The news of Lady Uya's pregnancy quickly spread throughout the harem.

Following the Grand Empress Dowager's decree, Noble Consort Tong ordered the Imperial Hospital to examine the pulses of all the consorts and concubines. Although no other pregnant ones were found, several seriously ill ones were discovered.

When these consorts and concubines learned why they had been saved, they all chanted the Crown Prince's praises in their small Buddhist halls.

However sour Noble Consort Tong's heart, she had to admit this Crown Prince was truly too kind, so kind that he didn't seem like someone from the palace.

Her dowry matron once again urged Noble Consort Tong to grow closer to the Crown Prince.

Noble Consort Tong's attitude finally softened: "We'll see. Anything we do will have to wait until the Empress recovers."

Or until the Empress dies.

Although Empress Niohuru had been frail and sickly ever since her miscarriage, she didn't seem to be at the point of dying yet.

After hearing that Empress Niohuru's health had improved, Kangxi took a moment to reflect with a serious expression. He then went to the Cining Palace and said to the Grand Empress Dowager, "In order to ward off bad luck for the Empress, the palace should promote several consorts and concubines outside the usual procedures and release some older palace maids. Additionally, the Empress's younger sister has served her well and can be conferred the title of Concubine."

The Grand Empress Dowager thought to herself, The Emperor truly hates Empress Niohuru and wishes she would die sooner.

What a coincidence, that's exactly what she'd been thinking too.

The Grand Empress Dowager's kind smile was like that of a Bodhisattva in a temple. "The Emperor is merciful. This is the proper way."

Therefore, in early May of the seventeenth year of Kangxi's reign, Kangxi once again bestowed titles upon the harem.

Empress Niohuru's younger sister was conferred as Concubine Wen, residing in Changchun Palace; Lady Uya was conferred as Concubine De, residing in Yonghe Palace; Lady Borjigit was conferred as Concubine Xuan, residing in Xianfu Palace. The remaining lower-ranking consorts and concubines did not require conferment, only imperial edicts, and will not be listed in detail.

Upon learning this news, Yinreng sighed long and deep for quite a while.

Lady Uya was made a Concubine before the Fourth Prince was born, so after his birth, she would surely raise the child herself, and the Fourth Prince in this lifetime wouldn't have such a miserable life again.

Thinking of the Fourth Prince's childhood, Yinreng couldn't help but shed a handful of sympathetic tears for him.

Later generations claimed that Lady Tongjia was the adoptive mother of the Fourth Prince. They suggested that while she was alive, he lived as a semi-legitimate son, and that after her death, he became a nobody in the palace. However, that wasn't the case.

As a childless Noble Consort and later Imperial Noble Consort, Lady Tongjia basically raised the children of lower-ranking concubines and the children of higher-ranking concubines during their postpartum confinement.

For example, both the Eighth Prince and the Fifth Prince Yinqi were entrusted to Lady Tongjia's care before going to Consort Hui's palace and the Empress Dowager's palace.

When Lady Tongjia was in poor health after the early death of her princess daughter, she wanted to return Yinzhen to the side of his birth mother, who had by then been promoted to Consort De. However, Consort De had politely declined, as she was taking care of the sickly Sixth Prince.

After Lady Tongjia's death, the eleven-year-old Yinzhen was politely refused again by Consort De, who had to take care of the young Fourteenth Prince. So Kangxi took him in and raised him at his side for a period of time.

Aside from the Crown Prince, Kangxi had only raised Yinzhen for a few years, probably out of sympathy for his son.

Throughout his life, Yinzhen had never experienced true maternal love.

His biological mother abandoned him to properly raise the Sixth Prince and the Fourteenth Prince.

Empress Xiaoyiren had raised all her sons with equal devotion, so the love he received was not uniquely his own.

The Tongjia clan, on whom he had emotionally relied, had almost all sided with the Eighth Prince.

Yinzhen was always the one being abandoned his entire life.

Later research has shown that some of Yongzheng's excessively erratic behavior clearly indicates a serious mental illness.

