Chapter 15. Consort Ping stared blankly at Wen Shan…
Seeing Wen Shan's stunned expression, Consort Ping smiled and continued, "I was just gossiping with you because I heard some rumors. After all, you and the Fourth Prince have a bond. If Your Highness has time, you might as well try to persuade the Noble Consort. The Fourth Prince is a prince, and it's not right to treat him harshly."
Listening from behind the screen, Yinzhi narrowed his eyes, thinking to himself that Consort Ping was trying to stir up trouble and use his mother to suppress Consort Tongjia. His mother was of noble birth and had the support of the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager. Now she was also raising him. In terms of social standing, she could rival Consort Tongjia.
The three highest-ranking concubines in the palace today are Consort Tongjia, Niohuru, and her mother.
Wen Shan simply didn't like vying for favor, so Consort Tongjia and Niohuru were more prominent, while Consort Rong and others, although they had given birth to princes, were still young and their backgrounds were not as good as these three, so they were not very conspicuous.
Wen Shan was also somewhat surprised by Consort Ping's words, and couldn't quite figure out what Consort Tongjia was thinking.
According to current customs, it is common for couples who have not had children for a long time to adopt a child. The common explanation is that these couples are not destined to have children, and adopting a child may bring them a sibling in the future.
This is why the eldest princess was brought into the palace by Emperor Kangxi to be raised.
Thinking of the eldest princess, Wen Shan, she felt even more confused. With the example of the eldest princess before her, how could Consort Tong Jia have such thoughts? Wasn't this going against Emperor Kangxi?
Consort Ping stopped there, said nothing more, and gracefully took her leave.
Pearl and Amber entered the hall and were a little surprised to find that Consort Ping was not there. Consort Ping had really come and gone in a hurry today. Wen Shan grabbed the two of them and waved her hand, telling them to call Jade and Bao Quan in as well.
While listening to the five people huddled together and chattering away, Yinzhi still couldn't understand what Consort Ping meant. He even started to think that Consort Ping was kindly reminding them. Finally, he couldn't help but make a fuss.
I kicked over a small toy that was next to my feet.
Wen Shan then remembered that Yin Si was still behind her and quickly picked him up. Seeing his aggrieved expression, she comforted him for a while. Amber, who had come up with this foolish conclusion, stepped forward and said, "Is the Eighth Prince tired of lying down? How about this servant carries the Eighth Prince to stroll in the garden for a while?"
Yinzhi turned around and buried his face in Wenshan's chest, making it clear that he wanted to stick close to his mother.
To prevent these five people from coming to any more earth-shattering conclusions.
It seems that life in Xianfu Palace is too leisurely and carefree; neither the masters nor the servants have any sense of danger.
Fortunately, although Wen Shan was slow to react to these scheming matters, her intuition was very accurate. She felt that Consort Ping's visit this time was ill-intentioned. After discussing for a long time, she finally made a decision—to hold back for now.
In Wenshan's words, whatever the enemy opposes, we must support; whatever the enemy supports, we must oppose!
Consort Ping clearly wanted her to cause some trouble. Whatever the reason, as long as she pretended not to know, Consort Ping wouldn't be able to pull any tricks.
Baoquan, Pearl, Amber, and Jade clapped in unison in support of their master's decision. Wenshan was satisfied and dismissed them all, then hurried off to prepare the ingredients for another trip to Cining Palace at noon.
After listening for a while, Yinzhi was quite satisfied with Wenshan's decision. It was indeed not advisable to act rashly now. As long as they were not in a hurry, it was Consort Ping who was in a hurry.
Moreover, the more he pondered his mother's words, the more reasonable they seemed. He was deeply impressed that such a profound and insightful statement could come from his mother's mouth. He thought to himself that this might be what it means to be wise in a seemingly foolish way.
Luckily, Wenshan had no idea what her seemingly well-behaved youngest son was thinking, otherwise she would have given him a good whack on the head.
After the palace servants left, Wen Shan carried Yin Si and walked around the hall, talking to him incessantly.
"Xiao Ba, do you think what Consort Ping said is true?"
“Mother always felt that what she said was true, otherwise your fourth brother wouldn’t have been so sad.”
"What should we do? If this is the case, we can't let Yinzhen stay in Chengqian Palace any longer. What if it causes psychological problems for the child?"
