Inside the capital, the Empress Dowager received letters from the various tribes of Khorchin. Qingyan's abilities were once again on full display. The Empress Dowager had to admit that she did not have the same foresight as Emperor Kangxi, and that she had given up on Qingyan, such a promising talent.

Before Qingyan was born, Emperor Kangxi asked the Empress Dowager to choose a princess for a marriage alliance with the Khorchin Mongols. Qingyan was one of the candidates. Later, the Empress Dowager favored the eldest daughter of another military general and completely ignored the child who was still in her mother's womb.

"Su Mo'er, I asked that child for the recipes. Will the child give them to me?" The Empress Dowager looked at Su Mo'er. Back then, if she had chosen Qingyan, life in Khorchin would have been much better.

Su Mo'er lowered her head and smiled bitterly. Kangxi had planned this all along; the princess would not choose the eldest daughter of the Ulanara family. Back then, Qingyan was not yet born, while the heir of Khorchin was already ten years old—the age gap between them was too great.

The Empress Dowager put down the letter in her hand and sighed helplessly.

"Princess, the princes don't want you to come in person. This time, two princes from Khorchin have made a mistake," Su Mo'er whispered to the Empress Dowager.

If Kangxi hadn't sent Feiyanggu to support Fuquan's army, Prince Yu might have been captured by Galdan's men, and the Qing Dynasty would have suffered a humiliating defeat. Kangxi couldn't swallow this insult and ordered the Dragon Guard to investigate thoroughly. The Khorchin prince who gave the order, fearing punishment from Kangxi, secretly sent a message to Su Mo'er, hoping she could help him.

"What? Who's in trouble again?" The Empress Dowager had been cleaning up the messes for the Khorchin. Since Kangxi took personal control of the government, the Empress Dowager's power had gradually diminished, while the princes continued to cause trouble as always.

This time, she couldn't win greater honors for the Khorchin; the princes were no longer as capable in battle as Zaisang or Wu Keshan. In times of crisis, they only cared about preserving their own strength.

"Princess, the Fourth Prince and Princess Qingyan almost got into trouble too, and the Khorchin were involved in that as well." Kangxi had many sons, but only Crown Prince Yin and Fourth Prince Yin were truly valued by him.

Now, because of Consort Tong, Yinzhi is being raised by Emperor Kangxi, and even if the Empress Dowager is angry, she cannot interfere with Kangxi's actions.

She had poured so much heart and soul into Yin, but as time went by, she grew older and her energy waned. From the moment Lan Ya entered the palace, the Empress Dowager had treated her poorly, and the Empress Dowager was also involved in the poisoning incident.

"What?!" The Empress Dowager was very surprised. Yin and Qingyan's participation in the expedition had disrupted her plans.

The Jue Luo clan is utterly useless; they can't even control their own daughter. She didn't want Yin to have a powerful wife's family, so she joined forces with the Jue Luo clan to ruin Qingyan's reputation. This way, the Jue Luo clan could vent their anger, and she could also eliminate a future threat.

Su Mo'er told him about how the princes had blocked Yin's way of asking Kangxi to grant them a marriage. Those princes, seeing Qingyan's beautiful appearance, often loitered around the imperial tent, hoping to meet her.

"Damn it! I've repeatedly told you that you absolutely cannot anger Xuan Ye this time." The Empress Dowager rubbed her temples, feeling utterly defeated.

Inside the Cining Palace, the Empress Dowager and her servant Su Mo'er were discussing how to quell Fei Yanggu's anger when a commotion broke out at the entrance.

When the Empress Dowager received her brother's letter pleading for help, she was terrified. Feeling completely lost, she went to Cining Palace hoping to get help from the Grand Empress Dowager.

"Greetings to Aunt." The Empress Dowager was stunned when she saw the Empress Dowager's tearful appearance.

"Get up! How can the Empress Dowager be so careless about her image?" The Empress Dowager was annoyed. Mongolian noblewomen were always high and mighty. From the founding emperor to the previous emperor, the harems of three emperors were dominated by Mongolian noblewomen. Now, the status of Mongolian noblewomen was slowly declining.

"Aunt, please save my brother!" The Empress Dowager was truly frightened. Her brother was her greatest support in the harem. She only had this one legitimate brother; the rest were Abu's illegitimate sons, and their relationship with her was far from good.

Now, her younger brother is still the clan chief and has offered her a lot of help. This time, Kangxi clearly harbors hatred towards him, and she is afraid that Kangxi will take drastic measures.

"You've gotten involved in Fuquan's affair?" The Empress Dowager spoke very calmly. She felt particularly uneasy after hearing about Fuquan's situation from Su Mo'er.

She never expected that even the direct descendants of Khorchin would scheme against her. What kind of person was Kangxi? In Kangxi's heart, Fuquan and his brothers held a position no less important than that of the Empress Dowager.

No!

In Kangxi's mind, the Empress Dowager's status should be lower than that of his brothers.

"Aunt, he was forced." The Empress Dowager cried. In all the years she had been married into the Aisin Gioro family, she had never shed a tear when scolded by the late Emperor. But now... for her younger brother, with whom she had been close since childhood, the Empress Dowager bowed her head.

"Granin, look at me." The Empress Dowager was furious at the weak-willed Empress Dowager. "What did I say to you when you first paid your respects?"

The Empress Dowager's words awakened the Empress Dowager, who then entered the royal family. The late Emperor made her spend her wedding night alone in her room while he went to rest with the southern barbarians in Chengqian Palace, making her a laughingstock of the royal family and even the imperial clan.

From a young age, she was pampered and cherished by her clan, but upon marriage, she faced a cruel reality that greatly surprised her.

Originally, she thought that the Empress Dowager would always be able to suppress the late Emperor. After several confrontations, she was completely disappointed in the Empress Dowager. For decades, she had not had a single child. The support from her family was far less than when the late Emperor was alive. If the patriarch of the family had not met his own brother, the concubine's daughter would probably have entered the harem long ago.

“Aunt, this time it really wasn’t Akdun’s fault. He trusted the wrong person and almost framed Prince Yu.” The Empress Dowager knelt on the cold gold bricks, lowering her pride for her younger brother.

The Empress Dowager sighed. Now, even if she wanted to stop him, Xuan Ye probably wouldn't agree. No one knew Xuan Ye better than her; once that child made up his mind, he would never back down.

"Granin, Fuquan was almost injured by Galdan. Xuan Ye's investigation revealed more information than you know." The Empress Dowager would not sacrifice her relationship with Emperor Kangxi for the sake of her clan.

After all, she had to plan for the future of the Khorchin. With her gone, the Empress Dowager and Emperor Kangxi's relationship was not very close, so she hoped that Emperor Kangxi would give the Khorchin more preferential treatment out of consideration for her.

"Aunt, please save him! Even a fine is acceptable." The Empress Dowager had heard that the national treasury was empty, and that it was better for her brother to be fined than to lose his princely title.

The Empress Dowager nodded helplessly; she had no choice but to plead with Emperor Kangxi again. She hoped that Kangxi and Fuquan wouldn't hold a grudge against her.