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

For Consort Tong, Zhai Jimai, "long life brings humiliation" perfectly describes her current predicament.

She was born in the third year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, entered the palace in the sixteenth year of his reign, and is now seventy-seven years old, having spent sixty-four years in the inner palace.

When she entered the palace, the Ulanara clan, though not yet at the point where "there were no high-ranking officials of the previous dynasty, only women in the harem," was gradually showing signs of decline. The most illustrious branch of the family was that of Fei Yanggu. Fei Yanggu was sent to the inner court by Emperor Taizong for upbringing, and later distinguished himself in battle, earning the title of Cavalry Captain and the position of Director-General of the Imperial Household Department. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, he was promoted to the rank of First-Rank Infantry Commander and granted the title of First-Class Cloud Cavalry Guard. Fei Yanggu's sons, regardless of their talents, were generally cautious and honest, thus their official careers were relatively stable.

However, the other children, seemingly having grown up under the protection of this patriarch for a long time, gradually became indulgent in pleasure and lost their ambition, making their future difficult.

Like her father, Chang Subao, who was granted a place in the Imperial Academy by family favor, but after leaving the academy, he did not advance further in his official career.

During that period, Emperor Shengzu grew older. On the one hand, this young emperor who ascended the throne quickly showed his remarkable shrewdness and skill. In the years following his marriage, he won over, divided, and intimidated the court officials, stabilized the court, and consolidated his power. On the other hand, he also began to consider enriching his harem and ensuring the continuation of his lineage.

In particular, the death of Empress Hesheli in the thirteenth year of Kangxi's reign was a huge emotional blow to him and also left the empress's position vacant and the inner palace desolate.

Some Manchu nobles considered sending their daughters to the palace, and Ulanara was particularly eager to do so. At the time, there were two eligible girls in the family: Zhai Jimai and Zhai Jimai's cousin, Marzhu. Originally, because Marzhu's father had a better official career and she herself was more beautiful, the family had higher hopes for Marzhu, but Marzhu failed to be selected in the fourteenth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign.

Later, in the fifteenth and sixteenth years of the Kangxi reign, the Kangxi Emperor selected some more young women from various noble families and the Imperial Household Department.

Among these two batches of imperial concubines, there were many from prominent families with capable fathers and brothers, as well as many beautiful and charming women. Many of them became high-ranking and favored concubines. Niohuru, the daughter of Eidu, was made empress. In addition, there were other concubines such as Consort Yi and Consort Xuan who enjoyed great fame.

However, she was only the daughter of a seventh-rank imperial student, and her beauty was not enough to impress in the harem where all the beauties were in bloom. Therefore, she was always just a minor noblewoman, and the Holy Emperor would only occasionally think of her and summon her to his bed once or twice.

Her family kept urging her to get pregnant as soon as possible so that she could obtain a higher position and contribute to the family. She was also anxious as she watched the princes and princesses being born one by one in the palace.

Eight years after entering the palace, she finally became pregnant and gave birth to a princess.

She was extremely disappointed. She had waited so long, only to be given the title of princess, destined for a political marriage. Even the emperor might not value her. Someone as unfavored as her, if she couldn't gain favor through having a child, would have even less chance of being favored, let alone having children!

Emperor Shengzu did not elevate her rank because she gave birth to a princess; she remained a Noble Lady, and the princess was taken to Consort Xi for upbringing.

She abandoned her desire to gain favor and bear children, and instead focused all her energy on becoming a favored concubine with a son.

Although Consort Xi was from the Hesheli clan, she had not borne any children for many years, and her rank had not been promoted further. Therefore, although Consort Xi often invited her to visit the princess, she only did so out of politeness and courtesy, and once went for a stroll in the Imperial Garden with Consort Xi and the princess to relax.

She searched among the other concubines and finally set her sights on Consort De.

Consort De entered the palace earlier than her and was the birth mother of the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Princess. The Fourth Prince was sent to be raised by the then Empress Tongjia, so his future was likely to be bright. The Fifth Princess was also smarter and more likable than her daughter and was raised by Empress Dowager Borjigit, the stepmother of Emperor Kangxi, which gave Consort De more hope. Moreover, Uya and Ulanara were cousins, so they were already related.

She then tried to curry favor with Consort De. Consort De was not very favored at the time and needed help, so the two did get closer. However, Consort De was a deep and shrewd person, and she only helped Consort De by using her words and taking the lead.

A few years later, the Fourth Prince grew up, Consort De was promoted, and gave birth to the Fourteenth Prince, thus securing her position. By this time, the Crown Prince had gradually lost the Emperor's favor, and the princes were divided into several factions, making the situation unclear. Over the years, she had been sending messages out, and Ulanara finally chose to bet on the Fourth Prince.

