You can't only love the Qing Dynasty when you're eating the fruits of others' labor.

Chapter 232 Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang: Madam Jiang, what are you so nervous about?
After returning to the palace.

The head eunuch of the Qianqing Palace, the Third Eunuch, arrived with a message: "It's alright, I will send someone to deliver a congratulatory couplet to your door at that time."

Jiangnan quickly expressed his gratitude.

However, Kunning Palace was crowded and noisy, so the Third Eunuch could not find an opportunity to speak privately and could only leave disappointed.

After entering the palace, Jiangnan found nothing unusual. The atmosphere in the palace was as usual, and she felt a little relieved.

Just before leaving the palace in the afternoon, a sudden change occurred.

Suddenly, news came from Cining Palace that the Empress Dowager had summoned her.

……

Cining Palace.

Empress Xiaozhuang, Kong Sizhen, Jiangnan, and Consort Tong sat around a stove, drinking tea and chatting—a typical lifestyle for noblewomen.

Of these four people.

Consort Tong was the youngest, and having only been in the palace and enjoying the emperor's favor for a few days, she was meek and quiet.

Kong Sizhen was Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang's adopted daughter and frequently entered and exited the palace without much stage fright.

Only Jiangnan is truly an outsider.

……

Gather around the fire for tea and conversation.

Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang's eyes were full of loving kindness.

"Looking at you all, so young and handsome, I can't even begin to describe how envious I am."

"Your Majesty is graceful and has an extraordinary air about you. I think that when I reach your age, I may not be able to be as elegant as you." Kong Sizhen was very good at speaking.

"Sit down, sit down. How about trying the tea I brewed?"

"Good tea."

"This is a Yunnan Pu'er tea sent by the Prince of Pingxi. Although Pu'er tea is not considered a high-class tea, it is very suitable for brewing. Consort Tong, you should have some too."

"Thank you, Queen Mother."

"Since you have just entered the palace, please take good care of the Emperor and strive to give birth to a prince as soon as possible."

"Yes."

Consort Tong lowered her eyes and looked timid.

This is how it is when a new bride enters the family; after two or three years, the mimosa will turn into a morning glory.

Jiangnan sipped his tea slowly, thinking to himself, "The less I say, the fewer flaws I reveal."

Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, however, was not about to let her off the hook, and deliberately asked, "I heard that Jiang Qingyun's birthday has been moved up again?"

"Your Majesty, it has been moved up to the ninth day of the first lunar month."

"why?"

"Your Majesty was unaware of this. Major decisions in the household have always been made by my husband alone. He rarely consults me."

Kong Sizhen took over the conversation.

"Sister, are you just going to let him do as he pleases?"

"A woman follows her husband wherever he goes, whether he's a chicken or a dog. I'll listen to whatever he says."

"Yes, I think you are right. First obey your father, then your husband, and finally your son. The three obediences and four virtues are our duty as women."

"Thank you for your praise, Empress Dowager."

Jiangnan lowered his head and continued drinking his tea.

……

Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang continued to probe:

"Why do I feel that the sound of firecrackers in Beijing this Spring Festival is not as loud as before?"

Kong Sizhen didn't respond; she knew this was a topic that couldn't be touched.

Consort Tong doesn't manage affairs.

Jiangnan thought for a moment, but ultimately didn't speak.

Just then, a palace maid from Cining Palace arrived.

"Your Majesty, everything is ready."

"Come on, let's go see a play together, 'The Romance of the Western Chamber,' it's really good."

"Yes."

Kong Sizhen reached out and helped Xiaozhuang up.

As the setting sun began to be blocked by the palace walls, Jiangnan started sweating profusely. She couldn't help but turn her head to glance at the sunlight, little did she know that this small action was noticed by Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang.

Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang remained calm and continued watching the show.

Fifteen minutes later~
She caught Jiangnan turning her head to look at the sunlight again.

The shrewd Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang sensed something was amiss. As Jiang Qingyun's wife, Jiang Nan might not know all the inside stories, but she couldn't be completely ignorant of them either.

So, what was her purpose in entering the palace alone at this critical juncture?
Spying? Testing? Or spying?

