One should not linger too long in the Emperor’s embrace. Li Mu was, after all, a woman who had just given birth, and her constitution remained weak. Watching with lingering affection as the Emperor instructed the servants to care for her before he departed, Li Mu made sure her expression looked profoundly sorrowful.
Kangxi felt a strange sensation in his heart. Despite being married to the Empress for many years, they had wed as youths. Back then, they were both young and inexperienced in the matters of the heart. Their union had initially been forged because of the political benefits the Hešeri clan could bring him, while Hešeri herself had desired the seat of the Empress. They became husband and wife out of duty.
Over the years, their relationship had been neither joyous nor sorrowful. The Empress performed her duties without error or exceptional merit, and he had always respected her as the Empress. But now, it seemed she did not merely view him with the formal respect one owes an Emperor, as she had always shown in the past.
Kangxi recalled the tender gaze she had just directed at him… He decided he should visit her more often in the future. After she had suffered such a great ordeal, he could not feel entirely at ease.
While Kangxi was making this resolution, Li Mu lowered her eyes the moment he left, the “affection” in her gaze vanishing completely. The servants nearby thought she was grieving over the Emperor’s departure and were about to comfort her, only to see their mistress pull herself together instantly.
Li Mu was still in significant physical discomfort. Now that the Emperor was gone, she stopped forcing herself to remain upright. Xuelian quickly ordered a basin of hot water to soak her mistress’s feet; the Empress had lost too much blood and her body was cold. She needed to warm her up immediately.
She also had to pile on thick quilts. During the “sitting month” (postpartum recovery), the Empress could not afford to catch a chill.
As Xuelian planned her next moves, Nanny Zhou looked at Li Mu with a trace of understanding in her eyes. “Your Majesty, do you have instructions for us?”
The way the Empress looked at them made it clear she had orders to give.
Li Mu nodded. Nanny Zhou was indeed a veteran who had been with the original host for a long time; she knew every gesture. Li Mu knew she couldn’t pretend to be the original host forever in this environment, so she needed to create a reason for her “change.”
Her gaze darkened slightly as she touched her stomach and said softly, “Bring the child to me. I have not yet looked at my son.”
The original host’s child was now hers, and they would spend a lifetime together. she intended to treat him as her own flesh and blood.
“Yes,” Xuelian nodded and brought the Little Prince over. He was dark-skinned and wrinkled—the typical look of a newborn who hadn’t “opened up” yet. Li Mu had seen newborns before by chance, so his appearance did not surprise her.
She gently pressed her cheek against his. He was fast asleep, having already been fed by the wet nurse. He was incredibly well-behaved. “Good child. Your Imperial Mother will protect you as you grow. What belongs to you, no one shall take away.”
Perhaps because she had merged with the original body, she felt a profound sense of closeness and a love that radiated from the bottom of her heart as she looked at the child.
Xuelian and Nanny Zhou stood by silently, watching the Empress bond with the prince, soft smiles on their faces. It was wonderful that the Empress was safe. The Palace of Earthly Tranquility now had its future pillar; they no longer had to fear the arrogance of the concubines’ sons.
After holding him for a while, Li Mu reluctantly let Nanny Zhou take the child. She cleared her throat and spoke her mind. “Nanny Zhou, Xuelian, you have both been with me since childhood. In this palace, you are the only ones I truly trust.”
“Your Majesty…” Xuelian and Nanny Zhou were deeply moved by these rare, sincere words.
“Having survived this plot, I realize that simply minding one’s own business is no longer enough. I have a child, a clan, and I am the Mistress of this palace. If anyone can plot against me at will, it will be harder and harder to escape next time. Therefore…”
Li Mu pursed her lips, her face turning cold. “From now on, I must take the initiative. Anyone who wants to move against me or the Little Prince must first weigh their own abilities. I never imagined I would be so calculated against by a mere Secondary Consort. I have never been so afraid—terrified that the child I fought to birth would lose his mother and be left to the mercy of others, despite being the legitimate heir.”
She closed her eyes and declared, “I will no longer be ‘kind’ in that way.”
Nanny Zhou and Xuelian exchanged glances, their eyes flashing with determination. “We await Your Majesty’s commands!” To them, any change following a brush with death was natural. Moreover, this change was for the better; at least the Empress would no longer be outmaneuvered by a lowly consort.
Heaven knew how angry they had been to find Ula Nara was the culprit. Ula Nara had only gained her status because her womb was “productive” enough to bear the Emperor’s eldest son, yet she dared to strike at the Empress. Thank goodness the mistress was safe.
