The empress is together with YZ in her study. Empress mentions that she wants to give instructions to the imperial physician to take care of Shen's pregnancy. YZ wants to promote Shen.
Empress, "Shen Guiren has your favor and is now pregnant. It's natural to gain a promotion. However traditionally there is no rule that a promotion is mandatory even if a concubine falls pregnant or given birth. "
YZ "It's not totally because of her pregnancy. She has a steadfast character which is rare."
Empress, "Wan Guiren is quick and intelligent, which shows off that Shen Guiren is gracious and steady. Does your majesty intend to give Shen Guiren a Pin rank?"
Empress "Of course. But in this case, Xianfu Gong will have 2 masters. If she have to move to another place, it will be inconvenient given her current condition. Why not wait until the child is born, and then with the promotion, it will be double happiness."
Hence, YZ is convinced to wait to promote Shen. He wants to reward her with something thou. Jewellery is too common. Since he is not promoting her now, he will give her a title. "Hui"
The empress remarks that now Shen will be the same status as Wan Guiren.
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At Shen's place, Zhen is visiting. There are lots of gifts on her table. Zhen says when the pregnancy reaches the 8th month, Shen's mother will be able to enter the palace to be with Shen. Zhen wants to be the godmother of Shen's child. Shen prefers a boy.
Shen warns Zhen about Huafei. Even thou she is neglected now, there is no certainty that she won't rise up again. YZ does not look like someone who will only stick to 1 woman. Since Shen is unable to serve the emperor now, there is a vaccum and some other woman may take the oppourtunity to step into the vaccum. Thus Shen wants to fetch An to Yuan Ming Yuan to plug the vaccum.
Zhen, "You see, weren't you saying last time that Lingrong was ruthless? Now she you can see her goodness."
Shen, "There are advantages to being ruthless. I'm afraid you can't handle the situation alone. Let's fetch her first so we have a backup."
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An is brought to Yuan Ming Yuan. Zhen is awaiting her arrival. *An has a theme song when she appears.
They go to see the emperor to pay their respects. Outside the hall, 4th Prince Hongli is kneeling and begging to see his father. His momo is trying to persuade him to go back and not kneel under the hot sun.
Su Peisheng advises them to leave as YZ is not in the mood to see anyone. Zhen is compassionate for the boy and orders a bowl of lily bulb lotus seed soup for him.
They leave and Zhen catches up An with recent developments. 4th Prince Hongli (YZ's son) caught them up to pay his respects to Zhen. Zhen is amused and likes 4th Prince.
After a few superficial chatting, Hongli obviously wants to talk in private with Zhen. Zhen is able to get the hint and arranges everyone to leave them alone.
Hongli asks Zhen plaintively if his imperial father does not like him. He is sent to live here in Yuan Ming Yuan all year. YZ does not visit him and rarely lets him into his presence.
Zhen reassures him that it is only because YZ is busy that he has no time for him. He has arranged many momos to take care of him. Also, 5th Prince does not live in the palace too.
Hongli, "5th Prince has his mother. I do not. My mother's status is lowly and is despised by everyone. "
Zhen, "Do not belittle yourself. Even thou I do not know if your mother's background is lowly or not, but every father and mother love their own children. It doesn't matter if other people despise you, the important thing is you do not despise yourself. In future, others will naturally not dare to belittle you."
Hongli brightens up. "Really?"
Zhen smiles. "If A-ge* does not believe me, you would not have approached me in the first place. But one thing. We had only seen each other from afar, why would you trust me?"
"To be able to be a favored concubine of Huang A-ma* means you are a person of means. Also, I heard Wan Niangniang is not scared of even Huafei. Son respects people who possess both brains and bravery."
*Manchu lingo terms of address -
A-ge is prince
A-ma is father.
Huang A-ma means imperial father.
E-niang is mother.
Zhen laughs. "I do not know if I deserve all that praise. But I do have one thing to tell you. Rather than admiring people who possesses the traits, you should aim to possess the traits yourself."
Hongli says, "Is Huang A-ma really very busy? If he is busy, I will help him run the country when I grow up."
Zhen is shocked and covers his mouth. "Aiyah! You can't say such things." "Come, let's go eat some snacks."
*It is taboo for princes to say such things because it could be taken negatively as 1) cursing their father to die 2) grabbing power for themselves. It is even more taboo as YZ, the current Emperor, has gotten his throne via a furious contention with his brothers. (To understand more about what happened about the contention, watch the drama Bu Bu Jing Xin, or Startling with Each Step, it's a great drama with many deep plotting too!)
Zhen and Hongli leave and the camera pans to Jing Pin, who is observing this scene from afar.
