Early the next morning, Mother put on makeup according to the rank of the imperial edict. I don't have a rank yet, but I dress up dignified and elegant. Mother and Aunt Qin looked at me carefully from left to right, and there was nothing wrong with me before we got on the carriage and set off.
When we arrived at the palace gate, we got off the carriage. The internal supervisor, who had already received the order, was waiting at the gate. When he saw us, he respectfully bowed and immediately sent the small internal supervisor behind us to lead us into the palace. The carriage and the servant girls could only wait at the palace gate. I looked up at the tall city wall and thought about how I felt when I looked at it from afar yesterday. I thought that this would be my home for the rest of my life. This wall divided the two sides of the world, and my heart couldn't help but be filled with emotion.
As soon as he entered the palace gate, he saw two large and two small soft palanquins parked on the right side. According to the rules of the court, officials and women who entered the palace by imperial edict could only ride in palanquins. The rest had to walk. These two larger soft palanquins must have been prepared for the wives of General Chen and Prime Minister Ni. As for the two small palanquins, they must have been a special gift to the daughters of the two families. It could be seen that the higher-ups valued these two people.
I didn't envy the privilege, but when I thought of how they would all be Wen Chuan's wives in the future, and how one of them would even sit beside him to receive the worship of the world, I couldn't help but feel sorry for them.
Along the way, although they had to follow the etiquette of a young lady, it was always novel for them to enter the palace for the first time. There was only a small internal supervisor leading the way in front, so they could not help but secretly look around.
With Brother Chuan's planning for me a few years in advance, I know a lot about the palace. The Imperial City is shockingly large and is divided into two parts. The front court is also called the outer palace. It is where the Emperor deals with external affairs, the officials in the palace do things, and the Imperial Guards stay. The inner court was the inner palace, the common harem. It was the childhood residence of the emperor, empress dowager, imperial concubines, concubines, and princes and princesses.
The current Emperor Deshun ascended the throne at the age of twenty-five and had been in power for twenty-eight years. He had been diligent in government affairs and loved the people for many years. He was a good Emperor loved by the people, but he could not be considered a good husband. The Emperor had always favored beautiful women. Before he ascended the throne, he had nearly twenty wives and concubines. After he took power, he had hundreds of beautiful women in the harem.
These women were all young ladies of officials with pleasant looks. However, there was only one Emperor after all. Many women were forgotten after being lucky once. There were even more women who had entered the palace for many years but still had no chance to see the face of the Emperor. One could imagine how hard those concubines who had status and support would rack their brains to prevent themselves from falling out of favor.
The current Emperor's eldest prince was born when the first Empress was still the Crown Princess. Unfortunately, he died in the second year of Deshun. In the following years, although there were many concubines in the harem and there were frequent news of pregnancy, other than the two princesses, no prince had been successfully born.
As the second prince, Wen Chuan was only born in the eighth year of Deshun. During these eight years, miscarriages, stillbirth, and the deaths of pregnant concubines occurred repeatedly. Even the imperial physicians in the Imperial Academy of Medicine were in a panic every day, afraid that they would be sent to protect the concubines 'miscarriages. It could be seen from this how fierce the internal strife in the harem was.
Wen Chuan's birth mother was Consort Xian at that time, and her status was already very noble. Ordinary concubines naturally could not touch her, but there were also the Empress, Consorts Gui and Consort Shu, as well as some high-ranking concubines who watched her every day. Consort Xian used her internal and external forces to carefully plan, using a newly favored noble concubine to divert most of the attention of others. She kept a low profile and did her best to protect the fetus.
When that noble concubine was finally convicted and lost favor, Consort Xian was already seven months pregnant. However, it was still not the time to give birth. The last two months of exhausting and worrying about everything had consumed a lot of her energy. Although she finally gave birth to the prince, she was already at the end of her rope and had no more vitality. She passed away in less than two months.
On her deathbed, Consort Xian begged the Emperor to protect her child and to hand her son over to her sister, Qing Zhaoyi, who was now the Imperial Noble Consort.
After Consort Xian passed away, she was conferred the title of Imperial Consort and buried according to the Imperial Consort's etiquette. It was also considered the Emperor's affection for the Prince's birth mother. Back then, Qing Zhaoyi was an indifferent woman and did not bother to fight for favor. She was able to become the Zhaoyi because of the support of her sister, Consort Xian. However, after raising the Second Prince, she seemed to have changed into a different person. She also fawned over the concubines in the harem and formed cliques. The old nanny who taught me about the affairs of the palace described her like this: "Zhaoyi has become a shrewd and powerful empress.”
