Upon hearing Wuxiha's words, Mingyu and Xueying fell into deep thought, while only the slightly younger Bechuk had not yet connected the dots to himself.
"My half-sister Shuzhen came to be my second cousin's concubine. I heard that the principal wife is the second daughter of the Irgen family. I hope she is good-tempered and easy to get along with. That way, my second cousin won't be in a difficult position, and the inner quarters will be harmonious." Xueying put her hands together and held them to her mouth as she spoke.
“There is a difference between the principal wife and concubines, so you don’t need to worry, sister. I’ve heard that the second daughter of the Irgen family is kind and good-natured. She shouldn’t be the kind of unreasonable woman who mistreats her concubines,” Mingyu comforted her.
Xueying nodded, then nodded to Mingyu and said, "That should be true. The Irgen family is also an old and prestigious Manchu family, so the women they raise should be gentle and kind."
Ushiha listened to their words, but he didn't take them seriously and said, "A man marries two women and expects them to be gentle and kind. Isn't that putting women in a lot of trouble?"
His words caused quite a stir.
Fucha Mingyu looked at Wuxiha in surprise, while Ulanara Xueying glanced at Wuxiha sideways.
"Heh, she's been reading too many storybooks, don't mind her," Berchuk said, trying to smooth things over.
“That’s true. Although men nowadays like to have multiple wives and concubines, the man I’m going to marry in the future can’t!” Ushiha said with an air of declaring to the world.
This time, the three girls were stunned, staring at Ushiha, speechless. Such a lecture had never been part of their upbringing. Bechuk sighed, thinking: If Granny Gong heard this, she'd surely faint. All those days of instruction, wasted!
Meanwhile, Hongzhou followed Hongli back to the South Courtyard. Hongli's residence was in a building in front of Lanxingju. The two were already in Hongli's study, playing with the inkstone carved with Journey to the West.
Hongzhou was so fond of it that he looked at it for a long time before saying, "Hongli, could you ask your third uncle to get me another one? I'll pay for it myself."
Seeing that Hongzhou liked it very much, Hongli said, "Then I'll give this to you, and I'll ask my third uncle for another one."
"How can I do that? This was given to you by your third uncle. How can I take away someone else's love? Please trouble your third uncle to look for something else for me!" Hongzhou waved his hand in refusal. He loved these things so much that he couldn't resist buying them when he saw something good.
"It's just an inkstone. We're brothers, what can't we give each other? Keep it, otherwise you'll be treating me like an outsider," Hongli refused to say. In fact, he had brought Hongzhou to see this inkstone today precisely to give it to him.
Seeing that Hongli insisted on giving it to him, Hongzhou accepted it and said with emotion, "We are brothers, I can give you anything. If anything happens in the future, Hongzhou will not even frown."
“That’s right. Yes, we’re the best of brothers,” Hongli said with a smile.
The two brothers played with the inkstone for a while longer, noticing that the auspicious time for the newlyweds to arrive was approaching. Hongli then said to Hongzhou, "Let's go, the auspicious time is almost here, we should go to the front hall."
So, the two put down the inkstone and came out of the room one after the other, intending to go to the front hall to keep watch. Just as Hongli and Hongzhou stepped out of their room, they caught sight of several people also emerging from the Lanxing Residence. Upon closer inspection, both Hongli and Hongzhou were stunned.
“It’s her!” Hongli blurted out.
"It's her!" Hongzhou thought to himself.
The two quickened their pace, and finally met in front of a moon-shaped gate leading to the south courtyard.
Mingyu and Xueying naturally saw the boy who had just come from that direction. They should have avoided him, but when they saw who it was, they were so surprised that they forgot to turn their faces away.
"How could it be them?" Fucha Mingyu naturally recognized Hongli and Hongzhou, especially Hongli. She would never forget the face that flashed past her carriage window.
"So it was the Fifth Prince," Xueying thought to herself. "He was the one who hid at the door watching me that day."
"Hongli and Hongzhou, you're back too?" Wuxiha asked, adopting the demeanor of an elder sister.
“Let’s come back and rest for a bit. Third sister, fourth sister, and who are these ladies?” Although Hongli knew that the woman he met on the street that day was from the Fucha family, he still couldn’t help but want to know her identity from her own words. As for the other one, he knew she was the Fujin’s niece, the woman under the yellow plum tree that Hongzhou had been longing for.
“Oh, this is Miss Fucha Mingyu from the Fucha family. And this is Xueying from the Ulanara family,” Wuxiha introduced.
Then she said to Mingyu and Xueying, "This is my fourth brother Hongli, and this is my fifth brother Hongzhou."
Although Fucha Mingyu knew that the young man she met on the street that day must be of high status, she never expected that he was actually one of the two princes of the Yongwang Mansion.
Xueying had naturally learned about the identities of the two princes from the Fujin (wife of the emperor), and she couldn't help but look at Hongli.
"Why don't you four and the Fifth Prince go first, and we'll leave later?" Fucha Mingyu felt that if men and women went out together like this, and people saw them, wouldn't that give them something to gossip about?
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