Palace of Heavenly Purity.
"Your Majesty, His Majesty has adjourned court today and has not yet had a bite of lunch. Your servant cannot persuade him and does not dare to..." When Liang Jiugong saw Yun Xiu, he came forward as if he had seen a life-saving straw. Although he was extremely anxious, his voice was still low, and he did not dare to disturb the people inside.
Yun Xiu was dressed in white, her peach blossom eyes were still a little red, and the palace maids behind her were carrying food boxes, not daring to breathe.
She glanced into the inner room, took the food box and said softly, "All of you please leave."
"yes."
With a creak, the palace door slowly opened. The windows of the bedroom were tightly closed, and no light could penetrate. It was clearly daytime, but it seemed as gloomy as dusk. Kangxi was bent over the desk, holding the brush for a long time without moving, letting a drop of ink spread on the raw rice paper. Yunxiu stepped forward to take a quick look. It was... a half-written eulogy.
"Your Majesty." She reached out and covered his cold hand, put down the food box, and whispered, "This is all made by the kitchen, which is light and refreshing. If you don't eat or drink, it will be a joke to Wulinzhu, and how can the old ancestor who has no worries sleep well?"
Kangxi's face was shrouded in shadow and he did not respond to her. Yunxiu could feel the back of his hand gradually trembling, and after a while he said "OK".
His eyes were bloodshot, with untrimmed beards scattered all over. After hearing Yun Xiu's words, he stretched out his hand stiffly and opened the food box layer by layer. After a while, he picked up the bowl and chopsticks, and the tofu he had picked up with great difficulty fell on the table with a "pop".
Seeing this, Yunxiu walked closer to the table. She took away the bowl and chopsticks that Kangxi was holding unsteadily, and leaned over to put her arms around his neck, letting him lean against her chest.
"I have overstepped my bounds," she said.
Waves of warmth came from the waist and abdomen under the white clothes, then spread to the cheeks, and then to the limbs and bones, and the bone-chilling coldness gradually warmed up.
"…" Kangxi was stunned, and didn't come back to his senses for a long time. This kind of posture was the first time he had seen it in many years since he ascended the throne. If it were spread outside, it would definitely cause a storm and everyone would say that the imperial concubine was extremely audacious.
In the end, he did not push her away. He hugged her slender waist and buried his whole face in it.
An unknown amount of time had passed, so long that the heat from the food in the food box had faded away, and Yunxiu only felt a wetness coming from her waist and abdomen.
After an unknown amount of time, the person in his arms said in a hoarse voice, "The food is cold."
Yun Xiu was staring at a distance in a daze. After hearing what she said, she smiled very lightly and whispered, "I'll let them do it again."
******
The Empress Dowager was saddened and shed tears several times in front of the coffin, but she recovered after a few days of depression because of the instructions given by her ancestor before his death.
Kangxi was secretly sad, and he stopped attending court for several days, did not leave his bedroom, and did not see outsiders, which made the front court and the harem worried. Just when the empress dowager was getting restless, the imperial concubine brought a food box to coax him again and again, and the emperor was finally able to eat and regain some energy.
Liang Jiugong breathed a sigh of relief and thanked God and all the gods and Buddhas. But before he could finish his sigh of relief, the Emperor actually picked up the scissors to cut his hair!
The chief steward's legs went weak and he thought, this is bad. It is still the mourning period. How can the emperor break the ancestral custom of not cutting his braids
"Your Majesty! You can't do this, Your Majesty!" The palace servants knelt on the ground. Liang Jiugong was so anxious that he rushed forward to stop them. While snatching the scissors, he winked at his apprentice Xiao Lizi, asking him to quickly ask for help.
The gesture was so desperate that it stunned Kangxi for a moment. However, he did not lose his composure as Liang Jiugong thought. Seeing this, his face darkened: "How dare you! The Imperial Grandmother raised me for many years. If I put etiquette above kindness, it would be unfilial."
Because of the constant voices of dissuasion and Liang Jiugong's great strength when he pounced, Kangxi was helpless for a moment and the atmosphere remained deadlocked.
