Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 438 The Dowager Consort
I am a former resident of the Xingwang Mansion.

My father was a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) from Luzhou. During his lifetime, he served as the prefect of Jiangling. However, he later made some mistakes in his post and faced imprisonment. It was my father, Lord Jiang, who was the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who spoke up for him and ultimately saved his official position. He was demoted to the position of county magistrate in Lingnan.

I was fourteen years old at the time and unmarried. The prospect of a marriage with a suitable family from an official family was naturally dashed.

When Princess Jiang saw my father off, she felt sorry for me and told him that she wanted me to stay in the palace to serve the prince together. I wonder if my father and mother felt wronged.

As the late emperor's son and the current emperor's younger brother, Prince Xing received constant favor. Even as a concubine in his palace, he was far superior to ordinary concubines of the imperial family, and for me at the time, this was already a great favor.

We cannot disagree.

My parents did it to provide me with a place to live, and I did it to repay the princess's kindness.

The prince was twelve years older than me, and the princess was ten years older than me; in my eyes, they were practically elders. When I first entered the manor, the prince only had one secondary wife and one lady by his side.

Not long after I entered the palace, the princess became pregnant with our second son. She and the prince were very happy and said I was a lucky star.

A year later, the second wife passed away. Not long after, I also gave birth to the third son of the king, and was thus promoted to the second wife, and given the title "Yi".

Sadly, my child died at the age of five, and I have not been able to conceive again since.

However, I have no regrets. After my father completed his two terms, he was transferred back to Jiangxi to serve as the prefect. My mother and younger brother are both well. Unlike ordinary princes and nobles, the prince did not often gather with others for entertainment. The princess was also very kind. They often composed poems and painted together.

The conflicts and disputes that often circulate in other people's homes are almost nonexistent in our Prince's Mansion.

They would always take us with them when they went out for outings and picnics. I and Liangcifei, who later rose to power by giving birth to the little princess and came from a commoner background, were both very satisfied.

That year, the Queen was seriously ill and needed to rest. She had been personally taking care of the eldest and second sons of the King, so she entrusted the four-year-old Crown Prince to my care.

This shows how much trust they have in me. I have taken care of everything for the Crown Prince with all my heart, and I have been doing so for six years.

When the Crown Prince was ten years old, the Queen returned, and he went back to his birth mother's side, but he still trusted me and was close to me.

The prince died at the age of forty-four. Not two years later, the emperor also passed away, and the heir was brought into the palace by the court officials to inherit the throne.

Because of the issue of succession, an event that shook the court and the country occurred that year. The deceased prince became the "Xingxian Emperor", the princess became the "Xingguo Empress Dowager", and I was also honored as the "Yi Taifei".

After entering the palace, I stayed with the Empress Dowager in the Cining Palace. I never expected that I would have the privilege of witnessing the Emperor's entire life.

In the early years of his administration, he made significant achievements, eliminating treacherous officials, stabilizing the court, restoring farmland, reducing taxes, and never relaxing his emphasis on border defense until his death.

However, he should never have believed in the art of "immortality," and he was extremely unfortunate to have met and given important positions to Yan Song and his son.

I live deep within the inner palace and have never heard of the affairs of the previous dynasty. But that year, the war in the northwest was a great defeat. The emperor, against all odds, decided to send Shen Bo to lead the army. Before the army was sent out, that boy from the Shen family came to my place.

The child I'm referring to is Qin, Shen Bo's wife.

Qin's father and my father had a deep friendship. From the time I entered the capital and the palace, I started catching up with her, but it wasn't very obvious to outsiders.

She told me a lot about her life, from the court to the provinces, and although she didn't mention a word about her reluctance to part with her husband who was about to go to war, I could tell.

After that, I had Li Quan tell me about things happening outside from time to time, and I also frequently summoned Lady Qin to the palace to speak.

