Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang did not dismiss them this time.
Sitting steadily at the head, she allowed the concubines to speak their minds freely.
Only when someone in the hall noticed Xiaozhuang’s increasingly displeased expression did the chatter gradually die down.
She then half- raised her eyelids to glance at the assembled women.
“Finished? Then this old one shall say a few words.”
Seeing Xiaozhuang’s gaze grow colder by the moment, the concubines felt a chill in their hearts and instinctively quieted down.
Long before their first complaint, Xiaozhuang had already reviewed the imperial records.
Since Emperor Kangxi’s return from his southern tour, among the high-ranking concubines, only Consort De and Consort Yi still enjoyed some favor.
The emperor visited others but never stayed the night.
The only truly favored one was Uya of Yonghe Palace, with the rest being newly entered low-ranking concubines-now joined by Fang He.
Even if Fang He received more favor than others, what of it?
Xiaozhuang had witnessed far greater imperial favoritism.
How had Huang Taiji treated Hailanzhu in those days?
How had Fulin doted on Dong E?
As long as no one demanded to be made empress, Kangxi was already far more restrained than his ancestors.
Fang He was also clear-headed.
Having previously renounced her “phoenix destiny,” she wouldn’t do anything to undermine herself.
Clearly, these concubines who only focused on their petty harem squabbles were too busy being jealous to understand the real issues.
Now that the Crown Prince was growing up, and other princes would soon follow.
Yinzhi had already entered court service, yet Consort Hui remained restless.
Yinzhi and Yinzhen would likely join court affairs within a few years.
While Consort Rong appeared obedient now, who knew if she might revert to old habits?
Consort Tongjia needed no mentioning after bearing Yin’e, the Noble Consort had become noticeably more ostentatious.
Apparently Kangxi felt his disciplinary measures in the 23rd year hadn’t been enough.
With the Dzungar situation unstable… he’d hinted several times before her about personally leading a campaign.
Xiaozhuang naturally didn’t want Kangxi risking himself, but her grandson was stubborn.
If he couldn’t be stopped, both court and harem would need to remain peaceful to focus on state affairs.
Thoroughly weary of these troublesome concubines, Xiaozhuang spoke with unusual severity today.
“This old one sees you’ve grown too comfortable in your good lives! To spend your days gossiping like this!!”
She slammed her teacup onto the table, making all the concubines scramble to kneel.
“That so-called seductress you complain about at least knows how to properly serve the emperor. What about you?”
“Instead of wasting this old one’s time with nonsense, reflect on why you can’t compete with women you look down upon. This old one feels secondhand shame for you!”
“A concubine’s duty is serving the emperor. Now you want this old one to prevent Consort Zha from fulfilling hers? Next you’ll be urging this old one to execute someone? Is this your understanding of propriety?”
Consort Tongjia paled at the reprimand but could only weakly urge Xiaozhuang to calm her anger.
Consort Xuan stiffened her neck in defiance, earning a cold look.
“Don’t think this old one doesn’t know your thoughts. Even if favors were distributed equally, you’d be last in line.”
“If you find Xianfu Palace too comfortable, you may return there in confinement. Copy sutras for your parents’ safety instead of jumping at every rumor-this old one has no patience for it!”
Consort Xuan’s face flushed and paled alternately as she bit her lip and lowered her head.
The faces of Consort Hui and Noble Lady Zha, who had frequented Xianfu Palace, were also quite a sight to behold.
When they left Cining Palace, the two even felt that the winter sun was scorching, making their faces burn hot.
By the time Fang He woke up, the sun was already high in the sky.
Still preoccupied with the morning greetings she was supposed to attend, she abruptly sat up.
Startled, Cui Wei hurried over, “My lady, please be careful! If you strain your back again, this servant won’t even have the face to call for the imperial physician!”
Fang He sheepishly rubbed her waist-it hadn’t actually hurt for a while.
She had just been using her “work injury” as an excuse to slack off, especially since the Kangxi Emperor had practically taken up Tousuo Palace.
She scrambled out of bed, “Isn’t today the day for morning greetings? Why didn’t you wake me?”
“His Majesty ordered before court that you were exhausted last night,” Cui Wei replied with a suggestive wink, her expression particularly mischievous.
Though the Emperor did treat her mistress well-often tolerating her antics before bedtime, even occasionally apologizing to her— men, tsk tsk… once in bed, they were a different story.
During the few times they had served in the First Palace, both Cui Wei and Chunlai had heard their mistress’s cries.
Even the young palace maids in the rear court had caught whispers of it.
Fule, though skilled in medicine, was still inexperienced in such matters and had once anxiously asked where the injury was and if it needed bandaging—making Cui Wei laugh until her stomach hurt.
Now, covering her mouth teasingly, Cui Wei added, “His Majesty was so worried about your waist, fearing he’d suffer for it later, that he sent Liang Jiugong personally to Cining Palace to request leave on your behalf.”
Fang He raised her fair, delicate hand threateningly, “…Keep gossiping, and I’ll personally have you beaten!”
Cui Wei dodged away, “If you keep scaring this servant, I might just forget what happened at Cining Palace!”
