The Changchun Palace team travels back in time to Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace

In the Shou Kang Palace.

Upon hearing the emperor's decree, the empress dowager was shocked and furious, and collapsed heavily onto her couch.

The emperor not only placed her under house arrest in Shou Kang Palace under the pretext of "recuperating from illness," but also planned to renovate Ci Ning Palace and place Buddhist statues there. Clearly, he intended to turn Ci Ning Palace into a Buddhist temple, completely extinguishing her hope of moving to another palace!

The imperial decree even praised Empress Dowager Zhaosheng, saying that she had made great contributions but did not cling to power, and was a model for others... This was clearly a suggestion for her to retire gracefully like Empress Dowager Zhaosheng and live out her days in peace!

He was his adopted son! Without the Niohuru family behind him, how could he have secured the throne!

How dare he? How dare he treat her like this!

Wang Qin, who came to deliver the imperial decree, spoke with a respectful yet cold tone: "His Majesty has another decree, ordering Qingzhu to move to Shou Kang Palace today to accompany you. Qingzhu is already on her way. Please have your servants prepare a room for Qingzhu to stay in." With that, he withdrew.

The Empress Dowager asked with surprise and doubt: "Qingying?"

Wasn't she observing mourning at her former residence? Why would she issue such an imperial decree? And why is it already en route?

"Fine!" The Empress Dowager laughed in fury. "This Qingying looks honest, but she's actually a schemer! Just like her aunt!"

Fu Jia hurriedly knelt down: "Your Majesty, please calm down! Your health is the most important thing!"

Because Qingying went from Yangxin Hall to Shou Kang Palace that day, she was seen by many palace maids and eunuchs on the way. The news that she and Hailan, who was returning to her former residence, had switched identities and secretly returned to the palace, and that the emperor had even sent her to Shou Kang Palace to serve the Empress Dowager, spread throughout the East and West Six Palaces that very night.

Yingluo couldn't help but sigh: "No wonder the emperor can't even keep a secret about something! With his impulsive and reckless nature, it's no wonder the palace is so leaky!"

After sighing, it was time to get back to work. Rongyin sent Yingluo to secretly bring Hailan back from the Prince's residence, and urgently summoned all the concubines, issuing a strict order in her capacity as Empress to all palaces not to spread rumors or make unfounded accusations.

The empress could silence the gossips in the inner palace, but the emperor could not prevent the two imperial edicts from reaching the court.

The previous dynasty was immediately thrown into an uproar.

Led by Zhang Tingyu, the senior officials believed that the Emperor was deliberately suppressing the Empress Dowager to undermine the power struggle between the two palaces, and that they should support the Emperor. Several memorials criticizing the Empress Dowager for acting arbitrarily were submitted, and some officials even implied that the death of the Consort of Jingren Palace was shrouded in mystery. Meanwhile, Neqin, who had previously argued with the Emperor about honoring the Empress Dowager, became restless. Since he was already seen as tied to the Empress Dowager in the Emperor's eyes, changing sides now might not win the Emperor's forgiveness and would also lose the Empress Dowager's support. He had no choice but to suppress the Emperor while he was still young and his power was not yet fully consolidated. Therefore, he pleaded with the Emperor to rescind the decision to renovate Cining Palace and allow the Empress Dowager to move the palace after she recovered from her illness.

As a result, Prince Hongzhou jumped out and beat Neqin severely on the spot. The Emperor simply watched quietly from the sidelines and did not hold anyone accountable afterward. Instead, he rewarded the Empress's son, Amuqi Maqi, and praised the Governor-General of the Jiangnan Waterways for his meritorious service in flood control, awarding his entire clan the honor of being raised to the highest banner.

This made the entire Niohuru family uneasy.

The Niohuru clan has repeatedly paid a heavy price for choosing the wrong side: During the Kangxi era, Niohuru Ebilun, having protected himself during Aobai's reign of terror, was implicated after Aobai's capture and punished for twelve crimes under the Qing Dynasty law. Had Ebilun's father not been a close friend of the Taizu Emperor and a founding minister, his entire family would likely have been exiled and their property confiscated. Also during the Kangxi era, Ebilun's son, Aling'a, recommended Aqina as crown prince, but... He was not only reprimanded by Emperor Shizu, but also incurred the jealousy of Emperor Shizong after his ascension to the throne. Even his tombstone was changed to "Tomb of the disloyal, unfilial, violent, greedy, and incompetent Aling'a." Now, Aling'a's nephew, Neqin, was beaten by Prince He for speaking up for the Empress Dowager. Considering the Emperor's friendly attitude towards the imperial clan after his ascension to the throne, and his recent promotion of the Fucha and Gao families, this beating was clearly a declaration by the Emperor that he had brought together the imperial clan and several other families to fight against the Empress Dowager and the Niohuru family to the end!

