"I'm not returning your handkerchief."
Shu Chengfeng said.
Yan Nangui laughed, thinking to himself, "Are you talking about the handkerchief? You're talking about what happened today, aren't you?"
"I'll give you something better another day," Yan Nangui said.
Shu Chengfeng reached out and pulled her over: "You're so brave. Everyone else doesn't move, but you dare to."
"I wouldn't dare, but I can't bear to see you hurt. You'd really do something like that, with all that blood on your face," Yan Nangui sneered.
"It's alright, the wound isn't serious." Shu Chengfeng raised his hand to look at it; his right hand was wrapped in gauze, and it was indeed not serious. He could still write and use chopsticks without any problems.
Because the injury is to the palm of the hand, it hurts, but it doesn't interfere with basic tasks.
As for other things, there are naturally people to serve them, so they don't need to get wet.
Yan Nangui pulled her over to take a look, sighed, and said nothing.
Shu Chengfeng reached out his left hand and touched her hair: "I will ask for leave for you, you don't need to go to the mourning hall."
"It's better to go a few more times; it won't look good to outsiders. Your Majesty, don't worry, I'll be back if anything happens," Yan Nangui said.
Shu Chengfeng didn't speak, but nodded.
He was tired today, so he went to bed early.
The next morning, there was no morning court session, but I still had to go and offer incense to the Empress Dowager, so I got up early.
Yun Ji, who was behind the screen, said, "Consort Rong summoned the imperial physician early this morning, saying she was feeling very unwell."
"Hmph, go tell her that if she's not feeling well, she should rest and recover. I can forget her origins, but I can also remember them. Let her understand her own place," Shu Chengfeng said.
"Why be so fierce? Consort Rong is a very proper person. It's not her fault that she was born into the Jiang family. She's pregnant now. How can anyone bear to be treated like this?" Yan Nangui said with a smile.
Shu Chengfeng glared at her.
"Yunji, deliver some things to His Majesty. The Empress Dowager has passed away. Consort Rong only has one identity: His Majesty's concubine."
Yun Ji dared not.
"Fine, let's listen to her." Shu Chengfeng waved his hand again.
Yun Ji then agreed.
The main thing is that Consort Rong is indeed well-behaved and sensible. Whether she is favored or not is another matter. Who doesn't like an obedient person?
She was pregnant again.
"It's rare to see you speak up for others," Shu Chengfeng said.
"I didn't want to say it, but I just feel comfortable looking at Consort Rong. I'm sure Your Majesty feels the same way, right? With the Empress Dowager gone, you'll have to promote her. Why scare her now?"
For the sake of appearances, one must be promoted to a higher rank and more refined demeanor. Why make things look ugly?
It would be terrible if the child got scared and miscarried.
Shu Chengfeng snorted again before heading to the Longevity Palace with her.
Yun Ji went to Zhenxia Pavilion, and after greeting you, he smiled and said, "His Majesty instructed me to send you these things. You are pregnant now, so no matter how sad you are, you must not harm the imperial heir. His Majesty told you to take good care of yourself, so you don't need to go to Changshou Palace. Just wait until the funeral to see him off."
Consort Rong hurriedly replied, "Yes, Your Majesty."
These words made her feel much more at ease.
While busy with the funeral arrangements for the Empress Dowager, Shu Chengfeng still sent a message instructing the Eighth Princess to leave the palace as previously ordered by the imperial decree.
That is, the 18th.
To be released from mourning during this time shows just how furious His Majesty is.
So the Eighth Princess got married, and before leaving, she only kowtowed to the Empress Dowager and the Empress in their palace.
The Empress Dowager refused to see them; she simply kowtowed before the main hall.
The Empress met with him once. She bestowed upon him a hairpin and said a few kind words, and that was it.
Inside the Beichen Hall were several ministers from the Ministry of Rites, as well as people from the Imperial Household Department.
Shu Chengfeng sat there and said, "My harem should also be reorganized. Most of my concubines come from noble families, so these past few days, I have been thinking about making some changes to the ranks in the harem. That's why I called you all here to discuss it."
The Prefect Song said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to listen to your suggestion. May I ask what Your Majesty's thoughts are?"
"I would like to establish a secondary consort position below the four consorts of the second rank. What do you think of having three such positions?" Shu Chengfeng said.
"There was a precedent for the Consort Consort in the previous dynasty. However, the current dynasty felt it was cumbersome and made many changes. There used to be nine Consorts, also known as the Nine Concubines. Now that Your Majesty has added the title of Consort Consort, it's not a big deal. But now that you've added it, shouldn't the ranks of those who follow be lowered by one level?" an official from the Ministry of Rites asked.
"My intention is that there is no need to demote her. I will only add a second-rank concubine. What do you all think?" Shu Chengfeng asked.
After a brief discussion, Zhou Ang, the Minister of Rites, still said, "I think this is inappropriate. If we only add a second-rank official, it's fine for lower ranks, but it would be awkward for higher ranks. I remember that in the previous dynasty, there was another rank, which was the Fourth Consort."
“Oh no, this is bad. When our dynasty was established, we never used it because the titles were too confusing,” said Prefect Song.
"We don't need the Fourth Consort; how about we create a nominal title for her?" suggested a vice minister from the Ministry of Rites.
"Hmm, after some thought, I'll create another title, the Noble Consort Duanyi, and place it before the Four First-Rank Consorts. It will be a first-rank title. However, as long as there is someone in the Empress's palace, this title will remain vacant," said Shu Chengfeng.
"Your Majesty is wise. In this way, the four consorts of the first rank will become consorts of the second rank. The four consorts of the second rank will remain, and the three consorts of the second rank will become consorts of the third rank. The lower ranks will remain unchanged," said Prefect Song.
The others had no objections. And that was the decision.
The imperial edict was issued in less than half a day.
Upon hearing this, some in the harem were happy while others were not.
Consort Jing was the first to be unhappy.
She was originally the most important person after the Empress, so how did she suddenly become the Noble Consort Duanyi?
Seeing her like this, the messenger laughed and said, "His Majesty has said that this Consort Duanyi is merely a figurehead. If there is someone in the empress's palace, she will not be officially appointed."
After the messenger left, Granny Lu said, "Your Majesty need not worry. Your current treatment remains unchanged. This is probably because His Majesty wants to promote the ranks of the empresses, but does not want to raise them too high at the moment, so he has set it up this way."
"You want to be promoted? Why do I need to be promoted again?" Consort Jing snorted.
“After all, many people haven’t been promoted yet after the mourning period for the new emperor. It’s time for the elders to get a chance to rise in rank. If they do this now, it will be difficult later,” said Granny Lu.
"It's none of my business anymore." Since the Consort Duanyi was just a figurehead, she had no hope of making any moves.
Granny Lu smiled but didn't say anything.
Consort Zhen, who lived in Yingfu Palace, probably couldn't bear it any longer. After her daughter finally got married, she passed away.
So now, it's said that Consort Zhen has gone with the Empress Dowager.
However, the funeral arrangements for Consort Zhen were handled in an extremely hasty manner.
She wasn't even qualified to be buried in the imperial concubine mausoleum; the Empress Dowager simply pointed to a random spot and sent her away.
No one would be so blind as to talk about this.
By the time the Empress Dowager was finally sent away, her birthday had long passed.
This year is destined to pass by like this.
There was no imperial decree of promotion yet in the harem; it was estimated that it would have to wait until the New Year.
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