The imperial study fell into silence.
Liang Jiugong looked at the director of the Imperial Observatory and felt a slight sense of sympathy. At the same time, he felt a secret joy in his heart. It was a mixture of various emotions that were hard to describe.
Under the gaze of many eyes, the director of the Imperial Observatory raised his head stiffly and spoke in a dry voice: "Your Majesty is so majestic and powerful, and the Imperial Concubine Yuxiu... Gaohua, the couple's love is so deep that others envy them."
Liang Jiugong suddenly felt very sad. It was hard for him. He must have used up all the knowledge he had accumulated throughout his life.
God has a benevolent heart. The director of the Imperial Observatory also accidentally said "the couple is deeply in love" to please the emperor. Kangxi said three good words in a row, took the red paper and looked at it. After a moment of hesitation, he decided: "The ceremony of conferring the empress will be held on the fifth day of the first lunar month."
The director of the Imperial Observatory was in a state of panic. Although he had escaped a disaster, he did not dare to relax. He put on a smile and continued to listen attentively.
Will His Majesty ask him why the fifth day of the first lunar month is a good day, why it was chosen as an auspicious day, whether the fate of him and the Imperial Concubine will change, and whether the auspicious time chosen will be conflicted by other people
He bowed his head more respectfully, and after a long while, no one spoke.
Such a big man standing there, no one can ignore him. Kangxi frowned and looked at him, "Why don't you leave? Go to the court as soon as possible to discuss with the Ministry of Rites, why are you dithering?"
It's almost like saying you have no tact.
The Director of the Imperial Observatory: “…”
He bowed and took his leave in a hurry, as if a ghost was chasing him. When he was out of the palace, he let out a long breath, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and slid down against the wall.
In this day and age, does one have to have extraordinary literary talent to be an Imperial Observer? It is not enough to be able to tell fortunes and read the stars. At the very least, one must be a Jinshi (a scholar who passed the imperial examination) and write such wonderful lines as "The clouds resemble clothes, the flowers resemble faces". Even if the Hanlin Academy proposes a competition, he will not lose to them.
Next time he would rather not have the opportunity to see the emperor, and give it to the deputy supervisor, so that they don't have to look like they are sour grapes.
Is it his fault that he is capable? Is it his fault that he is the most accurate in his calculations
God is unfair, why does the most capable person in the entire Imperial Observatory have to shorten his life?
A trace of sadness spread, and the director of the Imperial Observatory walked away with heavy steps.
******
As early as the beginning of March this year, the sixth princess Wulinzhu could speak.
At first, he uttered word by word, then called "Ama, E'niang, Brother, Mama" intermittently, but now he is very fluent and showing signs of intelligence.
Besides being adorable and intelligent, the servants discovered that the Sixth Princess had a big appetite.
This "appetite" is an appetite in the ordinary sense. The Sixth Princess loves food, and when it comes time to add complementary food, the normal amount of rice porridge can no longer satisfy her. Once, the nurse accidentally fed her a lot, and when she came to her senses, she reached out to touch her belly in panic, only to find that her little belly was extremely flat, without any bulge or curvature.
The nurse was terrified. Where did all the rice porridge go? The princess didn't look upset. This...
Yun Xiu was also frightened, and hurriedly summoned the imperial physician to take the pulse. The imperial physician looked left and right but could not find any problem, so he just said: "Your Majesty, please rest assured, the princess is fine. This old minister has seen such a rare physique, she can eat, tolerate, and not gain weight..."
This sign appeared very early. Wulinzhu's face was an oval shape since birth, and it is still an oval shape now, very standard. Compared with the round cheeks of her brothers when they were young, it has shrunk more than a little. Without the flesh squeezing it, it shows the embryonic form of a beauty, and she looks 50% like Yunxiu.
The imperial concubine had a false alarm, but she had other worries. Only the royal family could afford to support this golden baby. If things continued like this, the hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in Wulinzhu's small treasury might not be enough for her to eat.
Kangxi laughed at her for worrying too much. As the richest man in the world, would he mistreat his precious daughter
He added: "They said she would grow up to be a female tyrant who resembles Xiao Jiu. I don't think Wu Linzhu looks like Xiao Jiu at all. She looks exactly like Xiao Eleven."
Isn’t it? She is quiet, well-behaved and can eat well, so what
As a result, the emperor became even more confident and doted on the Sixth Princess, almost to the sky, and he really wanted everything.
After her first birthday, Wulinzhu would receive a large pile of silver bills on every birthday, which she would temporarily give to Yunxiu for safekeeping. She had already become the richest master in the Forbidden City, richer than her second brother, the crown prince, and made the ninth prince Yinzhen envious in his dreams.
The larger the Wulinzhu, the more the supply of the Yiku Palace's kitchenette increases linearly.
All the ladies who came to visit were shrewd people. Whenever Concubine Wen talked to Yun Xiu, she would never forget to bring a food box filled with exquisite and generous amounts of pastries; Concubine Cheng took even more effort to please her by presenting recipes for snacks and meals in turn; Concubine Jing specially looked for the imperial chef for her sister, and over time, the finished products made by the small kitchen were even more delicious than those made in the imperial kitchen.
When Wulinzhu was about to turn two, her obsidian eyes became more and more distinct. She had big double eyelids, not like Yunxiu's slightly upturned peach blossom eyes, nor round almond eyes, but somewhat similar to Kangxi's phoenix eyes, but only in appearance.
Nanny Dong, who had been in the palace for decades, said that she seemed to have seen these eyes somewhere before.
The Empress Dowager who has now moved into the Cining Palace also loves Wulinzhu and often holds her in her arms. But the more she looks at her eyes, the more familiar they seem.
