When Qianli mentioned the Wanliuha and Wuya clans, she was only considering their family backgrounds. She didn't expect her master to know so much detail. For a moment, Qianli was speechless.
Tong Jiarongyue continued to express her prejudices against Wuya Chenglin.
To say it's prejudice isn't entirely accurate; it actually stems from women's jealousy.
Wuya Chenglin was originally a servant of Kunning Palace, but later, using Kunning Palace as a stepping stone, she was directly taken to Qianqing Palace by Emperor Kangxi.
At this stage, apart from the victim, the Empress, everyone else was somewhat unfamiliar with Wuya Chenglin. After all, she was just a dispensable palace maid, and no one cared where she went.
However, Tong Jia Rongyue was an exception. She paid attention to the daily lives of every high-ranking concubine in the harem, so the incident involving Wuya Chenglin immediately caught Tong Jia Rongyue's attention. Furthermore, the fact that Wuya had influence within the Imperial Household Department made Tong Jia Rongyue wary.
After that, everything became clear.
After persisting in the Qianqing Palace for a period of time, Wuya Chenglin successfully served the emperor. During this time, Xiuning discovered her and reminded the empress that she had not received the necessary personnel transfer. Xiuning then took advantage of the jealousy and rivalry among the palace maids to cause trouble and successfully sent Wuya Chenglin to Yonghe Palace.
Tong Jiarongyue was involved in this, so she knew even better about Wuya Chenglin's scheming to regain favor.
Her brows furrowed involuntarily, and Tong Jiarong felt a surge of displeasure. "Besides these two, are there no other candidates?"
If possible, Tong Jiarongyue had absolutely no intention of betting on Wuya Chenglin.
Qianli looked troubled. "Other people's family backgrounds might not be able to agree."
There are indeed some, including the Guo Luoluo clan member who has already been made a concubine. She was also from the bannerman clan, but her powerful influence in the army made up for her disadvantageous background.
"How many of our own people are good?"
Tong Jia Rongyue did not miss the fact that Qianli mentioned her own people when she spoke. This refers to the connections that Tong's family had sent in, including some beautiful palace maids who had entered the palace with other purposes in mind.
This is normal, just like how high-ranking concubines often prefer to have their honest and dutiful maids serve the emperor when they are unwell. However, when high-ranking concubines arrange for servants, their purpose is only to keep the emperor around on the day they are unwell, and they do not really intend to promote their maids to higher positions. Now that Tong Jia Rongyue is like this, she has the idea of using a surrogate mother, so she can only promote someone else to a higher position.
Seeing that the topic had returned, Qianli lowered her head and said, "This servant has selected three people in total. Two of them are in Jingren Palace, and one is on duty in the flower and grass room."
As she spoke, Qianli described the appearance, personality, and temperament of the three individuals in detail. She even mentally assigned them scores from highest to lowest to ensure that Tong Jiarongyue could understand them clearly.
"Of these three, how many are truly loyal to the family?"
Loyalty to her is different from loyalty to the family. Tong Jia Rongyue also knows that people's hearts are fickle. When she was a servant, she didn't have many thoughts, but when she became a master, her mindset might be different.
Tong Jiarongyue felt that surrogacy should be approached with caution, and that minimizing risks was the best way to protect her own interests.
"The person in the flower and grass house, his whole family works at the Tong family's estate."
The two people at Jingren Palace had only a purely transactional relationship; they were essentially subordinates of the Tong family.
"Find an opportunity to transfer that person from the flower and grass room to our Jingren Palace."
Qu Shou tapped the table. After speaking, Tong Jia Rongyue got up from the couch and said, "Transfer these two people from Jingren Palace as soon as possible. I don't need people like this who work for the family."
The family benefits, but that doesn't guarantee that she will benefit. Tong Jia Rongyue isn't crazy; why would she need to keep a few people to monitor her? She should use that time to figure out how to adopt a child.
...
"Waaaaah!"
"Oh dear, sweetie, don't cry, don't cry. If you cry until your voice is hoarse, your mother will be heartbroken..."
The child's innocent cries were particularly noticeable, accompanied by the woman's soft, soothing voice.
It was another morning when Xiuning woke up to hear Yinlu throwing a tantrum.
Xiuning took the fussy little baby from the wet nurse and held him in her arms, patiently coaxing and asking questions.
The wet nurse was also helpless. "The little prince is too sensitive. He will start crying at the slightest noise when he gets up in the morning. But getting up early is unavoidable. I don't know what to do."
It was really difficult to handle, because there were many people living in Qixiang Palace. No matter how careful we were, there would always be some noise. Yinlu was the kind of person who couldn't stand even the slightest sound; if he did, he would burst into tears.
Xiuning: ...
Xiuning was also helpless about this. She knew that the wet nurse had not lied to her. Yinlu did have this little problem. It was not obvious when he was born, but it became more and more prominent after he was a month old.
“Yinlu is still young, so he can stay in the side hall for now. We’ll discuss it again when Ning Chuge comes back. If it doesn’t work out, we can move him to the back hall, which is far from the main hall. We can also move all the palace staff from the surrounding area to the side hall in the front courtyard, which will be quieter.”
After much thought, Xiu Ning could only think of moving. Since Yin Lu was too young at the moment, considering the relationship between mother and son, she decided to live with her wet nurse in a side hall next to the main hall.
This position has its advantages and disadvantages. It allows you to see Xiu Ning quickly, and even if Kangxi comes over, he can see Yin Lu at a glance. However, the downside is that, like today, you have to have a little cry every morning after you get up, and you can only calm down after you've finished crying.
Tears clung to the corners of his eyes, his fair face wrinkled and pitiful. Xiu Ning shook her head gently and wiped Yin Lu's face with her handkerchief.
After he finished crying, Yinlu let out a burp and started whimpering again.
Well then, Xiu Ning simply handed Yin Lu over to the wet nurse to breastfeed, while she returned to the main hall in a disheveled state.
After being helped by Chunyu to change into casual clothes, Xiuning sat back down at the octagonal table and began to eat.
"The weather has turned cold these past two days, and instead of staying obediently in the palace, His Majesty has gone to the villa to ride horses, taking Ning Chuge with him. As a result, the Empress has complained to me quite a bit every time she pays her respects."
Shaking her head, Xiu Ning felt incredibly unlucky; what on earth had happened to her?
Chunyu quickly served the empty bowls and plates, saying, "The Emperor's favor towards the princess is a blessing for her. The Empress is just saying it; everyone knows that it was the Empress Dowager who approved it, and it has nothing to do with Your Highness."
That's true. Ning Chuge has always been in Shou Kang Palace, and he hasn't even moved to the Princess's residence.
The Emperor has been taking Ning Chuge out of the palace these days, but the Empress Dowager wouldn't allow it.
"They bully the weak and fear the strong; since those above are hard to gnaw on, they naturally take advantage of those below."
Xiuning pouted and made a complaint, then lowered her head and finished eating the food in her bowl and plate.
"Hmm, this dish is good, have some more..."
Xiuning ordered a few of her favorite dishes and filled her stomach with Chunyu's help.
She got up, wiped her lips with a handkerchief, and asked Chunyu to put away the food before going to the tatami room.
She had barely taken two steps when she heard someone calling her from outside the door, accompanied by another cry. Xiu Ning rubbed her temples, thinking, "This is never going to end."
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