Chapter 168: The Tu Nian family’s old lady is older than…

Although the old lady is older than the eldest lady Nian, they are actually about the same age. Among the wives of the three Nian family members, except for the eldest lady Nian who is the original wife, the other two are concubines.

Nian Rui and Nian Rong are the daughters of the current old lady, which is why there is a huge age difference between them and Nian Gengyao.

Now it seems that who is the real person in charge of the Nian Mansion's backyard is still debatable, but the attitude of the old lady at this time is probably unknown to other members of the Nian family.

I just don't know who the old lady is targeting.

Qi Buchen's eyes flickered slightly, and he smiled and said, "Miss Nian Er is indeed so outstanding. I wonder which boy will take advantage of her in the future."

The old lady was shocked. She spoke for a long time before the princess finally responded.

At the end, she even became modest: "I'm not as good as the princess said. I'm just an average person. I don't expect her to climb up the social ladder in the future. It's good enough for her to live a comfortable life."

"Speaking of which, I wonder how much the women in this capital envy you, the princess." The old lady's tone was filled with genuine envy. "The prince is deeply in love with you, and doesn't even glance at other women. We dare not even dream of marrying you, your Highness. Nowadays, every family in this capital with a daughter wants to send her to your house to be a daughter-in-law, hahahaha."

Oh? Are you targeting Honghui?

What is this?

The future rival in love suddenly becomes the daughter-in-law?

Qi Buchen's eyelashes trembled slightly, and he felt that reality was too magical.

The old lady laughed awkwardly twice, and when she realized Qi Buchen just smiled and didn't respond, she felt a little embarrassed. However, since the conversation had come to this point, she didn't intend to give up halfway. She pretended to be curious and asked, "I wonder, Princess, what are your requirements for your future daughter-in-law?"

Qi Buchen's smile remained unchanged: "It's not up to me to decide this matter. It depends on the emperor."

"Ah?" The old lady didn't expect her to answer like that. "That's right, the prince is so outstanding, it's only right that the emperor grants him a marriage."

Reluctantly, she tried again, "However, even if the Emperor granted the marriage, he would surely ask the Prince and Princess for their opinions."

Qi Buchen blinked: "I don't know about that. The emperor hasn't granted marriage to these young people yet, so I don't know what the process is."

Madam Nian couldn't bear to watch any longer and interrupted, "The guests are almost here. Please move on, Princess."

Qi Buchen noticed from the corner of his eye that the old lady gave Madam Nian a subtle glare.

interesting.

What was even more interesting was that when Qi Buchen arrived at the banquet, he discovered that the female guests all brought along girls who were about the same age as Nian Rui. They all came up to greet her and were extremely enthusiastic.

Oh, she thought the old lady was just making an excuse, but she didn't expect Honghui to become so popular without her knowing.

But Honghui is only eleven years old. In her eyes, he is still a child who needs to be held in her arms and loved. She didn't expect that in the eyes of others, he is already old enough to be reunited with.

Feeling disconnected from society, Qi Buchen left with self-doubt. When Yinzhen returned that night, she asked herself a soul-searching question: "Am I old enough to be a mother-in-law?"

Yinzhen glanced sideways: "What else?"

Qi Buchen, who was originally doubting himself, immediately breathed a sigh of relief when he heard his words: "Okay, you also think I'm old and ugly, right? Fine, I'm old and ugly, and I dare not offend your eyes, Your Highness. Please go find your beautiful lady!"

Not only did they talk, they even pushed people out.

"If you think I'm too old, what are you still doing here? Go out and see whose daughter is fresh and young, and bring her in quickly. I dare not let you down!"

"Tsk." Yinzhen didn't expect that a single sentence would cause such a big reaction from her. He grabbed her hands and said, "Where did you get mad at me? You come back and take it out on me."

"Being angry? Who else would make me angry except you?" Qi Buchen snorted. "Vent my anger? How dare I take it out on you? I'm already treating you well. Otherwise, if you don't like me, you'll send me to the manor to fend for myself. How can I survive?"

Yinzhen was helpless: "What did I say to deserve such a lot of words from you? Even if I die, I must die with a clear mind." He hugged her and said, "Be good, don't make trouble. I'm busy with a lawsuit outside today and I'm very upset."

Seeing that the irritation on his face did not seem fake, Qi Buchen calmed down and reluctantly gave up the idea of ​​causing trouble for him.

If Yinzhen is in a good mood, such a quarrel is actually nothing and can even increase the interest between the couple.

"What's wrong again?" She asked fiercely with concern.

Yinzhen's irritability miraculously dissipated a little, and he breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "The Ministry of Justice wants to take back the power to detain bannermen, but the banner owners are not happy about it and are arguing about it. I'm stuck in the middle, and the arguing is giving me a headache."

Yinzhen was both the leader of a banner and held a position in the Ministry of Justice. Both sides wanted to win him over, and the attacks he suffered doubled.

Hearing about this, Qi Buchen's tone became better: "Then this is no small matter."

The reason why I said earlier that the division of the princes into different banners had a great impact was because the people under the banners assigned to each prince were, to some extent, his private property.

