PDLP Chapter 127 Concubine Summons
Chapter 127 Concubine Summons
Chapter 127 Concubine Summons
Jiayan Gege quickly ran back to her room, not noticing her three roommates standing outside. Others didn't know, but as Jiayan Gege's roommates, they had witnessed An Ronger coming to talk to Jiayan Gege.
Although it was unclear why Princess Jiayan would target Zhenhuan, the daughter of a fourth-rank official, since the matter had been resolved, the few of them did not meddle in it and instead went back to the house together.
Yes, the whole thing was that Princess Jiayan was targeting Zhenhuan and wanted to drive her out of the Forbidden City.
This was something Zhenhuan was completely baffled by. Before the selection, she and Jiayan Gege had gotten along quite well, and at the time, she had hoped to leverage the Eighth Prince's influence to gain entry into the Fourth Prince's inner circle. She certainly wouldn't have thoughtlessly offended Jiayan Gege, the future favorite of the Eighth Consort. So why was Jiayan Gege targeting her today?
Not only was Zhenhuan confused, even Jiayan was also confused. When she moved into the Tiyuan Palace, she had thought about taking Zhenhuan under her name and making her serve him well. But on the first night, the Eighth Prince directly passed on the message, asking her to cooperate in finding an opportunity to frame Zhenhuan and expel her from the palace.
Yes, Jia Yan Gege was no fool. The maid who had been driven to Rong Mama's side was the Eighth Prince's insider. No matter how arrogant and domineering she was, she would not have caused trouble on the first day. Fortunately, in the end, the maid was allowed to stay by Rong Mama's side smoothly.
Rong Mama could be serious and rigorous, but she would also reveal a certain amount of care for Zhen Huan in her daily behavior. It was this little bit that allowed the young palace maid to quickly grasp the information and then pass the news directly to the Eighth Prince.
Only then did the Eighth Prince understand that the fate of the eldest princess of the Nianhulu family was not a secret, at least not in the eyes of the royal family. So the Emperor must have known about the brothers' visit to Handuo Temple.
At this time, the Eighth Prince began to recall carefully, thinking about whether his words and deeds at that time would make the Emperor suspicious. When he recalled that Zhenhuan was respectful and slightly fawning to him and Jiayan, Yinsi knew that he had to take action. Zhenhuan could not be kept. For this reason, he mobilized his inner hand in the Tiyuan Palace and planned to drive Zhenhuan directly out of the Forbidden City.
As for the so-called Phoenix Mandate, he didn't believe it. In his opinion, the Phoenix Mandate didn't matter. As long as he ascended the throne in the future, then the empress he chose would be the Phoenix Mandate. His current plan was to destroy this Niuhulu family, so that no one could get it. That way, he would be the safest.
When Baoyin Gege and the other two returned to the house and saw that Jiayan Gege was not upset, but was fighting with her, they knew that the matter was not over yet, or in other words, Jiayan Gege did not look like she wanted to let Nianhulu Gege go.
As if it were none of their business, the three of them entered the room. Princess Jiayan calmed down and asked the maid to help clean up the mess. Then, with a loud bang, she threw herself onto the bed. The three of them exchanged glances and decided not to take a nap today. Instead, they took out their own little gadgets to pass the time and sat quietly aside, waiting for the afternoon classes to begin.
Time passed quickly. In a blink of an eye, the concubines had been in the Forbidden City for more than 20 days. They had almost learned the rules and so on. The high-ranking concubines in the harem began to summon the concubines.
The first person to arrive was Nanny Naren from Ciren Palace. She came directly and took away Jiayan Gege, Baoyin Gege, Wuren Tuya Gege, Li Yazhi and Hada Nara. In other words, all the people in Jiayan's room went to Ciren Palace, plus Hada Nara.
The Queen Mother was still as kind as ever, smiling all day long. Everyone who entered the Ciren Palace could only feel the boundless kindness, especially since three of the five beauties were from Mongolia, and Urentuya was a younger member of her tribe.
