The unlucky Emperor Kangxi

Eldest sister Shuxian's birthday had passed. Yao Jing scratched her head. She still didn't know when her own birthday was. She only remembered it was in the summer. She counted on her fingers, but she couldn't remember any other family members' birthdays except this one. She only vaguely remembered that before the July earthquake, her mother led her siblings to the front to pay their respects several times. It seemed that because the grandfather was fighting in the south, this was the only way to pay respects on his birthday... What about Fu Dali's birthday? It seemed to be a few days after the haircut? At that time, she was too busy mourning the loss of her hair. Qingde's... I forgot, but it was before the earthquake.

Kangxi was an emperor plagued by many disasters. Not to mention the deaths of his parents, relatives, and friends as a child. Once he became emperor, powerful ministers emerged, forcing him to force his way through new policies by forcing him to marry young women. Once he eliminated the powerful ministers, he began to force his sons to die. Yao Jing, a Qing Dynasty history buff, knew this because the maids in her family said in October, "I heard that a noble lady in the palace has given birth to a prince. What a blessing!"

Then, the two maids began to chatter about this prince's ranking. Normally, this kind of thing wouldn't be known to the general public, unless the princes grew up and started causing trouble, or the emperor made it known to the world. But because this family lived in the capital, and apparently held a high status, whenever there was a wedding or funeral in the palace, they would go to join in the fun, prepare gifts, and wait until the prince reached his hundredth birthday, depending on the circumstances, to present them to the palace, sometimes even having to kowtow. The preparations couldn't be hidden from anyone, and there were fixed rules for what kind of gifts to give to people of different ranks, so even the maids knew about it.

Now, back to the point. As mentioned earlier, Kangxi lost many sons, so the numbers of his sons changed frequently. The two girls, who were not good at math, couldn't even count on their fingers to figure out which prince's number was. Yao Jing was even more confused, and could only sigh at the strength of Kang Shifu's aura. Look, two of his first wives died, and who knows how many of his concubines died. And then there was Wu Sangui's rebellion, during which some Mongols almost reached the capital. Yao Jing also knew from memorizing exam questions that in Kang Shifu's first year as emperor, Taiwan was handed over to Zheng Chenggong from the Dutch. From then on, the southeast was in turmoil. Ahem, Zheng Chenggong had also caused unrest before.

Then came the various natural disasters. From the moment he ascended the throne, the capital's land was in turmoil every few days, even to the point where the maids were no longer alarmed. During this time, two of his wives died. It was truly... If you add in the chaotic, almost intricate struggle for the throne, with its confusing names and factions, Kangxi truly never had a peaceful life.

"Being fought against by heaven is endless; being fought against by earth is endless; being fought against by people is endless. This is truly a true portrayal of Kangxi's life," Yao Jing commented.

Whether he was a Purple Star or a Blessing Star was none of Yao Jing's business. She, a young woman, still had to memorize the numbers "three, hundred, and thousand" and learn to speak (in Manchu). Her mother hadn't been paying much attention to her lately. It was the end of the year, and she had to prepare various New Year gifts, some for the palace and some for relatives. They had only recently learned that their grandfather had been implicated in July, allegedly sent to a certain area for relief work, but he had refused to go. Yao Jing didn't know the details; she only heard them because she was young and, when the adults spoke, they essentially ignored her.

Therefore, the gifts sent to the palace this year had to be extra thoughtful. In addition, according to custom, gifts had to be prepared for the great-uncle who was an official in another place. Standard Dad's family was very large, and Standard Dad's grandfather's family seemed to be related to Master Kang. Anyway, there were all kinds of high-ranking relatives, and they had to prepare things for the New Year at home, and prepare the warehouse to store the New Year gifts sent by others.

The only reward during this time was that she finally knew her current last name. She could have known it sooner. Once, when her mother brought the children over, claiming her uncle's family was visiting, Yao Jing twisted her head and finally parted the curtains in the car to see her front door. Then, to her utter embarrassment, there was no sign on her front door! Damn, wasn't it clearly written: "Family of Jia Baoyu"? If they couldn't let me know their last name, at least they should have let me know the status of their family!

She had no idea that these days, people didn't hang their names or official titles above their doors. Plaques with names like "XXX Duke's Mansion," "Zhang Mansion," or "Zhao Mansion" didn't exist in the first place; they were just random creations from TV dramas.

Have you ever seen the large plaque with the words "Imperial Palace" hanging on the gate tower of the Forbidden City? There is a □ in front and Shenwu Gate in the back.

