The Virtuous Concubine

Mrs. Tong felt mixed emotions when she saw her daughter disregarding her image. She didn't think there was anything wrong with the daughter she had raised since she was a child. She just felt that her daughter must be extremely painful and helpless. This outburst of emotion was not directed at the maid, so she turned to Ren Dong and gently waved her hand to signal her to leave first.

Then Madam Tong gently comforted her and said in a warm voice: "Qing'er, mother knows you are upset, but your body has just recovered. Don't hurt your body because of your anger."

Hearing her mother's concern for her, Concubine Tong's heart softened and tears welled up again. She lowered her head and sobbed, "Mother, I understand, but... did you see what Niuhulu was wearing today? Did you see her holding my cousin's hand and coming out of the Cining Palace today?"

As she spoke, she turned her head to look at the curtain and murmured, "Today I even knelt down to pay my respects to her. I knelt down to watch her accept the golden seal and the golden book, and wished her and the emperor eternal! marriage! and unity! of love! How could I not feel pain?"

Mrs. Tong was also terrified when she saw her eyes were bloodshot and she was almost losing her mind. Mrs. Tong hurriedly hugged her daughter and tried to comfort her heart. She said, "Qing'er, my heart aches for you. Seeing you like this, I feel worse than anyone else. But in this palace, status is not absolute. You are favored, and as long as you have children in the future, even the queen will have to look at your face!"

She paused and continued, "What's more, my mother brought Ren Dong with her today. She told me that Niu Hulu has a deficiency. Ren Dong is the best at diagnosing women's diseases, and she will definitely not be wrong."

Concubine Tong then turned her head to look at her. Her tearful face no longer showed any sadness, revealing her paranoia and cruelty in her nature: "Insufficiency? So, she can't give birth to a legitimate son for the emperor?"

Madam Tong heard that she seemed to be in better spirits, and continued, "Not only is it difficult for her to have children, but her life span is also estimated to be short. Honeysuckle said that her hair is very yellow and the color of her nails is not right. The coverage of nail polish is not strong, and she applied the color so thickly, but the color is lighter than that of ordinary people. What's more, she deliberately walked very slowly with each step, and her body was still shaking. Others might think that she was deliberately showing off her majesty as the mother of the country. Only people who understand medicine can notice that there is something wrong."

Concubine Tong listened to these details and slowly smiled: "She has a short life and cannot hold down the position of empress. This is what she deserves. This is what she deserves."

Liuying was relieved to see that Madam Tong had persuaded Concubine Tong to stop with just a few words. She had previously encouraged Concubine Tong to take the child and kill the queen, but it was ultimately her own decision in a desperate situation, just to hold back Concubine Tong's will to survive.

If they really had to do this, she would be the one who was most afraid. But now Madam Tong said that Empress Niuhulu was in poor health and could die at any time, so all they needed to do was wait.

Madam Tong quickly asked Liuying to prepare some ginseng soup for Concubine Tong, and comforted her: "The emperor still has you in his heart. Look, Niuhulu can't even accept the visit of women from other courts today. How can she have the dignity of a queen? The emperor even ordered me to come to see you after the ceremony. Don't you understand what this means?"

Concubine Tong was stunned. She really didn’t understand!

Seeing her daughter's confused look, Madam Tong poked her daughter's forehead with a look of disappointment: "You are such a fool with good fortune. Sometimes I don't know what the emperor likes about you except your face."

Both mother and daughter laughed. Madam Tong went on to explain: "The emperor chose Niuhulu because he was concerned about the previous dynasty, but he didn't want her to have the dignity of a queen. You are a noble concubine, but you received women from other courts after the canonization ceremony. Your position in the palace has been stabilized by the emperor. I believe that the descendants of Niuhulu will not dare to embarrass you."

Liuying almost doubted herself when she heard this. Really? Did the emperor really think so?

Madam Tong's words were really convincing, and her confident tone expressed what Imperial Concubine Tong wanted to hear most - she just wanted to hear others say that the Emperor had her in his heart, and that she was the only one in his heart.

So she accepted this completely unreliable analysis and drank the ginseng soup happily. Mrs. Tong was relieved to see her daughter getting better, and she discussed the matter of the child with her.

"You should take good care of yourself. If you can't give birth, you should make plans in time to see if there are any suitable palace maids to promote." Madam Tong said seriously, "The family is actually very unhappy about your coronation this time. They think you haven't put in enough effort in the palace, so they are pushing you to have a child. You need to take it to heart."

Concubine Tong's face turned gloomy again after hearing this: "Mother——"

Madam Tong patted her on the shoulder and said, "Don't be so willful. Think about your aunt. She didn't become a queen during her lifetime, but after she gave birth to the emperor, didn't she also hold a high position? Don't fight for this moment. Isn't it better for you to take advantage of what's already there? When your mother gave birth to you——"

Concubine Tong's coquettish temper came up again, and she covered her ears: "I don't want to listen, my ears are getting calluses!"

Mrs. Tong was relieved to see that her daughter had finally shown some of her carefree look. She smoothed her collar and chatted with her for a few more words. Only when she saw that her daughter looked tired did she take her leave before the palace gates were locked.

This matter could not be hidden from the Empress Dowager, and she was so angry that she slammed the table and threw bowls in the Cining Palace. She felt that the Tong family was really lawless!

Kangxi's decree was not very clear. He only said that Madam Tong could go to pay a visit to Concubine Tong to comfort her feelings of missing her family. He did not mention at all that it would be on the same day of Empress Nianhulu's enthronement ceremony!

Mrs. Tong didn't know whether she didn't understand or pretended to understand, so she stayed in the palace to meet Concubine Tong. The Empress Dowager really rarely saw such a shameless person who dared to use the imperial decree to show disrespect to the newly appointed Queen.

She really didn't like the Tong family who were so arrogant, but the emperor always favored the Tong family. She didn't like the delicate and sickly Concubine Tong even more. Her sickly appearance was very similar to Concubine Dong E, but she was even worse than Concubine Dong E in terms of propriety.

Although Fulin "had feelings for her" and Dong Efei "did not lose her beauty", even if she favored her son and hated Dong Efei, she knew that Dong Efei was at least impeccable when it came to handling harem affairs and interpersonal relationships.

As for Concubine Tong, she was stupid, jealous, and childless. She was really good for nothing. The Empress Dowager became angrier and angrier as she thought about it. Her dissatisfaction with the Tong family in the former court and the harem had been accumulating for a long time, and finally erupted at this moment. The golden red sandalwood Buddhist beads in her hand were rubbed by her until they made a rattling sound.

Anyway, Kangxi and Empress Nianhulu will come to visit her tomorrow morning. She has to ask them what is going on and see how Empress Nianhulu will react.

It is best that she and Concubine Tong are not on good terms.

The next day, Kangxi and Empress Niuhulu arrived as scheduled. The couple looked happy, but they were surprised to see the Empress Dowager's gloomy face.

Kangxi was a little uneasy because the emperor also had three days of marriage leave and did not have to attend court. In the morning, the advisor told him that Madam Tong went to see Concubine Tong after the ceremony. Because Madam Tong left the palace before the key was handed down and did not violate the rules, he did not take it seriously and even sighed that the two really had a deep mother-daughter relationship.

The Empress Dowager looked directly at Kangxi and said sternly, "Xuanye, you are the emperor, and you have a queen to rule the six palaces for you. I don't want to ask too much about the affairs of the harem. But what the Tong family is doing now is really intolerable. After the enthronement ceremony, Madam Tong, as a lady of honor, dared to stay in the palace to pay homage to Concubine Tong. How disrespectful is this?"