My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 55: Standing Up for the Stepmother

"Greetings to Enie."

When Hongli came to the Fourth Lady and saluted her, she asked him to stand up and took his hand as they left Yongshou Palace.
"Accompany Enie to pay respects to your Khan Mafa, and then go together to pay respects to your grandmother."

Because the memorial ceremony for the late emperor was still in progress, and according to the etiquette notes for the memorial ceremony for the late emperor set by the Ministry of Rites, Hongli still had to go to the Qianqing Palace with the Fourth Lady to cry for a while before he could go to pay his respects to Concubine De.

"Whoo!"

Then, Hongli heard from the Fourth Lady that Hongshi and Hongzhou had come to pay their respects to her.

Because she wanted Hongli to sleep a little longer, she didn't send anyone to the back hall to wake him up, nor did she see Hongshi and Hongzhou, so she asked Hongshi and Hongzhou to kneel down and pay their respects.

Hongli also realized the meticulous care that his legitimate wife gave him, and she truly treated him as her own legitimate son.

of course!

Hongli knew that this was because he had made his legitimate wife and Yongzheng see his value, otherwise it would have been impossible for them to show such deep maternal love so quickly.

However, when Hongli and his wife just came out of Yongshou Palace and entered the Xianhe Right Gate of the West Six Palaces Corridor, Hongshi suddenly appeared in front of him and his wife.

Hongshi knelt down respectfully and said, "Greetings to my mother!"

The Fourth Lady was startled and couldn't help but touch her chest. Frowning, she asked, "Hongshi, why are you still here? Didn't I tell you to kneel down and pay your respects?"

"I'm afraid you're too heartbroken, so I've been wanting to see you. Also, I recently acquired a batch of top-quality hibiscus incense, even better than what you use for your home, and I wanted to bring it to you as a tribute. In my opinion, only someone as noble as you is worthy of using these incense. Please accept them."

After Hongshi said this, he took out an exquisite Rao kiln porcelain incense box from his body and held it above his head, very pious.

Seeing this, Hongli couldn't help but sigh, thinking that Hongshi had really changed and started to work hard to please the Fourth Lady, the Queen. Unlike before, he was too lazy to get close to even his biological father, so he was only superficially respectful to the Fourth Lady, his biological mother.

"That's it!"

"It's rare for you to be so filial."

Since one should not hit a smiling person, the Fourth Lady asked Hongshi to stand up and let Chen Shishun accept the incense box.

Hongshi thanked him, and after Hongli bowed to him, he smiled and supported him: "Fourth brother, there is no need to be like this. I am both envious and grateful that you can be so filial to your mother."

After Hongshi said this, he personally supported the Fourth Lady's other hand, half bent over, and gently reminded her: "Er Nie, be careful, the snow has just melted, and the ground is still very slippery."

Hongli could only laugh it off, and let the Fourth Lady hold his hand, thinking to himself that Hongshi was actually a man of character, who would not hesitate to humble himself and curry favor with the powerful when necessary.

Although he knew that he had to be worldly-wise in a society of power, he was not as open-minded as Hongshi because he had not been blessed with much interpersonal relationships in his previous life.

He only succeeded in standing on Yongzheng's side in advance based on his familiarity with history, and by the way, he relied on his understanding of Kangxi and the knowledge of a great man who slayed the dragon to mobilize the masses. By solving the health and refugee problems in the capital, he gained the reputation of a good saintly grandson and got the opportunity to be raised by the Fourth Lady herself.

Otherwise, Hongli felt that he might still be a nobody like Hongzhou.

But what Hongli was curious about was that Hongshi was only starting to flatter him now, and he didn't know if it was too late.

After all, he had already taken the lead.

She was raised by the future queen, the Fourth Lady.

Even the future Empress Dowager, Concubine De, began to use his reputation as a good grandson to convince herself that the new emperor was the fourth son and not the fourteenth.

Hongshi didn't think about whether it was too late.

He only knew that he should be a little butterfly that would wander around and watch, and he should dance in front of the most beautiful flower.

Even if you have to fly back when you find that a flower you missed suddenly blooms the most beautifully, it doesn’t matter.

Soon, Hongli and Hongshi accompanied the Fourth Lady to the Qianqing Palace, and then to the Yonghe Palace.

Although it was still dawn, there were already many people coming and going on the palace road, all paying their respects to various places.

Even the concubines of the late Emperor Kangxi got up earlier than them because they had to pay their respects to Concubine De.

By the time Hongli and his entourage arrived at Concubine De's Yonghe Palace, it was already completely bright. "Please stay, Concubine De, and the two princes. Concubine De said she is discussing matters with the other ladies, and no one else is allowed to enter."