Yinzhi thought to himself that although his mother was not good at these kinds of schemes, she was warm and sincere. Most of the time, her sunny attitude made Yinzhi feel a little ashamed. For example, when Consort Ping came over and said this, his mother understood that she had ill intentions, but she still did not have any resentment towards Consort Ping for plotting against her, and she did not care about her purpose at all. She was only worried about her fourth brother.
It seems that the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager liked my mother and were willing to protect her because of this pure heart. Moreover, most of the time, whether it was because fools are lucky or good people are rewarded, my mother did not suffer any losses.
Perhaps being more straightforward can have a different effect.
Yinzhi was reflecting on himself three times a day. Wenshan had been holding him and talking to him for a long time. Although Yinzhi didn't understand what Wenshan meant by psychological problems, seeing how worried his mother was about his fourth brother, he reached out his little hand and touched Wenshan. Wenshan felt that most of her troubles disappeared when his delicate little face was rubbed against her. Yinzhi accepted his mother's warm kiss with a blank face as if he were going to die, thinking that he had really sacrificed too much for his mother.
This debt should be attributed to the fourth son!
Let's see how he deals with this troublemaker when he gets back!
As expected, there was no movement from Xianfu Palace, and Consort Ping began to get anxious and upset.
"Could it be that I misjudged Consort Xuan? She clearly fell out with Niohuru over the Fourth Prince before, yet she didn't react at all when she heard about this?" Consort Ping said suspiciously with a gloomy face.
Consort Ping's personal maid, Chunjiang, was also a maid brought from the Hesheli family. Chunjiang tentatively said, "Perhaps Consort Xuan only did it to gain a good reputation that day. You see, because of this, didn't she adopt the Eighth Prince?"
“That’s somewhat possible. If she only uses the Fourth Prince as a stepping stone, she naturally wouldn’t care about this matter.” After a while, Consort Ping still felt something was amiss: “Why do I still feel that Consort Xuan isn’t the type to be so scheming? If she were, why wouldn’t she compete for the Emperor’s favor?”
What's the point of raising other people's children? The Emperor is in his prime, and the other concubines in the palace are thinking about getting him to give birth to their own prince so that their families can rise to prominence.
If it weren't for the fact that her clan had instructed her before she entered the palace that her top priority was to support the Crown Prince's safe growth, and that the Hesheli clan was worried that if she had a prince, she would have ulterior motives, and the Hesheli family would inevitably split into two factions, which would weaken their own strength if they fought amongst themselves, it would be better to fully support the Crown Prince.
Such a prince, born of the Empress Dowager and raised by the Emperor himself, would be a sure thing to become the next emperor once he grew up.
Fortunately, the emperor had no interest in her, so she accepted her fate and devoted herself to taking care of the crown prince as instructed by her clan.
Chunjiang was also a little impatient: "Miss, the master means that we should find a way to bring down Consort Tongjia as soon as possible. We must not let her ascend to the position of empress. If she has a prince in the future, she will be a formidable enemy of His Highness the Crown Prince."
Consort Ping closed her eyes. A few days ago, the Hesheli family sent a letter saying that the Emperor seemed to intend to make Tongjia the Empress. Before she entered the palace, her father, Suo'etu, had a heart-to-heart talk with her. Suo'etu bluntly said that the Emperor would never make the daughters of the Hesheli family or the Niohuru family the Empress again. Therefore, although her and Niohuru’s entry into the palace seemed like a grand and prosperous event, it was very likely that they would end up benefiting others.
At that time, Songgotu pointed out that this person was very likely the emperor's maternal relative, the Tongjia clan.
A few days ago, the clan somehow got the news and hurriedly sent a message asking her to find a way to remove Consort Tongjia from power. Although the Tongjia clan was at the height of their power in the court, if Consort Tongjia made a serious mistake in the harem, she would not be able to be made empress.
If Consort Tongjia were to ascend to the position of Empress and give birth to a prince, the child, with the support of the Tongjia clan, would be in trouble.
So when Consort Ping happened to run into the two eunuchs of Chengqian Palace that day and learned about this from them, she was overjoyed. It was as if heaven was helping her. She was just worried about not having any leverage over Consort Tongjia, and now it had come to her.
Consort Ping's original plan was that Consort Xuan should have already made a scene about this matter. If Consort Xuan wanted to make things bigger, it would be very simple; she could just sue the Empress Dowager like she did with the Niohuru clan last time.
Once the news gets out, Lady Tongjia will definitely suffer a major setback.
The accusation that she fabricated stories about princes and allegedly mistreated them is enough to land her in serious trouble.
