Upon hearing the Empress's words, all the concubines were stunned.
Consort Qian rubbed her eyes and ears in disbelief, as if she had misheard.
What did Your Majesty just say?
Every day at dawn (5-7 AM)? What are you doing in the Imperial Garden?
Running laps?
Run ten laps?
This world has gone mad.
Changning thought the idea was better and better, and made the final decision: "It's settled then. I'll have the Imperial Household Department take care of it in a bit. Once the playground is built, you'll all go there at dawn every day. I'll arrange for someone to keep track of your progress. You can only go back to rest after you've run ten laps."
The concubines looked at each other, bewildered.
Finally, Consort Yu couldn't hold back any longer and said, "Your Majesty, do we old folks not need to run around?"
Changning glanced at her: "Consort Yu, if I remember correctly, you have gained fifteen pounds this year. Your face is getting rounder. For your health, you should run a few more laps."
Consort Yu's face turned pale and then red. She had been living a life of luxury lately and hadn't exercised much, so she felt that her waist had become like a barrel. However, it was still a bit embarrassing to be bluntly told off like that.
"As for you," Changning turned her gaze to the other concubines, "I have also seen the medical records from the Imperial Hospital. Each of you has some health problems, big or small. It's either due to emotional distress or digestive issues. These are all diseases of the wealthy. Running a few laps like this every day will cure your ailments, and you won't even need to take any medicine."
Consort Ning was also somewhat unwilling, but she dared not disobey the Empress's decree.
Consort Shu was the first to respond, and her words were quite eloquent: "Her Majesty the Empress is kind and considerate of our health, and has even troubled the Imperial Household Department to build a place for us. We must not disappoint Her Majesty. Your Majesty truly deserves to be the Empress, possessing the grace and dignity of a mother to the nation. We concubines are of humble appearance and can only try not to cause Your Majesty any trouble."
Hearing this, Changning felt relieved. To be honest, Consort Shu's words were quite eloquent. She remembered that Consort Shu's hometown was Shandong, right?
Indeed, it's quite good.
Seeing that they were still somewhat reluctant, Changning made the decision: "Alright, it's settled then. The Northwest and Southeast are not peaceful right now, so going to war is only a matter of time. Our Great Qing should cultivate this good atmosphere of martial arts training and soldiers for all. Now that you enjoy the bounty of the nation, you should naturally take on this exemplary role."
The empress raised this banner, and others had no choice but to accept it, even if they didn't want to.
"I will obey the Empress's decree."
Changning nodded in satisfaction: "Now you don't need to go to the battlefield, nor do you need to spend money. You just need to promote a culture that values both literature and martial arts. The Forbidden City is the bellwether of the entire capital. If you do this, countless people will naturally follow suit, which can be considered a meritorious deed. Don't worry, as long as you can persevere, I will reward you handsomely."
Hearing about the generous reward, they perked up. The Empress was wealthy and always generous; since it was a large reward, it must be a rare treasure. So they all became incredibly excited, their eyes gleaming.
Especially Tang Gege. She was one of the younger ones in the group. Although she was over twenty now, she always loved to jump around and used to enjoy playing shuttlecock in the yard.
Now that Consort Shu has gained the Empress's favor through poetry and literature, if she could also rely on this to gain the Empress's favor, she might even be able to become a consort herself?
After all, a concubine who doesn't aspire to be the Empress is not a good concubine.
The rank of a concubine is much higher than that of a noble lady.
Not long after, Consort Mao rushed over. The anxiety and worry on her face were clearly visible to everyone.
Consort Qian dared not say anything more sarcastic. Seeing that she seemed to have something important to say, Changning dismissed everyone.
The concubines all left Chengqian Palace. Everyone had seen the worry on Consort Mao's face earlier, and they couldn't help but whisper among themselves.
Consort Yu asked in a low voice, "What do you think Consort Mao did so early in the morning? She was late paying her respects to Her Majesty and rushed in like that. Hey! Did you see? Her eyes are all red."
Consort Ning retorted, "Don't say that. We haven't even gone far from Chengqian Palace yet. Be careful, the walls may be overheard. If the Empress finds out, you'll have to run twenty laps tomorrow."
Consort Yu stuck out her tongue, but dared not say anything more, and hurriedly pulled Consort Ning towards her own palace.
Everyone needs time to process what happened today. If they really have to go running laps in the next couple of days, they'll need to buy some new clothes. Who runs in platform shoes and a traditional Chinese dress? They're bound to sprain their ankle.
Inside Chengqian Palace, Changning, fearing that this matter would involve too much, dismissed everyone.
Seeing that everyone else had left, Madam Song knelt down with a thud, tears streaming down her face, and cried out, "Your Majesty! I beg Your Majesty to grant me justice!"
Changning was taken aback and quickly told her to get up: "Get up quickly, tell me what's wrong."
While crying, Song took out a purse from her bosom. Changning, with her sharp eyes, recognized it as a lotus-root-colored purse with fine stitching and orchid embroidery, clearly the work of Yierha.
"Did Yierha make this?" Changning took the purse and examined it carefully. Sure enough, it was her handiwork.
Madam Song nodded, looking ashamed: "This was embroidered by Yierha. But she embroidered it for another man!"
Changning was even more surprised and instinctively retorted, "Impossible! Where would she have met other men? She's only been in the palace for three months!"
Madam Song's face was filled with resentment: "It was those servants who instigated it!"
Then, Mrs. Song began to recount the events in detail.
"Today is Yierha's birthday. I got up early thinking of bringing her the new pillow I made, but when I arrived at the South Third Palace, I saw several palace maids acting suspiciously."
The concubine had them arrested, and upon questioning them, learned that they were delivering things for Yierha.
Changning asked, "What is that?"
Madam Song blushed slightly, feeling extremely ashamed, but she still spoke up: "I opened it and saw that it was a forbidden book, and it also contained love poems."
After she finished speaking, she took out a piece of paper from her bosom and handed it to Changning.
Changning took it, opened it, and saw that the handwriting was quite good, neat and beautiful, and should have been written by a man, with a slight flourish. It read: "Leaving the bright light of day, I am enveloped by the long, endless night. Parting from the flourishing of fragrant blossoms, I am withered and sorrowful."
Tsk tsk tsk, my teeth ache terribly. Changning finally understood why Consort Mao was so agitated.
The man had already made his feelings clear, so Yierha embroidered this purse for him as a return gift.
What's this?
This can be considered a private engagement.
If they had secretly pledged their lives to each other, that would have been fine, but unfortunately, Yinzhen was already preparing to issue an imperial decree to bestow a marriage upon her and Xingde.
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