“It is fortunate I had the pill given to me by my mother, otherwise I would not have survived,” Li Mu added. She knew the sudden appearance of a life-saving pill would be noticed. Although these two had kept it quiet and silenced the other servants in the room, she needed to give them a plausible explanation.
That Blood-Coagulating Pill was a standard healing item issued by the Transmigration Bureau to ensure the safety of its agents. Any other medicine would have to be earned through her own efforts.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Xuelian nodded, feeling relieved that the Empress had kept a “hidden trump card.” She understood why the Empress hadn’t told them earlier; after all, it was good for a mistress to have a cautious heart.
“Next, I want you to investigate a few people.” Li Mu’s eyes shifted. There were several people who would threaten her son in the decades to come—specifically the sons of the future “Four High Consorts.” Since those consorts had not yet come into their full power, she intended to disrupt their paths.
Ula Nara—the future Consort Hui and leader of the four—had already been pulled down. She wanted to see how the Grand Empress Dowager and the Emperor would handle her. And then there was Baoqing. Currently, the only surviving children in the palace were Ula Nara’s Baoqing, her own Little Prince, Magiya’s Third Princess, and Zhang’s Fourth Princess. Each was incredibly precious.
The fate of Baoqing was now a very interesting question.
In the Palace of Benevolent Tranquility, the Grand Empress Dowager’s expression was grim after learning of the situation. She never expected such ruthlessness to occur under her supervision of the harem.
She mused, “Ula Nara has wronged the Empress deeply; the Empress nearly lost her life. However, it would not look good for the Imperial family’s reputation if news spread that a consort tried to murder the Empress.”
“What is your meaning, Imperial Grandmother?” Kangxi asked.
“Let it be announced that Ula Nara has ‘passed away from illness,'” the Grand Empress Dowager decided indifferently. “As for Baoqing, he is an heir you fought hard to keep. High-ranking consorts are few. It would be best if the Empress raised him. A legitimate son’s status is supreme; once the Empress has her own son, she won’t be threatened by a concubine’s child.”
As the legitimate mother, Hešeri was someone the Grand Empress Dowager trusted. While she wasn’t necessarily “satisfied” with this granddaughter-in-law, she had no complaints about her conduct. As for why she didn’t give Baoqing to Lady Niuhuru—the only other high-ranking woman—the truth was that Niuhuru’s family was already too powerful. When the Empress already had a legitimate son, there was no need to give Niuhuru an heir.
She knew her grandson needed to stabilize the country, and the birth of a legitimate heir was a key component. The legitimate son would certainly be named Crown Prince. If the Empress raised Baoqing, he could grow close to the Crown Prince and become his right-hand man.
She only feared the Empress might hold a grudge because of his mother’s plot, but as the Empress of the Great Qing, Hešeri had no reason to dwell on such things.
Kangxi hesitated. He recalled the look of longing in the Empress’s eyes. He didn’t agree immediately. His Grandmother’s logic was sound, but he feared it would hurt the Empress’s feelings. He decided to visit her later; he also hadn’t seen his legitimate son in a while.
“Very well. But I intend to formally grant titles to the harem after the prince’s one-month celebration. I will discuss this with the Empress.”
Once the Crown Prince’s position was set, no one would threaten his heir. It was time to formalize the harem’s rankings. He would give the Empress enough respect that no one would dare overstep—except for that cold-blooded Ula Nara.
At the thought of Ula Nara, a flash of loathing crossed Kangxi’s eyes. This distaste even extended slightly to her son, Baoqing. Currently, the most important child to him was the Empress’s son. The status of a legitimate son was incomparable to that of a concubine’s son. If any consort dared to harbor improper thoughts, he would not spare even their clansmen.
Vindictive as he was, Kangxi had already stripped all of Ula Nara’s relatives of their official positions the moment her scheme was revealed. And on the day she “passed away,” her father and brothers would not be allowed to survive either.
As for Baoqing, Kangxi ultimately agreed with his grandmother’s approach. With his mother’s crime as a shadow and the Empress’s grace in raising him, if Baoqing ever developed improper ambitions in the future, the world would condemn such ingratitude.
He was only hesitant because he cared about the Empress’s feelings.
Kangxi was already attempting to clear the obstacles for his chosen heir. He considered himself an enlightened sovereign and knew that settling the succession early would stabilize the nation’s foundation. Moreover, he was confident that he would be the first Qing Emperor to appoint a Crown Prince and successfully see him ascend.
He did not know that the things one is most certain of are often the ones that cannot be guaranteed.