Only when Empress Xiaozhuang turned to Su Mo'er, her close friend who had always been by her side, could she reveal the deepest worries in her heart.
"Of the six princes in the palace today, four are born to Lady Ma Jia. She has too many children and is favored by the emperor. Meanwhile, several of Lady Ma Jia's brothers from the previous dynasty distinguished themselves in the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories. It seems the Ma Jia clan is about to rise to power..."
Su Mo'er didn't understand these important matters of the imperial court and harem; she only knew that the princess was troubled by these things.
She poured herself a cup of tea and gently comforted her, "Princess, there's no need to worry about this. His Majesty isn't that kind of person. He won't let love affect important state affairs."
"As for Consort Rong, she seems to be a well-mannered person. The princes she has taught are all intelligent and sensible. Your worries are really a bit excessive."
However, it's understandable that Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang was too nervous. After what happened with Hailanzhu and Consort Dong'e, she was afraid that another concubine would appear who could stir the emperor's heart.
But Su Mo'er is right. She was overthinking it. She really shouldn't have been so worried.
"Enough, enough," Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang told herself. "I am already the Empress Dowager. I should trust Xuan Ye. He will handle these matters well. I am old and should enjoy my retirement. Let my grandson solve these problems himself."
When the imperial harem was being bestowed titles, Lady Ma Jia was granted the title of Consort Rong, while she herself was only granted the title of Consort Hui, which made Lady Nara very resentful.
She and Lady Magiya entered the palace at the same time and served Emperor Kangxi for nearly ten years. She also gave birth to two princes, but was only granted the title of Consort.
Consort Tong, of the Nara clan, and Consort Duan, of the Dong clan, were inferior to her in terms of seniority and children, yet they were able to sit on equal footing with her.
And that Consort An, Lady Li, only relied on her family background to surpass me and become the head of the six consorts.
That Consort Yi was the same. She had only been in the palace for a few months, but because of her beauty and favor, she was promoted to the rank of Consort. The Emperor is really heartless. He doesn't care at all about the friendship between us old people who have served him for many years.
Having considered these thoughts, Consort Hui can now only place her hopes on her son.
She hoped that Baoqing could ascend to that position, so that she could suppress Majia and finally gain some recognition.
She couldn't bear to see Lady Magiya become Empress Dowager and her struggling to make a living under her rule; she'd rather she just die.
Because of this awkward feeling, when Consort Hui went to pay her respects the next day and saw Yunyi, her attitude was also somewhat strange.
Completely bewildered, Yunyi couldn't understand why these people were acting so strangely. What had she done to make them like this?
During the greetings, the atmosphere in the hall was very strange. Consort Tong did not respect the Empress, and Consort Hui's attitude towards Consort Rong was also somewhat strange.
The remaining Consort An, Consort Yi, and others were all of high rank but low seniority, and they didn't talk much.
Those in lower ranks dared not speak, and since those in front remained silent, the women dared not speak at all. For a time, the only sound in the entire hall was the Empress's gentle voice.
Niohuru was also somewhat surprised. Usually, it was Tong who was most prone to being jealous and saying sarcastic things, but she was much quieter than usual.
I don't know if she was discouraged and lacked the energy to confront herself, or if she finally realized her own status and developed a sense of hierarchy and etiquette.
Although she thought this way, Niohuru didn't care. She knew what kind of person Tong was and didn't take her to heart.
After paying her respects, Yunyi returned to Zhongcui Palace. She still couldn't figure out what was going on between Consort Tong and Consort Hui, but she didn't sense any malice, so she simply ignored it.
After returning, Wuya Yuyao requested an audience outside the main hall again, wanting to return to Yunyi's side to serve her.
In Wuya Yuyao's heart, Yunyi was her master, and it was really inappropriate for her to serve by the side of Consort Wuya now. Nominally they were mistress and servant, but in reality they were sisters, which made her uncomfortable and also put her sister in a difficult position.
That's why she wanted to ask her master to let her go back to serve him; she would rather serve her master and feel more at ease.
But she also had a hidden thought in her mind: there were bad rumors circulating about her sister becoming a concubine, and outsiders said that the master and her sister were not on good terms.
She wanted to stay by her master's side, which could be considered as her voluntary act as a hostage. With her around, if her sister ever had any bad intentions in the future, she would be more likely to think things through because of her.
Yunyi could guess some of Wuya Yuyao's thoughts, and after thinking for a moment, she agreed.
Leaving Wuya Yuyao behind would also send a false signal to outsiders, making them think that he had forcibly kept Wuya's sister and wanted to control her, thus deepening the illusion of discord between the two sides.
After Wuya Yuyao returned, Yunyi gave her a different job, assigning her to manage the flowers and plants in Zhongcui Palace.
This job is easy and involves little contact with people. It seems that Yunyi dislikes Wuya's sister and has sent her to sit on the sidelines, keeping her far away and away from her.
In fact, Yunyi knew Wuya Yuyao's personality. She was a refined and elegant person who didn't like to interact with people or deal with complicated matters.
Managing flowers and plants is a leisurely and elegant task, which suits Wuya Yuyao's taste perfectly. Yunyi has already planned to let her leave the palace for a wedding when she reaches the appropriate age.
This can be seen as fulfilling the original female lead's wish, giving her the future she desired.
On the 19th day of the sixth month of the 16th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, Yunyi gave birth to another prince, the ninth son of the Kangxi Emperor, known as the Ninth Prince.
By this point, Yunyi had successfully given birth to five sons and one daughter, making her the concubine with the most births and the most children in the harem.
In the same year, Emperor Kangxi issued an edict to reorder the existing princes and princesses and to determine the generational ranking of the princes.
Cheng Rui became the eldest prince and changed his name to Yin Yue; Cheng Xi became the second prince and changed his name to Yin Xi; Bao Qing became the third prince and changed his name to Yin Ti; Cheng Hua became the fourth prince and changed his name to Yin Ling; Cheng Li became the fifth prince and changed his name to Yin Lu; Wan Fu became the sixth prince and changed his name to Yin Tao.
Yunyi's newborn Ninth Prince has now become the Seventh Prince and has been given the name Yinzhi.
As for the daughters, the eldest daughter born to Lady Zhang and the second daughter born to Lady Dong were not included in the birth order because they died young.
The third princess, Fuerguochun, born to Yunyi, is now Kangxi's nominal eldest daughter, known as the First Princess.
The second princess was raised under the care of Niohuru, and was an adopted daughter from the Prince Gong's Mansion.
The fourth princess born to Lady Zhang was the third princess, the eldest daughter born to the late empress was the fourth princess, and the fifth princess was born to Lady Zhaojia.
At this point, all of Kangxi's children were reordered, and five of the seven princes in the palace were born to Consort Rong, of the Ma Jia clan, which made everyone envious.
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