Now that the emperor has been thoroughly offended, rather than waiting until he has completely secured his position and then settling scores, it would be better to... find a compliant member of the imperial family who has no other powerful backers, and who is of higher birth and can better represent the legitimate lineage...

After several discussions, the Niohuru clan members set their sights on Hongxi, the son of the deposed crown prince.

The turmoil of the previous dynasty did not disturb Rongyin and the others in the slightest.

Rongyin was extremely busy these days: because of the honor of the Gao family being promoted to a higher rank, Gao Xiyue's rank was changed from Consort to Noble Consort, and the originally planned investiture ceremony had to be changed accordingly; she also had to arrange the palaces for the various consorts, and was worried that the eldest prince would not be used to living in the palace after moving there, so she often told the people around the eldest prince to take good care of him; she also had to go to "attend to the Empress Dowager when she was ill" from time to time, and cooperate with the emperor to perform a show of maternal love and filial piety (of course, the Empress Dowager did not give her a good look).

After the investiture ceremony was completed, Rongyin finally had a little free time.

She summoned the eldest prince and asked him if he had adapted well after moving into the palace, and whether the palace servants had neglected him. The eldest prince respectfully replied, "Your Majesty, I am doing well. Thank you for your concern."

She looked him over carefully again and saw that the eldest prince had a rosy complexion and his figure had not become thinner, which put her at ease.

At this moment, Mingyu came in to deliver a message: "Your Majesty the Empress, Consort Mi requests your presence at Shou Kang Palace."

Rongyin then had the palace servants take the eldest prince back, while she herself took Mingyu and Yingluo and went to Shou Kang Palace.

Upon entering Shou Kang Palace, one must pay respects to the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager, however, remained unfriendly. Qingying, now known as Consort Xian, who served the Empress Dowager, gave Rongyin a perfunctory bow, her expression indifferent. Rongyin, having visited Shou Kang Palace several times, was accustomed to the manners of these two, and thus said nothing more, turning to visit Consort Mi.

Upon entering the room, they found both Consort Qin and Consort Yu present. After exchanging greetings, Consort Mi invited Rongyin to sit down.

After hesitating for a long time, Consort Mi finally made up her mind and said, "We sisters have troubled the Empress to come here this time because we have a question to ask. Has the Emperor heard anything about the matter of the princes taking us out of the palace?"

Rong Yin was confused.

Shortly after the emperor's ascension to the throne, Prince Zhuang, Yunlu, and Prince Guo, Yunli, requested permission from the emperor to bring their mothers, Consort Mi and Consort Qin, to their residences for care. The two princes made this request because the Empress Dowager had been placed in the Shou Kang Palace by the emperor, and at that time, signs of a power struggle between the emperor and the Empress Dowager were already emerging. They feared their mothers would be implicated and wanted to take them away for some peace and quiet. However, the emperor, wanting to project an image of harmony and strengthen control over the imperial clan, expressed his unease at not being able to care for the consorts himself. Therefore, he issued an edict ordering the princes and nobles to bring their consorts out of the palace to reunite with their families only in the twelfth lunar month and on the consorts' birthdays; otherwise, they should remain in the palace. This arrangement was thus finalized. It remains unclear why the consorts brought up the matter again.

After considering for a moment, Rongyin replied, "His Majesty previously decreed that during the annual festivals, holidays, and birthday celebrations, the Dowager Consorts may leave the palace to reunite with the Princes. If you feel bored in Shou Kang Palace, you can stroll around the garden, listen to some opera, or have your sons come and chat with you. If anyone is not served properly, the Dowager Consorts are welcome to come to me, and I will certainly punish them."

Consort Mi said, "Well... actually... it's not that we're careless, it's that someone is being too careful."

Consort Qin hesitated, "It's... well, Consort Xian, she..."

Rongyin: "...Who? Consort Xian?" Her mind raced, and she said, "Consort Xian was ordered by the Emperor to come to Shou Kang Palace to attend to the Empress Dowager. She is young and may not know any better. If she offends anyone, I will teach her a lesson."

