Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace: Fawning

Chapter 144: Battle against Dzungar

It turns out that so-called friendship is really not worth mentioning.

It's all for profit.

Human hearts are unpredictable.

Lujun was originally from Jiangnan. Ever since she became Hongli's woman, she never returned to Jiangnan. She even failed to return to attend the funerals of her parents. After Empress Xiaoxian's death, she began to eat a vegetarian diet every day to atone for her sins, using this to mitigate the guilt of her previous struggle for the empress's throne. Logically, after all she had done, Hongli's anger should have dissipated. However, after Ruyi was confined to her house, although she still held the title of empress, anyone with a discerning eye knew that her position was merely a decoration. Furthermore, Hongli did not depose the empress or appoint an imperial concubine at this time, so no one knew what he was thinking.

Lujun sighed deeply, touched her drooping hair ornaments, and said leisurely, "No need to worry, Noble Lady Ke. Since we've entered the palace, we're all sisters. Yingfei's family background is good, but she forgot one thing. Since she entered the Forbidden City, she's the Emperor's woman, and she should always put the Emperor first. Concubine Cheng is right. Yingfei's outspokenness will sooner or later harm herself."

When she first entered the palace, Meiruo constantly boasted about being the King of Bahrain's favorite daughter. Everyone initially envied her, as the Forbidden City prioritized sons over daughters, and a mother's status was based on her sons. Every family had three wives, four concubines, and dozens of children. Women with unfortunate fates were like grass, mere tools to exploit the family's interests. Now that she had come to her senses, Lujun finally realized what was happening. If King of Bahrain truly loved her as much as she claimed, why would he have sent her all the way to the Qing Dynasty for marriage?

The concubines dispersed.

After more than half a month of hard work, Princess Bahrain was about to arrive at the Forbidden City, but Meiruo was not satisfied with the palace built by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. She felt that the people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs were just perfunctory and, despite Abao's attempts to stop her, she insisted on running to the Yangxin Palace to find Hongli, hoping to get his opinion, despite being six months pregnant.

But at this time, the previous dynasty was in turmoil.

The Dzungars have always been resentful of the Dawachi rebellion.

Meiruo kept chattering in Hongli's ear, making him a little annoyed. He just told her to stop making trouble and asked Jinbao to kick her out. Meiruo was angry, but she didn't dare to vent her anger on Hongli, so she had to direct her anger at the innocent Jinbao.

"You little slave boys, it's because you didn't serve the Emperor well that the Emperor is angry. If you do it again, I will chop off your heads."

Jinbao bent over with a smile on his face, looking as if he didn't dare to offend anyone.

Meiruo felt bored, rolled her eyes, and left the Yangxin Palace.

Dawachi was arrogant and rebellious. He had initially sought the hand of the Qing princess Hengti, but not only had he neglected her, he had also shown no restraint in recent times. His tyrannical threats against the Qing during the Cheleng Incident had already sparked Hongli's discontent and murderous intent. Now that the Dürburt tribe was under Qing rule, if a conflict arose, Dawachi would undoubtedly lose.

Dawachi ruled the Dzungars, but his excessive debauchery and neglect of government affairs incurred widespread resentment among the tribesmen. After the assassination of their predecessor, Galdan Tseren, Amursana leveraged his prestige within the Dzungars to support Dawachi as the Dzungar Khan. The cause of Galdan Tseren's death was well known, and Dawachi, driven by pride, would not let Amursana, his lackey, go unpunished, sending assassins to kill him.

Fortunately, Amursana had noticed the situation early and escaped from Dzungar under the protection of Hengti. Amursana was injured and had nowhere to go, so he had no choice but to defect to the Qing Dynasty and ask the Qing emperor to send troops to resolve the civil unrest in Dzungar and support the new king to ascend the throne.

Hongli did not immediately agree to Amursana's request. Instead, he asked Jinzhong to take Amursana to the post station to rest. Dawachi was arrogant and conceited. He first killed the previous leader, threatened the emperor with war, and forced Princess Hengti into marriage, causing Hongli and his mother to be alienated. However, Dawachi still did not know how to be grateful, and his behavior was even more shameless. He forced the princess into marriage but did not cherish her, instead running off to look for other beautiful women. What made Hongli even more angry was that Dawachi dared to threaten him with the matter of Cheleng. Not long ago, the Qing Dynasty had just recovered the Dürbet tribe. Now was the time for them to serve the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, after discussing with Hongli and his ministers, they decided to help Amursana suppress the civil unrest.

To maintain the peace of the Qing people, Hongli issued an edict on a certain day, under the pretext of a civil unrest in Dzungar, to dispatch two elite troops, each divided into two groups, to attack Ili and defeat Dawachi. Amursana led the expedition, and Hongli sent Che Ling, who was familiar with the terrain of Dzungar, as military advisor to command the battle. He also wrote a letter to the Dürburt tribe to cooperate with the battle.

War was imminent, and both the people and the Forbidden City were in a state of panic. Hongli was so busy that he had little time for the harem. While he wasn't a good husband, he was a good monarch, participating in every court battle. But things were not so peaceful in the Cining Palace, and Zeng Huan was left with no peace. With the war raging, how many people would be left homeless, and how many brave men would shed blood on the battlefield? Even the soldiers who rose from the pool of blood could not escape the consequences, so what about Hengti? How would her daughter, who had been away from home for twenty years, protect herself?

How could Dawachi remain indifferent when Hongli suddenly decided to attack Dzungar? Judging from the current situation, the Qing Dynasty would definitely not be defeated. But what if Dawachi was pushed too far and threatened Hengti's life?

Hongli was ruthless and even more desperate for the throne. He was indifferent even when Hengti wrote to him asking for help last time. For the sake of his century-old foundation, he was willing to sacrifice Hengti and ordered her to marry Dawachi. You have to know that Hengti was just a widow whose husband had just died at that time. Where was her face?

No, she couldn't just sit there and wait for death. She had to go find Hongli. Even if she had to give up her position as empress dowager, she wanted Hengti to return safely to the Qing Dynasty.

She stumbled to the door. As soon as Fujia brought out the tea, she saw Zeng Huan about to leave. Startled, she dropped what she was holding, ran to Zeng Huan, held her hand, and said anxiously, "Empress Dowager, it's so windy outside. Where are you going?"

"I want to go to the Yangxin Palace to hear the emperor's explanation."

Zeng Huan, known for her stubborn temper, was oppressed by Empress Yixiu for ten years. After finally defeating her and becoming the biggest winner in the harem, he still couldn't protect his daughter. Fu Jia accompanied Zeng Huan to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Apart from Jin Bao, there were only a few guards outside the Yangxin Palace.

Jin Bao: "Your servant pays respects to the Empress Dowager."

Zeng Huan: "Where's the Emperor?"

Jinbao glanced guiltily towards the Yangxin Palace and said with a smile, "To answer the Empress Dowager, the Emperor has gone to another palace."