At that time, the Yan family held a very high position in the emperor's heart. When the Yang family was murdered, I had eunuchs blend into the crowd to take a look and also asked them to secretly do their best to give the women of the Yang family a final moment of dignity. I felt that the Yan family had committed such a great sin outside of the emperor's control, and that one day it would backfire on the emperor.

That's the child I raised with all my heart and soul. I can't just stand by and watch him be harmed.

But I, a woman in the inner palace, cannot interfere in court affairs. What else can I do?

That year, Madam Qin passed away.

I had someone bring her and Shen Bo's child to the palace. The child, who was only eight years old, was so thin and small that it was completely disproportionate to his age.

I had the eunuch contact the Shen family's steward, then I sent a few loyal men to the Shen residence, and later, I sent a letter to Shen Bo.

I believe Shen Bo should take responsibility for raising his child, but he is worried that the child will not accept him.

His fears were justified; the child was completely immersed in the grief of losing his mother and had also transferred some of his hatred for the Yan family onto his father.

Later, Mr. Chong became a secret between me and Shen Bo.

Later, when I learned that Li Quan and Shen Bo had been secretly in contact, this secret became a secret between the three of us.

The letter from "Mr. Chong" that Qingzhou received was written by Yi Zhe on his behalf. As for the books given to Qingzhou, the martial arts teacher he was looking for, and the teacher who would teach him to read, I secretly considered and compared them, and then found a suitable opportunity to push them to his side.

What Li Quan did was to collect national policies and case files that would not leak secrets but could still provide valuable insights, serving as teaching materials for his training.

He grew up day by day like this.

As a young boy, he withstood repeated persecution from the Yan family.

His hatred for his father wasn't as obvious anymore, and he always spoke of Shen Bo with indifference. Although I could still sense that he harbored deep resentment, his ability to hide it was beneficial for both him and the Shen family.

Because the Yan family desperately wanted to find a loophole to exploit, and they were terrified of Shen Bo's triumphant return, terrified that he would come back alive. He was truly remarkable for being able to keep his emotions hidden, keeping everything about the Shen family tightly under wraps without revealing a single word.

That year, I introduced him to the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince also had a very hard life, but no matter what injustice he suffered, he never gave up on living well, which I think is very admirable.

After observing him for a while, I became even more convinced of my thoughts. Then I thought, how wonderful it would be if he, all alone and helpless, had a child like Qingzhou as his companion.

The Yan family's lust for power grows stronger every day, which is definitely not a good thing for the court, nor for the emperor!

That "tyrant" whom everyone sees as unfathomable and who relies on treacherous ministers, she was the offspring of Emperor Xingxian, who treated me kindly, the biological child of the Empress Dowager who had been kind to me, and the child I had devoted six years of my life to caring for.

He neglected the court, and even the crown prince; he was making things difficult for himself!
I cannot stand by and watch him ruin this land and squander the hard work of our ancestors.

I arranged for the two children to meet.

Sure enough, although they were both somewhat wary of each other at first, they quickly let their guard down after chatting for a while.

Although the Crown Prince has no power and limited strength, with my secret help, he still provided a lot of convenience for the light boat outside the palace.

Their friendship deepened through these repeated interactions.

After the Yan family fell from power, the Crown Prince finally had room to demonstrate his abilities, and they cooperated even better. With veteran officials like Shen Bo and Lu Jie in charge, they also grew rapidly.

The chaotic kingdom began to improve under their rule, and I felt that I had finally lived up to the kindness that King Xing and Queen had shown me back then.

On the night the emperor passed away, I held his hand and saw him off on his final journey.

He was indeed not a good emperor, but I still can't bring myself to face this moment.

In the sixth year after the Crown Prince ascended the throne, just like when I stepped into the palace at the age of fourteen, I dreamt of gently lifting my skirt and walking towards the Queen who was smiling and welcoming me.

This time, however, I returned with a sense of peace and security, instead of anxiety.

The Dowager Consort is a purely fictional character. She doesn't have many scenes in the story. I'll just list a few fragments about her coming and going, and also introduce Mr. Chong, whom everyone is concerned about.