The prince only allowed me to have a baby, so the pressure is a bit high!

Chapter 8 The Old Lady Teaches Her Granddaughter

Now that I'm at the Qianqing Palace, I have to be spirited and not let anyone with ulterior motives misunderstand that I have any opinion of the Emperor. As a ruler, the correct thing to do is to keep my emotions under wraps. Even if I really can't do that, then I can learn from the Eighth Prince and greet people with a smile every day. Who wouldn't be happy to see that?

Liang Jiugong's disciple, the young eunuch who always guarded the gate with Wei Zhu, saw the prince from afar and quickly turned back to inform Liang Jiugong. When Liang Jiugong heard that the prince had arrived, he quickly whispered in Kangxi's ear. Kangxi nodded and gestured for him to come in. So when the prince just stepped into the gate of the Qianqing Palace, Liang Jiugong came to greet him and said, "Oh, your servant greets the prince. The emperor wants you to come in."

The prince gestured for He Zhu to wait outside and said to Liang Jiugong with a smile, "Thank you, Liang An Da. I just happened to come to see the emperor."

After leading Yinreng into the Qianqing Palace and serving tea to Kangxi and the prince, Liang Jiugong huddled in a corner, waiting to be summoned at any time.

The prince came in and saluted neatly: "Greetings to the Emperor."

Kangxi: "Well, get up and sit down. Why are you here at this hour?"

The Crown Prince said, "Didn't the Grandmother say this morning that we would have dinner at her place tonight? I came here to see if you were busy, so I'll go with you."

When Kangxi heard the prince say this, he said, "Oh, I've been busy all afternoon and really forgot about it. Okay, Liang Jiugong, help me wash up and get ready to go to the Cining Palace."

Liang Jiugong quietly walked out from the darkness: "Yes, I am ready. Would you please go to the side hall to wash up first?"

Kangxi: "Well, Your Highness, please wait here. I will serve you some snacks. I will be there soon."

Kangxi also thought about his worries for a while in the afternoon, and then started to busy himself with the memorials on the desk. Until now, if Yinreng had not come over, he would probably have to wait until Liang Jiugong reminded him when it was almost time for dinner to remember.

The father and son quickly abandoned the sedan chair and walked to the Cining Palace together.

In the Cining Palace, the Grand Empress Dowager had woken up long ago and was chatting with Empress Dowager Qiqige about which girl would be suitable. Coincidentally, Kangxi and his father came over, so they ended the topic and prepared to serve the meal.

The Empress Dowager looks pretty good today. When Master Pu Du went to Rehe two days ago, he also brought some health pills to Xiaozhuang. Although they cannot prolong her life, they can still make the Empress Dowager feel more comfortable recently.

When the body feels comfortable, the mood will also be relaxed. In addition, she has had a good rest, so the Empress Dowager was in a very good mood tonight. When Kangxi and the Crown Prince came in, they were chatting and laughing with the Empress Dowager.

When Kangxi saw that his grandmother who raised him finally smiled, he became even more determined to choose a Crown Princess to bring him good luck.

After dinner, the palace maids served tea. The Empress Dowager dismissed the servants in the room, leaving only Su Malagu to serve. Kangxi didn't mind. After all, he had regarded Su Malagu as an elder over the years. It was Su Malagu who taught him when he was a child.

After taking a sip of tea, they got down to business. Xiaozhuang asked Kangxi directly, "What does the Emperor intend to do? According to the range given by the Master, it's not small, is it?"

Kangxi said, "Grandson has made up his mind. Tomorrow I will issue an edict to the suitable families, asking all their legitimate daughters over the age of ten to come and serve you during your illness. Although it seems like a lot, after deducting the families who are too old or too young, as well as those who are only concubines' daughters, there will not be many left. I will trouble the Imperial Grandmother to take a closer look in a couple of days. We are still not as good as you in judging people."

Kangxi told his plan to Xiaozhuang and did not forget to praise her, which made Xiaozhuang happily agree on the spot.

Seeing that the two elders had made up their minds, the prince quickly said, "But..."

Seeing the Crown Prince trying to arrange the flowers, everyone present knew the situation, and Kangxi quickly spoke out to stop him: "There is no but. It is an honor for those families to be chosen as the Crown Princess. I will see if there is any way to make up for it and compensate them as much as possible. Thunder, rain and dew are all the emperor's grace. I don't believe that I have given face so much, so who can say anything."

