In order to consolidate her position in the harem, Empress Yixiu secretly prevented other concubines from giving birth. She gave Concubine Qi a necklace called "Red Jade Fragrance Beads", which was actually a musk bead used for contraception. Zhen Huan saw the trick at a glance, but the Queen Mother knew the truth but turned a blind eye, which was incomprehensible. Why did the Queen Mother turn a blind eye to this? What deeper secret did Yi Xiu's conspiracy have? What fate would happen to Concubine Qi, a young and beautiful concubine who was ignorant and shallow? These mysteries are heart-wrenching, let us find out.
Empress Yixiu's sinister intentions
When it comes to Queen Yixiu, everyone is in awe and awe of her scheming. She has been brilliant since she was a child, and she was born in a famous family, and after entering the palace, she quickly won the favor of Emperor Yongzheng with her extraordinary resourcefulness. can be described as a dark horse in the harem, and in just a few years, he has risen from the inconspicuous Gege to the queen.
However, Yi Xiu is not the kind of person who is willing to settle down. She is ambitious, not only wants the throne of the queen, but also wants to control the real power of the entire harem. In order to achieve this goal, she will do whatever it takes, even at the cost of tarnishing her virtuous virtues.
Back then, in order to get rid of the big trouble of Queen Chunyuan, Yi Xiu secretly instructed his henchman An Lingrong to poison him, causing Queen Chunyuan to have a difficult birth and finally die. Later, she designed to frame Concubine Hua, the emperor's favorite concubine of the dynasty, and let Concubine Hua suffer the miscarriage.
It can be seen how vicious and desperate Yi Xiu is in order to seize power. She took precautions against other concubines giving birth to imperial heirs, and never allowed anyone to take away her power and status.
This time, she set her sights on the young and beautiful Qi Concubine. Concubine Qi was born in the Guerjia clan of Manchuria, with a stunning appearance, and was favored by Emperor Yongzheng. If she gives birth to an imperial heir, she will definitely play an important role in the harem, which will undoubtedly threaten Yi Xiu's dominance.
So, Yi Xiu secretly laid a big net. She first used the "red jade fragrance beads" as bait to satisfy the vanity of Concubine Qi. As soon as Concubine Qi saw this red bead chain, which was beautiful and moving, she was immediately fascinated, and she was even more grateful to Yixiu.
Who knew that this string of "red jade incense beads" is actually a sterilization bead made of male musk, which has a strong contraceptive effect. Concubine Qi treated it as a treasure and hung it around her neck every day to show off, but she didn't know that this was Yi Xiu's conspiracy to prevent her from giving birth.
Since then, Concubine Qi wears this string of "red jade incense beads" every year, and is trapped by its medicinal power every day, and it is difficult to conceive an heir after all. Although she is deeply favored by the emperor, she can only be an empty concubine forever, with no power in the harem.
Poor Concubine Qi was young and ignorant, so she fell into Yi Xiu's trap and became a pawn for her to control the harem. And Yi Xiu took advantage of this move to completely cut off the possibility of Concubine Qi giving birth to an heir, and cleared the biggest obstacle for himself to dominate the rivers and lakes in the harem.
Zhen Huan's sharp eye to see through the conspiracy
In the harem, although there are many palace maids, I am afraid that Zhen Huan is the only one who really has extraordinary eyesight and insight. She has been smart since she was a child, and she has been knowledgeable at home, and she has always been cautious and observant after entering the palace. Therefore, when Yi Xiu gave Concubine Qi the so-called "red jade incense beads", Zhen Huan saw through the trick at a glance.
On that day, Zhen Huan was resting in the side hall, and suddenly saw Concubine Qi happily walking by, with a red bead chain hanging around her neck, beautiful and moving. When Concubine Qi saw Zhen Huan, she proudly raised the bead chain high and showed it off to her.
Zhen Huan took a look at it and felt that something was wrong with this bead chain. Although it is bright in color, it has a faint musky smell that is completely different from ordinary jewelry spices. Coupled with Concubine Qi's usual obedience to Yi Xiuyan, Zhen Huan suddenly became suspicious.
Sure enough, when she returned to the palace, Zhen Huan immediately informed her confidant Jinxi of the matter. She said: "Have you ever heard that a bead chain made of male musk can not only prevent pregnancy, but also sterilize? ＂
When Jinxi heard this, she was also surprised: "I see! No wonder Concubine Qi has been childless and heirless all these years." It seems that she has become a pawn of Yi Xiu to control the harem. ＂
Zhen Huan nodded and sighed: "Although Concubine Qi has outstanding appearance, she is a vain and shallow person. It's really sad that she fell into Yi Xiu's trap like this. However, there are many smart people in the palace, but I am afraid that someone has already seen through all this. It's just that who wants to provoke Yi Xiu for the sake of an ignorant concubine?"
Sure enough, later Zhen Huan asked Huanbi about it, and Huanbi also knew everything about it. She said: "This is given by Empress Yixiu, even if the imperial doctor knows the secret, he will never tell Concubine Qi." Who would dare to mess with that 'palace tyrant'?"
Since then, Concubine Qi has worn this string of "red jade incense beads" every year, and has been trapped by its medicinal power day by day, and finally has no children and no heirs. She could have played an important role in the harem with her beauty and her mother's merits, but she unknowingly became a victim of Yi Xiu.
And Zhen Huan's bright eyes not only saw through Yi Xiu's conspiracy, but also had insight into the tragic fate of Concubine Qi. Although she is powerless to stop Yi Xiu's actions for the time being, she will definitely seek justice for these innocent concubines in the future and bring down this "overlord in the palace"!
