In the side hall of Yikun Palace, Concubine Le brushed over a few pieces of fabric that were as smooth as brocade and smiled gently, "Sister, you are still thinking about me. Put them in order and send them to Gege. Make a few summer clothes for Yierha..."
The head maid Qinglan held a pile of cloth and disagreed, "These cloths are quite precious. Concubine Yi said that they are all for the master to make new clothes. As for the princess, why do you need to worry about it?"
Qingzhu followed suit and echoed, "That's right. If you don't wear it, Master Yi will definitely not be happy!"
Le Guiren covered her mouth and smiled, pointing at her: "Your mouth is really..."
The master and servants were chatting and laughing when suddenly someone came in from outside to report that someone had arrived at Chuxiu Palace. It was a favored palace maid beside Concubine Hesheli.
"Concubine Hesheli?" Le Guiren paused and understood immediately, "Please ask her to come in."
…
After sending the visitor away, Qingzhu asked while refilling the tea, "Master, Concubine Hesheli sent you West Lake Longjing yesterday, and today she invites you to appreciate the flowers... What's the meaning?"
"It's hard to say." Le Guiren pondered for a while, thinking, "Maybe she saw that her sister was favored, and wanted to make friends with me."
Little Hesheli entered the palace at the age of thirteen, and it has been three years now. She has been serving as a concubine and has not yet been canonized.
Although she was the concubine sister of Empress Renxiao and the aunt of the prince, she was not very confident in walking in the harem. Firstly, she had no official position, secondly, she was not favored by the emperor, and thirdly, her greatest supporter, the prince, was neither close nor distant to her, and never showed any intimacy.
Even with the support of the Hesheli family, what can we do
Noble Lady Le smiled and said, "I see that she is a little anxious. She hasn't seen the emperor for a long time, and when will she be canonized? Could it be that Suo Etu has to personally submit a memorial to ask His Majesty to give her a concubine position?"
As soon as Yun Xiu entered the hall, he heard his sister's teasing words.
With a puff, Yun Xiu's peach blossom eyes smiled: "You, how dare you say anything?"
"Her identity is clear. She is the granddaughter of Sony and the daughter of Gabula. She is a concubine, but she enjoys the same status as a concubine." Yun Xiu raised her chin. "It won't be long before we go to congratulate her."
In the dream, Hesheli jumped directly from a concubine to a concubine, breaking the pattern of four concubines. At that time, she was only seventeen years old.
She is much younger than the four concubines.
As long as the prince is around, the emperor will always respect her, so why rush
The Hesheli in the dream was not as impatient as she is now. She invited Yunshu to appreciate the flowers and to sit in Yiku Palace.
Concubine Niohuru told her that this concubine was very interesting, and the curve of her smile was exactly the same as that of Empress Renxiao!
He has a big heart.
In order to win the emperor's favor, the women in the harem fought like black chickens, and they used endless means. Just a few days ago, the Qianqing Palace accompanied the emperor, which just aroused their sensitive nerves. They tried to test him, gave him gifts, and showed their goodwill... They popped up like mushrooms after rain.
At the same time, there will be no shortage of malice.
The Imperial Noble Consort and the Virtuous Consort must be extremely hateful towards her, and she doesn't know what methods they will use.
Although she was not afraid of intrigues and scheming, she was annoyed by it so many times that she felt her heart was getting hot.
Thinking of this, Yunxiu sneered and scolded Kangxi again.
Recently, the emperor has been looking for her to accompany him every other day, and rewards have flowed into the Yikun Palace without any money. That's fine, the emperor has even visited the harem less often!
I don’t know what medicine I took wrongly.
Fortunately, the emperor still had a conscience and sent more staff to the Yikun Palace, all of whom were trusted confidants of the Qianqing Palace; the imperial physician who took the emperor's pulse on a daily basis was also replaced by an imperial physician who was on call at any time, which made things much more convenient.
Otherwise, she wouldn't even want to meet the emperor.
