Consort Tong was determined to get the vacant empress's position. She was the emperor's cousin, of noble status, and was also greatly favored by Emperor Kangxi.
In addition, her aunt was the late Empress Dowager, and she had always coveted the position of Empress since she was a child. Unfortunately, the Empress had already been established, and she only obtained the rank of Consort when she entered the palace.
However, since the Empress passed away, the position of Empress has been vacant, and she is currently the most powerful competitor in the harem. She has been confronting another rival, Niohuru.
While Tong considered Niohuru her biggest rival, she also felt that Niohuru couldn't beat her, leaving her with mixed feelings.
Niohuru remained calm and composed, accepting Consort Tong's provocations and confrontations without showing any anger.
Emperor Kangxi originally intended Consort Zhao, of the Niohuru clan, to be his empress, and seeing her dignified demeanor, he was even more pleased.
Although Lady Tong was his cousin and they had grown up together as childhood sweethearts with a deep bond, Emperor Kangxi knew that Lady Tong could only be a concubine, a favored concubine, but not an empress.
After the Empress's death, the palace was quiet for a while, but the silence was broken by the news that Consort Nara of Xianfu Palace was pregnant.
Subsequently, news also broke that Consort Ma Jia of Zhongcui Palace was pregnant. The news of the two pregnant women slightly eased the grief over the Empress's passing.
Counting the days, both of these pregnant women conceived before the Empress passed away. After the Empress's death, Emperor Kangxi rarely visited the harem to favor his concubines.
Even if he were to favor a concubine, he would not allow her to become pregnant within those three years.
So now that the news of Nara and Magiya's pregnancy has spread, the other concubines in the harem are extremely envious.
After Yunyi became pregnant, she quietly stayed in Zhongcui Palace to rest and take care of her child.
Meanwhile, Wuya Yushan had been staying in Zhongcui Palace for two years, and her thoughts had become increasingly eccentric.
Yunyi didn't care about Wuya Yushan's open and covert seduction of Kangxi, but Yunyi recently discovered that Wuya Yushan actually wanted to use her child to build an image in front of Kangxi.
This was something Yunyi absolutely could not tolerate. She had said before that she didn't care what Wuya Yushan did, but if she crossed her bottom line, she would not show any mercy.
After discovering this, Yunyi decisively used a loyalty talisman on Wuya Yushan, turning her into one of her own.
If used well, Wuya Yushan's identity can bring her a lot of convenience.
Yunyi had initially intended to let her off the hook because they were from the same hometown, but who knew she was still so unscrupulous and unethical? So Yunyi shouldn't blame her for being ruthless and using props on her.
With the Loyalty Talisman in place, Wuya Yushan became a controllable factor, and Yunyi made some slight modifications to her plans.
A few days later, on an ordinary evening, Emperor Kangxi came to visit Lady Magiya as usual.
After chatting for a while, Kangxi stayed in Zhongcui Palace to rest, but because Lady Majia was pregnant, he rested in a side hall.
Following Yunyi's instructions, Wuya Yushan administered a laxative to the palace maids who originally served Kangxi, and then pretended to be a passerby who had been conscripted to serve Kangxi.
While bathing and changing, Kangxi saw a familiar face and was somewhat surprised, "How come it's you?"
With a slightly bewildered expression, Wu Yayushan explained in a low voice, "Your Majesty, Sister Dewdrop, who usually serves you, suddenly fell ill and asked me to come and help her."
At this point, Wuya Yushan pretended to be somewhat frightened and said in a way of retreating: "If Your Majesty does not like this servant, then this servant will call someone else to serve you."
Seeing the panicked expression on her little face, Kangxi suppressed his doubts.
He waved his hand and beckoned Wuya Yushan over: "Alright, no need to change people, you can come and serve me!"
Wuya Yushan's movements were perfectly normal; she didn't seem to be trying to do anything at all.
This dispelled the last trace of doubt in Kangxi's heart; perhaps he was overthinking things.
But what he didn't know was that the candle burning in the corner was slowly emitting a strange smell.
As time went on, Kangxi's heart grew increasingly restless, and he felt that Wuya Yushan's hand, which was moving behind his back, was conveying a different meaning.
Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed Wuya Yushan's hand.
A startled voice came from behind: "Your Majesty, what do you mean by this? Is there something I did wrong?"
Upon hearing this voice, Kangxi became even more aroused, as if his reason had been consumed by desire.
...
The next day, Kangxi woke up with a throbbing headache, only to find Uya weeping beside him.
He remembered everything that happened last night. Everything was fine at first, but he didn't know what happened. He disregarded Wuya's wishes and forced himself on her.
But since things had come to this point, Lady Wuya was already one of his own. Kangxi loudly instructed Liang Jiugong to bestow upon Lady Wuya the title of concubine and have her reside in a side hall of Zhongcui Palace.
Although he readily conferred the title of Lady Wuya, Kangxi still had many questions in his mind: was this an accident or something deliberate?
But is there someone else behind this? Was it orchestrated by Uya herself, or was she framed, or perhaps...?
The Emperor favored Wuya, a second-class palace maid who served Consort Ma Jia in Zhongcui Palace. The news of the addition of another Consort Wuya to the palace spread throughout the entire harem in less than half a day.
Many concubines in the palace were jealous of Lady Majia. After this incident, they all mocked Lady Majia in private, saying that she was not strict in managing her subordinates and that a palace maid had betrayed her and climbed into her bed.
Emperor Kangxi ordered Liang Jiugong to investigate, but found nothing. The Ma Jia clan in Zhongcui Palace was normal, as was the Wuya clan; nothing was found.
Moreover, because of this incident, Ma Jia's attitude towards Wu Ya changed from her previous affection to a lot of awkwardness. Although she did not mistreat Wu Ya, she did not give her a kind look.
Under such circumstances, Kangxi could only let the matter drop, believing that it was his own lust that led to this incident.
A few days later, feeling guilty, Kangxi issued an edict in order to dispel the rumors about the Uya clan and to have all the concubines in the harem pay their respects to Consort Zhao. He also handed over the power of the harem to Consort Zhao.
This decree was not simple; it conveyed the message that the successor had finally been decided.
In this battle without gunfire, Consort Zhao, of the Niohuru clan, ultimately emerged victorious and won the position of Empress, while Consort Tong suffered a regrettable defeat.
Since the passing of Empress Hesheli, none of the concubines in the harem had paid their respects. Now, Emperor Kangxi has decreed that they should go to Consort Zhao's palace to pay their respects.
The palace affairs that were temporarily handed over to the Empress Dowager after the Empress's death have now been given to Niohuru. All these actions indicate one thing: Niohuru is the next Empress.
Hearing this news, Yunyi was very sad. Her days of sleeping in were over, and she had to go back to her early morning routine.
However, one good thing is that she is now enjoying the privileges of a concubine and is pregnant, so she can use a palanquin and doesn't need to walk to pay her respects like before.
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