Fang He immediately lowered her hand, “Fine, fine, next time for sure. Now hurry up and tell me.”
Chunlai handed over the washing supplies nearby.
After freshening up, Cui Wei combed Fang He’s hair, taking the opportunity to lean in and share the juiciest gossip from Cining Palace.
There were no palace maids from the Fucha clan in Cining Palace, only an elderly matron, Nanny Tian, who wasn’t allowed inside to serve and thus hadn’t heard everything clearly.
“When Xiaoxizi went to fetch the meals, Nanny Tian passed along that the Empress Dowager scolded them fiercely-it was loud enough to hear outside. When the consorts left, their faces still hadn’t recovered.”
Fang He combed a lock of her black hair, clicking her tongue in regret.
“I thought Her Majesty might summon me to stay at Cining Palace for a while. Who’d have thought…”
Cui Wei tilted her head, surprised at how genuinely disappointed her mistress seemed she almost wanted to pry open Fang He’s head to see what she was thinking.
“You actually wish you’d been scolded by Her Majesty?” That was a bit odd.
Fang He sighed softly but didn’t elaborate.
She might not understand the rules of palace survival, but after years in the workforce in her past life, she knew the rules of the workplace well.
The real issue wasn’t scarcity-it was inequality.
If the Kangxi Emperor visited the First Palace too often and the “CEO” disapproved, getting scolded now at least meant she trusted Fang He and wanted to correct things.
But if the anger was bottled up, left to fester until it became an unavoidable problem, she’d be treated as a disposable employee-one who could be dismissed at any moment.
In her past life, being fired just meant losing a paycheck.
Here, being fired meant either the family temple… or death.
But to push Kangxi toward someone else…
Wherever Kangxi wanted to go was his own business-she wasn’t about to play the role of a pimping madam.
Others gaining favor wouldn’t benefit her anyway was she just trying to spite herself?
At most… she could simply shut her doors and refuse visitors.
By evening, after finishing his official duties, Kangxi strolled leisurely from the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
Snow had fallen just the day before, making it the perfect time to admire the wintry scenery.
Yet before he could reach the gates of the Tousuo Hall, he suddenly halted.
“Liang Jiugong, go check if the palace lanterns at the Tousuo Hall are broken,” Kangxi ordered expressionlessly.
Liang Jiugong’s scalp immediately prickled-even if the lanterns at the Chengqian Palace were broken, how could those at the Tousuo Hall be?
Everyone knew the Emperor had been visiting daily—if a lantern went out, the Imperial Household Department would rush over with replacements before the dust could settle.
With silent dread, he approached the gates and was unsurprised to find the sheepskin lanterns perfectly intact—just unlit.
The palace doors were tightly shut as well.
Only the young eunuch Chen Shun stood outside, trembling as he knelt upon seeing the imperial procession approach.
Not from the cold-but from sheer terror at the message he had to deliver.
As Kangxi drew near, Chen Shun stammered in a whisper, “Y-Your Majesty, my mistress says… she’s suffering from back pain today and has retired early to rest.”
“She also said… she cannot bear any noise, so she ordered the gates closed until she wakes.”
Kangxi scoffed inwardly.
She wouldn’t stir even if he spanked her backside—what “noise” could possibly disturb her?
Liang Jiugong, along with Li Dequan and Qi Sanfu behind him, all dropped to their knees.
Never in palace history had a consort dared to shut the Emperor out-no one would dream of slapping the Son of Heaven across the face like this.
They braced for an explosive outburst-there was no way Consort Zha would sleep peacefully tonight.
Back pain or not, she’d be crawling out to-
“Didn’t they say the plum blossoms in the Rain Flower Pavilion courtyard are particularly fine this year?” Kangxi remarked mildly.
“Let’s go take a look.”
Liang Jiugong blinked in surprise before hastily wiping his sweaty brow and bowing.
“This servant will summon the imperial palanquin at once.”
The Emperor’s sedan arrived swiftly and silently, detouring past the Tousuo Hall toward Rain Flower Pavilion without attracting notice.
To any observer, it simply appeared that Kangxi had decided to admire the blossoms after dinner.
After that night, Kangxi no longer went directly to the Tousuo Hall.
Instead, he instructed Liang Jiugong, “Go check first whether the lanterns at the Tousuo Hall are lit. Only report back if they are.”
This incident left Liang Jiugong utterly in awe of that ancestor in the First Residence Hall.
What kind of bewitching potion had she fed the Emperor to make His Majesty ordinarily so strict about protocol-act so thoroughly besotted?
For over forty days until Minor New Year, the lanterns at the Tousuo Hall remained unlit more often than not.
Yet Kangxi never showed the slightest anger-in fact, he always emerged from the hall in remarkably good spirits.
As for the reason behind the extinguished lanterns… there were no secrets Kangxi couldn’t uncover.
He’d naturally heard about the thunderous fury his imperial grandmother had unleashed in the Cining Palace.
Truthfully, even if Fang He hadn’t doused the lanterns, his year-end obligations would have prevented frequent visits.
Consorts with children, those connected to former court officials-especially those with family serving as provincial officials—all required his attention.
