. Mother is just happy to see her son grow up, get married, and start his own family."

Consort Hui dared not say too much, fearing that he would impulsively go to Emperor Kangxi and ask her to leave the palace.

If the Emperor disagrees, and given Yinti's straightforward nature, it would be bad if he said something wrong and offended the Emperor.

Seeing Consort Hui like this, Yinti had a momentary urge to go find Emperor Kangxi and take Consort Hui away.

Before he could make up his mind, he heard: "Your mother recently looked at portraits of several noblewomen. After your wedding, we can start making arrangements to choose a concubine."

Your father already has children at your age; you should hurry up and have more children.

Yinti's hesitant heart hardened instantly: "Mother, the Fujin (principal wife) hasn't entered the household yet, why are you looking at the concubine now?"

This matter will be handled by Father Emperor. You'd better not meet with him casually, lest you displease him.

At this moment, he was somewhat glad that he had not agreed to Consort Hui leaving the palace; otherwise, the Grand Prince's residence might have been in complete chaos.

"So what? What man doesn't have multiple wives and concubines?"

Consort Hui clearly hadn't thought it through, but seeing Yinti's disapproving expression, she only said this much and didn't say anything more.

The palace banquet began with dining, watching performances, drinking wine, and receiving rewards—everything was the same as in previous years.

Although this year's palace banquet didn't feature hot pot like last year, each dish was served over a specially made small candle, so it wasn't too hot to eat, but also not too cold.

"Jiaojiao, what are you looking at?"

Seeing that Harigana was glancing down from time to time, Kangxi also glanced at him a couple of times, but there was nothing particularly special about it.

"That little girl seems quite clever."

Harigana glanced at a young girl below him; she had rosy lips and white teeth and was extremely pretty.

"like?"

Emperor Kangxi didn't find anything special about it; with such a gem before him, everyone else seemed ordinary.

Now, in his eyes, everything is the same except for Harigana.

"It's alright, but I haven't seen it in the past few years, so I'm a little curious."

If she remembered correctly, the people at the table below were from the Ulanara clan, and that girl should be Yinzhen's wife.

However, he was confined to the Fourth Prince's mansion for the rest of his life, so it's uncertain whether they will ever be together.

Kangxi glanced at it again, but still didn't find anything unusual, and then forgot about it.

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