When the Second Prince was one year old, Qing Zhaoyi was promoted to Second Rank Consort Qing. In May of the same year, Empress Cheng Xiao died of illness. Although Consort Qing was raising the Second Prince and was pregnant, she was only a Second Rank after all and was not qualified to be directly conferred the title of Empress. After a few rounds of discussion, in October of the ninth year of Deshun, Concubine Xu was conferred the title of new empress.
In the past year, Empress Chengxiao had passed away, and then the fight for the position of the new empress. Regardless of whether it was the previous dynasty or the harem, many people were involved in it, and they had no time to care about anything else. Thus, the De Shun Dynasty welcomed the birth of three princes one after another. In the seventh month, Consort Qing gave birth to the third prince, Consort De of Jin. In the ninth month, Lan Xiuyi gave birth to the fourth prince, Consort Lan of Jin. In the first month of the following year, Consort Min gave birth to the fifth prince.
However, the three princes had their own misfortunes. The Third Prince and the Fourth Prince were both born with congenital deficiencies and suffered from many illnesses and disasters. The Third Prince even died in December of that year. Although the Fifth Prince was healthy, his birth mother, Consort Min, had a hemorrhage after giving birth and passed away before she could even see the prince. The Emperor remembered Consort De's grief at losing her son and handed the Fifth Prince over to Consort De to raise.
In the 17th year of Deshun, Empress Jingxiao had also finished her 30 years of life. At this time, only Concubine De and Concubine Shu were left. Concubine De, who was 27 years old and had two princes, was particularly favored. However, after a year, the Emperor still chose Concubine Shu, whose father was the Prime Minister, as the empress. Later, the third empress was demoted for murdering a prince after only four years in office. Until now, there was no new empress.
In the 25th year of Shunde, when Wen Chuan was made the Crown Prince, Consort De, Jin Huang Guifei, although she was in charge of the harem with Consort Gui and Consort Shu, her superior status and the two princes made her the master of the harem.
The small internal supervisor led the way in front with familiarity. I watched as the palaces I passed by gradually changed from grand and gorgeous to simple and plain. There were originally more than 80 palaces of various sizes in the back palace, and this dynasty had built more than 10 more, so there were now nearly 100 palaces.
Unlike the outer palace, which was arranged neatly and solemnly, the inner palace was more scattered and random. In terms of residence, the emperor lived in Qianyuan Palace, the empress lived in Kunyu Palace, and the empress dowager lived in Renshou Palace. In recent dynasties, it was also customary for the imperial concubines to live in Heshou Palace and the imperial concubine to live in Yiren Palace. The residence of the other concubines was arranged by the emperor and empress according to their grades. There was no fixed rule.
On the way, we met several imperial concubines 'carriages, and we all bowed to let them pass. When the concubines moved around in the palace, the rule of the previous dynasty was that only those above the third rank could ride in soft palanquins or chariots. Later, because there were many concubines in this dynasty and the main position was limited, the emperor took pity on the harem and would also grant some favored fourth and fifth rank concubines the privilege of riding in small palanquins.
The Central Palace had been empty for many years. The female guests outside were all escorted by the Imperial Noble Consort and the Second Consort Gui Shu. We were heading to the Imperial Noble Consort's Yiren Palace. The road was winding. Although the journey was not short, the scenery was beautiful. The pavilions and pavilions were all the same. Many of the pavilions were built according to the landscape. They were both residences and their own scenery. They were pleasing to the eye and did not feel that it was hard to walk.
When they arrived at Yiren Palace, the aunt inside came out to welcome them. The little internal supervisor cheated and left. Mother and I were allowed to enter the side hall. After waiting for about ten minutes, all the officials and women from the six families had arrived. My family's official rank was the lowest, so I naturally sat at the bottom. Mother accompanied me to talk. I smiled faintly and pretended to listen, quietly observing the other five women.
Li Jingwan of the Minister of Revenue was an extremely quiet and shy woman. She kept her head half lowered and did not say a word, which matched her name very well.
