When Ban Xia saw Fang He, her greeting was exceptionally respectful.
She knelt without raising her head, her voice particularly humble “Your servant greets Little Master Lan. A while ago, your servant discovered there were those deceitful servants in Changchun Palace who were bold enough to embezzle the Master’s stipends. When the Master found out, she was very angry and has already sent those people to the Office Of Punishment and Investigation.”
“However, we cannot let the Little Master suffer this grievance for nothing. The Master specially ordered your servant to bring another portion of your stipends from the past few years. We hope Little Master Lan does not misunderstand the Master.”
“Mm, I won’t misunderstand.”
Ban Xia only heard a lazy, smiling voice from above.
“Thank Consort Hui for her kindness to me. However, I entered Shoukang Palace intending to spend my days in peace before the green lamp and ancient Buddha. These fabrics are truly too bright, and they aren’t suitable for me. Later, I’ll trouble Sister Ban Xia to exchange them for plain fabrics.”
Hearing this, Ban Xia subconsciously tilted her chin and used the corner of her eye to size up Fang He.
One look and she was stunned.
In just less than two months, Lan Changzai seemed like a different person.
Her cheeks, which had been so thin they were sunken, now had some flesh.
Even without a speck of powder, she still carried a soul-stirringly lazy charm.
Ban Xia grew even more wary.
She did not believe any concubine in the Imperial Harem could be without desires.
‘Wanting plain fabrics… could it be that she wanted to look pretty in mourning-like white to use this pitiful appearance to seduce My Lord?’
Suppressing her wariness and anger, Ban Xia uncomfortably carried the fabrics back to Changchun Palace and told Consort Hui about it.
Consort Hui sneered, “She thinks she is worthy of playing mind games with me? I was going to give her some face, but since she doesn’t want it, then so be it. Go to the Household Kitchen and add a fish soup to the meal of Lady Wang of Yonghe Palace. It’s the New Year; something happy should happen in the palace.”
Ban Xia immediately went to carry out the task.
Before the gates were locked, news that Lady Wang of Yonghe Palace had vomited in her side hall and had been diagnosed by the Imperial Physician as being over two months pregnant spread throughout the Imperial Harem.
Kangxi put down the scrolls in his hand and took a trip to Yonghe Palace.
Following that, until the New Year, Kangxi did not go anywhere else and stayed every night in Yonghe Palace.
Consort De was happy to see this happen.
When she went to Shoukang Palace to pay her respects, she was as gentle and humble as ever, calmly watching Consort Hui make sarcastic remarks toward Lan Changzai, both openly and secretly.
Fang He had been promoted and could now come out to pay her respects.
Her irrepressible aura of elegance and her increasingly vibrant appearance made her the focus of attention for the concubines.
Originally, everyone was worried she would take the opportunity of the Empress Dowager’s favor to seek favor, but they didn’t expect her to offend Consort Hui so quickly.
Consort Hui had cut off her chances of receiving favor, so everyone was somewhat gloating.
Not a single person spoke up for Fang He.
Fang He really wanted to laugh.
This long-lost flavor of palace intrigue was actually quite nostalgic.
When she heard Consort Hui mention again how Lady Wang’s belly was promising and suggested Fang He visit Yonghe Palace more often, Fang He laughed.
She noticed the hem of Wulinzhu’s dress behind the hanging flower gate and suddenly chuckled.
“Does Consort Hui mean I should go to Lady Wang to find out how to serve My Lord, or do you want my belly to be promising even without seeing My Lord?”
“This servant wouldn’t dare trouble Consort Hui’s mind so much. Later, I’ll take a few walks in the Imperial Garden, and when My Lord appears, I’ll dive straight in. That way, my belly can be ‘promising’ even faster.”
Everyone: “…”
“Pfft—”
Once they understood the meaning behind Fang He’s words, Consort Yi couldn’t hold it back and let out a laugh.
When the others realized it, they also found it extremely difficult to suppress their laughter.
Going to Lady Wang’s room to learn how to compete for favor?
Isn’t that spying on the Imperial Majesty’s movements?
As for having a promising belly without seeing the Emperor… then the color on My Lord’s head would be far too green.
Since it would be death regardless, it would be better to just collide with the Imperial Majesty and die more quickly.
Seeing Consort Hui’s face turn black from Fang He’s retort and being mocked by Consort Yi, the Empress Dowager bit her tongue and stepped out from behind just as Consort Hui was about to erupt.
She asked in Mongol, “I see things are quite lively. What are you all talking about?”
Consort Yi quickly stepped forward and answered with a smile, “Just now, Lan Changzai was joking with Sister Consort Hui. In the past, I didn’t know Lan Changzai was such an interesting person. It’s still you who have the keen eyes. In the future, you must have Sister Lan come out more often!”