Suddenly, a trembling voice came from outside the palace: "Your Majesty, the Imperial Concubine... The Imperial Concubine and the Sixth Princess request to see you."
Kangxi moved his lips, but could not utter the word "see you no more". He glared at Liang Jiugong fiercely, and saw that the dog slave loosened his hand that had committed treason, showed a look of having survived a calamity, and knelt down on the side, crawling.
Before seeing the person, I heard her voice first. A pleasant voice came from afar: "Your Majesty, Wulinzhu missed Huang Ama very much, so I brought her to see you."
Wulinzhu is now eight months old, not yet a full year old. His features are exactly the same as his mother's, with a small nose and a red mouth. He looks like the golden boy under the seat of Guanyin, and is now quietly nestling in Yunxiu's arms.
When she arrived in front of Kangxi, who was sitting on the ground in a rather embarrassed state, she opened her big dark eyes and stared at him in confusion for a long time. Finally, she recognized that this was her familiar father, so she shouted "ah" and stretched out her hands for a hug.
Kangxi hesitated for a moment, and then heard Yunxiu sigh: "Could it be that in the eyes of the emperor, the Wulin Pearl is not as good as a pair of cold scissors?"
The little princess pursed her lips, as if she understood the conversation, and suddenly her eyes were filled with tears.
"Nonsense." Kangxi suddenly felt distressed and whispered, "... I am dirty."
As soon as he finished speaking, an extremely soft little body fell into his arms. Kangxi subconsciously reached out to hug her, and a slightly smiling voice came to his ears: "She doesn't mind."
After a pause, Yun Xiu continued, "Does the emperor still remember the wish of our ancestors?"
Her voice was soft and soothing. "In the eyes of the emperor, cutting hair is filial piety, but the old ancestor said that she wants to see you work hard and follow the example of the wise rulers of previous dynasties. This is the filial piety you should fulfill. She is watching from heaven. How could she be willing to let her grandson torture herself like this? She might come to her dreams at night to condemn me and Liang Jiugong."
Liang Jiugong was already terrified. After what had just happened, could he still save his life
His life is secondary. If the Imperial Noble Consort can't stop him and His Majesty still insists on cutting his hair, wouldn't his death be in vain!
Hearing this, he felt relieved. What the Imperial Concubine said was so reasonable and beautiful.
After coming to his senses, he twisted his thigh fiercely, his heart was filled with gratitude towards Yun Xiu, his face was covered with snot and tears, and he kowtowed repeatedly: "If the ancestor blames me, I will die a thousand times, hiccups, a thousand deaths cannot atone for my sins..."
Kangxi turned his head to look at him, and the anger in his heart gradually faded away. Well, he decided to spare this dog servant the physical pain.
Putting him out of his mind, Kangxi chewed over Yunxiu's words again and again, holding Wulinzhu in his arms tighter, "Wish..."
Yun Xiu hummed softly and repeated softly, "I know the emperor cannot bear to go against the wishes of our ancestors."
Kangxi only felt the sadness and depression in his heart slowly dissipate. After a long time, his eyes were burning, "Xiu Xiu, I am possessed by a demon."
Hair cutting is not something my grandmother wants to see.
What she was most concerned about was Baocheng and the matter of establishing a queen.
Yunxiu smiled gently and met Kangxi's gaze. The next moment, she felt something strange in her heart and became unusually nervous.
It is said that everything will turn into its opposite when it reaches its extreme. Is the emperor a little too enthusiastic
*******
The death of the Empress Dowager was a national mourning, and the Emperor had to observe mourning for one year, and the Crown Prince and other princes and princesses had to observe mourning for five months. During the mourning period, no one was allowed to marry, so the 31-year selection was cancelled in the hope of holding another selection in the future.
The Crown Prince had a legitimate eldest son, so having concubines and princesses was no longer a taboo. The Crown Princess was the only one in Yuqing Palace, and the backyard had been vacant until now. The court officials had long been discussing this; when Hongchen was born, the Crown Princess's position could no longer be shaken, so filling the backyard should be put on the agenda.
