That evening, when Li Mu brought the matter up with the Emperor, Kangxi frowned. He felt a measure of dissatisfaction toward Lady Majia, a feeling that prevented him from casually agreeing to hand the Third Prince over to her for upbringing.
When his actual eldest son, Chengduan, was born, he had been full of joy. However, the greater the joy had been, the more painful it was when the child died. And that hadn’t been the first instance of a child’s passing; subsequently, all the princes born to Lady Majia had died prematurely, with only one princess surviving to this day.
While Lady Majia certainly had merit for her many pregnancies, she was clearly not someone capable of raising a child to adulthood. The Third Prince was already frail; how could Kangxi feel at ease giving a weak prince to her? He feared that the Third Prince, who was currently barely clinging to life, might pass away the moment he was placed in Lady Majia’s care.
Li Mu, however, was thinking further ahead. Her eyes were beautiful, smooth as jade and filled with starlight. She looked at the Emperor, her gaze as gentle as water. “Your Majesty, how about letting Lady Zhaojia and Lady Majia of Zhongcui Palace raise the Third Prince together? One is the biological mother, the other the adoptive mother. With the Third Prince raised under Lady Majia’s care and Lady Zhaojia watching over him nearby, with two mothers present, the Third Prince will surely grow up strong.”
With those two together, Zhongcui Palace would likely become a battlefield, and Lady Majia would have someone constantly pulling at her heels.
Kangxi looked at her intently for a long time. “Very well, I promise you. We shall do as you say.” Mu’er was always so quick to forget the wrongs others had done to her. With such a personality, if he didn’t protect her, she wouldn’t easily survive in this harem, even as the esteemed Empress.
Recalling how Mu’er had been schemed against while giving birth to Yinreng, Kangxi’s impression of the late Lady Ulanara and the concubines behind her soured further. The Aisin Gioro clan had always been petty; they were especially biased toward those they cherished.
At that moment, Kangxi held the Empress’s slightly cool hand, rubbing it as a sense of tender affection welled up in his heart.
The following day, during the morning greetings, Li Mu waited until all the concubines had arrived before speaking of the matter.
The concubines seated below looked at the Empress with complex expressions. Her complexion grew better by the day—rosy, fair, and beautiful. Unlike in the past, she no longer concealed her radiance. The vibrant beauty in her eyes made them feel awkward and unwilling to face her.
Was the Empress always this beautiful? No wonder she had managed to entice the Emperor into visiting her palace exclusively for months. Yet, it was truly shameless; for a primary wife to stoop to competing for favor like a mere concubine was both shameful and hateful!
Many of the concubines grumbled inwardly. If it weren’t for the fact that the Empress’s position was so stable, some of the bolder ones would have already questioned why she didn’t advise the Emperor to spread his favor more evenly.
Li Mu couldn’t care less about their gazes; she had grown used to them over the past few months. “Yesterday, His Majesty discussed the placement of the Third Prince with me. Since the Third Prince has left his biological mother’s side, he must be raised by an adoptive mother.”
She scanned the room, seeing Lady Zhaojia clutching her handkerchief desperately, and noted the hopeful, urgent looks in the eyes of Lady Majia and many others. She smiled gently. “His Majesty has decreed that the Third Prince will henceforth be raised by Lady Majia. Lady Majia, you must take meticulous care of the Third Prince from now on. Do not fail the expectations of His Majesty and myself.”
“Yes!” Lady Majia’s heart settled heavily from its high altitude. Overjoyed, she said, “This servant will never fail the expectations of the Emperor and Your Majesty!”
She finally had a prince before the promotion of titles!
The eyes of the concubines present fell upon Lady Majia one after another—filled with jealousy, hatred, and resentment. Some realized that Lady Majia had specifically sought an audience with the Empress the day before. Could it have been for this? Bah! Lady Majia was truly shameless. Why hadn’t they thought of seeking an audience with the Empress yesterday? It turned out the Empress was so easy to talk to.
For a moment, regret, redirected anger, and panic surged in their hearts once more. They all glared fiercely at Lady Majia.
Lady Zhaojia froze in her seat for a good while, as if unable to process the news. She rose slowly and walked toward Lady Majia. Lady Majia said gently, “Sister, from now on, you can rest easy leaving the Third Prince to me. I will surely take good care of—Slap!“
Mid-sentence, Lady Majia clutched her face in disbelief. Lady Zhaojia had suddenly swung her hand and delivered a hard slap. Not only that, she intended to land a second one. If the servants beside Lady Majia hadn’t stopped her, the scene would have continued indefinitely.
“Lady Zhaojia, what are you doing?”
Li Mu was actually quite enjoying the show, but as the Empress, she still had to ask with a sense of fairness and justice.
Lady Zhaojia fell to her knees with a thud. “Your Majesty, I beg you to let the Third Prince stay with me! I will serve you as a beast of burden! This wench Majia, she wants to steal my child!” She wept bitterly, completely disregarding her decorum.
Another one offering to be a “beast of burden.” Li Mu found the phrase rather amusing. If she agreed, how exactly would Lady Zhaojia serve her? She was the Empress; if she allowed a palace consort to serve her like a beast, what would others think? It was just empty words and annoying.
She said in a low voice, “Lady Zhaojia, do not forget your status as a consort. This is the Emperor’s command. Do you wish to defy it?”
Lady Zhaojia wept silently. “But that is the child I carried for ten months and gave birth to with such hardship.”
It would have been fine if she hadn’t mentioned that, but the moment she did, the concubines present looked at her with strange eyes. It was one thing to be schemed against without knowing it, but after being schemed against, she had the audacity to push the blame onto the Empress and the Grand Empress Dowager. This resulted in the Third Prince being born extremely frail. And now she had the nerve to play the victim so the Empress would let her raise him? She truly wanted to have the best of both worlds.
