Favoured Consort Goes on Strike Every Day: Chapter 3

Translator: Jalyss

Editor: Odyssey

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Chapter 3 

As soon as Yun Xiu finished speaking, there was an eerie silence in the hall. 

Consort De could no longer maintain her gentle facade. Her chest rose and fell, and her expression suddenly became ugly. 

Because of their similar ages, as well as them both receiving favour, giving birth to children, and having the same rank, she and Consort Yi naturally developed resentment. 

Mrs. Guo Luoluo was definitely number one. She couldn’t compare to her no matter what. Consort Yi was flamboyant and domineering. How could she be like her, who was born from a palace lady and had gone through hardships to climb to her current position?! 

Consort De had been wondering this for a long time. 

But no matter what they thought, the two always smiled when they met. The taunting between them was also subtle and never to the point of tearing their face. 

Today’s incident of wearing the same outfit made Consort De pissed off. 

She and Consort Yi were seated next to each other. When people compared the two, it was almost like looking at a phoenix and a pheasant. 

When did Mrs. Guo Luoluo wear apricot white? She must have done it on purpose. 

Consort De was still young. Once she became a Consort, she developed a temper, and she was unwilling to suffer such a big loss. 

She was just used to being cautious after all. She whispered some ‘caring’ words, thinking that it would be enough to make Consort Yi speechless. 

She didn’t think that Consort Yi would not go along as common sense dictated, and instead embarrassed her in front of everyone! 

But she didn’t dare to break her face… 

Consort De took a deep breath. She felt a dull pain in her stomach and forced herself to smile. “Older sister misunderstood.” 

Yun Xiu ignored her and picked up the teacup. 

On such an occasion, no one would tamper with the tea. The curling white mist rose. When it went down, the heat penetrated all her limbs and bones. She narrowed her eyes comfortably, and saw Consort De’s deflated appearance. She was pleased and finally let out a sigh of relief. 

As soon as Consort De had opened her mouth, Yun Xiu’s old and new grudges flooded her heart. She had no intention of fighting for favour and she was not afraid of tearing her face. 

In her dream, Mrs. Wuya could be the impressive empress dowager, but now—— 

It was just wishful thinking. 

…… 

The imperial noble consort raised her hand, then dropped it. She felt relieved. She looked at Yun Xiu with a real smile. 

In the past few months, she had not cared about Yinzhen before. She almost failed to guard against Consort De’s little tricks in private. 

How could Mrs. Tongjia swallow this? 

Yes, she did value her children more than the 4^th prince, Yinzhen, but their many years together was not a lie. 

Consort De wanted to take advantage of her when she was pregnant to fool Yinzhen, which touched her bottom line. 

Consort De treated the 6^th prince, Yinzuo, like a treasure. How much motherly affection did she have for Yinzhen? 

However, a bed-coated servant who traded her heir for the position of imperial concubine, was not satisfied and was still greedy. 

She resorted to some tricks, and Yinzhen’s impression of Consort De was much worse. The imperial noble consort still felt that it was not enough, but her own reaction to her pregnancy became increasingly more serious, and her morning sickness continued. So, she had to put aside other affairs and concentrate on raising the baby. 

Now that Yun Xiu had slapped Consort De neatly, Mrs. Tongjia was very relieved. Her prejudice against Yun Xiu had also disappeared. 

…… 

Consort Yi’s favour was something to be envied. Even the imperial noble consort was jealous. But right now, Consort De was more of a threat to her. The imperial noble consort smiled. She looked at Yun Xiu with a little kindness. 

Consort Hui and Consort Rong were all taken aback. They then covered their faces with handkerchiefs to hide their smiles. Imperial Concubine Duan and Imperial Concubine Jing looked at each other in dismay while the young masters lowered their heads, fearing that the fish in the pond would be harmed and as a result, they would be harmed. 

Why did Consort Yi suddenly change her temper? 

No, it wasn’t that she had changed her temper, but that she had become more ostentatious and unscrupulous. 

Chengqian Palace was completely silent. Only the announcement from outside sounded: “The noble consort has arrived——” 

Mrs. Niu Gulu, the noble consort of Yongshou Palace, arrived late and broke the silence. She had to apologise for this as soon as she arrived. 

“Greetings to the imperial noble consort! I ask for imperial noble consort to forgive me for being late.” The noble consort had a dignified expression, calm eyes, and a slight smile. Her etiquette was beyond reproach. 

