A few days before New Year's Eve, Emperor Kangxi officially stopped writing, thus ending the year's political affairs. He could finally rest for two days at the end of the year, and then it was New Year's Eve.
Speaking of New Year's Eve, the palace had a lot of complicated rules.
Around four o'clock in the morning, Youqing was woken up by Chengying and Sangzhu. She had to follow the rules to wash up and dress, which took a lot of time. If the Empress was present, she would first go to the Empress's Kunning Palace to pay her respects, and then go to the Empress Dowager's palace to pay her respects together after everyone had arrived.
Now that there is no Empress in the palace, everyone in the harem can only go to Jingren Palace. Regardless of the rules, they have given Consort Tong enough face.
When Youqing arrived, there were already quite a few people at Jingren Palace. She noticed that there were very few concubines and no imperial consorts; most of them were low-ranking ladies-in-waiting. They were afraid of being late and causing trouble.
When she arrived, she naturally attracted a lot of attention, but she was known for her independent nature, and her behavior a few days ago clearly showed that she was unwilling to win over the concubines of lower rank, so for a while no one spoke to Youqing. Fortunately, Youqing did not care.
Youqing arrived, followed by other concubines of the rank of Consort, then imperial concubines, and finally, the last to arrive was Consort Wenxi.
It's no wonder she was chosen to be the last to finish. After Emperor Kangxi diagnosed her with an "illness" without any explanation, Consort Tong recovered within two months. Although the power in the palace returned to Consort Tong, it wasn't complete; a small portion was still held by Consort Wenxi.
Not long after Consort Wenxi arrived, Imperial Noble Consort Tong emerged from the inner room, dressed in her imperial noble consort's ceremonial robes, followed by maids and servants, making quite a grand entrance.
As soon as she came out, everyone bowed according to the rules. After the bowing, Consort Tong exchanged a few pleasantries. It was not appropriate to have any witty remarks on this occasion, so the first "small gathering" in the palace on New Year's Eve was very harmonious.
After exchanging pleasantries, Consort Tong led everyone towards Cining Palace.
When they arrived, the Empress Dowager had already arrived and was talking to the Grand Empress Dowager. The two were aunt and niece, and had a close relationship, so they got along very well.
When Consort Tong arrived with her concubines, the Empress Dowager's smile faded slightly, but she still looked like a kind old lady.
While everyone was distracted, Youqing secretly took a look. The legendary Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang seemed no different from an ordinary old lady. If there was any difference, it was that her eyes were slightly sharper than those of an ordinary old lady.
She couldn't see anything more than that.
The Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager sat at the head of the table, while Consort Tong and the other concubines sat below according to their rank. Youqing sat in a relatively forward position. Among the concubines, she was at the very bottom, but since there were many Noble Ladies, Attendants, and Ladies-in-Waiting, it made her seem less far back.
New Year's Eve is commonly known as "New Year". The main purpose of this day is to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new. In the main hall of Cining Palace, Consort Tong led the way in saying auspicious words, Consort Wenxi echoed her words, and the four consorts chatted and laughed together, creating a very warm and harmonious scene.
Youqing thought today would be a bad day, since in the TV series, the Empress Dowager and other similar figures in the palace disliked favored concubines the most. But in fact, it was the TV series that misled her. It was impossible for them to make things difficult for her. In this kind of situation, she was just a concubine. If they really made things difficult for her, even the Empress Dowager would probably feel that it would lower her status.
Having figured this out, Youqing was completely relieved.
Not long after, Emperor Kangxi arrived with the Crown Prince and other princes. The scene was naturally one of elders showing kindness and younger generations showing filial piety.
During the Lunar New Year, nobody wants to bring bad luck, so the Cining Palace is very harmonious. However, it's a tiring place because everyone works non-stop all day.
All sorts of rules had to be followed: offering greetings, paying respects, and meeting the stepmother. This was also a chance for the concubines in the harem to say a few words to their maternal families. Youqing's rank also allowed her to meet her maternal family, but for some reason, or perhaps because they dared not, Youqing's stepmother did not come, which made her happy to have some peace and quiet.
