"The voice sounds somewhat familiar," Xiu Ning smiled and blinked, then turned and walked into the shade nearby.
Upon seeing this, Chunyu quickly covered her mouth and shrank back to follow Xiuning.
After listening for a while, Xiuning finally came out from behind. By then, the people who had been talking badly about her had already left.
"These are the kinds of rumors circulating in the harem lately?"
Xiuning glanced at Chunyu behind her and touched her hair bun at her temple.
Chunyu nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then comforted her mistress, "My lady, it's just a rumor. They're just too jealous." Clearly, it was her mistress's outstanding ability to please the Empress Dowager that made it seem like she liked to flatter the Empress Dowager in these people's mouths. It's completely nonsense.
"They have mouths on their bodies, and we can't stop them from saying what they want," Xiuning thought. She felt that it was normal for them to talk badly about each other since they were all enemies.
However, it is still somewhat foolish to speak ill of someone in public.
"Have you seen who they are now?"
Xiuning raised her eyelids slightly and lowered her head to smell the brightly blooming flowers beside her.
"The one speaking is Consort Hesheli of Jingyang Palace, accompanied by Consort Dong and two Mongolian concubines."
The four of them were huddled together, and with the maids serving them, it was quite easy for Chunyu to recognize them in such a large group.
Upon hearing this, Xiu Ning glanced at the passageway where the group had disappeared. "Consort Hesheli, huh? This woman has been temporarily abandoned by the Hesheli clan because the Empress successfully gave birth to the legitimate son. I didn't expect that after more than half a year of training, she still has quite a temper and dares to speak ill of others in the Imperial Garden."
"Let's spread today's events around. The Empress is already seething with anger and has nowhere to vent it," Xiu Ning said, flicking her beautiful nails. "Let's give the Empress a chance to vent her anger."
Speaking of Hesheli Fangyi, she was in a pitiful situation. She was only temporarily sent to the Prince's Residence for a few days to avoid risks, but unexpectedly, Emperor Kangxi ordered that his own son be moved into the Prince's Residence. It would be much more inconvenient for her to do anything underhanded in the future. If she accidentally hurt her own son, tsk tsk, that would be quite amusing.
Xiuning was also wicked. Thinking that the Empress had no way to vent her anger, she simply let the Empress fight amongst herself.
Chunyu nodded in agreement and then turned around to vividly recount the good deeds of Consort Hesheli.
The Imperial Garden was crowded and noisy, and it would be easy to catch Consort Hesheli making such outrageous remarks in such a place.
The Empress Dowager was extremely displeased and brought up the matter while the Empress was paying her respects. "I'm not saying anything good about Consort Xitala, but she misses her daughter so much that she's making a few more trips. Is that wrong?"
Besides, I've never stopped you from showing your filial piety, so how could such gossip spread?
"Your Majesty, as the head of the harem, you should properly manage the atmosphere within the palace."
The queen, her smile frozen: ...
“Your Majesty is absolutely right. This matter is a dereliction of duty on my part.”
What could the Empress say? She could only smile and promise to correct the mistake. She had finally gained control of the palace, and to send it back for such a ridiculous reason would not only displease the Emperor, but would also make her want to vomit.
"Your Majesty, it is understandable that you have been busy lately and have not been able to attend to some matters. However, the conduct of the inner palace is a major issue. This is not the first time; you must strictly discipline the inner palace in the future."
The Empress Dowager took a sip of warm tea and added her own commentary while the two were talking.
Although the Empress Dowager's words were not too harsh, they still put pressure on the Empress. The Empress sat down again, her face paler than before.
...
With a legitimate reason, the empress was no longer afraid of being accused of settling personal scores.
Xiuning sat on the couch, listening to Chunyu talk about the current situation in the harem.
Leaving aside the fate of the affected lackeys, let's just focus on the four people who were highlighted.
The first to be punished was Consort Hesheli, who was confined for three months by the Empress for the crime of speaking improperly, and was also fined half a year's allowance. Consort Dong, who was present as an observer, and the two Borjigit consorts received different punishments. Consort Dong was treated fairly, confined for one month and fined three months' allowance. The two Borjigit consorts were only fined one month's allowance because they misunderstood the words due to their poor Chinese. In the end, it was still lenient.
"Relaxed?"
The Empress's move was truly disgusting. She openly favored the Mongol faction, ostensibly giving face to the Cining Palace, but secretly exacerbating the conflict between the Mongol and Manchu concubines, making it more difficult for them to join forces, while also pleasing the Emperor.
This punishment not only amplified the discussions about Xiu Ning within the palace, but also brought them to the forefront.
Xiu Ning could only pretend not to know, as she had already dealt with the situation thoroughly. If Xiu Ning were to cause trouble again, it would be considered 'unreasonable,' and the big shots who had previously stood by her side would turn around and criticize her.
Time continued forward, and September arrived.
Of the two who were previously confined, Consort Hesheli will have to wait a little longer, while Consort Dong has been successfully released from confinement.
And the newly released Consort Dong gave everyone a surprise: she was almost three months pregnant.
"Three months?"
Even Xiu Ning was taken aback, realizing that the Empress's punishment of a month-long confinement was actually to protect the baby's pregnancy.
"Ha, the Queen is going to sulk again."
Xiu Ning couldn't help but gloat. Wasn't Consort Dong going to give birth to a daughter who died young next year? When you put it all together, the timeline matches up.
Dong's pregnancy was a joyous occasion. Although few in the harem were truly happy, she still received the respect due to others.
The Emperor, the Empress Dowager, the Empress, the Empress, the Consort Shu, and others successively presented gifts, followed closely by others.
The abundant congratulatory gifts piled up on the Eight Immortals Table in the side hall of Zhongcui Palace, where Lady Dong resided, turning the previously little-known Lady Dong into a new attraction in the harem.
Lady Dong became even more cautious, arriving early and leaving late whenever she came to pay her respects, striving to avoid clashing with any of the other concubines, maintaining her habit of going her own way, and doing her best to protect the child in her womb.
Whether this approach was effective or not is unknown, but until the end of the ninth year of Kangxi's reign, nothing major happened to the Dong family.
In the tenth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, before the first month of the lunar calendar had even passed, news spread from the Hall of Mental Cultivation that a selection of imperial concubines would be held this year.
The concubines, already fiercely competitive in the harem, began to unite against the new woman upon hearing that another sister was entering the palace.
Unfortunately, these selection rules were set early on, and even the Empress had no choice but to accept them.
Soon, the selection of candidates was scheduled for May, and the area outside the palace became lively once again.
In early March, Consort Dong of Zhongcui Palace gave birth to the third princess safely.
It was a daughter, and there was no special significance to it, so the celebrations for her third-day celebration and full-month celebration were rather hasty.
As a result, on the day after the third princess's full moon celebration, Chengqing, who was being raised in the princes' quarters, suddenly died.
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