He took elixirs and exhausted his mind and energy on government affairs until he suddenly died. Wasn't this all to prove his abilities?

To prove that he would be a good emperor, and those who abandoned him were blind.

Yinreng put away his sympathy for the Fourth Prince.

Forget it. Mental illness, who doesn’t have it? In my past-past life, I had it, along with my elder brother and many of my siblings. Not one of them was without some form of mental illness. No one has the right to pity anyone.

In short, it's all his trash dad's fault.

"Hm? What are you spacing out about?" Kangxi, who was reading history to Yinreng, noticed his son's seemingly vacant gaze.

Yinreng reflexively replied, "Father is a bad Father."

Kangxi: "???"

He put down the book, lifted Yinreng onto his lap, and held him down.

Upon regaining his senses, Yinreng was speechless: "..."

He immediately became alert, and like a kitten that had done something wrong, he clasped his hands together and bowed vigorously. "Father is the best Father in the world! Father is the kindest and gentlest Father in the world! Father is the wisest and mightiest Father in the world..."

"Too late." Kangxi sneered and smacked Yinreng's little bottom.

The sound of slapping a bottom through pants is very loud. Yinreng's dry howling was also quite loud, but it was all thunder and no rain. He howled until his voice was hoarse, but not a single tear was shed. In the end, Kangxi still had to serve his son and bring him water.

Yinreng was chugging the water from a cup when Kangxi rubbed his forehead and said, "I'm reading for you, and you still say I'm a bad Father? Hm?"

After finishing his water, Yinreng wiped his mouth with Kangxi's sleeve, but Kangxi pushed him away in disgust: "I remembered what big brother said, and accidentally repeated what big brother said."

Sorry, big brother, please take the blame. Anyway, you did say those after all.

Kangxi was both amused and exasperated: "He really hates studying that much?"

Yinreng said with the air of an old man, "It's because the tutors teach so poorly. We don't need to take the imperial examinations, so we only need to know what the stories in the Classics, Histories, Philosophers, and Anthologies stand for. What's the point of memorizing those books? Besides, the annotations in those Classics, Histories, Philosophers, and Anthologies were all written by later generations. How can we guarantee their accuracy? Better for me to think for myself. If others can write, so can I."

Kangxi flicked Yinreng's forehead with his finger: "Learning more about the thoughts of the sages will only do you good. As for understanding, what can someone your age understand? You can only memorize for now."

Yinreng pouted. In the Qing palace, princes left the inner quarters for formal studies at six. Would he also suffer the same torment as the First Prince, reading a hundred times, copying a hundred times, and memorizing a hundred times?

No, he had to come up with a way to save himself before formal schooling began.

Yinreng's eyes darted around, clearly plotting something mischievous. Kangxi was looking forward to seeing what kind of mischief Yinreng would get up to this time.

The one in Kunning Palace just wouldn't die, dragging things out until Kangxi's temper was rising. Only when he played with his son could his mood lift a little.

Inside Kunning Palace.

When Empress Niohuru found out that, while she was seriously ill, Kangxi had granted titles to the entire harem, she was so shocked and frightened that she nearly lost the will to go on. Her younger sister, who had just been named Concubine Wen, helped to reassure her.

Empress Niohuru was a daughter who had been carefully cultivated by her family. She was single-mindedly devoted to her clan, with a competitive and sharp personality.

As the second daughter, Concubine Wen had been caught between her siblings' ages. Before Empress Niohuru's misfortune, she was just the invisible one in the family, raised to be gentle and magnanimous. The complete opposite of Empress Niohuru.

Concubine Wen pleaded, "Sister, as long as you live, you are the Empress. Whoever becomes Emperor in the future will have to honor you as Empress Dowager. What are these grievances now? As long as you endure them, the Emperor's anger will subside, and we can keep a low profile in the palace. We can get through this."

Empress Niohuru wept: "What good is enduring through it? I've offended the Emperor and the Crown Prince. Our family probably hopes I'll die so they can clear the position for you."

Concubine Wen, hearing these hurtful words, didn't even raise an eyebrow.

