Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1019 Uncle and Sister-in-law
Just as Zhu Shenzhui was secretly thinking about Haoge's affairs, far away in Shengjing, Liaodong, the regent prince Dorgon came to a side courtyard of the Qing Imperial Palace. This side courtyard was located in the northeast corner of the backyard of the imperial palace. Few people came here on weekdays. The guards outside were all Dorgon's confidants. No one could enter without Dorgon's order. After entering the courtyard, the garden inside was empty and there were few people.

Walking forward, Dorgon crossed the garden and followed the corridor to a wing room. When he reached the door, he subconsciously looked around and made sure that there was no one around before he reached out and pushed open the door.

With a creak, the door opened. The interior was very delicately decorated. Although the place was not large, it was filled with exquisite porcelain and silk from the south. A table with eight immortals was placed slightly inside. Wine and food were already on the table. A woman who looked to be in her twenties, wearing a Manchu dress, was sitting there. She rested one hand on the table and propped her head up, as if concentrating on something. Her beautiful face was filled with a hint of sadness.

The sound of the door opening brought the woman back to reality from her thoughts. She subconsciously looked up towards the door. When she saw Dorgon standing there, she let out a light cry, quickly put down her hands on the table, and subconsciously stood up.

“Your Majesty…”

"I came a little late today, you must be waiting anxiously." Dorgon walked in with a smile, turned around to close the door, and then walked towards the woman.

He walked up to the woman, took her hand and asked softly, his eyes full of love.

The woman smiled and said in a crisp voice: "Your Highness is busy with state affairs for the Qing Dynasty. What if I wait for you a little longer? Please take a seat. I specially prepared these dishes for you. You must be tired after a busy day for state affairs. Have a drink first, and then order some dishes."

As she spoke, the woman picked up the wine pot and poured a glass of wine for Dorgon. This wine was the imperial wine of the palace, which came from the Ming Dynasty in the south. It was considered a rare good wine in the Qing Dynasty. And these wine and dishes were also prepared by the woman herself for Dorgon, with good color, aroma and taste.

Dorgon smiled as the woman poured him a glass of wine, then raised his hand and drank it all. After finishing a mouthful of wine, he put down the glass, took a bite of the dish the woman had picked up for him with chopsticks, and praised it sincerely.

"Good wine! Good food..." He smiled and said to the woman, "And a beautiful woman..."

"Your Highness..." The woman's face turned slightly red, and she turned away shyly. Seeing this look, Dorgon could not help himself. He reached out and grabbed the woman's hand, pulling it hard into his arms. With the woman's soft cry, Dorgon pulled the woman into his arms.

"Your Majesty, you..."

"Did you miss me after not seeing me for a day?" Dorgon asked with a smile.

The woman smiled softly and said, "Of course I miss you, my lord. It would be a joy if you could stay by my side for a long time."

“Hahaha, that’s a good point.” Dorgon laughed and nodded: “This is what I want, too. I can be with you forever, but it’s a pity that it’s not possible at the moment. But don’t worry, it won’t be long before I make your dream come true!”

"Really? Your Highness, I don't believe it." The woman widened her eyes, with surprise and a bit of doubt in her eyes.

"Haha, just wait and see." Dorgon said cheerfully, but there was a hint of cruelty in his smile, and there was tenderness in his arms around the woman.

"Your Highness, you only know how to make me happy. You are the Prince Regent, and the Queen Mother is in power. It is very difficult for us to be together in secret like we are now. If we really want to be together, not to mention that the Queen Mother will not allow it, it would be difficult even with our current status."

"Don't worry, don't worry. I have my own plan for this matter." Dorgon smiled and patted the woman's shoulder, whispering in her ear, "What's the queen mother? In my opinion, you are the real queen mother! It's really unfair for you to stay in the harem and be suppressed by that woman these days, but don't worry, your day of success will come soon. It won't be long before I will let you fulfill your wish."

This woman was none other than Bumbutai, the biological mother of the then Qing Emperor Fulin, the concubine of Huang Taiji, and the niece of the current Qing Empress Dowager Zhezhe.

Bumbutai married Huang Taiji at the age of twelve and became one of his concubines. She gave birth to three daughters and one son for Huang Taiji, one of whom is the current Qing Emperor Fulin. Although Bumbutai is over 30 years old now, she still looks like a woman in her early twenties as she was raised in the Qing Imperial Palace. Moreover, Bumbutai has an outstanding appearance, with both the beauty of her sister Hailanzhu and the perseverance of her aunt Zhezhe.

Moreover, Bumbutai was a very smart woman. Although she was not favored by Huang Taiji during his lifetime, compared with her aunt Zhezhe and sister Hailanzhu, she was just one of Huang Taiji's many concubines. The only difference between her and other concubines was that Bumbutai gave birth to Fulin, and this son became the current emperor of the Qing Dynasty.

Bumbutai didn't have much affection for Huang Taiji. She didn't have the status of Zhezhe in the harem, nor did she have the favor of her sister Hailanzhu in front of Huang Taiji. It can be said that if there was no Fulin, Bumbutai would probably have spent her life like other concubines of Huang Taiji, and then passed away quietly, and not many people would know of her existence.