But this was only for them. Princess Jiayan did not feel the so-called warmth. Not only that, she was treated coldly. The food in front of everyone was the same, and the seats were arranged according to the father's official rank. Even the little Hadanara sat in front of her. Not to mention that after entering the Ciren Palace, the empress dowager only greeted Jiayan's name at the beginning, and never spoke to her again. Even the last gift she gave was the gold hairpin that Princess Jiayan hated the most.
There was no reason to doubt it with all the signs. It was obvious that the Queen Mother disliked me. She knew that I would be the Eighth Concubine in the future, but she still humiliated me like this.
At that moment, Jia Yan Gege hated this seemingly kind old lady. For this reason, she was unwilling to maintain the illusion and sat in her seat with very little smile on her face the whole time.
How could the Empress Dowager not notice? Even though she was constantly chatting with the other concubines, she was also privately keeping an eye on Jiayan. Seeing her suddenly turn her back on Jiayan after being treated with even the slightest bit of indifference, the Empress Dowager was furious. Was this Guo Luoluo really suitable for Xiao Ba? Given Yinsi's gentle personality, wouldn't this Guo Luoluo be a troublemaker in his backyard?
Although she loves her grandchildren to varying degrees, overall she hopes that they can all live well.
After chatting for a while, the empress dowager felt a little tired, and several beautiful ladies tactfully said goodbye and left. Before leaving, the empress dowager rewarded each of them with a golden hairpin.
After the concubine left, the Queen Mother stood up and took Nanny Naren for a slow walk under the eaves of the Ciren Palace corridor: "She is old. She feels her waist aches after sitting for just half a day. She should walk around more."
Nanny Naren laughed and, while supporting the Queen Mother, joked, "Then I'll tell the concubines that they don't need to come over for the gathering this afternoon. The Master is tired today, and I don't think she can play mahjong for a long time this afternoon."
The Queen Mother objected instantly, "That won't work. Mahjong is still an option." Then she reacted and scolded Nanny Naren with a smile, "You mischievous creature! I just complained a few words, and you're already tearing me down. You've really learned bad habits from Buerhe!"
Nanny Naren, seeing the opportunity, didn't argue, only recounting the sudden change in Jiayan's expression in the palace. The Empress Dowager sighed deeply, "The Emperor has already decided on Xiaoba's place, so I can't say much. I just hope she and Xiaoba can live happily together. However, when the Emperor arrives later, I'll have a good talk with him. She can be the legitimate wife, but he should also appoint a concubine, a princess, or something similar. Xiaoba's backyard is completely empty right now, with no one there."
Seeing that her master's expression had recovered a little, Nanny Naren quickly agreed: "Then the master can look at a few more, and then mention it to the emperor and grant them to the Eighth Prince's backyard."
The Queen Mother was somewhat tempted by this, but remembering that Xiao Ba was being raised in Concubine Hui's palace, she decided to give up the decision. "Let Concubine Hui worry about it. If I were to interfere, I don't know what would happen in the palace. Speaking of which, isn't Wuren Tuya a little too sensitive? She came to my palace today, but I didn't see the lively spirit of our grassland children. On the contrary, Wuerjin's daughter has a good personality and is very much to my liking."
Nanny Naren also liked Princess Baoyin and praised her, "Our princesses on the grassland seem the most comfortable. Princess Baoyin is sensible and not overbearing. She was able to join in a few words with whatever the Empress Dowager said today. I heard that her Manchu and Chinese are quite good."
The Empress Dowager spoke only Mongolian and a few Manchu sentences throughout her life, but she couldn't speak any Chinese. It wasn't that she didn't have the opportunity to learn, but rather that she didn't want to. Initially, this was to avoid angering Shunzhi, playing dumb and finding an excuse to prevent him from deposing her as Empress. Secondly, she was already in a high position, so there was no need to learn such things. When the concubines came to pay their respects, she would just answer them in Mongolian. She didn't understand the rest, so she didn't have to pretend to understand. It was a relaxed and free life.
