Chapter 193 Honghui's wedding Regarding her doubts, Yinzhen or...

In response to her question, Yinzhen replied, "Because the reason you gave at the time made sense."

"..." Qi Buchen held his breath, frowning, his eyes squeezed into triangles, "Don't fool me."

This exchange had occurred more than once. Yinzhen sighed and reached out to smooth the wrinkles between her brows: "I'm telling the truth."

He reached out and embraced the man, saying seriously, "Currently, the principal officials of each government office are divided into two groups: one Manchu and one Han, responsible for different government affairs. Doesn't it seem quite harmonious? In fact, this is just an appearance. There is one thing you have long realized, that is, the Han people's culture and heritage are too strong. But in fact, they are not only strong in these aspects, but also in governing the country... They are also very strong."

Yinzhen was lost in thought. "During the time of the previous emperor, when we had only recently entered the Great Wall, we were fine at fighting wars, but governing the country was incredibly difficult. It wasn't just the language barrier, but more importantly, we were a nomadic society, while the land inside the Great Wall was an agricultural one. Back then, even though the Manchu officials held positions, they couldn't even read. How could they possibly have managed government affairs?"

"To put it bluntly, even a Han scholar in that position could have done better than them back then."

"But there's nothing we can do. We are so few in number. If we want to hold our own in this world, we must occupy a dominant position. Other problems can only be solved slowly over time."

"Later, things started to improve, and even produced people as brilliant as Nalan Rongruo." He smiled softly. "In fact, Nalan Rongruo made an outstanding contribution to the relationship between Manchu and Han scholars."

After briefly passing on the digression, Yinzhen continued, "Today, although many people don't want to admit it, the fact is that Han officials have become increasingly important in the court. Just look at the memorials submitted by officials in recent years. Chinese characters are increasingly used, and Manchu characters are becoming increasingly rare. Even the emperor has long used Chinese characters to approve memorials."

"Why do you think the Emperor proposed 'Manchus and Han are one family'?" Yinzhen's pupils were so deep that Qi Buchen couldn't help but shiver.

"It is natural to love the people, but it is hard to say whether this is not also a factor in the growing power of the Han ministers."

His voice was barely audible. "Just like in Mongolia back then, how many Aixinjueluo women didn't marry on the grasslands?"

Qi Buchen looked at him with a complicated expression. She didn't expect that he would reveal the naked interests behind politics to her.

Yinzhen thought she was frightened. After all, he had never been deeply involved in politics. He patted the woman on the back soothingly and changed the subject: "The Han Chinese are becoming increasingly powerful and unstoppable. It may not be obvious now, but in a few decades, the court will probably be dominated by the Han Chinese."

He spoke with great confidence. Qi Buchen sighed inwardly. Yinzhen's political acumen was indeed extremely high. Although she did not know much about the evolution of Manchus and Han people in the Qing Dynasty, she also knew that in the late Qing Dynasty, almost all the people in charge of the court were Han officials.

Yinzhen continued, "Faced with this trend, trying to resist it is like trying to shake a tree with an ant. Since we have to accept it eventually, it's better to be passive than active. So I've been thinking about how to face this trend and make the world a better place."

He looked at Qi Buchen strangely. "But I didn't expect you to take the initiative to propose that Honghui marry a Han girl. To be honest, I even wondered at the time whether the emperor would allow a Han minister to marry a princess." He paused, then suddenly smiled. "I didn't expect that this unprecedented perspective of yours would work surprisingly well."

As he spoke, he felt relieved again: "But that's true, if the prince can marry a Mongolian woman, why can't the emperor's grandson marry a Han woman?"

Qi Buchen listened silently and agreed with the last sentence - that is, why has it always been princesses who married off since ancient times, why can't princes marry off?

Of course, she was not the kind of saint who would sacrifice her son for the world. After talking about this with Yinzhen, the first thing she did was to communicate with Honghui. If Honghui was unwilling, she would never force him.

Thanks to the parental arrangements of this era, Honghui had no objection to the arranged marriage. He even found it difficult to accept Qi Buchen's insistence on asking him what kind of girl he liked - this overly democratic approach.

Qi Buchen told him that he wanted to marry him to a Han girl. After Honghui asked the reason, he accepted it without any hindrance and did not seem reluctant at all.

On the contrary, the triplets didn't understand at first and ran to Qi Buchen to ask her whether Honghui was not her biological child. They were severely beaten by Yinzhen.

After understanding Yinzhen's true thoughts, Qi Buchen finally put down the heavy stone in his heart - even if the reason behind it was not so glorious, as long as he was not crazy, it would be fine.

"Are you relieved?" Yinzhen looked at her with a smile. He had noticed something was wrong with Fu Jin these days.

Qi Buchen pouted: "Isn't it because you and the Emperor agreed too readily? I am a little worried..."

Yinzhen replied mischievously, "Are you worried that I'll sell Honghui out?"

Qi Buchen hit him hard and asked, "Does the Emperor have the same idea as you?"

Yinzhen restrained his expression, pondered for a moment, and then said, "...I can't say for sure. To be honest, I'm a little surprised that the Emperor agreed so readily, even to Mother..."

Qi Buchen understood immediately that the matter of Honghui marrying a concubine should have been discussed by Qi Buchen in the palace and Concubine De, who would then discuss the process with Kangxi.

