Rong Fei is not honored

"Then... maybe they're afraid of your status and won't dare to act so recklessly, right?"

"Are you so sure that it was the concubines in the harem who attacked Chengrui this time?"

Yuan Xu was bewildered. "Besides them, who else could it be? Could it be someone outside the palace? But Kangxi's control over the harem is far from what it used to be. It's unlikely that he could get his hands on it from outside the palace, right?"

"The reach outside the palace is naturally not that long."

"But who else is in the palace..." Yuan Xu looked at Ji Nai in disbelief, "Isn't that possible?"

"Why isn't it possible?"

"But……"

"After Chengrui died, Saiyin Chahun became the eldest son."

"But there is a legitimate son below, who has already taken the title."

"So what? A child who hasn't grown up yet, even a gust of wind or a pool of water can completely prevent him from growing up."

"Ji Nai, are you overthinking it? Historically, Empress Xiaozhuang clearly stood on the side of Crown Prince Yinreng.

Even when Kangxi made Yinreng's brothers his slaves in order to elevate his position as crown prince, the Empress Dowager did not say anything."

"But historically, although Borjigit never had a chance to rise in Kangxi's harem, he himself trusted this madam very much."

"...Even so, it wouldn't cause such a drastic change in the Grand Empress Dowager, right?"

"You forgot about Empress Xiaokangzhang."

Yuan Xu opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing.

Yes, there is also the matter of Empress Xiaokangzhang.

Historically, no matter whether this matter is true or false, Kangxi would never delve into the matter just for some rumors. Wouldn't that hurt his own mother's feelings?

Even if Kangxi sent people to investigate privately, verifying the truth of the matter and finding evidence that the Grand Empress Dowager had indeed murdered Empress Dowager Cihe were two different starting points, and the final results would naturally be different.

After all, since even his master, Kangxi, who had a deep relationship with the Empress Dowager, was unwilling to believe that this matter was true, and the superiors had this attitude, the people working below naturally did not dare to cause trouble.

What's more, so many years have passed, how can we find any useful clues?

Any clues left behind from that time that were not forged by others would be an insult to the Empress Dowager.

But this life is different. The relationship between Kangxi and the Empress Dowager is not that deep, so the people below will naturally have doubts when they see this. Who doesn't want to replace the Empress Dowager and become the person the Emperor trusts and values the most?

Especially the Tonggiya clan, for the sake of her own family's interests, she would certainly do everything she could to prove that the Grand Empress Dowager had plotted to murder Empress Dowager Cihe.

Even if Kangxi knew that the so-called evidence was fake and fabricated by the Tong family, how could he not have doubts in his heart?

Kangxi naturally knew the methods of the Empress Dowager and the little thoughts of the Tong family. Would he guess that the Tong family really had the courage to fabricate a crime and put it on the head of the Empress Dowager?

I'm afraid that even if Kangxi did not believe the evidence presented, he had already made up his mind about this matter.

However, Kangxi was not only a son, but also the emperor of the Qing Dynasty. The identity of the emperor not only represented supreme power, but also heavy shackles, making it impossible for Kangxi to seek the truth as he wished, so he could only suppress the matter.

But suppressing it does not mean forgetting it. The impact of this incident goes far beyond that.

Could the Empress Dowager, who had served three dynasties, be unaware of this? Wouldn't she be suspicious? Wouldn't she be afraid of the knife hanging over her head that might fall at any moment?

Even if the Empress Dowager is old and doesn't care about her own life or death, is there no one in this world that she cares about?

For example, the Empress Dowager and Su Malagu who had accompanied her for decades, and Korchin, where the Grand Empress Dowager could never return.

Even if the Empress Dowager is really willing to pay with her life for hers, will Kangxi really stop taking revenge as she wishes?

What's more, the Empress Dowager had never taken Empress Dowager Cihe seriously, so how could she be willing to sacrifice her own life to make up for killing the other party?

As long as the Empress Dowager does not want herself and the people she cares about to become fish on the chopping board, she will never sit idly by. Isn't the most effective and direct way to do this to support a young emperor who is close to her?

