"Does His Majesty think I made Consort Nian sick? Do I need to?" Heyue muttered unhappily.
Emperor Yongzheng glared angrily, but finally sighed helplessly and warned, "You are not allowed to talk nonsense again in the future."
Heyue immediately beamed with joy: "Fourth Brother, don't worry. I promise that I will take a detour when I encounter Consort Nian from now on, and I will never say another word."
Judging from this, it's unclear whether Yongzheng knew or not what Heyue and Lady Nian were talking about. If he knew, why would he let it go so easily? If he didn't know, why wouldn't he investigate further?
In any case, it's good that we managed to avoid disaster.
As for Lady Nian, being sick was a common occurrence for her. Did she think she would have been healthy without He Yue's words? It's not He Yue's fault.
Three days later, Lady Nian was already able to get up and pay her respects to the Empress.
On the 23rd day of the fifth month of the first year of the Yongzheng reign, Empress Dowager Renshou passed away.
After serving as Empress Dowager for only half a year, Empress Dowager Uya passed away in Cining Palace, following the late emperor.
Less than a year later, the Forbidden City was once again the site of a national mourning.
The following day, the Empress Dowager's coffin was enshrined in the Shouhuang Hall of Jingshan Park.
Emperor Yongzheng issued an edict ordering Prince Yunzhi to return to the capital. Yunzhi rushed to the Shouhuang Hall to pay respects to the Empress Dowager, knelt before her coffin, and wept bitterly.
The fact that neither his father nor mother saw him one last time was a huge blow to Yunti. The once spirited and high-spirited general was nowhere to be seen, and at this moment he was like a child who had lost everything.
Following the incident at the Shouhuang Hall, Yunti's hatred for Yongzheng deepened, and the brotherly bond could no longer be restored.
Afterwards, Yunti was granted the title of Prince Xun and placed under house arrest.
Xun means respectful and obedient, which shows that the emperor hoped that his younger brother would be respectful to him, the new emperor.
Empress Wuya was the fourth empress of the late emperor.
The first empress was Empress Heseri, the mother of the deposed crown prince Yinreng. She was the granddaughter of Soni, the chief regent in the early Qing Dynasty. She died shortly after giving birth to Yinreng and was also the first empress of the late emperor.
The second was Niohuru, daughter of Ebilun. She served as empress for less than a year before passing away, and had no children throughout her life.
The third is Lady Tongjia, daughter of Tong Guowei, cousin of the late emperor, elder sister of the current Imperial Noble Consort Tongjia, and adoptive mother of the current emperor Yongzheng.
This one was even worse off; she died the day after being crowned empress.
It is evident that at that time, Lady Tongjia was critically ill, and the late emperor made her empress in order to comfort her.
All three empresses died young, and the late emperor never appointed another empress after that.
Indeed, the deaths of three empresses in succession are quite unlucky. Perhaps the late emperor was destined to bring misfortune to his empresses.
Unlike the previous three empresses, Empress Dowager Uya was honored as Empress Dowager by her own son, Emperor Yongzheng, after the death of the late emperor; she was not officially appointed by the late emperor.
However, like the previous three empresses, Empress Uya was also to be buried with the late emperor.
On the first day of the ninth month of the first year of the Yongzheng reign, Lady Uya was buried in Jingling Mausoleum, alongside the late emperor and the three previous empresses, and was posthumously honored as Empress Xiaogongren.
In the early part of the second year of Yongzheng's reign, Yunti, who was under house arrest, harbored resentment towards Yongzheng and frequently corresponded with Yuntang in the northwest. As a result, he was demoted to Beizi again.
Throughout the year, despite He Yue's anxious heart, the children remained safe and sound.
However, Heyue could never feel at ease.
Taking into account the reasons why people in ancient times died young, they were either sick or died in accidents.
Unexpected events cannot be prevented, so Heyue could only take good care of the children's health and often inquire about the health of Tongxuan and Tongya in the palace.
Tonghui has been in good health since getting married, and she recently gave birth to a son. The couple is very happy together.
In addition to normal illnesses, smallpox was the most common and terrifying disease in the Qing Dynasty.
Emperor Shunzhi died of smallpox, and the late Emperor Kangxi also contracted smallpox but survived.
Emperor Yongzheng's eldest son, Honghui, also died young after contracting smallpox.
To avoid this possibility, Heyue inquired everywhere about ways to prevent smallpox, and finally found out.
I heard the news from Hongtun.
Heyue happened to be mentioning smallpox vaccination to Hailan when Hongtun overheard her and casually mentioned it.
It turns out that when the late emperor was alive, Hongtun often took Tongya to the residence of the fourteenth prince, Yunti, and overheard some conversations.
Yunti's eldest son, Hongming, had contracted smallpox but survived. Later, after being reminded by an advisor in the Ninth Prince's residence, the Fourteenth Prince worried that his other children might also have contracted smallpox, so he had several of his children vaccinated.
Smallpox vaccination is a method of inoculating the human body with cowpox vaccine to make the person immune to smallpox.
Although it is unknown whether this method was truly effective, it is said that none of the Fourteenth Prince's children ever contracted smallpox again.
Heyue decided to give it a try.
I only heard that the strategist of the Ninth Prince's mansion was a missionary named Mu Jingyuan, who was on very good terms with Yun Tang. After Yun Tang went to Xining, Mu Jingyuan also went to Xining.
He Yue couldn't help but sigh. It seemed that Yun Tang was a person who valued loyalty and righteousness. Otherwise, how could such a person be willing to follow him?
How can I ask for help when we're so far away?
Moreover, Thirteen and Yun Tang are now at odds, Yun Tang is a prisoner, and He Yue has no way to ask for help.
He Yue was troubled and sent people to find other missionaries, but because in the fifty-sixth year of Kangxi's reign, the Pope of Rome forbade the Qing Catholics from worshipping Confucius and their ancestors, Kangxi ordered a complete ban on the spread of Catholicism.
In the following years, foreign missionaries gradually became useless in the Qing Dynasty, and one by one they returned to their own countries. Very few missionaries remained in the Qing Dynasty, and those who remained were not truly capable, and were even more unfamiliar with smallpox vaccination. He Yue could not believe it either.
Mu Jingyuan happened to be the only capable foreigner who voluntarily stayed in the Qing Dynasty and worked by Yun Tang's side.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