The Empress Dowager laughed and nodded at Fang He, “You little monkey said one thing right. I indeed like listening to Lan Changzai speak. In the future, I’ll make sure she comes out to be close with all of you.”
Consort Hui had originally intended to explode and ask the Empress Dowager to punish Fang He for her insubordination.
But hearing the Empress Dowager’s obviously biased words, a breath got stuck in her throat.
Her face turned green and white with anger, but she remained silent.
She couldn’t say she didn’t like what the Empress Dowager liked.
Consort Yi didn’t hold back her laughter anymore.
She laughed out loud and echoed the Empress Dowager’s words repeatedly.
Consort De and Consort Rong also echoed a few words, all of them happy to see Consort Hui made a fool of.
The palace had never produced such an interesting character who dared to speak so boldly and in a way that made people unable to stop laughing.
Especially since Consort Hui had become more and more arrogant, relying on the Eldest Prince’s increasing importance after setting up his own Residence and the Noble Consort’s serious illness.
It had been far too long since anyone had seen her deflated.
Watching it was treated like entertainment.
***
Fang He just smiled as if nothing had happened.
After returning to the side hall and seeing Cui Xi’s excitement, she felt a bit listless.
During these two months in Shoukang Palace, although she didn’t have to see anyone, she hadn’t been idle.
In the time spent talking with the Empress Dowager, she had investigated the situation in the Court Hall and the Imperial Harem quite thoroughly.
The layout of the Imperial Harem was similar to history.
The Noble Consort was seriously ill, and it looked like it would be a matter of a year or so.
Currently, the ones in charge of the Imperial Harem were the four consorts: Hui, Yi, De, and Rong.
Among the six concubines, only Concubine Tong still had some favor.
The most favored ones in the Imperial Harem were the two Han women,
Lady Wang and Lady Chen, whom Kangxi had brought back from Jiangnan.
Of course, Han women were not allowed into the palace.
These two women, sent into the palace by Li Xu, the brother-in-law of Cao Yin, were both listed under the Duke of the Han Army Banner.
However, everyone knew their identities and looked down on them.
Fang He thought to herself that these should be the Consort Mi, who gave birth to the fifteenth, sixteenth, and eighteenth imperial princes, and Consort Qin, who gave birth to the seventeenth imperial prince.
In her past life, these two seemed to have gone to the Women’s Academy to be instructors.
As for the Court Hall, the Crown Prince had done something unknown.
Without Fang He around, he failed to gain any advantage when he went to Gubeikou while Kangxi was seriously ill and was sent back.
The Eldest Prince was heavily used by Kangxi and was now an equal match for the Crown Prince.
No matter what private thoughts the younger brothers had, currently, except for the Seventh Prince with a limp, the seriously ill Eleventh Prince, and the Twelfth Prince who was a nobody, the other imperial princes respectively supported these two older brothers.
Looking only at the Court Hall, the struggle between the Eldest Prince and the Crown Prince was in full swing.
Kangxi sat firmly on the throne.
After returning, he would bestow fine horses upon the Eldest Prince one day and fine brushes and ink upon Yuqing Palace the next.
His main strategy was watching his sons fight.
…This left Fang He with a hollow sense of loss.
She was basically certain that this man was likely not her “dog thing,” but just the Master Kang of a parallel spacetime.
This left her with truly no desire to seek favor.
Although theoretically they were the same person, this Kangxi was not the “Kang Madman” who was deeply in love with her and would even disband the Imperial Harem for her.
He was only… a qualified emperor.
She had a faint intuition that she would not stay here forever.
Perhaps when she woke up, this dream would end.
Zashuhu Li was not among the famous historical concubines.
She would just drift along as a salted fish by the Empress Dowager’s side, waiting for the day she could return.
Even if she couldn’t return, she didn’t intend to seek favor.
Without the family she cared about, dying didn’t seem so scary anymore.
***
And so, Fang He established herself at the Empress Dowager’s side with zero fighting spirit, lasting until the New Year’s Eve palace banquet.
Because the Empress Dowager clearly favored Fang He, she wasn’t placed near the door like Lan Daying had been in the past.
Instead, she sat in the first seat below the Noble Lady rank.
This position also showed the concubines of the Imperial Harem that Fang He was different from before.
They knew she had carved out another path to live with dignity in the palace.
In the palace, even the Emperor had to show filial piety to the Empress Dowager.
Being liked by the Empress Dowager, even without children… neither the Emperor nor the next emperor would touch an insignificant Zha San Niu.
Her honor would not be lacking.
