Chapter 57: Consort Qi

When she looked back, Wan Anran realized that the Emperor hadn’t come specifically to visit Little Dumpling, but had instead questioned Consort Xuan thoroughly about last night’s events.

Consort Xuan sneered, “If you ask me, Princess Consort of Prince Gong ran straight into a brick wall this time. The Empress summoned her into the palace today and gave her a proper scolding.”

“I think she deserved a good scolding,” Wan Anran agreed.

“Exactly.” Wan Anran nodded in agreement with Consort Xuan and Noble Lady Nara’s words. “Just look at how arrogant she is, thinking she can control the Eldest Princess in the palm of her hand. But if Her Majesty the Empress really blew up in anger, I wonder if the Princess Consort of Prince Gong might vent her anger on the Princess’s birth mother afterward?”

“Would she dare?”

Consort Xuan shook her head. “Her Majesty the Empress is thoughtful and meticulous. She wouldn’t make such a mistake. Early this morning, she used the excuse that the Eldest Princess missed her birth mother and sent two senior maids to serve at Prince Gong’s Manor. From now on, if the Princess Consort wants to control the Princess through her birth mother, she’ll have to think twice.”

Wan Anran nodded thoughtfully.

As for Emperor Kangxi—after the Eldest Princess pleaded on behalf of Prince Gong, he took the Crown Prince and the Eldest Princess out of the palace to show them this so-called selfless, overworked Prince Gong—who turned out to be nothing more than a man dead drunk.

The Eldest Princess had originally been truly worried about her father.

But once she saw his muddle-headed state and heard the stewards and guards detail his carefree, unrestrained lifestyle these past days, her worry completely vanished.

Not only was there Wu, the granddaughter of Wu Sangui, it was said there were three or four other women he kept outside too! If Wu’s background hadn’t been what it was, she probably would’ve ended up like those others—kept outside in secret. Thinking about it like this, should they praise Prince Gong for at least having some sense?

Dream on!

While the Empress rebuked Prince Gong’s consort, Kangxi himself rained down a fierce verbal lashing on Prince Gong, Changning.

Not just a scolding—Kangxi packed him off to the front lines, ordering Prince Yu (Fuquan) and Prince Kang (Jieshu) to strictly discipline him. Don’t even talk about restoring his official post—his princely stipend was cut off for three whole years. Kangxi even issued a decree that if he still didn’t shape up, he would be stripped of his princely title altogether!

With the Emperor and Empress taking action together, the matter of Prince Gong quickly fizzled out without much of a ripple. People clicked their tongues in surprise for a moment and then forgot all about Prince Gong and his consort, turning instead to dressing up Little Dumpling in his new clothes to bring him to the Empress Dowager.

After all, Little Dumpling was just too adorable in that outfit!

Sure enough, the Empress Dowager was so delighted she couldn’t stop smiling.

Eleventh Prince—already favored by the Empress Dowager for being strong and healthy—was now even more lovable in his charming outfit. She held him in her arms and played with him for a long time, reluctant to let go.

A faint sense of regret rose in her heart.

If only she had agreed to raise the Eleventh Prince in Cining Palace… But the moment the thought surfaced, she saw Wan Guiren’s proud and smug expression. At once, she brushed the thought aside: A child truly is best raised by his own mother.

As for raising children… well, maybe another time, if fate permits? The Empress Dowager’s heart was full of complicated emotions—most of which Wan Anran had no idea about. However, the surrounding consorts were all visibly envious.

Every single one of them was desperately trying to conceive.

But from Wan Guiren to Changzai Guo, it was exactly as the saying goes: The flowers you tend with care never bloom, while the willows you plant by accident grow into full shade. It was enough to make one utterly frustrated.

The calmest of them all were the Empress and Consort Yi.

The former shared in the glory, teasing Little Dumpling with a cloth tiger. Yinzhen (Eleventh Prince) had to try very hard not to bite it on sight… But the moment he got distracted, he’d find himself once again clamping down on it, drool dripping down his chin.

Wan Anran hurried forward to tie a drool bib on Little Dumpling, while Consort Yi watched curiously. Not only did she observe Wan Anran’s movements carefully, she also asked a barrage of questions—all about child-rearing.

Consort Yi was extremely earnest.

