CHAPTER 667: [661] QING CHUAN CHENG WANGFEI 30 (1 MORE UPDATE)

The thirteenth year of Yong Zheng was destined to be no ordinary year.

In the first and second months, selections for beautiful women were conducted as usual. If history were to follow its course, this year there would be at least four new Princesses entering the household, and these women would later be promoted to concubines and divide his... affections... with her. To prevent such a situation from occurring, she, who rarely prided herself on favoritism, listed many examples and pressured Yun Mi to abandon the idea of taking in more women.

The so-called examples were nothing more than favoring concubines over wives, and the infighting between bastard and legitimate sons—all well-documented cases that had occurred in every dynasty and generation. Yun Mi simply found his wife’s earnest admonitions amusing.

"If you want to be the sole focus of attention, just say so. Beating around the bush with these stories really isn’t your style!" he said.

Xiyuan laughed, "So you agree?"

"Could I really say no? But will you be able to bear me a child this year?"

Xiyuan nodded vigorously as if pounding garlic, "I must bear a child. If I don’t, and without taking in others, I might well be drowned in spit by others."

Although Xiyuan didn’t know if his refusal to take other women was temporary, even if it was, she felt grateful. To receive such treatment in a patriarchal society was indeed very generous.

In May, Miao Bandits from Guzhou and Tai Gong in Guizhou stirred up trouble on the borders. Emperor Yong Zheng appointed Ha Yuansheng as General Yangwei, commanding soldiers from four provinces to quell the disturbances...

During his reign, Emperor Yong Zheng developed Yuanming Garden and resided there along with the Imperial Palace.

Having suffered from heatstroke in his youth, he thereafter feared the heat, which is why he favored the cooler Yuanming Garden as his dwelling, living in the blissful coolness of Jiuzhou Qingyan, Four Seasons Book House, and Wanfang Anhe during summer.

On August 21st, he fell ill, yet "continued as usual with his duties (marital relations)," and by midnight on the 23rd, he had passed away.

As such, throughout history, the death of Yong Zheng has always been deemed exceedingly strange.

Following Emperor Yong Zheng’s death and according to his secret method of appointing his successor, his fourth son, Prince Bao Hongli, ascended the throne.

His temple name was World Ancestor, and his posthumous title was Emperor who Reverently Revered Heaven, Flourished Destiny, Established the Center, Demonstrated Cultured Martial Brilliance, and was Broad-minded, Trustworthy, Determined, Wise, Holy, Greatly Filial, Utterly Sincere, Constitutional. He was buried in Tai Ling at Qingxi Mausoleum.

On the 3rd day of September, the new Emperor held court in Taihe Palace, issued the ascension edict, announced an amnesty, and declared the year title "Qianlong," symbolizing "Prosperous Heavenly Path."

On the 22nd day of September, in the thirteenth year of Yong Zheng, Qianlong conducted an investiture ceremony for Yin Bi and Hong Zhou, assigned them their banners and residences, officially making them Prince Cheng.

They also moved from their old residence to a new, four-entry grand mansion, which showed that Emperor Qianlong held his younger uncle in high regard.

On the first day of October, Qianlong specially dispatched two Hanlin Academy officials to be Yin Bi’s teachers, instructing them to teach him assiduously and admonish him strictly.

In November, Yin Bi’s mother, Chen, was posthumously honored as "Imperial Grandmother Mupin."

In history, Yun Mi’s first daughter was born in the twelfth year of Yong Zheng and passed away in February of the first year of Qianlong. But in this life, Xiyuan found out she was pregnant in November of the thirteenth year of Yong Zheng, which can be said to have perfectly avoided that period of time.

In ancient times among royal relatives, it was not uncommon for children to die young, and all the more so for children in the common folk who could lose their lives to a simple cold or smallpox outbreak. Because of this, it goes without saying that the survival rate of children in later generations was far higher than in ancient times.