It's true that there's a plaque on the door of a study room that says something like "Rizhizhai." If your family has a top scholar, there might be a plaque like "Zhuangyuandi," but you definitely won't see something like "Zhang Zhuangyuan's Home." But there might be a vertical plaque inside the door...

Uh, I've strayed off topic again. Let's get back to the point. She knew her last name, or maybe Qingde couldn't help but want to teach her how to write, seeing how quickly she could recite. Fu Dali stopped him. "You're being naughty again," he said. "Let me teach you." He didn't even need to trace the characters, just scribbled on the paper. He first wrote the character for "石" (stone) and asked Yao Jing, "Do you recognize it?"

Yao Jing pronounced it correctly, and Fu Dali smiled and said, "By the way, you must write this character correctly. It's our family name." And so, a year and seven months after arriving in this world, Yao Jing realized that the "Second Miss of the Shi Family" might be referring to her. Luckily, her last name was Shi. If it had been Rangsi or Feng, who knows how long it would take to find out! Damn, such a simple character, why didn't they tell me it was our family name when they first taught me to recognize it?!

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Finally, in the 18th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, she was dressed in brand new clothes, a gold necklace with a padlock inlaid with gems and pearls, and heavy gold bracelets on her hands and feet. With a red string tied in her hair, the lively Yao Jing finally stopped breastfeeding and started eating.

When weaning her, everyone was worried. You know, weaning a child isn't easy. Some children cry for a few days before accepting the reality, but even those few days are exhausting. There are even more difficult children, and you never know how long it will take to successfully wean them. Some still cling to breast milk until they're seven or eight years old.

The family's morals were quite positive, and they didn't indulge their children too much. It was said that when Fu Dali had been making a fuss for two months, Qingde had sent the wet nurse home and not allowed her to see him for six months. Even the more sensible Da Niuniu had to put in a lot of effort, and was only able to come here with Aunt Zhang by her side.

When it came to Yao Jing, everything went very smoothly. This was nonsense. She couldn't really be used to being breastfed, could she? Especially when everyone around her was eating. The aroma of pure, natural, pollution-free food tempted Yao Jing all the time. Unfortunately, her teeth hadn't grown in yet...

Yao Jing enjoyed the delicious meal and felt in high spirits. Some, however, were filled with melancholy. Although the fighting was still going on, Wu Sangui was dead, and the situation was improving. The atmosphere in Beijing had relaxed somewhat. After all, it hadn't been lively for years. Look, the Three Feudatories had been causing trouble for so long, who would dare join in the fun in Beijing? Even if the fighting had been going on for years and things hadn't gotten serious, it couldn't withstand the deaths of Master Kang's two wives, the deaths of his sons, and the earthquake.

Just when everyone thought the second anniversary of Kangxi's death was approaching, and after a year, maybe it was time to start planning some fun, something unexpected happened in Kangxi's family during the first month of the lunar year. Let me repeat myself here—Kangxi had all sorts of sons die—this time it was a prince. A son died in the first month of the lunar year, Kangxi! How did you offend the heavens?!

That was fine; the child was stillborn, so it didn't really prevent everyone from enjoying themselves. After all, earthquakes only came every three or two years, sometimes even longer. The death of a wife or son was a matter for Kangxi's family, and at most, it only made the people around them slightly unhappy. In Yao Jing's current family, they just followed the rules and everything was fine. But if it didn't rain, that would be a big problem.

On the second day of the second lunar month, Yao Jing finished shaving her head, touched her scalp, and gazed at the sky—what a blue sky! From then on, until Yao Jing's second birthday in the Qing Dynasty, not a single drop of water fell. Well, come to think of it, it didn't snow last winter either.

The housekeeper from E'niang's place often came over to ask for things. The balance of income and expenditure in the family usually had to go through the mistress's hands. Although matters outside the home required men to step in, Second Uncle was a palace guard. His rest time was irregular. He was usually on duty in the palace for a few days, and then on duty for a few days. He also had to watch the night shift. Sometimes, when there was something to ask him, he happened to be on duty. It was impossible to arrest someone in the emperor's house, so many matters outside the home were also handled by E'niang. Yao Jing knew that it was not raining, but she did not think too deeply about it. She had a complete system and was not affected by the drought at all. As the one who managed the household affairs, E'niang was greatly affected by the drought. If there was a drought, the harvest of the family farm would be affected.