The daughter of the Minister of Justice is called Feng Chunxiao. I've heard of this woman before. She also has a sister named Chunsheng. It's said that both of them are proficient in music and are good at playing the zither and flute. However, this elder sister was already eighteen this year. Because the emperor's dragon body had not been good, it had been two years since the last year, and the election had delayed her years. Presumably, even if he didn't have the fate to marry the Crown Princess, he would be arranged to marry her. Perhaps she knew that the moment to decide her fate was coming, she kept staring at the handkerchief in her hand with a frown.
Cui Shaofu's daughter, Cui Ziqi, was a lively woman with a pleasant voice. When she was silent, her eyes seemed to be able to speak. She was the most beautiful person present. Cui Ziqi saw me looking at her and immediately replied with a pleasant smile.
The Great General held the military power of the dynasty and had been fighting on the battlefield all year round. His daughter, Chen Yanyu, also had a natural sense of pride. Her appearance was not bad, but she gave people a sense of danger. When I was observing them, I realized that Chen Yanyu was also staring at the others. When our gazes met, I nodded and smiled in a friendly manner, but she steadily averted her eyes, pretending not to see anything. Before entering the palace, he already had an imposing manner.
Ni Lening from the Prime Minister's family was also pretty, but she was too cold. She lifted her chin slightly and looked straight ahead, as if everything around her had nothing to do with her. She was quiet and cold.
After waiting for another moment, the managing aunt of Yiren Palace came over and bowed.""Furen and Misses have waited for a long time. Imperial Noble Consort invites everyone to meet in the main hall.”
We quickly got up and groomed. Mother and I waited for the others to pass before following the last one out of the side hall.
Just as he arrived at the entrance of the main hall, he saw the few people in front of him stop in their tracks and bow."Greetings, Your Highness."
I was shocked. It was Wen Chuan! As he bowed, he raised his head and looked ahead. Indeed, it was Wen Chuan who had just come out of the main hall. When he saw everyone, he was expressionless and only nodded, just like how he was serious in front of others.
The few madams in front of him moved their bodies in unison to reveal their daughters behind them. Wen Chuan seemed to have seen through their thoughts and looked at the women of the important officials cooperatively. He didn't stop and continued to move forward.
I didn't know if Wen Chuan had seen me. Normally, I wouldn't argue with him for a moment, but when I thought about how he would leave the day after tomorrow, I couldn't help but feel anxious. Thus, when the few people in front of me continued to enter the hall, I deliberately slowed down by half a step to look at him.
Wen Chuan finally saw me. He tilted his head slightly as he walked past me and gave me a warm and gentle smile. It contained love and made me feel at ease. I immediately felt joy in my heart. I couldn't help but smile. Mother looked at me when she found out. I was embarrassed and quickly kept it.
After entering the hall, he didn't dare to look around and only focused on following behind the people before him. He stopped and knelt down."Greetings Imperial Noble Consort. Greetings, Imperial Concubine, Imperial Concubine Shu.”
A gentle and solemn voice came from above."There's no need to be so polite.”
After we stood up, all the imperial madams were given a seat. There were only six of us left in the hall, three of us in a row, standing in two rows.
"Raise your heads and let bengong take a look.”
I raised my head and saw the Imperial Noble Consort that I yearned for.
The Imperial Noble Consort was enviable. She had been the one who had the last laugh in the harem with so many concubines. She was the Crown Prince's mother, and she also had the high-spirited Fifth Prince. She had been the number one person in the harem for many years, and she would definitely be the Empress Dowager in the future.
However, she was also pitiable. She had a high position, but after many years, she still could not become the empress. The " mother " could not become the " mother." She had two sons, but none of them were her own. She was about to become the empress dowager, but she was not even forty years old.
She didn't look old, but she didn't make people feel happy. With her status, she probably couldn't show her happiness. She had to be loving and dignified, making people feel close and far away, graceful and calm, bearing but not showing joy. Although the imperial concubines and Shu Fei on both sides of her were equally beautiful and dignified, they were slightly lacking in aura compared to her.
I calculated in my heart that if I were to choose the Crown Princess, Chen Yanyu's chances of being chosen would be higher. Ni Lening is too cold, I'm afraid she doesn't have the temperament of a mother.
The imperial noble consort was about to speak when suddenly, an internal supervisor reported loudly,""The Emperor has arrived!" Cancel all reviews: wdd201302 Time:111420185: 56PM #
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