Consort Rong still refused to go with Consort Hui to meet Emperor Kangxi. On her way back to Zhongcui Palace, Consort Hui frantically stabbed Consort Rong's effigies.
"Your Majesty, will His Majesty recognize that this Qin Granny is not the same Qin Granny?" Wanxin asked.
"No. She and that Granny Qin were sisters. No one would have guessed that Granny Qin had a younger sister who worked as an embroiderer in the needlework shop. Granny Qin would always tell her sister anything. When she came to see me, she told me that I could find her sister. Because she had told her sister all those things," Consort Rong said.
“Your Majesty is kind. After Granny Qin passed away, you have been the one taking care of her sister in the palace. No one knows that she is Granny Qin’s sister,” Wanxin said.
"It is also fate. Granny Qin was murdered back then, how could she be willing to accept it? Therefore, do not harm people arbitrarily!" Consort Rong said.
“Yes, good and evil will eventually be rewarded! It’s not that they won’t be punished, it’s just that the time hasn’t come yet!” Consort Rong said.
Meanwhile, Consort Hui and her entourage returned to Zhongcui Palace. Because they had failed to persuade Consort Rong, Consort Hui's expression was filled with gloom.
"Your Majesty, Consort Rong isn't going. Are you going alone?" Huijuan asked worriedly. In fact, she felt that it was not a wise move for Consort Hui to speak ill of the late Empress to Emperor Kangxi at this moment.
It's important to know that Emperor Kangxi had very deep feelings for Empress Hesheli. Every year on the anniversary of her death, Kangxi would suspend court for a day. On Hesheli's birthday, he would not visit any other concubines, but instead go to Changchun Palace, where the late empress had lived, to pay his respects. There, a portrait of Hesheli hung, and the furnishings were exactly as they had been during her lifetime, unchanged, and no one else had ever lived there.
“Of course we have to go, otherwise what will happen to Yinti?” Consort Hui said.
"But Your Highness?" Huijuan was about to speak again when Consort Hui interrupted her.
"Alright, I know what I'm doing! You don't need to say anything more!" Consort Hui said.
After returning home, Consort Hui spoke with Lady Qin again, and finally made up her mind to bring Lady Qin to the Qianqing Palace.
“Consort Hui, His Majesty has asked you to return,” Liang Jiugong said. He had just gone in to report this when Kangxi assumed Consort Hui had come to plead for Yinti and immediately refused to see her.
"Eunuch, please go in and report to the Emperor again. Tell him that I have something to report to the Emperor about Empress Hesheli." Consort Hui gritted her teeth and had no choice but to mention Empress Hesheli.
Liang Jiugong looked at Consort Hui in surprise, and then saw an unfamiliar old woman behind her.
"Eunuch, please go in and announce my arrival. The Emperor will surely see me," Consort Hui said.
Liang Jiugong had no choice but to go back in and report. He also noticed that the old woman looked somewhat familiar, so he turned around and went back in to report with a hint of doubt.
Meanwhile, Emperor Kangxi was reading inside. He had been troubled for the past few days, his mind conflicted about how to deal with Prince Heshuo. Nothing could be hidden forever, especially when it concerned the Crown Prince. Prince Heshuo hadn't attended court for several days, and the officials were already vaguely aware of the situation. Some had begun impeaching Prince Heshuo, Yinqi, for plotting against the Crown Prince and demanding severe punishment. Kangxi ignored all the impeachments, suppressing the memorials and agonizing over what to do with Yinqi! When Consort Hui arrived, Kangxi naturally refused to see her.
"What? She said it's related to Hesheli?" Kangxi finally raised his head and looked at Liang Jiugong in surprise.
"Yes, Consort Hui said she wanted to report something to His Majesty about Empress Hesheli," Liang Jiugong said.
"Let her in!" Kangxi said after a moment's thought.
After Consort Hui, accompanied by Lady Qin, approached Emperor Kangxi and bowed, Kangxi asked, "I heard that you want to tell me something related to Empress Hesheli?"
"Yes, I have come today to tell Your Majesty about my former Third Prince, and Consort Rong's Fourth and Sixth Princes," Consort Hui said.
Kangxi's expression became even more puzzled. He said, "Didn't they all die young from colds? Why are you bringing up something from so long ago?"
Consort Hui smiled sadly and said, "Your Majesty, do you still remember who this old nanny is?"
Kangxi looked at the old woman standing there and said, "Raise your head and let me have a good look at you?"
Granny Qin raised her head, letting Kangxi see her. Because she looked so much like the real Qin Shi, and given that more than twenty years had passed, Kangxi truly couldn't tell the difference between them. In fact, there were many cases like Granny Qin's, where both brothers entered the palace as eunuchs, or both sisters entered the palace as maids.
"Are you the old Qin nanny who used to serve the prince?" Kangxi asked in surprise.
"Yes, it is indeed this servant. It is truly my blessing that His Majesty remembers me," said Granny Qin, curtsying.
"Consort Hui, how did you find Granny Qin? I remember her; it seems she left the palace?" Kangxi asked.
“Your Majesty, Qin Mama did not relieve herself. She simply stayed in the Cold Palace for over twenty years after leaving the Prince’s quarters, and no one knows where she is,” Consort Hui said.
"Oh? Granny Qin, why are you hiding in the Cold Palace?" Kangxi understood the implication in Consort Hui's words.
"Your Majesty, I have no choice but to hide in the Cold Palace to avoid danger to my life!" said Granny Qin.
"What do you mean? I remember the head of the Imperial Household Department said you were old enough to leave the palace, so I had them approve your departure," Kangxi said. After all, Granny Qin was the head nanny of the Princes' Residence, and Kangxi knew about her affairs. Since the nannies of the Princes' Residence directly cared for all the emperor's children, it was impossible for Kangxi not to know about the head nanny there.
"Your Majesty, I am guilty!" Qin Mama hurriedly said, seeing that the conversation had already reached this point.
"Granny Qin, what crime have you committed!" Kangxi said.
“This servant knew perfectly well that someone deliberately opened the window in the young prince’s room, causing them to catch a severe cold, which ultimately led to their death,” Granny Qin said quietly.
Kangxi's expression shifted from shock to confusion, and finally to fury. He demanded, "Granny Qin, is what you're saying true? Why didn't you tell me then?"
"Your Majesty, please forgive me! Someone threatened me, saying that if I told anyone, I and my family would be killed without a burial place," said Granny Qin.
"Who are you talking about?" Kangxi asked. "Are you saying that Consort Hui's third prince, as well as Consort Rong's fourth and sixth princes, were all deliberately murdered?"
“Indeed, they didn’t get it themselves, but were murdered. Your Majesty, I deserve to die. I suspect that the Empress herself instructed someone to do it,” said Granny Qin.
"What! You're saying it was the Empress who did it!" Kangxi repeated loudly.
"Yes, at that time, only the Empress regularly sent people to look after the princes and princesses, and Granny Li was also sent by the Empress. This servant suspects that it was Granny Li who deliberately had those windows opened," said Granny Qin.
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