But the situation now is different from what it was then. Baoyin can speak several languages, which is an advantage for living in Beijing.
Yes, the Emperor had already said that this Princess Baoyin was intended for the Tenth Prince, Yinzhen, and that an imperial decree would be issued directly after the selection. This was also the main reason why the Empress Dowager had been so patient and cheerfully conversed with them today.
Although she was very happy that the emperor was willing to let a Mongolian princess marry the prince, she could not choose a ruthless leader like Jiayan Princess for Yin Xi. After all, this Tenth Concubine was the next Mongolian supporter.
The Empress Dowager had already begun summoning concubines. In the following period, several high-ranking concubines also began to take action frequently. Among them, Zhenhuan was summoned the most times. Concubine Hui, Concubine Rong and Concubine Yi were all summoned one after another.
Among them, the promise made by Concubine Hui was the highest, and it was also the one that Zhenhuan rejected the most. She even hated the eldest prince's lineage and just wanted to avoid entering the eldest prince's mansion even if she was not selected.
The memory suddenly came to the day of meeting Concubine Hui. On that occasion, Concubine Hui summoned two beautiful girls, Jiayan Gege and Zhenhuan. After a brief chat, Concubine Hui asked Jiayan Gege to go to the back hall to meet Concubine Liang, while she left Zhenhuan to continue talking.
Concubine Hui: "I won't beat around the bush. My eldest prince has chosen you as his concubine. Although I don't know how you seduced him, and your status as a daughter of a fourth-rank official is a bit too high, since my eldest prince has asked me for you, then I will grant his wish.
However, from now on, I require you to stay in Tiyuan Palace and behave yourself. Don't make any more mistakes, otherwise, no matter what happens, I will blame you. Also, remember, Jiayangege is Xiaoba's future wife and your master. You must treat her with respect and never make her angry again.
At that time, Zhenhuan had only a few big "Fuck" in her heart. Although she knew that she would not marry the eldest prince and that she would have no involvement with the eldest prince in future history, at that moment, she really wanted to leave.
The eldest prince and his mother must be feeling too good about themselves. Did the world revolve around them? She was still just a concubine. Without the emperor's decree, her status was unclear, and no one could decide who she would marry. Why were they so sure she would become the eldest prince's concubine?
After meeting Concubine Hui, Zhenhuan became more and more certain of one thing, that is, no matter which prince becomes the next emperor in the future, it cannot be the eldest prince.
Even though the emperor now has great trust in the eldest prince and has conferred the title of Beile on him at an early age, Zhenhuan is certain that the emperor favors the eldest prince for two reasons: first, many of Kangxi's children died young, and it was with great difficulty that he raised the eldest prince to the age of five, when he was still very strong, so of course he would favor him more; second, he wanted to keep the eldest prince as a whetstone for the crown prince.
These two reasons led to the emperor treating Concubine Hui and her son very well, and also made them confident that the emperor could meet all their requests.
When she returned home that day, Zhen Huan was so upset that she ate half a bowl less of rice. However, thinking about her future marriage to the Fourth Prince, she let the matter go. Concubine Hui's idea would never succeed anyway, so there was no point in dwelling on it.
Apart from Concubine Hui, Concubine Rong was very tactful when she summoned Zhenhuan. She did not mention anything, but only asked a few interesting questions about Zhenhuan's experiences in the Tiyuan Palace.
Zhenhuan's last stop was Concubine Yi's palace. Concubine Yi didn't intend for Zhenhuan to become her son's woman, but Yinzhen was very interested in her, specifically the flower soap in her shop. So, he asked his mother to help him explore the future operations of those shops. After learning that those businesses would be handed over to Zhenhuan's brothers, Yinzhen turned around and left, no longer paying attention to Zhenhuan.
Concubine Yi was so embarrassed about this that she gave Zhenhuan many fine gifts as an apology when she returned to Tiyuan Palace. This also caused a rumor in the palace that all three princes had their eyes on Princess Niuhulu. For a time, Zhenhuan became the talk of the town after dinner and the focus of everyone's attention.