Seeing Concubine Jing nod, Fang He continued, “Also, regarding consorts serving as female teachers at the Women’s Academy, please draft the regulations quickly. After I return from Bei Meng and receive the Imperial Noble Consort’s gold seal, I will see to it promptly.”
The investiture ceremony that should have followed the selection was delayed.
Kangxi was about to embark on a northern tour with the Empress Dowager, so the Ministry of Rites and Imperial Astronomical Bureau scheduled the ceremony for the end of the year.
That time was suitable since many noble ladies were in the capital, allowing them to be seen all at once.
Consort Yi, hearing the many affairs, asked, “Should I stay behind to assist Concubine Jing? I can entrust Yierha, Yinqi, Yintang, and Yindu to you. I would feel more at ease.”
In truth, Consort Yi disliked long trips to the grasslands—tiring, sun-exposed, plagued by insects, and not serving the imperial carriage.
She preferred to stay in the palace as a petty ‘mountain king’ for a few months.
“That won’t do, you must go,” Fang He immediately refused.
“I have some matters to discuss properly with His Majesty. The Empress Dowager is counting on you, and so are the children—Jiujiu too.”
Hearing Fang He emphasize ‘discuss,’ Consort Yi and Concubine Jing exchanged subtle looks.
‘One wonders—how ‘proper’ is your discussion?’
On July 17th, the imperial carriage set off with the Empress Dowager on the northern tour.
Because Kangxi had thoroughly purged the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, this time the chosen day was bright and clear, with not a cloud in the sky.
Under the crystal blue heavens, the imperial procession snaked several li out from the North City Gate and still had not fully left the city.
Inside the carriage already outside the city, Kangxi was pushed down onto a Luohan couch hidden behind a folding screen, his expression a torment neither bitter nor sweet.
The Imperial Noble Consort, dressed in a double-winged water-red banner robe embroidered with phoenix patterns, wearing the Dragon Robe’s emblem on her palm, looked down on him from above.
“Your Majesty, speak properly with your humble servant. Is there really no order of seniority?”
Kangxi grasped Fang He’s graceful, fish-like fingers, grinding his molars.
“In every dynasty, the Crown Prince has never been an ordinary prince. The Crown Prince’s wedding is quite time-consuming. Do you expect the third and fourth prince to wait forever?”
Especially the Third Prince, who would turn seventeen soon.
His three wives from the Dong E clan were fifteen, and if they waited another two years, the Dong E family might cry.
Fang He leaned down to suppress his barely perceptible struggles.
“At a time like this, you don’t consider the Crown Prince’s feelings? Watching his younger brothers marry one by one before him, bearing children, are you afraid the Crown Prince won’t feel even more unbalanced?”
Kangxi chuckled and tapped her forehead, “Don’t tell me you’ve suddenly grown maternal feelings for Yinreng?”
Fang He: “……”
‘Twelve years apart, no way, no way.’
She relaxed her grip, sinking a little against Kangxi’s shoulder.
“But I’ve asked Sister Liang, Fule, Physician Zhang Yuyi, and even Lu Yuanpan. Early marriage and childbirth are actually harmful to offspring. They’re still growing themselves; how can their seed be strong? If the wives conceive young, their children will likely be weaker than usual.”
“Though I’m ruthless and cruel, I won’t be heartless toward children. Do you think the imperial family hasn’t lost enough children already, Your Majesty…?”
She looked up softly at Kangxi, “Are there not enough children?”
Kangxi’s grip suddenly tightened; he lowered his gaze in silence.
Consort Hui and Consort Rong’s many dead children, along with Yinreng’s elder brothers… those who couldn’t survive were once a terrifying source of fear for him.
He had believed the rumors—that his fate was harsh and the Great Qing had sinned too much.
But after consulting medical books and multiple undercover visits to ask folk doctors, he slowly understood the real reason behind the fragile children was that he was too young at the time.
He sighed, “Having princes marry at eighteen isn’t impossible. With the Crown Prince, Yinxi, and Yinzhen setting the example, the younger ones will follow. Over time, the aristocracy in the capital and across the Great Qing will imitate.”