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It is Wenyi's birthday celebration banquet. Zhen is sitting beside An and they are watching a dance. The banquet is attended by royal dukes and their wives. As the palace rules are strict at preventing concubines from meeting men outside, it is only during festive seasons and arranged banquets and ocassions will they be able to meet the extended family of the emperor. As such, An does not recognise anyone since she has not seen them before.
5th Prince Heng QinWang* is pointed out.
*QinWang is a rank for princes. It's conferred by the emperor and can be taken away. QinWang is the top rank, prince of the 1st class.
In Qing dynasty, the previous emperor's son is still called a prince, unlike other systems, when the dead emperor's sons will be called dukes after the emperor died. They are known by their titles which is conferred by the Emperor. So do note that the Princes mentioned in this banquet are YZ's brothers, not sons.
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Next we have 10th Prince Dun QinWang and his main wife, 10th FuJin, introduced. He looks very fierce but is nice and considerate to his wive.
*Main wives of manchus are called FuJin. The subwives also have different ranks. Ce FuJin, Qie Shi, GeGe.
Zhen 10th Prince's mother is Kangxi emperor's Wenxi Guifei. She is also the sister of Kangxi's empress. He has such a prestigious lineage, that is why he has such a awe-inspiring aura. 10th Prince was not favored by Kangxi, and is famous for his bad temper. But he is known to love his wife very much.
An comments, "It's said that to be fierce and stubborn is to be manly. But I think people who love their wives are the real men." This is from her own experience, where her mother was neglected by her father.
Yongzheng toasts the Dun couple. Dun returns the toast politely but there is an undercurrent of arrogance in his attitude. Both the emperor and the empress notices. YZ's face looks subtly soured.
An does not understand why YZ seems to want to ingratiate himself with 10th Prince who does not seem respectful to the emperor. Note even a bystander like An is able to notice this dynamic.
Zhen explains, "The emperor has just taken the throne for not long. His court is still unstable. Naturally he does not want his court to have too many infighting and does not want to gain a bad reputation for mistreating his brothers as soon as their father died."
YZ notices an empty seat. "This 17th, what has taken his attention this time? He is always late." (He is looking for a brother he is close to. Isn't this a natural human response, to look for someone you love after getting a snub from another person?)
19th Prince Shen BeiLe replies. "Your majesty, you know how 17th brother is. He is always easy-going."
YZ smiles. "It's just a family banquet. Since he has always been this mischiveous, leave him be." Everyone knows he is on good terms with 17th.
Qifei notices Shen's new hairpin. It is bestowed on her by the Dowager because of her pregnancy.
Huafei pointed out this hairpin was worn by the Dowager when she was pregnant with 14th prince. Cao Guiren adds on that it could be seen that the Dowager places a lot of importance on this pregnancy from giving her this hairpin.
These may look like innocent remarks, but they are trying to cast a negative light on Shen, because everyone knows the Dowager only favors her younger son, 14th Prince, and not YZ. They are trying to make YZ have a negative association with Shen's baby.
Duanfei arrives. She is carried by an open sedan. Huafei is very displeased to see her and glares at her with open amosity. Duanfei sees Zhen and does a double take.
She recovers and says "Congratulations to his majesty on getting new beauties."
Empress gives a knowing smile. "Duanfei has been sick and does not meet new people. So you must have preserved your memories of looks well."
Duanfei gives Wenyi a hoop locket. She likes the baby a lot. Cue lots of sour looks from Huafei.
The dancing item on the program starts again. Zhen excuses herself to go out for a breather accompanied by Liuzhu. She stops by the pond and feels playful. She does not notice a man watching her from above. He was having a quiet drink by himself.
Thinking that everyone is at the banquet, she takes off her shoes and socks and tests the water with her feet. She slips and the man saves her from falling into the pond.
Other than the shock of almost falling into the pond, Zhen and Liuzhu are also shocked at seeing an unfamiliar man despite him saving Zhen. They scream and push him away. In this era, the bare feet is a very intimate and sensuous thing. No other man apart from your husband is supposed to see it.
The man is 17th Prince Guo. He is totally amused and teases, "You almost became a drowned chicken, and still are so concerned about others." He goes on to comment about her white skin.
Zhen is frantically lowering her body to use her gown to hide her feet and Liuzhu is shielding her. She is irritated at Prince Guo's remarks which are bordering on inappropriate.
She irritatingly and formally says, "Please be respectful Prince Guo."
Guo asks how come she recognises him.
Zhen, "In the palace, who else would carry a flute perpetually on his person and is high status enough to drink a tribute rose wine from Tibet. And who would dare to be so mischevious in the palace?"
She dismisses Guo and asks his servant to take him away to sober up. She refuses to give him her name.