Finally, night fell.
That evening's dinner was eaten by Emperor Kangxi along with his concubines, princes, and their wives and children. It was the first time Youqing had ever attended such a dinner. Last year, the original owner of the body was also supposed to attend the banquet, but she was ill. No one would allow a sick concubine to bring bad luck at the New Year's Eve banquet.
This is the first time, for both her and the original owner of this body.
The dinner was quite special. In front of Kangxi was a large yellow table, on which were laid out all kinds of delicacies. Youqing couldn't say exactly what they were, but she heard that they were all prepared according to portion sizes.
Of course, it was impossible for Emperor Kangxi to eat all those dishes by himself, but it was also impossible for him to eat whatever he wanted. How the dishes were prepared had to be decided by Emperor Kangxi; this was called "bestowing dishes upon the emperor."
Not only those who attend dinner tonight will receive a dish, but even courtiers who cannot come from outside the palace will have the opportunity to be given a dish.
As Youqing listened to Kangxi talking about bestowing this dish and that soup upon so-and-so, she couldn't help but wonder: once the food leaves the palace, it has to go through several gates and be delivered to the ministers' homes. Outside, even a breath of air can condense into a white mist. Even if the food box is kept warm with warm water, can the food still be eaten after the ministers express their gratitude?
Just then, a sound of retching interrupted Youqing's wandering thoughts.
She looked toward the source of the sound. On the other side, the person was sitting next to a prince whose rank was unclear to Qing. She was probably a member of the imperial family or a concubine.
The Empress Dowager at the head of the table asked with concern, "What's wrong with Consort Fuquan? Is she feeling unwell?"
Youqing then realized that the person who had just vomited was the wife of Prince Yu, Xiruke.
Xiruk, looking pale and weak, said, "I am weak, but it's nothing serious. Thank you for your concern, Grandmother."
I have indeed been feeling unwell these past few days, but my concubine, Lady Guarjia, is five months pregnant and has a big belly. Yesterday, she complained of feeling unwell and summoned the imperial physician, fearing that she might bump or hurt herself if she went to the palace. She is currently resting at home. Since the concubine cannot come, it would be inappropriate for me, the primary wife, not to come as well.
Calling in the imperial physician on such a joyous occasion is considered unlucky. It's best to just bear with it and let it pass; there's no need to offend the palace.
At this moment, a lady-in-law at the table to the right of Xiruk spoke up: "I saw that my sister-in-law drank fish soup just now. Could it be that there is good news?"
It was Lady Ma, the wife of Prince Gong, who spoke.
These words immediately drew everyone's attention.
It's not impossible, is it?
Since the wife of Prince Gong had said so, the imperial physician naturally had to be summoned. The Empress Dowager instructed a nimble eunuch to go to the Imperial Hospital to fetch the imperial physician. Soon the physician arrived, and upon examination, it was indeed a pregnancy.
This was indeed a joyous occasion. The Empress Dowager smiled and bestowed many fine things upon Xiruke. The Empress Dowager followed suit, and Emperor Kangxi also offered some gifts.
Siruk was still somewhat dazed. She had already given birth to three children, but the first two, a son and a daughter, had not survived. She only had a two-year-old daughter to raise. How could she not want to get pregnant with another child?
Prince Yu was also happy, as he only had one legitimate daughter and no legitimate son yet!
The two were enjoying themselves when, at that moment, another sound of retching came from inside the hall.
The voice came from behind her, where the concubines of the harem were sitting. Just now, the wife of Prince Yu had coughed up a child, and now there was another voice? Could it be another child?
Everyone thought so, except for Emperor Kangxi.
His complexion wasn't particularly good, so the Empress Dowager ordered the imperial physician to examine the pulse of the nauseous Consort Chun. Upon examination, it was indeed "good news"—Consort Chun was pregnant.
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