For the minor concubines struggling just to survive in the palace, being favored and having children were extravagant hopes.
They just wanted to live.
Such a Fang He was worth their flattery.
So before the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, the Noble Consort, and the four consorts appeared, Fang He was toasted many times by a group of minor First-Class Female Attendants and Second-Class Female Attendants.
Fang He had tested it privately; Zha San Niu’s alcohol tolerance was much better than her own.
She would usually sneak a little, so she didn’t refuse when others toasted her.
However, after a few cups, the alcohol started to get to her head.
Looking at those faces exchanging toasts, their smiles as if measured by a ruler, she suddenly felt it was quite meaningless.
She took the excuse of getting some fresh air and took the small path next to Jiaotai Hall to hide in the small garden of Kunning Palace.
A patch of winter plum blossoms was planted in the small garden of Kunning Palace.
Snow had fallen a few days ago and hadn’t fully melted.
Some snow still clung to the branches, creating a somewhat lonely atmosphere.
Fang He didn’t want to run into anyone else out for air.
She specifically chose a corner that wasn’t easily discovered.
Wrapped in a heavy Daping, she sat directly on the veranda.
She plucked a red plum blossom, held it under her nose, and looked up at the sky.
On such a night of family reunions, she would usually be sitting with Master Kang, watching Jiujiu, Er Bao, Sanbao, Fourbao, and Minbao show off, and then watching them play with the imperial princes and Fuqin, as well as those grandchildren in the hall.
It was so lively it made one’s heart warm.
It was not like now, sitting in a middling position, waiting for the masters who would make a grand entrance, watching those hypocritical exchanges of toasts, and enduring aching muscles all for the sake of ancestral rules.
It was so lively it made one’s heart cold.
She sighed softly, unwilling to admit that after only two months, she hadn’t spent a single day without missing that “dog thing”…
Mainly it’s Jiujiu and the others!
Fang He tore off a petal forcefully, her face puffed out as she mumbled dizzily.
“I definitely don’t miss you, you unreliable dog thing!”
“Isn’t it just not wanting to soak in the water? What’s there to be angry about? Don’t you know that mandarin duck baths are forbidden for more than two people? Now look at you. Forget the next life; you won’t even have a wife in the life after that!”
After tearing off the petals, she gathered some snow with her hands and covered the petals bit by bit, as if burying her own longing and regret.
Once that splash of crimson was no longer visible in the snow, she sniffed her sore nose and hummed even more softly.
“Dog thing, if you wake up late and make me suffer for a few more years, I really won’t soak in the water with you!”
As she was whispering, she completely failed to notice a bright yellow figure standing at the end of the veranda where she sat.
When Kangxi heard Fang He’s words, he frowned and glanced at Liang Jiugong.
Liang Jiugong hurried to whisper, “This should be Lan Changzai, who serves at the Empress Dowager Noble Consort’s side in Shoukang Palace.”
Kangxi’s gaze grew colder.
In the past, this Zashuhu Li was merely foolish.
Now that she had gained the Imperial Mother’s favor, she had become both foolish and presumptuous.
Not only did she dare to run out during the New Year’s Eve banquet, but she also spoke such foul words.
‘Was she tired of living?’
Fang He had spoken the other words softly, so Kangxi hadn’t heard clearly, except for two words that were particularly forceful.
In a place like Kunning Palace, she dared to repeatedly say “dog thing.”
‘Who was she cursing?’
Just as he thought this, a gust of cold air blew past, swirling right by Kangxi’s nose, causing him to be unable to hold back a sneeze.
Fang He was startled and jumped up, “Who’s there?”
No one answered her.
She looked left and right and didn’t see anyone, which made her shiver involuntarily.
She quickly pressed her hands together, “Amitabha! Do not deceive ghosts and gods! I’m telling you, I have backers in both heaven and earth!”
“If you don’t speak, I’ll take it that all you ghost brothers and ghost sisters have agreed! If you regret it, you’ll be reborn into the animal realm in your next life, ahhhhhh…”
Covering her mouth, she let out a very small scream and dashed toward Qianqing Palace without looking back.
She vanished in an instant.
The master and servant hiding on the other side of the veranda—one had a black face, and the other had a red face, holding back laughter.
Liang Jiugong had long heard that since Lan Changzai entered Shoukang Palace, she had become a different person, often retorting until people were speechless, yet making them want to laugh.
Seeing her now… Pfft, the rumors were true!
“Liang Jiugong, summon Zashuhu Li for bedchamber service on the second day of the new year!” Kangxi, who had been indirectly threatened, ordered with a face as dark as water.
He wanted to see exactly what backers this woman had in heaven and earth that made her act as if she had lost her mind, daring to spout such nonsense!
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