The Concubine of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 316 Seeing Through the Emperor
Aunt Chen and Qin Rou had just a few words to decide the fate of the Queen's reward. Aunt Chen was always concise and capable, and since she had already made the decision, she did not delay and went to the storeroom to find another piece of cloth and personally delivered it to the corner room.

Where is the embroiderer appointed by the Empress? There are only two concubines, Qinrou and Wusuli, in Chengqian Palace now. Wusuli has always been a coward. How could she have the courage to find an embroiderer to make clothes?

It was common for Qin Rou to not meet Wusuli Concubine in the past two weeks and a half, so Qin Rou would occasionally feel a little confused? She wondered why such a huge Chengqian Palace was home to only a concubine of Emperor Kangxi like her. Of course, this was all an illusion!
But it is also true that Concubine Wusuli’s presence is too transparent.

Aunt Chen sent the cloth over and came back soon, and Qin Rou did not ask any more questions. She was happy to be a hands-off boss and was too lazy to ask any more questions.

Aunt Chen gave her detailed instructions, and she felt relieved. She knew that one needed to have an eye to see what kind of clothes and patterns to embroider. Aunt Chen planned to wait for Fushun and the others to gain experience for a while before handing the job over to them.

Back in the palace, Qin Rou sat comfortably on the imperial concubine couch, with a pillow leaning on her elbows. The pillow was embroidered with star-shaped feather-leafed morning glory. This was a five-pointed star flower, exactly red in color. When she first saw it, Qin Rou felt that this red five-pointed star flower was particularly familiar.

Perhaps for some purpose, Qin Rou kept it and used it to make four cushions embroidered with feather-leaf morning glory flowers. This flower also has a common name, which is the five-pointed star flower.

At this moment, leaning on the pillow made of feathery honeysuckle, the concubine seemed to be quite relaxed. Xiaoman was also resting beside her, and the concubine had no objection to it.

Thinking of this, Aunt Chen also sat down on the imperial concubine's couch and became more comfortable. Then she looked at the concubine who was leisurely sitting on the couch and spoke:
"When the concubine went to Kunning Palace to visit the emperor, the Empress must have mentioned that the concubine Bila of Xianfu Palace had a miscarriage." Aunt Chen seemed to have a hint of regret in her words. I don't know if she was sorry that Bila had miscarried a royal heir, or sorry that the royal heir had finally been miscarried.

Qin Rou finally raised her eyes to look at Aunt Chen, but then she looked away. This matter had already passed, and there was no need to repeat it. So Qin Rou just said lightly, "The Queen mentioned it, and it was a pity. There are only three heirs in the palace now, the Fourth Prince, the Fifth Prince, and the Second Princess. The Queen couldn't sleep. This morning, when we went to Chen Province, the Queen's brows were full of fatigue."

Qin Rou also speaks well. It's not that she can't speak, but she just needs to see if the person is worthy of her praise and coaxing. Most of the time, she is too lazy. Life is tiring enough. If she can live a more satisfactory life, why not try to reduce the burden on her.

The Queen is different!

It is not to be respected.

However, she was not sure how much Qin Rou believed the meaning of the words. But she still said it without changing her expression.

Aunt Chen thought about it and thought that the Empress would not speak so directly at the beginning, but the general meaning was almost there. The concubine would always summarize.

Although the summary is a bit straightforward, the meaning is probably this. The Empress has always been virtuous. Aunt Chen also sighed: "The Empress has been married to the Emperor for seven years. She has always been virtuous and the Emperor and Empress get along well. The harem has not had many heirs. The Empress is virtuous and is just worried about the heirs."

When Aunt Chen mentioned the Queen, she naturally had nothing but good things to say. The Queen was the mother of the country, so who could belittle her? Did she despise herself for having nine heads and was afraid that she couldn't be chopped off?
Aunt Chen also looked worried and sighed, "The Emperor is having a hard time finding an heir."

Although Aunt Chen knew that it was impossible for all the princes and princesses to die in "accidents" or illnesses, there must be someone involved in the incident in the harem.

But roughly speaking, it is all a messy account, and it is hard to calculate. Aunt Chen sighed that if all the royal heirs were alive, the emperor would now have five sons and two daughters, but even if there were seven royal heirs, only half of them are alive now.

With precedents in place, when others looked at the four or five little princes and the second princess, they could not help but look down on them. Who knew if they would be like their older brothers and sisters and die young?

Qin Rou did not return, and Kangxi's difficulties in having an heir were partly accidental and partly man-made, which even God might not have been able to predict.

Otherwise, how could Qinrou say that giving birth to a child in the early years of Kangxi's reign was tantamount to seeking death?
In terms of a good future, having children would not win the emperor Kangxi much favor. His mind was almost entirely on the previous dynasty, and the harem could only occupy a small part of it. Moreover, if it was purely for a good future, having children would not earn a high position.

As for private affairs, after ten months of pregnancy and delivery, even if both mother and child are lucky enough to be safe, there is still the pain of separation of flesh and blood. One of the parents may lose his or her life at any time, and as a mother, one must always be prepared to bear the pain of losing his or her child.

It is even more unwise.

However, Qin Rou disagreed with Aunt Chen's words. How should she put it? It wasn't her who made it difficult for Emperor Kangxi to have an heir. How could she say this?
It is impossible to empathize with someone. Once you decide on something, you will always feel sorry for someone, so don't pretend to be sorry.

Emperor Kangxi may not have understood that there was something fishy about the difficulties faced by the heirs in the harem, but he didn't care. So what right did others have to care about it?

On the other hand, although this is the truth, the truth cannot be spoken out loud. The emperor can't be wrong.

Qin Rou did not deny what Aunt Chen said about Kangxi's difficulty in having children, but she tried to persuade him, "Your Majesty has had many children since the sixth year. Everyone knows that your Majesty is blessed with a lot of children. Concubine Bila unfortunately had a miscarriage. Perhaps in a few days, one of the concubines in the palace will announce the good news."

If the old doesn't go, the new won't come. Clothes are not as good as new, and people are not as good as clothes. Without Bila concubine, there are other... concubines, Qinrou thought very openly.

Emperor Kangxi had so many children in history. You don’t think that only those women in his harem were pregnant!

There were so many cases where there was no sound and not even a wave of water. Even if there was another pregnant woman in the palace right now, Qin Rou would not find it strange.

The little faith she had in the emperor's conscience had been shattered to pieces. It felt like she had less hope than hoping for the emperor to have a heart of his own.

Kangxi's attitude towards Concubine Bila was clearly there, and no one could fail to see it. We cannot say that Qinrou felt sympathy for his own kind, but we can only say that Qinrou, through this little bit of information, had a more thorough understanding of the coldness of Emperor Kangxi and the heart of an emperor.

Don't count on the emperor, don't count on the man. What a coincidence, Kangxi was both.