Concubine Ke is fifteen years old this year, of medium stature, although her skin is not as white as that of Sizhen, she is also quite fair-skinned, her facial features are delicate, and her smile is gentle.

Saying that he is not as suitable as Sizhen with the sapphire hibiscus hairpin is obviously just Concubine Ke's self-humility.

In the Qing Dynasty court, where Manchurian culture was unique in the early Qing Dynasty, it was not easy to wear Hanfu, which shows that Fulin favored Concubine Ke and admired Han culture.

In the fifth year of Shunzhi, the regent Dolgon told the Ministry of Rites in the name of Fulin: "Fang is the next family today, the Manchu and Han officials and people are all my courtiers, and if they want to be close to each other, if they want to make them get married, from now on, the Manchu and Han officials and people want to marry well, listen to it."

With the help of this edict of Manchu and Han intermarriage, Fulin practiced and accepted four Han women into the harem, but among the concubines were Han, only Concubine Ke was the only one, and the other three were concubines.

The reason why the Queen Mother doesn't want Sizhen to become one of Fulin's concubines has a lot to do with Fulin's lightness and heavy Han people on weekdays.

Although the Queen Mother also paid attention to winning over the Han people, it was on the basis of taking Manchu and Mongolia as the mainstream, and once she found that Fulin was suspected of putting the cart before the horse, she did not hesitate to safeguard the interests of the Manchu and Mongolian nobles.

Because she was worried that Concubine Han's favor would shake the Manchurian and Mongolian alliances, as soon as Concubine Ke entered the palace, the Queen Mother promised Fu Lin that there would never be any more Han girls in the palace on the grounds that "Manchu and Han cannot intermarry" in Taizu's posthumous teaching.

For this reason, although the Chen family gave birth to the eldest daughter of the emperor in March last year, she could not be promoted to the throne, and she was still a concubine who was not officially canonized and had no name, and she only received some gold and silver rewards.

Sizhen, who has a special identity, is by no means suitable for being selected as a concubine in the eyes of the Queen Mother, firstly, Sizhen as a concubine will make the imperial court lose control of the old department of King Dingnan, and secondly, with the status of Sizhen, a concubine cannot run, coupled with the military forces behind her, this is undoubtedly a huge threat to the concubines of Manchu and Mongolia.

Although it is said that the emperor is indifferent to the queen, the future prince is likely to be born by a concubine, according to the rules, the heirs born to the concubine have the right to directly inherit the throne, the Han people are concubines, if the prince is born, it is possible to confuse the royal blood based on Manchu and Mongolia, in order to eliminate this hidden danger, she must block the budding feelings of Sizhen and Fulin.

Seeing the birthday gift given to Sizhen by Concubine Ke Shi, the Queen Mother was even more determined in this idea.

Although like Concubine Gongjing and others, they are all birthday gifts that are taken out casually, but the hibiscus hairpin sent by Concubine Ke is obviously carefully prepared in advance, Concubine Ke is silent on weekdays, rarely interacts with other concubines, and the relationship with Sizhen is not close, she will send such a valuable birthday gift to Sizhen, most of it is out of the instruction of Fulin.

Looking at the hibiscus hairpin with red gold silk and sapphires, the Queen Mother was in a complicated mood, but she still smiled at Sizhen and said: "This hairpin is a little more expensive for the little girl to wear, but since it is a piece of Concubine Ke's heart, you can accept it." ”

The queen was completely ignorant, and said with a smile: "Speaking of which, Sizhen is only one year younger than Dong E's, Dong E's is about to be a mother, Sizhen is still a little girl in the eyes of the queen mother, this marriage is not married, the treatment is really different!" ”

The Dong E family mentioned by the queen is the concubine Dong E's bouquet, the daughter of Changshi Kajihai, who is now fourteen years old and has just been pregnant for two months.

Speaking of the pregnant bouquet, Concubine Duanshun was silent for a moment.

The bouquet is not favored, and the emperor turns over her green head card two or three times, but she can't resist the belly of others, so she is pregnant, and this news is naturally a stimulus for Concubine Duanshun and others, who have not been pregnant.

"It's not, according to the Han people, girls who are not married are pearls, and those who marry like us become fishes." After a while, Concubine Duanshun pursed her lips and smiled casually, "Concubine Ke's mind alone compares us to each other, speaking of which, Concubine Ke, you and Zhen Gege are both Han, why don't you recognize your sisters?" Two families and one family, more intimate. ”

Without waiting for Concubine Ke to respond, Concubine Gongjing opened her mouth next to her: "Concubine Duanshun, you are confused, Zhen Gege is the daughter of the queen mother, the emperor's sister, isn't it our sister-in-law, it was originally one family, how can it be said that it is two families?" ”

While speaking, she deliberately emphasized that Sizhen is the emperor's sister.

The queen mother's heart sank, Concubine Gongjing's words clearly saw something, Fulin wanted to continue to ignore it like this, but I was afraid that the concubines in the harem would turn into hostility towards Sizhen.

What happened at the queen's Qianqiu banquet before, whether it was good or not, was that someone took precautions and wanted to get Sizhen out of the palace through the hands of Prince Shuosai of Chengze, so as not to compete with them for favor in the future.