The emperor was young, and who could be more qualified than her, the Empress Dowager, to rule the country from behind the scenes? By then, she would not only be able to remove the sharp sword hanging over her head, but also re-enter the political center.

Don’t say anything. Kangxi is the grandson of the Empress Dowager, so he would not be able to bear it. What does it matter if it is a royal struggle between father and son, or mother and son?

The Empress Dowager, for the sake of her position as Empress, even disregarded her only biological son, so how could she care about her grandson, a generation apart? Did the Empress Dowager lack grandchildren?

The more Yuan Xu thought about it, the more he felt that it seemed that the Empress Dowager did have reason to interfere in the selection of the future emperor.

If she were the Empress Dowager, she would not be able to live out her days in peace given the hatred of the current emperor for killing her mother.

Even if the emperor had made it clear that he was unwilling to believe and investigate the truth about his mother's death, she would only suspect that he was pretending and was waiting to paralyze her before killing her with a single blow.

Even if she really believed in her grandson's feelings for her, people's hearts are fickle. Moreover, there is a Tong Jia family outside who is trying to pin the crime on her in order to benefit her family.

Even if the emperor is reluctant now, it is inevitable that he will change his mind in the future and favor his biological mother and his maternal family.

If she were the Empress Dowager, would she really dare to gamble herself and her mother's family on the emperor's soft heart?

"When? When did you realize it?" Yuan Xu looked at Ji Nai.

The Empress Dowager wanted to promote Saiyin Chahun to the throne, but Ji Nai didn't reveal anything about such a big thing to her.

Ji Nai smiled bitterly, "I just found out a while ago, but I had my suspicions before."

"Once upon a time? How long ago?"

"Ever since... Kangxi's attitude towards Saiyin Chahun became increasingly strange, and he became wary of me and the Zhongcui Palace.

Remember the incident with the contraceptive incense?

At that time, I just felt that Kangxi was a truly qualified emperor. He was clearly deeply in love with me and we were in love with each other, but he was still able to always maintain the political qualities that an emperor should have.

You also know that I am not without feelings for Kangxi, so I was so painful at that time.

But when I decided to get out of the quagmire of emotions and regard Kangxi as just an emperor, I found something wrong.

It's so disjointed. The normal Kangxi and the Kangxi who used contraceptive incense on me are completely like two different people. Kangxi is indeed a passionate and ruthless person, but he is not a mean and ungrateful emperor.

So, either I have been being self-indulgent and Kangxi has never been sincere to me. His kindness to me is just like raising a lovely little pet.

Or, something must have happened when we were unaware of it, causing Kangxi to subconsciously develop a sense of vigilance in maintaining imperial power."

"But you've always done well." Yuan Xu murmured.

For Ji Nai, the most important thing is always the safety and health of his children. Perhaps because the way they came into this world was not "legal", Ji Nai has always been afraid of this way of heaven.

Ji Nai, who was worried, didn't dare to do anything more. Yuan Xu sometimes even thought that if it weren't for protecting Cheng Rui and the others, Ji Nai would have locked the palace gates and voluntarily imprisoned himself in Zhongcui Palace.

Wealth and power are dazzling, but Ji Nai has never changed. It was she who developed ambition, and it was also she who wanted to push Ji Nai and Ji Nai's children to the supreme position.

But...unless Kangxi could see himself, Ji Nai, who had always been calm and non-competitive, would not be able to provoke the sensitive nerves of Kangxi as an emperor.

"Is it the Empress Dowager?"

"Besides her, I can't think of anyone else who could make Kangxi feel threatened."

That's right, if a strong lion didn't really feel threatened, why would he be afraid of a few cubs that had not yet been weaned?

After all, in everyone's eyes, Ji Nai's eldest son Chengrui and second son Saiyin Chahun were both not eligible for the throne. In other words, the "eldest son" of Zhongcui Palace who could really compete should be Yinhua.

But how old is he?

How could Kangxi be so wary of him when he hadn't even started school?

Not to mention, Kangxi also fell in love with Ji Nai.

In this palace, although a mother's status is determined by her son, there is also a saying that a son's status is determined by his mother. A child born to a beloved person is definitely a treasure in the palm of his hand, how can he be treated the same as other children?