Whenever it was time to pay respects at Chengqian Palace, that noble consort was always the last one to arrive. 

This was the unspoken rule which everyone knew. The imperial noble consort’s family dominated, and there would always be someone who would fight her. 

Both front and back palaces paid attention to the balance. 

Mrs. Tongjia was very powerful, so Kangxi bestowed the title of noble consort on the younger sister of Empress Xiaozhao in one fell swoop. He did not hesitate to reward and gave Niu Gulu’s family a lot of grace. 

There was also the crown prince’s maternal family, Mrs. Hesheli’s family. The concubine who was instructed by the empress dowager to send Empress Renxiao into the palace was now Concubine Hesheli of Chuxiu Palace. 

The current situation in the harem was firmly under Kangxi’s control. The imperial noble consort was not stupid. How could she not know? 

After the noble consort paid her respects, the imperial noble consort showed no signs of worry and smiled slightly. “You are neither too early, nor too late. You are just in time. Sit down.” 

The four consorts greeted the noble consort one by one, and then it was the rest of the concubines’ turns, in order of rank.¹

Seeing Yun Xiu’s apricot-white appearance, the noble consort was taken aback. She sincerely praised her. “This dress is unique. It suits you.” 

In the harem, apart from Noble Lady Le, the one who could talk to Yun Xiu was Noble Consort Niu Gulu. The two had some friendship. 

As soon as those words came out, Consort Hui covered her mouth and laughed. Consort De’s expression was ugly. 

She held the embroidered handkerchief so tightly that it was deformed. 

After Yun Xiu finished paying  her respects, the noble consort noticed Consort De’s clothes. She concealed her surprise. It was only then did she realise that she had poked at Consort De’s heart just now… 

It was an accident. The noble consort smiled, as if a little apologetic. 

The imperial noble consort was happy again. She deeply felt that it was worthwhile for them to pay their respects today. Her fatigue from pregnancy had dissipated a bit. 

What a show! 

“The Longevity Festival is approaching, and we need to do our part. Apart from the family banquet, there are also the congratulatory gifts… After thinking about it, I will entrust Consort Hui and Consort Rong to take care of the family banquet…” The imperial noble consort cut to the chase. 

Consort Hui smiled. Consort Rong beamed with joy. The two got up to thank each other. 

There were many arrangements for the family banquet, and it would take a lot of effort. 

The imperial noble consort was too heavy to take care of these trivial matters. Imperial Noble Consort, Consort Yi, and Consort De were all pregnant, so such good things should just fall on their heads. 

“We and Noble Consort Yu will take care of the general affairs. The selection of congratulatory gifts will be handed over to Consort Yi, and Consort De will be in charge of…” 

Selecting congratulatory gifts was an extremely easy job. If it was done well, it could still win the eyes of the emperor. 

All the congratulatory gifts in the harem were to be handed over to them to look over, so it would be clear at a glance who gave what gift and who had financial difficulties. 

As soon as these words came out, envious eyes turned to Yun Xiu, but not many turned to Consort De. 

The imperial noble consort had made it clear that Consort Yi was in charge and Consort De was just an assistant. If there was a dispute, they would naturally listen to Consort Yi. 

Yun Xiu put down the teacup. This didn’t happen in her dream. 

The selection of congratulatory gifts had always been handed over to the Imperial Household Department. 

She mulled over the situation and immediately understood the imperial noble consort’s intentions. 

Mrs. Tongjia pointing out Consort De as an “assistant” clearly favoured her, but in fact she wanted her to compete with Consort De. She wanted them to fight so that Consort De would take serious damage. 

It seemed that today’s unreasonable ‘outburst’ made the imperial noble consort look at her with admiration. 

Yun Xiu turned her head slightly and almost laughed out loud when she saw Consort De’s expression. 

She was still worrying about the matters of the congratulatory gifts, and the timely rain came immediately. 

Yun Xiu was born in a Manchurian family of martial arts, so she was not proficient in embroidery. She didn’t even know anything about it. 

In order to surprise the emperor and get first place in his heart, Yun Xiu made up her mind to embroider a set of clothes by herself. For this reason, she humbly asked Rui Zhu for advice. It took a month to embroider a semi-finished product, and it was just in time for the gift on Longevity Day. 

In order to learn embroidery, she suffered a lot. Because of her clumsiness, she pricked her fingers several times. When she was on the verge of accomplishing this task, she wasn’t able to. 