Once this is implemented, she will have no chance of becoming empress.
But now, things have gone wrong with Consort Xuan.
Consort Xuan made no move, continuing to stroll through the garden with the Eighth Prince in her arms and to amuse the two matriarchs at Cining Palace, making Consort Ping wonder if she had misjudged her.
So the next day, Consort Cheng, who was on good terms with Consort Heping, took the Seventh Prince to Xianfu Palace under the pretext of exchanging ideas on how to raise children.
The reason why the Seventh Prince was able to stay with Consort Cheng and be raised was because the Seventh Prince was born with some disabilities and Emperor Kangxi did not pay much attention to him. In addition, Consort Ping helped behind the scenes, so from then on, Consort Cheng followed Consort Ping's lead.
After chatting for a while, Consort Cheng observed Wen Shan's expression, took a sip of tea and said, "Your Majesty's tea is excellent. I heard that this year's imperial tea will arrive later than usual. It seems that the poor rainfall last year has affected this year's harvest. Those tea farmers must be hating this weather. We don't have any good tea to drink."
Innuendo, sarcastic remarks.
Held in Wen Shan's arms, Yinzhi couldn't help but put his fingers in his mouth again. After smacking them a couple of times, he heard his mother say warmly, "I still have some Biluochun tea that I collected last year. If Consort Cheng doesn't mind, please take some back with you. It's not a very good tea, but it tastes quite nice to me."
Consort Cheng: "..."
As Consort Cheng walked out carrying a pile of tea leaves with a contorted expression, Yinzhi couldn't help but slap the table in admiration.
Wen Shan ruffled Yin Si's newly grown soft hair and complained, "I knew they wouldn't come here for no good reason. Turns out they're here to beg for things!"
You've been sitting here talking for ages, just for some tea leaves. How boring!
Yinzhi: "..."
It turns out that Mother didn't understand the hidden meaning behind his words; he thought she was using his strength against him.
However, by sheer chance, Cheng Guiren's little scheme was thwarted.
After complaining for a while, Wen Shan rested her chin on her hand and said, "The Empress Dowager told me to wait and see how things develop, but I don't know how long that will be. What if the Consort bullies Yinzhen?"
“I worry about this in my dreams every night. I’m on tenterhooks every day until Yinzhen comes back.”
In fact, Wen Shan had already reported this matter to the Empress Dowager on the day Consort Ping arrived.
It wasn't that she wanted the Empress Dowager to make a decision for Yinzhen; it was just that she had a gut feeling that this matter wasn't so simple, and she didn't know what kind of trouble it would cause if she were to handle it herself. Therefore, Wen Shan, who had a clear understanding of herself, chose to report directly to the Empress Dowager and let her make a decision.
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager's face darkened immediately. After a long silence, she saw Wen Shan's innocent and clear eyes and sighed softly.
She waved her hand, rubbed her forehead, and said, "Don't worry about this. Just wait and see."
“But Yinzhen…”
"You're lucky, girl. Someone went out of their way to bring the child back to you." The Empress Dowager glared at her. "Just you wait."
Although Wen Shan didn't quite understand, she had one advantage: she was obedient. She never made a mistake in what the Empress Dowager said, so she chose to wait obediently.
After Wen Shan left, Su Mala Gu said with a smile, "The old ancestor said before that he would not get involved in this matter, but when Consort Xuan came to beg you, he couldn't help himself again."
"Who knew the Hesheli family would get involved again? Since it concerns the Crown Prince, it's no longer a minor matter that Wenshan can simply ignore."
The Empress Dowager snorted: "Wen Shan is quite lucky. She finally managed to go to the Emperor's palace a few days ago, but she was turned away and didn't go again. I was thinking of taking this opportunity to teach her a lesson and let her know that life is only comfortable when you please the Emperor in the palace. The concubines in the harem rely on the Emperor and their children for their entire lives. How can she keep avoiding the Emperor? I never expected that someone would interfere and benefit her."
Sumalagu suppressed a smile: "With you and the Empress Dowager around, Consort Xuan will not be wronged."
The Empress Dowager sighed helplessly, recalling Wen Shan's clear eyes just now: "Never mind, I think she's just a fool with good fortune."
Wen Shan waited anxiously for more than half a month, and sure enough, the matter of Consort Tongjia taking her anger out on the Fourth Prince after losing her child was reported to the Emperor.
To Wen Shan's surprise, the person who first filed the complaint was none other than Consort Hui, the birth mother of the First Prince.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
