Chapter Four
After leaving the Qianqing Palace and stepping outside the hall, Lady Guarjia looked at the still-young Fourth Prince, a hint of guilt and embarrassment creeping onto her face.
"Fourth Prince, I'm so sorry to have implicated you this time." Guarjia's soft voice was full of apology as she looked at the Fourth Prince with gentle eyes.
The Fourth Prince, Yinzhen, was indeed dissatisfied with being implicated, but his dissatisfaction was directed only at Lady Wanyan, not at the victims in front of him.
With a cold, aloof expression, she said calmly, "This isn't Princess Guarjia's fault, so Princess Guarjia doesn't need to take it to heart."
Princess Guarjia smiled slightly, knowing that it was inappropriate for her to continue chatting with the Fourth Prince here. No rush, there was still plenty of time.
"Fourth Prince, then I shall take my leave." Perhaps she had received the Emperor's permission, or perhaps she wanted to have a proper 'communication' with the Fourth Prince, Yinzhen, to at least avoid repeating the mistakes of her previous life...
If she were to become Yinzhen's wife, she would at least have to give birth to a son. Otherwise, even if she were to become the mother of the nation in the future, after his death, she would still have to live at the mercy of the other princes' mothers.
Unbeknownst to Yinzhen, the seemingly gentle and dignified Princess Guarjia was already contemplating what would happen after his death.
She is one of the Crown Princesses chosen by the Emperor. She comes from a good family and has a good upbringing. However, I'm afraid the Crown Prince might not be comfortable with her.
He still had to go to Yuqing Palace later to explain to His Highness the Crown Prince. He nodded casually and indifferently to Princess Guarjia, and then left.
Guarjia got the result she wanted and is in a good mood now. In order to show her kindness, she even went to visit the drowning Princess Fucha.
"Princess, Princess Guarjia has arrived." While Jialuo was recuperating, Xiaoqing came to report that Princess Guarjia had arrived.
Princess Guarjia?
In my memory, was she the somewhat gloomy and taciturn Princess Guarjia? What was she doing here?
However, when Princess Guarjia walked in, Chen Jialuo noticed something... ? ? ?
Gone was the previous gloom and coldness; the slightly raised smile carried the dignified and noble air of her past life as the Crown Princess, giving off a poised and reserved feeling.
Chen Jialuo assumed it was the result of being taught by the palace maids. Having never watched Qing Dynasty dramas or read novels, Chen Jialuo naturally did not know that the Guarjia woman in front of her was the Crown Princess in history. She was simply puzzled... Why was she so happy that she could only marry the Fourth Prince after losing her position as Crown Princess?
Seemingly understanding the meaning behind Chen Jialuo's innocent expression, he sneered and mocked her inwardly, "What's so great about the Crown Princess?"
In the eyes of the Guarjia clan, there was absolutely nothing good about it!
The crown prince, who was destined to be appointed and deposed twice by the emperor, was not bad, but rather did too well. No one expected that the emperor would live to be sixty-eight years old.
An aging emperor will always be wary of a fierce tiger vying for his territory.
"Princess Fucha, I'm so glad you're alright. I never imagined that Princess Wanyan would be such a wicked person." Guarjia clan began to win over Chen Jialuo, thinking that with her naive nature, the Emperor would not bestow her as the Crown Princess.
Given the prominence of the Fucha clan and the fact that they are quite favored, they are, after all, relatives of the imperial family or ministers. They might very well be a great help to her fourth son in his quest for the throne.
However, Guarjia, who was once fawned over as the Crown Princess, still lacked humility when trying to win people over, giving off an illusion that "this is an honor for you."
Hmm... Anyway, Chen Jialuo felt something was off.
"You can know a person's face but not their heart." Chen Jialuo knew that there were many eyes and ears in the palace, and she wouldn't be so naive as to speak ill of another stranger to a stranger.
Upon hearing Chen Jialuo's words, Guarjia's expression became somewhat subtle, as if... Chen Jialuo was implying something about someone.
