"I have found out who put the culprit in your food."
Who is it?
"He was one of the Crown Prince's men, but not on the Crown Prince's orders. That man was formerly under Suo'etu. He was inconspicuous during the purge and was not implicated. Later, he was instigated by someone and did something foolish. He is now dead."
"Okay."
That's the end of it.
As for the Crown Prince, Youqing held no grudge against him.
Although Kangxi knew that the Crown Prince did not give the order, the Crown Prince was aware of it afterward, but he still let it go and left it to fate. Kangxi increasingly felt that the Crown Prince's methods were problematic.
As the crown prince, weighing the pros and cons is a fundamental skill, and this crown prince failed to learn it, which disappointed Emperor Kangxi.
The crown prince is capable enough to be a minister, but he is not quite suitable to be a ruler.
Emperor Kangxi felt that there was nothing wrong with his teaching. He had taught everything that should be taught. He could not teach the art of being an emperor yet, but why did the Crown Prince not understand at all what he should and should not do as the Crown Prince?
The Crown Prince is excellent in both literature and martial arts. For example, he did a great job transporting grain with the Ministry of Revenue this time, which shows that he is capable. The problem is that he does not consider the big picture, does not understand his own situation, and is prone to making foolish decisions.
Emperor Kangxi did not want to give up the crown prince, but one thing after another forced him to reconsider the future successor of the Qing Dynasty.
The eldest prince is too strong-willed and acts somewhat recklessly, while the third prince is too soft-hearted, prone to pedantry, and easily distracted by beautiful women—this is not good.
The Fourth Prince is too cold. I haven't noticed anything else about him, but with that kind of personality, he probably wouldn't have a peaceful life as emperor.
The Fifth Prince was too mild-mannered; a mild-mannered emperor is not a good candidate.
The Seventh Prince had a limp and was not very old, but he was too dull-tempered.
The Eighth Prince's status is too low; it's inappropriate.
After much deliberation, Kangxi focused his attention on Youqing's belly.
Youqing felt a chill run down her spine from his gaze: "What kind of look is that?"
Kangxi didn't say it because Youqing always said she was carrying a girl. If Kangxi said he wanted a son, he would probably have to sleepless for several days, which he didn't want.
"My son and daughter will be born soon, won't they?"
After calculating the time, he said, "It'll be soon, around next month."
It's already May.
In June, on a very ordinary evening, Youqing suddenly felt a pain in her stomach; she was about to give birth.
Although it was her first pregnancy, she didn't suffer much, but it took her quite a while to give birth, about five hours. Everything went smoothly.
Emperor Kangxi stood guard outside the delivery room, and when he heard the baby crying, his eyes welled up with tears.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, it's a princess."
When Emperor Kangxi heard that it was a princess, he was not unhappy, but he was somewhat disappointed. He wanted a son, since the crown prince might not be able to take over the great responsibility in the future.
But it's good to have a daughter, because she resembles Youqing.
Emperor Kangxi was delighted and, with a wave of his hand, bestowed upon the newborn princess a manor, a jewelry store, and other gifts.
She was then granted the title of Princess Gulun, with the honorary title of Anle.
Princess Gulun Anle.
When Youqing regained consciousness, she saw Kangxi holding a child by the bedside, which surprised her. She didn't expect Kangxi to be holding a child.
"She's awake. I'll have someone bring her food."
Youqing was indeed hungry.
...
The Empress giving birth was no small matter. All eyes, from the imperial court and the concubines in the palace to the princes, were on her. When they heard it was a princess, most people breathed a sigh of relief.
If a prince is born, the current power structure will inevitably need to be reshaped.
The Crown Prince was relieved to hear that the Empress had given birth to a princess. He was under the most pressure because he had no maternal clan and no one to help him. If the new Empress gave birth to a prince, he would no longer be the only legitimate son. Moreover, the new Empress was very favored, which he had to be concerned about.
Fortunately, she was a princess.
The crown prince felt extremely fortunate.
The Crown Prince then generously took out many fine things from his own storeroom for his newborn sister. This sister was no ordinary person; she was the Empress's legitimate daughter, the first of her kind in the Kangxi era. She was born with the title of Princess Gulun and the honorary title of Anle.
As long as she wasn't a prince, the crown prince considered her a good sister.
As soon as the Crown Prince's gift arrived, the other princes followed suit and sent generous gifts as well. The newborn Princess Anle suddenly became a little rich girl, but she was still just a nursing baby and did not understand her wealth.
After giving birth, Youqing's attention was focused on the child. During her postpartum confinement, Emperor Kangxi often came in. At first, some of the nannies said it was inappropriate and unlucky, but Emperor Kangxi scolded them and they never dared to say anything more.
Youqing didn't have an easy time during her postpartum period. After all, she started her postpartum confinement in June, when the weather was already getting hot, so she didn't dare use ice and could only endure it.
It was already July when Anle finished her confinement period. The full moon celebration was extremely grand, and no one said anything. If it had been a prince, there would probably have been a bloodbath.
By August, Youqing had gotten used to being a mother. It was only after having a child that Youqing felt more connected to this dynasty.
Kangxi also became a qualified father, a result of the subtle influence of his childhood.
Even though she had wet nurses and palace maids around her after giving birth, Youqing was still worried about letting others take care of her child every day, and felt it was inappropriate.
She gave birth to the child herself, and decided to raise the child herself. However, she was also busy, as her business was growing bigger and bigger. Sometimes, Emperor Kangxi couldn't bear to see her like this, so he would help take care of the child.
Anle was indeed quite well-behaved, rarely cried, and especially loved to laugh. Kangxi often held her while handling memorials, and gradually got used to it.
Yes, you can go. Xiao Anle grew up reading commemorative books.
In late August, news came from Anhui that the province was flooded, with most of the province submerged and the situation there was very bad.
Upon learning of this, Emperor Kangxi immediately ordered the dispatch of people to provide disaster relief.
In September, the entire imperial court was busy with disaster relief efforts.
Youqing learned a lot from this experience. The flood was mainly caused by continuous rain, which caused the floodwaters to break through the dikes. Once the dikes were destroyed, the area south of the Huai River in Anhui became a disaster area, and the most severely affected areas were almost entirely submerged villages and towns.
The casualties were heavy.
Emperor Kangxi was also distressed by this.
In early October, the disaster relief efforts in Anhui ended. Before Emperor Kangxi could even rest, someone arrived in the capital today to lodge a complaint with the emperor.
Filing a complaint against the emperor was no small matter. In plays, it was portrayed as easy, but in reality, one had to endure torture before one could do so. Only if one survived the torture could anything else proceed.
Those who dare to appeal to the emperor must have done something of great importance; while it's not to say they are 100% innocent, 99% of them are genuinely innocent.
Youqing was quite interested in this matter, so she went to see what was going on.
"Who is below? What grievance do you have?" asked an elderly man sitting at the head of the table, trembling with fear.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