The housekeeper came back more often, and Yao Jing had heard about it, so she couldn't help but worry.

I heard the emperor went there to pray for rain, and the streets were closed. Master Kang, you're still superstitious!

Just as word got out that the emperor had personally prayed for rain, within two hours—it rained!

The girls stood on the porch, pointing and laughing at the ground in the yard as they watched the raindrops fall. Yao Jing sat in the house, dumbfounded...

Is this even possible?!

Oh my goodness, deep down you love Master Kang, don't you? You just don't know how to express it, right? So you're like a little kindergarten boy, bullying the little girl you like to get her attention? So you're constantly giving Master Kang a hard time, until he begs you for mercy, and then you realize your true feelings? And then you grant his every request?

It turns out not to be!

Because in July of the eighteenth year of the Kangxi reign, the capital was hit by another earthquake! And it was a very serious one!

The house swayed, and even the calm citizens of Beijing lost their composure. Walls collapsed, houses crumbled, and groundwater bubbled up! Dust billowed, birds fluttered, and loud noises filled the air. Yao Jing had a false sense of security, thinking it was 2012. Perhaps she could finally get back to her old self? Yao Jing's mind raced with the most unrealistic thoughts.

Time travel isn't something you can just do whenever you want. Often, those who want to travel aren't allowed to, while those who don't want to are forced to. So Yao Jing quietly watched as her family cleaned up the mess. Her house was relatively sturdy; the main room didn't collapse, but the servants' quarters were largely destroyed, killing several and crushing many others.

The first thing my mother did when she realized what was happening was to send someone to the government school to see if her two sons were safe. She then brought her two daughters over to check on them. Big Girl was just a child after all, and her face was red from crying. Yao Jing didn't cry, but her face was pale! This wasn't even on the same level as last year's earthquake! My mother was terrified and almost thought she was crazy. She hugged her and patted her on the back several times. Yao Jing twitched her lips and said in a sleepwalking tone, "Mom, I'm fine."

Fu Dali and Qingde returned, both looking displeased and dusty, though fortunately unharmed. Second Uncle also sent a messenger to greet them, saying the situation outside was chaotic and asking everyone to keep a close eye on the gates and avoid wandering around. He was a palace guard, and on his day off, he took the opportunity to help with matters outside. Once everything was almost ready, he returned to the palace to demonstrate his loyalty, lest Master Kang think he was being disloyal.

At this point, no one dared to stay indoors, so they packed up their belongings and huddled in the open space. Then the steward came in and said, "The northeast corner of the warehouse has collapsed." When my mother learned it was just a warehouse for storing crude household items, she wasn't too concerned and only asked about the casualties.

Four days later, someone from the relevant government department came to my house and asked, "Is everything alright at home?" My God! How many days has it been?

But when people come to investigate under imperial decree, they still have to say in a gentle voice, "It's all good, the grace of the Emperor is great." Damn it! Even if it wasn't great, we still managed to get through it.

After the earthquake, people had to go on with their lives. Those who needed to go to school went to school, those who needed to go to work went to work, those who needed to be buried were buried, those who needed to be repaired were repaired, and those who needed to repair their houses had to repair their houses. The court finally responded and provided subsidies for collapsed houses and exempted taxes.

The earthquake wiped out many people's livelihoods. Twenty years of hard work were thrown back to the days before liberation. Yao Jing was two and a half years old, and Da Niuniu was five, even older in lunar age. Mother decided to hire a teacher to teach them how to read. After all, girls from such a family didn't need to be talented, but it was best for them to learn some literacy; at least it would make it easier for them to manage the household.

Her husband was away, her son was young, and her younger uncle wasn't married yet, so she didn't have many connections. Ultimately, she turned to her mother's family. A respectable maid from her uncle's family arrived to answer the call. Yao Jing was in her mother's main room with her eldest sister and heard the whole thing. The person who answered the call was articulate and clear-headed. Through her response, Yao Jing learned that her mother's family, the Xilut clan of the Plain White Banner of Mongolia, had found a husband.

A bannerman under the Zhengbai banner, his surname was Jiang. He had passed the imperial examination but not yet the jinshi degree. With the world in turmoil, he feared being sent to the war-torn south as cannon fodder. Bannermen could shed their banner status, not just through favors but also through passing the jinshi degree. This man's goal was to transition from a bannerman to a common Manchu citizen within the banner, erm, the Han army banner. Because his house collapsed in an earthquake, his family's finances were severely depleted, so he decided to teach to supplement his income.