Consort Mi and Consort Qin looked very sad and remained silent for a moment.

Consort Yu finally couldn't bear it any longer. The Empress was right in front of her; if she didn't speak now, when would she? She immediately said, "Empress, let me tell you the truth! We really can't stand Consort Xian anymore!"

Consort Xian, ostensibly there to attend to the Empress Dowager during her illness, was in reality completely disliked by the Empress Dowager! Strangely enough, despite being disliked, she spent her days stubbornly insisting on preparing soups for the Empress Dowager. When the Empress Dowager refused, she would claim that since the Empress Dowager was ill, she needed some soup to aid digestion; when the Empress Dowager angrily went back to bed, she would stand outside the Empress Dowager's palace with the soup, standing there for the entire afternoon. We, a few others, couldn't bear to watch and tried to dissuade her, but she insisted that it was out of filial piety, and that it was her fault for angering the Empress Dowager. She said the Empress Dowager could punish her as she pleased, but she wouldn't leave until she drank the soup!

Could it be that she's the only one in the entire palace who is truly filial, while everyone else is disobedient and unfilial? If we're talking about filial piety, the Emperor and Empress often visit Shou Kang Palace to inquire about her well-being and personally taste her medicine. How are they any less filial than her? I think she's just using the Empress Dowager's name to gain a reputation for filial piety, but in reality, she's deliberately trying to annoy the Empress Dowager!

We simply can't tolerate her pretentious attitude anymore! We're also afraid that one day she'll suddenly discover there are still us, the Dowager Consorts, in this palace, and turn around and 'be filial' to us! Your Majesty, I'm making this clear: even if I leave the palace right now and go to Hongzhou's residence to listen to him playing the erhu like sawing wood and the pipa like fluffing cotton, I wouldn't want to see Consort Xian!

Although Yingluo deeply resented Consort Yu for causing her sister's death in her previous life to cover up her son's crimes, in this world, Hongzhou and Consort Yu had not harmed her relatives. She wouldn't hold a grudge against them for crimes they hadn't committed. Seeing Consort Yu so heartbroken, she knew she must have suffered greatly because of it. Yingluo even felt a little sorry for her.

Seeing Rongyin go from shock to speechlessness, Yingluo had no choice but to speak up: "Your Majesty, the imperial concubines are elders, and their affairs are naturally of great importance. Should we discuss this with the Emperor?"

Rongyin then realized, "Oh, right! Right! I need to discuss this with His Majesty! If the Dowager Consorts have no other instructions, then I will take my leave!" With that, she bowed and quickly left Shou Kang Palace.

After returning to Changchun Palace, Rongyin was already troubled by the opinions of the Dowager Consorts when Mingyu reported, "Noble Lady Hai requests an audience."

Without waiting for an announcement, Consort Hai entered the inner palace. Upon seeing Rongyin, her knees buckled and she knelt down, pleading, "Your Majesty, I beg you to have mercy! Please release Consort Xian from Shou Kang Palace!"

Rongyin was even more troubled. After much persuasion, she finally managed to convince Hailan to leave (and also reminded her to learn proper etiquette so she wouldn't go inside without being announced). Rongyin was determined to resolve this matter as soon as possible!

After much deliberation, she decided not to report the Empress Dowagers' concerns directly to the Emperor. Instead, she used the pretext of arranging palace accommodations to ask the Emperor which palace would be suitable for Consort Xian, an imperial concubine, to live with the Empress Dowagers and other imperial concubines. The Emperor's anger had subsided over the past few days, and he recalled his childhood friendship with Consort Xian. However, a lingering resentment remained. He sighed and said, "Fine, let her live in Yanxi Palace."

Thus, Consort Xian finally left Shou Kang Palace and moved into Yanxi Palace.

“There’s another piece of news,” Mingyu told Rongyin, who had a plaster on her temple and Yingluo was massaging her head. “The Empress Dowager has changed Consort Xian’s name to Ruyi. Yi is the Yi of Yide.”

Yingluo: "What? Did the Empress Dowager misunderstand Consort Xian? Did she think that she was really tricked by Consort Xian, so she felt that Consort Xian's previous words about clarifying the rumors and protecting her innocence were all nonsense, just like Sima Yi's oath pointing to the Luo River? So she gave her this name?"

Mingyu: "Hey, have you forgotten what this world is called?"

Yingluo: ......

So it was Ruyi!