Since they are all worn by the Qing Dynasty, you might as well be bold and choose Kangxi!

Palace of Heavenly Purity

Kangxi discussed the details of Khalkha's submission with his ministers. After the discussion, the ministers left on their own accord. At this time, he remembered something and said to the minister who was leading the retreat:

"Soetu stays."

Upon hearing this, Suo Etu bowed and made way for the other ministers to leave first. After they left, he respectfully stepped forward and bowed to Kangxi:

"emperor."

Kangxi leaned back in his chair, his eyes smiling:

"Don't be nervous. I'm not keeping you here for official business. We just want to have a chat."

The king and his ministers have a chat?

Soetu's mind turned. What could the emperor talk to him about if it wasn't official business? It was most likely about the prince.

Kangxi sat on it, saw Suo Etu's expression, and held the armrest and said:

"You thought of it. We were talking about the Crown Prince. When I paid my respects to the Queen Mother yesterday, I mentioned that the Crown Prince would be getting married after this selection."

He spoke with emotion and relief:

"Time flies by so fast. The prince has grown up so fast now."

Suo Etu straightened his back slightly, and a smile appeared on his face:

"That's right. The ministers are old, but the emperor still looks young."

Then he changed the subject:

"However, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is seventeen years old this year, which is the right age for marriage. Once he gets married, he will be truly grown up and can help the Emperor with his worries. If the Empress in the underworld knew about this, I think she would be as pleased and happy as the Emperor."

The Queen Mother here refers to Queen Hesheli.

Kangxi also thought of the other party. He and Empress Hesheli were young couples. Although he did not love her, she married him at a young age and accompanied him through the most difficult times. He was grateful and respected her.

Thinking back on it now, a trace of nostalgia can't help but appear on his face.

After a while, he sighed:

"The Queen passed away early, leaving behind a baby named Baocheng. From the time she learned to speak to the present day, she has truly grown up. I can finally give an explanation to the Queen."

Soetu also thought of his niece. If she were still alive, the position of the crown prince would definitely be more secure, and there would be no need to send Concubine Xi and Concubine Ping to the harem to take care of the crown prince.

The emperor and his ministers reminisced for a few more words, and then Soetu withdrew. Kangxi sat on the chair and was suddenly reminded of the past. He suddenly stood up and said:

"Let's go to Kunning Palace and take a look."

Liang Jiugong was suddenly filled with relief when he heard the words. After hearing the conversation between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager yesterday, he had been more attentive and had ordered people to clean the main hall of Kunning Palace early in the morning. Now he hurriedly followed with his whisk in his arms.

When he reached the door, he did not forget to make a gesture to the guards, which meant that the emperor did not want anyone to know his whereabouts, and everyone should follow him secretly.

On the other side, Shi Nanxi kept her head slightly lowered all the way. In order to avoid seeing the wrong name of the palace, she didn't even look up when she arrived at Kunning Palace.

Xiao Xuzi breathed a sigh of relief, then winked at the palace guard who had already got through, and soon the two of them walked in.

Shi Nanxi lowered her eyes, seemingly following Xiao Xuzi, but her peripheral vision was always keeping an eye on him.

Seeing that he did not make any other moves and just led her to the main hall, she was alert in her heart and kept wondering what means of revenge the Ninth Prince would use.

"Mrs. Shi Er, the queen is in the main hall. You can go in directly. I will be waiting outside the door."

At the entrance of the main hall, Xiao Xuzi stopped outside the threshold and made a gesture to invite Shi Nanxi in.

Shi Nanxi looked inside and saw no one. She had a rough guess in her mind at this point. It seemed that the Ninth Prince wanted to lock her up in the main hall of Kunning Palace.

This was exactly what she planned, so she pretended that she hadn't noticed anything and walked in obediently.

As she expected, as soon as she walked in, she heard the door closing behind her, and then the sound of it being locked.

She then raised her head slightly, and what she saw was a bright altar with a portrait of a woman on it. It was obscured by the white mist from the burning sandalwood, so it was not very clear. There was no one in the room.

Seeing this, Shi Nanxi finally breathed a sigh of relief. There were no other cruel and terrible means waiting for her. But she couldn't completely relax because Xiao Xuzi was still outside the door.

So she pretended that she finally realized something was wrong, ran to the door, and banged on it in panic.

"Eunuch Xu, Eunuch Xu, there is no one inside. Where is this? Where is Concubine Yi? Open the door..."

Xiao Xuzi pulled out the key outside the house. When he heard the shouting from inside, the corner of his mouth twitched and his honest face suddenly became sinister.

He said to Heather Brook:

"Princess Shi Er has offended someone she shouldn't have offended, so she should just stay in there and be good!"

After saying that, he shook the keys in his hand, turned around and left with a relaxed look.

When Shi Nanxi heard the other party leaving, she continued to bang on the door and shouted in panic.

After about a quarter of an hour, her hands that were knocking on the door turned red, her voice became hoarse, and her already pale face became even paler without a trace of blood.

At this moment, the whole person was weak and helpless, huddled behind the door, like a frightened deer in distress in the jungle. Looking closely, the corners of his eyes were red, as if he had been crying.

His lips were still moving slightly, but the cries he made were almost inaudible.

Shi Nanxi didn't know how to act, especially facing an emperor.

She kept speculating in her mind what would happen if she failed to hook up with Kangxi and enter the palace.

One is to truly follow Shi Rongyue's plan and marry the prince.

But she was weak and had not received orthodox education, so Kangxi would not make her his principal wife. At most, she would be a concubine, and she was not yet an adult this year.

This means that she would have to become a concubine of an underage man, who would later be deposed and imprisoned for life, and her children would also be implicated and would have to live a cautious life.

Another possibility is that she openly goes along with Shi Rongyue's plan, but secretly refuses to cooperate, causing herself to be dismissed from the palace. However, after leaving the palace, she will be arranged by Shi's mother to marry a strange Qing Dynasty man, take care of his household affairs, and take concubines and raise illegitimate sons and daughters for him.

Either of these two possibilities is extremely tragic. Shi Nanxi imagined this tragic ending and let herself look at it. Her panic and fear were real, but her pitiful appearance also made people feel pity for her.

Even if I was tired and my strength was declining, even if there was no movement outside the door, even if the cold ground made me shiver, I kept thinking meticulously to keep myself in the best condition at all times.

So much so that even when the sound of Kangxi entering the palace and closing the door was heard, she raised her head a beat late without any sign of pretense.

As soon as Kangxi entered the hall, he felt something was wrong and immediately became alert. The next moment, his sharp eyes suddenly looked towards the side of the door and met Shi Nanxi's raised face.

After closing the door, in the slightly dim light, the other person's frightened and confused expression came into view.

The little face was pale without a trace of blood, the almond-shaped eyes were slightly red and swollen, and the thin body was curled up into a small ball at the moment, like an abandoned kitten.

At this moment, my nose moved slightly, and I found that since some time ago, the main hall, which had always exuded a faint sandalwood scent, had a sweet fragrance that was quite familiar.

Kangxi narrowed his eyes, turned his steps suddenly, and took three steps in total, one step at a time, two steps at a time. His pace neither quickened nor slowed down, and was as steady as usual.

Finally, it stopped in front of Shi Nanxi. Its straight body was still as tall as a pine tree, but its gentle and majestic eyebrows were slightly drooped at this moment.

He looked at Shi Nanxi for a while, his eyes were dark and gloomy, and no emotion could be seen. After a while, Kangxi spoke, and his tone was as gentle as when they first met:

"Why is Princess Shi Er here?"