Eunuch Wei

  "The Emperor has arrived!" Along with the eunuch's layered announcements, Long Yitian also got down from his dragon carriage and stepped into the Changchun Palace.

  The entire Changchun Palace was filled with white everywhere, and the white sails were gently swaying in the wind, stretching all the way to the entrance of the main hall.

  Long Hui Tian walked quickly while paying attention to everything around him, although he already had all of Qianlong's memories, it was still good to listen and observe more.

  After all, he is a newcomer and unfamiliar with the place. Many things can't be seen at all based on Qianlong's memory, especially since Qianlong is a person who likes to be unpredictable, his memory is even more unreliable.

  As they entered the main hall, their eyes fell upon the kneeling imperial consorts and princes and princesses. Long Hui Tian didn't even need to look to guess that among these people, there were absolutely only a few who had truly come to mourn the passing of Empress Xiao Xian, while most of them were probably just pretending, with who-knew-what gloating thoughts in their hearts.

  With a faint glance, Long Yitian walked straight towards the elderly woman at the forefront. This should be the Empress Dowager in Qianlong's memory.

  The empress dowager held a Buddhist rosary in her hand, her eyes lightly closed, and she muttered something in her mouth. Her old face was full of wrinkles, revealing the ruthlessness of time.

  As soon as she heard the footsteps, she immediately opened her eyes. Although those eyes were benevolent and wise, they also contained a hint of sharpness. It was no wonder that someone who could survive in the harem was not a simple person.

  "The young prince greets the empress dowager." Long Yitian bowed respectfully, showing the most basic respect and courtesy due to his elders, as respecting one's seniors was also an important lesson in the imperial etiquette of Qinglong Kingdom.

  The empress, seeing that the visitor was her own son, immediately showed a joyful expression on her originally stern face. Her words were full of concern and care as a mother: "Your Majesty, I had wanted to go see you earlier, but heard from Gao Zhiyong that you were resting, so I didn't go. Are you feeling better now?"

  "It's all right, Mother Empress Dowager. The son is fine now." Long Yitian responded to the empress dowager's words with a smile on his face, as he had always done in the past, but his eyes were watching the movements of others clearly.

  "It's all right, it's all right." The Empress Dowager looked at Long Yintian's face again and again, making sure he was really all right before letting him go to offer wine in front of the spirit tablet of the late Emperor Xian.

  Offering wine and reciting eulogies, these are not difficult for Long Yintian at all. It's just that it's absolutely impossible for him to show genuine sorrow from the bottom of his heart, and at most, he can only go through the motions.

  After the wine ceremony ended, Long Yitian first sent Empress Dowager out of Changchun Palace, then turned around and walked back in. At this moment, all the consorts, princes, and princesses who could walk were here, so he took the opportunity to observe them.

  Although he wasn't interested in these harem women, even when he was in Qinglong Country, he only treated the women in the harem as tools for having children. However, he still needed to have a basic understanding of them, after all, not every woman had the qualifications to bear his children.

  Compared to the imperial consorts, Long Yitian actually valued these princes more. They were all sons of the emperor and had a chance to inherit the throne because in Qinglong Country, there was never a rule that required the eldest son to succeed, and he had never thought that way either. The throne had always been taken by whoever was capable.

  If it weren't for his sons being incompetent, he wouldn't have tried every means to force his imperial brother, ultimately leading his imperial brother down the path of rebellion.

  Those nobles, officials and attendants all looked away, even a glance at Long Huitian was not forthcoming, his gaze only lingering on those consorts and concubines.

  Xiang Gui Fei was the daughter of Saren Nalubu, a Manchu of the Plain Yellow Banner. She had inherited the typical characteristics of her people: she was serious and dignified, steady and composed, with the demeanor of a superior person. Although she held the rank of Imperial Noble Consort, she remained childless.

  Pure Consort Su was the daughter of Su Zhaonan, a true and proper Han woman. Her appearance naturally followed the traditional characteristics of Han women, belonging to the delicate and tender type, only her complexion looked somewhat unhealthy, probably due to some underlying illness.

  Jiafei Jin Jia was the daughter of Shangyuan Sanbao, her brother was the Minister of Personnel Jin Jian. When she entered the palace, she was a package clothing of the Bordered Yellow Banner, and from the root, she was also a Han person, but later when she was promoted to be a consort, she was lifted to the banner. She is similar in appearance to Consort Chun, only that she is currently pregnant, which greatly discounts her delicate and gentle posture.

  Yū Pín Kē Lǐ Yuè Tè Shì is the daughter of ér Jí Tú, a member of the imperial family. Although she is a Manchu, she lacks a bit of heroic spirit and has a softer side, with every move being low-key, forming a sharp contrast with the deliberate showiness of Pure Consort and Noble Consort.

  Shu Sheng was the daughter of Yung-shou, a minister of the Imperial Household Department. She belonged to the Manchu Plain Yellow Banner and was not particularly good-looking. It can be seen that she had some ability since she could enter the palace and was granted the title of Consort.

  After roughly looking around, Long Yitian only had a good impression of Xian Gui Fei. The other consorts, more or less, all had flaws that he picked out at a glance. No wonder, who let him live for over 300 years? His discerning eye was exceptionally strict and sharp, his requirements were not ordinary high.

