"By the way, you and the Imperial Concubine are close. She is not feeling well, so you should go and see her more often and persuade her to take good care of the imperial fetus. The imperial fetus is important, and you should not harm it because of your willfulness."
Although the Consort already has a son, Fu Hui's health has always been poor. If something were to happen to her, wouldn't the Emperor be heartbroken again? The Empress sighed with a compassionate expression.
Consort Qiao, also known as Yu Ying, lowered her eyelids and respectfully replied, but a hint of darkness flashed in her eyes.
Fu Hui was the Emperor's sixth prince and also the Emperor's most favored prince. Even the third prince Hongshi and the fourth prince Hongli were not as favored as the sixth prince.
It was only because the Sixth Prince was the child of the Emperor's favorite woman.
The more the Emperor doted on the Sixth Prince, the more Consort Qiao missed her own child, who died before he was even born.
Although the emperor was saddened at the time, he quickly forgot about the child.
When Lady Nian lost her first child, the Emperor stayed with her for a long time until she became pregnant again and gave birth to a prince. The Emperor cherished the child and raised him personally, not allowing the Empress to touch him.
That favor was something that made the women who were still living in the prince's residence envious and jealous.
Lady Nian was truly blessed. Her brother was capable, and she herself was the emperor's favorite. Even the most favored concubine, Consort Li, was forgotten by the emperor.
Although Consort Qiao was quite pleased with Li's fall from favor for a while, she felt uneasy seeing how much favor Nian's child received.
If she could have another child, she would have someone to rely on in the future. However, because of the miscarriage that year, she was still unable to conceive, even though the master had pampered her for a while.
After Lady Nian entered the household, Consort Qiao had no chance of gaining favor.
Over the years, Consort Qiao had long been forgotten by the Emperor, and being no longer young, she could no longer hope to conceive.
The Empress noticed Consort Qiao's disappointment and gently comforted her, "You don't need to be sad. One day I will persuade the Emperor to promote you to a higher rank. At that time, you will be a lord of the palace and you can also adopt a child."
Consort Qiao was already out of favor, and with her growing older and the Emperor entering the palace after three years of mourning, it was even less likely that she would gain favor.
Therefore, the Empress would not hypocritically say something like "she will get pregnant sooner or later" to provoke Consort Qiao.
Consort Qiao naturally knew that adopting a child was her only way out, and she was very grateful to the Empress: "This servant thanks Your Majesty."
The Empress smiled slightly: "You have been by my side for many years and have always followed the rules. I will naturally not wrong you."
Besides, if it weren't for Lady Li, you would already have a child and be granted the title of a palace lady; you wouldn't still be a minor noblewoman."
After saying that, he picked up the cloisonné enamel teacup, took a sip of tea, lowered his eyelids, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
Consort Qiao suddenly clenched her hands, her lips turning slightly pale.
This was exactly the effect the Empress wanted. Over the years, if it weren't for Qiao's hatred towards Li, the Empress wouldn't have kept Qiao by her side.
Although the Qiao family failed to defeat the Li family, and the Nian family instead overpowered the Li family, the Li family was ultimately not as powerful as before.
If it weren't for having a son and the emperor's only princess, she wouldn't be in her current position.
However, Consort Qi's third son, Hongshi, was ultimately a major threat. As long as the third prince was around, Consort Qi would never fall, and Hongli would never be able to surpass the third prince to gain the emperor's attention.
What's more, now there's Lady Nian, whom the Emperor cherishes, and the Sixth Prince, who is extremely favored.
To deal with these two people, we need someone in the public eye to help us.
Consort Qiao would be a good choice.
The Empress sighed sadly: "Speaking of which, Lady Nian is also a pitiful person. Like you, she was originally pregnant with two children, but she lost both of them. When she became pregnant with Fu Hui, she almost lost her life due to premature birth. As a result, the Sixth Prince was weak and sickly from a young age, and the Emperor doted on him."
In the palace now, besides Hongli and Hongzhou, only Consort Qi's third son is relatively healthy. Hongli is humble, but he is always overshadowed by his elder brother, the third prince. Hongzhou is also incompetent. Only the third prince has been entrusted with important responsibilities by the Emperor, and who knows what the future holds..."
The rest was left unsaid, but Consort Qiao naturally understood what was left unsaid.
The Third Prince, being the eldest son, was the most likely to inherit the throne, while all the other princes were obstacles to his succession.
Qiao Guiren felt a surge of intense hatred rising in her chest, and she bit her lip until it almost bled.
Her child was harmed by Li, simply because Li wanted to clear obstacles for her son.
If the Fourth Prince Hongli hadn't grown up by his wife's side, the Fifth Prince Hongzhou hadn't been an incompetent fool, and the Sixth Prince Fuhui hadn't been personally raised by the Emperor, they would probably have also fallen victim to Lady Li's cruel hands.
After lunch, Emperor Yongzheng was in a bad mood and had no interest in reviewing memorials. He asked Su Peisheng, "How are Hongchang and the others?"
Su Peisheng respectfully replied, "Your Majesty, the princes in Prince Yi's residence are all studying very hard and are adapting well to the Southern Study. The Fourth Princess and the Princess are learning etiquette and are also studying very diligently."
The Fourth Princess was Tongya, the second daughter of Prince Yi, Yunxiang. Because Emperor Yongzheng regarded her as his adopted daughter, she was named the Fourth Princess according to her birth order.
The eldest princess was Princess Huai Ke, the biological daughter of Emperor Yongzheng. She was born to Lady Li and married Xing De of the Nara clan. She passed away in the fifty-sixth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign.
The second princess was the sixth daughter of Prince Li, who was also the deposed Crown Prince Yinreng.
The Third Princess was the eldest daughter of Yunlu, the sixteenth son of the late Emperor.
The fourth princess is Tongya.
As for Tonghui, although she lived in the palace and received the same treatment as a princess, she was not granted the title of princess. She remained a Heshuo Gege, which is equivalent to a princess of the royal family.
Prince Yi already has a daughter who has been granted the title of princess. If both of them were granted the title of princess, it would be too conspicuous and disadvantageous to Prince Yi.
Yongzheng nodded in satisfaction. He knew that Hongchang and the others were hardworking, and Tongxuan was also a well-behaved girl. As for Tongya, humph, Yongzheng did not believe that girl could stay still. She had probably run off somewhere to slack off again.
In fact, Tongya's personality is most like her mother's.
Thinking of Heyue, Yongzheng asked again, "Did the Thirteenth Prince's wife come to the palace today?"
Su Peisheng understood. In the past, apart from the Imperial Concubine, only the Thirteenth Prince and his wife could be remembered by the Emperor.
Now that the Thirteenth Prince is far away in the Northwest, and the Imperial Concubine has just angered the Emperor, it seems that only the Thirteenth Prince's wife can make the Emperor happy.
Su Peisheng replied with a smile, "The Thirteenth Prince's wife did not enter the palace today."
After a moment of contemplation, Yongzheng ordered, "Summon the Thirteenth Princess Consort to the palace and inform the Fourth Princess and the County Princess."
Su Peisheng readily agreed, knowing full well that while the official purpose was to allow the Thirteenth Prince's wife to visit her daughter, it was probably the Emperor himself who truly wanted to see her.
Although it was against the rules for the emperor to see his brother's wife, if the emperor wanted to see her, those who served him would naturally make proper arrangements to prevent outsiders from finding out and spreading any bad rumors.
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