In the early morning, Qingyan writhed on the bed, supporting her back, her little face full of grievance.
Stinky!
She clearly convinced Yin, so how come in the end she still got her revenge in bed?
"Your Highness, we must pay our respects to Consort Tong today!" Su Lan walked outside the bed and whispered to Qing Yan that they were going to pay their respects to Consort Tong.
Qingyan, with her flat little mouth, decided to go and complain to Ah Hun.
"Wait, I'll be right there. In a bit, have someone tell Ah Hun that I'll be having lunch with them!" Qingyan pouted, deciding to put that guy out of her mind to prevent him from causing trouble again.
Just as Su Lan was about to persuade Qing Yan, she remembered Yin's instructions before he left: do not stop the master from doing whatever he wants today, just let the master do it.
"Yes, this servant will go right away!" Su Lan quickly agreed.
Qingyan looked at Sulan's departing figure in the bronze mirror with surprise. She was puzzled. What was going on?
"Suxin, keep your hair simple today." Qingyan looked at Suxin. Every time she went to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager and Consort Tong, which was considered an occasion for the principal wife, she would wear a qipao.
The wives of the princes often went to the Empress Dowager's tent to wait for the princes' wives to arrive.
"Yes, I understand!" Su Xin quickly tied her hair into a bun, adorned with a jade lotus leaf hairpin. The emerald green lotus leaves set off her jet-black hair, while a pink and green lotus flower pattern stood out against the shadows of the lotus leaves on the right side.
After having breakfast, Qingyan straightened her ivory-white cheongsam embroidered with lotus shadows and flowers, and, wearing matching flowerpot-soled shoes, helped Sulan out of the tent.
Upon arriving at the Empress Dowager's tent, the ivory-white figure stood out even more against the backdrop of bright red.
Consort Tong looked down at the wives below, and found Xiao Guai's clothes even more beautiful.
"Third son's wife, your tent was quite lively yesterday." The Empress Dowager's mood soured when she learned that the chief wives had all gone to Dong E's tent to listen to the news.
Dong Eshi's heart skipped a beat. Could the Empress Dowager know something?
"Grandma, the chieftains' wives were very worried about their safety during the night raid the other night. They wanted to ask me about it. Originally, they wanted to go to Fourth Sister-in-law's place, but who would have thought that Fourth Sister-in-law was frightened. Sister-in-law, are you alright?" Dong Eshi looked at Qingyan, whose face was flushed and showed no signs of being frightened.
Qingyan chuckled inwardly; it was clear that the Third Princess Consort wanted the Empress Dowager to hold Qingyan accountable for feigning illness.
After arriving on the grasslands, the Empress Dowager decided not to concern herself with the affairs of the Khorchin. Moreover, Consort Xin was the closest blood relative to the Empress Dowager, and she had already found a tribe that had submitted to her. The night before, she launched a night raid, hoping to cause the Empress Dowager to die of illness on the grasslands.
As a result, Saito and Eshuo will certainly be punished by Kangxi, Qingyan's two most capable assistants will be destroyed, and Consort Tong will be secretly hated by Kangxi.
The imperial concubines and Consort Dong'e both sided with Consort Xin, and in the midst of the conflict between the two, they benefited greatly.
Last night, Yin explained all these matters to him in detail, so that he could have a plan for dealing with them today.
"Look at what Third Sister-in-law is saying. After Master came out, he didn't take many guards with him, unlike the ones Third Brother left for you, who could protect you nearby!" Qingyan was annoyed that Dong E Shi was always causing trouble. "Fortunately, before Master left, he had someone inform Ah Hun that if there was any danger, Ah Hun should protect me!"
Qingyan had a small, flat mouth and a face full of disapproval.
The Empress Dowager and Consort Tong exchanged a glance. Xiao Guai's ability to refute was getting stronger and stronger. At least, it had been trained when she faced off against several leaders' wives.
"What my sister-in-law said makes no sense. I was scared, so I sent all my personal maids into the inner chamber. There wasn't a single maid in the outer chamber." Dong E was anxious. If her actions were confirmed, Kangxi would definitely not let her off the hook.
At this point, the chieftain's wives stopped talking. They had all been reprimanded by their husbands. Yesterday's recklessness had caused the chieftains to lose many spies, and some of them had even gone to their concubines after being reprimanded, causing them to lose face.
The Empress Dowager watched indifferently as her husbands rejected several of the wives, and she was quite pleased with herself, as these leading wives had caused quite a bit of trouble outside.
"Ladies, yesterday you went to see the Third Prince's wife. Was there something special about it?" The Empress Dowager looked at the wives of the leading ladies and asked in a cold voice.
Qingyan sat to the side, watching the expressions of the leaders and their wives change several times. Could it be that these people were plotting something else?
"Your Majesty, we only want to confirm our husband's safety!" Qi Buchen heard the Empress Dowager's warning and dared not say anything more.
Their biggest backer was the Empress Dowager. If anyone dared to speak ill of her behind her back, they would probably not have a good outcome.
"Tell the truth!" The Empress Dowager's icy gaze sent a chill down the spines of the wives of the leaders, who had been watching their every move.
The Empress Dowager was furious that her own family members were not giving her face, yet she was persuaded by Consort Xin with just a few words.
Fortunately, before the Empress Dowager left, she sent Su Mo'er to her side; otherwise, she would never have known what kind of people Consort Xin, her own family member, was until her death.
"Your Majesty, please calm down!" Consort Tong and the others noticed that the Empress Dowager was furious, so they quickly bowed their heads and admitted their mistakes, not wanting the Empress Dowager to feel upset.
Before leaving Beijing, the imperial physician told Lanya that the Empress Dowager should not get angry. Kangxi would take the Empress Dowager to the grasslands, partly for the Mongolian alliance, but more importantly, he hoped that the Empress Dowager would be in a better mood after returning to the grasslands.
The Empress Dowager had lived in the palace for decades. During the reign of the late emperor, she was not favored by him, and the Mongols rarely sided with her.
Apart from the Empress Dowager's Abu and her family, the rest of the people did not communicate with her. It was not until after Kangxi ascended the throne that the tribal leaders began to communicate with the Empress Dowager in order to allow Consort Xin to enter the palace. Ostensibly, they were asking the Empress Dowager to help Consort Xin enter the palace.
Back then, the Empress Dowager was manipulated by Consort Xin. If the Grand Empress Dowager hadn't seen through Consort Xin's scheme, the Empress Dowager would probably have been disliked by Emperor Kangxi.
Consort Xin was a candidate favored by the leaders of several tribes, and after more than ten years of cultivation, she was sent to the harem.
The Empress Dowager also understood that this person would be the hope of the Khorchin... no!
Emperor Kangxi continued the policies of his predecessor, but the preferential policies towards the grasslands would gradually change.
The princesses in the palace had reached marriageable age, but the Emperor did not allow any of them to be sent to the grasslands. This made the chieftains extremely uneasy, fearing that they had done something wrong to suffer such a calamity.
"Is that so?" The Empress Dowager coldly uttered two words. Qingyan listened intently, knowing there must be some serious inside story; otherwise, the Empress Dowager wouldn't have been so angry.
The Empress Dowager twirled the bracelet on her left wrist. While Qi Buchen and Shunda's instability posed little threat, the wives of the several surrendered tribes in the northern desert were terrified. Their leaders were most deeply involved with Consort Xin, and something was definitely amiss. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
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