Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

Chapter 1120 Zhen Huan Enlarged to 46

Concubine Shu was unaware that her behavior had aroused Concubine Wan's suspicion. The Third Princess's first birthday party was approaching, and she had no intention of replying to Concubine Wan before the party. So she was determined to make trouble and was prepared to give Concubine Wan a positive answer after the Third Princess's first birthday party.

After much thought, Concubine Wan told the whole story to the Imperial Concubine Dowager, but she emphasized that she really wanted Nian Shilan to die. She did not want Nian Shilan to continue living with the child in her belly, and it was even possible that she would enjoy the treatment of being taken care of outside the palace in the future.

The Imperial Concubine Dowager was very satisfied with Concubine Wan's confession. She was raising the third princess born to Concubine Wan, so she had to be tolerant of her biological mother. To be honest, she felt that her cheap nephew, Fatty Ju, seemed inferior to the late emperor in every way, but was better than the late emperor in treating the women in the harem.

Helping Lady Wan up, the Imperial Concubine smiled and told her about the old stories of the late emperor's harem:

"Most emperors are ruthless. Although I think the current emperor is better than the last emperor in treating the women in the harem, it does not change the fact that the current emperor is also the emperor."

"My Lord, when the late Emperor was preparing to take power, there were two candidates for the Empress. One was Hesheli, the mother of the deposed Crown Prince and the granddaughter of Minister Soni, and the other was Niuhulu, the daughter of the First-Class Duke Ebilun and the adopted daughter of Oboi."

"Everyone knows the truth. Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang and the late emperor chose Hesheli as the empress in order to win over Lord Sony to support him in ruling the country as soon as possible. After all, two of the other three regents are directly related to the Niuhulu family."

"Although Empress Xiao Zhao is only Oboi's adopted daughter, her name is on the family tree of Master Oboi's branch of the Guarjia clan. So even though Empress Xiao Zhao's family background is more noble than Empress Ren Xiao's, for the sake of the stability of the imperial power, the late emperor had no choice but to choose the Hesheli clan."

Concubine Wan remained silent. These things were too far away from her. They even happened before her father was born. She just listened carefully to the Imperial Concubine's narration and did not express any opinions.

"Later, princes and princesses were born one after another in the palace. Unfortunately, none of the first ten children survived. Some died before their first year old, while others died when they were three or four years old. Even the eldest son of Empress Renxiao, Prince Chenghu, died. So when the eldest son of the late emperor, Prince Zhi, was born, Concubine Hui, who was still a concubine, petitioned the late emperor to send the child to a minister's house to be raised."

The struggles in the harem were inherently dangerous. Even Concubine Wan, who had been prepared for a long time, couldn't help but gasp. The deposed crown prince's elder brother, Prince Chenghu, who had no seniority, was actually the legitimate eldest son of the queen!

The Imperial Concubine Dowager took a sip of tea and said with a smile, "In our Qing Dynasty, we don't care about the eldest son. According to the old customs before entering the Shanhai Pass, the first wife and the concubine are both the main wife, and there is also the custom of taking in an heir. It was after entering the Shanhai Pass that Emperor Shunzhi vigorously promoted Chinese studies, which gradually made the concubine lower than the first wife."

"But during the Shunzhi Emperor's time, and during the previous emperor's early years, the concubines were still very honorable. They were not concubines, but real wives. Even though the status of concubines has greatly declined, they have never fallen to the level of concubines. They are still proper ladies who can replace the emperor in going out."

Lady Wan was extremely shocked. No wonder even among the bannermen, most of the families that could marry concubines were princes and nobles. It turned out that concubines could really go out and visit guests.

The Imperial Concubine continued to talk about the late emperor's harem, "After Prince Zhi was brought up, the number of children gradually increased. But even though most of the children were brought up, the six-year-old second son of Shoukang Palace, the Sixth Prince Yinzuo, died of illness. In addition, the youngest son of Concubine Yi, the Eleventh Prince, who was in his teens, also died of illness."

