That night, Kangxi did not stay at Wanyi's residence, but returned to the Hall of Mental Cultivation. He heard that something had happened to the Three Feudatories, so he went to deal with state affairs. It was not until the third day that he began to summon his concubines to his bedchamber, and Wanyi was the first one.
"Does Hongxiu have any contact with our secret contacts?" Wanyi asked, referring to the secret contacts who could contact her father.
"Yes, does Your Highness need it? Hongxiu can contact her."
Hongxiu asked Wanyi with suspicion, "This secret contact should not be made unless absolutely necessary."
“I have something very important to tell my father, it concerns the family, so Hongxiu, please go and make the contact. Just say that you are bringing some embroidery for my mother.”
Wanyi planned to write down the prescription for smallpox and ask her father to present it to the emperor before the sixteenth year of his reign, because she wanted to be included in the grand ceremony for the six palaces in the sixteenth year. She also gave her father some life-saving pills to give to her two brothers. Wanyi didn't know if her rebirth would affect her two brothers.
"Yes, this servant will hand everything over," Hongxiu said confidently.
Unbeknownst to Wanyi, the items she sent out were thoroughly searched, but Wanyi was cautious enough that none of the items were discovered.
"The plum blossoms in this plum garden are really beautiful. No wonder they always come here." Consort Tong suddenly felt like seeing flowers today, but since it was winter and there weren't many flowers in the Imperial Garden, she came to this plum garden on Ning Dong's suggestion. Putting everything else aside, the blooming plum blossoms here are truly beautiful.
“This is my first time here this year, but I’m only here because of Your Highness! Your Highness, look, isn’t that beautiful?” Ningdong said, pointing to a plum tree in full bloom.
"They're all beautiful. Go pick some fresh plum blossoms and make some plum blossom cakes in the small kitchen later. We'll also send some to my cousin, who loves plum blossoms the most." Consort Tong admired the plum blossoms and remembered that Emperor Kangxi loved plum blossoms.
Seeing that Ningdong had picked enough, Consort Tong was about to go back when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her abdomen.
"Ah! Ningdong, my stomach, my stomach hurts." Consort Tong thought the throbbing pain was just her imagination, but then an even greater pain struck.
"Your Highness, what's wrong? Your Highness." Ningdong dropped the plum blossoms she had picked and rushed over to help Consort Tong, who was about to fall, along with Qiaobing.
"Quickly, help the Empress onto the palanquin. Qiaobing, go and fetch the imperial physician. Hurry."
Although Ningdong was also flustered, she quickly gave instructions, and the others hurriedly went to do so as well.
When Consort Tong returned to Chengqian Palace, the imperial physicians had also arrived and sent someone to invite Emperor Kangxi. At the same time, all the concubines in the harem received the news and set off for Chengqian Palace.
"Your Highness, Consort Tong went to the plum garden to admire the plum blossoms today, but for some reason she suffered from severe abdominal pain. All the ladies of the harem have already set off for Chengqian Palace."
"What? Quickly serve me, we have to go too."
Wanyi put down the book of poetry in her hand and, without thinking too much, quickly got up from the bed and dressed.
"Wait, Xiao Dengzi, keep an eye on things and people in the palace. If they bring anything or anyone in bad luck in, deal with it immediately. We'll talk about it when I get back."
Before leaving the side hall, Wanyi instructed Xiao Dengzi that she was afraid someone would use Consort Tong's unborn child to perform rituals. She remembered that in her previous life, she was indeed pregnant with a princess, but not now, when she was an Imperial Noble Consort. Therefore, she felt that something was wrong with Consort Tong's pregnancy this time.
"Yes, this servant will definitely take good care of Yongshou Palace," Xiao Dengzi said confidently.
"I believe in you," Wanyi said before walking out.
"So fast! Who did this? What bad luck! They've ruined all my plans. Give the order to make some moves at Qixiang Palace, Yongshou Palace, and Zhongcui Palace!" Consort Wuya angrily gave the order to Gu Cui.
"Yes, this servant will arrange it right away." Gu Cui said and went to make the arrangements.
"Your Highness, we're going to Chengqian Palace now," Chu Yao reminded the angry Consort Wuya.
"No rush. We're next to Chengqian Palace. If we go too early, won't people say that I've planted spies there? This whole thing was my scheme, but someone else messed it up. It'll still be quite a show."
Consort Wuya felt happy at the thought that Consort Tong would be saddened by this nonexistent pregnancy.
"Yes, Your Highness. Consort Tong never expected that she was not pregnant. Of course, her miscarriage was also fake. She will need to rest for a month to recover from her miscarriage. Your Highness can then gradually consolidate your favor."
"That's right. Originally, I didn't want to touch Consort Tong. She shouldn't have touched my grandfather."
Although Consort Wuya doesn't receive much imperial favor now, she still gets to see the emperor once or twice a month. At the New Year's banquet, she tried to attract the emperor's attention by taking a gentle and weak approach, but then she remembered that the Empress Dowager disliked weak women the most. So she changed her strategy and became gentle and considerate, which made Kangxi linger a little longer.
When Wanyi arrived at the main hall of Chengqian Palace, the maids were bringing out basin after basin of bloody water, and she could faintly hear Consort Tong's sobbing cries coming from inside.
"Greetings, Your Majesty! May Your Majesty and Consort Zhao enjoy boundless blessings and peace!"
Kangxi had his back to Wanyi and didn't turn around. It was Consort Zhao who waved for Wanyi to find a place to stand. Wanyi got up and walked to Consort Li's side. They exchanged a polite bow. Since Wanyi and Uya Shi had become estranged, Consort Li no longer targeted Wanyi. However, she still wore a sour face. Consort Li was straightforward and said what she thought. She wasn't good at reading people's expressions. At first, Kangxi doted on Consort Li, but later he grew tired of her.
"Your Majesty, Consort Tong's pregnancy has completely ended." Not long after, Imperial Physician Lu finished taking Consort Tong's pulse and informed Emperor Kangxi.
"Do you know what happened to Consort Tong that led to this situation?" Kangxi asked with displeasure.
"We need to check Consort Tong's frequently used items."
"Investigate." At Kangxi's command, everyone sprang into action.
"Your Majesty, it's getting late. Your sisters are still standing here. Why don't we let them go back to their own palaces? It would be better than them making a mess here."
Consort Zhao saw that it was almost time for dinner. They hadn't had time to eat lunch before rushing over, and she was worried that they might fall ill, so she reminded Emperor Kangxi.
"Then let them go back first!" Kangxi thought of how his people were risking their lives for him, and he had to consider their feelings.
"We will take our leave now." Wanyi followed the other concubines out and slowly walked towards Yongshou Palace.
"Eunuch Deng, tell them quickly that Consort Zhuolun has encountered an accident and that you need to go to Chengqian Palace immediately."
An unfamiliar old man immediately grabbed Xiao Dengzi and tried to pull him out.
"What? You mean Your Highness wants me to go there?"
Xiao Dengzi suspiciously grabbed the eunuch in front of him. He remembered that besides Hongxiu, the young mistress was also accompanied by the third-class palace maid Ye Fang. If there was anything, she would call Ye Fang instead of just any eunuch. Could there be something fishy going on?
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