Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

Chapter 1258 Zhen Huan Enlarged to 181

During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, a member of the Cao family of the Plain White Banner served as his wet nurse and took care of him attentively at the risk of their lives when he had smallpox when he was young. Therefore, they were canonized as Lady Fengsheng by Emperor Kangxi and were praised as "the elders of our family."

Naturally, Lady Fengsheng's husband's family, the Cao family, were treated very favorably by the Emperor. Especially Cao Yin, one of the Emperor's companions. After he came of age, he served as the weaving supervisor. He was the Emperor's eyes and a nail placed in the Jiangnan area, keeping a close eye on the area for him.

Later, when the Emperor Shengzu made several southern tours to the south of the Yangtze River, the Cao family had the honor of receiving him several times. Even the girls who were raised by Madam Sheng herself could be raised to marry a relative of the royal family, Prince Ping, and become his legitimate wife.

It's a pity that the Cao family was confiscated during the reign of the previous emperor, and in order to make up for the deficit of the Ministry of Revenue, the Cao family has now been completely ruined. If it weren't for the wife of Prince Ping in the capital, the Cao family would probably be bullied by everyone.

The garden where Emperor Qianlong lives today was the temporary palace that Cao Yin prepared for the Emperor in the past. Even though some signs of disrepair could still be seen, Jiang Xinxin couldn't help but admire its exquisite beauty as she walked along.

Qianlong supported Jiang Xinxin, and watched and commented on the way, acting like a filial son. The queen supported Jiang Xinxin's other hand, and smiled and agreed from time to time, occasionally with refreshing opinions, which also demonstrated the style of a contemporary queen.

Qianlong looked at the carefully decorated yet rustic garden and could not help but sigh: "Only in Jiangnan can you see such authentic Jiangnan garden settings. Although the Old Summer Palace is not bad, it does lack some of the Jiangnan charm."

Even though the Old Summer Palace is not yet the place that would be known as the "Garden of Gardens" in the future, the main structure has been almost completed. It has connected Changchun Garden and the garden that the Emperor Kangxi bestowed on Prince Xiancheng, so the area alone is already considerable.

There are many families in Beijing who built Jiangnan landscapes, but none of them can compare with royal gardens like the Old Summer Palace. Just talking about the manpower, material resources and financial resources required for landscape maintenance, no one can afford it except the royal family.

While admiring the scenery, Jiang Xinxin couldn't help but compare it with other places she had seen. Although the Jiangnan gardens do have their unique features, the wonders of nature are more vibrant.

Seeing that Jiang Xinxin was not impressed and the surprise in her eyes was limited, the Queen couldn't help but secretly smack her lips, thinking that Jiang Xinxin must have seen more and better scenery, which was why she felt indifferent about everything in front of her.

The actions of officials and gentry in Jiangnan when presenting various things and people were much more tactful than those in Shandong. For example, in front of Emperor Qianlong, they would just say that they had found some hardworking and experienced people in the local area to serve in the garden. If they served well, it would be their honor to be employed by Emperor Qianlong and brought back to the capital.

Moreover, the last two sentences were said more tactfully, which at least prevented Qianlong from expressing his opposition immediately.

The Queen also sent a few people over, but because Princess Jingse lived with the Queen most of the time, they only said that they sent a few eloquent people to tell stories or sing songs for the Queen and Princess Jingse.

As for Jiang Xinxin, of course, she also arranged people, but these people were more "high-end" than those sent to Qianlong and the Queen, at least in terms of status. Because they were all local officials and gentry, they went to Jiang Xinxin under the pretext of asking Jiang Xinxin to teach them the rules.

Jiang Xinxin refused directly, "I am old now, and I like these young girls to talk and laugh in front of me, even if it's just reciting a few poems, doing some needlework, or just chatting."

"It's just that I've come all the way from the capital to Hangzhou, and the journey is long. Although I'm in good health, I'm unable to handle many things."

Jiang Xinxin could directly reject those women, but the queen could not. She could only secretly indicate that she would only keep those with clean backgrounds. If there were skinny horses from Yangzhou or people from even worse places, she would definitely not accept them, and would severely punish them once discovered.

Even Qianlong could not completely reject the women offered by the officials and gentry in the south of the Yangtze River. Like the empress, he would only keep girls from good families with completely clean backgrounds. Even so, he had no intention of bringing them back to Beijing, let alone letting them get pregnant. Therefore, the women who served him were secretly killed off from having children at the first opportunity.

Seeing that Qianlong had accepted the person this time, Shupin felt very resentful, but she also knew that she had no right to say anything to Qianlong and could only feel sorry for herself.

Chen Guiren, who was selected by the officials and gentry of Jiangnan, was more open-minded than Shupin, because she knew that it was inevitable that the officials and gentry of Jiangnan would send women to Qianlong, not to mention that she loved Qianlong deeply but had no desire for him.

She could fully understand Qianlong's busyness and the difficulties he faced. She knew early on that Qianlong would never have only one woman, so she placed her deep affection and friendship in a painting, silently waiting for the time when Qianlong would remember her.

Shupin and Chen Guiren were well-behaved and showed deep love for Qianlong. Although Qianlong was somewhat overwhelmed by their deep affection for him, he did not develop any thoughts like "great kindness turns into hatred" and instead rewarded them for being well-behaved.

So Shupin got Qianlong's favorite collection of poems, and Concubine Chen was given the title "Wan" and became Concubine Wan.

Concubine Shu and Concubine Wan have always been quiet, but Concubine Ying and Concubine Ke, both extroverts, are not so easy to keep quiet.

Especially Concubine Ying, she was raised in the palm of the hand by the whole family since she was a child. She witnessed how her mother, as the main wife, controlled and whipped her father's concubines. She did not have much friendship for her illegitimate brothers and sisters, and even regarded them as servants.

So when Concubine Ying found out that officials and gentry from Jiangnan had presented women to Emperor Qianlong, and that many of them had been accepted by Emperor Qianlong, she could not help but whisper to Concubine Ke, "The Emperor is really intolerant of both meat and vegetables. I saw the Emperor in Shandong before and he had no lingering feelings for beauties. I thought the Emperor was a gentleman, different from others. Now I know that the Emperor just couldn't stand the vulgar women presented by Shandong!"

The reason why Concubine Ke and Concubine Ying became good friends must be due to their same Mongolian origins. As soon as Concubine Ying started talking, she immediately followed up: "Yes, the emperor is really something. Aren't the concubines carefully selected in the palace good enough? They actually ate wild food outside. It's also the queen's fault for blindly submitting to the emperor and not knowing how to advise him at all."

Not only did these two people get Qianlong hurt, but even the empress was not spared. Fortunately, Jiang Xinxin had the protection of the empress dowager and the precedent of Empress Xiaozhuang Wen, so the two of them didn't dare to say anything to Jiang Xinxin.