Phi-Fic Chapter 556: Beauty and Fate
Chapter 556: Beauty and Fate
Wen Yao's eyelids twitched. Very good, why did this crying rabbit die? It was a good thing. "You mean the dry pot rabbit?"
The last time I made it, I didn’t add chili peppers and used less salt, so the taste wasn’t that good. But for my baby, who now only eats light flavors, the taste is quite good.
“Okay,” Wen Yao did not hesitate. She would not explain to him that this was not real dry-pot rabbit. Explaining it would only make Naibao want to eat real dry-pot rabbit more. Naibao would be able to eat these things when he grew up.
The family of three hunted a rabbit and walked around for a while before returning. Yinzhen took Naibao to play with Honghui and the others on the grass in the distance.
Wen Yao went to rest in the shade. Concubine Yi was not there. She usually went hunting with Kangxi. "Mother Hui, this is a rare opportunity. Why don't you go horseback riding?"
Concubine Hui looked at Hongyu playing in the distance with a gentle smile, without the restraint and helplessness she had in the palace. "Actually, I don't like riding horses or archery. Don't look at me with a bad temper now. I used to be very gentle. I was also proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Where are there people who like riding horses and archery?" She pointed in the direction of Concubine Rong.
Rong Fei was holding Hong Sheng and watching Hong Qing playing in the distance. When she heard Hui Fei mentioning her and talking about the past, Rong Fei's smile froze, "Riding a horse? It's been so many years, why are you talking about this?"
"Ma, I want to go play with my brother too," Hong Sheng had recovered a long time ago, but Rong Fei was still worried, so she held him in her arms after they came out this time.
Rong Fei looked at her beloved grandson's eager expression, patted his arm and said, "Go," and then instructed the servants and wet nurses who followed him.
"Hongqing and Hongsheng are very well behaved. Hongsheng is in good health and would have recovered from any minor illness long ago. Didn't the imperial physician say that it is normal for children to play and make noises?" Concubine Hui said with a smile.
"Sister Huifei, you are still laughing at me. You were not so calm when you were worried about Hongyu before," Rongfei smiled back, "Now you are in the mood to laugh at me."
"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Sister Rongfei. This is probably what they say: a bystander sees more clearly." Concubine Hui was not shy at all, but was very frank. "We are also too concerned."
"That's not true. Hongqing tells everything, but Hongsheng doesn't know anything. I can't help but worry a little more," Rong Fei agreed to Hui Fei as she watched Hongsheng run to Hongqing's side to play.
Then she remembered what Concubine Hui had just mentioned about riding a horse, and looked at Wen Yao who was sitting next to her. "Sister Hui was just teasing me about my past. Please don't laugh at me, Ninth Lady. I used to like equestrianism. It's not that girls from the Manchu tribe also ride on horses, and their equestrianism is no worse than that of men."
"I heard from my mother that Concubine Rong's horsemanship was famous throughout the Forbidden City. Few women could match her," Wen Yao praised with a smile, "just like Concubine Hui's piano skills."
"You, only you believe what sister Yi Fei says to coax the child," Hui Fei's eyes curved with laughter. Even though there was a hint of untruth in her words, Hui Fei was happy to hear it.
Concubine Hui looked at Concubine Rong and said, "No one believes what Concubine Yi said, except Wen Yao."
"That's right, this is what Sister Yifei has been telling us, and even the emperor didn't believe it." Rong Fei laughed and looked towards the people riding horses in the distance to the south. Her eyes seemed a little distracted, as if she was looking through them. "Speaking of which, when we rode horses in the past, we were carefree and didn't have to think about anything. Unfortunately, those days were too short. Sister Huifei, thinking back to the past, we have been in the palace for so many years. The memories of our childhood are a little fuzzy, but also a little clear."
Some have been forgotten and can never be remembered again, but some can never be forgotten. Instead, they become clearer and clearer. I keep thinking about the past, my father and mother, and my brothers and sisters at home.
But now, my mother is gone, my brothers are still here, but my sisters have passed away early one by one, and those days are gone forever.
"I have been in the palace for nearly forty years. We are already buried up to our necks in the dirt. Now I am reminiscing about the past more and more frequently," Concubine Hui also sighed, and she sighed more often, as if she had thought of something. Concubine Hui looked at Wen Yao, "You have not seen Empress Xiao Zhao. Empress Xiao Zhao is stunningly beautiful, and her horsemanship is unmatched among women. She is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and is well-versed in military books. In my memory, there is nothing she can't do. The harem she manages makes people feel at ease. Where she is, you can eat anything without worry."
Concubine Rong picked up the teacup and took a sip, "Yes, the years when Empress Xiaozhao was in charge of the harem were the times when we had the least to worry about. It's a pity that beauty is envied by God." She was stunningly beautiful, had unparalleled talent, and was as smart and strategic as any man, but it's a pity that she died so early!
Some rumors say that it was the Hesheli clan who did it, while others say that it was the emperor who did it in revenge for Ebilun's fence-sitter!
Some said it was done by the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, others said it was because of the White Lotus Sect's attempt to pacify the Three Feudatories and to attack the emperor.
There are many rumors, but none of them says that Empress Xiaozhao died of natural causes, because some people have said that Empress Xiaozhao knew medical skills.
"Even someone as stunningly beautiful as Concubine Wenxi was not even seven times as beautiful as Empress Xiaozhao back then, but they were sisters who were envied by heaven for their beauty." Rong Fei actually had a good relationship with Concubine Wenxi before, but she was made a concubine as soon as she entered the palace, and her first son survived, so she became jealous. After all, she had been a concubine for many years, and four of her five sons died young. In the end, she only got the title of a concubine!
It was only when Imperial Concubine Wenxi was lying on her sickbed that Imperial Concubine Rong felt relieved. At least she was better than Imperial Concubine Wenxi in one respect!
Concubine Wenxi died because of the premature death of the princess she gave birth to. Just because of this, she could not compare to herself.
"I've heard from my tenth brother before that the Imperial Mother and the Empress Dowager were both very smart and beautiful, but it's a pity that I've never met them." Wen Yao actually remembered having seen Imperial Concubine Wenxi, but the memory was very vague. She could have looked it up on her cell phone, but there was no need to do so.
After all, talking to others is different if you have memories or if you don't.
"Oh my, why are you talking about the past again? I want to cry if you talk too much," Concubine Hui thought that Wen Yao and Yinzhen had a good relationship, so she could not continue talking about Empress Xiaozhao and Imperial Concubine Wenxi.
Rong Fei also came back to her senses. She accidentally said too much. "We had a deep sisterly love back then. Now I can't stop thinking about it. I feel like crying. Ninth Lady, please don't mention it to Tenth Prince. After all, they are his biological mother and aunt."