Anning felt exhausted and couldn't even look at the study anymore. In the end, Kangxi carried Anning to wash up, and she fell asleep from exhaustion.
When he woke up, it was already evening, and Kangxi was half-lying down reading a book.
"Your Majesty?! What time is it?"
"It's just past 6 PM, are you hungry?"
The two started fooling around in the morning. Anning couldn't remember how long they fooled around, but they were definitely hungry.
"I am indeed a little hungry. It's all because Your Majesty is too valiant that I slept for so long. I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep tonight," Anning said apologetically.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Kangxi immediately misunderstood: "I will not leave tonight, and I will certainly not leave my beloved concubine alone in her empty room."
The subtext is obvious: we'll continue tonight.
"Your Majesty, I am utterly exhausted."
These words affirmed Kangxi's "ability," which pleased him greatly, and he wished there could be many more such instances.
"I'm not tired, my beloved concubine, you don't need to do anything, I'll do it."
Although I've heard Emperor Kangxi say similar things many times, I still feel disillusioned every time I hear them, as if the filter I have for historical figures has been shattered.
Well, all I can say is that people have many facets, and history won't record the flirtatious conversations between Emperor Kangxi and his concubines in bed.
Even after getting out of bed, An Ning's face still had a faint blush. Kangxi laughed at her, saying, "You're just too shy!"
"Hmph, why is Your Majesty blaming me? I never imagined that Your Majesty would do these things to me in broad daylight, and always say such reckless things."
Kangxi didn't take it to heart: "As the sage said, food and sex are human nature. I am also a human being, so naturally I cannot escape these customs. As for my rash words, they are just human nature. My beloved concubine should get used to it."
Yes, it was only after I traveled through time that I realized that the rules for concubines to serve the emperor in bed in ancient times were not so strict. Everything was done according to the emperor's wishes, and it wasn't that ladies from noble families had to be rigid in bed.
After getting out of bed and having dinner, the two went to the study to continue reading.
In the evening, we continued with the fermentation process.
Anyway, I was quite happy.
For the next five days, Kangxi came to report every day, and Anning got used to it.
However, such favor is still quite eye-catching.
The first person to retaliate against Anning was Consort Yi.
Consort Yi's temper was always hard to fathom, and the two were not particularly close. Consort Yi was already over thirty, and even when Emperor Kangxi stayed overnight at her place, he only slept alone.
Faced with Anning's great favor, she should have thrown a tantrum, otherwise how could she prove her "true feelings" for Kangxi!
Recently, the Crown Prince's faction has gained the upper hand in the court. They came to Changchun Garden, but Consort Tong did not. The four consorts were of equal rank. In order to save face for the eldest prince, Emperor Kangxi ordered everyone to gather at Consort Hui's place on the first and fifteenth of each month, and then pay their respects to the Empress Dowager together.
An Ning was "criticized" in front of everyone by Consort Hui.
Consort Yi's tone was unfriendly: "Consort Shu didn't arrive early today. What's wrong? Were you too tired from serving the Emperor yesterday? You were even late for your greetings."
Anning had no idea what was wrong with her. She didn't believe that Consort Yi was jealous; she just thought that Consort Yi's words were really sharp.
"It's not even Chen Shi yet! Could it be that Consort Hui changed the time?"
When the imperial concubines came to pay their respects, they said they only needed to arrive before Chenshi (7-9 AM), so how could Consort Hui dare to say that Anning was late?
Consort Hui: "Sister Yi, please say less. Sister Shu is not late."
Consort Yi: "Ha, I've already arrived, and Consort Shu has only just entered. If you ask me, Consort Shu must have been disrespectful."
An Ning can confirm that Consort Yi was deliberately finding fault and nitpicking.
An Ning smiled and said, "This concubine really did not. Your Majesty was with me last night. All of you sisters know Your Majesty's abilities. Just as Consort Yi said, I was indeed tired and came a little late, but I was not late and did not delay the time to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager."
If Your Highness feels that I have shown disrespect, next time Your Highness may send someone in advance to inform me of your time for paying respects. I will then have the palace servants wake me up beforehand to ensure that Your Highness feels my respect.
Consort Yi liked people who spoke their minds quickly, so there weren't many conflicts between them.
His concerns stemmed from the fact that he had kept to himself and avoided socializing for the past year, and more importantly, Ulanara had not interfered in the princes' factional struggles.
When the high-ranking concubines in the harem realized they couldn't win her over, they became less "polite" to her than before.
As for whether this would offend the Ulanara clan, these ladies who still had sons were not afraid at all. After all, they had figured out that the Ulanara clan would not change its family decisions because of a woman.
An Ning finally understood. Consort Yi needed someone to "get jealous" because she thought An Ning was easy to bully and was targeting her.
But she's not someone you can really bully.
An Ning's words made Consort Yi truly angry. Her jealousy earlier was fake, but her anger and annoyance now were real.
Before Consort Yi could react, Consort De couldn't help but laugh: "I always thought that Consort Yi's eloquence was unmatched in the harem, but I never expected that Consort Shu's eloquence is in no way inferior to Consort Yi's! What do you think, Consort Yi?"
Consort Yi snorted coldly: "Sharp-tongued!"
An Ning smiled at Consort Yi again: "Thank you for your praise and affirmation, Your Highness."
Consort Yi was even angrier.
In comparison, Consort Yi is simply straightforward, while Anning's sharp tongue has been honed through countless trials by the modern internet. Although she hasn't used it in a long time, it can always be brought out at the right time and place.
Seeing Consort Yi get the short end of the stick, Consort De, Consort Rong, and Consort Hui all felt happy.
The relationship between the four concubines is very complicated; they can cooperate occasionally, but they can also kick someone when they're down at any time.
After watching the show to her heart's content, Consort Hui spoke up: "It's getting late, let's go, we should pay our respects to the Empress Dowager."
Everyone got up and headed towards the Empress Dowager's residence.
The Empress Dowager was still the same Empress Dowager. Although Consort Yi was close to the Empress Dowager, she was very tactful and did not mention her quarrel with Anning in front of the Empress Dowager.
At noon, Chunlan came to report: "Your Majesty, Consort Yi has invited the Emperor to her residence."
An Ning was not surprised at all; she could even guess that the reason Consort Yi used was definitely to use her as a pretext.
"I understand." An Ning replied calmly, without putting down the book in her hands.
Her attitude surprised Chunlan: "Your Highness, Consort Yi is not an ordinary person. When she complains to the Emperor, she usually gets her complaints accepted. Should we have the kitchen prepare something and send it to the Emperor this afternoon?"
Emperor Kangxi couldn't rest all day. He spent almost the entire day fooling around with Anning that day, which could be considered his "vacation".
Although Chunlan knew that Kangxi valued Anning, she did not know the real reason. Judging from the length of time Kangxi favored his concubines, Anning had been favored for quite some time.
She wasn't afraid of anything else, but she was afraid that Kangxi would use Consort Yi's complaint as an excuse to make Anning fall out of favor.
This happened before in the imperial harem, and I don't even know if it happened once.
An Ning said fearlessly, “Your Majesty is wise and has the ability to distinguish right from wrong. The words of Consort Yi alone are not enough to shake my position in His Majesty’s eyes.”
In reality, Anning was very clear about her "role" and was naturally not afraid that Kangxi would neglect her.
If Consort Yi goes too far, Emperor Kangxi might even ignore her for a while. She was actually hoping that Consort Yi would end up losing more than she gained.
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