Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

Chapter 161: Legend of Zhen Huan 33

The emperor was particularly bad-tempered. After Concubine Wan imprisoned herself in Yongshou Palace and refused to come out, the emperor became cold towards her. He even sent orders to all palaces, saying that Concubine Wan's canonization ceremony failed and she was not fit to be a concubine. He demoted Concubine Wan to a noble lady. But as far as Yi Xin knew, Noble Lady Wan did not move out of the main hall of Yongshou Palace, and others turned a blind eye to it.

Yi Xin didn't bother to care what they were doing. Her most important thing now was to protect and teach Hong Sheng well and prevent him from having the same character as Hongli.

Although Hongsheng is only four years old, the emperor is already impatient to send him to school. Yi Xin thinks the emperor is too cruel. After many refusals, she finally dissuaded the emperor from forcing things. However, the emperor felt more at ease with the Fucha family. After all, they must be clear-headed since they can remain so patient. Even if Hongsheng comes to power in the future, they will not allow the Fucha family to become so powerful that it will hinder the imperial power.

However, the emperor only thought about it briefly. After all, even though he felt that he was old, he still wanted to live as long as the previous emperor. Hongsheng was too young, and the only thing he had better than his older brothers was good health.

At the beginning of the new year, the emperor restarted the general election which had been shelved in August last year due to Nian Gengyao's rebellion.

In fact, it was not a restart. The first two rounds of selection had already passed, and only the final palace selection remained. The remaining beauties were either from wealthy families, daughters of important officials of the court, or those who looked easy to give birth. The emperor felt that it was a waste of time to select again, so he directly selected girls from the Guaerjia clan and another branch of the Fucha clan, and made them noble ladies. For the rest, he selected some girls who were easy to give birth and gave them to the royal family. For the rest, he ordered them to marry on their own.

When the two new people entered the palace, the emperor still did not let the empress come out. He even changed the necessary procedure for an audience with the empress. He required Noble Lady Guaerjia and Noble Lady Fucha to only kowtow outside Jingren Palace.

The Queen was so angry that she smashed the decorations in the palace, but it only reduced her private treasury by one point, because the Ministry of Internal Affairs was purged again due to the Queen's calculations, the Queen almost lost all her manpower, and even the Ulanara clan outside could not be contacted.

However, this move did allow the Queen to preserve her private property. However, Princess Qingying from her natal family would never be able to enter the palace again.

Lady Guaerjia's father, E Min, also made contributions to Nian Gengyao's affairs, but under the emperor's deliberate suppression, although the other party was promoted two levels, he was still below Zhen Yuandao, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, who was also promoted two levels.

Originally, E Min herself did not think there was anything wrong with this, but the Queen secretly hired someone to sow discord between E Min and Noble Lady Guaerjia, so E Min gradually developed a rift with Zhen Yuandao. Although Noble Lady Guaerjia, who had become the new favorite in the palace, did not directly confront Noble Lady Wan, she "inadvertently" revealed the fact that Noble Lady Wan was still living in the main hall of Yongshou Palace, forcing the Emperor to order Noble Lady Wan to move to the back hall.

As a result, the emperor began to feel resentment towards Noblewoman Guarjia. Although he still liked her delicate face, he had actually begun to feel a little annoyed with her.

Noble Lady Fucha was a smart one. In the harem, her favor was far less than that of Noble Lady Guaerjia, and was only about the same as Noble Lady An who lived in the same Yanx Palace. She was not in a hurry, but she got in touch with Noble Lady An because of the embroidery matter, and was brought to meet Concubine Hui by Noble Lady An, which also put her in touch with Zhen Huan's party. So the emperor turned around and favored her and neglected Noble Lady Guaerjia.

Because Yi Xin was in charge of the distribution of allowances and monthly allowances, no one in the entire palace dared to shortchange anyone else's allowance or embezzle anyone's monthly allowance. Even Concubine Wan and Concubine Nian were distributed in full. Concubine Wan lost the reason to rebuild her hope, and became more and more depressed day by day. No matter what Concubine Hui said, she could not get over the betrayal and sadness.

