Wanyun
After Concubine Liu offended the emperor and was placed under house arrest, Concubine Rong became the most favored concubine in the harem, followed by Concubine Le Jin.
Compared to these two, Concubine Wan Xu, who entered the palace at the same time, was the least impressive. Although young and beautiful, she seemed less favored by Emperor Yongping. Apart from paying respects to Empress Li, she spent her days doing needlework in her own palace.
But Concubine Wan, who usually keeps a low profile, is the first one among the three newlyweds to be happy.
The pregnancy was even diagnosed on the day before the Saint's birthday.
Born in the last year of Emperor Gaozong's reign, Emperor Yongping turned one in the first year of Emperor Xianshun's reign, and this year he's barely reached forty. On the eve of his fortieth birthday, upon learning he was expecting a prince or princess, Emperor Yongping was overjoyed. Although he wasn't promoted to the rank of Concubine Wan, he decreed that Concubine Wan's share of the rank would be commensurate with that of a concubine. It could be said that this had essentially secured her the final concubine rank. If this next child was a precious prince, who knew he'd even be promoted to a concubine!
Concubine Qi and Concubine Le smiled and congratulated the Emperor on the occasion of congratulating Concubine Wan, but secretly they tore countless handkerchiefs into pieces.
It would be fine if she was pregnant, but it happened at such a good time!
Concubine Wan was over two months pregnant, so it was impossible for her to be completely unaware. Yet, it was diagnosed just one day before the Emperor's birthday, a far cry from coincidence. The Emperor was overjoyed, and wouldn't he have approved Concubine Wan's departure? I used to think Concubine Wan was a quiet woman, but I never expected she could be so cunning!
In comparison, Rongpin was still able to remain calm, but she also secretly spat at the bitch.
Rongpin was already the head of a palace, and with the Qinghe Wang clan's background, she didn't have to worry about Concubine Wan or any future Concubine rank threatening her position. However, she had received so much favor during this period, yet there was still no news, and Concubine Wan had gotten there first. How could she not be angry?
On the day of the emperor's birthday, Emperor Yongping accepted congratulations from officials and envoys from all parties in front, while the concubines paid their respects to the empress in Kunning Palace and waited for the imperial banquet to begin.
It was only yesterday that the news of Concubine Wan's pregnancy was revealed. While the situation appeared harmonious on the surface when they paid their respects today, there were actually undercurrents.
But it was probably Rongpin and the others who were concerned, while others didn't care.
People like Li Qingping, Concubine Ke and even Queen Li were all watching the show.
However, Queen Li's status was such that she couldn't show it too obviously, and she would occasionally speak up to remind others not to hurt the harmony between the sisters.
Concubine Yi sat there, watching over the Sixth Prince and Xuan while thinking about the Seventh Princess Yujun who stayed in the palace. As the fourth concubine, with two princes and a princess under her wing, she had no time to pay attention to the petty quarrels below.
Jiapin was teasing her little granddaughter.
Although Concubine An and Concubine Jing had children, they were not particularly favored and had always huddled together for warmth. At this moment, the two were discussing fresh fabrics for clothing.
Rongpin and the others talked for a while and felt embarrassed that the concubines with higher status and seniority ignored them. In addition, Wan Guiren's attitude made them feel as boring as punching cotton, so they changed the subject.
Later, the imperial banquet began. Emperor Yongping was half drunk in front with his relatives and court officials. Fortunately, most of the concubines in the harem could not drink much, so they drank fruit wine with a lower alcohol content, so Emperor Yongping's eyes were not blurred.
Next comes the part of presenting birthday gifts.
Still following the order of seniority, Li Qingping comes after Concubine Yi.
Presenting birthday gifts to the emperor was a matter of refinement. The Son of Heaven was supreme, and birthday gifts should ideally include the number "nine." Leaving aside the more common items like the Ruyi (Ruyi) and Shoufo (Longevity Buddha) inscription, the final item was a thirteen-ring, coiled dragon-shaped belt containing pearls, crafted by Li Qingping himself. Years ago, Emperor Yongping specifically requested that Li Qingping craft his belt, and over the years, those who accompanied him during his stay in the imperial residence had tacitly accepted that Li Qingping was solely responsible for the Emperor's belts.
Fortunately, Li Qingping can come up with many new ideas, otherwise they would have lost their novelty after so many years.
However, Concubine Le, who had just started serving this year, received the same birthday gift as Li Qingping.
When Concubine Le saw Concubine Ding presenting the belt, her face turned pale. If she had not held on tightly to the armrest of the chair, she would have slipped to the ground.
