"Very well, but before the Emperor wakes up, I must make her suffer a bit. Alright, don't be sad anymore, I'll go back now. Yongying is staying at Chengqian Palace these days, if you have time, come and find me there."
"Is that so? Well then, I'll go another day, little sister."
After returning to Chengqian Palace, Geng Youran thought about it carefully. Just then, Xiao Anzi returned with Yongying.
Perhaps because she was too tired from playing, she was listless and lacked energy, so Geng Youran had someone take Yongying to sleep.
"Xiao Anzi, pass a message to Wei Zhu, asking him to help me find something outside the palace. Remember, Hong Zhou must not know."
"Your Highness, what are you looking for? Isn't it in the palace?"
Geng Youran sneered.
Do you remember when I was poisoned a few years ago?
"Of course this servant remembers."
"The person I'm looking for is that thing."
As expected of someone who followed her from the mansion, Xiao Anzi immediately guessed his mistress's thoughts.
"Don't worry, Master, this servant will take care of it right away."
After Xiao Anzi left, only Geng Youran remained in the room.
His fingers tapped lightly on the table, as if he had everything under control.
After personally handling the two matters, Qianxue returned to Chengqian Palace.
"master."
"Is everything done?"
"Everything is taken care of; I handled it personally."
Geng Youran nodded in satisfaction, pointing to the two packages on the table:
"Have someone deliver the gifts to both families and tell them to leave immediately. Otherwise, plotting against the Emperor could cost them their heads."
"yes."
That evening, Geng Youran received news that the Emperor had woken up and that Consort Xi was on her way to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
Geng Youran arrived at the Hall of Mental Cultivation shortly after.
Perhaps knowing that such a matter was too awkward, Yinzhen did not ask the two concubines, nor did he ask Consort Ning.
He knew without asking that the three of them would not have a good ending.
Because Consort Xi had to handle matters in the inner palace, Geng Youran served her in the Hall of Mental Cultivation that evening.
"Your Majesty, please take your medicine."
There was no complaint or jealousy in his tone, only respect.
"I haven't heard you call me Fourth Prince in a long time."
"Your Majesty, you are the Son of Heaven, and I cannot commit the crime of deceiving the Emperor."
Yinzhen knew that Geng Youran was just making excuses for him.
He didn't know why he did it back then; he just saw that several of them were strong and healthy, while he himself was old and frail, and he felt somewhat resentful.
Despite being much younger than her father, the Emperor, she only had three children.
Unwilling, Yinzhen was truly unwilling.
"Your Majesty, you may not want to hear this, but I must say it: you must not take those pills anymore. It is said that every medicine has some degree of poison, let alone those things refined in the furnace."
"...I understand."
His tone carried a hint of resentment.
Geng Youran did not continue speaking.
A few days later, Yinzhen was able to get out of bed and move around. Geng Youran specially had Yongying brought over.
"Greetings to the Imperial Grandfather!"
"Good child, get up quickly and let Grandfather see you."
Yongying walked slowly to Yinzhen, who then picked him up tightly.
"Does Yongying miss Grandfather?"
"I want to~"
Yinzhen lovingly lifted Yongying in his arms, then immediately lost his strength.
Geng Youran had been watching from the side. Seeing that Yinzhen seemed to have no strength left, she quickly gave Gao Wuyong a look, signaling him to take Yongying away.
"Your Majesty, you have just recovered from your illness. Please let this servant hold the little prince."
Yinzhen did not force the issue and let Gao Wuyong take the child away.
"You Ran, accompany me for a walk in the Imperial Garden."
"Alright. Your Majesty, slow down, don't let the wind blow on you."
This time, Geng Youran took the initiative to support Yinzhen's hand, which reminded Yinzhen of the days when the two of them used to admire flowers together in the back garden of the Yongqin Prince's Mansion.
Because of his illness, Yinzhen became much more restrained in his pursuit of women.
"Your Majesty, I have obtained what you requested."
"Then go ahead and do it. Remember, the portion must be small, and no one can tell."
"Yes, sir."
That's right, Geng Youran wanted to make Consort Ning taste what she had suffered back then.
In April of the twelfth year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign, Consort Ning was already unable to get out of bed.
"Your Majesty, I heard that His Majesty intends to promote Consort Ning to the rank of Imperial Concubine as compensation."
"Ha, compensation. That makes sense. All these years, what she's wanted most is the rank of imperial concubine."
"Your Majesty, if you ask me, you are still too soft-hearted. She has done so many bad things, yet she is still promoted to the rank of Consort. It's really too good for her."
"Never mind. People say good things when they are about to die, so let's just fulfill her last wish."
"yes."
Three days later, the Emperor personally issued an edict promoting Consort Ning to Imperial Concubine Ning. It is said that Imperial Concubine Ning's health improved significantly upon hearing the edict.
But Geng Youran knew that this was just a final burst of energy before death.
In May of the twelfth year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign, Consort Ning passed away in her palace.
During her brief years in the palace, she left behind neither a son nor a daughter.
In the tenth month of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign, the ministers proposed to hold a birthday celebration for the emperor, but the emperor rejected the proposal.
"Your Majesty, I heard that His Majesty, as usual, does not plan to hold a birthday celebration this year."
"His Majesty has always been frugal and dislikes extravagant celebrations. By the way, have you prepared everything I asked you to prepare?"
"Your Majesty, rest assured, this servant has prepared everything."
Because Yinzhen disliked extravagance, Geng Youran, as always, personally cooked a birthday banquet for him at Chengqian Palace this year.
"You Ran, you've worked so hard all these years."
"Why is Your Majesty suddenly being so polite? These are all things that I should do."
"No, that's not what I meant."
Geng Youran immediately understood what Yinzhen meant.
"Your Majesty, I speak from the bottom of my heart. Everything I have done is of my own free will, and I have no regrets."
Yinzhen knew that perhaps the love between the two of them had diminished considerably by this time, but there were no particularly serious conflicts between them.
The two of them are now more like friends.
In the end, Yinzhen still didn't ask that question; he thought Geng Youran would take the initiative to answer it.
After the New Year, Yinzhen's health improved considerably after recuperation. In March, he personally plowed the fields and issued an edict emphasizing the importance of establishing local baojia (a system of mutual responsibility among local officials).
More importantly, in May, an office for Miao affairs was set up and Hongli and Hongzhou were put in charge of it together.
As soon as the decree was issued, court officials submitted memorials in opposition.
Of course, they were not opposing Hongli, but Hongzhou. "Your Majesty, I believe that the Fifth Prince is not up to the task of handling such an important matter."
Hongli secretly glanced at Hongzhou, and good heavens, his expression didn't seem to change at all, as if he didn't care what the minister was saying.
At this moment, Hongzhou was indeed a little distracted. After the death of the concubine's child, the atmosphere in the mansion was quite somber for a period of time.
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