But when Hongli and his entourage arrived at Yonghe Palace, they were stopped by Tan Li, a eunuch sent by Concubine Rong to guard the door.

When Hongshi heard it was Concubine De's order, he spoke first, very restrainedly asking, "Could you please inform me? My mother and I have come to pay our respects. You can't just leave us waiting outside like this. It's freezing cold, and today is the winter solstice."

talking.

Hongshi took out a silver ingot from his sleeve and wanted to give it to Qin Li.

Qin Li refused, knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Please forgive me, my wife and my brother. Our master's rule is that we cannot report to you during a meeting!"

Hongli saw that the Fourth Lady had frowned at this time.

He knew that this involved a struggle for power.

Logically, Yongzheng was already the emperor, and the Fourth Lady, as Yongzheng's legitimate wife, should have been the master of the six palaces.

No one in the six palaces could keep her out of the harem's decision-making circle.

The harem should not still be ruled by Kangxi's concubines.

This also relates to whether Yongzheng's imperial power is recognized by the harem.

Because as long as Yongzheng was truly accepted by the harem as the new emperor, the harem would have to accept the Fourth Lady as the new mistress of the harem.

Now, if the Fourth Lady retreats even a little, she will take a step back in her advancement of power and appear cowardly. This will not establish her authority as the master of the six palaces, and will also indirectly affect the views of the harem and even the outer court on Yongzheng.

Hongli didn't know whether the Fourth Lady was afraid of Concubine De or was suppressed too harshly by Yongzheng in Prince Yong's Mansion. Therefore, although she was quite commendable in terms of virtue, she was not as domineering as the Eighth Lady when it came to fighting for her own power.

For this reason, Hongli felt that he should stand up for the Fourth Lady in the name of filial piety and upholding his mother's dignity, instead of being like Hongshi who was afraid of offending Concubine De and did not dare to fight for the Fourth Lady's rights in time.

Anyway, in this era, etiquette is more important than law. If a filial son kills someone for his parents, he will not only not be killed, but will also be commended.

Therefore, he was not to be blamed for standing up for his stepmother, and no matter how angry Concubine De was, she could not be angry with him openly.

Snapped!
Therefore, Hongli directly picked up Tan Li and slapped him with one palm, knocking the eunuch Tan Li's hat off and making his face blush.

"You bastard slave! Stop trying to bully others. Grandmother Consort has already said that all matters in the harem are completely under the control of my mother. She asked you to stop others, but not my mother, and there's no need for you to report it. How can a palace slave stop the Empress?"

Hongli deliberately shouted loudly so that Concubine De could hear it.

Because he also had another worry, that some of Kangxi's concubines would really oppose Yongzheng's succession to the throne and try to put pressure on Yongzheng in front of Defei, instigating Defei to prevent them from sending people to pay their respects to Yongzheng, thus embarrassing Yongzheng.

Qin Li was beaten so hard that he was completely stunned.

Hongshi was also confused.

The Fourth Lady was slightly stunned, then smiled at Hongli.

As Hongli had expected, Kangxi's Rong Fei was at De Fei's place and said to her, "Sister, we are here for no other reason than to ask for your opinion on whether we should send someone to pay respects to the new emperor. If we don't ask you first, we will send someone, but we are afraid you will be unhappy."

Just as De Fei was about to speak, she heard Hong Li's loud voice scolding outside, and asked, "What's that sound?"

"The Fourth Master beat Tan Li, who was beside Concubine Rong, and told him that he shouldn't have stopped the Fourth Lady. He said that you had already agreed to hand over the harem to the Fourth Lady, and that he had no reason to stop the Empress."

At this time, someone beside Concubine De came in and replied.

Rong Fei's expression changed after hearing this. She looked at De Fei and asked, "Is this true?"

Concubine De smiled wryly, "That's true. Tan Li beside you really doesn't know the rules. How could he stop the mistresses of the six palaces? Could it be that because the emperor hasn't held his coronation ceremony yet, he won't recognize the new emperor, and because the empress hasn't been conferred the title ceremony yet, he won't recognize the new mistress of the harem?"

Just yesterday, after listening to Hongli, she decided to accept the reality that Yongzheng was the new emperor, follow Kangxi's last wishes, and ease the relationship between Yongzheng and the Fourteenth Prince. Naturally, it would be inappropriate for her to deny Hongli's words that she had handed over power to the Fourth Lady at this time.

Because if she did not accept the Fourth Lady as the master of the harem, it meant that she was still unwilling to accept Yongzheng as the new emperor.

(End of this chapter)