When Emperor Yongping received the second belt tonight, his expression was indifferent, and he did not smile as he did when facing Li Qingping, but he still said, "Noble Lady Le is thoughtful."
The smile that Queen Li had always maintained also faded a little.
Concubine Le forced a smile with her eyes downcast, nearly stumbling as she turned. She glanced in Concubine Ding's direction. Li Qingping's expression was relatively calm, a hint of surprise. But Concubine Ke, standing beside her, stared at Concubine Le with eyes blazing with fire. If the situation weren't so awkward, Concubine Ke would have come up and torn her apart.
Concubine Rong looked at Concubine Le with a gloating look.
Concubine Ke was a well-known person in the palace who loved and hated Concubine Ding. Even if Concubine Le did not offend Concubine Ding this time, Concubine Ke, who was protective of her, would remember it.
Everyone had been preparing for this birthday gift for so long, and since it was customary for Concubine Ding to receive it, others avoided it. Even if Concubine Le didn't know beforehand, why didn't any of the palace servants around her warn her? Or did they know but keep quiet? I thought Concubine Le was deliberately challenging Concubine Ding, but looking at her apprehensive expression, that didn't seem to be the case. That was the first possibility.
It seems that Jin is not as smart as I thought. She can't even keep the people around her safe. I overestimated her before.
Lady Le may not be the smartest one, but she is not the dumbest one either.
Everyone in the palace tacitly agreed to this rule, so why hadn't anyone told her about it? "Slut! Not only did she lose face, she also offended the Empress Dowager. I'll definitely punish this slut when I get back!" Her eyes looked like she was about to cut the senior palace maid to pieces.
After Noble Lady Le, everyone looked towards Li Qingping intentionally or unintentionally, but Li Qingping's expression was not as expressive as that of Concubine Ke next to him, so those people withdrew their gazes in disappointment.
After the imperial banquet, Li Qingping and Concubine Ke returned to the palace together.
Concubine Ke was still furious: "Where does Jin get the courage? She has no manners at all."
Li Qingping patted He Chang's back to coax his son to sleep, and said calmly, "Noble Lady Le must have been tricked by someone."
"Wasn't Consort Liu previously confined to her residence because she angered the Emperor by adding something she shouldn't have? She was normally favored, so why would she resort to such tactics? I felt something was amiss, so I sent someone to investigate privately." Li Qingping's eyes darkened, and he sneered, "Guess what happened next? We searched the entire Imperial Household Department but couldn't find the same batch of extra spices."
Concubine Ke paused for a moment, then leaned forward involuntarily and asked, "Could it be the Emperor..."
Li Qingping shook his head. "It can't be the Emperor. The spices are the same ones that Liu Cairen used to use. The spices themselves are fine, it's the ingredients that are added that are problematic. That's why it seems strange that there are no extra spices."
"What if Liu Cairen had already received all the money last time?"
Li Qingping, who had been in charge of the backyard for a while, knew this well: "Just because Concubine Liu loved to use the spices the most didn't mean others didn't use them. Plus, Concubine Liu was still favored at the time, so the Imperial Household Department couldn't have shortchanged her on food, clothing, and other necessities. They always stocked up on these daily necessities so that the Master wouldn't be shortchanged. They wouldn't let Concubine Liu use them all at once."
"I'm afraid that Lady Le has been tricked by someone else this time."
Concubine Ke's eyes were really sharp now, and she sneered, "Someone in this palace is restless."
"The Seventh Princess is sick again, and Concubine Yi has been busy taking care of her recently. Concubine Jia now has eyes only for her precious granddaughter. Concubine An and Concubine Jing seem to be relatively well behaved. What about Concubine Rong? But now it seems that Concubine Wan is not a good person either. Concubine Qi in my palace has also been vying for favor recently." Concubine Ke pointed at them one by one.
Li Qingping scoffed, "But it's normal to have fights. Things in the palace right now are definitely different than they used to be."
Concubine Ke shook her handkerchief and frowned, saying, "It's already starting to get chaotic. When the auditions start next year and more newcomers come in, won't things get even more chaotic?"
However, Concubine Le had done nothing wrong, and as long as she didn't make a fuss, the extravagant birthday gift wasn't a big deal. Concubine Le was a good person, keeping a low profile for a while, making it clear to Emperor Yongping and Li Qingping that she had no intention of competing with them. Soon, she regained her favor.
Concubine Rong and Concubine Wan were still a little disappointed.
I thought Li Qingping would take action to suppress her, but unexpectedly, Concubine Ding sat on the throne and didn't care at all whether Concubine Le had offended her. Even Empress Li and Concubine Ke were unmoved.