She knew what kind of person her sister was, and she was already used to it. Besides, the Niohuru family truly wanted her sister to die. That was the truth.

"Sister, your current position as Empress is the last and only chance for our Niohuru clan to attain the Empress's title. If you go, there will never be another Niohuru Empress in the harem," Concubine Wen said calmly. "This has nothing to do with whether I will be favored in the future. The Emperor is wise and would never permit two empresses of the same surname to appear in his harem. If you want to hope that a Niohuru woman will give birth to a prince who will replace the Crown Prince and seize the position of Empress Dowager..."

Concubine Wen paused, then said with a sneer, "There are many women in the palace, and the Emperor is so young yet already has three healthy princes. Forgive your younger sister, but I have neither the confidence nor the ability to win the top spot among such fierce competition, with tigers in front and wolves behind."

Empress Niohuru's weeping paused.

After a long while, she finally asked in a hoarse voice, "Is there really no way?"

Concubine Wen replied calmly, "Mm. There's no way."

Empress Niohuru sighed: "Then I have to hold on, I absolutely must hold on."

Concubine Wen stood up: "Then I'll go and watch them brew the medicine. Sister, please rest a while."

Concubine Wen resented that her family had already arranged a match for her, yet still sent her into the palace anyway. But after the resentment, life still had to go on.

Whether out of unwillingness to see her sister being forced to her death, or to make her own life in the harem easier, she had to find every way to bring her sister back.

If her sister could just come to terms with it, recovering shouldn't be too difficult.

It should be.

Concubine Wen watched the bubbling medicinal liquid, her eyes as calm as an ancient well.

After tending to the Empress's medicine and putting her to bed, Concubine Wen refused the small sedan chair and walked back to Changchun Palace alone with a single palace maid and a single eunuch.

This was the only time of day when she could get some fresh air.

As she walked out of Kunning Palace, Concubine Wen looked up at the sky.

The palace walls were very high that the sky had been framed into a perfect square, as if cut apart from the rest of the world.

Concubine Wen watched the clouds drift into the squared-off sky, like a picture on paper.

But while clouds could fly off the canvas with the wind, she had already become a figure inside the painting.

"Concubine Wen, mind your step," the head palace maid said.

Concubine Wen withdrew her gaze, her eyes returning to their calm and still state, and walked properly toward her palace step by step.

"Big brother, watch out! There are people ahead!"

"Ah, ouch!"

"It's Concubine Wen! I'm sorry, Lady Concubine Wen, big brother doesn't know better. I, oh ahem, this, this, this lone one* apologizes to you on big brother's behalf." (T/N: in the original, Yinreng accidentally uses 我 [wǒ, casual "I"] then catches himself and stutters out 孤 [gū, "this lone one"] — the formal first-person reserved for the Crown Prince)

"Hahaha, little brother, your 'this-lone-one this-lone-one' stutter sounds like a cooing pigeon."* (T/N: Yinreng's stuttered 孤孤孤 [gūgūgū] sounds like 咕咕咕 [gūgūgū] — a pigeon's coo; the pun on 孤 [gū, "this lone one"] / 咕 [gū, coo] is lost in English)

"Big! Brother!"

Yinreng was so angry that he almost jumped up.

"Ah, ahem, Lady Concubine Wen, I'm sorry, I was too reckless. I didn't bump you too hard, did I?" Yinzhī gave a dry cough and said apologetically.

Concubine Wen hurriedly said, "This concubine is fine, the First Prince and Crown Prince don't need to apologize."

Her heart was pounding. She never expected to run into the First Prince and the Crown Prince.

The First Prince and Crown Prince's territory was the Cining Palace, Qianqing Hall, and the East Six Palaces. Why did they end up in the West Six Palaces?

"Hey?! First Prince, Crown Prince, don't run! I'm wearing flower-pot shoes,* I can't run!" Concubine Xuan cried out breathlessly. (T/N: 花盆底 [huāpéndǐ] — Manchu women's elevated platform shoes with a single central support, resembling an inverted flower pot)

She froze the moment she saw Concubine Wen there.

