"Your Majesty flatters me. I am merely following orders and have no right to offer any guidance."
The Emperor invited the Empress here today to discuss the upcoming trip to the border regions.
Now that Mongolia is behaving itself and there is no disturbance on the border, the imperial court has become a one-man show exclusively for Hongli.
Now free from various political pressures, Hongli could do whatever he wanted.
For most of the year, Hongli was not in the Forbidden City, but instead traveled all over the country with his entourage on inspection tours.
The spring rains this year have been plentiful, so Hongli hasn't had a chance to leave the palace yet. Chen Yuwei thought he would give up on the idea and stay in the palace to cause trouble peacefully. Little did she know that Hongli, though honest, was restless and had been keeping secrets from her.
Looking up at Gao Yu, who had a sheepish grin on his face, Chen Yuwei raised an eyebrow. "His Majesty's desire to go beyond the Great Wall for inspection is naturally for the sake of the country and its people."
I wonder if His Majesty has specified which concubines from the harem he intends to take with him on this trip out of the palace?
Hearing something from Gao Yu is more likely to be true than asking her yourself.
It can be said that at this time, Hongli was more patient with Gao Yu than with her, whether it was due to attraction between the same sex or something else.
Chen Yuwei believes that as Hongli gets older, he completely loses the ability to distinguish right from wrong.
Both his style of doing things and his methods of handling matters are surprisingly unrestrained.
The reason why Emperor Kangxi orchestrated the Nine Princes' Succession Struggle was because there was an irreconcilable conflict between Kangxi and the Crown Prince, and the other sons were needed to act as a shield to share the burden for Kangxi.
Now, Hongli is doing things on a whim, simply because he finds life too boring and wants to add some novelty to his life.
After all, Hongli had gone to the south with his entourage two years ago and had even more elaborate activities.
At that time, Chen Yuwei was in the palace and even received letters from Hezhuo and Fuling'a complaining about the absurd things Hongli had done. It completely shattered her worldview.
Based on this, Chen Yuwei became increasingly fond of encouraging the concubines in the harem to use various means to vie for Hongli's favor.
Despite the fact that Hongli lived to be 89 years old in history, times have changed. The fact that Hongli was able to abdicate peacefully is a disrespect to those aphrodisiacs.
Gao Yu whispered a few names, all of which were concubines that Chen Yuwei found relatively unfamiliar.
I wonder where Hongli found this new favorite.
Looking up at Gao Yu, Chen Yuwei smiled and, holding Xing Kui's hand, slowly walked into the main hall.
Inside the main hall, Hongli sat in a chair with his hands folded and head bowed in deep thought.
As soon as Chen Yuwei entered the room, she saw Hongli pretending to be a thinker.
Chen Yuwei: ...
The older he gets, the more trouble he causes. Does he really think he's some kind of wise ruler? It's just that everything is just right, the timing is perfect, and the people are in harmony.
The more experiences Chen Yuwei had, the more she understood the luck and irreplaceable nature of Hongli's rise to power.
"Your Majesty, I greet you! Long live the Emperor!"
"Oh, it's the Imperial Concubine. No need for formalities, please take a seat."
Hongli's voice was no longer as magnetic as before, and looking at his face, one could not find a trace of the handsome features he had in his youth.
Now, Hongli looks like an ordinary old man, with loose skin, cloudy eyes, and a few faint age spots.
This is the best proof that wine and women are harmful to health. If Hongli himself did not give up wine and women and became addicted to them, no one could pull him back from the brink of danger.
Chen Yuwei sighed inwardly and sat down to recount everything she had just said to Gao Yu.
"Your Majesty will later arrange for the Imperial Household Department to organize things according to the usual procedures. I wonder which of the many principal consorts in the harem Your Majesty intends to take with you when you go out?"
During an inspection tour, it's certainly fine to let the emperor take charge of the overall direction, but it's definitely not appropriate to leave the minor details and trivial matters to others.
Moreover, given Hongli's extremely strong sense of self-esteem, it was even more impossible for him to allow those insignificant concubines around him to represent the dignity of the Qing Dynasty.
The most common method is to bring one or two concubines of the rank of imperial consort or above to be in charge of external communication matters.
However, the women in the harem have had a tough time these past few years; some have died, some have fallen ill, and some have been injured.
Those who are still presentable and of high standing are Consort Ling, Consort Ning, Consort Ying, Consort Dun, Consort Lan, and Consort Rong.
Based on her past habits when going out, Chen Yuwei randomly arranged combinations in her mind.
"Your Majesty, what do you think of Consort Ling and Consort Rong?"
These two were considered to be among the most favored members of the palace in the eyes of the emperor, so they wouldn't have offended the emperor on the way and been chased back halfway.
Having experienced the bizarre events surrounding Consort Chun, Chen Yuwei was unwilling to let the remaining few also perish.
It's true, Consort Chun's passing was even more frustrating than recorded in history.
Historically, at least he died of illness, and he received the posthumous honors he deserved.
But this time, Consort Chun was sent back by Hongli halfway, and she fell ill and died immediately after returning, highlighting the speed of her death.
Yongrong, the son who had married and had children, couldn't help but go to the emperor to argue because of his mother's fate, but that didn't stop him from being adopted out.
That incident caused a huge uproar back then, and even Chen Yuwei, who was hiding behind the scenes, was singled out and criticized by Hongli, which shows how crazy Hongli is now.
"Consort Ling and Consort Rong?"
Hongli hesitated for a moment, but ultimately chose Consort Rong and kept Consort Ling.
"Consort Ling has just lost two princes, and her body cannot withstand it. It is best to let her stay in the palace and recuperate."
Consort Ling was promoted from Consort to Noble Consort in recent years, largely thanks to the children she gave birth to.
Unfortunately, there seems to be a problem with her offspring. Originally, she had three sons and two daughters, but due to a cold before the new year, she returned to having two daughters and one son.
Chen Yuwei felt a little sorry for Consort Ling. She was so capable and fertile, but she couldn't even raise the babies she gave birth to. She was incredibly unlucky.
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