The Concubine of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 476 Concubine Ma Jia personally raises the Third Princess
Leaving aside Emperor Kangxi's sudden and astonishing move, just how shocked Qinrou was.

Even outside Zhenshunzhai, the entire palace was shaken!

Qinrou didn't know exactly what the process was, but everyone in the palace who needed to know already knew; those who didn't know the process knew the result and were trying to find out what happened, mainly to determine why the Emperor would have such thoughts.

Why did this happen?

The news reached the entire palace. In Xianfu Palace, Consort Dong, her eyes red and tears streaming down her face, sobbed uncontrollably, "So it turns out she can raise her own child... she can raise her own child..."

"Concubine!" The servant beside her also had tears in his eyes. Seeing the concubine sobbing uncontrollably, he was filled with worry. His mistress must have been thinking of the Second Princess again...

But all she could do was cry along with him! She had no other choice but to weep with him!

Consort Dong couldn't hear anything at that moment. Her second princess, if… if she had raised her herself, she certainly wouldn't have died so young and mysteriously!

"So the so-called palace rules are just a word from the Emperor." Consort Dong wept, like a mother beast who has lost her cub, she could only weep.

Now that so much time has passed, and the fact has finally happened, and I've learned that her child died unjustly! Endless regret and heartache linger in my heart, and I wish I could take her with me.

"Why wasn't it me who died..." Consort Dong cried out in anguish, tears streaming down her face. She wailed and prayed to the gods, saying that she would gladly sacrifice her entire being and soul to ensure her daughter's safety, even if it meant falling into the deepest hell and never finding peace.

"It's my fault! It's my fault!" She was completely disoriented, gripping the servant's arm tightly with immense strength. However, she had lost the ability to contact the outside world, and her mind and vision were filled with images of her second princess.

"Concubine..." This servant was extremely worried. The concubine's condition was truly abnormal; she was behaving like a madwoman! She was already on the verge of insanity.

In an instant, Consort Dong was filled with regret and pain. Her mind and eyes were filled with the Second Princess's laughter and cheerful voice. The repeated "Empress" and "Empress" tormented her, causing her unbearable pain. She wished she could die immediately and be free from this pain!

Overwhelmed with regret and intense pain, she forgot about the outside world and everyone else, only blaming herself and saying, "It's all my fault. If I had begged the Emperor earlier to raise her myself, everything would have been fine."

Her second princess couldn't have died so mysteriously, "so early, so early..." so early, "she was so young. So young!"

She was in so much pain she was almost dying!

"Concubine, Concubine!" The servant quickly helped her up, wanting to comfort her but not knowing how. In desperation, he grabbed whatever medicine he could find, regardless of whether it was good or not. He kept comforting her and offering suggestions: "Let's have another imperial heir. Concubine, please beg the Emperor, please let us raise it ourselves."

"Then, when that time comes!" The servant was too eager to comfort her, and his words were not very clear. He wiped away his tears and cried as he tried to console her: "Concubine, Concubine will be able to raise the imperial heir on her own!"

The concubine has lost the Second Princess, who will never return. If the concubine had another imperial heir, even if it were just a little princess, she wouldn't be left with only unbearable regret and pain.

Consort Dong wept bitterly, "No, it won't happen." She was almost dying, how could she still be alive? "It wasn't my Second Princess, it wasn't her!... My Second Princess is gone. Because of me... I wasn't a good father." If only she had pleaded with the Emperor earlier, pleaded with him to soften his heart, and agreed to let her raise her child herself, how could she have died young and gone to the underworld!
Consort Dong was heartbroken, yet she still realized this: she was not a qualified mother; she couldn't even protect her own child.

Second Princess died young because of her good-for-nothing mother. She was not a good mother, she didn't deserve to be Second Princess's mother.

This was the Second Princess's punishment for her. She deserved it! She was deserving of it.

"No, no." The concubine was almost out of breath, and the servant quickly patted her back and kept comforting her: "Second Princess is so smart and so well-behaved. She won't blame you. She's happy that you're doing well."

Consort Dong shook her head, tears streaming down her face, too grief-stricken to speak. Only she knew that the world would never, ever again, see a Second Princess. Because of her worthless mother, because of her incompetent and unfit son.

At this moment, in this place, she had no other way to express her grief but to weep bitterly!

The fact that Consort Ma Jia was able to raise the Third Princess was nothing short of a major storm or earthquake in the harem.

This sudden massive earthquake and the unexpected superstorm blew up the entire harem. Many fish in the shadows were blown out. Everyone was trapped in the rubble of the earthquake and unable to move. They were smashed in the storm and had no way to move. They could only bump around randomly. Wherever the storm took them, that was where they would go!
The Empress was utterly distraught, her soul seemingly gone. Yuan Yan, standing beside her, was filled with worry. The Empress, who thought she had misheard, trembled, her usually calm and virtuous voice shaking, "Your Majesty... what are your orders!"

The Empress's voice was hoarse! At this moment, she still hoped that she had misheard, or that Yuan Yan had given the wrong report.

She was the Empress, and raising the imperial heirs was her exclusive duty. Since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, which imperial heir had not been raised in the princes' or princesses' quarters?

Which imperial heir wasn't raised and educated in the princes' and princesses' quarters? Even the Empress Dowager, who was ranked last among the five consorts, had one son and three daughters, all of whom were raised and educated in the princes' and princesses' quarters.

Even the Empress Dowager, who was Consort Zhuang, one of the five consorts, could only take care of and look after them from time to time. She could not raise the princes and princesses under her care or in her own palace.

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty," Yuan Yan's voice was hoarse as she looked at the Empress. The Empress was always composed and dignified. Even with noble ladies like Consort Xianhui of Mongolia and Consort Niohuru vying for the Empress's position, the Empress had never lost her composure, never looked so distraught.

How can Yuan Yan possibly speak again in her current state of being so absent-minded and distraught?

However, the Emperor's decree had already been issued, and how could she, a mere servant, simply ignore it by remaining silent and inquiring? With a hardened heart, Yuan Yan repeated, her voice hoarse, "The Emperor's decree has been issued; Consort Ma Jia shall personally raise the Third Princess!"

Emperor Kangxi went to Zhongcui Palace and, while there, finalized the order of the young princesses. It was not in vain that the Third Princess came into this world. If she were to die young one day, she would have a surname and a number, even if she had no name. That would mean that such a person existed in the world.

"Your Majesty, this is because you think I haven't properly raised the imperial heir..." she said, trying to strip her of her power. The Empress's voice was hoarse; this was still considered a relatively mild way of putting it.

Yuan Yan's face paled. "No, it's no wonder His Majesty trusts the Empress so much. His Majesty... His Majesty probably thinks it's no big deal to call Consort Ma Jia 'Ma's education.' In the end, she's just a princess!"