After the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, it stipulated that Manchu men could take Han women as concubines but could not marry them as wives. However, Manchu women were absolutely forbidden from marrying Han men. Su Mingfeng had always known this rule.

He hadn't thought much of it before, but now, after getting to know Manchu women, he couldn't help but begin to question this rule.

"Didn't His Majesty say that the Manchus and Han Chinese are one family? Why can't they intermarry?"

Previously, Hongli firmly believed that there was a fundamental difference between the Manchus and the Han. However, after meeting Su Yushan, his heart began to waver, and he began to doubt whether this ruthless rule was reasonable.

If this rule didn't exist, he could have promoted Yu Shan to the rank of Fujin and wouldn't have needed to marry a member of the Fucha clan. However, he was just a prince now and couldn't overturn the rules set by his ancestors.

"The rules set by the court, if you go and ask why, who will give you an answer? I, a prince, cannot disobey them, so how can you? If I remember correctly, Etuhun is a Hanlin Academician, a fourth-rank official. His daughter should participate in the imperial selection. Before participating in the selection, she cannot marry privately."

Su Mingfeng's eyes dimmed, but she was still unwilling to give up. "This humble official knows this rule, so I am not willing to get engaged for the time being."

Judging from his tone, he seemed to still have hope. "What? You still want to wait for her? What if she gets selected? Wouldn't you have waited a whole year for nothing?"

With so many women participating in the imperial concubine selection each year, and the selection criteria being extremely stringent, not everyone can be chosen. Therefore, Su Mingfeng is still hoping for another possibility.

"Perhaps she will not be selected?"

His thinking was incredibly simplistic. The truth was unpleasant to hear, but Hongli had to make him understand the current situation.

“Even if she loses the election, her father will only betroth her to a Manchu, and he will never agree to you two being together! Mingfeng, I have always admired your abilities and have never discriminated against your Han Chinese identity. I know you are talented and have a bright future. I can help you with other things, but I can't help you with this one. You should give up as soon as possible! Don't waste your time on a marriage that has no future.”

Su Mingfeng outwardly agreed, but inwardly she was still unwilling to give up.

At noon, Hongli hosted a banquet for his brother-in-law. The two sat together and discussed politics, without mentioning their relationship again, and had a fairly pleasant conversation.

After the banquet and a couple of cups of tea, Su Mingfeng took her leave and returned to the Zheng family.

After Su Jiafeng got married, she moved out. Su Mingfeng continued to live in the Zheng family. Although they gave him some money, he felt it was inappropriate to bother them for too long. Now that he had achieved fame and settled down, he thought about moving out.

But Zheng Lin was reluctant to let him move out. Master Zheng and Madam Zheng were also worried about him living alone outside, saying that it would be inconvenient without anyone to take care of him. They both advised him to continue living here and wait until he got engaged before buying a house outside.

Yu Chan also urged her brother to stay, and Su Mingfeng couldn't bear to refuse the Zheng family's kindness, so she ultimately stayed.

As for his marriage, it's probably going to be hard to decide in the short term!

When he had a moment to spare, Hongli mentioned this matter to Su Yushan. Su Yushan couldn't help but wonder how her brother and that girl had met. Hongli simply said that he hadn't asked much and didn't know the details of how they met.

"Why ask those questions? It's all in vain, no matter how deep the feelings or how strong the loyalty."

"We need to know the inside story to advise him!" Yu Shan wanted to ask for clarification, but she couldn't see her brother, so she sent someone to invite Yu Chan over.

After asking her younger sister, she learned that the girl her older brother liked was named Song Ying. The girl was clever and quick-witted, and extremely bold. Her brother and Su Mingfeng were classmates, and she often dressed up as a boy and followed her brother. Over time, she got to know Su Mingfeng.

At first, Su Mingfeng disliked her, saying that she was a girl who had no manners and dressed as a man. The two disliked each other and often quarreled. Unexpectedly, their bickering turned into a battle of wits, and eventually they developed feelings for each other.

In the storybooks, this was a match made in heaven. Although Su Mingfeng came from a poor family, he was talented and became an official after passing the imperial examination. The two were considered a good match. However, he was born in the Qing Dynasty, where there was a distinction between Manchus and Han Chinese. Songying was a Manchu woman, and this one difference alone prevented their marriage.

Songying was unwilling to give up and wanted Su Mingfeng to wait for her until the talent show ended next spring before discussing marriage.

Su Mingfeng knew there was little hope, but she was still willing to wait, as if as long as she kept waiting, there was a sliver of possibility.

Upon learning how the two met and fell in love, Su Yushan was deeply moved and could no longer bear to persuade him to give up. She really wanted to help her older brother fulfill his wish.

"I'll ask Fourth Master again later to see if there's any way to make them get together. It's hard to say whether it will work out, but I'll try my best to help them."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, sister. I also hope that my brother can marry the woman he loves, so that he won't have any regrets for the rest of his life."

Rarely seeing her younger sister, Su Yushan asked about her situation, "How about you? How have you been since you got married? Is Zheng Lin treating you well?"

Yu Chan was too embarrassed to say that although the two had been married for four months, they had not yet consummated their marriage. If she told her, she was afraid her sister would worry about her and think that Zheng Lin was neglecting her. Therefore, Yu Chan did not mention this and forced a smile:

“He’s not very enthusiastic towards me, but he still shows me basic care. He takes care of me when I’m sick, and my in-laws treat me very well. You can rest assured, sister.”

"That's good. If you suffer any injustice, be sure to tell me. Don't bear it alone."

The two sisters had endless things to talk about once they started chatting. After Yan Yan woke up, Yu Chan played with her for a while longer.

Yu Chan had lunch here at noon, and then sat for another hour before getting up to take her leave.

When Su Yushan later told Hongli about this, Hongli sighed repeatedly.

“Your elder brother is always rational, so why did he make such a mistake in this matter? With his talent and the fact that he is my brother-in-law, so many Han officials in the court would be waiting to marry their daughters to him. He could have chosen freely, so why did he choose a Manchu woman?”

Su Yushan deeply sympathized with this, saying, "Isn't that how relationships are? Everyone understands the道理 (principles/reasons), but once you fall in love with someone, you unconsciously develop a glimmer of hope. No matter how many rules and principles you have, they will all crumble because of that person. Back then, I was a very principled person, but in the end, didn't I still compromise?"

Hearing her sigh, Hongli raised his dark eyes slightly, his gaze full of inquiry as he looked at her, "And then what? Will you regret it?"

Su Yushan's beautiful eyes sparkled, and she smiled gently, "We've already had the child, why bother with these things?"

He knew very well why she had returned, but Hongli suddenly wanted to know one thing: "If... you hadn't been pregnant back then, and Jiafeng hadn't had that accident, would you... still have come back?"

This question was rather pointed, and Su Yushan didn't know how to answer it. She changed the subject, saying, "We're talking about my older brother! Why bring up those old things? Actually, I wanted to ask you, is there any possibility that my older brother and that girl could be together? Even just a tiny bit."

Hongli knew that dwelling on the past was pointless, but he couldn't help wanting to know the answer at this moment. "Answer my question first, and then I'll tell you."