"Ahem ahem ahem, Concubine Wen, you're here too." Concubine Xuan straightened her clothes, transforming from a wild girl into a dignified lady, and saluted Concubine Wen with a smile that did not reveal her teeth.

Concubine Wen hurriedly returned the salute to Concubine Xuan.

Although Concubine Xuan was not favored in the palace, she was the only high-ranking Mongolian concubine in the harem, so her status wasn't ordinary. Concubine Wen dared not put on airs.

"You just came out of the Kunning Palace? How is the Empress... Empress Mother?" Yinzhī was pinched by Yinreng and hurriedly changed his words.

Concubine Wen knew that the Empress had a very poor reputation in the palace. After the news spread that she had taken random medicine and lost the fetus, both princes had been frightened into illness. Now that the First Prince was showing disrespect to the Empress, Concubine Wen could only sigh slightly inside.

"Her Majesty the Empress has almost fully recovered," Concubine Wen said.

Yinzhī's face immediately fell, which made Yinreng pinch him again.

"Empress Mother is almost better? That's wonderful. This lone one and big brother have long wanted to visit Empress Mother, but we are too young, and great-grandma said we would only cause trouble." Yinreng smoothed things over, "Once Empress Mother's health has improved, this lone one and big brother will go and pay our respects."

Concubine Wen looked at the well-behaved Crown Prince and sighed inwardly once again.

Rumors in the palace said that the Crown Prince was kind to the point of foolishness. But seeing him today, the Crown Prince was clearly very intelligent.

After exchanging a few words, the four of them looked at one another awkwardly, the atmosphere growing more uncomfortable.

Concubine Wen hurriedly made an excuse to take her leave, and Concubine Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.

She tapped Yinzhī on the head: "First Prince, you scared me to death! I've heard the Grand Empress Dowager say that the Niohuru clan is not to be trifled with. If you'd knocked her over, you would surely have been beaten with the paddle!"

Yinreng pressed his forehead and said, "Lady Concubine Xuan, please mind your words and conduct."

Concubine Xuan stuck out her tongue and said sheepishly, "Hahaha, sorry, I'm not used to it yet."

After she finished, she lifted her head, straightened her chest, and twirled her pinky in an orchid-finger gesture: "Actually, when I don't speak, I can be quite intimidating."

Yinzhī nodded: "Yes! Super intimidating!"

The two of them, one big and one small, grinned at the same moment, looking like two close brothers.

Yinreng: "..." Mongolian girls really are something else. Big Brother and Concubine Xuan shouldn't be allowed to keep interacting.

"Aren't you two going to the drill ground?" Yinreng asked weakly. "Hurry up and go, or Father will come and catch you."

Concubine Xuan immediately lifted her skirt: "Hurry, hurry! I finally begged this favor from the Grand Empress Dowager. My hands are itching to shoot arrows!"

Yinzhī patted his chest with bravado: "Let's go! Let's compete! This grandpa will definitely win!"

"Hmph, you're so young, I'll definitely win!" Concubine Xuan tilted her head up.

Yinreng: "..." You two, that's enough. In my past life, did Concubine Xuan and big brother ever interact or compete? Definitely not. Is this also a butterfly effect I caused?

No, what does this have to do with me!? I'm innocent!

While Concubine Xuan and Yinzhī had their martial arts contest, Yinreng sat in the shade with both hands cupping his chin, with the expression of someone questioning everything in life.

When Kangxi came to catch his son, he saw Yinreng curled up alone like a small ball, as pitiful as an abandoned little kitten.

"Why are you all alone here?" Kangxi picked up the little kitten and patted him. "Aren't you going to do archery with them?"

Yinreng replied weakly, "I have to prevent them from getting into a real fight, so I need to step in to mediate at any moment."

"It's not that bad. Concubine Xuan may have a childlike nature, but she wouldn't really compete seriously with a small child." Kangxi could tell at a glance that Concubine Xuan held back and was deliberately letting Yinzhī win.

