coobybook Chapter 130: Legend of Zhen Huan 2
Chapter 130: Legend of Zhen Huan 2
In the following days, Yi Xin spent her time learning the palace rules. Even Sang'er, who was going to accompany Yi Xin into the palace, had to be taken away by the nanny to be taught.
The entire Fucha clan was willing to make way for Yi Xin, and Yi Xin did not think it was too much. Instead, she seriously put forward her own demands:
"My niece is a girl, and her future is already decided. Although it is the best and safest thing to be in the palace, she still wants to have her own child after all."
"So my niece wants my uncles to help investigate our successor, and most importantly, the cause of death of the Empress Yuan."
"From my niece's limited knowledge of the harem, when the emperor was in the palace, he actually asked the empress dowager, who had just lost the eldest prince, to serve as a nurse for the empress who was suspected of harming the eldest prince in the name of a sister. This is something that not everyone can think of."
As soon as Ma Qi heard this, he felt that Yi Xin's suspicion was right. Even though he seldom paid attention to the women in the backyard, he knew that the current Prince Yong was a little confused. That's why his Fu Cha family wholeheartedly supported Prince Lian, and did not support Prince Lian while flirting with Prince Yong like the Tong family did.
Yi Xin's mother, Guaerjia, who was actually the manager of the harem, continued the topic, "When Prince Yong was still a bald prince, he was supposed to marry a legitimate wife after Prince Li and Prince Cheng. It is said that his biological mother, Concubine De, delayed Prince Yong's marriage for several years on the grounds that the wife that Empress Xiaoyi had arranged for him, Lady Ulanara, died young. The one who had previously been the housekeeper for Prince Yong was the successor empress who entered the palace as a concubine."
"Later, the concubine became pregnant with the eldest prince. When the emperor was promoted to prince, the empress's engaged elder sister actually wore the royal dress of a concubine to celebrate. Then, the emperor, who was still Prince Yong, was so attracted by her stunning dance that he knelt in the palace for three days and begged to marry the empress."
"It is said that the Queen's eldest son had a high fever that year, but the palace doctor and the imperial physician who were invited by the Queen were all invited. The Queen diagnosed the pregnancy, but the Queen's only son died. Afterwards, the Emperor not only did not sympathize with the Queen's pain of losing her son, but also asked the Queen to take care of Yuan's belly!"
Ma Qi quickly interrupted Guaerjia's words, "There is no need to mention these words anymore. We only need to know that there is a grudge between the Empress Yuan and the Empress Dowager, and that the Empress Dowager has the motive and means to attack the emperor's brothers."
Yi Xin reminded Ma Qi, "Actually, if you really count, there is another person who is very likely unwilling to see the emperor doing well."
Ma Qi almost immediately thought of the current empress dowager. Although there was no proper concubine in Emperor Kangxi's harem under the Fucha clan, when the current empress dowager was still Concubine De, there were frequent rumors that she favored her youngest son. As one of Emperor Kangxi's close confidants, Ma Qi had also heard of those rumors.
But Ma Qi still found it hard to believe: "Even if the Queen Mother is partial, she wouldn't ignore even her own grandson..."
Without waiting for Yi Xin to speak, Guaerjia said categorically: "It is very likely that the Queen Mother covered up the actions of the Queen Mother!"
"The late emperor's harem has never been peaceful. First there was Empress Yuan and Concubine Rong, then there was Empress Xiaoyi, Concubine De, and Concubine Yi, and then there were the ambitious Han women from Jiangnan. But in the end, all of them combined were no match for Concubine Shu, who was born a Baiyi criminal!"
"The Queen Mother was able to become the only winner in the late emperor's harem. Naturally, her scheming and tactics cannot be measured by ordinary people. So she must have known that the Queen Consort had been constantly harming the emperor's offspring in the palace over the years. She might even be aware of the Queen's death."
"But we all know that there was no news of Queen Yuan's death. They all said that it was because of her own frail health that both mother and child died."
At this point, if Ma Qi still didn't know that Yi Xin had some ambitions, then all his years of hard work as a senior official of the late emperor would have been wasted.
However, it is always a good thing for one's own children to have fighting spirit. Ma Qi promised to use the power of the entire Fucha clan to investigate the cause of Empress Yuan's death and the role played by the Queen Mother. However, he also made it clear: "Yixin, Fucha can't put all her hopes on you from the beginning. Even if Fucha is willing, the emperor does not want to see such a situation."
"So, in order to gain the full support of the Fucha clan, you must get pregnant as soon as possible. No matter if it's a prince or a princess, as long as you announce your pregnancy, the Fucha clan will be able to legitimately support you!"
Yi Xin wanted to ask Ma Qi what was the reason why Fu Cha did not help her even though she announced her pregnancy. But she suddenly remembered that before she questioned the queen successor, Ma Qi and the Fu Cha family planned to let her surrender to the queen successor. Then she realized that the Fu Cha family was most likely harmed by the queen successor's virtuous face.
In other words, they never expected that even though the empress was from the Ulanara clan, she had never received a good education. She was always ruthless and only cared about her own pleasure, and never cared about the family's reputation.
According to Ma Qi's original idea, after entering the palace, Yi Xin should advance and retreat together with the empress dowager, who was also from a prominent Manchu family. The empress dowager had no prince by her side, but the Ulanara clan could form an alliance with the Fucha clan to help the empress dowager consolidate her position.
Yi Xin had almost learned all the rules, and the court finally announced that the first general election during the Yongzheng reign would be held in August of the first year of Yongzheng's reign. The age limit for the concubines was slightly relaxed for this election - in the past, concubines aged 13 to 16 were allowed to participate, but this time, concubines aged 17 or above could also participate.
The conditions were even relaxed, so that the daughters of bondservant officials of the fourth rank or above could also participate. As for the Han Army Banner, there was no restriction on background; as long as they were daughters of officials, they could participate.
After receiving the news, Fucha knew that Emperor Yongzheng was now relying more on the Han Army Banner and did not want to be hindered by the royal family and Manchu ministers.
Since then, Guaerjia has often been worried about Yixin, but Yixin comforted her, "Mother, don't worry too much about your daughter. Since your daughter entered the palace to show Fucha's sincerity, even if it is according to the old rules, your daughter's first title cannot really be lower than that of a beautiful girl from the Han Army Banner."
"As for what will happen after serving the emperor, my daughter has been taking good care of her body. If she is lucky enough to get pregnant soon, that would be the best. If she is not so lucky, I believe that my daughter will behave herself and not fall behind with her family background alone."
"After losing his empress, our emperor has learned to weigh the pros and cons."
When Guaerjia heard Yi Xin mention Empress Chunyuan, she looked unhappy, because the man who was engaged to Empress Chunyuan was her close cousin from her natal family. Her cousin originally wanted to join the army, and the court happened to have several wars, and the family almost gave up half of its support. Unexpectedly, because of a marriage, such a good seedling would be completely aborted!