After a series of maneuvers, the two sisters born to Fei Yanggu married the Fourth Prince. The elder daughter became his primary consort, and the younger daughter became his secondary consort. The secondary consort, Yixiu, gave birth to the eldest son, Honghui. Thus, the connection between the Ulanara clan and the Fourth Prince became closer. Although Fei Yanggu's branch of the family was five degrees of kinship away from hers, they were still of the same clan. She heard that her family members now had a voice in the clan.

Unfortunately, in the 43rd year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, Honghui died young, and less than a year later, the Fourth Prince's primary wife died in childbirth.

Fortunately, the concubine lived up to expectations. Her years of subservience to Consort De paid off. In the end, the Fourth Prince did not marry another primary wife, but instead promoted the concubine to the position of primary wife. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.

Just as she was relaxing because the relationship between Ulanara and the Fourth Prince remained stable, another imperial edict arrived, bestowing upon her daughter the title of Princess Heshuo Chunque, who would marry the Light Chariot Captain Celing.

She had heard of Tsering and knew that although he belonged to the Borjigit clan, his family had long been plundered by the Dzungars. In his youth, he and his grandmother had surrendered to the Qing court and were raised in the inner palace by the Kangxi Emperor; he was not considered a noble. The princess was already twenty-two when she was conferred her title, and Tsering was considerably older, so he had naturally already married and taken concubines. His first wife had died early, leaving behind an eldest son, and his concubine was already pregnant. If her daughter married him, she would become his second wife.

Consort Xi was worried, but since it was the Emperor's will, she couldn't say anything. Princess Chunque often comforted Consort Xi, saying that she had heard from the princes that Celing had a good temperament and that she would definitely get along well with him after she married him.

Hearing the princess's words, she felt agitated. What good could a down-and-out man bring to Ulanara clan, no matter how tender and affectionate he was towards her daughter?

But since she was her own daughter, she couldn't help but call her over and give her detailed instructions. The most important thing was to seize power in the backyard and keep Ce Leng's concubine in check! It would be best to get rid of Ce Leng's eldest son while he was still young, or to ruin him. Otherwise, since the child was born of the legitimate wife, even if she had a son in the future, the eldest legitimate son would always be superior to the second legitimate son.

The princess, however, always remained silent.

She was even more anxious, secretly blaming Consort Xi for being too cautious and teaching the princess to be unable to use any methods, nor daring to use them.

On her wedding day, Princess Chunque finished getting ready, bid farewell to her adoptive mother and birth mother, and as the grand procession prepared to leave the palace, she suddenly reached out and took the hands of Consort Xi and her, whispering, "My two mothers, may you hold my hands like this as you escort me into the bridal sedan chair?"

She felt the warmth of her daughter's soft fingers and palm, sighed, took her daughter's hand, and helped her into the bridal sedan chair.

After Princess Chunque married Tsering, Tsering was granted the title of Doroi Efu. Although it was a Manchu-Mongol marriage, Tsering grew up in the capital and the Emperor had bestowed a residence upon him, so the princess spent most of her time living in the capital.

Her daughter had also come back to visit a few times, which made it easier for her to find out news, but the news she found out was never what she wanted: after her daughter married into the family, she recognized Chenggunzhabu as her stepson and registered him under her name. Moreover, after Tsering's concubine gave birth to her second son, Cherdengzhabu, she took it upon herself to promote this concubine to the rank of secondary wife.

She was furious. Cheng Gunzhabu was already old enough to understand things. Even if he was under the princess's name, he would not truly acknowledge the princess as his mother. And now the princess had no children, while the concubine had a son and had been promoted in rank. Wouldn't she overshadow the princess even more in the future?

But at this point, she had neither the energy nor the ability to teach her daughter.

In the third year of her marriage, the princess became pregnant. However, this coincided with the Crown Prince's deposition and reinstatement, further complicating the court's situation. Ministers formed factions around the princes, engaging in fierce infighting. This tense atmosphere spread to the inner palace, where open and covert conflicts arose among the mothers of the Third Prince (Consort Rong), the Fourth and Fourteenth Princes (Consort De), the Ninth Prince (Consort Yi), the Eighth Prince (Consort Liang), and the Tenth Prince (Consort Wenxi). As a minor noblewoman reliant on Consort De, she was inherently the most vulnerable to being caught in the crossfire, forced to tread carefully, avoiding any mishaps.

