Consort Ning, representing many of the imperial concubines, couldn't help but voice her grievances during a routine greeting.
However, Consort Ning's character is aloof and indifferent, so her sudden remarks surprised everyone and seemed very awkward.
After all, no one can imagine a beautiful woman crying about being ugly.
Consort Ning is now lamenting that she is out of favor and asking the Imperial Noble Consort for help, which is just as disconnected as the analogy above.
Chen Yuwei played with the beaded string in her hand, smilingly reassuring Consort Ning not to overthink things.
"It's understandable that the Emperor would visit Consort Ling more often since Consort Yu was pregnant and Consort Yu was in charge of palace affairs."
Besides, the Emperor is not someone who cannot distinguish right from wrong; he would occasionally visit his sisters' palaces.
My sisters are all the Emperor's concubines, so it wouldn't be polite for me to say too much.
But opportunities must be seized by oneself. I cannot simply force the Emperor to go; ultimately, it is up to me to keep the Emperor here.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Xia He turned around and asked the palace servants standing outside the door to bring in several beautiful trays, on which were various exquisite ornaments.
"These are my treasured items. I thought they would match the colors of all my sisters. Please accept them."
"Your humble servant/concubine thanks Her Highness the Imperial Noble Consort for her generous gift."
As the rustling sounds ceased, Chen Yuwei took the opportunity to announce that everyone could leave.
The concubines rose and respectfully saw off their superiors first. Then, they gathered in twos and threes to carefully ponder what the Imperial Noble Consort had just said.
"Since the Imperial Noble Consort encourages us to vie for the Emperor's favor, what are we afraid of?"
"But how can we win his favor? The Emperor spends most of his time resting in those two palaces. We can't just run in and ask them to come out."
"Hey, if we can't get into the palace, what about outside? We can't let the two empresses have the final say."
The Imperial Noble Consort was right when she said that one must seize opportunities.
If you can't control it, you can only accept your fate and live a painful life of being ignored and looked down upon.
Who would want to live a quiet, insignificant life where even eating a normal meal is a struggle, when they can live a good life?
I will definitely put in the effort to fight for myself, and I won't regret it even if I fail in the end.
Small groups of concubines like this are everywhere, stirring up the clear lake water, and many have jumped out.
Consort Ning, holding her maid's hand, unexpectedly did not participate in the conversation and left quietly, as if she had not been the one who started the topic in the first place.
In July, Consort Ling chose an auspicious day and gave birth to the prince in her womb.
On the third day after his birth, the child was given the name Yongyan by Emperor Hongli and was temporarily raised by Consort Ling.
After Consort Ling gave birth, she had to go through postpartum confinement, and thus temporarily lost control over the concubines in the side palace.
Without Consort Ling keeping a close watch on Banzheng every day, these people naturally couldn't compete with the concubines who had been promoted by Chen Yuwei and Consort Ning.
The two sides fought back and forth, and the final result was that Hongli's five visits to Yongshou Palace were scattered throughout the inner palace. Chen Yuwei's encouragement began to show results.
As Hongli visited the harem more frequently, everyone was occasionally able to enjoy a little bit of minced meat.
Some people couldn't resist the urge to get pregnant, thinking that it would be a huge profit and they would never have to worry about their lives after falling out of favor.
Is it easy to get pregnant if you are fertile?
After many years in the imperial harem, apart from the Imperial Noble Consort who already had a bunch of children, only Consort Ling of Yongshou Palace was able to have one child after another.
Asking Consort Ling for help in this matter was definitely unrealistic, so most of the concubines' idea was to secretly go to the Imperial Hospital to buy fertility medicine, and at the same time increase the dosage for the Emperor so that he would not be able to leave them for the time being.
This two-pronged policy ultimately resulted in the emperor's harem flourishing, while at the same time his health began to decline once again.
The repeated physical reactions made Hongli somewhat disgusted with his aging self.
The imperial physicians could treat the deficiencies in his body, but they could not restore Hongli's strength and youth.
As expected, this time Hongli did not ask the imperial physician to treat him.
He pretended not to know and continued to indulge in the eroticism of the harem, laughing and playing with the many concubines without any restraint.
The concubines who were not pregnant all had the same thought when they looked at the pregnant concubines.
The longer it went on, the more empty Hongli's body became, until his body protested. On the way back to the palace after having sex, Hongli simply fainted.
Gao Yu, who served Hongli as his personal servant, was the first to learn of this news.
He acted swiftly, first calming the palace staff around the Hall of Mental Cultivation, then sending people to invite several of the imperial physicians he frequently used, while simultaneously notifying the Imperial Noble Consort.
After everything was finished, Gao Yu waited for Hongli to wake up so he could handle the matter.
"Keep it a secret and appease him for now. We'll deal with everything once the Emperor has sobered up."
Chen Yuwei shared the same opinion after she arrived.
It's not honorable to talk about it, but the high-profile handling of those concubines makes it easier for people to guess what's going on.
Chen Yuwei, who already knew that Hongli would do this, remained extremely calm.
He told Gao Yu some things to keep in mind, and then quietly stayed in the main hall to oversee the overall situation.
As darkness fell and the Emperor regained consciousness, Chen Yuwei revealed her concern.
When Hongli opened his eyes, he saw the Imperial Noble Consort, and he felt a little embarrassed.
It's the kind of embarrassment of being caught by an acquaintance, and also the contempt for one's own actions.
However, Chen Yuwei didn't say much, but kept her eyes on Hongli's body and attributed it to being too overworked in government affairs.
Hongli: ...Hmm?
"Your Majesty, you have no idea how worried and scared I was when I heard that you had suddenly fainted in the Hall of Mental Cultivation."
The emperor was busy with court affairs, but he also had to take care of his health.
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