"Sister-in-law!" Fucha Mingyu's face was now as red as a pomegranate, her eyebrows flushed.
"Haha, Mingyu. I've already sent Bechuk to sound out my uncle's opinion. Just wait patiently. Once this marriage is settled, and after you pass next year's imperial concubine selection, the betrothal can be arranged." Yaertan patted Fucha Mingyu's hand and laughed.
Fucha Mingyu shyly raised her head, then lowered it again. Her parents had already arranged marriages for her with many men, mostly relatives of the imperial clan, because of the Fucha family's prestigious lineage. They were from the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner. The Bordered Yellow Banner was the highest of the three upper banners, directly commanded by the emperor, and held a very high status. Among the Qing dynasty empresses, very few were actually from the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner. Women from their family were always included in the imperial concubine selection process, although none had ever become a consort, the emperor's favor remained. Most of the Fucha family's eldest daughters had married into the imperial clan as principal wives, so naturally, Fucha Mingyu wouldn't just marry any young man from a prominent family. Currently, there were only a handful of imperial clan men of suitable age for Fucha Mingyu, and Hongli was undoubtedly among the most outstanding.
Now that Fucha Mingyu has also taken a liking to Hongli, this is truly to the liking of Lady Fucha. She values her daughter-in-law Yaertan even more and no longer mentions the idea of taking a concubine for Fuheng.
Meanwhile, Bechuk returned and relayed Yartan's message to Lanqin. Lanqin wasn't very familiar with her niece. Because the Fourth Princess wasn't close to the Fourth Prince, nor to the Fourteenth Prince, she rarely encountered her when visiting Consort De. A few days prior, she had passed away, and her daughter Yartan didn't have close ties with her two uncles, so Lanqin didn't know much about her niece.
Lanqin was not surprised by Biechuke's words, because Hongli's principal wife was indeed from the Fucha family. Naturally, these things could not be told to the Fourth Prince. Therefore, Lanqin resolved to personally propose Hongli's marriage to the Fourth Prince.
At twelve years old, he's barely out of childhood and into adolescence, and he's already talking about marriage! Lanqin cursed inwardly, then decided to personally tie the knot for her son.
After hearing Lanqin's words, Fourth Master said, "It's too early. Hongsheng's marriage hasn't been settled yet. Shilan is also worried about his marriage."
Lanqin also knew that Hongli had a third prince, Hongsheng, above him, so they had to wait until his marriage was settled before they could discuss marriages for Hongli and Hongzhou. She had only come to talk to the Fourth Prince about this matter because she had received instructions from Yaertan.
“Yartan asked Bechuk to come back and question her. How should I reply to her?” Lanqin asked.
"Just write back to her and say let's wait another year. Hongsheng's marriage is almost settled; it's his maternal uncle's second daughter." This was the first time Fourth Master had mentioned the Nian family to Lanqin. Over the years, they had tacitly avoided discussing the Nian family. Fourth Master often visited the Nian family, but since coming to Lanqin's place, he had never mentioned the East Courtyard.
Upon hearing this, Lanqin thought to herself: "The Nian family is truly arrogant. They actually arranged a marriage for Hongsheng themselves. This means they're sending another member of the Nian family into the manor. The Second Princess has already married into their household. Sending another daughter will firmly bind the Nian family to the Yong Prince's manor."
"Has Master agreed?" Lanqin asked.
"I didn't agree. I had Mother personally choose a marriage for Hongsheng." Fourth Master lay on Lanqin's couch, holding Lanqin's hand in one hand and playing with it, a slight melancholy between his brows.
“If Mother has already arranged a marriage for Hongsheng, I’m afraid General Nian won’t be able to object.” Lanqin personally raised her hand and touched the Fourth Prince’s brow, smoothing out the frown lines between his eyebrows.
"That's exactly what I mean. Mother is currently choosing a wife for Hongsheng, so let's postpone Hongli's matter for now." Fourth Prince grabbed Lanqin's fair hand and said.
"I understand. I will reply to Ya'ertan and ask her to wait a little longer. However, I think her sister-in-law, Fucha Mingyu, is indeed quite good, and it would be very suitable to choose her as Hongli's principal wife," Lanqin said.
“Yes. Fucha Mingyu is from the Bordered Yellow Banner, and Li Rongbao is now the Governor-General of Chahar. Her uncles, Ma Qi and Ma Wu, are both important officials in the court and are now regional commanders. Her family background is indeed a good match for our Hongli.” The Fourth Prince recounted Fucha Mingyu’s family background in detail, “Yartan is also their daughter-in-law, making it a double marriage.”
Lanqin nodded and said, "Let's wait until after the imperial selection next year, and then ask Father Emperor to arrange the marriage."
After discussing matters with Lanqin for a while, Fourth Master rested at Lanqin's place.
A few days later, Lanqin personally wrote a letter and had it delivered to the Fucha residence, to be given to Yaertan. The letter stated that the marriage of the Third Prince must be arranged before Hongli could be betrothed, but it also expressed her fondness for Fucha Mingyu.
After reading the letter, Yartan breathed a long sigh of relief and said, "It's settled. I didn't expect Mingyu's marriage to be settled so easily. We just need to wait for the Third Prince of Yong's marriage to be settled before our Mingyu can get engaged to the Fourth Prince Hongli."
Lady Fucha and her husband were naturally quite pleased that their daughter-in-law had arranged a marriage between their beloved daughter and Prince Yong's family. Therefore, they stopped looking for other men for Fucha Mingyu and waited until the next imperial concubine selection to finalize her marriage with Hongli.
Not many people knew about this, but somehow the news of Hongli's engagement to the Fucha family still spread. Although the two families had not yet exchanged birth dates or formally engaged, the parents of both families had reached a consensus, which was practically the same as an engagement.
Lady Nian was very unhappy when she learned that Hongli had betrothed a daughter of the Fucha family. She had originally wanted to give her eldest uncle's daughter to Hongsheng as his principal wife, but the Fourth Prince refused the marriage proposal, citing that Consort De had already chosen someone for Hongsheng.
“Consort, please don’t think about it. Our Third Prince’s marriage was personally chosen by the Empress in the palace; this is a great honor,” Cui Ling said. She was now the head maidservant by Lady Nian’s side, becoming Lady Nian’s right-hand woman along with Bai Zhi. Bi Rou and Cui Si had married into the family with Lady Nian, but now only Bai Zhi and Cui Ling remained; the other two had been married off and left.
"But I heard that Hongli's marriage was arranged by my mother's niece. She is the daughter of the Fourth Princess and is now married to the Fucha family. Why didn't she arrange a marriage for my Third Prince? Is this looking down on my Nian family?" Lady Nian was six months pregnant and was lying on the chaise longue.
"Consort, what's so great about the Fucha family? A marriage personally arranged by Consort De is definitely better than his." Cui Ling was good at flattery, so she was kept by Lady Nian.
“The Fucha family is no ordinary family. It would be best if our Third Prince could accept this marriage with them,” Bai Zhi said.
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