The Virtuous Concubine

Aunt Shuyu was extremely happy at the moment. Today, she really realized how favored Concubine De was. It was not an exaggeration to say that Jian was in the emperor's heart. The fact that the emperor cared so much about her showed that this girl from the Wuya family still had a long way to go in the future. This showed that she had made the right bet! After a while, Aunt Shuyu began to carefully calculate whether Concubine De could make further progress when the harem was conferred.

When Kangxi walked out of the Southern Study, Wei Zhu was already waiting outside. When she saw the emperor coming out, she immediately stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the sedan chair is ready and we can set off at any time."

Kangxi nodded, already somewhat impatient: "Let's go to Yonghe Palace." I wonder if Malu has missed me during this time? What about Xiao Si'er? Before his sedan chair took a few steps, Kangxi suddenly realized that the scenery in front of him stopped moving. He was slightly startled, then looked forward, only to see Wei Zhu standing aside, with a troubled look on his face.

"Your Majesty, there is some chaos on the palace road ahead. It seems that a concubine has accidentally fallen and blocked the way." Wei Zhu reported the situation carefully. Kangxi frowned. He didn't want to delay the trip because of these trivial matters, but at the same time he didn't want to appear indifferent and heartless: "Go and see what's going on. If anyone is injured, call the imperial physician immediately."

"As you command, Your Majesty." Wei Zhu responded and left. She quickly found out the situation and arranged for the palace servants to deal with it. A pink figure in front of her, supported by the palace maids, staggered to the side, but she seemed unwilling to leave. Instead, when Emperor Kangxi's sedan passed by, she groaned in pain: "Ouch——"

Kangxi heard this gentle and pitiful voice, and looked sideways. It turned out that the woman in pink palace dress was Bu Changzai! Bu Changzai seemed to be touched, raised her head and looked back with a hint of expectation and grievance in her eyes. Kangxi saw that her clothes were slightly messy, and there was obvious redness and swelling on her forehead, which was obviously injured when she fell. He stopped the sedan chair again and asked in a gentle voice: "Why did you fall?"

Seeing the emperor's personal concern, Bu Changzai's face was full of surprise and emotion. She quickly bowed despite the pain and said, "Your Majesty, I am fine. I just fell accidentally and made you worried."

Kangxi nodded slightly, signaling the sedan to move forward: "In that case, take a good rest. I will ask the imperial physician to come and treat you—" The word "treat" and his careless concern disappeared in the wind as the imperial sedan left. Bu Changzai stood there, watching the emperor's sedan slowly go away, and was so angry that she almost ascended to heaven.

Unexpectedly, this self-torture trick not only failed to win the emperor's sympathy and attention, but also almost disfigured her! Xi'er, the maidservant next to Bu Changzai, held back her sighs and persuaded Bu Changzai to return to her own palace, temporarily put aside her resentment, and recuperate first.

Kangxi didn't think much about it. Bu Chang's family background was not prominent, and her appearance was only average in the harem. She had always been a concubine with little presence. He would never spend time to figure out what such a concubine who was just making up the numbers was thinking. He just thought that she had been in the palace for many years and had given birth to three princesses for him. She was a mother, so how could she fall down when walking? Where did she learn the palace rules? Although he was a little unhappy, he didn't investigate it deeply. After all, there were three thousand beauties in the harem, and he couldn't pay attention to them one by one.

After Bu Changzai returned to the palace, Xier carefully cleaned her wound and applied ointment. She looked at the redness and swelling on her forehead in the mirror and couldn't help but laugh at herself. She knew that she was insignificant in the emperor's heart, but today was too humiliating! Couldn't her injury stop the emperor from going to Yonghe Palace?

"My queen, why are you doing this?" Xier advised softly, "The emperor is very busy, how can he take care of all the affairs of the harem? Why do you have to use this method to attract the emperor's attention?"