Li Mu was also left speechless.
Lady Majia snapped back to reality then. Mimicking Lady Zhaojia, she knelt. “Your Majesty, I do not know what I did wrong to deserve a slap from Sister Zhaojia. I ask Your Majesty to seek justice for me!”
What a farce. Li Mu had no desire to continue. “Lady Zhaojia, for striking another without cause, you are confined to your quarters for one month. In consideration of your merit in birthing the Third Prince, I shall treat today’s incident as if it never happened. As for Lady Majia, you are, after all, the one raising the Third Prince; if we were to punish her further, it would be a case of being unreasonable despite being in the right.”
Lady Majia’s act of seeking her out was not exactly a secret in the palace.
“…Yes, Your Majesty.” Lady Majia finally yielded, while Lady Zhaojia continued to glare at her with hatred.
After the morning greetings, the more calculating concubines crowded around the Empress. While they claimed they couldn’t bear to leave her side, their eyes were darting about—they had set their sights on the Empress and the First Prince.
If the Empress could let Lady Majia raise the Third Prince, surely she could let them raise the First Prince. After the re-ranking, the status of the Emperor’s eldest son was even more attractive to these women. Li Mu didn’t care much. Looking at Lady Li, who stood at the front, she said, “Rest assured, the Emperor will not forget you. Go back and wait for the Imperial Decree. As for the First Prince, he is nearly old enough for the Palace School. Whether he has an adoptive mother depends on his own wishes. If the First Prince says he wants one of you to be his mother, I naturally will have no objection.”
Again, it was down to their own abilities.
The concubines left, looking thoughtful.
Li Mu watched them depart and said softly, “The decree has already been drafted, hasn’t it?”
Zhou Momo stepped forward to massage her shoulders and nodded. “Yes. I heard from Liang Jiugong that the ranks of the concubines in each palace have been settled.”
“That’s good.” Li Mu was quite pleased. At least this time, one of the “Four Consorts” she knew from history who would influence the harem for decades—Consort Hui of the Ulanara clan—was gone. And Lady Majia, who originally birthed the Third Prince, currently had no biological sons of her own; she couldn’t rely on her own children to rise in rank. She might not necessarily become Consort Rong, one of the Four Consorts, in the future.
As for Lady Little Guoluo-lo, she would become Concubine Yi in this grand promotion due to the Emperor’s favor. Lady Wuya, who would later birth the winner of the succession struggle, had missed the first grand promotion, but she would usually rise to become Concubine De based on her children. Both would eventually become Consort Yi and Consort De. That was how things should have developed. But lately, the Emperor had no interest in visiting Lady Little Guoluo-lo’s palace, and Lady Tong hadn’t entered the palace. Without a maternal cousin of the Emperor to rely on, it was uncertain if Lady Wuya could even rise to the rank of Concubine De.
She wanted to see if, without so many advantages, these people could still successfully become the famous Four Consorts, and if their children could still participate in the war for the throne.
Thinking of Yinreng’s miserable life in the latter half of the original timeline—a dignified Crown Prince reduced to an ordinary imperial kinsman, with the throne seemingly within reach but forever untouchable—Li Mu’s expression turned icy. Then there was the Emperor, who had indulged his sons’ fighting during the succession struggle. The current changes all started with the Emperor. The life of the original soul and this current life could not be compared, so she chose to watch coldly, only intervening when necessary. She remembered vividly that the original soul hated the Emperor to the core, wishing she could trade her own life for her son’s smooth succession.
She only hoped the Emperor wouldn’t change for the worse in this life; otherwise, she wasn’t incapable of being cold-hearted.
The Imperial Decree was officially promulgated.
It was no different from the progression in Li Mu’s memory. The harem ranks were: Imperial Noble Consort below the Empress, followed by two Noble Consorts, four Consorts, and six Concubines. The numbers for Noble Ladies, First Class Female Attendants, and Second Class Female Attendants were unfixed. The Imperial Noble Consort acted as a “Vice-Empress” and could manage the internal affairs of the palace, but the position could not be filled while an Empress was in power. Only those at the rank of Concubine (Pin) or above were considered true masters of a palace.
Once the news of the ranks spread, every concubine hoped to at least reach the rank of Concubine or Consort. But only a few could fulfill their wishes.
“By the Will of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: To Lady Li, daughter of General Gang-a-tai, of the Plain Blue Banner of the Han Army… In accordance with the benevolent instructions of the Empress Dowager, you are hereby titled Concubine An… So it is decreed!”
“By the Will of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: To Lady Wangjia, daughter of Captain Huashan, of the Bordered Red Banner of Manchu… In accordance with the benevolent instructions of the Empress Dowager, you are hereby titled Concubine Jing… So it is decreed!”
“By the Will of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: To Lady Dong, daughter of Secretary Dong-da-qi, of the Plain Yellow Banner of the Han Army… In accordance with the benevolent instructions of the Empress Dowager, you are hereby titled Concubine Duan… So it is decreed!”
“By the Will of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: To Lady He-she-li, daughter of Laisan, of the Plain Yellow Banner of Manchu… In accordance with the benevolent instructions of the Empress Dowager, you are hereby titled Concubine Xi… So it is decreed!”
“By the Will of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: To Lady Majia, daughter of Gaisan, of the Plain Yellow Banner of Manchu… In accordance with the benevolent instructions of the Empress Dowager, you are hereby titled Concubine Rong… So it is decreed!”
Thus, five of the six Concubine slots were filled. Lady Niohuru’s rank had remained unchanged from the start; she was still a Consort. Listening to the servant’s report, Li Mu knew that after this promotion, the curtain on the harem struggle had officially been raised.
No one could threaten her, but everywhere she looked, there were people who wanted to.