Peeping (Part 1)

  Fingering the rosary in her hand, Empress Dowager Zhen stared at Shangguan with half-closed eyes and asked after a while: "You have been serving beside Fourth Furen for some time now. What do you think of her behavior? Has she ever stopped Fourth Brother from resting with other gege?"

  Shang Nainai was an old servant who had served her for over a decade, and she was still trustworthy, capable, otherwise she wouldn't have been assigned to assist Yunzhu.

  The old nun replied cautiously: "This servant has seen that the four consorts are all virtuous and elegant, and have entrusted most of the affairs to the several nuns by their side. The internal affairs are managed by several first-class palace maids, she is a person who does not love to intervene in affairs and does not covet power..."

  The Empress's face sank, and she said in a low voice, "I've heard that she often sends food and drink to the Emperor."

  "This," Shanggu hurriedly smiled and said, "is not a regular occurrence. It's just that when the Fourth Prince is in the Qianqing Palace with the Emperor learning about state affairs, he has the small kitchen send some pastries and hot soup. Perhaps they thought it wouldn't be good to only send one portion for the Fourth Prince while he was with the Emperor."

  Putting the pearl necklace aside, Xi Fei took over the tea bowl handed by Qin Mama, skimmed off the tea foam, and her expression eased a lot. "You're quite speaking up for her, don't forget..."

  "What I said is all true, I didn't dare deceive you for half a sentence." Shang Ayi knocked her head and said.

  After taking a sip of tea, Xi Fei smiled and said, "I know you're loyal, there's no need to be so tense, please get up and respond."

  "Yes." Having grown accustomed to the trust and delegation of authority by Empress Dowager, Shang Shi still didn't want to return to Yongshou Palace. However, she also knew that Xi Fei was the birth mother of Fourth Prince, and with her son's noble status, it wouldn't be easy for her to leave Yongshou Palace. Wanting to shake off her role as Empress Dowager's ears and eyes was difficult, so she could only take things one step at a time.

  It seems that during this period, the fourth imperial concubine appears to be calm and composed on the surface, but in reality, she has never lost her dignity as an imperial concubine. Her temperament, vision, and mannerisms are all unmatched by anyone else after so many years. What's more, when people face her, they often only feel the beauty of being a woman. Such a person, if you don't follow or be loyal to them, what kind of master would you find? Xī Fēi can't be said to be bad either, but she has already devoted herself to the fourth imperial concubine... As a servant, what they fear most is being indecisive. Does the fourth imperial concubine not know that she belongs to Yǒng Shòu Gōng? She's just looking at her own choices.

  "I've long heard that Yunzhu is skilled in medicinal cuisine and health preservation. In the past, when Li Rongbao was ill and only had a thread of life left, she slowly nursed him back to health. And then there's the case of the Duchess of Lü, who was able to conceive again after Yunzhu treated her for two years... But most importantly, what about Eighth Brother? Do you know how she treated him? What medicine did she use?"

  After Fuhui gradually recovered under Yunzhu's care, Empress Xi was shocked and ordered her family members to thoroughly investigate. Only then did they discover that their daughter-in-law was not ordinary. No wonder the Emperor now looked at her with a different gaze, no longer with a furrowed brow and tired expression... If it were indeed her achievement, it would make sense for the Emperor to hold her in high regard.

  However, if medicinal cuisine and health preservation had such remarkable effects, why didn't the imperial physicians of the Taiyi Hospital come up with this earlier? Could Yunzhu's medical accomplishments surpass those of these experienced physicians?! It was likely that she possessed some extraordinary medicine.

  "This, the slave also doesn't know." Shang Ayi said anxiously, "The slave went to Qian Xi's two places, and Madame Liu looked at Master's face and was very respectful to the slave. However, after all, it's not comparable to Gu Ayi and Tu Ayi who have been serving Madame Liu since childhood and entered the palace together. These private matters, however, have never been heard of before."

  "Huh?"

  "This humble servant once received a bowl of abalone porridge from the Fourth Mistress, and it was indeed extremely delicious. As for what else was in it, this humble servant couldn't make out anything except the abalone, but it smelled incredibly fragrant, like flowers yet not quite..."

  "Oh?" Xi Fei's eyes lit up, and after thinking for a moment, she asked again, "Has her daily food and drink been abnormal?"

  "No, I just like chatting with the two princesses about flowers, tea, and beauty treatments."

  Xi Fei felt somewhat disappointed, but also knew that asking further would be futile: "Alright, you go back to Qian Xi Er Suo for now. Pay extra attention to Si Fu Jun and Si A Ge, if anything happens come to Yong Shou Gong to report. My son and daughter-in-law are still young, as their mother-in-law I still have a lot to worry about."

  "Yes." Shang Nainai replied respectfully.

  "Spring Orchid, go and get the eight-treasured red gold bangle with silk threads that I obtained last time and give it to Shang Yuzhu. Take her there as well."

  "Yes." Chun Lan smiled and backed away, and soon brought out a golden bangle.

  "Master, this... I dare not..." Nurse Shang hastily declined.

  "Here, I know you've been working hard, this is my reward for you." Xi Fei said lightly. Watching Shang Ayi take the bangle, a satisfied glint flashed in her eyes, and after she retreated, she asked Qin Ayi: "Ayi, what do you think?"

  Qin's nanny smiled and said, "Shang's nanny has been serving the master for many years. If she wasn't loyal, would the master still keep her? I think what she says is true... But it's also true that we can't get involved in the affairs of the Fourth Madame's house. The Fourth Madame must have some medicine that is very good for people, otherwise how could she save the Eighth Prince's broken body? You know how powerful the Empress's medicine is."