The future and career of a bannerman depended largely on the banner master. Even if he committed a crime, although the interrogation was done by the Ministry of Justice, the custody and imprisonment had to be handed over to the banner master. There was a lot of room for maneuver. If you could get close to the banner master, even if you committed a crime and the Ministry of Justice gave a verdict, the banner master could still keep you safe. After all, the banner master had the final say on how the sentence would be executed.

On the other hand, if you offend the banner master, even if you have committed a minor crime, the Ministry of Justice may only sentence you to detention for a few days, and the banner master can still let you die from various natural causes during these days.

"Yes." Yinzhen exhaled and murmured, "It seems that the prince has found an expert."

"Huh?" Qi Buchen was surprised, "What does this have to do with the prince?"

Yinzhen said, "Taking back the power of the imperial edicts will inevitably weaken the control of the banner owners over their subordinates, which means weakening the banner owners' power. We brothers have only been enfeoffed for a short time, why haven't we seen the Ministry of Justice speak out about this before?"

Qi Buchen thought about it and realized it was true. Then he became a little worried: "Then what are you going to do? Wouldn't it be bad to oppose it openly?"

After all, they still have to work with people from the Ministry of Justice. Although this may be the prince's plan, it is always a good thing for the Ministry of Justice to take back and increase the power in their hands, and they will definitely be happy to do so.

"Why object?" Yinzhen asked, "The power to detain people should belong to the Ministry of Justice. Giving it to the banner owner is foolish. How is this any different from a clan member's lynching? No one other than the imperial court should have the right to lynch people."

Although the general social environment at that time recognized the existence of clan lynching, Yinzhen never agreed with this. In his view, punishment should be a right exclusive to imperial power.

When a clan reaches its largest point, isn’t it the royal family?

Qi Buchen felt ashamed when she heard this. As someone who had enjoyed the benefits of modern judicial system, her awareness on this point was even worse than Yinzhen's.

"You are right. Only by abolishing lynching and allowing the state to control the power to make laws and enforce punishments can there be long-term stability. Lynching will only lead to excessive violence, national instability, social chaos, and fear among the people."

Listening to Fu Jin's powerful voice, Yin Zhen couldn't help but smile, and the irritation in his heart completely disappeared. At first, he liked Fu Jin, perhaps because it was rare for someone to treat him wholeheartedly, but now, what he liked most about Fu Jin was that no matter how different his ideas were, Fu Jin always understood and supported him.

This kind of understanding and support is not just superficial, but a true understanding of everything he said, and knowing why he thinks so without him having to explain.

"But this is not an easy thing to do." Qi Buchen said worriedly, "Let alone other things, even if you were not brothers, the original flag owners would not agree to this."

Although the prince's move was bizarre, it was also very difficult, and it might also bring him some unnecessary enemies.

Yinzhen certainly understood this: "Now, it depends on whether the master behind him can find a way to persuade the emperor."

That’s right, Kangxi is the end of everything.

Qi Buchen couldn't imagine whether Kangxi would agree. It seemed reasonable for him to agree or not. Taking power away from the banner owners would benefit the imperial power, so Kangxi should agree. However, this matter was caused by the crown prince. Weakening the other princes would strengthen his power. Although Kangxi had reinstated the crown prince, the conflict between the emperor and the crown prince would not disappear. Given his vigilance against the crown prince, it was understandable that he disagreed.

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore." Yinzhen was in a better mood, but he hadn't forgotten Fu Jin's recent disturbance. "Tell me, did anyone make you angry last night?"

The anger had long since disappeared. Qi Buchen pretended to groan and grumble, "Who dares to make me angry?"

Yinzhen was very patient: "What happened?"

Qi Buchen's mouth was as dry as a toothless old man. "Tell me first, why did you ask me to attend the banquet at their house last year? Do you have any intentions towards them? I said before that I could not meet those people whenever I wanted, but after just a few days, they eagerly asked me to attend the banquet."

Yinzhen was both amused and confused: "Although his family is quite respectable, it is not enough to make me jealous."

Qi Buchen rolled his eyes and said, "There's nothing there, but where's the man?"

"People?" Yinzhen mused, "There really are people."

"Okay, I knew it!" Qi Buchen didn't expect him to dare to say that, and immediately got angry, "You really think I'm too old and ugly, and you're interested in the fresh and tender girl from someone else's family, right? You're not ashamed of it. The girl is only a little old, the same age as Honghui, and you have the nerve to ask her!"

Yinzhen called her confused: "What are you talking about, what little girl?"

"You're still playing dumb." Qi Buchen crossed his arms over his chest, his lips pouting so hard that you could hang a pot of oil on them. "Then tell me, who in the Nian family do you intend to deal with? If you don't tell me the whole story today, we're not done."

Yinzhen chuckled and crossed his arms, imitating her: "How are you going to finish this?"

"I, I..." Qi Buchen couldn't think of a better way to end it after thinking about it, and said angrily, "Don't bother me! You speak first!"

"Tell the truth!"

She slammed the table, and the way she slammed the table was exactly the same as when Hongyu slammed the table. Yinzhen almost couldn't hold back his expression and laughed out loud.