Upon seeing Lian'er, Zimerdolji immediately felt distressed: "Oh, Lian'er, oh..." He glared at Duanrou, "Princess! It is common for men to take concubines, how can the princess be such a jealous woman!"
"Jealous woman, my foot! Doesn't taking a concubine hurt feelings?" Folgochun lashed her whip against the cabinet next to her, the sound startling Zimertdorji. She sneered, "You've only been married for less than half a year. Even ordinary families don't have the right to take a concubine right away, let alone someone living in the princess's residence!"
Zimertdorji murmured silently, while Folgochun sneered repeatedly, and Duanrou snorted softly, "Not half a year, but two months after the marriage, the prince consort already wants to take a concubine."
"Then you... then you're pregnant. Isn't it only natural for a pregnant woman to arrange a concubine for her husband?" Zimerdolji actually dared to say that. Folgochun was so angry that he laughed. He could no longer bear it and took a few steps forward to whip him several times: "A concubine? Taking a concubine? Isn't the child my sister is carrying yours? It's fine if you don't care about her, but you even make her sad?"
"That's the imperial heir! Do you even know what an imperial heir is? Because of your mistake, the imperial heir is gone. Now, I, the princess, am sending you to the Imperial Clan Court, and you'll be leaving there lying down, you know that?"
"You still think gentleness is beautiful? You're dreaming! Lian'er, why don't you relinquish your position as imperial consort and marry your Lian'er instead!"
"How dare you bully my sister, and you're so good at talking! I'll smash your mouth open and see what else you have to say!"
"What, what... Stop hitting me, stop hitting me!" Zimerdolji screamed in pain as she was whipped, then looked at Duanrou, "Princess, save me!"
"Save my ass! Now you know to call me princess!" Folgochun kicked him over, and still not satisfied, she went up and lashed him with her whip.
Duanrou said helplessly, "If you keep talking like that, I'm going to tell Fourth Brother!"
Folgochun: ...
Zimmerdorzi almost burst into tears: "Princess!"
"Just hit them, girls shouldn't swear," Duanrou said gently.
Zimmerdorzi: ...
Finally, Folgochun gave the prince consort a good beating on behalf of his sister, who was unable to do so herself. Just then, the imperial physician arrived and examined Duanrou's pulse. He confirmed that she had indeed recently miscarried. Fortunately, she was still young, but she still needed to take good care of herself to avoid any lingering health problems.
As for the prince consort... well, it's just a superficial injury.
Duanrou ordered Qimetdorji to be carried away, and then took Lian'er back to the woodshed. The palace maids had already prepared medicine for her. Foerguochun watched her drink it, and seeing the paleness and haggardness on her face, she couldn't help but feel angry and worried: "Sister..."
"Didn't the imperial physician say that with proper rest, everything will be fine?" Duanrou patted her hand and sighed.
After her initial anger subsided, all that remained for Folgo was heartache. Holding Duanrou's hand, her eyes brimming with tears, she asked, "Sister, what are you going to do? The Prince Consort, and that woman..."
Not wanting to offend her ears, Duanrou simply said, "I will have someone keep a close eye on the prince consort, so he won't have to leave this princess's residence in the future."
Folgochun sniffed: "Sister, don't listen to him. What do you mean by gentle, docile, and not jealous? Mother said that men who talk like that are just trying to suppress you, make you feel bad, and then gain the upper hand so that you will listen to him in everything."
Duanrou smiled and said, "I know, I remember everything the Imperial Noble Consort said."
If she hadn't lived in the palace for many years and received constant guidance from the Imperial Noble Consort, she wouldn't have been so assertive this time. She probably would have swallowed her anger and let her husband run wild.
Seeing that Duanrou was truly only saddened by the child and not distressed by that scoundrel Qimertdorji, Folgochun was both relieved and worried. She wanted to say that she could have another child once she recovered, but when she thought of Qimertdorji's character, she felt that it was truly unfair for Duanrou to have a child with him: "Sister, should we tell Father and Mother about this? Or tell Fourth Brother?"
"Don't rush, let me think about it." Duanrou patted her hand, closed her eyes wearily, and said nothing more.
Only after she fell asleep did Folgochun leave. Still worried, she instructed the palace maid beside Duanrou, "Sister is not well, so don't let the prince consort disturb her again. And that woman—if you can't handle her, then let me take her away."
"Thank you, Princess. Don't worry, Princess." The palace maid smiled slightly.
Foerguchun nodded, and as he left, he couldn't help but look back one last time, letting out a soft sigh.
Even Duanrou, who had just fallen asleep, was not at peace.
She dreamt that a woman who looked exactly like her, had the same name, and even the same title married her in the eighth year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign, and that her husband was also Qimeddorji.
However, after only six months of marriage, the woman still hadn't conceived, which displeased Zimerdolji. He complained that she couldn't bear children and wanted to take a concubine to ensure the family would produce offspring. The woman dared not utter a word after Zimerdolji's words and allowed him to keep a bunch of concubines and maids in the princess's residence, who also helped raise his children. In October of the ninth year of Yongzheng's reign, the woman became pregnant, but she miscarried because her illegitimate son pushed her down the steps. From then on, there was no more good news.
Zimmerdorzi was greatly displeased and forced her to register the children of several concubines under the princess's name. He also went to request titles and ranks for the eldest son and daughter of a concubine.
Later, a concubine named Lian'er was particularly favored by Zimmerdorji. Zimmerdorji found the woman somewhat of a nuisance and forced her to become a concubine with the status of a princess by saying, "If you love me, you should give up your position as the principal wife so that Lian'er won't be sad and I won't be sad either."
But no matter how weak the woman was, she couldn't do something that would bring shame to her sisters. Torn between two options, she had no choice but to hang herself with a white silk ribbon, decisively giving up her position as the principal wife to Zimmerdorzi.
Before she died, she cried and said, "If he could shed a single tear for me because of my death, then my life would not have been in vain."
Duanrou, who was observing from the sidelines: ...
What a load of rubbish!
Don't even mention shedding a single tear; even if he cried himself to death, it wouldn't be worth you risking your life!
What's the point of that bastard's tears of guilt? Besides, he doesn't even cry; he's only happy!
Nothing is worth risking your life for!
How could Duanrou be so stupid!
Seeing the woman kick off the stool, Duanrou shouted "No!" and then woke herself up from her dream.
She gasped for breath for a moment, and a palace maid who heard the noise came in and asked, "What's wrong, mistress?"
"It's nothing, I just had a nightmare," Duanrou said, clutching her chest. After a moment, she dismissed the maid and, seeing that it was still early, decided to go back to sleep.
But I can't sleep.
I'm so annoyed.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The image of Zimerdolji forcing the princess to become his concubine in her dream perfectly mirrored the image of him standing in front of her bed this morning, embracing Lian'er and saying he wanted to take her as a concubine. Duanrou sat up abruptly, but then thought that this bastard wasn't worth staying up all night to get angry over.
Go to sleep, I'll deal with him tomorrow morning.
But I still can't sleep.
How could that woman be so foolish?
If it weren't for the Imperial Noble Consort always telling them to take care of themselves, would she have been so foolish?
No, it wasn't that woman's fault, it was all that bastard Zimmerdorzi's fault—
Duanrou could no longer lie still. She suddenly sat up and shouted, "Someone come here! Bring the prince consort to me!"
That bastard, let's beat him up first before we go to sleep!
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