Mongol consorts and concubines generally had poor skin conditions, weren't fluent in Manchu, spoke with an accent, were carefree and unrefined in temperament, and didn't know how to attend on others. Even setting aside other concerns, Kangxi didn't like them.

But today, when he saw the lively, brightly smiling Concubine Xuan, his heart actually skipped a beat.

After a year of conditioning, Concubine Xuan's skin had improved considerably, and she was now as charming as the other women in the palace. And the confident, soaring expression she wore while shooting arrows was something Kangxi had never seen on any other woman in the palace.

Yinreng, being held by Kangxi, saw Kangxi's expression and snarked inwardly, Old lecher.

Oh no, Father isn't old yet, let me change it to... young lecher?

"What are you staring blankly at me for?" Kangxi noticed Yinreng's gaze and chuckled, pinching Yinreng's cheek.

Yinreng complained, "Father, why do you always pinch my cheeks? My cheeks are swollen from your pinching."

Kangxi laughed and said, "They're not swollen, you're just fat. Little fatty!"

"Hmph, I'm still small, being chubby is a blessing." Yinreng pointed to Concubine Xuan and Yinzhī in the drill ground, who hadn't yet noticed Kangxi's arrival. "Father, do you want to compete?"

Kangxi said, "Alright. Let me show you how amazing your Father is."

Yinreng asked, "Father, if you lose to Lady Concubine Xuan, will you cry?"

Kangxi: "..."

He looked down at the wicked son, tilting his head back in his arms, then gave the wicked son's head a hard knock.

How could I possibly lose to her!

Kangxi strode confidently into the drill ground and took the place of the panting Yinzhī.

Concubine Xuan was aware of her special status in the palace.

There might only be one high-ranking Mongolian consort or concubine in the palace.

And there must be one high-ranking Mongolian consort or concubine in the palace.

She wasn't favored, but as long as she didn't court death, she would definitely live very comfortably, so she wasn't afraid of Kangxi.

When Kangxi said he wanted to compete in archery, Concubine Xuan tilted her head up, her eyes blazing with fighting spirit, just as she had on the great steppe when competing against other men.

But Kangxi's mounted-archery skills were those of a man who could fight on horseback. Although Concubine Xuan put forth her full strength, she still fell far short of Kangxi.

Daughters of the grasslands worship great heroes. Concubine Xuan, who normally never flattered Kangxi, raised her little face, her eyes full of admiring stars: "Your Majesty is so amazing! Your Majesty is the best archer I've ever seen!"

Kangxi's ego gradually swelled.

He didn't like strong-willed women, but when a strong-willed woman was won over by him and revealed a girlish, adoring side, that was different.

Yinreng tugged at Yinzhī, stood on tiptoe, and whispered in Yinzhī's ear: "We need to leave fast, we can't keep watching."

Yinzhī bent down to Yinreng's ear and said, loudly: "Got it! Khan-Father is about to kiss Lady Concubine Xuan!"

Yinreng was utterly shocked.

First Prince, where did you learn that kind of talk?! Do you want Father to beat you to death?!

Kangxi: "...Yinzhī!"

Yinreng hurriedly pulled Yinzhī behind him, trying to use his small body to shield the six-year-old Yinzhī, who, from his perspective, was practically "imposing."

Oh no! Father is so angry that he's no longer calling big brother "Baoqing," but "Yinzhī"!

"Father, big brother, and I are going to visit great-grandma. Goodbye*!" Yinreng blurted out without thinking. "Ah, goodbye means 'we'll meet again'. Big brother, run!" (T/N: Yinreng accidentally uses modern 再見 [zàijiàn, "goodbye"] instead of the Qing-era farewell, then hastily glosses it for Kangxi)

"Oh, oh, oh." Yinzhī grabbed Yinreng and ran.

With Yinreng around, that was how brave Yinzhī got. He dared to run even though Kangxi hadn't said a word yet.

Kangxi did not stop them.

He laughingly cursed, "You two little rascals."

Concubine Xuan lowered her head, her face flushed all over, twisting the hem of her dress with both hands.