The Queen Mother's acquiescence to Yixiu's conspiracy
In the harem, the Queen Mother is the most authoritative and vocal person. She is not only the biological mother of Emperor Yongzheng, but also a generation of "palace fighting masters", who knows the power struggle of the harem well. However, in the face of the conspiracy of Yi Xiu to give Concubine Qi the string of "red jade incense beads", the Queen Mother turned a blind eye and did not stop it.
It turned out that the Queen Mother had never had a good impression of Concubine Qi, a young and beautiful concubine. Although she was born in a famous family, she has a charming and domineering temperament, and acts arrogantly and perversely, which is the kind of person that the Queen Mother hates the most.
The Queen Mother remembered that when Empress Chunyuan first entered the palace, she was also a gentle and virtuous woman. But later, he was secretly damaged by Yi Xiu and almost died. Fortunately, the Queen Mother came to the rescue in time to save Queen Chunyuan's life. However, Empress Chunyuan eventually died due to dystocia.
And a person like Concubine Qi, if she gives birth to an imperial heir, she will definitely be unscrupulous in the harem in the future, and it will be difficult for the queen mother to control the situation at that time. Therefore, when she saw Concubine Qi wearing the string of "red jade incense beads", although the Queen Mother saw the trick at a glance, she did not stop it.
Not only that, but the Queen Mother also secretly took action and used the hand of Concubine Duan to cause Concubine Hua to have a miscarriage. Although Concubine Hua came from a humble background, she was deeply favored by Emperor Yongzheng. The Queen Mother was worried that she would play an important role in the harem after giving birth to an heir, so she did so.
It can be seen that the queen mother is also taking precautions against the birth of imperial heirs by harem concubines, and will never allow those who are not under her control to get involved in the royal heirs.
However, the Queen Mother looked at Zhen Huan differently. She took a fancy to Zhen Huan's wisdom and talent, and thought that she was different from those foxy women who would only seduce the emperor. Therefore, when she saw that Zhen Huan saw through Yi Xiu's conspiracy, the Queen Mother did not stop her, but secretly supported her to play a more important role in the harem.
After all, Yi Xiu's methods as the "overlord of the palace" are too ruthless. She not only plotted against Queen Chunyuan and Concubine Hua, but now she wants to ruin Concubine Qi's future. If she is allowed to rage like this, the harem will be stormy, and the queen mother will lose control of the situation.
Therefore, the Queen Mother will temporarily let Yi Xiu's conspiracy against Concubine Qi temporarily go, waiting for Zhen Huan to overthrow this "palace tyrant" in the future and seek justice for the innocent concubine. At that time, the harem will be peaceful again, and the Queen Mother will regain control of the overall situation, which is her ultimate goal.
The emperor's secret proposition
In the entire harem, Emperor Yongzheng is undoubtedly the master of the highest power. As a wise and wise monarch, he often sees the power struggles in the harem very clearly. Therefore, in the conspiracy of the string of "red jade incense beads" that Yi Xiu gave to Concubine Qi, the emperor was naturally one of the insiders.
In fact, as early as a few years ago, the emperor secretly instructed the imperial physician in the palace to prepare a special spice called "Huan Yixiang" for his favorite concubine Hua Fei. Although this spice is pleasantly aromatic, it has a strong contraceptive effect.
At that time, the reason why the emperor did this was to prevent Concubine Hua from becoming pregnant and giving birth. Because Concubine Hua came from a humble background, if she gave birth to an imperial heir, she would definitely play an important role in the harem, which was contrary to the emperor's original intention.
Therefore, when he saw Concubine Qi wearing the string of "red jade incense beads", the emperor naturally saw through the intention at a glance. After all, that strong musky smell is no different from the "Huanyi fragrance" of the year.
However, the emperor did not stop Yi Xiu's conspiracy. Because in his opinion, Concubine Qi is just a pastime that is favored by him, and she is not worthy of giving birth to an imperial heir at all.
You must know that although Concubine Qi was born in a famous family, she has a charming and domineering temperament and acts arrogantly and perversely, which does not meet the emperor's requirements for harem concubines at all. The reason why she was able to enter the palace was completely due to the credit and relationship of her mother's family.
And what the emperor really loves and values is actually only Zhen Huan. Back then, Zhen Huan was removed from the title of Concubine Xi because of an accident and was demoted out of the palace. The emperor was worried about this, and it was not until Zhen Huan re-entered the palace a few years later that the emperor was like a heavy treasure and was favored.
Not only that, but the emperor also entrusted Zhen Huan with the important task of assisting the six palaces, which shows how much he attaches importance to Zhen Huan. In contrast, Concubine Qi is just an insignificant little concubine in the eyes of the emperor.
Therefore, when Yi Xiu secretly sent Concubine Qi the string of "red jade incense beads", although the emperor saw through the trick, he did not stop it. On the contrary, it was worn by Qi Concubine every year, and she was trapped by its medicinal power every day, and finally had no children and no heirs.
This is not only in line with the emperor's intention not to want Concubine Qi to have children, but also to fall into Yi Xiu's conspiracy to control the harem. As a result, Concubine Qi became a chess piece for Yi Xiu and the emperor to join forces to control the harem, and she could only be a concubine with no name.
In the harem, the emperor really values and relies on Zhen Huan alone. She is not only virtuous and virtuous, but also knowledgeable, and she is the ideal harem concubine in the emperor's mind. Therefore, even if Cheap Xiu plotted against her, the emperor will definitely protect and protect her.