Not only did she ask questions, she even tried it out herself. She reached out to pinch the chubby Eleventh Prince, then felt the unusual material of his clothing. Its soft texture made her exclaim, “Why have I never seen this kind of fabric before?”

As a favored consort, Consort Yi’s clothing allotment came from the finest selection in the palace. If she said she hadn’t seen it before, it certainly raised everyone’s eyebrows in surprise.

Even the Empress Dowager examined it carefully.

It really did seem different. But the palace was filled with countless types of fabric—she didn’t think much of it and simply smiled. “Isn’t it just a newly delivered material from outside the palace? Mama Su, make sure the storeroom prepares some for our Consort Yi too. Can’t have her accusing me of favoritism.”

Then she turned to Wan Anran. “This fabric is soft and makes such cute clothes. You should take a few more bolts and make some more outfits for my precious little grandson.”

Wan Anran hesitated, wanting to say something but holding back.

Consort Xuan, on the other hand, didn’t hold back at all. She smiled and chimed in, “Your Majesty, this material might not even be available in Cining Palace!”

“Oh? Cining Palace doesn’t have it?”

“No, this fabric was something Wan Guiren instructed the Imperial Household Department to develop last year. It took them all this time to produce it. They just sent a whole basket to Xianfu Palace.”

Consort Xuan was both proud and a little smug.

She smiled and posed a question: “Can you guess what the raw material is?”

“You little imp, playing riddles with me—hurry up and tell me!”

“It’s wool. This is yarn spun from wool,” Consort Xuan said seriously.

As a member of the Borjigit clan, Consort Xuan naturally understood the importance of wool yarn. The moment she saw the little hat, clothes, and pants Wan Anran had knitted for Little Dumpling, she had made up her mind to present the matter here in Cining Palace, giving full credit to Wan Guiren.

The Empress Dowager didn’t quite catch on right away.

But the Grand Empress Dowager, seated nearby, was far more perceptive. She suddenly straightened her back, her sharp gaze turning toward the Eleventh Prince.

Yinzhen smiled at Wukuma Momo.

With the little ram-horn hat on his head, the Eleventh Prince looked impossibly adorable—any ordinary old lady would’ve rushed to scoop him up and play with him on the spot.

But the Grand Empress Dowager was not just any old lady.

So instead of teasing Yinzhen, she reached out and carefully felt the fabric of his clothes. Soft, warm, and with a finely knit texture—it was hard to believe this was the same wool usually used to make rough cloth! The Grand Empress Dowager’s brows lifted in both surprise and cautious interest. “Noble Lady Wan, is what Consort Xuan said really true?”

Wan Anran smiled and nodded.

Back when she’d first entered the palace and asked for wool yarn, she hadn’t thought it was anything significant. She’d even privately grumbled about how the Imperial Household Department played favorites, treating people differently based on status—how could they drag their feet over something as simple as wool yarn? It wasn’t until much later that Wan Anran realized: during the Kangxi reign, there was no such thing as wool yarn!

When exactly did wool yarn first appear? She didn’t know. But since the Imperial Household Department had eventually managed to produce it, she figured it must not have been too technically difficult. What she didn’t realize was—if the entire department knew her thoughts, they’d probably spit out blood in frustration.

The moment the imperial consorts issued an order, the Household Department gave it their all. It was just a matter of scheduling. As for how much time and effort it had taken to turn wool into usable yarn? Well… not too long. 🙂

They only had to design more than a dozen types of spinning machines, then another dozen types of weaving machines, and waste several thousand—maybe tens of thousands—of sheep’s worth of wool before finally creating a machine that could card, comb, and spin wool into yarn.

Only in the palace could something like this be accomplished.

If Wan Anran had been in an ordinary household, she’d probably have been cursed as a wastrel.

The bitterness behind it all—who could describe it without choking up? But from Noble Lady Wan’s lips, it turned into a light, offhand remark.

“Is this really made from wool yarn?”

“Doesn’t wool have a strong odor? How could you make clothing out of it?”

The entire Cining Palace erupted in murmurs.

Not just the Grand Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager, whose excitement was written all over their faces—even the Empress was so stunned she had to cover her mouth.