Li Qingping had made belts for Emperor Yongping for so many years that it would be a lie to say she wasn't upset when she saw someone else making them. But since Emperor Yongping hadn't even used Concubine Le's, she didn't mind. If she had been so fussy, she'd probably be the one to anger Emperor Yongping.
In short, those who have a stable position in the palace sit firmly on the high platform, and those who fight for heirs and status below just treat it as a topic of conversation after dinner.
Of course, the premise is that those people can fight for those few acres of land on their own and not be stupid enough to run into the muzzle of a gun.
Around the time of the Lunar New Year, the Ninth Prince He Chang had been in poor health. He had caught a cold and was coughing constantly, and the imperial physician had practically been confined to Yonghe Palace. He Chang's face was so pale that Li Qingping couldn't help but feel distressed.
Now that they are no longer competing for favor, Concubine Ke and Concubine Yi have a good relationship and can come to Yonghe Palace together to visit the patient.
The Seventh Princess had been ill a while ago, but luckily escaped with no serious consequences. Li Qingping had visited her at Yongshou Palace at that time, so it seemed only natural that Concubine Yi should also visit He Chang now that he was ill. Just then, at the palace gate, they bumped into Concubine Ke, who had also come to visit. The two of them, rarely arguing, entered together, each offering words of comfort to the deeply concerned Li Qingping.
Perhaps because the only two concubines in the upper echelons had already gone, and Yonghe Palace's Concubine Ding was the highest-ranking concubine, the lower concubines felt it was difficult not to go. However, it was difficult to visit the sick in large groups, so many people came to Yonghe Palace to visit the sick these past few days.
First, it was Concubine Jia. Her Xianfu Palace was one of the Western Six Palaces, quite far from Yonghe Palace, so she didn't make a special trip there. So, after paying her respects to Empress Li, she didn't return to the palace but followed Li Qingping back to Yonghe Palace. Because Princess Changle had been cared for by Li Qingping in her childhood, Concubine Jia was very kind to him and offered him many words of comfort.
Next came Concubine An and Concubine Jing. Their Changchun Palace and Yikun Palace were adjacent, so they came together. These two were as quiet as their titles. They brought a lot of gifts, but didn't say much to Li Qingping. After sitting for a while, they said goodbye and left.
Concubine Qi, Concubine Le, Concubine Pei, and Concubine Ding gathered together. Concubine Pei, Concubine Ding, and the disgraced Concubine Liu and Concubine Wu from their own palaces were now the least visible of the harem. Concubine Ding and Concubine Wu, in particular, had failed to secure a higher rank after two major promotions, remaining marginal figures. As for Concubine Qi and Concubine Le, they likely realized that Concubine Rong was too arrogant to look down on them, and Concubine Wan was quite scheming, so they formed an alliance to compete for their favor and have become close recently. When these four arrived, they had already stopped by Chang, and Li Qingping wasn't in the mood to deal with them. After a casual chat over a cup of tea, Li Qingping sent them away.
Not long after Concubine Qi and the other two left, Concubine Wan also arrived. Concubine Wan showed no embarrassment at being alone. Her voice was gentle, and she said many caring words. Li Qingping responded to her for a long time, and then, looking at her bulging belly, he politely said, "My sister is still pregnant. I am really afraid that she will pass on her illness, so I won't keep her for long." Concubine Wan then bowed and said goodbye, completing her visit.
Li Qingping hadn't seen many people who visited the sick with genuine affection. There was really no need for such superficial efforts.
Rongpin was the last to arrive.
It would have been fine if Rongpin was just pretending, but she felt that since everyone else had already been there, it would be impolite for her not to come. She came, but she looked as if she couldn't wait to leave. She wrinkled her nose unabashedly at the strong smell of medicine.
Rongpin talked about the New Year and sighed, "It's almost the New Year, it's not a big deal if the Ninth Prince is still sick."
Li Qingping was hugging He Chang and feeding him porridge. Seeing Rongpin's stiff smile and the fact that Rongpin's words sounded like she was blaming He Chang, he suddenly became angry and said in a bad tone:
"Xiaojiu is ill and I want him to get better more than anyone else. What are you saying, Concubine Rong? Do we want Xiaojiu to stay sick forever? Is there any Concubine Rong who would talk to a sick person like this? If you don't want to come, no one is forcing you to come. You, Concubine Rong, don't have to come to Yonghe Palace."
Rongpin's face turned pale. "Sister Dingpin, that's not what I meant. I also hope that His Highness the Ninth Prince will get better soon."
Li Qingping said coldly, "I don't think Rongpin has any sincerity in coming to visit the patient. Rongpin should return to the palace as soon as possible. Yunzao, please see Rongpin off for me."
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