Noble Consort Niuhulu had arranged this palace banquet with great liveliness. The hall was decorated with elegant freshness while maintaining an atmosphere of grandeur and luxury, clearly meticulously tailored to Kangxi’s preferences.
Wen Shan also gave high praise to the arrangements of silk, bamboo, wind, and string instruments along with the song and dance performances. Recalling the previous banquets prepared by the Imperial Noble Consort, Wen Shan thought Noble Consort Niuhulu’s aesthetic sense seemed slightly better than the Imperial Noble Consort’s.
As for the Imperial Noble Consort’s taste… well… it was typically characterized by vibrant colors and extravagant opulence, nearly blinding Wen Shan with its brilliance. Wen Shan had previously remarked that the Imperial Noble Consort was born in the wrong era—had she been one of Qianlong’s consorts, the two would have become kindred spirits who regretted not meeting sooner.
This palace banquet was a grand occasion where the entire palace gathered together. Everyone maintained superficial harmony, chatting and laughing throughout the evening, which passed peacefully without incident.
During the banquet, Kangxi asked Defei about her health, to which Defei replied with her usual cautiousness and gentle consideration.
Her delicate, pitiable appearance, combined with the Sixth Prince’s innocent expressions of missing his Emperor Father beside her, moved Kangxi deeply. He promised to visit Yonghe Palace that evening to accompany the mother and son.
As the banquet concluded, Noble Consort Niuhulu and Wen Shan happened to leave together. Noble Consort Niuhulu adjusted her hair bun and said, “Today is Elder Sister Xuan’s celebration. The Emperor should have gone to Xianfu Palace, but unexpectedly, Defei took precedence.”
Although no explicit rule stated that the Emperor must visit a consort’s palace on her conferment day, it was customary for him to pay a visit to consorts of rank Fei or higher as a gesture of favor.
Of course, during the mass conferment of consorts a few days earlier, Kangxi had visited Noble Consort Niuhulu according to rank, leaving no room for complaint from others.
Today, with her and Consort Ping’s conferments, Kangxi should indeed have gone to Xianfu Palace barring any unforeseen circumstances.
Yinzhen and Yinsi, carried by palace attendants walking behind, couldn’t hear what Wen Shan and Noble Consort Niuhulu were discussing. Yinsi thought it certainly couldn’t be anything good, given Noble Consort Niuhulu’s longstanding grudge against his mother and her competitive nature, always embroiled in endless schemes.
“Defei is with child. It’s only right for the Emperor to accompany her. The imperial heir takes precedence,” Wen Shan smiled, unconcerned.
Where Kangxi chose to go was his own decision—she had no control over it.
Noble Consort Niuhulu said nothing more, and the two parted ways in front of the hall, returning to their respective palaces.
In the following days, Noble Consort Niuhulu acted unusually warmly toward her, frequently visiting under the pretext of discussing palace affairs and bringing gifts each time. Neither Yinzhen nor Yinsi were overlooked, receiving various carefully prepared clothes, toys, and scholar’s treasures from Noble Consort Niuhulu.
However, neither Yinzhen nor Yinsi particularly liked Noble Consort Niuhulu, and most of the gifts she sent were stored away and forgotten.
Before long, Noble Consort Niuhulu revealed her true intentions, straightforwardly expressing her hope that Wen Shan would form an alliance with her to overthrow the Imperial Noble Consort.
Currently, the three highest-ranking consorts in the palace were the Imperial Noble Consort, Noble Consort Niuhulu, and Wen Shan. An alliance between the two Noble Consorts would pose a significant threat to the Imperial Noble Consort.
Although Yinzhen was only four years old, children in the imperial palace matured early. Since Yinzhen had already begun his education, Noble Consort Niuhulu would deliberately avoid discussing such matters in his presence.
As for Yinsi, who was just over a year old, Noble Consort Niuhulu paid him little mind, allowing him to overhear quite a bit from the sidelines.
“Although there have been some conflicts between us, they’re ultimately minor matters compared to the Imperial Noble Consort. Now that she has regained favor, she will likely target us. We might as well bury the hatchet.” Niuhulu Noble Consort spoke with sincerity.