“However, eighteen is too old for girls. Everyone knows a girl’s bloom is short. The prime marriage age is sixteen, often to slightly older husbands. Past sixteen, it’s harder to find a good family.”
“In this granting of marriages, except for the Crown Prince’s wife who is only a year younger, most maidens are three years younger than their husbands. Even the Third Prince’s third wife from the Dong E clan is two years younger than him.”
Fang He sighed deeply, ‘This damn world—early marriage and childbirth also contributed to the short average lifespan.’
But she knew this was as far as she could push Kangxi.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t keep pressing him, but she didn’t want her wishes to cause suffering to women accustomed to the world’s rules.
She thought aloud, “How about men marry at eighteen, and women at sixteen?”
Seeing Kangxi about to object, she imitated him by extending a small hand to pinch his mouth shut, silencing him.
“Of course, I know this cannot become an edict, but I will ask the Imperial Medical Institute to take the evidence found to the Empress Dowager. Requesting the Empress Dowager, as the Imperial Grandmother, to advise the princes accordingly, and have her words spread.”
This was soft propaganda.
Once the public knew that the princes married late for fertility and blessings, people would inquire and quietly spread the Imperial Medical Institute’s findings…
Their findings were more credible than official decrees.
Sometimes public opinion was more useful than an edict.
Kangxi quickly freed himself from Fang He’s grasp, lightly biting her fingertip with a smile.
“Is this your newly remembered trick? Fang He, you have no such cunning.”
He had already instructed Liang Jiugong to secretly investigate the oddities before and after Fang He’s injury.
To put it simply, the two looked alike but were completely different in temperament.
Kangxi was increasingly convinced there was a demon living under that skin.
Fang He gave a soft hiss, blinking at Kangxi with seductive, mischievous eyes.
Her bitten fingertip lightly brushed down his Dragon Robe, moving lower and lower.
“I still remember some yang-supplementing and yin-nourishing techniques. Your Majesty, want to try?”
Kangxi hissed softly in response, immediately grabbing her hand, flipping her over, and kissing her fiercely.
Their kiss soon ignited a fire between them.
Only when someone outside reported the approach of the Rehe Palace did he reluctantly suppress the rising heat and rise.
Kangxi glared at Fang He with an almost ferocious gaze, smiling lightly.
“That night, I’ll be waiting for Imperial Noble Consort Zhen to come nourish my yang and yin—don’t be shy!”
Fang He: “……”
‘Who’s afraid of whom!’
Standing by the imperial carriage, Xin Hua and Xin Zi, along with Liang Jiugong and Li Dequan, wore expressionless faces but chuckled silently.
‘Lady Zhen was bragging again.’
Apparently, the yang-yin nourishment was ineffective at night, as Fang He was always drowsy in the daytime and couldn’t sleep well on the bumpy carriage.
Soon she refused to enter and exit with Kangxi together.
When going to ride in the Imperial Noble Consort’s carriage, she looked righteous and solemn.
“Your humble servant did not rest well from the journey and will snore if she naps during the day. If any courtier hears it, it would hurt Your Majesty’s dignity. How could your humble servant do such a thing?”
“Besides, there’s Jiujiu. Your humble servant can’t forget the Emperor and must accompany her properly.”
Kangxi grumbled.
Since leaving the palace, four-year-old Jiujiu was more energetic than a calf, pestering the Eldest and Fifth Princes daily to learn horsemanship, causing guards and attendants no end of trouble.
By now, Fang He returned to the palace, but Jiujiu might not pay her much attention.
The journey was indeed more tiring than usual.
Kangxi valued health and couldn’t take his midday rest in the carriage.
After several days of late nights, he needed to rest and recover energy, preparing for the little demon’s next visit.
He let Fang He return to her carriage alone and not come back, refusing to sleep by him at night.
Kangxi was used to holding a soft, delicate thing while sleeping, and more used to her restlessness.
If she were too quiet, he found it hard to sleep.
But since Fang He refused to return, with every move of the imperial carriage closely watched, Kangxi was too proud to ask for others’ help.
He gritted his teeth, wanting to see when this ungrateful mother and daughter would remember there was him.
But he never saw the two again.
Under the anxious watch of the princes and guards, Fang He managed to learn horsemanship.
