Chapter 89
After receiving the token from his Eighth Prince Consort, Lady Guoluo, Yinzhi naturally began to get busy.
Kangxi learned about the future from Lady Guarjia, but it was mostly about the power struggles within the harem and among the princes. As for the specific affairs of the court, the harem was not allowed to interfere in politics, so naturally the Crown Princess was not aware of them either.
However, Kangxi also knew that Yinzhi, who could get most of the court to support him as crown prince with a wave of his hand, was not as incompetent as he appeared.
Therefore, when Yinzhi used the token given to him by Lady Guoluo to contact Yue Le's former subordinates, Kangxi already knew about it.
However, Kangxi did not see any problem with it. Wasn't it because of this that he bestowed the marriage between Yinzhi and the granddaughter of the former Prince An, Yue Le?
As expected, it did not disappoint me.
As for whether he exploited women in terms of private morality, Kangxi didn't care about that. Even if Longkodo favored his concubine over his wife, if it hadn't been exposed... oh, then Longkodo brought this upon himself and was killed by his own wife.
In history, is it really true that no one knows? Yes, but no one has bothered to do anything for a woman from a humble family who has suffered so much hardship.
However, when he saw Yinzhi trying to bribe them to serve him, Kangxi did nothing and let things develop as they were.
The important thing is to gradually bring the old subordinates under the control of the Aisin Gioro family.
As the Eighth Prince's wife handed the token to Yinzhi, and Yinzhi was busy planning for their future, Lady Guoluo seemed to already see herself sitting on the throne as the Empress, and her whole being regained its radiance.
Especially when they occasionally went out, seeing the radiant face of the Eighth Prince's wife, the other royal wives all thought... Did the Eighth Prince's wife get her head caught in the door when she went out?
Both the First and Third Princess Consorts stayed home to raise their children; neither was as important as their own legitimate son.
The emperor ordered the death of the fourth prince's wife, Lady Guarjia, but her legitimate son survived.
Prince Yong, Yinzhen, harbored a deep and aversion to the Guarjia clan. It was impossible for him not to feel resentment towards his own legitimate son.
But since it was his own son, and the Aisin Gioro clan never killed their own children, he couldn't be the first to do so. Therefore, he entrusted his legitimate son to Honghui's wet nurse for care.
But what good is a child without parental protection, even if he is the legitimate son? The wet nurse by his side is not the master, and the inner courtyard is still controlled by Princess Li.
Well... not really. Yinzhen didn't explicitly hand over the management of the inner court to Consort Li. It was obvious that Consort Li was the only one favored in the inner court, and it wasn't because Consort Li was so ostentatious.
But the key point is... before her death, the Fourth Prince Consort poisoned Li Gege's child, and now Li Gege's child is weak and sickly, and doesn't look like he can survive.
How could Li Gege not hate?
Less than two months later, the wet nurse who was in charge of taking care of Honghui ran to the front yard crying and knelt there, begging the prince to have mercy and save the eldest prince, saying that the eldest prince was going to die.
As she spoke, she kowtowed and cried out that the eldest prince was ill and there was no doctor to treat him.
The guards responsible for guarding the front yard did not dare to act on their own. There were only two princes in the mansion now. The second prince looked like he didn't have long to live. If something happened to the eldest prince, it would be their fault if they didn't report it.
The guards hurriedly went to report the matter to Yinzhen. Yinzhen, who was still in his study, frowned. Although Guarjia was indeed vicious, she was, after all, his only healthy offspring.
The Second Prince's place...
Since the child was destined to die, Yinzhen rarely visited him, fearing that if he poured his heart into the child and it died, he would only suffer more grief.
"Call a doctor," Yinzhen ordered, rising and heading towards the main courtyard.
No matter what, he is still the son of Aisin-Gioro Yinzhen. Who would dare to mistreat him? Do they have the guts of a bear or a leopard?
When he arrived at the main courtyard, looking at the somewhat desolate courtyard, Yinzhen was almost afraid to recognize it.
This is the main courtyard where Lady Guargia lived. He had visited it many times when Lady Guargia was still alive. It was exquisite and well-arranged, and the servants and maids were all very efficient. But now...
