The Succession Plan
Imperial Noble Consort Tongjia's first objective was securing her bloodline. She summoned her younger half-sister, Consort Tong.
When Consort Tong arrived carrying her infant, the Eleventh Prince, Yinzi, Tongjia's brow furrowed. "Take him out immediately," she ordered the servants. "He is too young. Do not expose him to the sickroom."
Consort Tong protested mildly. "You treat him as your own, Sister. Now that you are ill, he should be here."
"A child's health is not a matter for sentiment," Tongjia replied firmly. "Do not take risks with his life."
Once the infant was removed, Tongjia forced herself up and handed Consort Tong a heavy, unadorned wooden box.
"What is this?" Consort Tong asked.
"My accumulated wealth," Tongjia answered, her tone strictly pragmatic. "These funds are entirely untraceable. There are no imperial seals or clan markings. You can use them freely."
Consort Tong was startled. "Sister!"
Tongjia raised a hand, silencing her. "Do not refuse. This is for you and Yinzi. The official inventory in my storehouse cannot be moved yet, but I will leave instructions. After I am gone, aside from the restricted imperial gifts, the rest will be transferred to you."
'This is not a conversation; it is a handover of power.' Tongjia knew she was running out of time. If her collusion with the Tiandihui rebels was ever discovered, the Tongjia clan would face annihilation. She needed her sister to survive independently of her legacy.
Consort Tong began to weep, begging Tongjia to trust the imperial physicians.
"I know my own body," Tongjia cut in. 'I engineered this illness. If the physicians cure me, the rebels will expose my treason, and our entire clan will burn.' "You brought Yinzi here because you knew I might not survive," Tongjia continued, softening her voice slightly. "You wanted me to see him one last time. I saw him. He is healthy. Now, listen to my final instructions."
Consort Tong wiped her tears, nodding.
"The clan elders will pressure you to push Yinzi toward the throne once I am dead. You must refuse," Tongjia warned, her eyes sharp. "The political board is locked. The Crown Prince has the absolute backing of the Emperor and the Grand Empress Dowager. The First Prince is backed by Consort Hui, who has already assimilated Noble Lady Wei and Consort Yi into her faction. You do not have the resources to survive that crossfire."
"I will not fight them," Consort Tong promised.
"Good. But neutrality is not enough to guarantee your safety. You need an impenetrable shield." Tongjia leaned forward. "You must align yourself with Sumalagu."
Sumalagu was a unique political anomaly. Officially, she was merely a servant to the Grand Empress Dowager. In reality, she was a surrogate mother to the Emperor and held immense unspoken authority.
"She has no political ambitions of her own, which makes her untouchable," Tongjia explained. "Since the Grand Empress Dowager will not raise another prince, and the Empress Dowager already has the Fifth Prince, Sumalagu is your best option. Send Yinzi to be raised by her. Promise that he will care for her in her old age. If you secure her affection, no concubine will dare touch you or your son."
Tongjia left one brutal truth unspoken: 'Distancing yourself from me is your greatest protection. When the Emperor inevitably discovers what I have done, you must be seen as entirely separate from my crimes.'
***
The Illusion of Innocence
Shortly after Consort Tong departed, Emperor Kangxi arrived.
Tongjia immediately shifted her tactics. She dropped formal imperial titles, addressing him simply as "Cousin," invoking the nostalgia of their childhood. She guided the conversation away from court politics and toward their shared past, reminiscing about the osmanthus trees where they first met.
'I must ensure he remembers me as a victim of fate, not a traitor.'
"Cousin, I do not regret entering the palace for you," Tongjia said, her voice fragile. "But I regret losing the innocent girl I used to be. I made mistakes."
Kangxi frowned, his protective instincts flaring. "You are still that same girl to me."
"No. I let jealousy blind me," Tongjia confessed, shedding a perfectly timed tear. "Years ago, I was envious of Consort De. I deliberately manipulated the Crown Prince into clashing with her Yonghe Palace. I was wrong."
It was a calculated confession. By admitting to a minor, long-past infraction, she projected total transparency, burying the massive, lethal secret of her recent treason.
Kangxi sighed, the tension leaving his shoulders. "That is in the past. I do not blame you."
