Chapter 17
Chapter 17
I did not know whether Noble Lady Mei had taken my words to heart, but she obediently sent the Sixth Princess over in the end. When I heard the news, Consort Kang had just brought the Fourth Princess to visit and chat with me.
“Was this His Majesty’s will?”
“Mm.” I nodded.
Holding the Fourth Princess in her arms, she said to me, “It is fortunate that Your Highness has protected the four of us, mother and children, all these years. Otherwise, I fear I would not have been able to keep my own sons and daughter.”
I sighed. “You need not belittle yourself. The position you have today is also due to your own ability.”
Consort Kang came from a humble family. Neither her looks nor her temperament were among the most outstanding in the palace, and His Majesty’s favor toward her was thin. The fact that she had managed to rise to the position of Consort was entirely because her belly had done her proud. Two princes and one princess-who in the palace could compare with her?
“Without Your Highness, there naturally would be no me as I am today. I remember all the kindness Your Highness has shown me.”
I liked clever, well-behaved people like this. Consort Kang was very good.
The Sixth Princess had only been with Consort He for a few days when she fell ill. The Sixth Princess’s constitution was much better than the Fifth Princess’s. Though she was young, she had never been sick since birth, and Noble Lady Mei had always raised her with meticulous care. For her to suddenly fall ill now made it difficult not to read too much into it.
Noble Lady Mei went to Consort He’s quarters hoping to see the Sixth Princess, but Consort He stopped her and refused to let them meet. I sent Yuanluo to look in on the Sixth Princess. When she returned, she told me the Sixth Princess’s little face was sallow, and she looked even worse than the Fifth Princess. Consort He, however, did not seem worried at all.
After the Imperial Physician’s careful treatment, the Sixth Princess’s illness dragged on for five or six days before she finally recovered. But then Noble Lady Mei fell ill in turn.
What I had not expected was that Consort He would actually disdain the Sixth Princess for being frail and sickly, and decide she no longer wanted her. This should have been a good thing. Sending the child back to Noble Lady Mei would have made everyone happy. But instead, she wanted to raise Consort Kang’s Fourth Princess, saying that the Fourth Princess was a little older and healthy as well, so she would surely be raised plump and fair.
In the past few years, the palace had gained the Fifth Prince, the Fourth Princess, the Fifth Princess, and the Sixth Princess. His Majesty would never let her raise a prince, and the Fifth Princess was famously sickly. In that sense, it was not surprising that she had set her sights on the healthy Fourth Princess. But the children in the palace were not vegetables at a street stall for her to pick and choose from.
When Consort Kang heard the news, she panicked completely. She had never been a particularly bold person to begin with. I comforted her, saying His Majesty would not agree.
This rumor had been circulating for several days. If he were going to agree, he would have done so long ago. I had people suppress the talk, but Consort He’s side still refused to behave. In the end, I asked His Majesty what he intended. His Majesty said, “Wuyou is being raised perfectly well with Consort Kang. Do you think I have lost my mind, that I would send her to Consort He?”
Hearing this, I was relieved. Though he favored Consort He, at least his mind was still functioning. “It is just that Consort He’s side seems to think Your Majesty has agreed. Has Your Majesty heard the rumors now circulating through the harem?”
“For matters like this, Empress, you should have suppressed them at once.”
“If Consort He is set on it, I cannot handle it easily either.”
“Set on it?” His Majesty gave a cold laugh. “Tell her this: if she tries to stir up trouble again, the Sixth Princess will be sent back to Noble Lady Mei as well.”
With those words, I was able to rest easy. Yet when I thought back to how it had also been His Majesty who disregarded Noble Lady Mei’s wishes and forced her to send the Sixth Princess away, I could not help feeling that this man was far too cold-hearted.
The Sixth Princess’s birth mother had been of low status. I imagined His Majesty no longer even remembered what that woman looked like. But the Sixth Princess was also his daughter. Now, however, she seemed no different from an object: if he liked Consort He, he let Consort He raise her; if he was displeased, he used her to threaten Consort He.
Perhaps when one had too many children, the ones seen less often no longer mattered. In any case, with such shallow affection, losing one would make no difference.