Yinsi pretended to fiddle with toys nearby, thinking to himself that the Imperial Noble Consort wouldn’t target his mother and Fourth Brother now – whether to regain imperial favor or consolidate her palace position, she would instead try to show goodwill toward Xianfu Palace.
Niuhulu Noble Consort was purely deceiving here.
Fortunately, although Wen Shan wasn’t skilled in these political machinations, her thinking was straightforward. The Imperial Noble Consort had been out for many days without causing her trouble and had even sent many gifts. Getting involved in these troublesome matters was impossible for her.
As for whether the Imperial Noble Consort was pretending to be friendly, she would deal with it when actual attacks came.
After several attempts at persuasion, Niuhulu Noble Consort discovered Wen Shan was utterly unresponsive – completely wooden-headed. No matter what she said, Wen Shan would always respond with three questions:
“Could that be?”
“It doesn’t seem like it.”
“You’re overthinking it, sister.”
Then she would add a pure, innocent smile.
Niuhulu Noble Consort: “…”
Forget it. In the end, she could only settle for the next best option – frequently urging Kangxi to visit Xianfu Palace to accompany Yinzhen and Yinsi, planning to win Wen Shan over to her side through the children.
This would also help divide the Imperial Noble Consort’s favor.
Everyone in the palace knew the Eighth Prince Yinsi was clever and adorable, much loved by Kangxi. After several such visits, Kangxi naturally went to Chengqian Palace less often.
And Niuhulu Noble Consort, completely exasperated with Wen Shan, finally gave up trying to instill anti-Imperial Noble Consort ideas in her and started coming purely for meals.
Over time, Wen Shan discovered that although the Niuhulu Clan member was somewhat arrogant, she could be quite endearing sometimes. For instance, after coming for meals frequently, she felt somewhat embarrassed and started sending various ingredients to settle accounts. Even though Wen Shan hadn’t joined her faction as desired, she still occasionally sent jewelry that Wen Shan liked, proudly claiming these were things she didn’t like herself and her storage was too full.
As these two noble consorts appeared increasingly close, the Imperial Noble Consort grew more restless.
If Noble Consort Xuan and Niuhulu Noble Consort truly joined forces, it would be troublesome.
The possibility of reconciliation with Niuhulu Noble Consort was slim – their families stood behind them like fire and water, making true friendship impossible. As for Noble Consort Xuan… after much thought, the Imperial Noble Consort realized that although they had significant conflicts (since Noble Consort Xuan was famously fond of Yinzhen), their grievances weren’t irreconcilable. If she completely let go of Yinzhen and stopped scheming against Xianfu Palace, then Noble Consort Xuan had no reason to wade into these muddy waters.
Having figured this out, the Imperial Noble Consort quickly took action. First, she targeted the solution by sending many precious ingredients to Xianfu Palace, claiming she had poor appetite recently and wanted to trouble Wen Shan to prepare some food. Afterwards, she sent numerous rare treasures as thank-you gifts.
She also tried to avoid meeting Yinzhen as much as possible, even personally arranging for Yinzhen to no longer need to pay respects to Defei at Yonghe Palace – making her goodwill intentions very clear.
Particularly the matter of Yinzhen no longer needing to pay respects at Yonghe Palace surprised many watching concubines in the rear palace – the Imperial Noble Consort’s sincerity was truly substantial.
During her leisure moments, Wen Shan reflected that her luck had been unusually good lately. Despite doing nothing out of the ordinary, she received gifts until her hands grew tired, and even the most troublesome matters resolved themselves. Though Yinzhen never voiced it, she knew he disliked visiting Yonghe Palace.
The nascent alliance between the two Noble Consorts was thus shattered.
The Imperial Noble Consort breathed a sigh of relief, and Noble Consort Niuhulu did the same.
The Imperial Noble Consort had shown such overwhelming sincerity this time that even Noble Consort Niuhulu feared Wen Shan might switch allegiances. Fortunately, Wen Shan remained cheerful as ever, spending her days accompanying the two princes, visiting Cining Palace to keep the Grand Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager company, and maintaining her usual distance without showing favoritism or ambition for favor.
Both the Imperial Noble Consort and Noble Consort Niuhulu tacitly left Wen Shan to her own devices, content to ignore her as long as she didn’t align with either side.