All of the maids and nannies who used to serve the Fujin have gone with Guarjia. The people who remain are all newly sent from the Imperial Household Department.
Seeing the once healthy eldest prince Honghui lying on the bed, his face flushed and crying loudly, he was much thinner than before, and even his loud crying sounded weak.
"Where is he? What happened?!" Yinzhen roared in fury. He didn't like him, but he was still his son.
The doctor arrived late, but the imperial physician he had sent Su Peisheng to fetch was almost here. How could Yinzhen not be angry?
The doctor was sweating bullets. Why did the master come here today?
Damn it, damn it.
Yinzhen did not immediately scold him, but instead coldly ordered him to take the pulse of the eldest prince.
After taking his pulse, the doctor diagnosed him with a cold and prescribed medicine. When the imperial physician arrived, Yinzhen had him take his pulse again and get the same diagnosis. Yinzhen then gave the physician in the mansion a cold glance.
The doctor was also sweating profusely. With the master by his side, would he dare to fake it?
After giving Honghui the medicine, Yinzhen began to clean the backyard, including... Lady Li.
Yinzhen went to confront Li, only to find her tearfully recounting how her second son, who was born healthy but is now sickly...
Her words were filled with lamentations about Guarjia's mistakes, and about the Second Prince, whom she had carried for ten months and risked her life to give birth to for her master, not even knowing if he would live to see next month...
Her beautiful face was streaked with tears, but Yinzhen's heart was as hard as iron. Li was confined to her quarters, and the eldest and second princes carried her to the front yard together.
There's no reason why the Emperor could take care of the Crown Prince when dealing with the Three Feudatories, but couldn't take care of his two children.
At this time, the Fifth Prince's wife's attitude towards Consort Yi improved considerably because of the matter concerning the Fourth Prince's wife and Longkodo's wife, and her personality did indeed become slightly more resilient.
She was filled with anticipation, hoping that one night Yinqi would be able to stay overnight in her main courtyard.
However, no matter how long Fifth Prince Consort waited, when Yinqi arrived, he would only say things like "I'm tired, get some rest," and then lie down on the bed and fall fast asleep.
In the eyes of the Fifth Prince's wife, Yinqi was showing her disdain and disdain for sharing a room with her, so she cried her heart out.
The Seventh Prince's wife received similar treatment... However, at this time, the Seventh Prince Yinyou was sent to train the navy, and perhaps he has already gone to sea to fight the Japanese pirates.
Therefore, they were quite envious of the Fifth Prince's wife. At least, the four prince's wives above had conceived children, while none of them had.
Her man went to sea, but she pretended it wasn't her problem!
This is something I can talk about with my ninth and tenth sister-in-laws.
Sure enough, the topic of envy shifted to Fifth Prince's wife. "Fifth Sister-in-law, while the opportunity is good, you should hurry up and get pregnant."
Fifth Princess smiled bitterly. She wanted to tell him, but she dared not tell anyone, no matter who.
For the Fifth Prince's wife, this was an extremely shameful thing.
She had considered taking the initiative, but Fifth Master wouldn't even look at her, and even said that she was shameless... Waaah, what could she do? There was nothing she could do.
When faced with the words of the Seventh Prince's wife, she wore a slight bitter smile on her face. "Yes, Seventh Sister-in-law, you are right..." The Fifth Prince's wife could only tell the nanny beside her about her bitterness, but the nanny could not offer any solutions. She could only secretly resent that her master was simply... going too far.
Lady Liu was no pushover. After Yinqi stayed overnight in the main courtyard for a few days, she pretended that the eldest prince of their household was sick in various ways.
Yinqi left overnight, telling her, "I'll be back soon," but his "soon" meant that he didn't appear before the Fifth Prince's wife for several more days.
“Fujin, why don’t you ask the First Fujin… or the Crown Princess?” The nanny was also anxious. Did she really want to watch Fujin grow old alone?
The First Consort was able to give birth to four daughters and make the Prince Zhi only want to have a legitimate son with her. She didn't know the details and only thought that the First Consort was good at it.
The Crown Princess was even more shrewd, giving birth to two children, four legitimate sons. Moreover, there were no favored princesses in Yuqing Palace, nor were there any other princesses who gave birth to illegitimate sons or daughters. This shows how capable the Crown Princess was.
