Chapter 17: Chapter 17

An Ning saw Noble Lady Zhangjia again, or rather, she should now be called Consort Mi, at an autumn palace banquet.

Originally, An Ning rarely attended these palace banquets. Wasn't it better to comfortably stay at home when she had the time?

But her son was already grown; although in An Ning's eyes, he was still just a teenager. Yet in this era, that was the age to marry a princess consort.

For the sake of her niece’s future care, the Empress Dowager couldn’t remain indifferent. Of course, given Mingyu's current popularity in the Forbidden City, it was obviously unlikely to grant him a princess consort from the Borjigit clan as was done for Prince Zhuang before.

Still, they would try to pick someone with a gentle temper, so that after the older generation was gone, her niece wouldn’t be wronged in the manor.

As the legitimate mother of the heir, An Ning was naturally involved in this matter.

To be honest, the moment she saw the female lead again, both An Ning and the system were quite shocked.

It wasn’t the appearance, but the overwhelming gloom and duskiness in her eyes.

“How is this possible? How did she become ?”

Even the system couldn’t monitor someone for twelve hours straight. At most, when two people were bored and wanted to gossip, they would peek occasionally. It was thought the previous schemes and struggles were already tough enough, but they hadn’t expected that what they had seen before was probably just the tip of the iceberg.

Otherwise, how could one explain that such a bright and beautiful young lady had turned into this state?

“How did this happen… Host, you clearly didn’t do anything, so why is there such a huge difference?”

The system murmured, clearly baffled.

An Ning suddenly recalled the last time they met—also at a palace banquet. Just a few months after that, cowpox suddenly broke out.

Later, An Ning tested the system’s reaction at that time; maybe that was when the turning point occurred.

An Ning couldn’t help but lower her eyes. If there were no other variables in the palace, could it be that this body was doing quite well, so the system felt impatient and reluctant?

An Ning twitched her mouth.

If that was true, she really didn’t know what to say.

The facts proved this was obviously a terrible move.

Now, although she had successfully ascended to the rank of consort through merit, look at the expressions of the four senior consorts.

They joked and laughed, occasionally exchanged barbs, but they were all very restrained out of consideration for the Empress Dowager.

Yet from beginning to end, Consort Mi was completely excluded. Such blatant isolation and even joint ostracization. What was frightening was that everyone present took it for granted.

Obviously, the system, which had recently improved, had understood this as well.

“Why? Wasn’t it said that the relationships among the four consorts were not very good? In earlier years, Consort De and Imperial Consort Yi fought fiercely over territory, so how could they now unite?”

Logically, if there were to be an alliance, it should be with the new Consort Mi to suppress the old rival Consort De.

After all, there was already enmity between them.

The system didn’t understand and kept calling its host in the sea of consciousness.

It was clear the system realized the gap in intelligence.

An Ning, repeatedly disturbed, said: “...”

“System, you haven’t read history before, right?”

“Ah!” The system’s question mark above its head grew larger. What did history have to do with this?

“Then system, tell me, in modern European history, how did the old aristocrats react to the emerging bourgeoisie? What was their first response?”

Yes, suppression—and united suppression at that.

An Ning toyed with her teacup. It wasn’t just Europe; throughout history, it was always .

Suppressing emerging forces was the instinct of established powers.

If this female lead was patient enough, like countless concubines in Kangxi’s later harem years, enduring five or six years, or even a decade until her sons grew old enough to enter the imperial study or come of age, naturally she would obtain the rank of a palace mistress.

Then the four consorts or others wouldn’t be too wary or insanely jealous.

In the sea of consciousness, An Ning’s voice was unusually cold: “Don’t look at how poor the relationships among the four consorts are now, but as concubines from roughly the same period, their awareness of each other’s methods and character is basically unspoken but well understood.”

“You could even say that no matter how fierce the fight for territory was, there was a subtle balance between them.”

“But what about the newcomer? A person whose specific methods are unknown, whose temperament is unclear, yet powerful enough to make old rival Consort De suffer losses, and now has climbed to this position. If you were the system, wouldn’t you be wary, defensive, and suppressive?”

The system was instantly speechless.

“Then... what about Kangxi? Isn’t... Consort Mi very favored? Originally even...”

Realizing it almost slipped, the system hurriedly shut its mouth.

An Ning’s gaze flickered slightly, but her tone remained the same:

“Favored? Not necessarily. In my opinion, given the female lead’s current situation, it’s not impossible that Emperor Kangxi himself has intentions here.”

“How could that be? Isn’t Consort Mi Kangxi’s true love?”

The system was utterly incredulous.

True love? System, you must be joking.

What kind of person was Kangxi? He ascended the throne at eight years old amid a den of wolves, fought power-hungry ministers in his teens, took power personally amid widespread skepticism, and even deposed the crown prince raised like a precious gem on a whim.

This almost purely political being might not even have much left of his feelings. True love? The difficulty level would be beyond S++, and that’s after his thirties and having experienced countless beauties.

Moreover, judging from the female lead’s expression now, is the “true love” just a show?

An Ning tended to think the latter.

How do you force someone to reveal all their cards?

By pushing them to a critical or even desperate situation.

If she guessed right, the female lead’s golden finger, while not fully exposed, had basically been revealed.

“How could this be…” The system still couldn’t believe it. “But isn’t Consort Mi usually very cautious?”

“Moreover, she has the twelfth and fourteenth princes under her. No matter how ruthless, you can’t push two sons into the fire pit, right?”

Luckily, An Ning didn’t hear the last sentence; otherwise, she would have retorted, “Why not?”

Compared to unknown huge benefits, what were two sons?

It was even highly likely that the reason the female lead’s cover was blown so quickly, besides cowpox, was precisely because of these two living, growing sons.

An Ning thought silently.

Why were those with low status in both the imperial palace and inner court often cannon fodder?

High-status noble ladies not only represented years of cultivated control methods, loyal servants trained by the family, and long-established connections. More importantly, even if a servant was tempted to betray, they would consider whether the family outside could withstand retaliation.

The security factor was greatly enhanced.

For example, look at the high-ranking consorts in the palace today; which one had truly poor family background? Even Consort De, often criticized for her origins in time-travel stories, had a grandfather who was the official in charge of the imperial kitchen, an uncle who served as a minister, and a father from the bondservant class. Her background and connections were not to be underestimated.

Even Consort De, excluding the one who died after marriage, historically lost three imperial heirs in infancy!

And what was the fate of Consort Rong, who was once caught in the noblewomen’s conflicts?

Her four sons all died young, an unimaginably tragic outcome.

Perhaps there were accidents or damage from frequent childbirth, but judging by the health of the princess and the third prince now, did they look weak and sickly?

Compared to these, what did the current Consort Mi have? How could she have kept her two sons completely unscathed amid nearly the entire palace’s targeting?

Sometimes, perfection itself is full of loopholes.

Afraid that the dumb system would cause trouble outside, An Ning carefully explained each dangerous point one by one.

After a moment, the system finally fell silent in the sea of consciousness.

Just as An Ning was about to breathe a sigh of relief after leaving the palace, the next step out of Cining Palace was blocked by a voice both familiar and strange:

“Side Consort, please wait!”