In the past few days, the Fourth Prince's residence has received several groups of people trying to arrange a marriage for the Second Princess. Lanqin thought she had made things clear to them that day, but they were still persistent. Lanqin told those noble ladies that the Second Princess already had the Empress Dowager's eye on her, simply to shut them up. In fact, the Empress Dowager had not specifically designated a marriage for the Second Princess.
The first family was that of the Andara clan, who sought a marriage between their second son and the Second Princess. The second family was that of the Chen family, the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. They said their eldest son was close in age to the Second Princess and they very much wanted to arrange a marriage between their son and the Fourth Prince's family. Not only that, besides proposing marriage for the Second Princess, some even had their eyes on the Third Prince, wanting to marry their daughters to him, such as the eldest daughter of the Gao family, the Junior Chamberlain of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and the second daughter of the Fucha family, the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guards.
Fourth Master received them one by one, and did not refuse them directly, but said that he would consider it and give them a reply later!
Lanqin has been busy these past few days preparing clothes, bedding, and other necessities for the birthday banquet of the eldest princess's child. The more things her maternal family prepares for the child, the more it shows that the eldest princess is highly valued in the Fourth Prince's mansion.
"Sister, I heard that someone has already come to propose marriage for the Second Princess?" Madam Song asked. She personally prepared all the clothes for the eldest princess's child from birth to age three, covering all four seasons. She had all the patterns embroidered by herself and then had the embroiderers in the manor cut and made.
Madam Geng also made several outfits for the eldest princess's children, all of which she made herself. At this moment, she also came to the South Courtyard to look at the clothes that Lanqin had prepared for the eldest princess's children with Madam Song.
"That's right, as they all said, the Second Princess and the Empress Dowager have their eyes on her. I didn't expect them to still come to propose marriage." Lanqin instructed Cui Niang to bring out the things she had prepared for Song and Geng to see.
"The Empress Dowager may be concerned, but if the Second Princess were already engaged, the Empress Dowager wouldn't be able to force her to cancel the engagement," said Madam Geng.
Madam Song nodded and said, "I don't know what Master means, Qin'er, you can't say anything, so why don't you let Master decide?"
Lanqin nodded, and when she saw the maids carrying out two large boxes, she immediately said, "Come, take a look at the little toys I've prepared for the child. I won't prepare any clothes. With you two skilled needlework ladies leading the way, I dare not show off my skills again."
Song and Geng exchanged a glance and smiled, saying, "Sister's preparations must be quite ingenious."
Lanqin smiled and said, "Sister, take a look. I had another set made of the things that Ushiha and Bechuk usually play with. They are all small toys that children can grab and shake, as well as toys for crawling and riding."
When Nianxue opened the two boxes, she saw one box full of small toys: rattles for children to grab, bells for children to shake, and toys for children to chew on. The other box contained a wooden horse, painted red and with gold powder applied to its eyes; it was definitely a small carriage worth a hundred taels of silver.
"This is so much fun! How did you come up with all these things?" Song stood up happily, walked to the box herself, and took out a small square toy from inside.
Geng was also amazed by the number of toys Lanqin had prepared for the children, and said to Lanqin, "Sometimes, I feel like you come from somewhere else, and your ideas are really different from ours."
Lanqin chuckled and said, "These things are nothing special; Westerners all have them. Lanqin just read a few more of their miscellaneous books in the past."
Fortunately, Mrs. Song and Mrs. Geng didn't dwell on Lanqin's words, but instead went to look at the fun children's toys together. Lanqin silently stuck out her tongue in her heart; in fact, Westerners did have them, and what she said wasn't wrong.
After looking at the toys, Song and Geng were asked by Lanqin to stay for lunch. After the three women washed their hands, they sat down to discuss the Second Princess's marriage.
"In my opinion, the second young master of the Andara family is good. Although the Manchu surname cannot compare with the eight great surnames, the Andara family's influence has been growing in recent years," Geng said.
“I think the Chen family is better. They are great scholars of Han learning and close advisors to the emperor,” Song said dismissively.
"It's nothing more than managing the emperor's sacrifices, banquets, and palace meals. How can it compare to the future of a bondservant guard commander who holds military power?" Geng said.
"Qin'er, tell me, who should the Second Princess be matched with?" Madam Song looked at Lanqin.
"Hehe, my two elder sisters, when your father sent you to the palace for the imperial concubine selection, and then you were each assigned to the Fourth Prince's residence, what were your father's plans? Besides hoping that you two elder sisters would be rich and healthy, what other plans did he have?" Lanqin said slowly.
"When my father sent me to participate in the imperial concubine selection, he naturally hoped that I could marry into a higher social class, paving the way for my brothers' careers." Madam Song thought of her family, whom she hadn't seen for several years. They had learned that Madam Song wasn't favored in the Fourth Prince's household, and gradually their contact had faded. However, in the last two years, the Song family had begun to frequently write to Madam Song again, naturally because Madam Song was now doing relatively well in the household.
“My father didn’t have such an idea; it was my own willingness to enter the palace for the imperial concubine selection,” Geng said.
"So what do you think our master will think when he marries off his daughter?" Lanqin pondered the words of the two men she had just heard. One was a military officer in the Imperial Household Department, responsible for guarding the palace and escorting the emperor's retinue—in short, a "security guard" on duty within the palace and an attendant during the emperor's tours or sacrificial ceremonies. The other was the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, also on duty in the palace, mainly in charge of banquets and feasts for the emperor; not exactly a high-ranking official position.
“As a member of the royal family, Your Majesty naturally hopes to find someone who can be of benefit to Your Majesty’s political affairs,” said Madam Geng.
"So, I don't think either of these families will agree. Our Second Princess is very precious," Lanqin said with a smile.
"According to what you've said, sister, to whom does Master intend to betroth the Second Princess?" Madam Song asked.
“Perhaps it’s a family we didn’t expect. I don’t know, but judging from Master’s expression, he doesn’t like either of these two families,” Lanqin said.
In fact, besides the people outside who were eyeing the Second Princess's marriage, there were also people in the Fourth Prince's inner quarters who had begun to have their eyes on the Second Princess. That person was Madam Nian, who lived on the outer side of the main courtyard.
"You mean her?" Geng asked. She had also heard some rumors from the maid about Nian going to propose marriage to the Fourth Master.
"You've all heard, haven't you? Princess Nian has already mentioned to the master that her eldest brother's second son is the same age as the second princess this year," Lanqin said.
"Madam Nian has a really good plan. She wants to marry the master's daughter into her family and also save face for herself," said Madam Song.
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