But now it is different. As the biological mother of the current emperor, Bumbutai's status changed from the day Fulin ascended the throne, and she became one of the two most honorable women in the Qing Dynasty.

But even so, Bumbutai's presence in the Qing Dynasty was not strong. Although she was the emperor's biological mother, according to the system her aunt was Huang Taiji's empress and the emperor's biological mother. At present, Zhezhe was the real empress dowager of the Qing Dynasty, and Bumbutai was only the empress dowager in name. Except that her treatment in the harem was slightly better than before and her status was higher, there was almost no difference from when Huang Taiji was alive.

Faced with such a situation, Bumbutai was very unwilling, but she was powerless. After all, the Empress Dowager was not only the Empress of Huang Taiji, but also her own aunt. She was able to have her current position because of Zhezhe's support for Fulin's ascension to the throne. How could she go against the Empress Dowager's wishes? Moreover, Zhezhe has always been strong. Not to mention Bumbutai, even Dorgon, who controlled the government, would be wary of Zhezhe.

Talking about the relationship between Bumbutai and Dorgon, we have to start from when she just came to the Qing Dynasty. At that time, Huang Taiji was still a prince. When she married Huang Taiji, Bumbutai was only a twelve-year-old girl. In name, she was Huang Taiji's concubine, but in fact, she was no different from Huang Taiji's daughter.

At that time, Dorgon, as Huang Taiji's younger brother, was only thirteen years old, and only one year older than Bumbutai. When Dorgon was a child, he had always had a good relationship with Huang Taiji, and he often went in and out of Huang Taiji's Beile Mansion to play. Because of their similar ages, Dorgon and Bumbutai got along well, and the two children became good friends. As they grew older, Dorgon gradually had different feelings for his "sister-in-law", and Bumbutai also had a good impression of Dorgon. In addition, although she slept with Huang Taiji when she grew up and gave birth to a daughter and son for Huang Taiji, in terms of feelings, she was not as good as her "childhood sweetheart" Dorgon.

It was also for this reason that Dorgon had always been thinking about this childhood playmate. As for men, what they cannot get is always the best, so his feelings for Bumbutai changed from vagueness at the beginning to admiration, and eventually became a source of worry for him.

After Huang Taiji passed away, Dorgon and Hauge competed for the throne. At that time, Dorgon thought that if he could become the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, he must marry Bumbutai as the queen to fulfill his wish for so many years.

This would be impossible in the Ming Dynasty, but it was in the Qing Dynasty. The Manchus didn't care about this at all, and many of Huang Taiji's concubines were taken from other people, and he even accepted women who had been favored by Nurhaci into his harem. So from this point of view, once Dorgon became emperor, marrying Bumbutai was not a big deal.

Unfortunately, something unexpected happened to what was originally a sure thing. Firstly, Dorgon did not expect Hauge to come back so soon. With Hauge's return from the north, Dorgon's attempt to take the throne first failed.

Secondly, Dorgon did not expect that there were different opinions within the Eight Banners on the succession of Huang Taiji's throne, because many powerful factions were determined that the throne must be inherited by Huang Taiji's son, rather than by nomination, which shattered Dorgon's dream.

Due to these two reasons, Dorgon knew clearly that although he had many supporters in the Eight Banners and was not weak in strength, he had no chance of ascending the throne. But he was also unwilling to let Haoge become the emperor. Due to the conflict between him and Haoge, Dorgon had to stop Haoge from ascending the throne at all costs. In addition, because of Fan Wencheng, Dorgon retreated and decided to join forces with Fan Wencheng to bring in Zhezhe to recommend Fulin to the throne as the emperor of the Qing Dynasty.

In addition to the public reasons for choosing Fulin, the key point is that Fulin is the son of Bumbutai.

Because of the complicated feelings between Dorgon and Bumbutai, he naturally hoped that Fulin would succeed to the throne. Once Fulin became emperor, he would not only be able to stop his political enemy Hauge, but also help Bumbutai, allowing her to have the title of empress dowager and become one of the most honorable women in the Qing Dynasty.

It has to be said that Dorgon took great pains for love and racked his brains to do a lot for Bumbutai. After Fulin ascended the throne, Dorgon also became the regent prince as he wished, and often secretly came here to meet Bumbutai under the pretext of discussing state affairs in the palace to confide his lovesickness.

As for Bumbutai, she certainly understood Dorgon's thoughts about her. She had no aversion to Dorgon. On the contrary, as a woman, she was secretly happy that such a man could fall in love with her.

Moreover, Bumbutai was not very old, and Huang Taiji died early, so it was very hard for a woman to stay alone in an empty room. In addition, although she became the empress dowager, the real empress dowager was actually Zhezhe, and she was still a marginal figure in the harem. After the change of her identity, Bumbutai inevitably nurtured some ambitions, thinking that her current identity and status as the emperor's biological mother did not match her, but she did not dare to face Zhezhe. In desperation, the clever Bumbutai had the idea of ​​​​Dorgon, and took advantage of Dorgon's attachment to herself to secretly have a hot relationship with him, with the purpose of using Dorgon's power to achieve everything she wanted.

(End of this chapter)