Back at Chuxiu Palace, the people there knew what had happened. They were quite shocked to find that two of the candidates for Crown Princess had been lost so suddenly, and they were filled with even more anticipation.
The other three princesses were also investigated by Dong E's father and mother, with a focus on Guarjia and Wanyan, but unexpectedly, they ran into trouble.
Although it is said that the Crown Prince saved Lady Fucha from falling into the water, after spending so many days together, Lady Fucha is indeed as innocent and naive as the investigation results suggest. Presumably, the Emperor and the Empress Dowager will not choose her.
So... she's all alone, standing proudly in the woods?
As a result, in the following period of time, everyone witnessed Dong E's arrogant and domineering demeanor, and she acted in the manner of a crown princess.
Yuqing Palace.
Emperor Kangxi said he wanted to choose two beautiful and gentle princesses for his beloved son, and they had to be chosen. Once they were chosen, they were sent over directly.
His Highness the Crown Prince had only been back at Yuqing Palace for a short while when he received the deep love from his father, and two princesses were sent to him.
As soon as he left the Qianqing Palace, Yinreng felt the uncontrollable voices from all directions, his head was buzzing, and his face turned pale.
When Kangxi learned of this, he thought it was because of the matter of the several candidates for Crown Princess that made the Crown Prince unhappy. He cursed those women in his heart for being unreliable, one by one!
So they immediately sent Liang Jiugong to fetch the booklet, selected Lin Jia and Li Jia, both of whom were women from the Manchu banner system.
With so many people and such a cacophony of thoughts, the Crown Prince's face turned extremely grim with distress. He suppressed his impatience and wanted to drive everyone away.
When Lin Jia and Li Jia, who were brought over, met His Highness the Crown Prince, they were handsome and noble, with faces like jade.
Lady Lin: If I could give birth to the Crown Prince's eldest son, wouldn't I be free from worries for the rest of my life? Who knows, maybe I could even become like Consort Hui...
Lady Li: Fortunately, His Highness the Crown Prince is more handsome than the Emperor. My family sent me to the palace, hoping that I would give birth to a prince and try my luck at immense wealth and power. But now, His Highness the Crown Prince isn't out of the question either...
Both princesses had their own agendas, but their faces were filled with tender affection and shy blush, making them look incredibly charming. "This servant, Lin Jia (Li Jia), greets Your Highness the Crown Prince."
However, Crown Prince Yinreng's expression darkened slightly upon hearing the voices of the two women.
One of them involved Consort Hui, the mother of his most hated eldest son.
One reason was that it gave him the illusion that he was competing with his father for a woman.
Wei Zhu, who had brought the two princesses, truly couldn't understand His Highness the Crown Prince's thoughts. Why did he look so pale? Could it be... that he was ill?
"Alright, arrange for them to move to the west courtyard. Xiao Shunzi, summon the imperial physician." He had a headache and felt he couldn't take it anymore. He also sent the servants and maids who were serving him inside the palace outside, so they wouldn't linger in front of him.
As one of the eunuchs favored by Eunuch Liang, Wei Zhu was quite perceptive and had good emotional intelligence. He immediately went back to report to the Emperor that the Crown Prince was unwell, which frightened Kangxi so much that he hurriedly put down the memorial in his hand and came to Yuqing Palace.
When he arrived, the imperial physician was already taking his pulse and immediately asked, "How is the Crown Prince's health? What's wrong?"
Could it be that she was upset by what happened today?
hateful!
Kangxi cursed those foolish princesses under his breath again, while the imperial physician hesitated, saying, "Hmm... judging from the pulse, the crown prince is quite healthy, at most he has some internal heat."
But seeing the Crown Prince's unpleasant expression and the Emperor's anxious tone, I'm afraid that if I say this, both the Crown Prince and the Emperor will be dissatisfied.
Imperial Physician: My head hurts. Could it be that his medical skills have deteriorated?
The Empress Dowager was the most concerned about the Crown Prince's request for a royal physician, besides Emperor Kangxi.