  Long Hanyan had just turned his head to carefully observe the few brothers when he was interrupted by a heartbreaking cry, which made him extremely uncomfortable; moreover, what he hated most was the sound of women crying, which would make him uncontrollably want to kill.

  He had just arrived here and caught up with the Queen's death, and he was already very helpless. Standing here listening to these women's crying and sobbing voices, he could endure it for a while, but this one loud wail directly made the fire in his heart surge up at once.

  He took a deep breath and turned his head to look at the coffin of the empress, only to see a woman in mourning clothes kneeling on the coffin, crying uncontrollably.

  The woman was just lightly made up, with delicate eyebrows and eyes, a small and exquisite nose and mouth, and a slender waist like a willow in the wind. From head to toe, she had the elegant bearing of a Jiangnan woman. And now, with tears welling up in her eyes and her face on the verge of tears, she was truly a pitiful sight.

  After a moment of careful recollection, Long Yitian finally remembered that this person should be Wei Shi, the senior palace maid who served beside Xiaoxian.

  He was used to the affairs of the harem and never fell for this kind of thing. Whether he was cold-hearted or uninterested in women, one thing was certain: he had no feelings for women.

  Seeing Wei Shi using such a shameless method to attract the emperor's attention, the concubines kneeling beside her were all secretly grinding their teeth while pretending to cry, and they must have scolded Wei Shi countless times in their hearts, but since Long Hui Tian was still present, they could only continue to play the role of filial daughters-in-law.

  Long Hanyan had been watching the reactions of all the concubines, and in his heart, he had some thoughts about Wei Shi, but it wasn't romantic feelings. Rather, it was as if he had discovered an interesting toy, and even the way he looked at Wei Shi underwent a subtle change.

  Wei cried and suddenly couldn't catch her breath, and fainted. At the same time, the concubines were so angry that they wanted to twist off their handkerchiefs, while He Jing, who was kneeling beside her, showed a moved expression towards Wei.

  Long Yintian took all this in but said nothing, and instead ordered a nearby palace maid to escort Wei Shi out, then ordered Gao Wuyong to go summon the imperial physician, while he followed behind several palace maids into the side hall of the Changchun Palace.

  Long Hui Tian didn't know if his actions today were appropriate, but one thing was certain: those consorts must have hated Wei Shi to the bone. They had actually dared to seduce the Emperor in front of Empress Yuan's spirit tablet! With such audacity, cunning and methods, if placed within the harem, it would likely give rise to another High Consort.

  "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty." The imperial physician, who had rushed over in a flurry, immediately knelt down and paid his respects to Long Yitian with a deep bow, his heart filled with more fear than reverence. Who made Long Yitian's face so cold that it was frightening, the physicians were all nervous and apprehensive.

  "No need for courtesy, go and take a look at the Wei family." Long Yitian stood by and observed these imperial physicians, comparing them one by one with the people in Qianlong's memory. Afterwards, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly, this Qianlong really wasn't good at recognizing people.

  Among the three imperial physicians, except for Zheng Taigong, the other two are sycophants who only care about flattering and deceiving others. Although their medical skills are not bad, their character is not good either. If something really happens, they will definitely try to shirk responsibility.

  After finishing the pulse, Hu Taishan immediately reported back: "Report to Your Majesty, Wei Shi is only temporarily gas-deficient and over-thinking with grief, so she fainted, but there's no major problem. She just needs to take a few doses of tonifying medicine and rest for a day or two to recover."

  The imperial physician's words sounded plausible, but in reality, Long Yitian understood that the doctor's implicit meaning was that Wei Shi had no illness at all and was just pretending to be sick.

  Long Hui glanced at Wei Shi who was still unconscious with a faint smile, and sneered in his heart: "The play is quite realistic, it's also considered to have some skills."

  Just as the imperial physician had just withdrawn, Wei Shi slowly came to. The timing was perfect, but it made others unable to detect any flaws, except for Long Hui Tian.

  "Your Majesty!" Wei was shocked when she saw Long Yitian, and immediately wanted to get out of bed to pay her respects: "The slave greets Your Majesty..."

  Long Hui Tian directly raised his hand and gently pressed Wei Shi back onto the bed, his words laced with a hint of sorrow as he said: "It's truly hard on you to be so devoted and concerned about your master. Alas... I never thought that Xiao Xian would leave this world like this, leaving behind only this one daughter, He Jing. I am really..."

  "Your Majesty, the empress's spirit in heaven would not want you to be so sorrowful either... and now, Princess Jing is left with no one to rely on but Your Majesty..." As she spoke, Wei Zifu's eyes were once again filled with tears, her grief and thoughts overflowing.

  "Is that so..."

  Longyan Tian started chatting with Wei Shi, one sentence at a time, the topic naturally revolved around Empress Xiaoxian and Princess Hejing, only he was skillfully drawing out Wei Shi's words, after all, many small things in daily life were not paid attention to by Qianlong, but it is often the case that small things accumulate and become big things.

  Wei was trying every means to entice Long Yitian, even if she couldn't get into his bed, she wanted to leave a good impression on the emperor's heart. Moreover, she knew that the emperor had been particularly fond of Gao before, so in her words and deeds, she intentionally or unintentionally imitated one or two things, but the topic was always around Empress Xiaoxian, showing how deep her mind was.

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