When she walks away, she strictly instructs Liuzhu "The events of today must not be leaked out to anyone. Otherwise, I will die without even having a burial ground."
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Jing Pin is out looking for Zhen. She invites her for a chat.
Cao Guiren suggests playing a simple game to show off each of the concubines' talents, by drawing lots. YZ allows it.
Jing Pin "Meimei being kindhearted is good. But in this palace, solely being kind is a bad thing. Do remember this mantra, preserving yourself is the priority. Look at 4th Prince Hongli. He is intelligent and healthy. But why does the emperor not want to see him? Meimei do you understand the emperor's feelings?"
Zhen, "I must have not noticed the naunces."
Jing Pin explains, "This palace have a saying that the mother depends on the son for status. But in reality, it is that the son depends on the mother for status. 4th Prince does not have the favor of YZ. It is because his mother was a menial labour maid in ReHe's palace.
"When our emperor was still a JunWang, he had a dispute with 8th Prince. As a result, he drank too much trying to drown his sorrows, and had sexual relations with a maid. Well, she got pregnant on one encounter. Who knows, 8th Prince managed to know of the affair and reported it to Kangxi. "
"Kangxi was very angry and censured YZ for his behavior and almost removed his JunWang's title. On top of that, this maid's looks was extremely ugly, and background was extremely lowly. So the emperor does not like her and left her in the ReHe palace to give birth. This woman had a hard life. She died in labour, only leaving 4th Prince. "
Zhen, "So 4th Prince has always been left at Yuan Ming Yuan. "
Jing Pin, "What you don't see, does not exist."
Zhen thanks her for her advice and they go back to the banquet.
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Cao Guiren has prepared her lots. She will not be performing and will gift the performers presents instead.
First she drew the lot for the Empress. The empress is to perform her calligraphy writing a "Longevity" word. Easily done.
Duanfei dismisses herself from the banquet using the excuse she is ill. She finds the proceedings tedious and the people pretentious.
Cao Guiren is shown to fake drawing a pre-prepared lot. The lot says Zhen has to perform a "JinHong" dance. Cue ominous music.
Pan to awkward looks from YZ, closed look from the empress and some anticipation looks from Huafei.
Xin Changzai comments, "The Jinhong dance was created by Tang Xuanzong's Concubine Mei. It has been lost for centuries. But as Empress Chunyuan loved music and dance, she tried to replicate and recover the dance. She had shook the world using this dance and made this the fashionable dance in the palace once."
Fucha Guiren adds on, "The Jinhong dance is has a high level of difficulty. If it is performed well, then it is an awesome show. If not done well, then it will be a poor imitation, like dong shi xiao pin. ???? * (see below)
Xin Changzai, "Wan Meimei is only so young, how is she able to perform the Jinhong dance? Cao Guiren is too demanding."
Cao Guiren, "Ey, Wan Meimei has natural talent. Everyone can dance the Jinhong Dance. If she can't dance as well as Chunyuan Empress, it is totally understandable. We are all family here, what is there to be constrained about."
Zhen says, "Meimei's dancing skills is not fit to be performed, I'm afraid it will become a laughing stock."
Huafei, "If she can't dance, don't force it. Chunyuan Empress's glamour can't be replicated."
Qifei, "Huafei's words are a barb. If Wan Meimei doesn't dance, it will be a slight on Cao Guiren and Hui Guiren, and will depress the atmosphere of the event. If she dances, and badly, she will be laughed at. If she does well, then it's ok. But... since she will be copying ChunYuan Empress, it can be considered as being disrespectful to ChunYuan Empress." (Basically, she is saying that Zhen can't win, no matter what she does.)
Dun QinWang speaks. "Your Majesty, I have heard you have gotten a Wan Guiren. She has both talent and looks, but does not know how to dance. I'm afraid she may not be not as good as the dancers in my residence. If this is the case, how can she serve the emperor adequetely?"
YZ is clearly irritated at this.
Heng QinWang pipes up, "Women of no talent is a virtue. What's there any need to dance special dances? As long as they look pretty, that will be enough!"
Dun, "If that's the case, the praises about having both beauty and talent are a sham. If she is favored for her looks only, then it can only show that his majesty is a shallow person going for looks and no substance."
Empress says, "The Jinhong dance is easy to learn buy hard to be proficient at. Let's not do this, change the item."
Shen, "Your Majesty, Wan Meimei is proficient at poetry, she does not specialise in song and dance. Why not let her recite some poem for the princess?"
YZ comes to a forced decision to let Zhen perform because of Dun's barbs. "The palace has not had a Jinhong performance for a long time. I also wish to see it. Wan Guiren, you may anyhow make a dance performance."
