Rong Fei is not honored

Chengrui was the eldest son, which gave him a significant advantage in age. If he had married before the younger princes were even grown up, or even born, and then had a grandson...

That's a huge difference, and Prince Chengrui is indeed old enough to understand human affairs and get married.

Although it is unknown why His Majesty changed his mind, the current outcome is one that many people are happy to see.

"I don't know what those people are so smug about."

In Consort Hui's view, Cheng Rui was still very young, and this whole affair was Kangxi's mistake. Fortunately, the final outcome was good. But even so, it caused quite a stir.

They didn't even consider that Chengrui was the oldest, and even though he was a few years younger, he was still far ahead of his younger brothers.

“But my lord, there is an order of seniority. If Prince Chengrui doesn’t get married, when will it be our prince’s turn?”

Consort Hui was startled by what Granny Wu said and exclaimed in horror, "Yinti is only seven years old!"

"His Majesty ascended the throne at the age of eight, had concubines at the age of ten, and married Empress Hesheli at the age of twelve. If the Empress hadn't been so young, they would have consummated their marriage that year."

Consort Hui was in a daze. Yes, so why didn't she notice anything amiss back then? Perhaps it was because she possessed the soul of an adult?

In other words, she was completely fooled by a child's charm!

Granny Wu didn't know why her mistress's face suddenly darkened, but she still diligently analyzed for her mistress: "After the wedding, the prince will be able to leave the palace and establish his own residence, which will make it easier to cultivate his own power."

Consort Hui's face darkened completely. She warned, "Granny Wu, do you know what you're saying?"

"Master?" It's no wonder that Granny Wu was caught off guard. After all, Consort Hui was quite ambitious back then, and she wanted to take over both the Empress's Palace and the Eastern Palace.

Consort Hui rubbed her forehead. People really can't empathize with their past selves. Now, whenever she thinks about how she couldn't see the situation clearly and was blindly confident to the point of arrogance, she feels embarrassed.

"It's not your fault. It's because I gave you too many wrong signals in the past that you overthought things."

Granny Wu was utterly shocked. What did she mean by overthinking things? Could it be that all these years of living in the "cold palace" had worn down her mistress's spirit, leaving her completely resigned?

"My Yinti doesn't meet any of the criteria of being the legitimate heir, the eldest son, or the most virtuous. Why should he get involved in this mess?" The truth was painful, but it was the truth. Her Yinti was indeed not that outstanding.

“But among the two princes above Prince Yinti, one is weak and the other has a close relationship with the Khorchin. So, in order of seniority, our prince is actually the eldest son.”

Consort Hui was speechless and didn't want to say anything. In history, Yinti was indeed the eldest son, but what was the result? He was nothing more than a whetstone prepared by Kangxi for Crown Prince Yinreng.

In this life, Yinti doesn't even have the advantage of being the "eldest son," yet her servants insist on concocting a title for her, which is not a good thing.

"Granny, are you serious?"

Well, actually, even Wu Mama wasn't very confident when she said this, but, "Although our prince is neither the eldest son nor the legitimate heir, if he's properly raised, perhaps..."

The order of birth—whether one is the eldest son or the principal wife—is determined from the moment of birth, but with effort, one might still gain a reputation for virtue.

"You watched Yinqi grow up. He might be good at martial arts in the future, but don't even think about civil administration."

It wasn't that Consort Hui was belittling her son and thinking that Yinti was just a brute. In fact, Yinti's grades were actually quite good. Although he wasn't as amazing as Saiyinchahun, he was still an excellent student.

However, Yinqi himself didn't like it. Rather than sitting there writing a policy essay, he preferred to vent his energy at the horse farm.

Seeing that Granny Wu's attitude was beginning to waver, Wang Sheng became anxious and couldn't help but interject, "But the Empress Dowager clearly prefers our prince. How could the Cining Palace's judgment be wrong?"

Leaving aside the late emperor, the current emperor was chosen by the Empress Dowager from among all the princes. Now, she is bypassing the obviously smarter Prince Saiyinchahun and showing her affection for her own prince. How can this not make people think?

Perhaps it's because his son possesses the potential to be an emperor, but ordinary people like them can't see it. The Cining Palace, however, has discerning eyes and thus bestowed its favor ahead of time.

Consort Hui sneered, "Isn't this the truth?"

What does saying that Yinti is the eldest son in the real sense mean? Where does that leave Chengrui and Saiyinchahun? Believe it or not, if Consort Rong finds out, she'll slap them to death.

The position of Crown Prince has been decided, and the Hesheli family stands behind him. Even if the position of Crown Prince is unstable, there are still the children born to Consort Rong. It's a matter of loving the house because of the crows. Over the years, Consort Hui has seen clearly that even though Crown Prince Yinreng was raised by Emperor Kangxi himself, he may not be as favored as Consort Rong's children.

Even if Emperor Kangxi wanted to depose and install the crown prince, could he resist thinking more about his beloved?

This is one of the advantages of having a favored concubine as a mother!

Consort Hui herself came from a humble background and had no powerful maternal clan to help Yinti. She herself could not provide any assistance and was just grateful that she could avoid implicating Yinti.

Therefore, her Yinqi was truly at a disadvantage.

Even so, Granny Wu and the others could still rack their brains to boast, as if Yinti really had some great advantage. It was only the Empress Dowager's explicit suggestion that gave them hope and fueled their ambition.

If Consort Hui really falls for him, then she's doomed.

“You all need to clear your heads. Accepting the olive branch from the Cining Palace doesn’t just mean we have the support of the Empress Dowager; it also means we’ve put ourselves on the opposite side of His Majesty.”

"This……"

"Don't say it's not that serious. His Majesty has no intention of changing the crown prince yet."

“But this road has never been easy since ancient times. Although it is difficult, as long as we succeed…” A terrifying desire burst forth in Wang Sheng’s eyes.

"Then why don't you mention the consequences of failure?"

Wang Sheng was speechless, but he was still somewhat unconvinced. How could the struggle for the throne be without risk? His master was clearly terrified. Such a golden opportunity was right before him; how could he be so timid and hesitant? Wasn't he afraid of incurring the prince's wrath later?

Granny Wu was more composed than Wang Sheng. Although she also had ambitions, she understood her master's concerns. After thinking for a moment, she finally said:

"Throughout history, very few crown princes have actually managed to ascend the throne. We can choose not to be the ones causing trouble, but we can't be completely unprepared."

Consort Hui fell silent. Power—who wouldn't want it?

"What about Cining Palace?" Wang Sheng asked tentatively, seeing that his master had been persuaded by Granny Wu.

Consort Hui shook her head and said quietly, "The Empress Dowager is old. Rather than relying on her, we should rely on ourselves."