But by extinguishing those lanterns, she always managed to please him all the more when she finally opened her doors to receive him.
Her sweet little mouth was more tempting than any fruit, making it impossible to resist.
He happily kept this matter to himself.
When Fang He went to pay respects at Cining Palace, perhaps the imperial concubines were still intimidated by Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang’s earlier reprimand.
Aside from some veiled sarcastic remarks, they dared not say anything else.
She considered the matter settled and happily prepared for the New Year.
But before the New Year’s Eve palace banquet, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang summoned Fang He to Cining Palace.
The moment she entered, she was ordered to kneel before the empress dowager’s indifferent expression.
“Do you know what you’ve done wrong?”
Fang He was baffled.
Was this about settling old scores?
But facing the most cunning old fox of them all, she didn’t dare joke around at such a critical moment and honestly shook her head.
“This concubine does not know.”
Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang signaled Yu Quangui to present the imperial bedchamber records before Fang He, her tone growing colder.
“I know you’re clever, so even though refusing the emperor at your door is an offense of insubordination, I never reprimanded you for it.”
“But when the emperor visited your palace, you still didn’t serve him properly. What explanation do you have for this?”
Fang He had no interest in checking how long Kangxi spent with whom in the records she didn’t need to see them to understand what the empress dowager meant.
Ever since Fule mentioned that her body, as Madam Liang had initially predicted, would take three to five years to recover to normal condition and even with medicine shortening the process, it would still take at least half a year-she had lost interest in sharing the emperor’s bed.
Fang He could disregard men, but when it came to children, she wished she could start competing from the embryo’s father onward.
While her future child’s prospects were another matter, she would never let her offspring lose to anyone at the starting line.
Still taking her medicine, except during the seven days before and eight days after her menstrual cycle, she refused to serve Kangxi even when he visited her palace.
After all, there were plenty of ways to please a man.
Through their interactions, she discovered Kangxi was remarkably open to new experiences.
Especially after learning she was still recuperating, he became more interested in various bedroom activities that didn’t necessarily involve actual intercourse.
But such matters couldn’t be spoken of openly.
Fang He obediently kowtowed.
“This concubine is at fault. As you know, my health is poor, and I’m still taking medicine. I feared pregnancy might affect the imperial heir, so…”
“I don’t care whether you’re willing to serve or how you serve,” Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang sighed lightly.
“But I cannot stand watching the emperor waste his time with you. Do you understand my meaning?”
Fang He: “……”
Oh, so pure companionship isn’t acceptable they must be vigorously intimate to share a bed?
She understood.
The empress dowager was telling her to redirect Kangxi to other women when she couldn’t serve him properly.
Because in this world’s view, men and women being together was primarily for procreation.
Spending time together without physical intimacy was seen as indulging in unnecessary, frivolous emotions.
Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang might not mind having a favored concubine in the palace, but she would never allow anyone to make the emperor develop genuine feelings and neglect his duties.
Fang He suddenly felt like laughing.
If that were truly the case, how was she any different from a brothel girl?
Well, there was one difference: she’d also have to play the madam’s role, without even getting paid for it.
Lowering her eyes, she said softly, “Your wisdom sees all, Venerable Ancestor. In the past, this concubine wished to leave the palace. Then there was the Northern Mongolia affair, and the emperor has always…”
“She greatly dislikes this concubine’s evasions and refusals.”
“Extinguishing the palace lanterns and closing the hall doors were the only methods this concubine could think of. I must also consider the imperial heirs and dare not recklessly exhaust what little affection remains.”
Suddenly, her eyes sparkled as she lifted her head.
“Perhaps the Grand Ancestor could order this concubine to stay in the Great Buddha Hall for some time? By then, His Majesty’s interest might wane, allowing me to properly recuperate.”
Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang: “……”
The calculations were practically slapped across her face.
So if she confined the girl, it would appear as her locking horns with Kangxi, while this little fox enjoyed comfortable seclusion?
Moreover, wouldn’t that only make Kangxi long for her even more, leaving her with no advantage at all?
“Don’t play clever tricks with me. I’m merely reminding you to know your limits and not treat others as fools,” Xiaozhuang said, her tone eventually softening despite her exasperation.
“I’m quite fond of you. Don’t force me to do something I’d rather not.”
Due to Wulinzhu, the Empress Dowager had been indulging Fang He nearly unconditionally, even more so than with Yin Qi.
As for the Emperor-though he appeared to have the upper hand, in truth, he was still being led by the nose by this girl.
Xiaozhuang truly didn’t mind someone being favored, but she wouldn’t allow the seeds of a femme fatale to take root in the harem.
Even if she were on her deathbed, she could still use her final edict as a safeguard to preserve peace within the palace.
“Don’t blame me for being harsh. The Great Qing can no longer afford an emperor who neglects the realm for a woman. Think carefully about this.”
“Dismissed.”
When Fang He returned to her residence, Cui Wei uneasily brought her a cup of warm water.
“Your Highness, why did the Grand Ancestor summon you at such a time?”
The New Year’s Eve banquet was only hours away-couldn’t this wait until after the celebrations?
Fang He shook her head calmly.
“It’s nothing.”