In fact, the reason she didn’t dare to have children right from the start was that she wanted to first improve her health, using "space water" in addition to practicing yoga, farming for wellness, and other such methods to become stronger. That way, any children she bore would also be healthier. She didn’t want her children to die at a young age, for what greater heartache could a mother endure?

Even after becoming pregnant, she didn’t indulge in the pretense of staying at home all the time; she went about her usual tasks, and often left Beijing to visit her farm and inspect her crops and fruit trees with great care.

Everyone says that the first three months of pregnancy are crucial, which Xiyuan took very seriously. She also didn’t dare to stay out for too long and often returned home after just half a day.

Having become Princess Cheng and being pregnant, Empress Fucha in the palace also frequently invited her to the palace for small gatherings.

During this time, she met Empress Fucha’s sister-in-law, Dong’e, whose husband was the Grand Scholar Fu Heng, a man of great renown.

Speaking of Dong’e, one has likely heard about her scandalous affair with Emperor Qianlong, and the matter of Fu Kang’an being the Emperor’s illegitimate son. From what she had witnessed, these rumors didn’t seem to be without basis, for several times she saw Dong’e’s palanquin enter the palace without heading for the Empress’s quarters. Where else could she have gone, if not to say the obvious?

It must have been before Hongli’s ascension that Dong’e and Emperor Qianlong got entangled. Yun Mi had once complained about their relationship and had seen them in private at Yuanming Garden. Of course, these were not things one could broadcast; they were gossipy intimacies shared between husband and wife.

That Dong’e held a lasting place in Qianlong’s memory must have been due to her unique charm, not something common and vulgar beauties could compete with. Whether Empress Fucha was aware of their sordid relationship, it was hard to tell.

Such affairs were frequent in the Royal Family. Take for instance, Princess Consort Hui, originally the wife of Hongxi, Emperor Yong Zheng’s legitimate nephew, but forcibly brought into the palace. She received great favor and was even bestowed the title of Princess Consort Hui. It was rumored that Hongxi died by suicide.

As previously mentioned, there are two theories about Emperor Yong Zheng’s death. The other was that he was beheaded by Jianghu’s Lu Siniang, who was said to have thrown his severed head into Princess Consort Hui’s trousers. Just thinking about it makes one feel sullied and dirty.

So, for her to marry Yun Mi was truly a stroke of good fortune.

After Emperor Yong Zheng passed away, her elder sister became an Imperial Concubine and moved to Shou’an Palace within the harem to live with the late Emperor’s concubines. Occasionally, when she visited the palace, she would see her sister on behalf of her family, and every time her elder sister saw her with her rounded belly, her eyes seemed as fearsome as if spitting venom.

Xiyuan was so frightened that she later opted to only send gifts instead of treading through her sister’s palace gates herself. What was this if not the bitterness of a resentful woman?

Yet it was pitiable, not yet twenty years old and destined to spend the rest of her life within these palace walls.

Daqing had its ancestral laws, and even though she had suggested to Yun Mi to speak on behalf of letting her sister leave the palace, even if to become a nun, as that would be better than suffering here, she only verbally agreed. Yet inwardly, she shook her head. Not only was this a favor she could not easily grant, but even if it could be arranged, she would not dare speak out of turn.

In February this year, Yun Mi made some mistake in the Imperial Study and was penalized a month’s salary, which goes to show that even though he was now Prince and Hongli’s own uncle, he would still be punished for his errors. How could she then possibly jeopardize her husband’s future to plead for someone unrelated?

This was her elder half-sister, not a full sibling. Her own full brother had made it into the Imperial Army on his own merit.

Looking back at Yun Mi’s life, it seemed he had only been reprimanded twice.

The first time was in the first year of Qianlong when Yun Mi faced the punishment of salary forfeiture, and the other instance occurred in the eighth year of Qianlong, when Yun Mi was scolded for poor manners for putting down his chopsticks and sitting silently before the Emperor had finished eating.

Being close to the sovereign is like walking with a tiger; even as the Emperor’s own uncle, he still had to watch his step.