“Mother, Mother! Fuqi is sick!”
One day, Yinzhen rushed in anxiously, holding Fuqi in his arms. Yinsi had been making pastries with Wen Shan, his hands and face dusted with flour. Hearing Yinzhen’s urgent tone, he looked up to see Yinzhen’s worried expression and Fuqi whimpering weakly in his embrace.
“What happened?” Wen Shan asked hurriedly.
Yinzhen explained that Fuqi had lost her appetite days ago, remaining lethargic in her bed, and today she refused to eat entirely.
Wen Shan immediately sent someone to the dog kennel to fetch a veterinarian. She examined Fuqi carefully herself—the dog seemed listless but had no visible injuries.
Yinsi jumped down from the couch and circled Fuqi twice, wondering if the dog had contracted some incurable disease. If so, Fourth Brother would be heartbroken.
Noticing Yinsi’s flour-covered face, Yinzhen pulled him over and gently wiped it clean with a damp cloth. Seeing his elder brother’s stern expression, Yinsi didn’t dare resist.
Wen Shan held Fuqi a while longer, noticing her belly seemed slightly swollen. A bizarre thought crossed her mind.
“Could Fuqi… be pregnant?”
Fuqi was a female dog, and without spaying procedures, pregnancy seemed entirely plausible.
Yinzhen froze in shock, while Yinsi wore an incredulous expression. The dog was still so young—how could she be pregnant?
The veterinarian who arrived soon confirmed it: Fuqi was indeed pregnant, and her symptoms were normal. She just needed proper care.
Yinzhen looked thunderstruck, as if his precious daughter had been defiled by some rogue. Yinsi also gritted his teeth, wondering which audacious dog had dared to take advantage of their Xianfu Palace.
The mystery was solved when Wen Shan eventually caught Fifth Prince’s little pug sneaking into Xianfu Palace to cuddle with Fuqi.
Yinzhen glared at the clumsy black dog with utter disdain, channeling the mythical Queen Mother of the West to forcibly separate the young lovers by having the intruder driven out.
The next day, Fifth Prince noticed his Fourth Brother seemed angry with him—Yinzhen didn’t share snacks at the Imperial Study and responded to his greetings with cold snubs.
Even the Crown Prince noticed Yinzhen’s foul mood. Having benefited from Yinzhen’s treats lately, the Crown Prince inquired kindly about the situation.
Confused, Fifth Prince hurried to Xianfu Palace after lessons, chasing after Yinzhen to ask why he was being ignored.
Yinzhen carried Fuqi out and simply stared at him without a word. The Fifth Prince felt his scalp tingle under the intense gaze, completely unaware of what was happening. When he turned his head, he saw his Eighth Brother also sitting on the couch, chin propped in hand, watching him with a heavy expression.
Fifth Prince: “…”
Fourth Brother and Eighth Brother were ganging up to bully him!
Just as the Fifth Prince was on the verge of tears, Wen Shan entered and rescued him.
“Consort Xuan, Fourth Brother and Eighth Brother are both ignoring me!” The Fifth Prince clung to Wen Shan’s leg and tattled.
Wen Shan looked amusedly at the still-lazy Fuqi, picked her up, and let the Fifth Prince feel her slightly swollen belly.
“Hey, what’s wrong with Fuqi?” the Fifth Prince asked in surprise.
“Fuqi is pregnant. There are puppies inside,” Wen Shan said seriously. “The father is your Heidou.”
“H-Heidou?” Now it was the Fifth Prince’s turn to be shocked, stammering as he spoke.
“How could Heidou do such a thing…”
Yinzhen looked sternly at the Fifth Prince. “You don’t want to take responsibility?”
The Fifth Prince felt like crying but had no tears. He quickly raised his hands in surrender. No wonder Fourth Brother didn’t want to talk to him—it turned out their pig had rooted up someone else’s cabbage.
The Fifth Prince ran back to Cining Palace, gathered all of Heidou’s snacks and toys, and piled them in front of Fuqi’s dog bed. He thumped his chest and vowed to take full responsibility, even offering a betrothal gift for Fuqi, declaring that she was now his daughter-in-law.
Yinzhen was so angry he nearly kicked him out.
A few days later, the year-end officially arrived, marking the close of the year.