Rong Fei is not honored

After leaving the Cining Palace, Kangxi stared at the plaque for a long time with complicated feelings, sighed softly, and then said to Liang Jiugong, "Prepare the carriage for the Kunning Palace."

Inside Kunning Palace, the Empress had been dressed and waiting for a long time.

Emperor Kangxi had no objection to Niohuru, who was dutiful and did not like to cause trouble. However, upon seeing her pale and thin face, he felt a rare pity for her.

Before the Empress could finish her curtsy, Kangxi helped her up and said gently, "The Empress is not well, there's no need for such formalities. Didn't the imperial physician say you should rest in bed? What are you doing here..."

The Empress smiled and said, "I am not so ill that I cannot get up. How could I dare to neglect my audience with Your Majesty?"

The tone was overly respectful, but lacked warmth.

Kangxi lowered his eyelids and withdrew his hand.

That makes sense. Since they can only be a respectful emperor and empress, not a devoted husband and wife, why give her hope only to disappoint her?

After the two sat down, Kangxi stopped beating around the bush and asked directly, "What brings the Empress to see me?"

The Empress straightened her expression and replied, "There are two matters. One is that I have noticed that the people in Cining Palace have been making frequent moves lately, as if... they are looking for something. Since this concerns the Empress Dowager, I dare not make a decision on my own, so I would like to ask Your Majesty for a suggestion."

Should we turn a blind eye and keep a close watch from the shadows, or should we simply let go and allow the Empress Dowager to do as she pleases, or should we make some noise so that the Cining Palace realizes something is amiss and takes the initiative to restrain itself?

"The Empress Dowager has already told me about this matter today. Since you have noticed it, there is no need to pretend you don't know. Go and have the people from Cining Palace thoroughly investigate the Forbidden City."

The Empress was startled and quickly asked, "What does Your Majesty mean?"

"...The Empress Dowager said that it was someone left behind by the former Noble Consort Yijing."

The Empress rose to bow and apologize, but Kangxi swiftly stopped her, saying, "You don't need to do that. If she really is Consort Yijing's person, she must be deeply hidden. You've only been in the palace for a short time. It can't be considered a dereliction of duty on your part."

The Empress seemed moved by Kangxi's words, but her heart was in turmoil.

Judging from His Majesty's words, he did not completely believe the Empress Dowager's words. So, what His Majesty suspected was this matter, or... the Empress Dowager?

If it is the latter, then when His Majesty asked her to act with the people from Cining Palace, was it to assist or to supervise?

"What is the second thing the Queen wants to say?"

Upon hearing this, the Empress looked embarrassed and admitted her mistake, saying, "To be honest, this was my fault. I only found out that the sisters in the harem were pregnant at that time."

Emperor Kangxi was also stunned; he had not heard any reports from the Imperial Hospital that any of his concubines were pregnant.

Kangxi, doubting his own memory, subconsciously looked at Liang Jiugong, only to find that the other man also looked blank. When he realized that Kangxi was looking at him, Liang Jiugong shook his head, indicating that he had not received any news either.

Kangxi immediately understood what was going on, and his face darkened instantly.

That's it again!

He could understand the concerns of the concubines in the harem, but if they kept it hidden, would the imperial heir be safe? Even if they told Kangxi in private and asked him to issue an imperial decree, and announced it to the public after the pregnancy was three months along, would he not agree?

Kangxi asked himself honestly, he wasn't the kind of father who would act recklessly. After learning of the child's existence, how could Kangxi not send people to protect him? He simply couldn't believe that if even he couldn't protect the child, the child's mother could.

Furthermore, the current Niohuru clan is not the vicious woman from the Hesheli clan, so who exactly are they guarding against?

"Who is it? Why are the people from the Imperial Hospital concealing this information?!"

The Empress quickly glanced at His Majesty, then lowered her head and reported, "The pregnant woman is a palace maid serving Consort Tongjia. Because she is not a mistress, she is not qualified to see the imperial physician even if she is unwell."

Kangxi was like a deflated balloon; his momentum vanished completely.

He was a little confused. A palace servant by the side of Lady Tongjia?

Kangxi suddenly thought of something, his brows furrowed tightly, seemingly incredulous, after all, how could she have gotten pregnant so easily after just one time?

The Empress saw the Emperor's expression and knew that the historical records were true.

In an instant, many thoughts flashed through the Empress's mind, but they were all suppressed in an instant.

The Empress remained the same tolerant and magnanimous Empress, seemingly without a trace of selfishness.

“Pregnant women are different after all. So although I didn’t ask the imperial physician to examine her pulse, the person I sent knew some medical skills, and she only dared to report it after confirming it several times.”

"After all, she's someone close to the Imperial Concubine. I couldn't directly send the imperial physician to her door, for fear the Imperial Concubine would misunderstand and think I intended to harm her, and also for fear of alarming the imperial heir. Therefore..."

This was certainly not the truth. Her relationship with Lady Tongjia was already delicate. If she didn't have absolute certainty, how could the Empress dare to reveal the fact that a palace maid was pregnant to His Majesty?

Anyway, it was His Majesty who ordered her to send people to keep an eye on Chengqian Palace. It was her duty to report any abnormalities truthfully. No one could say that she was deliberately targeting Tongjia.

What troubled the Empress was that she had sent a female physician to confirm the pregnancy several times before she learned that the palace maid was pregnant. How did the person who delivered the news to her know?

There are only a handful of people in this palace with connections to the highest levels. Which one could it be? And why would the other party do such a thing?

If it weren't for the fact that Lady Tongjia wasn't capable enough, and that her people had thoroughly investigated and confirmed there were no problems, the Empress would have thought it was a trap deliberately set for her, and that someone was trying to scheme against her.

"Liang Jiugong, you should take the imperial physician and go there personally."

Kangxi understood the Empress's concerns. Given Tongjia's personality, even if the Empress had no ill intentions, she could still make it seem like the Empress wanted to harm her.

Emperor Kangxi was in a bad mood. Perhaps he shouldn't have been soft-hearted and given Tongjia a respectable position, and he shouldn't have thought of using Tongjia to suppress Borjigit. So he went along with Tongjia's wishes and slept with the palace maid she pushed out.

Fortunately, the Empress was dutiful and responsible; otherwise, with the palace maid's pregnancy going unnoticed and the two mistresses of Chengqian Palace vying for power, who knows how much trouble would have ensued.

Even now that we know about that child, there are still a lot of problems.

First, the birth mother of the imperial heir must no longer be a servant, but what rank she should be given must be carefully considered.

She was different from Ji Nai and the other concubines selected by the Empress Dowager to accompany the emperor. Although they were all from the same banner system, the former entered the palace to become palace servants, while the latter were concubines approved by the Empress Dowager.

Among that group of people, apart from Ji Nai and a few others, most of them did not fare very well. Most of them were at the level of Changzai or Daying, and some of them had been pregnant or even given birth to imperial heirs safely.

If her rank is too low, there's a concern that the birth mother of the imperial heir will be looked down upon and unable to properly care for her during pregnancy. If her rank is too high, there's a fear that the older palace women might become resentful and cause trouble.