She wasn't afraid of losing face, but she feared that in the future, the princess consort would be... lonely and helpless.
Women, sooner or later they must give birth to a son of their own. A man as unreliable as Fifth Master will surely pass the position of heir to the son of Consort Liu Jia in the future.
What will the Fujin (principal wife) do then? Not to mention the future, even now, she has to live at the mercy of the concubine.
"The Crown Princess?" Fifth Princess murmured, recalling the Crown Princess who was delicate and beautiful but whose words did not allow anyone to disagree.
"I've also heard of the Crown Princess's secret formula for conceiving easily. Isn't this..." Hasn't she already obtained it? But what good is it if she has it? Doesn't she still need the master's cooperation?
Consort Liu Jia also knew about the secret recipe that was widely known, and she would always call the Fifth Prince away on the days when she was most fertile.
"Madam, are you going to ask about the secret to conceiving easily? No, you want to consult the Crown Princess about the way to maintain harmony between husband and wife." Normally, this kind of thing should be taught by Madam's mother.
But... the wife's mother was also not favored, and in his Tala mansion, she was already being bullied by the concubines in the backyard.
“Madam, do you really want to be constantly overshadowed by Consort Liu Jia? Now, in the future, and even... in your old age, Consort Liu Jia will always dislike you. You need to have a son of your own so that you can have a secure future…”
The old woman tried to persuade her, but in truth, she couldn't offer much advice. She understood how to manage the household affairs and deal with the servants, but other than that…
She felt that she needed to find outside help.
It wouldn't work for the Fifth Prince's wife, nor for Consort Yi, nor for the other wives of the imperial relatives... They didn't know or were familiar with the Fifth Prince's wife, but if they didn't dare to go, then they would have no choice but to accept their fate.
Despite the nanny's persuasion, the Fifth Prince's wife still hadn't seen Yinqi arrive after several days.
Holding a generous gift worth nearly 50,000 taels of silver, he went to Yuqing Palace.
The old woman is right. You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub. Is the future more important, or is this little bit of money more important?
Anyway, if she didn't have any children, leaving her dowry would only benefit Liu Jia's children, so she might as well use it as leverage to live a better life.
Yuqing Palace.
Jialuo was surprised to learn that the Fifth Prince's wife had come to see her. She turned to look at the Crown Prince beside her. "I don't think I have any connection with the Fifth Prince's wife. Why did she come all the way here to see me?"
"Your Highness, did you cause trouble with Fifth Brother?" This was the only thing Jialu could think of, but after thinking about it again and again, it shouldn't be like this. Could it be that Fifth Brother offended His Highness the Crown Prince?
Yinreng affectionately tapped her nose, "Naughty girl, how could I possibly cause trouble for anyone?"
Shouldn't he be seen as noble, steady, and reliable in the Crown Princess's eyes?
"Oh, then what does Fifth Sister-in-law want with me?" He was puzzled, but he didn't dwell on it. Instead, he had someone invite Fifth Sister-in-law in.
When the Fifth Prince's wife entered with her entourage, she saw that His Highness the Crown Prince was also there. She froze for a moment, and then quickly stepped forward to pay her respects to His Highness the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess.
So, His Highness the Crown Prince always accompanies the Crown Princess after returning from official business?
But... is it because I came at the wrong time?
Seeing that the Fifth Prince Consort seemed a little uneasy, Yinreng understood her thoughts. "I have other official business to attend to, so I won't keep you company any longer. You two chat."
I wonder what Fifth Sister-in-law wants when she comes to see the Crown Princess.
Not only was Yinreng curious, but Jialuo was also curious.
"Fifth sister-in-law, please sit down." Jialuo hadn't really interacted with the Fifth Prince's wife much before. After all, the Fifth Prince's wife was introverted and didn't like to talk, or perhaps she felt that she didn't get along with them. Any occasional chats between them were just superficial sister-in-law relationships.
"Second sister-in-law, I'm sorry to bother you. I wonder if you're busy right now?" The gift was delivered, and she had a slightly shy and embarrassed smile on her face, but if she were asked to leave, she wouldn't want to leave right now.
