The matter of Qingying changing her name to Ruyi caused barely a ripple within the harem.
Zhen Huan found this utterly baffling.
Although she had only met these consorts a handful of times, she could tell that there were certainly people who disliked Qingying.
To say nothing else, Noble Consort Hui’s desire to put Qingying in her place was practically written across her face.
Yet despite that, Qingying had suddenly gone to the Empress Dowager—a woman with whom she had never gotten along—and requested a new name for herself.
No matter how one looked at it, this should have been a significant event.
And yet it passed without so much as a whisper of gossip.
Zhen Huan simply couldn’t understand the logic behind the palace intrigues in Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace.
One day, Fuga reported that the emperor had summoned Giuseppe Castiglione, known in China as Lang Shining, to paint a portrait of the Empress Dowager.
This was Zhen Huan’s first experience having her portrait painted by hand, and she found it rather novel.
Of course, that was partly because Lang Shining would never dare ask the emperor, empress dowager, or empress to sit motionless for several hours at a time.
After sketching the basic outline, he would take the painting back to the Ruyi Pavilion, where attendants dressed in the nobles’ clothing would serve as stand-ins.
Curious about the abilities of an artist who had become the imperial family’s official painter, Zhen Huan waited two days before sending Fuga to check on his progress.
Unexpectedly, Fuga was gone much longer than anticipated, and when she returned, her expression was far from pleasant.
Teasing her lightly, Zhen Huan asked, “Well now, who has upset Auntie Fuga?”
The remark disrupted Fuga’s indignation, and she hurriedly replied, “Please don’t tease this servant, Your Majesty.”
She glanced around the room.
Because Zhen Huan was still unaccustomed to having people hovering around her constantly, only a single young maid had been present earlier. Once Fuga returned, the maid had withdrawn as well.
Only after confirming they were alone did Fuga dare voice her complaints.
“Your Majesty sent me to see how Lord Lang’s painting was progressing, but before I even entered the room, I overheard… overheard some very inappropriate remarks.”
Zhen Huan immediately became interested.
“Oh? Inappropriate remarks? Lang Shining has spent many years in the palace. What could he possibly have said that was so improper?”
Fuga’s displeasure deepened.
“This servant heard Lord Lang tell someone that, although he had seen both Your Majesty and Her Majesty the Empress in the palace, he had never met a woman as beautiful as the one standing before him.”
She paused dramatically.
“Can Your Majesty guess who he was speaking to?”
Zhen Huan considered it for a moment.
“He claimed this woman was more beautiful than the empress? But among the emperor’s consorts, each has her own charms. I can’t think of anyone who completely outshines the empress.”
“Exactly!” Fuga exclaimed. “If it had been anyone else, perhaps it would have been one thing. But the person he was talking about was Concubine Xian.”
Zhen Huan couldn’t help laughing.
It wasn’t that she enjoyed criticizing other women’s appearances, but for Lang Shining to insist that Concubine Xian completely surpassed the empress was a bit too much.
Even setting looks aside, whether it was clothing, bearing, or deportment, Fuca Langhua outclassed Ruyi in every respect.
“You think his words are strange too, don’t you?” Fuga said. Though she tactfully refrained from asking whether the painter’s eyesight might be questionable.
“But that wasn’t even the worst part. Afterward, Lord Lang told Concubine Xian that in the West, a husband should have only one wife.
“And when Concubine Xian said that imperial consorts in our country cannot seek a separation, Lord Lang actually asked why they couldn’t request a divorce.
“Concubine Xian just kept talking with him! It was only the maid by her side who had the good sense to persuade her to leave.”
Fuga lowered her voice.
“But this servant secretly watched afterward. When Concubine Xian left, she kept looking back over her shoulder, smiling as brightly as a flower. She actually seemed delighted to hear such improper things.”
Monogamy itself was certainly not wrong.
But in this era, for Ruyi—a consort of the emperor—to openly discuss such matters in public was, bluntly speaking, foolish.
If anyone wanted to use her words against her, this conversation alone would be enough to land her in serious trouble.
What’s more, Zhen Huan added calmly,
“This Lang Shining isn’t being entirely truthful, either.
“He speaks as though the West and the Great Qing are completely different, but in reality they’re much the same. We have concubines; they have mistresses. There’s little difference.
“And regardless of whether one is in the Qing Empire or the West, royal women rarely have the freedom to leave.
“For him to speak about these things so casually—and to tell half-truths at that—is rather surprising. I truly don’t know how he has managed to survive in the palace for so many years.”
Fuga nodded thoughtfully.
“So that’s how it is. Your Majesty is indeed knowledgeable. In that case, today’s conversation between Lord Lang and Concubine Xian was even more inappropriate.”
Zhen Huan smiled faintly.
“If Concubine Xian heard those words and thought, Women everywhere have difficult lives. I should be the first woman brave enough to divorce the emperor, then I would admire her courage.
“But I’m afraid what she actually thought was this: I wish the emperor would dismiss every other woman and grow old with me alone.”
Based on Fuga’s account—Ruyi smiling like a flower and wishing Lang Shining would say more—the second possibility seemed far more likely.
Fuga stared in shock.
“Surely not? How could Concubine Xian harbor such rebellious thoughts?
“Even if there ever came a day when the emperor could have only one woman, his wife would still be the empress. The one cast aside would be Concubine Xian herself.
“How could she ignore the empress’s existence entirely?”
“What Concubine Xian is thinking, who can say?” Zhen Huan replied.
Then another thought occurred to her.
“Keep an eye on Concubine Xian for the next few days. If she truly thinks this way and speaks to the emperor about it, the two of them are bound to stir up trouble.”
Fuga looked even more astonished.
“Your Majesty means that Concubine Xian wouldn’t just think such things—she would actually say them to the emperor?
“How could His Majesty possibly agree to such nonsense? And if word reached the empress, wouldn’t Concubine Xian be making trouble for herself?”
But Ruyi wasn’t the sort of person who considered matters that deeply.
Even her maid had known enough to stop the conversation with Lang Shining, yet she had eagerly continued it.
Perhaps she truly believed that Hongli also longed for a life of one husband and one wife with her—and that only wicked people kept them apart.
Hongli had given her the rank of Concubine and assigned her to Yanxi Palace, but even that had failed to wake her up.
Concubine Xian simply refused to accept one truth:
Hongli might not love her nearly as much as she believed he did.