Seeing this, Sumalagu had the palace maids serve tea to the Empress and others who had gone inside, while she went to the small Buddhist hall in the side hall to invite the Empress Dowager out.
"Is everyone here?"
Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang clasped her hands together, her gaze calm as she looked at the Buddhist shrine directly in front of her.
Sumalagu lowered her head. "Everyone is here, except for the Borjigit concubine from Yonghe Palace."
"Qiqige?" Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang asked thoughtfully, "Why didn't she come?"
Sumalagu could only tell Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang that Consort Borjigit had accidentally fallen and injured herself while going out, and that she had to call the imperial physician.
Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang frowned. "Qiqige is not such a reckless child." As the person who raised Qiqige from childhood, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang understood Qiqige better than anyone else. After all, her earliest plan was to have Qiqige emulate Consort Jing and the Empress Dowager during the reign of the late Emperor, and to learn from their shortcomings of having no emotional foundation with Shunzhi. She planned to cultivate a childhood sweetheart relationship between Qiqige and Kangxi so that Qiqige could secure her future position as Empress.
Who would have thought that plans could not keep up with changes? At that time, the late emperor passed away quickly, and Xuan Ye had no choice but to ascend the throne at the tender age of eight.
At that time, their harem was filled with orphans and widows, and there were ministers in the court who were eyeing them covetously. Empress Xiaozhuang had to consider the difficulty of Xuan Ye taking power and the aftereffects that the four regents would leave behind. Therefore, she had no choice but to give up Qiqige as empress and instead choose Hesheli Fangyi as empress.
Even so, Qiqige still entered the harem and became one of Emperor Kangxi's concubines.
Although Qiqige is currently only a concubine without a formal title, she enjoys the same treatment as a concubine. The Yonghe Palace where she resides is magnificent, and Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang would never make Qiqige suffer in terms of food, clothing, or daily necessities.
Sumalagu paused for a moment, then explained in a low voice, "Consort Borjigit may have been framed."
Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang's eyes were sharp. "Investigate. I have already wronged Qiqige so much. If anything happens to her, I will have no way to explain it to her parents and relatives."
The Mongolian prince sent his daughter to the palace from a young age. It cannot be denied that the prince also had ambitions for power and profit, but he also had unwavering trust in Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang. Based on this, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang could not allow anything to happen to Qiqige.
Sumalagu nodded. "Don't worry, Master, I understand."
After finishing discussing the Yonghe Palace matter, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang rose, took Sumalagu's hand, and slowly made her way to the main hall.
When the Empress and others saw Xiaozhuang enter, they all stood up and bowed to her to greet her.
"Rise, all of you. Please take your seats."
The number of concubines in the harem is not large at present, and the entire hall can accommodate them all.
Empress Xiaozhuang did not engage in any rank discrimination. Whether one was the Empress or a concubine, everyone had a seat available. However, the distance between them and Empress Xiaozhuang was irrelevant.
"Consort Shu and Consort Zhang, you are both pregnant. You no longer need to make special trips to Cining Palace to pay your respects to me. Just stay in the palace and take good care of your babies. We will wait for the imperial heir to be born safely."
Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang exempted Consort Shu and Lady Zhang from paying their respects at Cining Palace, which was a good thing for both of them, especially Lady Zhang, who breathed a sigh of relief.
The two men smiled and rose, quickly bowing to Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang to express their gratitude.
Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang waved her hand, her face gentle and kind, "The most important thing in the affairs of the harem is to bear children for the Emperor. You two are both meritorious officials."
"Su Ma, go and fetch the three strings of Buddhist prayer beads that I kept in the storeroom."
After turning around and explaining, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang did not forget to explain the origin of the Buddhist beads in a casual manner.
These were all treasures blessed by masters with profound Buddhist knowledge; Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang took them out to pray for the well-being of her children.
Ma Jia was overjoyed to be brought along, and she readily offered sweet words that were free of charge.
Hesheli Fangyi sat at the very front, her smile growing increasingly stiff.
What did the Empress Dowager mean? She exempted Consort Shu and Lady Zhang (mainly Lady Zhang) from paying their respects, so wouldn't she also have to follow suit? Otherwise, she would be accused of disrespecting her elders, and she wouldn't know how to respond.
And that next sentence, "bearing offspring"? Is it implying that she hasn't tried hard enough and hasn't given the emperor a legitimate son?
The more Hesheli Fangyi thought about it, the more confused she became, and the more chaotic her mind became. The pressure around her also unconsciously dropped a lot.
Xiu Ning was astonished. It seemed as if the Empress had set a trap for Consort Shu. The Empress Dowager was also very dissatisfied with the Empress. The few words she had just spoken clearly had ulterior motives.
Sure enough, the Empress's change in expression perfectly illustrated that the relationship between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law has never been good since ancient times (Empress Xiaozhuang raised Emperor Kangxi for a longer period of time than his own mother).
Empress Xiaozhuang seemed oblivious to the Empress's expression, spending the entire greeting ceremony focusing on matters concerning the imperial offspring.
The Empress felt withdrawn and aggrieved, and aside from making muffled noises to keep the atmosphere lively, she kept her head down the entire time.
The two newly arrived Mongolian concubines also became the focus of Xiaozhuang's attention. Xiuning initially thought that she would inevitably be reminded by Xiaozhuang, but Xiaozhuang did not pay any attention to her at all. She only asked about her background and then changed the subject, and did not pay much attention to her.
Oh dear, it seems she's being ignored by Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang.
Xiu Ning, feeling looked down upon, sneered inwardly, but outwardly listened to the back-and-forth exchanges among the crowd (mainly the Empress Dowager).
When I came out of Cining Palace, it was already broad daylight.
Empress Hesheli Fangyi's first words were to tell Zhang to return to the palace and take good care of her pregnancy. "The Empress Dowager also said that the imperial heir is important, so there is no need for her to come to the Kunning Palace to pay her respects in the future."
Upon hearing this, Zhang was naturally extremely grateful. Who would want to go if they could avoid it? With several months pregnant, she not only had to endure the ridicule of others but also lived in constant fear. Was she crazy or stupid?
"Alright, that concludes today's greetings. Everyone, please return to the palace promptly."
After the Empress finished speaking, she took Tan Yun's hand and got into the sedan chair and left.
"Respectfully bidding farewell to Her Majesty the Empress"
"Cuizhi, let's go back too," Consort Shu realized at this moment. Damn it, she opened it for the sake of Lady Xitala, so why was she acting like she was missing a brain and chasing after other people like crazy?
Consort Shu glared at Xiu Ning in secret, gave a soft snort, and then left.
"Respectfully bidding farewell to Consort Shu"
After the two high-ranking concubines left, the others simply dispersed on the spot. Xiu Ning, holding Chun Yu's hand, hurried towards Qi Xiang Palace.
Just then, a woman's voice came from behind, "Sister Xitala."
Hmm? Xiu Ning turned around and saw Nala Shi approaching with a smiling face.
Consort Nara
Xiu Ning nodded, her tone distant, clearly indicating she didn't want to have anything to do with this person.
"Is my sister going back to the palace? Why don't you come and sit with me?"
As if she couldn't understand what was being said, Nara simply extended a warm invitation, leaving Xiuning completely bewildered.
Xiuning declined Nara's invitation again, citing the need for food, and promised to visit her when she had time in the future.
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