After the Crown Prince was found to be alright and given some calming and sleep-inducing medication, Emperor Kangxi left. Just as he returned to the Qianqing Palace, a eunuch from the Cining Palace came and said that the Empress Dowager wanted to see him.
Besides being concerned about the Crown Prince's health, the Empress Dowager was also concerned about the selection of the Crown Prince's consort.
She's getting old and won't be able to stay with Bao Cheng for many more years. Right now, Xuan Ye and Bao Cheng seem to have a pretty close relationship, but... who knows what will happen in the future.
Qiqige (Empress Dowager) is different from herself. She is not the emperor's biological mother, and their relationship is merely a formality. She hopes that Xuan Ye and Bao Cheng will not follow the same path as herself and Fu Lin.
In response, Kangxi told the Empress Dowager his decision, believing that none of the four candidates were suitable and that a new Crown Princess should be chosen in the grand election three years later.
The Empress Dowager disagreed with Kangxi's idea. Three years later, the Crown Prince would be sixteen or seventeen years old. They would have to choose an auspicious day and make preparations. By the time he became Kangxi's biological son, he would be over ten or sixteen years old.
Moreover, she didn't know... whether she could hold on for that long.
She also wanted to see who the Crown Princess would be.
"Xuan Ye, as for his personality, he was pampered at home and was a bit naive. Thinking back to when I was on the Khorchin grassland, I was also..." As she spoke, she couldn't help but mention her past, but she swallowed back the words after only starting to speak.
I may never be able to return to the grasslands again in my lifetime.
The Fucha family was a prominent and influential family in Manchuria. No matter how simple-minded they were, they probably wouldn't have been raised to be too stupid.
When Emperor Kangxi saw that the Empress Dowager was ill and still had to worry about Bao Cheng, he felt guilty. If he hadn't been so unreliable and hadn't failed in his investigation, things wouldn't have come to this.
"Tomorrow, have the princess from the Fucha family come to Cining Palace to see me." The Empress Dowager was only hearing about it secondhand; information is never as clear as seeing the person in person.
Emperor Kangxi naturally had no objection to the Empress Dowager's request.
When Guarjia saw that Chen Jialuo didn't seem to want to pay attention to her and her expression wasn't very good, did she think that since she had lost her position as Crown Princess, it would be Fucha's turn?
Oh.
Guarjia was not the kind of person who would lower herself to such a point. Seeing that Chen Jialuo didn't want to talk to her, she left with a cold face.
Anyway, she has achieved her goal. There is still a long time ahead. We'll see.
Chen Jialuo didn't mean to give Guarjia a hard time; she had just woken up from falling into the water and was already exhausted. She wanted to rest as soon as possible.
Most importantly, she could sense that Princess Guarjia was being insincere. Xiaoqing did notice that Princess Guarjia's expression wasn't very good, but... what did that have to do with her?
Her daughter is the most important.
After returning home and resting for a while, I received a summons from Cining Palace before dinner, and was to go to Cining Palace for an audience early the next morning.
Chen Jialuo went to bed early so she would be energetic the next day.
The next day, I was woken up by my maid Xiaoqing at the crack of dawn. I dressed up, my light makeup exuding a noble and elegant air, which concealed my delicate and pitiful aura.
Looking at myself in the bronze mirror, although the mirror was blurry, I could still make out my face. Hmm, I've heard my father say that in the harem, the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager disliked me the most, as a weak and pitiful Manchu noblewoman.
Perhaps... it's simply a matter of disliking Empress Xiaoxian (Consort Dong'e of the Shunzhi Emperor)? Maybe she has a psychological aversion to her?
"Xiaoqing, well done." He couldn't let the Empress Dowager make things difficult for him over some trivial matter, so he gave his maid a round of praise. A makeup artist like this was a rare find.
Xiaoqing, who was praised by the princess, smiled happily and proudly held her head high, saying, "Thank you for the compliment, princess."
(End of this chapter)
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