Xiaozhuang followed up with this, "That's not true. The entire Qing Dynasty belongs to our family. We're just marrying a daughter, and she'll be the Crown Princess of the Qing Dynasty, the future Queen Mother. Besides, we don't need her for anything. In your situation, you'll be able to spend your life with her wholeheartedly, and there won't be any harem affairs to annoy her. It's just that you won't be able to have children. Many women get married and never have any children! When she comes to the palace, your grandmother and I will treat her well and support her every day. How could she have any objections?"

Seeing that the ancestor also said so, Yinreng stopped talking and did not mention it again, and followed the arrangements of the elders.

While they were discussing the arrangements for the future Crown Princess in the Cining Palace, Bu Erhe was also acting coquettishly in the old lady's room in the villa.

This was the first time in her life that she had been away from her grandmother for such a long time. She had missed her grandmother so much that she set out for the villa early this morning. As soon as she came in, she stayed with the old lady and didn't want to be separated even late at night.

The old lady was so happy that her face wrinkled like a chrysanthemum when she saw the granddaughter she raised was always pampering her. However, she felt distressed when she saw that her granddaughter had lost a lot of weight in just a few months after returning home. When Burhe just came in, she kept saying "You've lost weight". Then throughout the day, as long as Burhe had some free time in his stomach, she would serve him all kinds of nourishing soups.

Bull and Mang explained to the old lady that they looked thinner because they had grown taller recently, but the old lady didn't want to listen. The saying "There is a kind of thinness that makes your grandmother think you are thin" is completely applicable in this situation.

Unable to argue with his grandmother, and unwilling to go against the old lady, Buerhe drank it obediently. As a result, long after dinner, when it was usually time to rest, Buerhe still didn't feel sleepy. He always felt that his stomach was full of water, and he wanted to vomit it out when he was shaking.

Fortunately, the old lady was old and slept less, so Buerhe sat on the couch and chatted with her about what had happened since she returned home recently.

When she mentioned that she had been to the palace before and had been rewarded with two foster nurses by the Grand Empress Dowager, the old lady's eyes flickered. When she heard that the two nurses had been devoted to Buerhe, she became even more certain. It seemed that the family was going to have a prince's wife, but she didn't know which one the royal family was going to choose.

If she were to say, judging from their ages, the only suitable candidates in the palace would be the Third Prince, the Fourth Prince, and the Fifth Prince. However, she had known about the Fourth Prince's mother in her early years. She was not an easy person to get along with. Before Empress Tong passed away, the Fourth Prince had a difficult time being caught between his adoptive mother and his biological mother. It was said that after Empress Tong passed away, the Emperor sent him back to Yonghe Palace to be raised. However, Concubine De was not kind to the Fourth Prince. Only the Emperor did not know about this. In fact, people like them who had some connections in the palace knew about it.

That De Fei used her grandfather's connections in the Imperial Household Department to actively climb into the emperor's bed, and later because she knew the emperor's preferences, she was able to rise so quickly. It was also because she entered the palace just in time for the suppression of the Three Feudatories and listened to the selection for several years. Otherwise, how could she, born as a bondmaid, a noble at best, have given birth to so many children and still be named De Fei?

You have to know that Concubine Yi, who entered the palace at the same time as her and was extremely favored by the emperor, was also a bondservant, but she was a bondservant of the Plain Yellow Banner, and was allowed by the Empress Dowager at the time. Her father was even a Zuoling Sanguanbao!

What did Concubine De's family have? Her grandfather was said to be a Zuoling (a military commander), an exaggeration by later generations. In reality, he was merely the head of the kitchen department within the Imperial Household Department. It was only after Yinzhen ascended the throne that their family truly rose to prominence, being promoted to the Zhenghuang Banner (a banner of the Yellow Banner) and her father posthumously conferred the title of First-Class Duke.

Therefore, it is better for the Fourth Prince not to divorce. For the granddaughter he raised, such a complicated mother-in-law is really not suitable. The old woman is reluctant to let her granddaughter suffer, and the royal family will not allow a divorce. Even if Buerhe is bullied in the future, he will have no way to seek justice.

She thought about going to the Forbidden City in two years, when Buerhe went to participate in the selection, and then she would put her dignity aside and ask the Empress Dowager for help. She remembered that before she married into the capital, she and Qiqige had been close friends on the grasslands, but one of them later married and became a widow at a young age, making it difficult for her to go out. The other became the Empress Dowager and then the Empress Dowager, staying in the palace and not being able to leave the house. Over the years, apart from exchanging letters, their opportunities to see each other had become much fewer.