When Kangxi saw Concubine Xuan's bashful look, his heart itched even more.

So that night, Kangxi stayed at Concubine Xuan's palace.

Afterwards, Kangxi visited Concubine Xuan's palace many times and gave her many rewards. Even Noble Consort Tong and Concubine Yi, the most favored in the palace, were temporarily eclipsed by Concubine Xuan.

Although the Grand Empress Dowager knew that the Qing Dynasty could never produce a Mongol Crown Prince again, it would be just as good if a Mongol consort or concubine bore a prince, or even a princess.

When she learned that the reason Concubine Xuan suddenly gained favor was because Yinreng instigated Kangxi to compete with Concubine Xuan in archery, she disregarded the rules and hugged Yinreng to plant two kisses on him. She then opened the storeroom and gave him a box of gemstones to play with as marbles.

Yinreng's eyes went round.

But after his initial astonishment, he immediately lost interest when he remembered that the gemstones couldn't be sold, and he had nowhere to spend money since he couldn't leave the palace.

He then had the palace staff turn the gemstones into chains, which were sent back to the Grand Empress Dowager and distributed to the Empress Dowager and Kangxi.

Kangxi asked, puzzled, "Why are you sending me this?"

Yinreng joked with the air of an old man, "Father can bestow it upon the ladies in the palace. Father always says that the inner treasury is empty and there are no good gifts left to choose from. Don't worry, your son will provide for you."

Kangxi: "..." He didn't know whether to be angry or touched. How could this kid be so endearing?

Kangxi did indeed bestow the jeweled chains, and his verbal edict specified that they were filial gifts from the Crown Prince to the various palace mistresses.

Even the recovering Empress Niohuru wasn't left out.

Empress Niohuru stared blankly at the gemstone bracelet, recalling the Crown Prince's kindness and the child she had lost. She felt both regret and sadness, causing her illness to worsen.

Upon learning of this, Kangxi loathed Empress Niohuru even more. The Crown Prince sent you a gift, and you fell seriously ill? What are you doing?! Trying to spite the Crown Prince at the cost of your own life?

After Kangxi grew thoroughly disgusted with Empress Niohuru, he found a pretext to have Concubine Wen stay shut indoors to copy scriptures, forbidding her from attending on Empress Niohuru any more.

Concubine Wen held the Buddhist scriptures, silently choking back tears.

Half a month later, Empress Niohuru passed away.

Kangxi, citing the unresolved Revolt of the Three Feudatories, kept the funeral simple, which was slightly less elaborate than Empress Renxiao's former funeral rites.

The Grand Empress Dowager wanted to mourn at the mausoleum, but Kangxi persuaded her against it, citing her advanced age. The funeral was presided over by the Empress Dowager.

At the time, Concubine Xuan was pregnant, and together with the similarly pregnant Concubine De, they were graciously permitted to return to the palace to recuperate after only one day of mourning at the mausoleum.

The three princes, also being too young and physically frail, only kept vigil for one day before returning to the palace.

But Kangxi himself went thoroughly through the entire funeral process, so the ministers outside the palace did not think that Kangxi had neglected Empress Niohuru. They only said that Kangxi valued his offspring.

Afterwards, Kangxi posthumously honored her as "Empress Xiao'an."

"An" signifies harmony, peace, and yielding. The Niohuru clan breathed a sigh of relief. This posthumous title preserved Empress Xiao'an's special honor after death, and the emperor wasn't blaming her for the miscarriage.

Those in the palace who knew the truth about Empress Niohuru's miscarriage also sighed that His Majesty was truly magnanimous and forgiving.

Only Yinreng's expression was strange, secretly thinking that Kangxi was petty.

Empress Xiaozhao became Empress Xiao'an, and you call that not petty?* (T/N: in real history, Empress Niohuru's posthumous title is 孝昭 [Xiàozhāo, "Filial Splendor"]; in this novel, Kangxi gives her 孝安 [Xiào'ān, "Filial Peace"], which is a deliberate downgrade. )