In the dream, he told her clearly that, even though she poured out her feelings, it was all in vain in the end. 

If that was the case, then why should she embroider? 

Even if she had a half-finished product that fell into ashes, she would not give it away. 

That being said, choosing a new congratulatory gift was a hassle. 

She didn’t have the desire to compete with the others and she didn’t want to win the top spot. Since it was like this, then the gift couldn’t be too shabby, nor could it be too brilliant… 

She was worried. The imperial noble consort gave her such a good errand. She divided these urgent matters. 

At that time, she would just take a look at the gift list to get an idea of what there was, then make sure that her gift conformed with the list. Wouldn’t that be fine? 

Yun Xiu got up to thank her. Her gratitude showed when she spoke, which surprised the imperial noble consort, and her smile became more cordial. 

…… 

After assigning the tasks, the imperial noble consort rubbed the space between her eyebrows. She showed a little tiredness, and the concubines shot her meaningful looks before taking their leave. 

Yun Xiu supported her waist and walked out of Chengqian Palace with a smile on her face. She looked in the direction of Cining Palace, and said to Wet Nurse Dong, “At this time, Yinqi should be sleeping soundly.” 

The great empress dowager lived in Cining Palace, and the empress dowager lived in the Ningshou Palace. The empress dowager was the grandniece of the great empress dowager. She would go to Cining Palace every morning to pay her respects, and she would not return to her bedroom until late at night. 

Therefore, although Yinqi was raised by the empress dowager, he actually lived in Cining Palace. It was not wrong to say that he was raised by the great empress dowager. 

Back then, the empress dowager had the idea of adopting Yinqi. Yun Xiu noticed it when she was in confinement. 

After thinking for many days, Yun Xiu gritted her teeth and explained the matter to Kangxi through the partitioning screen. 

Handing him over to the empress dowager to be raised… Apart from the fact that the mother and child would not often be close, everything else was beneficial. 

Firstly, Yinqi would have the protection of two great Buddhas. Secondly, it was Yun Xiu’s wish that he could stay away from the throne and live a healthy life. 

The crown prince was still young. Nothing had come to fruition yet, and no one could say for sure what would happen in the future. But, meddling with the succession of the throne? Yun Xiu didn’t have that much ambition. 

Besides, she had a faint feeling that the emperor knew about adopting Little Five and was hesitant. 

Proposing and being forced to agree were two completely different things! 

After thinking about everything, Yun Xiu asked the empress dowager to raise Yinqi. She had tears in her eyes and was choked up. 

This decision not only moved Kangxi, but also moved the empress dowager and great empress dowager. 

Since then, Yun Xiu’s favour further improved, and the two palaces were very fond of her. 

The empress dowager and the great empress dowager originally liked Yun Xiu’s temperament. Since then they took care of her even more. Their care almost surpassed the concubine who was born in Horqin. 

Surprisingly, separation of mother and child was not always the case. 

The empress dowager was kind by nature, and she felt guilty towards Yun Xiu. She visited her home and often invited Yun Xiu to have dinner with Yinqi. Therefore, the mother and son had been close for a long time. 

They were taken care of, but the imperial noble consort did not allow Consort De to get close to Yinzhen. When she compared the two, Yun Xiu was both fortunate and grateful. 

“If Consort misses the fifth prince, why doesn’t Consort go back to the palace to have a rest and play with the prince in Cining Palace?” Wet Nurse Dong laughed. 

Yun Xiu yawned lightly with warmth in her eyes. “You’re right.” 

She hadn’t seen Yinqi for a few days. She wondered if he had grown taller? 

*** 

What happened at the front of Chengqian Palace was known to the back of Qianqing Palace. 

Kangxi went down to court. He cleaned his face, changed into a moon-white dragon-patterned robe, picked up a memorial to read, and listened to Liang Jiugong’s report. 

Liang Jiugong repeated in a low voice, “… afraid that Your Majesty may be too tired…” 

After a long time, the emperor placed the memorial down. He wasn’t sure if he was happy or angry. “Your Master Yi really said that?” 

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^{1.There are many ranks to the concubines the emperor has in the harem. Depending on which part of China and which emperor, you get different names for different ranks. There aren’t really good ways to translate them to English. If you want to see how many ranks there are and how varied there are, Wiki has a summary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Chinese_harem_system↩}

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