Chapter 120 Title: Runaway
"If I remember correctly, the Sun family doesn't have any daughters." Back then, in order to learn more about Emperor Kangxi, Fanghua investigated everything about him, inside and out.
She naturally knew this Sun woman. If she remembered correctly, this Sun woman was married to the head of the Cao family.
But she didn't give birth to a daughter either; she only had four sons plus some illegitimate children. She didn't believe that with Sun's intelligence, she would let an illegitimate daughter gain power.
The daughters of the Sun and Cao families could not possibly be biological daughters of the Sun and Cao families; there is only one possibility: they are from another branch of the family.
"Your Majesty is right. Wet Nurse Sun does not have a daughter, but she has two nieces. The older one is already married, and the one who is now being selected for the palace is Wet Nurse Sun's younger niece."
"That woman from the Cao family is also the legitimate daughter of the third branch of the family."
Seeing that the Empress was not moved at all, Qiaoling then announced the names of the other selected candidates.
Fanghua interrupted Qiaoling's report, "When did the Li family, the Wang family, and the An family become bondservants of the Upper Three Banners?" The names don't sound like those of bondservants at all.
Knowing that the Empress was puzzled, Qiaoling immediately explained the origins of the three of them.
"So, they are all women from the Han Banner, but why are they participating in the preliminary selection?" Only the bondservants of the Upper Three Banners are eligible to participate in the preliminary selection.
Although the Han army flag contained the character "Han," it was completely different from their clothing.
If selected normally, one would at least become a minor concubine, able to enter the palace as a bondservant—that would mean being a servant.
How could they bear to part with it?
"Your Majesty, these three are concubines specially invited to the palace by His Majesty." Qiaoling's face was also somewhat unpleasant, after all, who would have thought that these three families would be so shameless.
Or rather, how did the Emperor dare to allow women from these families to enter the palace through a selection process?
Will the adults agree?
Fanghua really misunderstood the adults. They didn't want things to turn out this way, but their daughter had reached the age where she needed to be selected to enter the palace this year, or she would have to marry someone else on her own.
The emperor couldn't just order the princesses from the Han Banner families to enter the palace as concubines; he would have to select more princesses from aristocratic families.
Emperor Kangxi was in dire need of capable people at the moment, and he was using the harem as a place of exchange. How could he possibly grant the wishes of those who did not contribute?
Therefore, the princesses of the Han and Han banners had no choice but to be allowed to enter the palace as minor officials.
"I was curious back then, but now it seems our Emperor is quite shrewd." To avoid benefiting others, he directly wronged the daughter of a meritorious official. Brains are a good thing, but to win over court officials, he's now not even using his brain.
"Fine, since His Majesty has given his permission, let them go. But be careful with those two bondservantes; I think they have much bigger ambitions."
Fanghua did not intend to leave behind such a scourge.
Let alone her, as the empress, if she didn't have some tricks up her sleeve, she would have been defeated by them sooner or later.
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will obey."
Fanghua asked Granny Zhang to bring out two pills. "Qiaoling, find someone to give these to Madam Sun and Madam Cao." These were pills that would prevent them from having children, which she and Xiaofeng had concocted together.
When she first made it, she intended it for Emperor Kangxi, but Xiao Feng said no, so she kept it.
It's perfect timing to put it to use now; it's a way to make good use of waste.
Qiaoling didn't even ask what kind of medicine it was; she just needed to obey.
"Yes, Your Highness." This kind of thing was handled by her; Zhang Mama no longer cared about it, so she certainly couldn't let Your Highness down.
"Okay, go down."
After Qiaoling left, Fanghua had someone call Li Changfu over.
Li Changfu arrived quickly, and Fanghua didn't ask him to do anything, only to keep an eye on Xiaoxuan's three companions, Li Wang'an, and others.
It would be best to send some people to their side.
Li Changfu was familiar with this matter, and besides, the Imperial Household Department also had its own people, so arranging some people to go and serve them was not a big deal.
After receiving the order, Li Changfu left.
Originally, the selection process was just to choose some reserve palace maids to manage affairs.
But this year is different, so it's exceptionally lively.
I thought the women in the harem would just watch the show, but I never expected that a few of them would actually cause trouble.
Empress Fanghua had no choice but to step in to deal with the situation, which greatly angered her.
"Li Jia, tell me, what are you doing?" Fanghua brought everyone to her Kunning Palace. She didn't want to get involved in this matter, but if she didn't, she was afraid that the Wang family's princess would not be able to be saved.
She never imagined that Lady Li Jia would be so audacious as to commit private torture in the inner palace.
Lady Li was terrified, for she had never seen the Empress so angry.
"Your Majesty, please spare me! It's Wang Shi who doesn't know the palace rules. I was just teaching her the manners." Li Jia Shi knelt on the ground, trembling with fear.
Anyone who didn't know better would have thought the Empress had tortured her.
"Who gave you the audacity to teach others manners?" Upon hearing this, Fanghua immediately flew into a rage and slammed her hand, along with Daimao's, heavily onto the tea table.
"Li Jia, you think too highly of yourself. Look at Wang's face. If she's ruined, you won't live either." Fanghua was furious.
What kind of grasshopper jumped out here to court death? Does it really think it's someone who's a servant?
Hmph, even if she is a bondservant, she, Li Jia, is not someone she can bully. Doesn't she know her own status?
"This humble servant knows her mistake, please forgive me, Your Majesty! This humble servant was only angered and that's why she hit me. Wang Shi is going too far, Your Majesty! Please, Your Majesty, do justice for this humble servant!" Li Jia kowtowed forcefully, recounting her grievances.
This is Wang's fault. She probably knew that she had entered the palace as a concubine, and that brainless thing got cocky, thinking she could surpass everyone else in the harem. That's why she acted all high and mighty to everyone she met.
Upon learning that Li Jia was merely a lowly concubine, he became even more unruly, and his words carried a hint of disciplining.
No wonder Li Jia was angry and hit her.
Anyone would find that intolerable.
She was just a minor concubine in the imperial harem; what right did she have to reprimand the other concubines?
Li Jiashi is also pitiful. She doesn't receive much favor to begin with, and now she's being humiliated by this thing. No wonder she can't bear it.
Fanghua felt a headache coming on. If Li Jia hadn't hit her so hard, she wouldn't have wanted to get involved in this matter.
"Wang, do you have anything to say?" Fanghua had someone stop Li Jia from kowtowing, then turned to ask Wang.
Wang was just a young concubine in the imperial concubine selection. She had never seen such a scene before. She had only ever seen the mistress punish the servants at home. She had never seen such a horrifying scene.
She was also quite startled.
"Your Majesty, spare my life!" Wang was so frightened that she kowtowed like Li Jia, her force no less than Li Jia's.
Fanghua didn't stop her. This person should learn a lesson, otherwise she would really think that she is the most important person in the harem.
"Your Majesty, I know I was wrong. Please have mercy on me."
Before long, Li Jia's forehead became red and swollen, and not only that, but also a little blood oozed out.
But no one present sympathized with her.
Fanghua naturally wouldn't let her be ruined. Her face was already swollen like a pig's head; if she were truly disfigured, she wouldn't be able to explain it to the Emperor.
"Alright, stop kowtowing. You're making me dizzy. Since you haven't learned the rules, someone come here!" Fanghua was annoyed by the noise, but she wasn't in a hurry. Anyway, someone would teach her how to behave after she entered the palace.
Why should she be the bad guy?
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