Zhen, "Then please allow me to change to a dancing costume."
In the restroom, Huanbi and Liuzhu are helping Zhen to change. "Xiaozhu did learn how to dance this, but whether to do it well or not is like riding a tiger.
Zhen remarks, "What other people want to see is not a dance that shows the flexibility and mellowness like the Jinhong bird. They actually want to see a bird trapped."
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Zhen returns to the banquet hall. Shen offers to play the zither and An will sing to provide morale support. YZ orders Shu Taifei's Chang Xiangsi zither to be brought out.
The empress says, "When the previous emperor's Shu Fei entered the palace, he bestowed on her a zither named Chang Xiangsi, and a flute name Chang Xiangshou, as tokens of love. After Kangxi passed away, Shufei decided to live outside the palace in a nunnery. These items were left in the palace. "
The dance starts.
Dun commentates, "Every movement is an exact copy of Empress ChunYuan. It may be beautiful but it is not creative."
Qifei, "Why must it be creative? It is respectful like this."
Prince Guo enters the banquet hall blowing his flute in accompliment to the music. Everyone is staring at Zhen. She performs exceptionally very well, doing many turns, and Huafei tosses a reproachful look at Cao Guiren. Everyone else finally shuts up.
YZ is very pleased and says affectionately to Zhen, "How many surprises do you have in store for me?"
Dun laughs and gives a backhanded compliment. "The song and dance is marvellous indeed. It can be compared to the no. 1 performer in my residence."
Guo, "10th brother is joking. Wan Guiren's dance is empowered by Meifei's spirit. When Meifei did the Jinhong dance, she was nicknamed as the "Mei spirit". The Jinhong dance is created by Meifei, today it has open my eyes indeed."
Dun is puzzled and annoyed at the frivolous talk. "You have not seen Meifei's dance. How are you able to talk so much about it?" All these while, 10th FuJin is coughing and trying to signal to her husband to stop.
Guo, "I can't be compared to 10th brother in martial arts, horsemanship and archery. It's only these history books, this carefree person has read more than 10th brother."
Dun, "We Manchus gained the country with horsemanship and archery. What is the use of all these rubbish ink history books? It must be because your mother is a Han Chinese, that's why you were taught all these Han customs."
Guo gives a disdainful laugh.
YZ breaks it up. "We Qing dynasty need people with both talents in literary and martial arts. Both younger brothers are like my left and right hand. Both have your own talents, why is there a need to compare and put each other down?"
Dun QinWang finally shuts up.
Cao Guiren tries to recover. "Your majesty, see, I was right. Wan Guiren is definitely talented and she can dance what ordinary people can't. This dance would not be inferior than Empress ChunYuan's."
Everyone is dumbfounded. The empress is clearly displeased. "I remember that when Empress ChunYuan performed the dance, even Huafei had not entered the prince's residence, not to mention you, Cao Guiren. How do you know how well Empress ChunYuan danced? And how do you have the info to compare Wan Guiren to ChunYuan's?"
Cao Guiren quickly apologises as she knows she has gotten in trouble, "It is my lapse of judgement. I only heard about it, and not able to see ChunYuan's dance for myself is my regret."
YZ ignores her and turns his attention to Zhen.
Zhen, "Your concubine did not see ChunYuan Empress's marvellous dance. It is my misfortune indeed. The Jinhong dance that I performed today is adapted from Meifei's dance. It's a small firefly light, how can it be compared to ChunYuan's luminous moonlight?"
YZ and the empress are pleased at Zhen's speech.
YZ says in good spirits, "17th! You are late. You need to be punished by having 3 cups of wine."
Guo, "I have just performed the flute for my new sister-in-law's dance. Imperial brother should give her face and let me off on her account."
YZ, "Chang Xiangsi's music notes should be paired with Chang Xiangshou's flute to be a divine combo. This is Wan Guiren, surname Zhen. This is Hui Guiren, surname Shen. The singer is...?"
An smiles and comes forward and says "Your concubine is Daying, surname An."
YZ barely looks at her and didn't even let her finish her sentence. "Bestow reward!"
Zhen is told to sit beside YZ, in a seat of honour. Everyone goes back to their seat.
Prince 19 Shen Beile, a young boy, welcomes Prince Guo to sit beside him.
Huafei suddenly takes a big glup of wine and chokes.
The empress starts on her, "Huafei, what is up with you? It's such a happy ocassion, why are you spoiling the mood?"
https://goodlucksj.wordpress.com/2014/12/22/dong-shi-xiao-pin-%E4%B8%9C%E6%96%BD%E6%95%88%E9%A2%A6/
End of episode 13
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