Instead of listening to sweet words and making your heart beat faster, and then forcing yourself to remain calm afterwards, it is better to close the palace door, lie on the bed and have a sweet dream.
It's... annoying.
***
March passed by in a flash, and soon it was the Wanshou Festival, the birthday of the current emperor.
The Emperor's birthday is a day of celebration for all the people, and the palace is filled with joy. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has made preparations early on. In addition to the birthday gifts, the Emperor's banquet for all officials and the rewards and return gifts are all important matters that require their careful supervision.
There were banquets for all officials in the previous dynasty, and naturally there were family banquets in the harem.
The family banquet was held in the main hall of the Qianqing Palace. It was grand in scale yet warm and cozy. It was a rare occasion in the year for the unfavored concubines to meet the emperor.
All the ladies and concubines of high rank, including princes and princesses, were present, which perfectly reflected the meaning of "reunion".
After noon, the imperial kitchen became busy. Concubine Hui and Concubine Rong sent people to keep a close eye on each procedure or supervise it personally, and no mistakes would be allowed.
After consulting Kangxi, the main hall of the Qianqing Palace was arranged in an orderly manner.
Within an hour, dozens of desks were placed in order, and everyone was surrounding the seat of honor, which was the seat for the emperor, the grand empress dowager, and the empress dowager.
"Have you checked them all?" The imperial concubine was wearing a loose apricot-yellow auspicious dress embroidered with dragon and phoenix patterns. At first glance, it was almost the same as the bright yellow. She wore a golden phoenix hairpin on her head, inlaid with a huge oriental pearl. From a distance, she looked very luxurious.
Nanny Zhen said softly, "We have sent someone to check the dishes and the soup. There will definitely be no 'accidents'."
The imperial concubine smiled slightly, and was satisfied.
She took the bowl of black medicine and drank it all in one gulp, suppressing the bitterness. She frowned for a long time before saying, "Concubine Hui and Concubine Rong are really responsible and saved me a lot of effort. I should reward them later."
Without mentioning the matter of selecting the gift, the Imperial Concubine put a candied fruit in her mouth and suddenly asked, "Do you think that this medicine of Doctor Liu can really stop morning sickness?"
During this period of time, she ate a lot and vomited a lot, which made her lose a lot of weight.
But today was a family dinner and she couldn't make a fool of herself in front of everyone, so the Imperial Concubine had no choice but to ask the Imperial Physician Liu, who gave her this medicine.
Nanny Zhen was stunned, sighed in her heart, and smiled: "Your Highness has your own opinion on the medical skills of Imperial Doctor Liu. Why do you need me to comment on it?"
Such drugs that go against nature may be effective enough, but they will ultimately harm the body.
All medicines are poisonous... But the queen would not listen to advice, and she had no choice but to worry silently.
The Imperial Concubine smiled with satisfaction, combed her hair, and then seemed to have thought of something, with a flash of light in her eyes: "Is Concubine Yuan dressed up?"
"To answer your Majesty, it should be soon. After putting on that pink wedding gown, the original three-point resemblance has increased to five points..." Speaking of this, Nanny Zhen smiled sincerely, "Just looking at the back, they really look alike!"
The Imperial Noble Consort raised the corners of her lips slightly, guessing what reaction Concubine Yi would have during the dinner, and she felt happy in her heart.
After the joy, bitterness came over her. She closed her eyes and murmured, "I finally learned from Concubine Hui and did the most disdainful thing to win favor."
Concubine Hui's appearance could only be considered pretty. As the eldest prince grew older, she would occasionally ask the pretty young concubines and young ladies to serve the emperor whenever he visited the Yanx Palace.
Thinking that the noble lady Yuan, whom she had suppressed so much, was about to be favored, the imperial concubine clenched her hands tightly, suppressing the deep haze in her eyes, "It's still good for her this time... Later..."
***
The sky gradually darkened, the lights came on brightly, and the family banquet in the Qianqing Palace slowly began.
