After living in the manor for a month, Yunyi had a clear understanding of the situation there.
Huang Taiji was the male head of the household, and his primary consort, Ulanara, managed the inner quarters. She had two sons, the eldest prince Hauge and the second prince Loge. The third prince, Lobo, was born to his first wife, Niohuru.
To date, Huang Taiji has only three sons and no daughters.
However, Zhe Zhe and Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang gave birth to six daughters for Huang Taiji, but no sons, which was a cruel twist of fate.
Fortunately, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang gave birth to Fulin, which finally fulfilled the Khorchin people's wish.
However, everything is different now. A month ago, when they had just gotten married, Yunyi gave Huang Taiji a pregnancy-enhancing pill, which reduced his pregnancy rate to one in fifty.
This greatly reduced the number of Huang Taiji's children, easing the burden on Yunyi's children to ascend to the throne later.
Huang Taiji died when he was over fifty years old, and his youngest son, Fulin, ascended the throne. If Yunyi becomes pregnant at sixteen next year and gives birth at seventeen, by the time Huang Taiji dies, his eldest son will be around thirty years old, which will be just right.
Right now, she's just a concubine, so she can't manage the household. She needs to win the emperor's favor first, cultivate a relationship with Huang Taiji, and then take care of her health while waiting to get pregnant next year when she's sixteen.
If she remembered correctly, it seemed that Ulanara was abandoned by Huang Taiji after only a few years as the primary consort. Even if Yunyi had any plans, she could only wait until Ulanara stepped down and she became the primary consort. It was too early to say anything now.
Although Ulanara was somewhat arrogant, she was a bully who preyed on the weak. She was the daughter of the leader of the Ula tribe, but her tribe had been defeated by Nurhaci's forces the previous year.
Without her family's support, even as the Grand Consort, she was still somewhat intimidated by Yunyi, the daughter of the powerful Khorchin leader of Mongolia, and dared not provoke her.
Furthermore, the Jianzhou Jurchen tribe currently practices polygamy. Although Yunyi is a secondary consort, she is still a wife, just not as high-ranking as the primary consort.
After the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, it adopted the Han Chinese system and changed from a system of one wife and multiple concubines, thus establishing the status of the principal wife.
And so, Yunyi settled peacefully in Huang Taiji's inner quarters. A year passed in the blink of an eye, and her health had almost fully recovered.
Not long after her sixteenth birthday, she took a fertility pill and became pregnant in June of the same year. She gave birth to a son in March of the following year, who was Huang Taiji's fourth son.
Huang Taiji named his son Etengyi, which means "strong and prosperous," hoping that the child would grow up healthy and strong.
After the birth of the Fourth Prince, a major event occurred in the mansion.
Nurhaci successively annexed the Jianzhou Jurchen, Haixi Jurchen, and Donghai Jurchen tribes, unifying the Jurchen tribes in Northeast China.
In the 44th year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty, which was also the year Yunyi's son was born, he established the Great Jin Dynasty, proclaimed himself the Wise Khan Who Has Governed All Nations, and set the reign title as Tianming. This year is the first year of Tianming.
When Nurhaci became Khan, Huang Taiji was also granted the title of Fourth Beile. Although he was the youngest and least experienced of the four Beile, the fact that he defeated his brothers to reach this position shows Huang Taiji's status in Nurhaci's heart.
After giving birth to a son, Yunyi finally gained a foothold in the household. With a son, favor, and family support, the position of the Grand Consort Ulanara became increasingly unstable.
Although she knew she couldn't win against the concubine, perhaps driven by desire or jealousy, she began to harbor wicked thoughts.
Ulanara pondered for a long time. She originally wanted to harm Yunyi's son, but Yunyi protected him too well, so she couldn't bring herself to do it and had to think of another way.
forecourt
The servant boy, Gagu, carried dinner into the courtyard, but he didn't look very happy.
Once inside, he placed the food box on the table, his face fell, and he began to complain to his master.
“Brother, look, dinner is still the same today. The Fujin is doing this on purpose. You are clearly sick and cannot eat meat or greasy food. You have already told the kitchen, but they still do it. It must be the Fujin’s doing.”
"Cough cough cough, Gagu, don't say that. If the Fujin hears you, she will punish you."
A coughing sound came from the bed in the inner room. The person speaking sounded very young and was obviously quite young.
Sure enough, a small hand lifted the bed curtain and came out.
Gagu walked over with some concern, wanting to help his master back to bed: "Brother, you are sick, so please stay in bed and rest. This servant will bring you the food box."
Waving his hand to stop Gagu's movement, Lobo smiled and said, "No need. I've been lying down all day. Getting up and walking around will make me feel more comfortable."
Upon hearing his master's words, Gagu temporarily stopped what he was doing, but still offered a few words of concern before falling silent.
Lobo will come to the dining table, and Gagu will open the food box at the right time.
There were only four dishes: two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes. The meat dishes were scrambled eggs and boiled duck. The vegetable dishes were a green vegetable dish and a cold dish.
These dishes can only be described with one word: simple, extremely simple.
Not to mention that Luo Bo is the third prince of the mansion, even some of the servants in the mansion eat better than him.
There was nothing that could be done; Lobo's birth mother died young, and it was the petty-minded Ulanara who rose to become the Grand Consort.
She entered the household as a secondary consort, a position lower than the original wife, Niohuru.
Now that his first wife has passed away, it's normal for her to dislike his son. If she treats him harshly, no one will care.
It's just a pity for Lobo, who is only five years old this year. He has already moved to the front yard and is being mistreated by Ulanara. Even when he is sick, he eats such meager meals.
In the main courtyard, Ulanara was listening to her maid report on the situation in the mansion.
Hearing the Third Prince's servant complain, Ulanara smiled but said nothing.
Yes, she did it on purpose. Who told that little brat to be born to Niohuru? Just looking at him is annoying, just like that Mongolian concubine in the East Courtyard, who is also very hateful.
But as she thought about it, Ulanara's smile changed, because at that moment she had a brilliant idea.
Ulanara beckoned her maid over and whispered a few words to her, explaining her plan.
"That's it, did you all understand?"
The maid nodded and patted her chest to assure her, "Your Highness, please rest assured, I am the most capable person to handle matters."
"Hmm, good, good. Go now!"
Just as the maid was walking out, Ulanara called her back: "Remember, be careful, don't let the Prince find out, or else..."
The maid knew how powerful Huang Taiji was, and nodded firmly to show that she understood.
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