In the fourth year of her marriage, the princess gave birth to a son, but then suffered severe bleeding. Neither the imperial physicians nor the Mongolian doctors could stop the bleeding, and she soon passed away.

On the day the princess passed away, Prince Consort Celing rushed into the Hall of Mental Cultivation and begged the Emperor to allow Consort Xi and Noble Lady Tong to leave the palace to see the princess one last time. He said that if they overstepped their bounds, he, as the prince consort, was willing to be punished.

At that time, Consort Xi was ill and unable to get up. On that day, she was accompanying Consort De in the Anhua Palace to pray for blessings for Empress Dowager Borjigit. At that time, Emperor Kangxi was already old and exhausted from a series of events, including the deposition of the Crown Prince, the First Prince's curse, and the ministers' recommendation of the Eighth Prince as the new Crown Prince. He was becoming increasingly volatile and unpredictable. Only Empress Dowager Borjigit, his stepmother who had accompanied him since childhood, could comfort him. Therefore, gaining a good impression from the Empress Dowager might be beneficial to Consort De and the Fourth Prince.

She couldn't leave halfway through, and she certainly couldn't do something so irregular during this turbulent time.

After the princess's death, Celeng quickly left the capital and went to his hometown of Tamil to garrison troops.

Later, the Crown Prince was deposed again, but the Eighth Prince's faction also suffered a major blow. The Fourth Prince, who had previously remained inconspicuous, truly began to emerge. Finally, the Fourth Prince ascended the throne, changing the era name to Yongzheng. His primary consort, Ulanara Yixiu, became Empress. The deceased Fei Yanggu was posthumously granted the title of First-Class Duke of Cheng'en, and his sons Xinghui and Wuge were promoted to Deputy Commander-in-Chief and Minister of Justice, respectively.

She thought she had finally made it through, that Ulanara had gotten close to the emperor. At this time, Emperor Yongzheng had just ascended the throne and was eager to make progress and govern the country. With more of his sons entering officialdom, there was no need to worry about Ulanara and her future.

But no matter how many messages she sent, the men of the Ulanara clan continued to indulge in pleasure as before. No, perhaps it was because an empress had appeared in the family that they felt they had a certain honor even if they did nothing, and they were even more so than before. Several times, the pampered sons and daughters of the clan made mistakes, and the Empress Dowager and the Empress had to step in to smooth things over. Even Xinghui and Wuge, who were once considered reliable, began to neglect their duties and indulge in wine and women.

Yixiu treated the Empress Dowager much better than she did. Several female relatives of her clan would flock around the Empress Dowager when they came to the palace. Several times, she deliberately went to sit with the Empress Dowager, and the Empress Dowager openly and subtly said that she was just an old woman in the deep palace, long since useless, yet she still thought of interfering in the clan's affairs. As the Ulanara clan was the Empress's clan, the Empress's position was going to Feiyanggu's branch. What did it have to do with her, a mere student of the Imperial Academy and a minor Noble Lady?

Besides, the new emperor is so suspicious, and the new policies he is implementing are so difficult. Why not enjoy the leisure that is readily available, and instead rush to be the first to stick your neck out? Getting less involved in court affairs and doing more elegant and carefree things can reduce the emperor's suspicion.

She was like a piece of sugarcane, squeezed dry of all its juice, reduced to a hard, dry pile of residue, destined to be tossed aside. Though heartbroken, she was, after all, born of the Ulanara clan, and had been taught from before entering the palace to plan for the family's interests; ultimately, she couldn't let go.

If she could let go of it all, what would all those years of being subservient and walking on thin ice, not even daring to see her own daughter one last time before she died, amount to?

The only thing that comforted her was that her husband, Tsering, had repeatedly distinguished himself in battle since the 59th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, and was granted the title of Doroi Junwang in the second year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign.

Celing's military achievements were outstanding, and Princess Chunque's birth mother also benefited from it, being honored as the Imperial Concubine Tong. In the following years, the princess and Celing's son, Subashili, married the daughter of Princess Dunke, the younger sister of Prince Yi. As a member of the imperial clan, he was granted the title of Duke of the State. In the tenth year of Yongzheng's reign, Celing decisively defeated the Dzungar army in the Battle of Guangxian Temple, killing more than 10,000 enemies. Emperor Yongzheng personally bestowed upon him the title of "Extraordinary Bravery" and promoted him to the rank of Princess Gulun. Princess Chunque, who had passed away many years ago, was posthumously granted the title of Princess Gulun. The mansion that Emperor Kangxi had bestowed upon Celing was rebuilt as the Princess Gulun Mansion, and she received even more respect and courtesy from Emperor Yongzheng.