"And the late emperor's most beloved youngest son in his later years, the eighteenth-born concubine's youngest son, died of illness on the grassland."

This series of three princes who died of illness made Concubine Wan very worried, especially the Eighteenth Prince, who happened to be the younger brother of the Seventeenth Prince, Prince Guo. Concubine Wan looked carefully at the expression of the Imperial Noble Concubine. Although she could not see anything on her face, she felt that she might attribute the death of the Eighteenth Prince to Concubine Shu.

The Imperial Concubine Dowager pretended not to notice the gaze of Wan Guiren and continued, "Except for the women before the Three Feudatories, everyone in the harem of the late emperor was truly favored by him. Among them, the one in Shoukang Palace, Yi Fei and Shu Fei were the three most favored ones."

"But these few can only be considered latecomers. In the early days, there were Empress Renxiao and Concubine Rong, and during that period, there was also my sister, Empress Xiaoyi."

"And the current one's likes and dislikes are very obvious, but he will still remember some of the old feelings, such as the former Concubine Duan, the still-living Concubine Qi, as well as Concubine Nian and Concubine Jing."

Wan Guiren listened for a long while and finally understood, but she was unwilling to give up this rare opportunity to strike a blow to Nian Shilan. "Your Majesty, are you trying to persuade me not to get involved in Nian Shilan's affairs? I know that Your Majesty only said these words for the sake of the Third Princess, but I have displeased Nian Shilan since I entered the palace. At that time, the Emperor loved me very much. Nian Shilan did not dare to displease the Emperor, and she actually used the method of faking pregnancy to win favor on Sister Mei, causing Sister Mei to be exiled to the cold palace as a commoner, and also killed my commoner sister Huanbi!"

The Imperial Concubine Dowager stared at the indignant look on Concubine Wan's face, her eyes filled with surprise and doubt.

To be honest, when she saw that Concubine Wan, a favorite concubine, was not promoted even after giving birth to a princess, and had to raise the princess in the care of her, the widow of the late emperor, she felt somewhat sympathetic towards her. After all, she was still young, only in her early twenties, and had a long life ahead of her. She was also happy to have someone to accompany her, so she tacitly agreed to Concubine Wan's frequent visits to Ningshou Palace.

But now looking at this noble lady Wan, she could only say that this person was really too ignorant!

Thinking of the Third Princess, she felt aggrieved, but she had to say a few more words, "You are probably comparing the concubines in the harem to the concubines in the palace!"

"But I want to tell you, if you really think so, you are totally wrong!"

"The concubines in the harem are all women of high rank. The monthly allowance you receive from the Ministry of Internal Affairs is a proper salary, not the monthly salary you receive from the government when you are at home!"

"I only said that every concubine has the opportunity to become the queen, but the concubines of the former officials and even the common people will never have the opportunity to become the main wife. Don't you know the difference between them?!"

After thinking about it, the Imperial Concubine couldn't help but said, "Huanbi can't even be called your concubine's sister. She is your father's flesh and blood, but she can't enter your Zhen family with her status as a concubine. What's more, she entered the palace as a slave. Once she entered the palace, she was a palace maid. Shi Lan has killed countless palace maids and eunuchs over the years. Your so-called concubine's sister Huanbi is no different!"

"Moreover, the emperor did not pursue the crime of your father marrying the daughter of a criminal and bringing an illegitimate child into the palace. This was because you were favored in the past and gave birth to the third princess. You must not be resentful of the emperor because of this. After all, who knows if Huanbi came to the palace to assassinate the emperor?"

"But--"

"No buts!" The Imperial Concubine interrupted Concubine Wan firmly, "If you insist on interfering in Nian Shilan's affairs, I will immediately ask the Emperor to return the Third Princess."

"Alright, now that you have explained the palace rules here, go back and copy them a hundred times and hand them in to me, if you still recognize the Third Princess as your daughter."