When her parents saw her in the crowd, they ignored the soldiers pushing and shoving them and frantically shook their heads at her, signaling her to leave quickly.
But she just stood there, dumbfounded, watching as her entire family of dozens of people were beheaded on the spot.
For decades, she could still recall that scene whenever she closed her eyes.
Since she was sold into the palace, she had been thinking about finding an opportunity to avenge her parents, but because she was Han Chinese, she had always worked as a laborer in the garden.
It wasn't until recent years that she was sent to the Cining Palace to tend to the flowers and plants because of her excellent skills.
She considered countless ways to kill Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, but she couldn't get close to the old lady at all, and could only wait silently for an opportunity.
It wasn't until someone mentioned the anti-Qing and restoration of Ming movement outside the palace that she realized her opportunity might have arrived.
She didn't know how those people found her, only that each time a young eunuch came to see her, but when she tried to find him, she couldn't find a single clue.
Seeing her lost in memories, Yinreng didn't want to say anything more. He glanced at Liang Jiugong and ordered, "Take her away and interrogate her thoroughly. Find out who the contact was and how they made the contact."
Guarjia hugged Hongxi tightly, afraid that he would be frightened by the other's madness, "Hongxi, don't be afraid."
"I'm not afraid." Hongxi chuckled.
[The Emperor should use this incident to punish a group of older palace staff, and future palace maids should be selected from among the newly appointed concubines.]
Yinreng thought for a moment, then looked at Consort Yi and said, “Your Highness, I have an idea. There are quite a few older palace servants in the palace now. They have been by the master’s side for a long time and inevitably have their own power. If they are bribed, it may cause trouble.”
Consort Yi sat up straight and listened to Yinreng speak.
"Why not reassign all the palace maids over twenty-five and the eunuchs over thirty? If the maids and eunuchs who are close to their masters are not trusted to be released from the palace, they can be reassigned to new jobs or transferred to different places. If the palace servants who usually do rough work can be released, and then palace maids can be selected from the Eight Banners according to the rules of the imperial concubine selection."
Consort Yi thought the idea was good, but she still looked at Emperor Kangxi's face. Seeing that he nodded in satisfaction, she said, "Since Your Majesty also thinks this is a good idea, then tomorrow I will discuss this matter with Consort Wenxi."
Emperor Kangxi nodded in satisfaction, "You and Consort Wenxi worked hard last night, go back and rest."
With a single sentence, Kangxi dismissed the overwhelmed Consort Yi. Fortunately, after she left, he still remembered to arrange for Wei Zhu to deliver some rewards.
Hongxi sat to the side, watching with a pout.
The only way the Grandfather expresses love and gratitude to women is by bestowing gifts.
Yinreng glared at Hongxi. At such a young age, he dared to talk about his elders just because he couldn't speak properly. He really had a lot of nerve.
For the next period of time, Lady Guarjia and Hongxi stayed temporarily at Cining Palace.
The main reason was that Cining Palace was quite far from Yuqing Palace, and the back-and-forth trips were a huge waste of time, so the Crown Princess chose to stay there temporarily.
Hongxi also loved Cining Palace. Every time he came here, he could eat a lot of Mongolian food with Sumalagu.
He drinks yogurt, which are his two favorite foods.
Because of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang's illness, Yinqi and Yintao visited her almost every day.
Suddenly, the once quiet Cining Palace became lively without anyone noticing.
When Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang opened her eyes one night, she saw Hongxi walking on the ground, his small figure with his hands behind his back.
Yinqi is tutoring Yintao in his studies.
Lady Guarjia was sitting at the table doing needlework. For a moment, no one noticed that Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang had woken up, but she felt an unusual warmth and comfort at the sight of this scene.
Finally, Su Ma La Gu, who brought in the medicine, saw Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang looking at everyone with a smile on her face. Overjoyed, she immediately burst into tears.
"Master, you've finally woken up."
Sumalagu rushed to Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang's bedside, weeping uncontrollably. Hearing the commotion, the others also gathered around.
Upon seeing this, Lady Guarjia immediately sent Wenying to the Qianqing Palace to inform Emperor Kangxi and Yinreng, and at the same time sent Granny Gui to inform Consort Yi.
For a while, Yinqi, along with Yintao and Hongxi, chattered incessantly around the bed. Meanwhile, Guarjia stood behind her uncles and nephews, looking at Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang. She saw that although the other party was recovering from a serious illness, the happiness in her eyes was undeniable.
She was a little puzzled. The old lady had just woken up, so why did she look so happy?
"Grandma Wukuma, you've finally woken up." Yinqi rushed forward and hugged Xiaozhuang's arm, tears streaming down his face.
Yin Tao also stood obediently to the side, his eyes full of warm smiles as he looked at Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang.
Before long, Kangxi and his entourage arrived one after another.
Yinqi, along with Yintao and Hongxi, quietly retreated to the back, leaving the main battlefield to Kangxi and Yinreng.
The two uncles took their nephew to play in the side hall, mainly because it was still early and they couldn't sleep at this hour.
Yin Tao silently took out the toys he used to play with. He was raised here by Su Ma La Gu since he was a child.
Among his brothers, he was most familiar with Yinqi, but the two were quite far apart in age and did not meet very often, but there was a special warmth between them.
When the palace maid saw that Yinqi and Yintao had arrived, she immediately prepared yogurt and brought it over. Hongxi pouted unhappily when he saw that there was no yogurt for him.
Before long, another palace maid brought over a small bowl with some crushed nuts floating in it.
"This was specially made for the young prince by Aunt Suma. The taste is milder than that of the two princes, mainly because she was afraid that you would not be used to pure Mongolian yogurt."
Hongxi then realized that the so-called yogurt he was drinking was quite different from that of his two uncles, at least in terms of taste.
He looked left and right, but hesitated to eat.
Seeing this, Yin Tao scooped some food from his own bowl into Hong Xi's bowl, saying, "You can try some of mine."
Hongxi was very happy that Yintao was so understanding. He picked up the spoon and took a bite, but then his face fell.
That's way too sour.
Yinqi couldn't help but laugh at his little expression. "You little rascal, are you still thinking about the uncles' yogurt this time?"
Hongxi obediently shook his head, and after Xiuhe fed him a few sips of water, he held the small bowl and ate his yogurt.
That night, Yinreng also stayed at Cining Palace, while Kangxi went to Yikun Palace with Consort Yi.
Fortunately, the old lady's bedroom was large enough that even Yinqi and Yintao stayed there without feeling crowded at all.
The next day, after having breakfast, Emperor Kangxi came to Cining Palace and personally told Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang about the recent events and the matter of palace maids colluding with eunuchs.
The night Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang awoke, she heard about this from Sumalagu. She had never expected that there would be a young lady from a prominent family of the former Ming Dynasty in her palace. Fortunately, after the Qing Dynasty took control of the Central Plains, the rules became stricter, especially in her Cining Palace. The people serving her were all brought from the grasslands, and even the palace servants arranged by the Imperial Household Department could only do menial tasks such as sweeping and cleaning in the palace.
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