I have to let people keep an eye on it, and I can't let them chill the hearts of the Hanchens and ruin the major affairs of the court for the sake of a little woman's mind.

After listening to what Concubine Gongjing said, a sneer appeared at the corner of Concubine Duanshun's mouth: "Say I'm confused, I think you're confused, sister, if it's a family, why don't you and my birthday, the queen's birthday, don't see Concubine Ke take out such a good thing?" It doesn't matter what you give to your own family, only these two families need to take good things to make love! ”

Concubine Ke didn't know whether she didn't understand or pretended to be confused, she just sat there gently and gracefully smiling and didn't answer a word.

Concubine Gongjing covered her mouth with a brocade and smiled: "Look at what Concubine Duanshun said, speaking of which, Zhen Gege is our sister-in-law, this sister-in-law has been pleasing to her sister-in-law since ancient times, what are you jealous of?" The queen mother, you comment, isn't that the reason? ”

The more she said this, the more thought-provoking she became, the Queen Mother nodded, and smiled casually: "Don't be jealous of the virgin girl, there are a bunch of daughters-in-law in the mourning family, and the daughter is in front of them, and now there are only two of them, so naturally she wants to be more precious, Concubine Ke is well-behaved, unlike you who are childish, she is good to the virgin girl, and the mourning family is happy." ”

Jian Ning, who had been listening to them quietly beside him, suddenly said: "Concubine Ke Niangniang just gave you a hairpin, you are jealous like this, if you know what the emperor's brother has prepared for Ah Zhen, wouldn't you go crazy?" ”

As if to prove something, Jian Ning counted with his fingers and said: "The emperor's brother not only invited Ah Zhen's cousin to the palace, but also invited some family members of officials in Guilin in the capital, saying that it was for Ah Zhen to listen to the local sound, comfort and comfort, and the opera troupe sang excerpts and ate flowing water seats...... The gift to Ah Zhen is a Western grandfather clock, and every hour, a small person will come out to beat the clock and tell the time, and there will be a bird singing, which is very good. ”

She pouted: "I said that the emperor's brother is biased, and he hasn't been good to Ah Zhen for my own sister, but the emperor's brother said that Ah Zhen is the first time to live in the Forbidden City, and said that she is piti......ful."

"If any of you are not convinced, the emperor's brother has spoken," Jian Ning even learned from Fu Lin's appearance and said coldly: "Whoever is uncomfortable in his heart, give me a swallow, I can't even do this home!" ”

Does this count as three hundred taels of silver in this place?

The queen sighed secretly, remembering that the emperor was going to draft a girl recently, the newcomers were about to enter the palace, and she, the relationship with the emperor has always stagnated, a queen who has fallen out of favor, if it weren't for the queen mother is her aunt, I don't know what it would be like! Although her Qianqiu banquet is only higher than Sizhen's birthday, it is all organized by the Internal Affairs Office in accordance with the rules, and the emperor didn't put much thought into it.

The emperor is really unusual for this righteous sister...... A thought crossed my mind...... The queen was taken aback by the thought of herself.

However, if this is not the case, how can the emperor explain that the emperor is so wanton and laborious for Sizhen's birthday......

Don't say anything else, it is not in accordance with the rules to invite Sizhen's cousin into the palace, as soon as she enters the palace gate, it is she who is the queen, as the lord of the six palaces, and she can't see her own Ama twice a year, not to mention the other concubines, after entering the palace, unless you are favored, you can see your family when you are pregnant.

The emperor actually allowed her cousin to enter the palace for the sake of Bo Sizhen's happiness......

For a while, the queen was half envious and half sad!

Hearing what Jianning said, the queen was not the only one who had an idea.

What the queen thought of, the other concubines naturally thought of it, and for a while, they couldn't even laugh.

But the Queen Mother, as if she had known about this for a long time, poked Jianning's forehead and smiled: "You don't sow discord here, your sisters-in-law are not as stingy as you, the virgin girl is pitiful, your brother is right to think more about her, not to mention the emperor, even if you mourn the family, you have to hurt her more." The king of Dingnan is a loyal martyr, and she and the prince are left, and her own brother is still missing. Letting her cousin enter the palace and inviting the families of those officials in Guilin to a banquet was originally meant to mourn the family......"

After listening to what the Queen Mother said, the queen and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

After just a while, the expressions of everyone present were almost like tears and laughter.

Sizhen watched from the sidelines, and somewhat understood the reason why the Queen Mother asked her to swear yesterday: if she really had any thoughts about the emperor, she would be like these women present, take the emperor's preferences as her preferences, and all the joys, sorrows, and sorrows should be tied to the emperor's body, and she would have no chance to become a general and return to Guilin.

No, she didn't want to stay in the palace, like these women, when she heard that the emperor was good to which woman, she had mixed feelings, and there was no other hope in this life except for the emperor's favor.

She wants to be a sister, just like Jianning, to be the emperor's sister, she will always be the emperor's sister, maybe she will eat a little vinegar for the emperor's kindness to other women, but she won't really hurt her mind because of this.

Sizhen smiled, took a step back and bowed to the Queen Mother, tilted her head with a smile and said: "The Queen Mother treats Sizhen best, Sizhen is just a small amount of grass and trees, and the Queen Mother and the Emperor Hongshi are all the liver and brains in this life, and they can't repay them with broken bones!" ”