Bu Changzai sighed softly, "Xi'er, you don't understand. In this harem, if you don't use some tricks, you may not even see the shadow of the emperor. I just... I just don't want to be forgotten."

After hearing this, Xier felt a surge of sympathy. She knew Bu Changzai's difficulties and understood the helplessness of the women in the harem. "Don't worry, madam. You have the third princess, and the emperor will definitely not forget you. As long as you take good care of your injuries now and keep your beautiful face, you will definitely have a chance to gain the emperor's favor in the future."

Bu Changzai nodded, but he was still depressed. They say the emperor's grace is like flowing water, so why couldn't he get any of that?

Bu Chang was depressed here, and Kangxi was also depressed - his imperial sedan chair was forced to stop again. Kangxi said in a deep voice: "What happened? Did someone fall again?" There was a hint of displeasure in his voice, and he was obviously dissatisfied with this sudden interruption.

Wei Zhu hurried forward to report: "Your Majesty, a young eunuch in the palace accidentally knocked over a flower pot, and he fell, and the people behind him fell too. The debris was scattered all over the ground, blocking the way. The servants are cleaning it up, and we will be able to pass soon."

Kangxi frowned, thinking to himself that there was no peace in the harem. He waved his hand, "Clean up quickly, don't delay the trip." Wei Zhu hurriedly agreed, but unexpectedly a gentle yet majestic female voice came from the front: "Director Huang, the young eunuch's mistake should not have been made, but is the punishment too harsh? They are still young and inexperienced, so it is inevitable that they will make mistakes."

Wei Zhu went to see that it was the director of the flower room who rushed over and kicked the troublesome eunuch several times, and even threatened to send him to the Ministry of Punishment to be beaten to death. Huipin, who was passing by, saw it and spoke out to stop him. Huipin's face was solemn. When the eunuch director saw that Huipin had come in person, he saluted timidly and said, "Your Majesty is right. I just want to teach them a lesson so that they won't do it again."

Huipin frowned and said, "It is necessary to teach them a lesson, but we must also pay attention to the method. Too severe punishment will not only hurt their bodies, but also make the flower room even more short of people. It will also harm the harmony of nature. The emperor is a benevolent monarch, and you servants should take the emperor's kindness as an example and be tolerant to your subordinates."

After hearing this, the eunuch supervisor looked ashamed and bowed his head to admit his mistake: "Your Majesty is right. I was too impatient and failed to appreciate the kindness of the emperor and the majesty. I will correct my mistakes in the future and follow the teachings of the emperor and the majesty."

Seeing that he was learning from her teachings, Huipin nodded and said in a slightly softer tone: "It is also your duty. I understand. Go ahead and deal with this matter first, and then take good care of those injured eunuchs."

"Yes, your majesty." The eunuch supervisor withdrew respectfully.

Wei Zhu watched the whole scene from the side, raised her eyebrows, and then turned back to tell the emperor the whole conversation between Huipin and the flower room manager. Kangxi was a little impatient: "Everyone is doing this. When did the harem become so full of drama?"

Wei Zhu saw that the emperor was unhappy, and answered carefully: "Your Majesty, there are many women in the harem, and everyone longs for your favor, so it is inevitable that they will have some small thoughts."

Kangxi snorted coldly and did not listen to Wei Zhu's explanation. He just said in a deep voice: "If anyone tries to stop me from now on, you don't have to serve me anymore." Wei Zhu was startled and knelt down quickly: "Your Majesty, please calm down. I understand. I will strictly control you in the future and not let these trivial matters disturb Your Majesty again."

As he said this, he ran to the front of the team to inform the eunuch who was cleaning the road. After a while, the imperial chariot continued to move forward, and indeed did not encounter any blind people. However, when passing by the imperial garden, a melodious sound of the piano was heard. The sound of the piano was quiet and profound, like a clear spring in the mountains, gurgling and flowing, which made people feel relaxed and happy.