Then the two rode affectionately on the same horse, wearing matching masks to avoid dust—almost like a traveling spectacle.
Everyone saw it, except Kangxi, who grew busier closer to the grasslands.
Upon reaching Rehe Palace, Kangxi heard that Fang He and Jiujiu had settled at the Shui Xin Pavilion beside the Empress Dowager’s fragrant garden, refusing to have their luggage sent to Wan He Song Feng Hall.
He angrily smashed his teacup and asked Liang Jiugong, “Have you sent orders to Lu Wuning yet?”
If Fang He and Jiujiu knew he couldn’t eat or sleep well but still didn’t care about him, then all these years he’d wasted his care on them.
Liang Jiugong bowed, wearing a troubled face, “Your Majesty, this… Lady Zhen and the Ninth Princess are eating well and sleeping soundly. The last pulse check was less than half a month ago. No Imperial Physician was summoned.”
Lu Yuanpan wouldn’t just dash to the Imperial Noble Consort on his own to gossip about the Emperor’s tongue, right?
Besides, would he keep his head?
The Emperor’s pride prevented him from sending for someone; that was why.
If Lu Yuanpan really did that… the Emperor would never have face again.
Kangxi thought of Fang He’s gentle attentions after she persuaded him days ago, and now seeing the mother and daughter so content, he realized one thing: he was just used and discarded by that rascal.
In anger, he coldly pointed outside and shouted, “Go, summon Fuquan and Changning! Someone has to keep me company at night!”
His voice was loud.
Since the palace was being tidied up, the hall doors were wide open, letting dust in, but no one minded.
Those before him were used to the Emperor and Imperial Noble Consort’s occasional scuffles—it was just their way of flirting, nothing serious.
Even Liang Jiugong stifled his laughter and complied.
Coincidentally, Changning had just returned from a mission to scout the Jungar territory.
He stood before the hall and hadn’t yet reported to Li Dequan when he heard the command and felt a chill.
“Keep me company at night?”
Him and the Second Prince??
His face paled, feeling uneasy behind him.
Changning was a perfectly normal prince, with many wives and no interest in men.
But he had once caught the Third Prince with a skinny man pulling and tugging, so he had secretly inquired.
Since learning how men could be interested in men, he had felt tightness in his backside whenever he saw the Emperor.
Now, he ignored the need to report military intelligence.
Under Li Dequan’s shocked gaze, he fled swiftly and disappeared.
Kangxi heard palace attendants murmuring outside and frowned sharply.
“Enough! Who dares make noise outside?”
Li Dequan hurried in, still pale.
“Your Majesty, Prince Changning has returned. He came to pay respects but fled suddenly before saying a word and bumped into a servant.”
Li Dequan found this quite unusual.
He had never seen anyone flee in the presence of the Emperor, much less run so swiftly—it was as if they saw a ghost.
Kangxi sneered in anger, “Good. Probably messed up the mission and is afraid to face me.”
Everyone feared him like a tiger, yet he couldn’t bring himself to strike that rascal behind his back, but with his own brothers, he still showed mercy.
“Send an imperial edict—Changning will accompany the carriage tonight. I want a private talk!”
What was the situation with Gualdan?
He needed full clarity before meeting with the Bei Meng princes to confirm when the next battle would truly start.
Though the treasury was a bit healthier and provisions more abundant, they couldn’t afford a prolonged stalemate.
They had to unite Bei Meng’s forces and swiftly take down Gualdan.
That meant questioning Changning thoroughly.
Kangxi thought this way, but Changning thought otherwise!
He anxiously paced outside the hall.
Is the Emperor so angry at his fleeing behavior that he must be punished?
Of course, Changning knew the Emperor wouldn’t truly harm him—after all, they were brothers.
Besides, Changning’s… well-built figure was not a threat to the Emperor.
But the earlier fire in the Emperor’s words was worrisome, and with the Imperial Noble Consort absent from the tour, what if the Emperor was miserable?
Changning could fight on the battlefield but could not withstand this emotional ordeal; it gave him goosebumps.
As night fell, Changning bit his lip and called his chief attendant.
“You go handle something for me—stay out of sight. Don’t let anyone find out!”
The attendant was stunned dumbstruck after hearing the order.
‘Go find what…???’