"No rush, no rush, Fifth Sister-in-law, is there something you need?" Jialu waved her hand. She had seen the gift that had been delivered earlier, and it was quite substantial. She wondered what Fifth Sister-in-law wanted from her.
Fifth Prince's wife was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly sighed, "Second Sister-in-law, to be honest, our Fifth Master dotes on his concubines, but he doesn't even share a room with me..."
Jia Luo was filled with shock. No, these words were so explosive right off the bat? Could I even bear to hear them?
Jialuo didn't know how to answer, but Wanrou smiled at her, as if encouraging her to continue with her eyes.
Fifth Princess Consort initially felt ashamed, but once the words left her mouth, she realized it wasn't actually that difficult. "Second Sister-in-law, I... I don't know who to tell this to, I don't know what to do, Second Sister-in-law..."
The Fifth Prince's wife burst into tears, filled with grievance. Was it something she could choose or control that her maternal clan was not as prominent as other powerful clans? And was it something she was born with that she was not as beautiful as others?
If it weren't for the Emperor's bestowal of a marriage, she wouldn't have bothered marrying into the royal family.
After being persuaded by the nanny for several days, she felt hopeless about her life and complained about fate for a long time. She wanted to change her situation, but she didn't know where to start.
Jialuo: Uh...
"Fifth sister-in-law, so you want...fifth brother to dote on you? Well, even second sister-in-law can't help it..." As your sister-in-law, meddling in your private affairs? Is this some kind of crazy thing to do?
"No, Second Sister-in-law, all I want is to have a child of my own. I dare not even dream of pampering him anymore." Fifth Princess shook her head repeatedly, as if she were looking at her lifeline. Her life felt like it had reached its end. She really, really didn't know what to do.
No one taught her.
"Um... Fifth sister-in-law, when it comes to sharing a room, perhaps you could be a little braver? A little bolder?" Why do I feel like I'm some kind of pornographic film instructor? It's really, really frustrating.
However, the fifth brother favored his concubine over his wife... well, not quite to the point of neglecting his wife. It's just that within the royal family, his affection for his concubine was greater than that of any other prince.
This completely disrespects her fifth sister-in-law. As a woman herself, she couldn't possibly interfere in her brother-in-law's family affairs; at most, she could offer her fifth sister-in-law a tiny bit of advice.
Want a child? Someone to rely on in the future?
"Second sister-in-law, I, I was bold, but, but..." The Fifth Princess Consort couldn't finish her sentence, feeling that the word was an insult to her again and again.
“Oh…that makes sense. Fifth Brother is naturally quite strong in martial arts, so it’s understandable that you can’t hold him down. However, you’ll have to figure out a way to deal with that yourself.” Jia Luo thought that getting him drunk would be quite effective, or maybe drugging him…oh, drugging him won’t work. These kinds of things have been making headlines lately, and it’s easy for trouble to happen.
"Martial prowess... no, Second Sister-in-law, I didn't fight with our Fifth Master." Fifth Princess Consort immediately seemed to understand something; the Crown Princess had misunderstood, she didn't act that way.
Jialuo looked at her ashamed expression for a few seconds, and her imagination ran wild. Mainly because women in this era were conservative and reserved, she could guess the general situation at a glance.
"Fifth sister-in-law, there is a way, but if you do it, your fifth brother's affection for you may decrease a lot, and the chances of a harmonious and happy marriage in the future will be slim." Jia Luo lowered her voice and gave her two suggestions.
Either force him to do it, or get him drunk and coax him into it. Take the initiative; don't wait for the man to make the first move...
Upon hearing this, the Fifth Princess's ears turned red, which slowly flowed down to her cheeks, until her entire face was bright red.
this……
this……
this……
Fifth Princess felt as if her head had jammed, and she had no idea what she was thinking. She then left in a daze.
When Yinreng came over that evening, he asked Jialuo curiously. Jialuo just smiled mysteriously and said, "I can't tell you the secrets between women."
[How could I possibly tell you that I let my fifth sister-in-law force herself on my fifth brother? It would ruin my elegant, noble, and reserved image in front of you.]
(End of this chapter)
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