Li Mu felt a surge of displeasure as well, but it wasn’t enough to make her turn against the Emperor. She said to him, “How could I not believe Your Majesty? I believe it was an accident, and that Your Majesty never intended to take your cousin as a consort in the first place.”
She offered him an out once more, hoping he would take it. She needed to expend her energy thinking about how to deal with Lady Tong, and her heart was no longer fully focused on the Emperor.
Seeing that the Empress’s mind was no longer on him—as if she might drift away at any moment—Kangxi finally could not take it. He grabbed the Empress, pulling her tightly into his arms, and met her with a searing, lingering kiss full of reluctant passion.
Li Mu was completely stunned, allowing the Emperor to nip and graze at her.
She had no idea why the Emperor was acting this way. She wanted to struggle, but she lacked the strength, eventually allowing herself to sink into the sensation.
After a long while, they finally parted. Li Mu seemed not to have recovered yet, looking at the Emperor with a complex gaze as she whispered, “Then… Your Majesty does not intend to take your cousin as a consort?”
Kangxi appeared calm, though the tips of his ears were slightly red. This was the first time in his life he had ever committed such a scandalous act in public. He nodded, and as he mentioned the matter of his cousin, his eyes darkened. “I never intended to let her enter the palace. It was my uncle’s wife who took it upon herself to bring her daughter into the palace, which led to that ridiculous misunderstanding.”
From “cousin” to “her daughter,” the sharp shift in Kangxi’s heart was evident. However, seeing the Empress’s eyes reflecting his image once again, his mood improved significantly. He had no intention of showing her his violent side. He gently kissed her eyes, feeling a sense of having recovered something lost. “Empress, you need not worry about this. I will handle it.”
Regarding the Tong daughter and his uncle’s arrangements, he had his own plans.
Kangxi naturally knew that he had lost his birth mother at a young age, so he was exceptionally lenient toward his mother’s clan, always keeping them in mind when something good arose. But after today’s calculations, he failed to see any possibility that his maternal family treated him as one of their own.
Bringing a daughter into the palace for no reason? Thinking that a bit of physical contact would smoothly make her a consort? It was absurd and laughable. He had not fallen so low as to be coerced into favoring a woman. At first, he thought he was overthinking things; it turned out he hadn’t thought enough. His maternal family wasn’t seeking nothing; they had set their sights directly on him.
Back at Qianqing Palace, Liang Jiugong reported to him, “Your Majesty, Madam Tong and Lady Tong have been escorted back to their residence. As for today’s events, all those in the palace who knew have been silenced.”
“I see.” Kangxi still had some consideration for the Tong daughter’s reputation, as he could not allow her actions to implicate his late, beloved Imperial Mother. As for that cousin, she was not as virtuous as he had once thought. It was better she didn’t marry into the He-she-li clan either, lest she harm the Empress and the Crown Prince.
“Draft a decree for me. I wish to bestow a marriage.” Resolving the matter of the Tong daughter sooner was better than dealing with later schemes. Besides, he had finally managed to get the Empress to look at him; he did not want her to be sad or hurt.
Lady Tong was still a bit dazed when the palace servants escorted her back. Shouldn’t the Emperor have settled her in the palace first and then issued a decree to make her the second officially titled consort?
But she felt that these servants were not very polite, and they no longer treated her mother with their former meticulous care.
Tong Guowei was waiting at the gates, watching his wife and daughter being sent back. “What happened?”
His daughter was as beautiful as a flower and had just had intimate contact with the Emperor. How could the Emperor bear to send her back?
He questioned them, but they were equally confused. Madam Tong only remembered the Emperor’s look of utter displeasure after accidentally catching her daughter. But looking at the grim faces of her husband and daughter, she pursed her lips and said nothing, refusing to believe the Emperor’s feelings for her daughter were so cold.
However, the arrival of the Imperial Decree turned their anticipation into utter despair.
“By the Will of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Aisin Gioro Pouchang, the youngest grandson of the Great Progenitor Beile Cuyen, is of noble character, dutiful, and accomplished in both civil and military arts. He has reached the age of twenty. The daughter of Minister of the Interior Tong Guowei has reached the age of fifteen; she is of the Bordered Yellow Banner of the Han Army, dignified in appearance and wise of heart. Therefore, I decree her to be the Primary Wife of the Defender Duke Pouchang. An auspicious date shall be chosen for the wedding. So it is decreed!”
Defender Duke! Primary Wife!
Both the master and mistress of the Tong residence were stunned. None of them expected that their daughter wouldn’t even rank as an Imperial Consort, but was instead married off to an ordinary member of the imperial clan as a “Primary Wife.” She didn’t even qualify for the title of “Grand Consort” (Di Fujin), as only the primary wives of Princes of the First or Second Rank could be called such.
Tong Guowei said listlessly, “This is the Emperor’s warning to the Tong house!” Having been cautious in court for many years, he knew perfectly well that his daughter should have at least married a Prince or a son of a prestigious family like the Niohuru or He-she-li clans—much like the candidates the Emperor had initially suggested to him.
As a daughter of the Emperor’s maternal family, for her to be married off as the primary wife of a Defender Duke, it should have been because her older sisters had married exceptionally high, and she was married low so as not to provoke the Emperor’s suspicion. But now, his daughter was being married down to an Aisin Gioro who had dwindled into a mere ordinary imperial clansman!