  "I think so too." Xi Fei's eyes shone with a strong desire, who wouldn't want to be healthy and live a long life of happiness?

  ……

  Yunzhu withdrew her spiritual power and changed positions on the cushion to continue practicing yoga under the Yulan tree.

  Since she had the space, she moved her yoga and meditation practices there, not only because it was more effective, but also because the palace was different from the Richen Mansion's Xinyi Temple. In the temple, no one would bother or gossip about what she did, but in the palace, it was different. Although she had the spiritual power to detect if someone was spying on her beforehand, she couldn't guarantee that someone wouldn't burst in halfway through. Moreover, she now had more social obligations and events to attend than before. Except for her afternoon nap, she had to spend time with two elderly ladies-in-waiting in the morning, take care of some matters related to Qianxi Second Estate, do some things she was interested in, and then deal with the occasional interruptions from two princesses, Fu Hui, and other noblewomen's wives... In the evening, there was also Hong Li, that big sticky bug... Really, she had no time left.

  No wonder the empresses of the Qing dynasty mostly died young, even a prince's consort like her who didn't care about politics and power ended up like this, let alone the virtuous Empress Xiaoxian in history who was always so cautious and perfect?! Fortunately, she had her own space to maintain her cultivation.

  It's been a few months since the grand wedding, and she doesn't know if it's because of the dragon energy she absorbs every time she has an intimate encounter with Hongli, or because her fate has merged with that of the Qing imperial family, receiving the protection of the dragon vein's energy, or perhaps due to the abundance of spiritual energy in the space, but she can clearly feel that her divine consciousness has grown much stronger. Although she was also clear and bright before, it's not like now, having a strong sense of confidence as if holding the universe in her grasp - this is derived from the strength of her divine consciousness, which has reached a certain level of discernment and capture of all things.

  Of course, now Yunzhu is also very clear that this feeling is just a reflection of her mindset. Learning has no end, and the way has no end. Her road is still very long.

  Now with just a thought, her spiritual power can be instantly released, and with the help of the abundant dragon energy in the palace, it's still possible to envelop half of the imperial palace. This is the result of her tireless game every time she cultivates in space. Every time she exhausts her spirit, she continues to do yoga, breathing exercises, and when she wakes up, her spiritual power becomes even more condensed and majestic.

  Each time she drew in the dragon energy, it was like ambrosial nectar, flowing through Cloud Pearl's soul, and after blending with her essence, she gradually felt her spirit becoming more substantial and powerful. The undiminished dragon energy was absorbed by the jade orchid tree in space, and when a certain amount had accumulated, the jade orchid tree would condense it into a purple-shelled jade orchid fruit emitting golden light. When Cloud Pearl came into contact with this fruit, she naturally gained enlightenment. Whoever possessed imperial blood and royal majesty energy could eat it to extend their reign by one year.

  This is the true magical power of Yulan Tree, transforming fate and fortune.

  She was about to get married for nearly four months when the Jade Orchid Tree finally condensed into a Dragon Energy Fruit.

  Waking up from Tu Na Tiao Xi, Yun Zhu turned around in the space. Over the past few months, not only had she become stronger, but the space had also been slowly expanding. The time within the space was gradually becoming more distant from the real world's time. Now, one day in the space was equivalent to about half an hour outside. For her, it was simply perfect, and she had gained a lot of leisure time.

  "What can be done? Are they going to take advantage of the Empress and the Queen?" They would not refuse if they asked for the jade orchard fruit themselves.

  The queen is nothing, but the imperial concubine Xi in history lived to be eighty or ninety years old, and there are still several decades until now. Can she really bear her oppression for so long? This won't do.

  The Great Qing rules the world with filial piety. On the surface, I still have to fulfill my duties as a daughter-in-law and be obedient to her... need to think of a way...

  Things have to be prepared for her, but the good Yulan fruit was given by herself, which is not convincing at all. It's simply like being an enemy, and she will also have opinions on useless Yulan fruit. Obviously, others have such obvious benefits, how can it be ineffective when it comes to her? No need to think about it, I know I'm fooling her.

  Her jade-like hands stroked the sturdy trunk of the magnolia tree, and Yunzhu couldn't help but think that if there was a kind of fruit that had an immediate effect on the surface but actually harmed one's body, it would be great...

  Her palm suddenly felt a slight numbness, Yunzhu woke up with a start, and her heart lifted her head to look upwards, a string of tender green jade lan fruit was slowly turning into water red, faintly shining with luster.

  Thinking that the Yulan tree was getting more and more mysterious, Yunzhu's heart moved, she reached out to touch the Yulan fruit, and was delighted to discover that after eating this fruit, one could become radiant and refreshed, with skin as tender as water, but this change would come at the cost of extracting a large amount of life force from the person who consumed it.

  Unlike other yulan fruits, which inherently contain beneficial energy for the human body, its function is also to transfer, but this transfer is taken by the eater himself, and there is no external nourishment.

  "Hehe." Yunzhu was delighted, and she kissed the jade orchid tree. "Thanks to you, I've solved a difficult problem." With this, she seemed to be losing out but actually gained something. It worked well, and she could leave a mark in both Yongzheng's and Hongli's hearts. However, things were only valuable if others actively sought them out.

  Empress, Xi Concubine.

  Yunzhu hooked her lips, somewhat impatient to see how they would make their move, daring to plot against her, humph.

  What she likes, she gives with a happy heart; what she dislikes, those who force her against her will are also doomed to suffer...