But thinking that if she sacrificed her dignity and went to the palace to beg, Qiqige would not refuse her. Anyway, the Fourth Prince could not be chosen. It was heard that two legitimate princesses from prominent Manchu families had recently entered his mansion as concubines, and that he had opened a mansion in advance. There must be a hidden secret that had not been revealed, otherwise the Third Prince above him would still be living in the palace, while the Fourth Prince had opened a mansion in advance. Another point was that his mansion was said to have been decided in a hurry, and it was just the old site of the Beile of the previous dynasty. Logically speaking, as the emperor's biological son, his future achievements should at least be that of a prince, and the Fourth Prince was also the adopted son of Queen Tong!

Oh, it’s hard to say, but it’s right not to choose him.

Next, let’s look at the fifth prince. In fact, the fifth prince’s own advantages are still very obvious. He is the eldest son of the favorite concubine, and people are also said to be honest and simple. However, just one thing brings all of these down, that is, he was raised by the empress dowager.

A child raised by an empress dowager of Mongolian descent is born without the right of inheritance and will always be guarded against by the emperor.

In fact, it stands to reason that a prince who does not fight for power is what the Ulanara family needs, but the emperor will never allow the fifth prince's in-laws to become too powerful. His own son Fei Yanggu still has military power and can go to the battlefield at any time if a war breaks out. If the fifth prince has such a father-in-law, the emperor will not be able to sleep.

Therefore, the fifth prince is also not suitable. Not only is he not suitable, it seems that the emperor will find him a relative of an ordinary family with a relatively ordinary status, probably about the fourth or fifth rank.

Otherwise, why do they say that old people become more cunning? Although this old lady was born in Mongolia and stayed in the villa all year round, don't underestimate her. She is not stupid. She guessed Kangxi's little thoughts accurately. The future father-in-law of the fifth prince Yinqi is a fifth-rank official!

That only left the Third Prince. If she had a choice, the old lady wouldn't even consider him. He was just a poet and a reader, but had he ever done anything practical? She had never heard of him, but instead heard a lot of gossip about him, like how he hadn't even married his first wife yet, but he already had a harem of beauties, and even heard that someone had a miscarriage there recently.

Humph! Before the legitimate wife even enters the house, he already has a concubine's son or daughter. Such a person still claims to be a lover of literature. It's almost laughable.

Furthermore, his mother wasn't a smart person. In her youth, she relied on her good looks to favor Kangxi, and indeed, she was favored by him a bit more. However, the more children she gave birth to, the faster she aged. Rong Fei was a year older than Kangxi, and now she was already an old woman. But how did she do it? At her age, she was still competing for favors with the young and fresh-faced women in the palace, and was jealous. Other palaces had other concubines, such as Hui Fei, Liang Guiren in the harem of Yanxi Palace, De Fei, Zhang Jiashi in the harem of Yonghe Palace, and Yi Fei, Da Guo Luoluo in the harem of Yikun Palace. But her Zhongcui Palace didn't have a single favored concubine.

For this reason, many noble ladies secretly laughed at her in private. Don't think that the management in the Forbidden City is very strict. Maybe when Empress Xiaochengren and Empress Xiaozhaoren were alive, the palace maids were managed very strictly. But when Tong Jia came to power as the Imperial Noble Consort and took control of the palace, maybe she became arrogant or maybe she was not good enough in terms of skills. Anyway, the whole palace was like a sieve with holes everywhere in those two years.

After Empress Tong's death, the harem fell into the hands of the four concubines, but their hearts were divided. While seemingly peaceful, the palace was plagued by chaos within the overlapping territories under their respective jurisdictions. Furthermore, Qing Dynasty policy dictated that the selections for the imperial court were primarily for bondservants from aristocratic families, but these selections were often assigned to members of the imperial clan or trusted ministers. These individuals held the power to decide whether or not a bondservant from aristocratic families should enter the imperial selections. While some families, cherishing their daughters, might seek leniency and exempt their daughters from the selections, others, with other ambitions, such as the Wuya, Juechan, Daijia, and Wanliuha families, were willing to send their outstanding daughters to the imperial palace to face their fate. While the selection of selected women took place every three years, the selection of palace maids took place annually. This necessitated forging connections well in advance to avoid being exempted by a bondservant commander, a potentially disastrous outcome.