Ula-Nara Ruyi the famous Lady Ula-Nara the Secondary Consort of Prince Bao of the First Rank later known as Consort Xian, Noble Lady Xian, Noble Consort Xian the Imperial Noble Consort and The Step Empress of The Qianlong Emperor dies at age 48.
...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Ruyi looked down at her belly she could no longer hide it, her dresses could no longer hide the bump and she could no longer pretend to be sick. With a small sigh, she wrote a short letter and called Souxin "Deliver this to the Emperor immediately" The young girl nodded and made her way out of the palace while Ruyi sighed and started to get ready by the time she had finished dressing Souxin was back with labour mamas behind her "Niangniang, His majesty the emperor has sent these women to protect you" Ruyi nodded and gave Souxin her hand as they made their way to give morning greetings.
As Ruyi walked several palace workers bowed and exchanged whispers, Ruyi had purposefully left later than usual as she entered the Empress's palace, she saw Hongli sitting where his wife should be. Both the Emperor's and Ruyi's eyes were on the Empress as she took in Ruyi's appearance her eyes wide with horror and her hands gripped the sides of her dress. The Fuca clan empress took a few minutes to calm herself and hide behind a smile.
"Xian gui fei congratulations on your good news" The other women all nodded and began to give congratulations before they all remembered that the Emperor was present and the room grew quiet. He then glanced at Ruyi who even as she sat with elegance and calm, he knew she was worried. "Xian gui fei has had good news and her clan has worked diligently for me with honour and respect I am pleased with all their progress and as a result, I will be promoting several of my harem".
After he spoke these words, he turned and whispered something to the Empress who nodded and looked at Jin Yuyan and gave an almost invisible nod unfortunately for her the sharp eyes of the emperor Ruyi and Hailan all noticed the exchange. As the Korean woman glanced at Ruyi with hatred before drinking her tea.
For the next hour, the Emperor and Empress entertained the women of the harem before he dismissed them all and then turned to the Empress. The woman froze and kept her expression sweet and demure, but he was disgusted "Everyone leave" and they did not one servant or personal attendant stayed with the royal couple after the emperor spoke. Hongli grabbed Langhua and dragged her into her bedchamber. "Royal mother has been nagging me about a legitimate heir so I shall give her one". His words held no warmth or care as he instructed her to undress and lie down. She watched him with hope in her eyes if she gave him a royal heir maybe just maybe he would care for her and not Ruyi. This was unlikely however as the emperor had been long repulsed by her actions and did not even want to allow this woman the joy of being a mother when she could not even love Jingsi.
The act was done without love or any passion to him it was a chore, and this was only their duty his eyes never meeting hers the whole time. It was silent except for a few groans here and there. Hongli got off the bed and dressed once he was finished. He had lied while his mother had nagged him constantly about legitimate royal heirs, he was only convinced by Ruyi's letter.
If she wanted to survive this pregnancy from here on out the Empress needed to be occupied what Ruyi was not aware of was that Hongli had been giving her the same medicine Concubine Shu had taken in their past life for the past few months. There would be no healthy prince coming out of her womb. It was harsh but Hongli no longer wanted this woman in his life.
Imperial concubine Jia screamed as she threw a vase across the room how had she managed to get pregnant? Nothing was going according to plan and the Empress had seemed unusually pale when they left. Had the Emperor said something to her? Before she could say anything else the empress's eunuch requested her presence. She quickly left to see what the Empress wanted her to do and to her surprise, the room was clean and put together however the woman who was the mother of the earth looked different. Her clothes had been changed and she smelt like she just took a bath.
"Jia pin for the next few months we should stay silent and let others make moves" Fuca Langhua was not a stupid woman if they made a move everyone would suspect them. She hoped that the woman in front of her caught on. Jia nodded and bowed before leaving she understood the Empress's words and felt a bit annoyed that she could not tamper with that woman but soon she would have her turn.
Jingsi sighed and carefully styled her hair her eyes were no longer filled with naivety but with knowledge and she knew better than to let her loyalties known in the palace. While she had stopped boasting about being the legitimate princess and eldest girl, she was not out of the woods yet. The Empress Dowager still hated her royal mother and would hate the Ula-Nara clan until someone else came along. The princess was going to start making the Fuca clan those people. Pulling on a smile and an expression of confusion she went to visit her grandmother it was time to plant a seed of doubt.
All while the princess was going along the lines of plotting for Ruyi's benefit, Hailan was sitting beside her Jiejie with a smirk. The Ula- Nara clan had managed to do some great things in the name of the emperor becoming his best pillar of support while growing. Ruyi's brother had married well and increased their family's power. Her younger brother was making all the right connections and her sister who would be ready for marriage in a few years had already gained the best possible reputation so when she was married, she would marry well. Her other siblings also did their part as the secondary branch.
The Fuca clan was now the weaker of the two and Ruyi had the best backing, as now she had come from a loyal family that would support the Emperor in word and deed. She was becoming a better Empress candidate than the current Phoenix. Things were made easier when Hailan's nephew was taken in by Ruyi's family and trained. While he had a good job, he was now moving up the ranks and understood the position his aunt was in and like her he chose the side of the Ula- Nara family. The pox would still spread but this time when Mei Pin took out her revenge the effect would be much worse.
Whoever said that the empress had to just lose her child. In contrast, they didn't like to involve children Fuca Langhua had prevented them from having children for years and then was responsible for the deaths of others while not by her hand, she was the one who gave the orders and for that, she would suffer the same fate her victims had. As the proverb said an eye for an eye, a tooth or a tooth and a life for a life. This was only fair.
