The Concubine of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 359: Lamenting "Loyal Servant"

The group arrived at the west side hall of Xianfu Palace. The room was decorated with white. The three servants around Concubine Bila, a palace maid and two young eunuchs, were kneeling in front of Concubine Bila's coffin, burning paper for their master and crying sadly...

"Concubine Bila does have a few loyal servants!" The concubines in the palace have no children. They are helpless, thin and empty. They are lonely in life and death.

Everyone comes alone and goes alone, so naturally there won't be any treatment like descendants burning paper and keeping vigil for them!

But most people believe in incense and regard the afterlife as extremely important. They care more about gaining fame during life and after death than about what they did not gain during life.

Therefore, in such a situation, once the concubines passed away, only the close servants could burn more paper money for their old masters and shed more tears, so that their old masters would not look so desolate when they left.

Concubine Liu couldn't help but feel sad, as she had lost another sister in the palace. Now, looking at the three personal palace servants beside Concubine Bila crying sadly!

Who knows who will be unlucky in the future? If it is her turn, I wonder if her funeral will be as grand as that of Concubine Bila.

Look at others and think of yourself! Thinking about herself and the personal servants around her, Concubine Liu couldn't help but feel sad.

"I don't know how much truth there is in this sorrow!" Concubine Nimacha also glanced at the three servants crying in front of the coffin, then turned to talk to Concubine Liu and said, "Concubine Liu, instead of thinking so much, you'd better be smart and live a long life. You have enjoyed all the blessings you should have in life, and your reputation after death is not that important."

Nima Cha was also a concubine of the Manchu Eight Banners, and she looked down on the concubines of the Han Banners. But she understood this truth. In the palace, everyone was happy and everyone was unhappy. Why bother to make things difficult for others?

So she didn't say anything even if she didn't like them. They had their own circle, they were dutiful and sensible, and there was another characteristic associated with that, that is, they were not favored. So they were not so annoying and disliked.

Nima Cha Shufei is even more open-minded. She believes that all the grandeur and respectability are just empty talk. The real thing is to live and enjoy life in a down-to-earth way. This is consistent with Qinrou's philosophy.

She just wanted to live a good life while she was alive; as for after death, she would have no problem with her ashes being fed to dogs, let alone an undignified funeral.

As long as the dog doesn't get sick from eating it, it's fine.

After I die, who cares if there is a flood? It has nothing to do with me. I don't feel anything.

"Nimacha Concubine should be more open-minded." Concubine Liu disagreed. How could it not be important? The end of life is the last trace of a person in the world, so the more grand and solemn it is, the better.

That way you won't end up being a wandering ghost! When you die, you will return to your roots. The suffering of being homeless and wandering around is because you have committed great sins and have nowhere to go.

However, Concubine Liu disagreed and would not argue with Concubine Nimacha.

Concubine Liu was very cautious and would not argue or make enemies with the people in the palace. Concubine Nimacha could hear the disapproval in Concubine Liu's cautious tone. It was hard to persuade a damned ghost with good words. Everyone had their own inherent persistence and could not be changed with a few words.

After all, it was because she was born under the Manchu military flag! It didn't matter whether she would be nameless or infamous after her death, as she looked at the grand rebirth.

Reputation; that is what the Han people value. In the early years, the Manchus relied on wives and concubines, and the father died and the son inherited the family, and they lived well. If they really cared about it, they would have lost their dignity long ago.

If you don't agree, there's no need to talk too much! This is the situation between Nima Cha Shufei and Liu Shufei. Even if one of them sighs casually and the other deliberately gives in to please, they just can't agree.

"Sister Liu and Sister Nimacha both have their own reasons." Yin interrupted and said, "We are all unlucky people. We are not lucky enough to give birth to one or two children. Things in the world are unpredictable. Maybe one day we will be gone. At that time, we won't even be worthy of someone to break pots and burn paper. At that time, all we can count on is the servants around us to be loyal, cry a few more times for us, shed more tears, and burn paper money for us."

As for my mother's family, don't daydream about it. Once you enter the palace, it's like entering a deep sea. From then on, Xiao Lang is just a passerby. The same is true for my mother's family. The last time I saw them before entering the palace, that was the last time I saw them in this life. For the rest of my life, I will never see them again! Live and die on your own.

The palace is a good place to go; but it is not a good place to go. Fortunately, once you are selected, it will benefit your family and clansmen, and within two or three generations, you will have a good reputation in the whole area. If you tell others, everyone will look up to you, the imperial concubine!

Unfortunately, once you enter the palace, life and death are determined by fate. How can someone easily obtain favor and offspring, which are so difficult to overcome? For the rest of your life, you will be alone and helpless, drifting and scattered. One day, you will close your eyes and lift a thin coffin, and that will be the end of your life.

Concubine Yin also understood that as a half-slave concubine, the only thing they could count on was the servants who served them. Instead of counting on the royal heir, it would be better to count on a hole in the sky, and you would rise to the top faster!
Concubine Yin had no hope. Pregnant and giving birth to an heir? She was not worthy. How many people in this palace had failed in the attempt to have an heir?

Concubine Liu was silent for a while. Concubine Yin's words touched her heart. "Sister Yin is right. If something bad happens to people like us someday, we can only hope that the servants around us will burn more incense and cry more sincerely. Then our trip will not be in vain."

Concubine Liu looked at the coffin in front of her and thought of Concubine Bila lying in the coffin. People with good fortune but no destiny, people without blessings, cannot receive blessings even when they come. If the heir in Bila's belly was fine, how could Concubine Bila end up like this?

It can only be said that Concubine Liu underestimated the coldness of the emperor, the grand empress dowager, and the empress dowager!
Qinrou listened to them talking about their affairs after death while they were still alive. It was possible that the heir in Concubine Bila's belly was destined not to be born from the beginning.

As for Concubine Bila's personal servants, they were crying so sadly now, and I don't know if it was because of their own wrongdoings.

The Fifth Prince had only been ill for a short while when Concubine Bila suffered a hemorrhage... There had been rumors before that Concubine Bila was destined to kill the Emperor's heir.

Those who didn't believe it before will probably believe it now that the Fifth Prince is ill! It is better to kill someone by mistake than to let him go.

As a close servant of Concubine Bila, how could he not know everything? Even if he didn't know the whole story, he could still guess a little.

The crying now may not be for myself. Some thoughts really cannot appear. Once they appear, they will keep lingering in the mind until a result is found.

Because of that unspeakable thought, ever since she stepped into the west side hall of the rear hall of Xianfu Palace, Qinrou's gaze occasionally fell on the three personal servants of Concubine Bila.