Think about the well-known line from the poem: “The sky is vast, the land is wide. When the wind blows, the grass bows and the sheep appear.” The Mongolian grasslands were teeming with cattle and sheep, and the production of cashmere was unmatched in the empire. Wool had many uses: it could be made into cashmere fabric, carpets, and upholstery. But these materials had fallen out of fashion in the current dynasty, rendering them almost obsolete.

The demand for wool had plummeted. Its market price dropped day by day, sometimes even going into negative returns. Shepherds often sheared their sheep and simply discarded the wool, too disheartened to even sort it.

The mountains of stockpiled wool had grown to astronomical quantities. But if it could be spun into yarn, how much could it be worth? The Grand Empress Dowager rubbed the woolen fabric on the Eleventh Prince’s body, one thought following another in her mind. She smiled and asked, “Is spinning yarn difficult?”

Wan Anran answered brightly, “It’s easy.”

Even someone as clumsy as she was could do it—so what more needed to be said? Wan Anran had someone fetch her crochet hooks and wool yarn from Xianfu Palace, and with that, she became the palace’s first “knitting instructor,” patiently demonstrating to everyone how to work with the yarn.

It sounded simple, and looked simple, too.

The imperial consorts were all highly skilled in needlework. Once they tried it, it really was just two words: too easy. And since it was winter, who didn’t want to knit a fluffy scarf or a cute little pouch for themselves? Before long, knitting yarn became a full-blown trend in the palace. If a consort hadn’t made some fresh little trinket, the others would mock her for being out of touch.

With the surge in enthusiasm, the demand for various kinds of wool yarn skyrocketed. The Imperial Household Department was run off its feet—and in the midst of their scramble, they couldn’t help but start pondering the potential of this wool yarn.

This stuff… seemed like it could be seriously profitable.

Even though the department was late to catch on, it didn’t matter—Kangxi summoned them anyway.

Wool could now be spun into yarn, which could be turned into fabric! Once they saw the finished garments, the officials of the Household Department were floored. Even with their eyes shut, they knew this was an unprecedented opportunity for profit. For a financially strained court, it was like manna from heaven.

The officials immediately sprang into action with full dedication. While busily managing the wool yarn operation, someone even made a groundbreaking discovery: one craftsman’s design for a new loom doubled the usual weaving speed—and had room for further improvement!

Wool yarn was an emerging business. Even with its bright future, it would take time to develop. But the improved loom? That meant cold, hard cash right now. Not just the Household Department, but the entire court was shaken by the news.

The military campaign against the Three Feudatories was progressing smoothly, and now silver seemed to be flying into their coffers on wings. Kangxi was delighted, grinning from ear to ear. In Kunning Palace, he even praised Noble Lady Wan for once: “Usually she seems so clueless, but every now and then she actually comes up with something useful.”

“Careful,” someone joked, “if Noble Lady Wan hears that, she’ll throw a tantrum.”

“Let her!” Kangxi laughed heartily. Then he switched topics to the Crown Prince’s cleverness, Baoqing’s stubborn streak (though who knew where that came from), and how the Third Princess was becoming more and more thoughtful… Once he finished talking about the children, he moved on to court matters, and finally circled back to the inner palace: “The Twelfth Prince doesn’t look well. I’m not even sure he’ll make it through the New Year.”

He had originally wanted to rename the children.

But after seeing how weak Little Twelve was, Kangxi sighed deeply. “Let’s wait a little longer. Just a little longer.”

Couldn’t the New Year bring some cheer?

Kangxi was feeling down. Empress Niohuru smiled and said, “Since Noble Lady Wan has rendered a great service, why not promote her to Consort?”

Promote Noble Lady Wan?

Kangxi paused. He almost refused, the words swirling on his tongue—then swallowed them. Now that she mentioned it, he had thought about promoting Noble Lady Wan when she was first pregnant last year. He’d meant to wait until she gave birth… and then he completely forgot.

Since she had contributed greatly, Kangxi did not object. He nodded and said, “Let it be done. Empress, select a few other palace women to be promoted from First Class Attendant and Second Class Attendant ranks as well. It’ll help lift the mood.”

Empress Niohuru agreed with a smile.

Just after the New Year passed, Wan Anran received the imperial decree:

Noble Lady Wan is promoted to Consort Qi (Qi Pin), and granted residence as the principal mistress of Chuxiu Palace.