In order, the concubines will enter the hall one after another, followed by the princes and princesses who will gather together, and finally, the emperor will invite the ancestors and the empress dowager to take their seats.
During every festival, people attending the palace had to wear auspicious clothes to show solemnity.
Yunxiu came with Concubine Niohuru, holding her pregnant belly.
Both of their wedding attire were dark in color, one was dark blue, the other ochre, which was surprisingly harmonious, and from a distance, it seemed as if they were blending together.
The imperial concubine glanced at her and said in surprise, "You are so low-key, which is not like you. You wore pink last year, and I was thinking, will you wear yellow this year?"
Yun Xiu smiled lightly: "What's so strange about that? I'm pregnant, and it's not a good thing to be in the spotlight. I would like to give the honor of stunning everyone to my sisters."
"…" The imperial concubine was speechless and spat at her, "You are becoming more and more indecent. Don't lead Xiaowu astray!"
Yunxiu raised the corners of her lips slightly and blinked, looking quite innocent.
She rarely wore dark blue clothes. If such a dark color was worn by a young woman, it would make her look too mature.
But Yunxiu is not like that.
The bright colors and charm are still there, but it is more solemn; in the solemnity, there is a hint of nobility, which makes the bright face look more graceful.
After the imperial concubine finished her joke, she looked at her with admiration, "… those who wear red and green can hardly compare to you."
Privately, the two have quite a good relationship.
They all came from prominent Manchu families, were outspoken, and were of similar age. Most importantly, the imperial concubine didn't care much for the emperor's favor.
The harem is lonely, and this is not an exaggeration. When they have time, they play cards and talk about harem anecdotes. After a while, Yunxiu and the imperial concubine gradually became familiar with each other, becoming less restrained and more casual.
Hearing this, Yun Xiu pursed her lips and smiled. Just as she was about to say something, a gentle and soft voice came from behind her: "Sister Guifei, Sister Yifei."
Defei was wearing an indigo-colored auspicious dress with sea cliff patterns. She walked slowly with the help of a palace maid. She performed the blessing salute to Guifei and the flat salute to Yunxiu.
After the greeting, Concubine De smiled slightly and her eyes fell on Yunxiu's wedding dress, as if to praise: "Sister Concubine Yi, this dress..."
Halfway through his speech, perhaps recalling some bad memories, he stopped talking abruptly.
Yunxiu knew very well that Concubine De was afraid and was afraid that she would make trouble again.
She suppressed her laughter and asked, "How about this one?"
Defei's smile froze slightly, and she swallowed the words she was about to say. In just a moment, she quickly returned to normal.
Just at this moment, the imperial concubine's carriage stopped in front of the Qianqing Gate, and voices of greetings came one after another, which saved Concubine De from her predicament.
"Greetings to Her Majesty the Imperial Concubine, may Her Majesty be blessed with good health..."
"No need to be polite." The Imperial Concubine waved her hand, her eyes fell on the Imperial Concubine and her group not far away, she smiled with an unclear meaning, turned around and said indifferently: "Why don't you follow?"
The beautiful and gorgeous Concubine Yuan appeared in front of everyone.
Appearance is secondary. Judging from his words, actions, and behavior, he is very similar to someone else.
The surroundings suddenly became quiet.
The Imperial Concubine frowned, and Defei was stunned for a moment. Then she stared at Yunxiu with a smile, and said in a low voice: "This... Sister Yifei, is she Concubine Yuan? This outfit looks a lot like you."
Yun Xiu retracted his gaze and glanced at her, without any anger on his face, and said with a half-smile:
"Whether they look like each other or not is still unknown, why are you so excited? If you don't know, you would think Concubine Yuan is your long-lost sister."
After saying that, she suddenly realized, "I was thinking wrong. One's last name is Wuya, the other's last name is Yuan. Even if they are sisters, they can't have two last names. Sister Imperial Concubine, don't you think so?"