As a result, Yinzhen went straight to Kangxi and completely bypassed Concubine De. Although Concubine De had always been too lazy to pay attention to her eldest son and his wife, this matter was no small matter. Qi Buchen could fully imagine how Concubine De was being treated sarcasticly by her old rivals in the harem - she was excluded and had no idea about her grandson's marriage.

However, Concubine De did not blame Qi Buchen for this matter afterwards. It can only be said that she noticed something from Kangxi's attitude.

But what did you notice?

Concubine De was not so kind as to tell them.

The couple looked at each other for a while, and Yinzhen said simply: "It's already been decided. There's no point in thinking too much. Go to sleep."

After resolving his worries, Qi Buchen devoted all his attention to finding a wife for his son.

The third day of March in the fifty-sixth year of the Kangxi reign is a very auspicious day for marriage.

The main gate of Prince Yong's mansion was wide open, and people were coming and going in an endless stream. Horse-drawn carriages were lined up on the street. Yinzhen, with the triplets, was busy receiving guests in the front hall, and Qi Buchen was equally busy in the backyard.

After an unknown amount of time, Sun Liangping came over to remind him, "Fujin, the auspicious time is almost here, it's time for you to leave."

Qi Buchen, who was dizzy, realized that the sky was actually getting dark.

In the Qing Dynasty, the bride was picked up at dusk, so the wedding was also called "Jiehun".

After Honghui led the wedding party to set off, Qi Buchen hurried back to change into formal attire and moved to the main hall where the ceremony would be held.

Yinzhen looked at his wife walking towards him in her gorgeous attire, not caring to admire her striking presence. He took two steps towards her and said in a low voice, "Why are you wearing this? Don't you mind how heavy it is?"

After saying that, he glanced at the imperial crown on Qi Buchen's head and couldn't help feeling a little regretful. This was something Qi Buchen had ordered to be made on his 30th birthday. It was made of pure gold and had countless gems. There were nearly two hundred pearls of all sizes inlaid on it. It was very heavy.

At that time, Qi Buchen couldn't help laughing for a long time, and asked him if he had ever tried to put such a thing on his head and what it felt like on his neck.

—And then he was forced to try it.

I have to say, my neck is very sore.

Therefore, since this gift was given out, Fu Jin has only worn it once, on the occasion of the Emperor's 60th birthday. How come it was found again today?

Qi Buchen certainly wasn't feeling well either, but today was her son's wedding! Although she'd lived two lives, this was her first time in both! It was impossible not to be nervous. Her outfit for the day had already been decided, but before changing, she pondered over it and finally pulled out the imperial crown.

The amount was just right, just enough to calm her dizzy mood.

——But it is indeed a bit difficult to move.

Qi Buchen held his neck straight and put his hand on Yinzhen, whispering, "Hold me up a little."

The flowerpot under her feet is not low.

Yinzhen could see that she was nervous. He smiled helplessly, reached out to support her, and walked into the room.

This scene was seen by many princesses and concubines who were invited to watch the ceremony. They couldn't help but say sarcastically, "I didn't expect that the Fourth Prince and his wife are still so loving after such a long time."

They are obviously going to be grandmothers, but they are still so intimate in public. Think about them, when they are a little older, men don’t like to go to their rooms anymore.

Someone couldn't control their thoughts and said, "If you ask me, the Fourth Lady's behavior is too inappropriate. Not to mention that she did it in public, today is the day the prince is getting married... Isn't this just trying to attract attention..." Perhaps knowing that what he said was not pleasant, his voice became smaller and smaller.

Fortunately, the people around her were all marginal figures in the imperial clan, so they looked at each other and pretended not to hear her sarcastic remarks. As for whether they would report her to the Fourth Lady later, who knew?

Time passed as he exchanged pleasantries with the guests. When the servants came to announce that Honghui had returned from her marriage, Qi Buchen hurriedly had someone help her tidy up her appearance. After they were done, he still asked Yinzhen with concern: "How am I? Is there anything wrong?"

Yinzhen looked at her rare flustered look and smiled, "Good, very good."

Seeing that she still seemed unconvinced, Yinzhen lowered his voice and said, "The bride is wearing a veil."

Qi Buchen finally came to his senses. That's right! The future daughter-in-law has to wear a veil, and the veil can only be removed when they move into the new house. In other words, she can only see her future daughter-in-law when they serve tea tomorrow morning!

So what is she so nervous about? And she's wearing this imperial crown!

I regret it, I regret it so much now!

Without giving anyone a chance to regret, Honghui had already brought the bride in.

"Bow to heaven and earth."

"Bow to your parents twice."

Looking at Honghui kneeling on the mat and bowing to her, Qi Buchen's eyes blurred. In a trance, she still saw that fair and tender little baby with only his pink gums showing when he smiled. Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, he would get married.

From now on, he is someone else's husband and someone else's father, a man who has to support a family.

Suddenly, a hand reached out and patted her. Qi Buchen came back to her senses and saw Honghui, who had already finished the ceremony, looking at her with concern.

Qi Buchen smiled, wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes with a handkerchief, and said, "Mother is just happy." Then he signaled Sun Liangping, who was presiding over the ceremony, to continue.

After the ceremony, the two newlyweds were sent to the bridal chamber to complete the remaining steps, while Qi Buchen and Yinzhen invited the guests to take their seats.

The banquet begins.