Chapter 84: Concubine
"I only want to establish a position to assist and support the palace... I ask you, the Wei family, to be a good family and follow the teachings of the inner court... I now follow the Empress Dowager's kind instructions and appoint you as Concubine Jin... I respect you."
"Empress Jin, please accept the order."
After the eunuch who came to deliver the imperial edict read out the order aloud, he bowed respectfully towards Yuying and motioned for Yuying to take the bright yellow imperial edict.
Yuying stepped forward and took it with both hands.
Qing Tao cleverly stuffed a bulging purse into the eunuch's hand and said, "Thank you for coming here today, eunuch. This is our queen's invitation to tea, so please don't refuse."
Yuying nodded. Look, Qingtao has learned something from these senior palace maids in the Palace of Heavenly Purity. In the past, Qingtao didn't speak in such an official tone.
The eunuch felt the weight of his hand and smiled more sincerely, "Thank you very much, Your Majesty. I would like to congratulate you on your promotion!"
"Thank you, father-in-law."
"Then I will take my leave now that I have nothing else to do."
"Qingtao, go and see these eunuchs off."
Qing Tao led several eunuchs out and did not look back until she saw the eunuchs had gone far away.
The eunuch who had walked away saw that there was no one around, so the two young eunuchs who followed the leading eunuch surrounded him and asked, "Master, how much reward did Concubine Jin give you?"
"Yes, yes, Master, everyone says that Concubine Jin is a well-deserved favorite concubine, so I'm sure she will be rewarded, right?"
The leading eunuch gave each of the two reckless eunuchs a whisk and said, "You are the ones who talk too much."
But they still opened the purse they had just obtained, and saw a purse full of silver coins inside. The eyes of the three of them all lit up.
The leading eunuch took out a few coins, then tightened his purse and stuffed them into his arms. He distributed the coins to the two men and said proudly, "Today's job is good, isn't it? As long as I have meat to eat, you two will have soup."
The two young eunuchs who received the reward naturally spoke kindly, "Yes, yes, Master is right. We will definitely be filial to Master in the future!"
Qingtao, who had returned to the West Warm Pavilion, saw that there were no outsiders around, and excitedly surrounded Yuying together with Qingdai and Luchen.
"Young Master!" As soon as she finished speaking, Qing Tao slapped her own mouth, "Oh no! From now on, I won't be Young Master anymore, I will be Empress!"
Yuying looked at Qingtao's funny appearance and said with a smile: "Alright, alright, hold back. Great things are yet to come."
Qing Tao was puzzled when she heard Yuying's words, "My Lady, is there anything better than this?"
To Qingtao, it was like a dream that Yuying could be promoted to a concubine today. She could not imagine that any great thing would happen to her.
"Of course..." Yuying kept it a secret, and only finished her words when she saw Qingtao getting anxious: "I am very happy today, and I decided to give you a reward!"
Qingdai and Luchen still looked calm, "Thank you, Madam!"
Only Qing Tao was so happy that she couldn't see the limit, "Really, Madam? But you usually give me enough rewards. For me, your promotion is the greatest joy."
Yuying laughed, "Silly Qingtao."
Only what you hold in your hands is the best, everything else is empty.
When Kangxi came back from court, the people in the West Warm Pavilion had already passed their excitement.
Seeing Kangxi coming, several people stepped out, leaving the space for Kangxi and Yuying.
"Your Majesty, your concubine pays respect to you!" Yuying gave Kangxi an unstandard salute.
Kangxi sat on the couch and said jokingly, "It's extraordinary that Concubine Jin has become so special. Even the rules have become better?"
Seeing that Kangxi let her squat, Yuying stood up and walked over, blaming: "Your Majesty, why didn't you tell me to stand up?"
Kangxi took a sip of tea and said, "I never asked Ah Ying to perform the ceremony. It was Ah Ying who insisted on doing something strange."
Yuying curled her lips. It was boring. Kangxi didn't cooperate at all.
After joking around, the two got down to business.
"Your Majesty, when should I move out?" How could a concubine like her live in the Emperor's Palace of Heavenly Purity? Concubine Yi had invited her to the Yikun Palace several times, but she had never invited Concubine Yi and the others to her place.
When Kangxi heard Yuying mention moving out again, he was actually unwilling for her to move out. He thought it was not a bad idea for Yuying to continue living in the West Warm Pavilion, but Yuying insisted on moving.
"There is no rush for this matter. Moving the palace is a big deal, so we naturally have to wait until the day of the enthronement ceremony to hold it together."
The position of a concubine is different from that of a noble lady. It can be done with just an imperial decree. However, one must consult the Imperial Observatory to calculate an auspicious day and then hold a formal enthronement ceremony before the event is considered complete.
Kangxi had someone calculate the date for Yuying's enthronement ceremony early on, and also asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to prepare the concubine's auspicious clothes and court cap.
In order to emphasize Yuying's canonization ceremony, Kangxi even delayed Xuanpin's canonization decree again and again, so as not to allow the two to be canonized at the same time. For this reason, Kangxi also sat on the bench in the Cining Palace for a few days and received several cold stares from the Empress Dowager.
However, Kangxi also understood that the Empress Dowager's willingness to roll her eyes at him meant that she was not angry. If she were really angry, he would probably not even be able to enter the Cining Palace.
What could the Grand Empress Dowager do? She had a grandson like this who had strong ideas and would not tolerate anybody's opinions, yet she had to pretend that there was still room for discussion.
It’s not like it won’t be closed, it’s just two days later.
The Empress Dowager has now become more open-minded. As long as Kangxi doesn't do anything too outrageous, she is happy to be an old lady who enjoys playing with her grandchildren.
After all, the grandparents and grandchildren have come through all these years with so many ups and downs.
But of course, Kangxi had no intention of telling Yuying about the tug of war between him and the Empress Dowager.
After all, he would lose face if he said it out loud.
When Yuying heard Kangxi say that they had to wait until after the enthronement ceremony before they could move out, she was instantly discouraged.
Seeing that Yuying looked unhappy, Kangxi reached out, took her into his arms, picked her up and walked towards the bed.
"Okay, Ah Ying, just stay here peacefully. Accompany me to sleep for a while. I have to go to the front hall to review memorials later, so I'm afraid I won't be able to have dinner with you."
Yuying was a little unwilling at first, but when she saw Kangxi looking tired, and thought that being an emperor was not easy, she obediently became a pillow and let Kangxi hug her.
As she lay there, Yuying felt sleepy and slowly closed her eyes.
When Yuying woke up again, Kangxi was no longer on the bed. Qingtao, who was watching nearby, heard a voice, "Madam, are you awake?"
"Qingtao?" Yuying yawned, "What time is it now?"
"Your Highness, it's just past the hour of Si. Do you want to get up? Just now, the queens of the various palaces have sent you gifts to celebrate your promotion. Would you like to take a look?"
"Then get up and let me see."
Who wouldn't be happy to open gifts, especially those from concubines who were wealthy and afraid of losing face, because the gifts they received were all top-notch.
Yuying had never received so many gifts at one time. Each of these gifts would be priceless treasures in modern times, and they could only be viewed through a display window.
Infected by Yuying, the entire West Warm Pavilion was filled with a happy atmosphere from masters to servants.
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