At the time, Yongzheng's words were indeed an excuse; he had not expected that Lady Su would give birth to another baby boy!
This was the third time Hongli had made this request to him. He had refused the first two times with excuses, but this time, Yongzheng seemed to have no reason to refuse.
It seems a loss to cause a father and son to become enemies over a woman.
After weighing the pros and cons, Yongzheng finally nodded and agreed to promote the maid Su to the rank of secondary consort of Prince Bao. He also ordered the Ministry of Rites to handle the matter and the Imperial Household Department to prepare the official robes and hats for her.
Preparing the official robes will take time, at least a month.
Hongli has already waited four years for this, so waiting another month won't hurt, as long as the emperor agrees.
Upon returning to his residence, Hongli couldn't wait to share the good news with Su Yushan.
Su Yushan had just woken up and was sitting in the tent when a maid brought her pigeon soup. Hongli took it and intended to feed her himself.
Su Yushan didn't want to trouble him. "You just came back from the palace, you should rest!"
Hongli laughed and said, "I'm not tired. I have some good news for you. Can you guess what it is?"
Before she could speak, Hongli said, "I'm not as stingy as you. There will be a reward if you guess right."
"Oh?" Su Yushan's eyes softened, and she asked with a smile, "What will you reward me with?"
Hongli insisted on answering first, but Yushan disagreed, saying, "No, I have to see if the reward is what I'm expecting. If you're going to give me a kiss, I'd rather not guess at all!"
Frustrated, Hongli immediately frowned and snorted, "What's wrong with a kiss? You really don't want me to kiss you?"
With a quick glance, Su Yushan retorted, "This happens quite often, so I'm not really looking forward to it!"
The soup, freshly served, was a little hot. Hongli placed the bowl on a small table beside him, then leaned slightly closer to her. Their long eyelashes met, their breaths mingled, and he lowered his gaze, his eyes boldly fixed on her rosy lips.
"I did get a kiss, but I want more than that..."
In truth, Su Yushan understood that Hongli had indeed been suffering for months, and it was very difficult for him. Occasionally, she had tried to help him in special ways, but that could never truly satisfy him. She understood his thoughts very well. With a blushing face, she replied softly:
"I'm still in my postpartum period, so it's inconvenient. I'll talk about it after I finish my postpartum period."
Upon smelling her fragrance, Hongli couldn't help but press his lips to hers, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her deeply and greedily for a while before reluctantly releasing her. His breathing became noticeably rapid, and his gaze was fixed intently on her.
"I'll spare you for now. I'll treat you well after you finish your postpartum confinement."
In the past, she definitely wouldn't have responded, but tonight his kiss had stirred a spark within her, and she shyly murmured a reply.
"Okay, I'll wait."
Her mere soft hum was enough to ignite endless fantasies in his mind. Her anticipation only fueled Hongli's desire. If she weren't still in her postpartum period, he would have loved to press her down in the tent and cherish her fiercely!
If he continued to ponder it, he would only suffer more, so Hongli released her, regained his composure, stopped thinking wildly, and continued the conversation, letting her guess what the good news was.
With a slight shift in her gaze, Su Yushan wondered to herself, "Could it be that the Emperor has named the child?"
Upon closer reflection, she realized something was amiss. "But the baby isn't even a month old yet. According to custom, a name isn't given until after vaccination."
Shaking her head, Hongli told her to guess again. Su Yushan thought to herself that he had already been granted the title of Prince, the highest rank imaginable, and there seemed to be nothing more he could bestow upon, unless…
"Has the Emperor appointed you as the Crown Prince?"
There was indeed a secret edict behind the plaque in the Qianqing Palace, and everyone guessed that the edict of succession had Hongli's name on it.
Since he was granted the title of Prince last year, the Emperor has begun to have him perform sacrifices at the Imperial Ancestral Temple in place of the Emperor. This move is clearly a message to the world that Hongli is the heir to the throne.
Although the subjects were well aware of this, after the Kangxi Emperor deposed the crown prince, an unwritten rule was established that no crown prince would be officially appointed in the future. To prevent infighting among the princes, the edict could only be made public after the current emperor's death.
Therefore, it was impossible for Yongzheng to publicly reveal Hongli's identity as Crown Prince at this time, and Hongli shook his head again.
"No, guess again."
"Hmm... Galdan Tsering surrendered?"
"I think I told you about his surrender, but the court has not yet agreed and is still negotiating with him."
Su Yushan racked her brains, guessing three times in a row but still couldn't figure it out. Losing all confidence, her red lips pursed slightly.
"You have to give me a hint, otherwise it'll be really hard to guess!"
Hongli smiled mysteriously, only saying that it was related to her.
Was it related to her? Su Yushan had a sudden flash of inspiration and instantly thought of a possibility, "Could it be that the Emperor has agreed to promote me to a higher rank?"
After waiting so long, she finally guessed correctly. Hongli couldn't help but shake his head and sigh with a smile, "Such a simple answer, you should have guessed it a long time ago."
"I was right!" In fact, Su Yushan had thought of it from the beginning, but she had some concerns. She thought that if she guessed this and the answer was not, Hongli would definitely feel bad and would feel that he had failed to keep his promise and owed her. That's why she hesitated to guess this one.
She only dared to speak up after he said it was related to her, and to her surprise, it was actually true!
"But I am a Han Chinese, how could the Emperor agree? You didn't argue with the Emperor, did you?"
Hongli smiled gently, "There was no argument. Father Emperor agreed himself. After all, you have fulfilled both of his conditions: the Su family members enter officialdom and you give birth to another son. If he were to refuse again, wouldn't he lose the prestige of a monarch?"
Looking at her with a smile, Hongli felt quite gratified. "It's been four years since I last fulfilled my promise to you, Yushan. I've finally done it! From now on, you will be my secondary consort, no longer a concubine. No one will dare to gossip or disrespect you anymore."
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