However, the nanny beside her thought differently. She gently persuaded Madam Gao, hoping that her mistress would agree.
"Princess, please agree, this is a good thing. Master only has two sons and two daughters now. If you raise the eldest prince, you will have a prince under your knees, and your status will be higher. Besides, there is a custom among the people that if you cannot have children, you can raise one. Maybe this adopted son can bring you a child."
The old woman had more to say: it would be best if the eldest prince could bring a child, so that the master could have his own child. Even if he couldn't bring one, it would be good to have an adopted son to keep him company.
Moreover, the eldest prince is the eldest son and one of the only two children the master currently has. He has a noble status, so raising him would be a good thing no matter how you look at it.
It was precisely because of this nanny's persuasion that Gao readily agreed.
Not long after the death of Princess Fucha in the mansion, in August, the Emperor passed away. Emperor Yongzheng, Aisin Gioro Yinzhen, died in the Hall of Mental Cultivation at the age of 58.
The ministers opened the "Zhengda Guangming" plaque in the Qianqing Palace, took out the imperial edict, and unsurprisingly, it bore the name of the Fourth Prince, Hongli.
Prince Bao, Hongli, successfully ascended the throne, changed the era name to Qianlong, and honored his birth mother, Consort Xi, of the Niohuru clan, as Empress Dowager Chongqing, residing in the Shou Kang Palace.
Empress Fucha, the principal wife, naturally became empress, while Yunyi, the secondary consort, was conferred the title of Consort Xian, just like in history.
Despite their low rank, Lady Fucha, who bore Emperor Qianlong a son and a daughter, was only posthumously granted the title of Consort Zhe. Lady Gao, who was deeply favored, was only granted the title of Consort Hui, and Lady Su, who had given birth to a child, was granted the title of Noble Lady Chun.
As for the other princesses, they were usually only at the lowest rank of "dare to marry" (答应), which was very low.
In addition, Niohuru was granted the title of Noble Lady Shen because of the Empress Dowager, and Suochuoluo was granted the title of Noble Lady Rui because of her family background.
Immediately upon ascending the throne, Emperor Qianlong secretly designated his heir, placing the imperial edict bearing the name of his second son, Yonglian, behind the plaque of "Upright and Bright".
On the one hand, Yonglian was his only child, and on the other hand, he was the legitimate son of him and Empress Fucha. He was exceptionally intelligent and gifted.
Emperor Qianlong had a strong preference for legitimate sons and hoped that one of his sons would inherit the throne. The second prince, Yonglian, was suitable in terms of status, personality, and ability, making him the best successor for him so far.
Of course, this child also had a tragic fate, as he did not grow up healthy.
In the third year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign, shortly after the mourning period for the late emperor, the concubines in the harem changed out of their plain clothes and began to dress up in a dazzling display of beauty.
After all, the mourning period had ended, and it was only right that a selection of concubines should be held so that new women could enter the palace. Naturally, these elderly women became nervous, fearing that they would lose the emperor's favor and live a lonely life.
Now, before the new concubines enter the palace, it would be best to try to conceive a child. The deep palace is lonely, and having a child to bring joy to one's parents would prevent one from being utterly alone.
While the concubines in the harem were all vying for the emperor's favor, the empress was solely focused on educating her children.
The second prince, born to Empress Fucha, was always the most diligent and studious. Since catching a cold in February, he had been studying late into the night, and his illness kept recurring.
On the twelfth day of the tenth month of the third year of the Qianlong reign, the second prince, Yonglian, passed away at the young age of nine.
The early death of his most beloved son was a huge blow to Emperor Qianlong's physical and mental health, and he did not attend court for five consecutive days because of this.
He then announced the secret edict to the public, which read: "Yonglian was born to the Empress and is my legitimate son. He is intelligent, noble, and has an extraordinary bearing. My late father named him with the intention of him inheriting the throne. After I ascended the throne, I strictly adhered to the established practice and personally wrote a secret edict, which was then hidden behind the 'Zhengda Guangming' plaque in the Qianqing Palace by all the ministers. Thus, although he has not been formally enthroned, he has already been designated as the Crown Prince. Now that he has passed away, all ceremonies shall be conducted according to the rites for the Crown Prince."
He then bestowed the title of Crown Prince upon the second prince, posthumously granting him the name Duanhui. He held a funeral for Yonglian in accordance with the rites for a Crown Prince, and Emperor Hongli even personally attended the ceremony to pay tribute to his beloved son.
The death of the Second Prince not only meant the death of a legitimate son, but also that the throne had lost its heir.
Emperor Qianlong was very worried about this, as he had only one son and two daughters so far.
The eldest prince was incompetent, and seeing that there was no heir, he began to stay overnight at the Empress's Changchun Palace every night, hoping to have another legitimate son to inherit the throne.
Although Consort Jia, née Jin, was already pregnant at this time, Emperor Qianlong still hoped that his son would inherit the throne, which is why he stayed at Changchun Palace every night.
On the fourteenth day of the first month of the fourth year of the Qianlong reign, Consort Jia gave birth to a daughter, who became known as the Fifth Princess.
When he first learned of this news, Qianlong was disappointed. Although he wanted his eldest son to succeed to the throne, he would have been happy to have more sons.
Now that it's another daughter, without a son, his disappointment naturally outweighs his joy.
He distributed the reward to Consort Jia as usual, and then did nothing else.
When Empress Dowager Niohuru learned of this news in Shou Kang Palace, she was also disappointed. Her son had been married for so many years and was almost thirty years old this year, yet he only had one son.
He is the Son of Heaven, the Emperor, but he has no son. Who will inherit this vast empire in the future?
So she didn't mind her son staying overnight at the Empress's palace, only hoping that the Empress would live up to everyone's expectations and give birth to another legitimate son.
But Niohuru's thoughts were completely different from the Empress Dowager's; she was happy that the Second Prince was gone.
Although she doesn't have children yet, she firmly believes that the future will belong to her son.
My aunt was able to rise to become Empress Dowager because of her son, and as a daughter of the Niohuru family, she certainly could too.
If Yunyi heard her idea, she would definitely scoff at it, thinking, "You want to be the Empress Dowager? You think you can do that?"
He's neither favored, nor intelligent, and lacks the luck to rise to power; he'll have to wait a hundred years.
Empress Dowager Niohuru's rise to power was purely due to good luck. Emperor Yongzheng had few sons, and after ascending the throne, he had even fewer sons to choose from, so he selected Hongli from among the less capable.
If Empress Xiaojingxian's eldest son, Honghui, were still alive, there would be a place for Hongli to sit.
Now that Niohuru has met Yunyi, she will absolutely not be able to ascend to the throne.
Back when she accepted that bracelet, Yunyi had already found an opportunity to give Niohuru a drug that would prevent her from having her own children.
With no possibility of gaining power through childbirth, and being neither popular nor favored by Emperor Qianlong, her desire to rise to the top was nothing but a pipe dream.
In the first month of the lunar calendar, Consort Jia gave birth to the Fifth Princess. In the third month, the imperial concubine selection began.
This selection process brought in many new women. The Empress Dowager felt that the older women in the palace were unable to produce a prince, so she wanted to select some new women to enter the palace so that the family line could continue.
The selection of concubines was organized by the Empress Dowager and the Empress. However, considering that the Empress had just lost her beloved son, the Empress Dowager also invited Consort Yunyi to assist in the process, which would also lighten the Empress's burden.
Yunyi's good friend, Yehenara Wanrou, was also in this talent show.
Wanrou is sixteen years old this year. She has lost the liveliness of her youth and become much quieter, so much so that Yunyi hardly recognizes her.
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