Nanny Qian, who served the Empress Dowager, also felt familiar. Beside her, Su Malagu, who had become much more taciturn since the passing of the Grand Empress Dowager, stared at Wulinzhu, who looked like a porcelain doll, and her body trembled slightly.
"The Sixth Princess' eyes are exactly the same as our ancestor's." Her eyes were slightly wet. "When the princess was young, she loved people praising her eyes the most..."
The words awakened the empress dowager from her dream. She stood there in a daze, unable to recover for a long time.
From then on, the Cining Palace doted on her even more than the Qianqing Palace. Su Malagu also had a smile on her face and often came to the Yiku Palace to take Wulinzhu to the empress dowager's residence.
This made Yunxiu feel a little ashamed, as she seemed like a stepmother.
Today is a big day. The emperor came out of mourning, bathed, burned incense, worshipped his ancestors, and then went to the Cining Palace to pay respects.
After asking about the Empress Dowager's daily life and health, Kangxi paused and whispered, "My Queen Mother, I want to confer the title of Princess Gulun on Wulinzhu. Yierha is the adopted daughter of the Imperial Noble Consort and will be temporarily conferred the title of Heshuo. When she gets married, I will confer the title of Princess Gulun on her. What do you think?"
Whether it was a princess of the royal family or a princess of the imperial clan, they were all given a higher rank before they got married. Yilha was in her teens, so it was fine to give her the title of princess, but Wulinzhu was only two years old, and in the past, this was not in accordance with the rules.
Kangxi had made the decision a few days ago, and now he came to discuss with the Empress Dowager just to listen to the advice of his elders. If the Empress Dowager objected, he would have enough words to persuade her, so when those ministers came to the memorial to advise him, he could use the Empress Dowager's name to suppress them.
But as soon as the words fell, the empress dowager looked happier than anyone else, her face flushed, and she said yes repeatedly, and then urged: "The emperor is the one who makes the decision. Has the Ministry of Rites drafted a title? You must choose a good one for my good granddaughter, and don't be perfunctory!"
Kangxi: “…?”
This situation was really unexpected. He straightened his sitting posture slightly and said thoughtfully: "Wulinzhu was named Princess Huihe, and Yierha was named Princess Kejing. These are both names with good meanings."
After that, he explained the meaning in detail to the Queen Mother.
"Huihe, Kejing." The Queen Mother repeated it several times, very happy, "My little Huihe..."
Su Malagu, who was standing by, seemed to be more energetic than usual. She smiled and bowed, "Your Majesty is wise. I guess the ceremony of crowning the empress is not far away, right?"
When the Empress Dowager was alive, she never avoided her words or actions. Su Malagu also knew something about the old ancestor's wishes.
Seeing Wulinzhu now, she felt like seeing the master who had lived with her on the grassland when she was young. In recent days, the knot in her heart has slowly been relieved, and she has become less gloomy. A few days ago, she whispered to the Empress Dowager that the Empress Dowager preferred the Imperial Noble Consort to be the queen.
Kangxi nodded slightly, and the Queen Mother looked even happier: "That's great. From now on, Yunxiu will have to call me the Queen Mother."
The most favored Wulinzhu became a legitimate princess, and Yinqi, who was raised by her, became a legitimate prince. It was really a good thing that came in pairs, and the empress dowager was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling. When Wulinzhu went to the Cining Palace again, the empress dowager looked at her with a loving look, and her words inevitably revealed something.
…
Sitting at the dining table in the Yikun Palace were the Imperial Noble Consort who was about to be promoted, and the Sixth Princess who was about to be conferred a title.
The little girl blinked at her and asked in a clear and soft voice, "Mother, what is a queen?"
Recently, Kangxi summoned the Imperial Observatory and the Minister of Rites, which was a big deal. How could Yunxiu not know about it? Such a big deal was deliberately hidden from her, so she pretended not to know and let the emperor do whatever he wanted.
Thinking of this, Yun Xiu touched Wulinzhu's soft and fine hair, her eyes gentle: "The Queen is the one who walked side by side with your father and slept with him after death."
Wulinzhu seemed to understand but not quite. Yunxiu smiled, but her mind was wandering away.
At first, she thought about becoming a noble concubine, then she went a step further and thought about becoming an imperial concubine, and then... that is, now, she can no longer become an imperial concubine.
The joint burial that he had longed for in his previous life had become a reality just like a dream.
But he is not himself, and she is no longer the Concubine Yi.
Life is long, and it will be a pleasure if you have someone to accompany you.
******
On the fifth day of the first lunar month in the thirty-second year of the Kangxi reign, the ceremony of conferring the empress went on as scheduled.
The sky was clear and the air was fresh, the palace gates were wide open, red and blue hydrangeas were hung everywhere, and crimson velvet carpets were laid from the Jinshui Bridge to the Hall of Supreme Harmony, with no end in sight.
Outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, civil and military officials lined up on both sides. To this day, Tu Yue still felt as if he was in a cloud of mist. When Ma Qi saw him, he bowed and smiled, "Uncle of the Emperor."
As the ceremonial music played, Kangxi took Yunxiu's hand and slowly walked up the imperial steps.
The Empress wore a bright yellow court robe, and on her crown, a huge oriental pearl sparkled. The Emperor and Empress stood in front of the palace, and all the officials knelt on the ground, and the voices of congratulations resounded through the sky: "Long live the Emperor, long live the Emperor, and a thousand years and a thousand years and a thousand years for the Empress—"
The scenery here is vast, just like looking down at the world and the mountains and rivers.
Yunxiu only felt that the person next to her was holding her hand tighter.
At the palace banquet at noon, the princes and princesses paid their respects to Yun Xiu in turn, with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince walking in the front.
The prince lifted up the corner of his robe and bowed with a smile: "Your son greets the Empress Dowager."