When the Empress Dowager was still alive, the Emperor wanted to arrange two princesses for the Crown Prince next year. He hinted to Yunxiu about this, and Jingchu also knew about it.
Her heart was shaken for only a moment, then she calmed down again. Yinreng was the crown prince, and after ascending the throne he would have three palaces and six courtyards. If she was the only legitimate wife in this life, even if the emperor agreed, the people of the world would not agree.
She had already prepared to welcome two sedan chairs into Yuqing Palace, but due to the national mourning of the Empress Dowager, the 31st selection was cancelled.
In other words, no one would be allowed into Yuqing Palace within three years.
Three years later, the third and fourth brothers will get married, and the fifth brother will also be of marriageable age. The Ministry of Internal Affairs will be too busy to arrange the wedding. How much energy will they have to keep an eye on Yinreng's backyard inside and outside the palace
For some reason, Jingchu felt a genuine joy and teased Hongchen in the rocking crib with a smile.
It is now the twelfth month of the thirty-first year of the Kangxi reign. The mourning period for the Crown Prince and other princes has ended, and in a few days, the Emperor will also stop mourning.
After the Crown Princess came out of confinement, she assisted Concubine Wen in managing palace affairs. She knew everything about the Forbidden City, big or small. Therefore, Jingchu also knew that Kangxi had frequently summoned the director of the Imperial Observatory.
"The Imperial Astronomical Observatory is in charge of the stars and predicts good and bad luck. What does your Majesty mean?" The head nanny was sorting out the account books for her master, looking quite puzzled.
Jingchu's hand holding the pen paused, and she pondered for a moment, her thoughts flying. After a while, her almond-shaped eyes lit up slightly.
"Yesterday, the Crown Prince said that the court was peaceful and he approved fewer memorials." It's not the former court, it can only be the harem, but the princes' marriages are still too early, so thinking about it, the only thing related to the Imperial Observatory is... the establishment of the queen.
The enthronement of the empress was not a family matter, but a national matter. National affairs were related to the fate of the country, so it was natural that the imperial astronomical observation and divination were needed.
Who to establish
Jingchu smiled, a hint of joy in her eyes: "Mother Yi's fate is excellent, she should be the queen and the mother of the country. What is there for the emperor to worry about?"
******
The matter of establishing the Queen was exactly as the Crown Princess had expected, but the content of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory's calculations was a far cry from her guess.
The director of the Imperial Observatory has had trouble falling asleep every night recently, and several of his short beard has fallen out due to worry.
It was because the emperor would ask him every day: "Is my horoscope compatible with the imperial concubine? Will it bring bad luck to her? Choose the best auspicious day, calculate everything carefully, and predict whether my horoscope is auspicious or inauspicious..."
The director of the Imperial Observatory heard this for the first time and almost stumbled.
Throughout history, when conferring titles on empresses, how could one calculate whether the emperor's fate matched hers? The emperor is naturally a one-in-a-million-mile true dragon, but whether the Empress Central Palace is a true phoenix is debatable. Your Majesty, you got it wrong, right
Every strand of his hair showed distress, and he wondered if he was hard of hearing.
The result is no.
Your Majesty, that’s what you want him to calculate.
…
This is the seventh time now.
The director of the Imperial Observatory looked at the red paper in his hand, took a deep breath, put away his bitter and resentful expression, walked quickly to the emperor, bowed respectfully, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, I have used the power of the entire Imperial Observatory to divine and predict, and your fate is most compatible with that of the Imperial Concubine. As for incompatibility, it is impossible. The fifth day of the first lunar month, the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, and the seventeenth day of the second lunar month next year are all the best auspicious days."
Kangxi put down the memorial, nodded solemnly, as if he was relieved, slowly left the imperial desk, and paced back and forth.
The director of the Imperial Observatory also breathed a sigh of relief, and then heard the emperor ask him: "Tell me, how are I and the Imperial Concubine compatible?" He then added: "Except for the theory of fate."
The Director of the Imperial Observatory: "… Please, slave, think about this carefully."