Rong Fei is not honored

"But don't you think we have too many enemies? The concubines and their families in the palace are all potential enemies, and now we have to face the big Buddha, Empress Xiaozhuang. I think the road ahead is really bumpy."

"Xiaozhuang is not our enemy, and there is no need to confront her directly. What we need to do is to shake her position in Kangxi's heart. As long as in Kangxi's mind, Xiaozhuang is no longer the good grandmother who is devoted to the Qing Dynasty and himself. The Empress Dowager, who has lost her transcendent status, will take off that sacred and inviolable coat. At this time, there is no need for us to take action."

Yuan Xu saw Ji Nai's understatement of the plot against Kangxi, and for a moment he doubted himself, was he wrong before? Ji Nai was not a love-minded person, so he had to wait and see.

In the past two days, the atmosphere in all the mansions of the bannermen families has been somewhat depressed. This is all because of the news that Empress Dowager Cihe is seriously ill in the palace. Everyone is afraid that there will be twists and turns in this year's selection of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In the past, the Imperial Household Department selected women from the baoyi family who were over 13 years old. However, this year, the Empress Dowager spread the word that a selection would be held in October to select girls of the same age as the Emperor to enter the palace and accompany the Emperor. Therefore, my princess had this opportunity. If the selection was cancelled due to the Empress Dowager's serious illness, then according to the rules, my princess would have to wait for 4 years before she met the age for the selection. In the meantime, it is unknown how many variables will appear. The special exception made by the Empress Dowager will give the princess in the family an advantage, and the baoyi family does not want to lose this opportunity.

Fortunately, in October, the Imperial Household Department's selection was held as scheduled. It was said that the Empress Dowager wanted to add some fresh faces to the palace, and to make the seriously ill Empress Dowager Cihe happy by looking at these young and energetic girls. However, it was the end of the year, and the Empress Dowager was kind, so she ordered the selected girls to spend the New Year at home and spend time with their families, and then officially enter the palace in the first month of the next year. For a time, everyone in the court was grateful for the Empress Dowager's kindness.

Ji Nai was chosen without any surprise. Compared with the weirdness of last year, the annual banquet of Ma Jia's family this year had a real festive atmosphere. The whole family was beaming with joy, except for Ma Jia and Ji Nai's mother, Lady Nara, who was reluctant to let them go. Ji Nai cherished this last time with his family even more.

The night before entering the palace, he was called to Mafa's study. This was the first time that Ji Nai had set foot in this place. Hearing Mafa's detailed instructions, Ji Nai kept them firmly in mind. As the saying goes, never underestimate anyone. Ji Nai would not despise those old rivals just because he was reborn. Those who think they are smart are fools.

When he left the study, Ji Nai was holding a wooden box in his hand, which contained the thoughts of the elders and the support of the entire Ma Jia clan, a total of 10,000 taels of silver. The Ma Jia clan was not wealthy, and even this 10,000 taels of silver was collected by the clan with the efforts of all the members.

On the tenth day of the first lunar month in the second year of Shunzhi, the young palace maids entered the palace one after another. All of them were separated and arranged in several palaces to learn the rules from the head maids. After 10 days, those who learned well stayed and waited for the arrangements of their masters, while those who did not learn well were directly sent to different palaces.

As a person with excellent performance in the assessment, Ji Nai was naturally one of the ones who stayed behind. The nanny took them to the outside of the Cining Palace, and after a while, Su Malagu came out. She picked several palace maids and took them into the Cining Palace without saying much. Before entering the palace, she also specifically reminded them that they would meet the Empress Dowager later and not to forget the rules.

Seven or eight young palace maids knelt down in unison and kowtowed, saying, "Greetings to the Grand Empress Dowager. May the Grand Empress Dowager be blessed with good health."

"Lift your heads up, let me take a look." A voice came from the top. Everyone raised their heads and lowered their eyes, with a respectful look on their faces. "They are all beautiful children. Look, there is one lucky one." Ji Nai felt several eyes on his face. "I like this child."

"The round little face looks festive. It's not as comfortable as Liu Fufeng's sickly look. But it's that look that makes people like her the most." The Empress Dowager said, with a hint of dissatisfaction in her voice. Those who understood knew that the Empress Dowager was referring to Consort Dong E. Or perhaps, Hai Lanzhu. For a moment, no one dared to speak.

It was Su Malagu who spoke up to ease the tense atmosphere in the hall. "It's a blessing for this child to be liked by the Empress Dowager." "Whose family is she from?" "This child is a captain of the Plain Yellow Banner, from Ma Jia's family." "Yes." Ma Jia was only of the middle and lower class among the bannermen, and really didn't attract the attention of the Empress Dowager.

"The emperor has just ascended the throne, and although he has not yet taken charge of the government, he is diligent and studious, and studies hard every day. In addition, Empress Dowager Cihe is in poor health these days, and she has to take care of him every day. I see that the emperor looks much more haggard. When you go to the Qianqing Palace, take good care of the emperor and don't let him really get sick from exhaustion."

"I will follow the instructions of the Grand Empress Dowager." Knowing that they could serve in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, several young maids showed a hint of excitement on their faces. The Grand Empress Dowager, who was sitting high up, saw all the movements below, but she did not show any sign of it. "I am tired, let them go." Then Su Malagu led a group of young maids out of the hall and ordered them to be taken to the Palace of Heavenly Purity and sent to the hands of the head maid Chen.

Only when they were a little further away from the Cining Palace did Ji Nai dare to relax. The Empress Dowager's eyes were too sharp, as if they could penetrate people's hearts. In front of such eyes, Ji Na used all her strength to maintain her composure, not letting herself reveal any clues, and behaved as usual, but she should have performed well just now.

"Huh, this is the Empress Dowager, the famous Empress Xiaozhuang. She is so scary. I almost thought she could see my presence. But Empress Xiaozhuang seems to have a good impression of you."

[Thanks to you, I didn't expect such a blessed face could catch the eye of Empress Xiaozhuang.]

"I'm not bragging, but grandparents of this age like chubby little faces. They think that those with more flesh are prettier, while skinny ones are just skin and bones, and they just don't look blessed."

Ji Nai and Yuan Xu chatted, and the tension was completely dissipated. Only then did he notice that there were several old acquaintances among the people traveling with him. A hint of coldness flashed in Ji Nai's eyes. Because he was moving too fast, no one else noticed. Except Yuan Xu, "Is there an enemy of yours among them?" [Yes. ]

I have never seen them before, but thinking back to my previous life, they were indeed the same batch that entered the palace. It's just that before today, they should have been learning the rules in other palaces, so I just saw them today.

Ji Nai closed his eyes and quickly suppressed the emotions in his heart. No rush, there is still a long way to go.