Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

Chapter 185: Legend of Zhen Huan 55

Just when Emin and the Guwalja clan had agreed to find a suitable time to get rid of the queen and choose a suitable girl as her successor, Yi Xin also found a new fun - watching Concubine Wan and Concubine Hui compete for favor.

Outsiders all thought that Wanpin and Huipin were acting to prevent people from saying that the two sisters were monopolizing the emperor's power. But only they and Yi Xin knew that they really had a falling out.

Huipin was very clear that she had gradually become no different from the other concubines in the harem, but upon closer inspection, there were still differences.

Wanpin had completely become an ordinary concubine in the harem, so she and Huipin rarely had anything to say to each other. Especially after Huipin found out that she was given a drug to delay her period again to ward off disaster for Wanpin, she felt more and more that she was stupid for treating Wanpin as a sister in the past.

However, Yi Xin found Huipin and Wanpin very interesting. It was obviously Wanpin who was more like a scholar, and it was Wanpin whose whole family was exiled. But she didn't expect that the one who had the character of a scholar and felt that she should choose the right tree to roost in was Huipin because her parents were well at home.

Because she saw this clearly, Yi Xin believed that Huipin had really fallen out with Wanpin, instead of thinking like others, such as the Queen and Concubine Duan, that the two of them were just putting on an act and were definitely planning to secretly attack one of the concubines in the harem.

After the Dragon Boat Festival in May, good news from Junggar reached the Old Summer Palace, saying that Princess Chaogui's husband, Junggar's new Khan Mogh Khan, had gone missing, and now Junggar had unanimously decided to seek peace with the imperial court.

According to the Prince of Zhi, he wanted Princess Chaogui to return to the capital, whether she would remain a widow or remarry in the future, it all depended on the needs of the court. At this time, Mog Khan had been confirmed missing, and the internal situation in Junggar was not peaceful. The court could put the war with Junggar on hold, send people to stir up trouble, let the civil strife in Junggar last a little longer, consume more Junggar troops, and wait until the internal fighting in Junggar was over, then take advantage of the situation.

But if the civil strife in Junggar really needs to continue for a while, then Princess Chaogui would not be in a good position to return to Beijing at this time. After all, if a princess stayed in Junggar, it would make Junggar believe more that the imperial court would be cautious about taking any action against Junggar, and they would not end the civil strife quickly because of the threat from the imperial court.

The emperor had clearly decided to let Princess Chaogui stay in Junggar, but he acted as if he was undecided. He asked Wanpin, Huipin, Duanfei and Jingfei in succession, and got their advice that "since Princess Chaogui enjoys wealth and honor that ordinary people can hardly imagine, she should contribute her own strength when the court needs it." Not feeling that was not enough, he went to Yixin to ask for her opinion.

Yi Xin persuaded the emperor from another perspective: "Even if Princess Chaogui gave birth to a son for Mog Khan, the child is still young, and it is impossible for Junggar to choose an heir with Qing blood. Junggar still has the custom of marrying. As a princess of the Qing Dynasty, how can Princess Chaogui be the concubine of the next Khan?"

"Therefore, even if it is only for the sake of the court's reputation, Princess Chaogui must return to the capital."

"But I have heard that someone in the previous dynasty proposed that the princess stay in Junggar temporarily to help stabilize the situation. I cannot interfere in the affairs of the previous dynasty, but I also think that there is nothing wrong with the court officials' proposal. I am just afraid that they have forgotten that although the princess's stay in Junggar can help stabilize the situation, it actually means that she has taken the initiative to leave a hostage for Junggar."

Yi Xin felt that there were many tribes in the Dzungar Khanate, and now that Mog Khan had been confirmed missing, those who were actually qualified to inherit the Khanate had strong support behind them. If a war really came to a head, being conquered by the imperial court would be better than being completely exterminated by Emperor Qianlong in the future. You must know that after Emperor Qianlong conquered the Dzungar Khanate, he killed all the men and left only women and children.

After that, there was no longer any title of Khan in Dzungar, and only the remaining tribes that had not been conquered by the imperial court were stubbornly resisting.

But it was still the Yongzheng period, and the court's control over Junggar was not as good as that of the Qianlong period, so the emperor had decided to let Princess Chaogui stay in Junggar for the time being, and cooperate with Prince Zhi to make Junggar believe that the court had no plans to continue using military force against Junggar because of her. After the military forces among the various Junggar tribes were consumed, the court would send troops again.

Princess Chaogui was not disappointed by this. On the contrary, she felt that the court's decision would guarantee her safety to a certain extent. After all, she was now considered a "hostage" of the court in Junggar, and as one of the wives of the previous Khan, she was also a political legacy. Moreover, the Qing court was behind her.

Princess Chaogui herself agreed to the court's proposal, so Prince Zhi naturally had nothing to say any more. He just focused on training his troops so that when the war was restarted, he would not make the same mistake as when he was young and let Galdan go.

At the end of August, the Prince of Zhi returned to Beijing to report on his work. The Emperor arranged a family banquet for him in the Old Summer Palace to welcome him back. The Empress and the Emperor sat at the top. On the left of the Emperor were the Prince of Zhi and his wife, and on the right were Yi Xin and Hong Sheng. Other concubines had no chance to attend such occasions. Instead, most of the guests were princes and their wives from the royal family.

Because the emperor asked the empress and Yi Xin to discuss and organize this celebration banquet, both sides were extremely careful, fearing that they would be cheated by the other party. Therefore, the banquet was very successful. The successor of Prince Zhi, Zhang, thought it was very good and chatted with several wives of the royal family. The wife of Prince Ding also took the opportunity to chat with Yi Xin for a long time. After all, although the two of them were much older than each other, they were actually cousins.

The banquet was very successful, but I didn't expect that some people like to do something to spoil the fun when others are happy.

The empress's biological mother was from the Suolengzhuo clan. This surname does not seem to be among the eight major Manchu surnames determined by Emperor Kangxi, but in fact there are many people in the clan, and the foundation is in no way inferior to the eight major surnames.

Suoleng Zhuo was the biological mother of Empress Chunyuan. After marrying Fei Yanggu of the Ulanara clan, she only gave birth to a daughter, Empress Chunyuan. She and her husband Fei Yanggu had a deep relationship. If the empress had not been born, the couple might have had more children.

But there is no if in everything. Suoleng Zhuo was a bit hot-tempered. The empress was less than two years older than Empress Chunyuan, so there was a rift in the relationship between the couple. As a result, Fei Yanggu only had two daughters. Even his position as a captain would fall to his nephew after his death.

Originally, no ladies from outside the royal family were invited to the celebration banquet for Prince Zhi, but Suoleng Zhuo was the mother-in-law of the emperor and the empress's biological mother. She handed in a sign saying that she would come to the Old Summer Palace to visit the empress. Yi Xin didn't dare to stop her, so as soon as the banquet was over, Yi Xin was invited to Zaishui Yifang where the empress lived.