After Consort Wen passed away, the harem was quiet for a while, and Emperor Kangxi rarely visited the harem during this period.
An Ning continued to hide in Changchun Palace to read books, quite content with her freedom.
"Your Majesty has been reading a lot lately. The weather is nice today, why don't you go for a walk?"
In fact, An Ning also felt bored. She had been in the palace for several months and had a clearer understanding of the harem. It wasn't as terrible as she had thought. Publicly framing someone or pushing someone in the Imperial Garden to cause a miscarriage was almost impossible, at least not in Kangxi's harem.
Anning did have the idea of going to the Imperial Garden.
When Chunlan brought it up, Anning readily agreed.
"Then let's go for a walk in the Imperial Garden."
An Ning then led the group to the Imperial Garden. After looking around, well, it wasn't exactly breathtaking. To be honest, the Imperial Garden was just a garden. There were exotic flowers and plants, but most of them were the same species that we'd seen before in modern times. And the Imperial Garden really wasn't very big.
After walking for a while, we finished our visit.
Anning had no choice but to find a pavilion to sit down.
Bai Guo arranged the tea and snacks she had brought with her. It wasn't the winter solstice yet, and the weather was cool. Sitting here like this felt quite nice.
An Ning listened to the amusing conversation of the palace maids and felt extremely relaxed and at ease. However, the Imperial Garden was not very large, and it was inevitable that she would run into people.
Just as they were getting into the story, they saw Consort Wang arrive with the Fifteenth Prince, followed by a large group of people.
Currently, the most favored concubine in the harem is Anning, followed by Consort Wang. According to their relationship, they are actually competitors, but due to their rank, they have never spoken to each other alone.
This competitive relationship has never surfaced.
Consort Wang did not expect to run into Anning. Everyone in the palace knew that Anning was not good at socializing. She preferred to stay in Changchun Palace and never offended anyone. She also did not have many friends.
Since learning about her connection with Emperor Kangxi, Anning has no intention of getting too involved with the harem.
Firstly, they were afraid of getting involved in trouble.
Secondly, she had become Kangxi's invisible second life. It wasn't a big deal that no one in the harem was helping her. At most, people would say she was arrogant or that she was aloof, but it wouldn't affect her much.
Consort Wang suppressed her surprise and stepped forward to pay her respects.
"This concubine greets Consort Shu."
"You're too kind, Consort Wang. Please rise."
"Thank you, Consort Xie Shu."
The two had little interaction before, and Anning's relationship with Yonghe Palace was not suitable for social interaction.
An Ning then politely said, "If Consort Wang doesn't mind, please sit down and have a cup of tea!"
Consort Wang nodded: "How could I possibly find it offensive? Thank you, Your Highness."
An Ning: "Chunlan, pour tea for Consort Wang."
Since the food that others consume must be supplied by Kangxi's people, Anning was not afraid of being schemed against at all.
Those in the palace who had some ulterior motives knew that Chunlan had served in the Emperor's court before, and they believed that this was one of the ways Kangxi compensated Ulanara.
Consort Wang sipped her tea, feeling somewhat uneasy. She had once been favored by Emperor Kangxi, but even so, the tea sent by the Imperial Household Department was not as good as what she was drinking now, not even the tea bestowed upon her by Emperor Kangxi.
This made her lament about her background once again.
"Your Majesty, this tea is silvery-green, with a refreshing aroma, a cool and sweet taste, and a refreshing and thirst-quenching flavor. It must be the finest Biluochun tea. I'm the one who got the best deal."
Anning herself doesn't know much about tea, but because of her special ability, she can sense the quality of tea. This tea was given by Emperor Kangxi; it's tribute tea, and it's indeed delicious, but Anning thinks it's not as good as sweet milk tea.
"I just think it tastes good, but I can't really appreciate its flavor. Consort Wang is quite fond of tea, but I don't have much Biluochun tea, so it's not appropriate to give it to her."
Consort Wang hurriedly shook her head: "This tea is so good, I am already satisfied with just one sip. Your Majesty does not need to reward me."
As Anning listened to Consort Wang speak in a gentle and soft Wu dialect, her heart calmed down. She thought to herself, "No wonder Emperor Kangxi likes her; she likes her too!"
"I've heard that Consort Wang comes from Jiangnan. I've never been there, but I've read many poems about it. I always feel that it's shrouded in mist and water, with beautiful scenery and a gentle atmosphere. I wonder if that's true?"
When people mentioned her hometown, Consort Wang's smile became more sincere and wistful.
“Jiangnan! It is indeed full of moisture, but I have grown up in the inner chambers since childhood and have only seen the landscape in the paintings of literati. I have never seen it with my own eyes.”
Even though she accompanied Emperor Kangxi into the palace, she never showed up for sightseeing along the way.
She truly loved Jiangnan, but in her small courtyard there, she felt even less free than in the Forbidden City.
Consort Wang was nominally the daughter of an official from Jiangnan, but in reality, she was an adopted daughter. To put it more colloquially, she was a "skinny horse" kept by the official in his backyard as a high-class gift.
She was just lucky; her looks and talent were top-notch, making her valuable enough to become a member of the Forbidden City. Even though her status wasn't high, it was enough for Consort Wang.
Anning wisely refrained from asking her in detail why she had never seen the landscapes of Jiangnan, and changed the subject.
The two started talking about other things.
Anning discovered that Consort Wang was indeed the most favored Han Chinese concubine in the later period of the Kangxi Emperor's reign; her words were as gentle as a spring breeze.
Consort Wang also learned what respect truly meant from Anning.
Consort De treated her well, but she could still sense Consort De's subtle disdain and exploitation of her.
Not only Consort De, but most of the high-ranking concubines in the harem were like this. Everyone knew that she was a Han woman and the concubine who was least likely to rise in the palace, even though she gave birth to the fifteenth prince.
Consort Wang had become accustomed to the dismissive attitude of others. What Anning considered normal, Consort Wang saw as respect.
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