The grand celebration of Consort Ping's third-day celebration was a great success, as it resulted in the birth of a new prince for the Emperor.
Moreover, this young prince was fair-skinned and handsome, even more so than the sons of those young and vigorous concubines. This allowed Consort Ping to finally feel proud and triumphant.
Her son's robust health proved that her previous strict precautions were entirely correct, and in fact, they yielded excellent results.
Consort Ping, in her joy, naturally failed to notice the unusual behavior of her family and the calm and peaceful Yuqing Palace. She assumed that the other party had conceded defeat and had no choice but to accept reality.
Hearing the commotion outside, Consort Ping, who was still in confinement after childbirth, received compliments from a group of maids.
She waved her hand, her expression revealing her delight, "Go down and collect your reward money. Everyone in the palace will receive a share."
When people are happy, they like to expend effort to make their presence felt.
Consort Ping has been suppressing her emotions for so long, and now that she has finally become the master of the house, she will definitely act more high-profilely than before.
Unfortunately, Consort Ping didn't have any maids around her who could advise their mistress to be more cautious, because such people had been completely wiped out during her ten years in the harem.
Those servants who remain today, who don't know how to flatter or fawn, are a vulnerable group.
"This servant thanks Your Highness."
"Master's Charity"
"..."
Consort Ping's eyes were full of smugness. "Alright, all of you go down and collect your rewards. Remember to spread the word throughout the entire palace."
The maids all bowed their heads and replied, "Yes, we understand."
...
"Wow, it's really lively in Consort Ping's palace. This is the third wave in the past few days, isn't it?"
In the main hall of Qixiang Palace, Xiuning picked a pale yellow chrysanthemum and played with it in her hand.
Autumn is approaching, and there are very few flowers left to bloom in the palace.
The chrysanthemum in her hand is a new variety specially cultivated by the Imperial Household Department. Don't underestimate this small flower; it is very precious.
Of course, Xiu Ning considered such things useless.
It's not really that pretty, and it's not good enough to host a chrysanthemum banquet. In short, it's pretty useless.
Behind her, less than three meters away from Xiuning, stood Chunyu.
Chunyu picked up where Xiuning left off, accurately stating that four waves had already arrived from Consort Ping's side.
Perhaps she was genuinely happy, because Consort Ping didn't hold back, even though she was still in confinement.
"Your Majesty, when should we inform Consort Ping of the information we've uncovered?"
Spring rain refers to the incident where Consort Ping was drugged. Consort Ping was fine, but the chubby little prince was suffering from internal exhaustion.
Regardless of what might happen if we wait any longer, the name of the medicine doesn't sound very good.
"Let's wait a bit longer. We haven't revealed anything yet. If we say anything now, Consort Ping will think we're deliberately trying to sow discord."
Consort Ping even suspected that Xiu Ning was deliberately plotting against her, wanting her to take the lead and cause a life-or-death struggle with the family to create value for Xiu Ning.
Yes, this is a point that all women in the harem would think of, after all, there is no such thing as a free lunch.
In an era where even one's own family can't be trusted, expecting a complete stranger to be loyal to you is truly wishful thinking.
"Besides, we don't need to take action on this matter. Leaving a handle on us could easily backfire."
Xiu Ning pondered for a moment, then suddenly realized that it was the Crown Prince who had plotted against Yin Yi, and that it was the late Empress's connections who had drugged Consort Ping and her son.
Hmm, if handled well, could we remove one of the Crown Princess's arms, making the Crown Prince more restrained, and opening a door to the throne for others?
It's more interesting when there are many people. If there are only one or two people jumping around, how can it show Kangxi's ability to raise people?
Moreover, no one forced Kangxi to step down. Given his vigorous energy, he would probably sit on the throne for another sixty years before stepping down.
This won't do; Xiuning will not allow Kangxi to reign for such a long time.
Therefore, shortening Kangxi's reign is her most important task at present.
"I'm afraid the side effects of the medication on Consort Ping's child will soon become apparent."
"At that time, you will deliver the message to the First Prince, who will then take the lead in handling it."
The First Prince would be happy to see infighting among the Hesheli clan, and with Consort Hui about to be released, he has no one truly loyal to him. It's the perfect time to take advantage of the situation.
Xiu Ning sighed, a smile playing on her lips, the kind of smile that usually graced her face.
Chunyu immediately understood, "Your Majesty, rest assured, this servant understands."
It's too easy to just find a point of conflict between these two groups.
Moreover, the eldest prince also had a remarkably capable eighth prince by his side.
Chunyu dared not underestimate this person. Despite his young age, he was much bolder than most.
Chunyu knew she couldn't be cunning when she had a weakness that others could exploit, but the Eighth Prince dared to, and he did it flawlessly. To this day, neither Consort Hui nor the First Prince have noticed anything amiss.
As for why the others didn't expose what the Eighth Prince had done, after all, the harem was a place where everyone swept the snow from their own doorstep, and what was the frost on someone else's roof?
Chunyu strictly followed Xiuning's orders: she would never say what she shouldn't say, she would never do what she shouldn't do, and she would wait until the time was up before doing anything else.
With this in mind, Qixiang Palace returned to peace once again.
However, in Consort Ping's palace, the inevitable decline follows the height of prosperity, and the consequences after the initial excitement gradually became apparent.
First of all, Consort Ping's health improved more and more. She was so healthy that, despite knowing that childbirth would severely deplete a woman's resources, especially since she was an older mother, she actually cured her pre-existing ailments through childbirth.
They thought it was a sign of divine mercy, a special favor for the mother and son, but unexpectedly, problems arose with the young prince, who should have been fine.
The little boy refuses to drink milk, no matter how much he cries and fusses.
And you have to vomit it up within half an hour of drinking it.
Because he couldn't eat, the young prince's chubby body quickly became thin.
He quickly became sickly and lacked the energy and spirit a child should have.
Realizing something was wrong, Consort Ping asked the imperial physician to examine the prince. However, the skilled physician failed to detect the prince's problem and the medicine he prescribed had little effect, making the prince's body even weaker.
"It's happening again, it's happening again." She had already given birth to the child safely, and she should be living a life of vying for favor with her adopted son. Why did something happen to the child again?
Consort Ping couldn't understand it. She had poured countless efforts into it, but the result was completely different from what she had expected. She simply couldn't accept it.
"Your Majesty, the little prince has vomited again. The wet nurses are at a loss, and the imperial physician hasn't arrived yet. What should we do?"
The maid looked at Consort Ping with worried eyes, as if she were looking at her pillar of support.
But at this moment, Consort Ping had lost her composure and didn't even know what to do.
"Come with me to take a look."
Clenching her trembling hands, Consort Ping took a deep breath. Her steps were exceptionally firm, as if she were heading to a battlefield with no outcome.
The maid dared not say anything more, keeping her head down as she followed behind Consort Ping.
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