Chapter 335: Chapter 335
Being understanding, gentle and considerate - while playing with the warm jade chess pieces in her hand, An Ning shook her head inwardly. For others, this might be a good path to advancement, but for the original body with her extraordinary beauty, it would only lead to a dead end.
If we're talking about beauty, wasn't that legendary Consort Liang beautiful? Wasn't her temperament considerate? The original body was even more beautiful than her by several degrees. Logically speaking, with such beauty and an extremely gentle personality, even without children, she shouldn't have ended up so thoroughly neglected.
But the problem was this person was Kangxi - an emperor who ascended the throne as a child, whose suspicion levels could be called extraordinary. Having been taught by Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang since childhood and witnessed her methods, his wariness toward feminine charms, especially so-called "gentle traps," was almost at maximum levels.
Ordinary people, when they find something they quite like, might gradually become obsessed with it.
But this one would only enjoy it briefly when his danger radar went off, then cleanly discard it without hesitation.
People, especially those around him, cannot be too perfect or too fitting to his preferences...
Which meant that ultimate beauty, intelligence, and understanding - these three absolutely cannot coexist.
At least not for this man.
Of course, if this face were just a little less stunning, with her previous behavior she would have long been tossed into the cold palace to rot...
So that's how it is! Well, it certainly learned something new today...
The royal family really does produce the most fastidious people...
"Sigh, this is just too much!"
"So the question is, why did you ever hold any illusions about him?"
Playing with the newly delivered chess manual in her hand, An Ning looked somewhat helplessly at a certain A-Tong.
Wasn't the lesson from that Zhang Jiashi in the first life enough?
If that's not enough, just look - although this man is quite generous with material things, when it comes to rank positions, there's absolutely no leeway whatsoever.
Unless something unexpected happens, the current Noble rank is already the highest he can give. Relying on beauty, or even the emperor's favor to advance simply doesn't work with this man.
This point, both of them clearly understood very well.
So these days, An Ning hadn't avoided showing her fondness for wealth and treasures at all, asking for things completely naturally. For some unknown psychological reason, the other party gave quite readily too...
This could be considered a kind of mutual understanding in a certain sense.
Advancing further? With her status, impossible!
Even with children, impossible within ten years!
"So before, did you think I was joking when I said this was a catastrophic starting situation?"
An Ning rarely let out a soft sigh:
This catastrophe isn't about other things - the important point is this person. In this imperial harem, or at this point in time, without family background, it's basically a doomed fate.
Affection? This Emperor Kangxi's affection, or rather affection that hasn't been converted into real benefits? Isn't worth much.
To repeat, if she had arrived just a tiny bit earlier, she wouldn't have set foot in this imperial harem at all...
"Then... then what should we do now!"
The system was truly at a loss now, feeling the future was completely dark...
Change identities and stage a rebellion?
Not to mention the various accidents that might occur during fake deaths, with one misstep it might become real death.
Overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming? How much effort would that take, years, even over a decade, scheming and dealing with those dubious characters from all walks of life - how annoying.
Countless troubles of all kinds.
The system somewhat understood its host's temperament - unless absolutely forced, she wouldn't seek out hardship.
Rebelling at the slightest disagreement - she's not a savior, and repeating the same operation in every world isn't interesting either!
Also, although the original body's surname was Wei and she was ethnically Han, just like the Nian family, they had already joined the Manchu banners long before the Manchus entered China.
With such an identity, she obviously wouldn't be welcomed by Han people either.
So these days, An Ning hadn't avoided showing her fondness for wealth and treasures at all, asking for things completely naturally. For some unknown psychological reason, the other party gave quite readily too...
Making meritorious contributions? With this emperor's suspicion levels, not very feasible either.
In short, after thinking it over and over, the system nearly burned out its CPU, but when it looked up, it saw its host already lying on the couch, engrossed in reading storybooks...
After a brief moment of frustration, for some reason, the system suddenly stopped panicking!
It guaranteed with its system life - leaving other things aside, in such a cramped little place, short periods were fine, but its host absolutely couldn't endure it for too long.
Yet unexpectedly, An Ning seemed particularly patient in this lifetime.
Every day studying chess manuals, reading storybooks, occasionally practicing calligraphy, kicking shuttlecocks outside her door - apart from occasional summons, she truly embodied "not stepping beyond the main gate nor the inner door" to her bones.
Flower viewing? Sorry, truly not interested!
Even when the primary consort of her palace, Consort Shu, subtly extended goodwill, she accepted the gifts readily enough, but aside from verbal thanks, anything else - sorry, nothing more.
There were indeed rumors in the palace, saying this newly promoted Noble Wei had a solitary temperament and didn't understand etiquette. Unfortunately, no matter how fiercely people talked, since the person herself completely ignored it, there was nothing to be done.
The central palace had no empress, and the only imperial noble consort, due to her hard-won pregnancy, had no energy to deal with these matters.
Besides, aside from being unwilling to go out, this Noble Wei hadn't committed any improper behavior. Looking at the several concubines secretly making insinuations before her,
Tongjiashi couldn't help but sigh:
"Why must you do this?"
The person doesn't even go out, yet you still seek her out to be snubbed.
Haven't you considered that every time you make that person unhappy, cousin's private treasury has to spend generously.
As time passes, when cousin can't bear to take his anger out on the stunningly beautiful Noble Wei, who do you think his anger will be directed at? Isn't it obvious!
Haven't you noticed how long it's been since these people were summoned?
Touching her noticeably heavy abdomen, Tongjiashi quickly waved her hand, sending the two weeping concubines away.
After a moment, she sighed to the matron beside her:
"Ask any man in this world - who doesn't love beauty!"
"After all, cousin still has sense! What's most important now..."
Gently stroking her hard-won child in her belly, Tongjiashi's eyes unconsciously carried some sorrow:
How rational her cousin was, how hard his heart could be - she had no doubts whatsoever.
Several other consorts shared similar thoughts.
Daughter of a convicted official, Han ethnicity - just these two aspects basically sealed her future prospects with His Majesty. Not to mention she had enjoyed favor for a long time but still hadn't conceived.
Those with some connections in the Imperial Hospital knew that this person's body was probably completely ruined.
Such a person, no matter how beautiful, no matter how favored - so what?
In short, under the indifference of the palace's major powers, An Ning continued nesting in her little den, practically carving the words "impervious to all approaches" on her forehead every day.
August, the Forbidden City still carried some heat, but at this time in the Qianqing Palace, no one knew what had happened. In any case, on this day, Emperor Kangxi flew into an enormous rage.
For several consecutive days, all the court ministers trembled with fear, afraid of making any mistakes.
Yet late at night, just as An Ning was finally about to fall asleep, she suddenly heard these words by her ear:
"A-Ning, do you have any thoughts about harem authority?"