'It worked.' Tongjia observed his reaction. For a month, Kangxi had avoided the inner court, quietly investigating if any concubine was involved in the Tiandihui assassination of the Sixth Prince. Her preemptive "confession" and current terminal state had successfully dismantled his lingering suspicions about her.
"I have one final request," Tongjia said. "Since my daughter died, I neglected Yinzhen. Consort De stepped in to care for him. Yinzhen's imperial jade registry was never officially altered. After I die, return him to Yonghe Palace. Consort De lost her Sixth Prince; let her have Yinzhen back."
Kangxi nodded. "I agree."
Tongjia reached out, touching his cheek. "Take care of your health, Cousin. Do not overwork yourself."
When the maid, Chunzhi, arrived with the medicine, Tongjia immediately forced Kangxi to leave. "Please, Cousin. I am hideous right now. The medicine reeks. I want you to remember me as I was, not as this."
Unable to refuse a dying woman's plea, Kangxi reluctantly left.
***
The Price of Silence
Once the Emperor was gone, the facade of the fragile lover vanished. Tongjia fell back onto the bed, exhausted. She looked at Chunzhi, her gaze turning cold and analytical.
"How long have you served me, Chunzhi?"
"Fifteen years, Your Ladyship."
Tongjia glanced at the untouched bowl of medicine. "You know, don't you?"
Chunzhi's hands trembled slightly, but she immediately dropped to her knees. She had watched Tongjia pour the life-saving medicine into the potted plants day after day.
"I know nothing, Your Ladyship," Chunzhi stated firmly, looking up with terrifying resolve. "And I will ensure no one ever has the opportunity to interrogate me."
Tongjia's heart clenched. 'She intends to kill herself.' A dead spy could not be questioned by the Emperor's intelligence network. Just as the previous maid, Chunying, had died to protect Tongjia's secrets, Chunzhi was offering to sever the final link to the Tiandihui.
"My family sold me to a gambling house," Chunzhi whispered, smiling bitterly. "You bought my freedom, Your Ladyship. I have sent enough silver home to repay my parents for my birth. I have no attachments left. I can go as cleanly as Chunying did."
Tongjia closed her eyes, tears leaking into her hair. She remembered the day she had saved Chunzhi. She used to be a savior. Now, her survival required the calculated suicides of those most loyal to her.
"If you must," Tongjia rasped. "Make it clean."
***
The Emperor's Calculus
Back in the Qianqing Palace, Kangxi stood by the window, his expression grim. He turned to his head eunuch, Liang Jiugong.
"Years ago, when she was gravely ill, I issued an edict promoting her to Noble Consort. The joyous event—the 'Chongxi'—seemed to ward off the illness, and she recovered. If I promote her to Empress now, will it save her?"
Liang Jiugong bowed deeply. "Shall I summon the Minister of Rites, Your Majesty?"
Kangxi looked toward Chengqian Palace. He wanted to save his cousin. He wanted to elevate the Tongjia clan.
But then, his mind shifted to Crown Prince Yinreng.
'If I make Tongjia the Empress, she ceases to be a mere concubine. She becomes the official, legitimate mother of all imperial children.' Currently, Yinreng's absolute authority rested on his status as the only son of the late Empress Xiaochengren. If Tongjia became Empress, any child she adopted—or the political weight she carried—could legally rival Yinreng's standing. It would permanently alter the factional balance of the empire.
Sentiment warred with cold political logic. Logic won.
"No," Kangxi said quietly, his voice hardening. "Forget I said anything."
***
The Final Realization
Days passed. Tongjia drifted in and out of consciousness. The imperial physicians stopped prescribing medicine; they were merely waiting for her heart to stop.
She waited for the yellow silk edict declaring her Empress. It never came.
Tongjia opened her eyes, a weak, cynical smile curving her pale lips. 'I overestimated my value to him. His empire and his Crown Prince will always come first.' She had anticipated this ruthlessness.
"Chunzhi," she breathed, her voice barely a whisper. "The posthumous protocol. Execute it after I take my final breath."
If Kangxi would not grant her the title while she lived, she would force his hand with her death, ensuring the Tongjia clan received the ultimate honor as compensation for his guilt.
Tongjia closed her eyes for the last time. She was exhausted. Her final thought was not of love, but of cold relief.
'Emperor. In the next life, I pray we never cross paths again.'