Just when Yi Xin thought that the palace was at peace from then on, Concubine Duan suddenly announced that she had recovered from her illness, so she took the rare trip to the Old Summer Palace with her.

It's just that the impression of Concubine Duan being sickly was too deep. Originally, the four concubines were in charge of the palace power together. Even without Concubine Wan, the share originally allocated to her was given to Concubine Yi Xin with the tacit consent of Concubine Jing and Concubine Hui. Concubine Duan just came out.

But during the Dragon Boat Festival, Xizhu came to report that Concubine Duan "accidentally met" the Fourth Prince and even mentioned him in front of the Emperor.

Sang'er was just coming over with a bowl of iced Tremella and Lotus Seed Soup. Hearing this, he couldn't help but wonder, "It would be fine if Concubine Duan didn't come out, but is she planning to make a splash once she comes out?"

It's no wonder that Sang'er was so surprised. In fact, they had been to the Old Summer Palace three times. When they came to the Old Summer Palace for the first time, they heard that the Fourth Prince had met Concubine Wan, who was in great favor at that time. Concubine Wan also gave the Fourth Prince some clothes, pens, ink, paper and inkstone, and mentioned it to the Emperor. However, the Emperor only thought that the concubine was kind-hearted and didn't care about the Fourth Prince at all.

When he came to the Old Summer Palace for the second time, the Fourth Prince was directly isolated and did not encounter the concubines.

Last year, when he came to the Old Summer Palace, Concubine Hua was arrogant and domineering, so the Fourth Prince didn't dare to go out for much. But this year, the Fourth Prince met Concubine Duan.

Xizhu felt that things were not that simple. "The Fourth Prince doesn't look stupid, he just seems too smooth because he has not been taught since childhood. Concubine Duan gave Princess Wen Yi a very gorgeous necklace. At that time, I thought Concubine Duan wanted to adopt Princess Wen Yi. I didn't expect that Princess Wen Yi is now being raised by Concubine Jing."

"Now it seems that Concubine Duan has set her sights on the Fourth Prince."

Sang'er didn't quite understand. "The Fourth Prince will be able to marry in two years, right? Even if Concubine Duan adopts the Fourth Prince, she won't be able to raise him well. Why bother?"

Xizhu didn't quite understand, but Yixin had a guess: "Perhaps, it doesn't matter whether it's the Fourth Prince or Princess Wenyi. What matters is that only if Concubine Duan has a child can she be promoted to a higher rank."

Sang'er immediately became anxious: "My Lady, you must find a way to resolve this matter!"

"She, Concubine Duan, is only from a Han army banner, and she was married to Concubine Nian's brother when she was in the palace. Why does she dare to covet the position of noble concubine or even imperial concubine?!"

Xizhu saw something else: "Your Majesty, if Concubine Duan really has such an idea, we should find a way to dispel her delusion as soon as possible."

Yi Xin smiled and said, "Relax, Concubine Duan's appearance at this time is a good thing in the long run."

Seeing Xizhu and Sang'er puzzled, Yixin explained: "The emperor has only been on the throne for four or five years. Although he likes our Hongsheng now, it is only because Hongsheng is healthy and the youngest son. In fact, because I was born in the Fucha clan, and the Fucha clan had considerable power in the previous dynasty, the emperor was wary of me. Otherwise, since I am already a noble concubine, why would I share the power of the palace with Concubine Jing and Concubine Hui?"

Sang'er and Xizhu looked a little unhappy when they heard this.

Yi Xin continued, "It doesn't matter if Concubine Duan registers the Fourth Prince under her name. Anyway, her origin from the Han Army Banner cannot be changed without great merit. The Emperor cannot establish a prince who is not from the Manchu Army Banner while Hong Sheng is still alive."