Summer of the thirty-third year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, Yanhui Pavilion in the Forbidden City.
Shen Anning, pale-faced, dismissed the maidservant who was serving her; she needed some peace and quiet.
Not long ago, she was a wood-type ability user struggling to survive in the apocalypse. She was on a small mission with her ability team when they encountered a large-scale zombie horde, and the entire team perished.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself transformed into Ulanara Anning, a concubine of Emperor Kangxi, and the future fourth princess consort.
The original body is completely dead.
The reason for his death can be seen from some details in the original owner's memories, which are related to the concubine Dong E.
However, Dong Eshi did it secretly and left no evidence.
Although An Ning wasn't very knowledgeable about history, she had watched quite a few Qing Dynasty dramas before the apocalypse. That Dong E clan woman was probably the future Third Prince's wife, so she had no need or reason to harm the original owner of this body in such a covert way.
Considering Dong E's attentiveness to Consort De of Yonghe Palace, the original owner of this body shared a room with Dong E, and Dong E had mentioned the name of the Fourth Prince in her dream.
This is interesting. Emperor Kangxi wanted to select three daughters-in-law from this batch of imperial concubines, namely the Third Prince Consort, the Fourth Prince Consort, and the Fifth Prince Consort. Naturally, he would pay special attention to the situation of the imperial concubines.
After the initial selection, the young women lived in the Niu Niu Room, not far from the Forbidden City, to learn etiquette in preparation for the second selection. During this period, the concubines would select and summon the young women who "felt good eye" to meet them.
The original owner of this body fell into the water on her way out of the palace after being summoned by Consort De. She was pulled into the water by the palace maid who was accompanying her. The palace maid had already drowned, and there was no way to verify the incident. If An Ning hadn't transmigrated into this body and knew how to swim, she probably would have died in the water as well.
Actually, the pond in the Imperial Garden is not deep; if it weren't intentional, no one would drown.
After Anning got ashore, she called for help. After realizing her situation, she "fainted". When she woke up, she was in Yanhui Pavilion.
Yanhui Pavilion is one of the places where the candidates are selected, so it's not against the rules to let the candidates stay there temporarily.
After Anning woke up, she dismissed the maid who had been taking care of her. She needed to think things over. Given Dong Eshi's "abnormal" behavior, Anning was pretty sure that she had been reborn.
The Fourth Prince will likely be the next emperor, and Consort Dong'e wants to become empress. Although Consort De is close to Consort Dong'e, she is also close to Consort Ulanara. The re-election is about to take place, and Consort Dong'e probably targeted Consort Ulanara because she was afraid of something unexpected happening.
As for why they chose to strike in the palace...
Firstly, the imperial harem believed in "keeping family scandals private." If Ulanara died, the four concubines and two imperial concubines in charge of the selection of concubines would simply "keep the matter quiet" without any prior agreement. It could only be an accident.
Secondly, if they were outside the palace, and Dong Eshi lived with the original owner, and something happened to the original owner, Dong Eshi would be investigated. Dong Eshi could not guarantee that everything would be foolproof.
Having figured all this out, Anning began to think about what to do next.
The original owner's grudge must be avenged.
What path should we take next?
Dong Eshi's rebirth represents a major change. Having died once, she cherishes the chance to live even more. She wants to live a long, stable, and wealthy life, so her choices are very important.
Given the current situation, there is a reborn woman of unknown abilities vying with Consort Dong'e for the position of Fourth Prince's consort. Even if she wins, with Consort Dong'e around, it's uncertain whether the future emperor will be the Fourth Prince.
Moreover, the royal family was rife with infighting, and the princes who participated in the struggle for the throne, except for the eventual winner, all met with a bad end.
The Fifth Prince was actually a good choice. He was raised by the Empress Dowager after birth. The Empress Dowager was of Mongolian origin, and Emperor Kangxi would not choose a prince who was close to Mongolia as his successor. The Fifth Prince had already lost his qualification to compete for the throne.
The Fifth Prince's wife had a noble and secure status, but there was one drawback: Emperor Kangxi was unwilling to choose a wife from a good family background for the Fifth Prince.
It's not a good choice for the Third Prince to participate in the struggle for the throne.
The only option is to shut down the business. Since that's the case, the illness can't be cured so quickly.
The re-election is the day after tomorrow. Although it is summer now, he has been drowning and soaking in the water for a long time. If he does not actively use his superpower to recover his body, it will take a long time to recover.
The original owner's father was a meritorious official, and it would be inappropriate for Emperor Kangxi to allow the legitimate daughter of such a meritorious official to participate in the re-selection while suffering from illness.
This would also help her out of her current predicament.
On the other side, servants and imperial physicians were kneeling all over the Qianqing Palace.
Emperor Kangxi, pale-faced, lay on the bed, his eyes filled with anger, and said, "Imperial Physician Xu, tell me why I suddenly suffocated?"
The imperial physician Xu, whose name was called, was even paler than Emperor Kangxi. He knelt down, buried his head in the ground, and stammered, finally saying, "Your Majesty's symptoms are extremely similar to those of someone who has drowned."
Kangxi's face darkened further: "Are you saying that I drowned while reviewing memorials in the Qianqing Palace study?"
Physician Xu: "Your Majesty, I am terrified and incompetent. I beg Your Majesty to punish me."
An "incompetent" person is naturally unworthy to be a royal physician. After saying this, Physician Xu was already prepared to resign or even be punished.
However, instead of immediately ordering his execution, Emperor Kangxi consulted the other imperial physicians.
The results were all similar to what Physician Xu said.
Emperor Kangxi had experienced drowning in his childhood, and the feeling he just experienced was indeed similar to that of someone who had drowned. However, it was strange that he had the symptoms of drowning even though he hadn't actually drowned.
After questioning them to no avail, it was impossible for Kangxi to have all the imperial physicians present killed.
"I do not wish for anyone to remember what happened today outside the Qianqing Palace. I am in the sweltering heat of summer, do you understand?"
"Your Majesty understands."
"This servant understands."
Kangxi knew they truly understood, because many princes and princesses had died young. Kangxi had extremely strict control over the Imperial Medical Academy. These imperial physicians might have favored certain concubines, but none of them dared to disregard Kangxi's orders.
In this sense, if one were to side with a concubine and not help her harm others, and this was discovered, Emperor Kangxi would only impose a minor punishment.
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