He muttered to himself, knowing this daughter was essentially ruined. He had also committed the ultimate taboo—scheming against the Emperor. He would have to be extremely cautious from now on. Compared to his daughter’s achievements in the harem, he only hoped his trust with the Emperor wouldn’t be destroyed. This concerned the continued prosperity of the Tong family!
Madam Tong, as if traumatized, screamed, “Impossible! This is impossible! My daughter is already the Emperor’s woman, how could he—Slap!“
A heavy blow landed on Madam Tong’s face. Tong Guowei dragged her behind him and looked at the eunuch, saying word for word, “I ask for the Father’s forgiveness. My wife has suffered a momentary lapse of reason; her words are not to be taken seriously. This servant accepts the decree.”
Tong Guowei was a decisive man. After accepting the decree, he unceremoniously stuffed silver into the eunuch’s arms, hoping he wouldn’t mention this outburst to the Emperor.
After the eunuch left, he looked at his wife with extreme hostility. It is said one should marry a virtuous wife; he saw no virtue in this woman! The Emperor had already issued the decree, yet she was still shouting. This slandered not only the reputation of their daughter but the Emperor as well.
However, the matter of his wife would be dealt with later. He looked at his soul-stricken daughter. “Stay home and prepare for your marriage. From now on, do not think of the Emperor. The Empress is no longer someone you can challenge. Consider yourself warned.”
Lady Tong’s face was covered in tears. From the moment she heard the decree, she had been weeping. She knew that from this day forward, her Cousin the Emperor, the supreme status, the positions of Empress and Empress Dowager—all had left her. She was forced to submit to reality and marry a man she did not love, a husband of low status who didn’t even reach the rank of Bulwark Duke.
From now on, her status would only be that of a Duke’s wife. Even if the Empress felt like summoning the noble ladies of the court, she wouldn’t even have the status to meet her!
With the matter of the Emperor’s cousin temporarily settled, Li Mu remained somewhat dazed. She vaguely felt that things were moving in a direction she didn’t recognize. First, the biological mother of the actual Third Prince had changed, and now the Emperor’s cousin wasn’t even entering the palace. When she first arrived here, such things were unimaginable.
And it seemed she couldn’t make any changes. Seeing how Kunning Palace had practically become the Emperor’s territory due to his frequent visits, she had originally thought about how to secure his favor to gain more trust and ensure Yinreng received more love. But now, it seemed she didn’t need to say a word; the Emperor treated Kunning Palace as his home.
So… she had to adjust her mood every day to be good to the Emperor and show her attachment to him?
Li Mu felt inexplicably stifled, as if the initiative she once held over the Emperor had suddenly been transferred to him. With the Emperor holding the initiative, it was difficult for her to communicate with her underlying forces right under his nose. It was effectively harder for her to control the harem or manage the princes who would eventually compete with her son for the throne.
Forget it, she could only take it one step at a time. Li Mu watched as Yinreng, who could now sit steadily, excitedly pushed a pile of jade bracelets toward his Imperial Father. The Emperor laughed loudly and showed off to her, “Empress, look at how interesting this boy is. He’s giving all the things he received to me.”
A smile instinctively rose on Li Mu’s face. “Your Majesty, he isn’t giving those bracelets to you. He’s showing off to you.”
“You little rascal,” Kangxi said, picking up Yinreng with mock annoyance. He had thought his son was giving him good things, only to realize the boy was just bragging.
Once picked up, Yinreng struggled incessantly, babbling “ah-ah” sounds.
“Your Majesty, why don’t you try giving him a bracelet?” Li Mu smiled mischievously.
Kangxi seemed stunned for a moment, but he followed the Empress’s suggestion and had Liang Jiugong hand him a bracelet, waving it in front of Yinreng.
Sure enough, as soon as Yinreng saw the jade bracelet, his big eyes brightened, and he reached out his little hands to grab it.
Kangxi smirked and lifted the bracelet higher, keeping it out of reach. Yinreng tried several times, his little hands stretching as far as they could, but he still couldn’t reach it. He looked so aggrieved he didn’t even want to acknowledge his Imperial Father anymore.
“Your Majesty, why don’t you let him have it? Otherwise, the child will stop talking to you.” Even with Li Mu’s strong psychological resilience, she was dumbfounded. Was there really a father who played with his child like this?
Kangxi laughed heartily and pulled the Empress into his arms, kissing her naturally. With both the big one and the little one in his arms, he savored a sense of warmth he had never experienced before—a feeling he had sought but never found in his life.
He cherished it immensely.
The atmosphere in the palace had been quite tense lately.
Firstly, the Emperor had no intention of taking the Tong daughter as a consort and was instead favoring the Empress more than ever. The other concubines felt like mere ornaments. Secondly, the matter of the grand promotion of the harem had officially been put on the agenda; the ranks and titles of the consorts would likely be finalized by the end of the month.
Originally, the concubines had their eyes fixed on the Empress, gnashing their teeth in envy. But once the news of the grand promotion came out, no one had time to focus on her. Everyone was anticipating what position they would secure in this promotion.
Even the Fifth Prince, Baoqing—who had lived in the palace without any presence for the past six months—and the frail Eighth Prince were being eyed by many concubines. Having a child by one’s side, even if not one’s own, was a good way to consolidate one’s status.