In short, it all comes down to exploration.

Just now, when we were drinking tea around the stove, Jiangnan seemed a little reserved. Reservation indicates nervousness. So what was she nervous about?
its not right!
Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang suddenly realized that if Jiang Qingyun and Emperor Shunzhi were in cahoots, there was nothing the emperor and his high-ranking officials couldn't accomplish by working together in the capital.

He didn't need to send his wife to the palace at all!

In conclusion, Emperor Shunzhi and Jiang Qingyun were not in cahoots! There's something fishy going on here!

...Kong Sizhen sat in the back, watching Jiangnan and Xiaozhuang's actions, her heart sinking.

After a while, she asked, "Sister, what's wrong?"

Jiangnan: "Little sister, how much longer until today's performance?"

"It's early."

What should we do when it gets dark?

“There’s a small stage in the side hall over there. Let’s move over there and continue the performance. Sister, you seem a bit restless. Are you feeling unwell?”

"I urgently need to pee~"

"You, come here, take the lady to the toilet."

"Yes."

Jiangnan has just left.

Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang then waved to Kong Sizhen.

"Where is she going?"

"Your Majesty, she needs to relieve herself."

"The inner palace is not like the imperial court; it's easy to get lost there. Hurry up and keep up."

"Yes."

Kong Sizhen got up and followed Jiangnan's retreating figure, wearing flowerpot-shaped shoes.

……

The Infantry Commander's Office.

Feeling anxious, Jiang Qingyun went to the courtyard again and gazed at the setting sun on the horizon.

Sunset is a natural phenomenon.

Lady Ke entered the palace early this morning and has not returned since.

I cannot rashly enter the palace; what if I go and walk right into a trap? Wouldn't that make future generations laugh their heads off?

Time passes minute by minute.

After a long pause, Jiang Qingyun took a deep breath.

"Someone is coming."

"The end will be here."

"Issue my military order: the Infantry Commander's Office is to prepare for a nighttime exercise. Distribute ammunition, carry dry rations, bring sufficient arrows, and have all personnel don armor. Everyone except patrol and watch personnel must participate."

"As ordered."

Once the military order was given, the infantry commander's office was thrown into a frenzy.

After multiple rounds of internal purges and promotions, the concept of "obedience" had permeated the very marrow of everyone in the Infantry Commander's Office.

The first upright-walking ape once said: When apes are idle, they start to ponder things. And if they ponder for too long, they will come up with problems.

People are the same.

From mid-December until now, Jiang Qingyun has not let his soldiers idle for a moment, constantly assigning them tasks and not giving them time to gaze at the stars and ponder.

……

A corner of the side hall of Cining Palace, the right side room.

"Madam, we've arrived at the outhouse."

"Okay, wait outside."

"Yes."

After closing the door, Jiang Nan's forehead was covered in sweat from nervousness. If he could still leave the palace in half an hour, the entire capital would be able to see the mushroom cloud rising from the Wanggongchang gunpowder depot.

How to do?
Now that things have come to this, we have no choice but to fight to the death.

Jiangnan pulled a gold hairpin from her hair. It was a steel hairpin coated with gold powder, its spikes sharp enough to pierce Xiaozhuang's throat.

……

At this moment.

Kong Sizhen stood outside the house, hesitant and unsure of what to say.

She had a premonition that Jiang Qingyun and his wife were doomed, for the truth would eventually come out. But if Jiang Qingyun died, the capital would lose much of its joy.

The more you torture someone, the more you fall in love with them.

Kong Sizhen stamped her foot and gently knocked on the door.

"Sister, are you feeling unwell?"

Jiangnan, who had returned to normal, opened the door and smiled gently.

"I am fine."

"No, sister, you don't look well. You must be feeling unwell, right? You must be sick, sister."

……

About fifteen minutes later~
The two women returned to the area below the stage.

"Madam Jiang, please sit next to me."

"Yes."

After watching the play for another fifteen minutes, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang suddenly turned her head and asked, "Madame Jiang, what are you so nervous about?"

(End of this chapter)