Seeing this, the palace maid stopped talking and focused on leading the way.
Inside the inner palace, Consort An looked nervous, clutching a handkerchief in her hands, pacing anxiously back and forth, her eyes glancing towards the door every now and then.
The young palace maid cautiously looked around the whole way, and when she finally arrived at her destination, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
After letting the man in black into the inner hall, she closed the door and stood guard at the entrance to prevent anyone from appearing, so that she could give the two people inside a heads-up.
When the person she was waiting for finally arrived, Consort An stopped pacing and looked up in surprise. However, she was suddenly stunned when she saw the man in black.
Consort An's eyes widened in surprise, her mouth slightly agape. She stood there, stunned, motionless.
After a moment of reaction, she quickly stepped forward, her voice low, but you could still feel the surprise in her tone.
"Cousin, what brings you here?"
It turns out that the man in black was actually Consort An's cousin.
This person is named Qingxi. He is the son of Consort An's mother's eldest sister, that is, the son of Consort An's aunt. He is a cousin of Consort An.
Qingxi was born into the Niohuru family, which shared the same surname as the Empress, but was only a branch of the Niohuru clan and had little to do with the main family.
My family wasn't very wealthy. My father was a fifth-rank official, a position that wasn't particularly high or low, but he had the common Manchu surname Niohuru and was a member of the Upper Three Banners, so he was doing alright.
Consort An's family was different; they belonged to the Han Chinese Plain Blue Banner. Although her social standing was lower than that of the Manchu bannermen, and she was among the lower five banners of the Han Chinese army, her father was a capable second-rank official in the court, and her grandfather was the son-in-law of the Western Prince Consort, thus having kinship ties with the imperial family. All things considered, Consort An's family background was superior to that of Consort Qingxi.
When she was young, Consort An's aunt often brought her cousin to her house to play together. The two became very familiar with each other. As they grew older, the differences between their families' social statuses became more and more pronounced, and the two eventually lost contact with each other.
When Consort An entered the palace through the imperial concubine selection, this was the first time the two had met in several years.
The bond formed in childhood is probably different. Although we hadn't seen each other for a long time, we didn't feel like strangers when we met in person again.
When you finally meet the person you've been longing to see, you feel like you have a thousand words to say, but in the end, you can only say one sentence.
"Cousin, are you doing well in the palace?"
Once you enter the palace, it's like entering a deep sea. Since Consort An entered the palace, Qingxi has not received any news from her.
He could only get a few bits of information when his mother occasionally went to the Li family to visit Consort An's mother.
Now that he could finally see her in person, he just wanted to know if his cousin was doing well.
“I…” Consort An, who usually had a fiery temper, became very gentle at this moment. Faced with her cousin’s question, she did not know how to start.
Pulling her cousin to sit down first, Consort An poured them both a cup of tea before beginning to recount her recent experiences over the past few years.
Because of the time constraints, Consort An briefly summarized her life, and not wanting to worry her family, she didn't say anything bad.
As a close friend who grew up together, how could Qingxi not know that Consort An was lying? She just thoughtfully chose not to expose her.
After catching up on old times and remembering the purpose of his trip, Qingxi quickly took out a small porcelain bottle from his pocket.
"My aunt went to great lengths to find this and asked me to bring it to you."
The thing she had been thinking about for so long had finally arrived. Consort An couldn't wait to take the small porcelain bottle from Qingxi's hand and examine it repeatedly.
Seeing her overjoyed expression, Qingxi suppressed the bitterness in her heart and explained.
"According to your aunt, although this medicine can satisfy your desires, all medicines have side effects, and this medicine is no exception. After you take this medicine, your body will be weak for three years, and you will not be able to conceive during those three years."
Looking at Consort An, Qingxi's voice was somewhat solemn, "Cousin, is it really worth it? Your health is the most important thing. This medicine may not be able to help you get pregnant, and it is too harmful to your body. Don't take the risk."
A pang of pain shot through her heart, and Consort An's eyes reddened slightly. "Cousin, how could I not know these truths? But I have no choice but to take the risk. Since I entered the palace, five years have passed. In these five years, I have not received a single word of pregnancy. As I grow older, His Majesty's favor towards me has diminished considerably."
At this point, tears welled up in Consort An's eyes, almost overflowing. She awkwardly turned her head to the side, unwilling to let the person opposite her see her appearance.
“In this palace, favor and offspring are the most important things. I no longer crave the Emperor’s favor. I just want a child of my own. The deep palace is lonely. If I could have a child to keep me company in my old age, I would have someone to keep me company in my later years.”
Stung by Consort An's words, Qingxi almost lost control of her emotions.
If only I had been brave back then, would my cousin be in a different state now?
I wanted to reach out and hug my cousin to comfort her, but we are no longer the children we were when we were little.
She was the emperor's concubine, while he was just a third-class guard; everything changed.
Suppressing her emotions, Qingxi took out a handkerchief from her bosom and handed it to Consort An.
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