Last night's light red wedding dress accentuated Nara's bright red lips and white teeth, making her look stunning and striking.
But today, the light green cheongsam and simple attire have a different kind of charm.
Hongli grew to like her more and more as he looked at her, and he felt fortunate to have married the girl he loved.
He couldn't imagine what would happen if Nara married someone else.
It was almost time to pay respects, and Hongli led Lady Nara toward the main courtyard of the Fujin (Prince Consort).
Yunyi wasn't nervous at all during her wedding yesterday, but now that she's going to see her husband's wife, she's extremely nervous.
Princess Fucha, wife of Prince Bao, was truly a legendary woman. Among the wives of princes and even empresses in the Qing Dynasty, she was one of the most virtuous and capable.
After Empress Fucha passed away, Emperor Qianlong deeply missed his first wife and wrote many poems to commemorate her.
The tragedy of the original Nara clan was partly due to this reason.
Empress Yuan held a very high position in Qianlong's heart, and the two had a very good relationship. Therefore, after Empress Yuan's death, Qianlong disliked this Nara clan woman even more.
They keep saying how good Empress Xiaoxian was, how great she was, and that you can't compare to her in this or that.
The long-term suppression put even more pressure on the original owner of the body, Empress Nara, and the more Qianlong said this, the worse she performed.
The worse the original owner of the body behaved, the worse Qianlong's attitude towards her became.
This was like a vicious cycle, causing Nara's heart to become increasingly twisted.
That trip to the south of the Yangtze River was the trigger; Empress Dowager Nara cut her hair and was sent back to the capital by Emperor Qianlong and imprisoned, forbidden from leaving the city.
Moreover, all the golden books and seals that Empress Nara had received over the years, from her titles of Consort, Noble Consort, Imperial Noble Consort to Empress, were taken back by Emperor Qianlong. Although he did not issue a formal decree to depose her, she was effectively deposed in the palace.
Of course, this was the original result, but since Yunyi came here, it naturally wouldn't turn out this way.
When they arrived at the main courtyard, the Fujin Fucha and the other princesses and concubines were already there.
When they saw Hongli enter with his concubine Nara, everyone felt a pang of jealousy. Only the primary consort, Fucha, remained composed, her gaze unchanged, as dignified and elegant as ever.
Hongli went straight to the main seat and sat down. The couple at the head of the table looked very well-matched.
Yunyi knelt down respectfully and accepted the tea offered by the maid who was waiting nearby.
She bowed to the couple above and said, "This concubine, Lady Nara, greets Your Highness/Your ...
Fucha took the tea and sipped it lightly. With a faint smile, she told Yunyi to stand up: "Sister, no need for formalities, please sit down!" Then she pointed to the first seat on Yunyi's left.
Yunyi thanked the Fujin and sat down in her seat.
She was a secondary consort, second only to the primary consort, Lady Fucha, in the backyard of Prince Bao's mansion. It was normal for her to hold this position.
However, before that, because Hongli had promoted Princess Gao to be a secondary consort before the original owner married into the family, it was earlier than the original owner's secondary consort.
Therefore, when paying respects, Consort Gao always sat in the first seat on the left, while the original Consort Nara could only sit in the first seat on the right.
Now everything has changed. Lady Gao is still just a concubine and has not yet become a secondary consort.
The seat opposite Yunyi is occupied by Princess Fucha, who bore Hongli a son and a daughter.
However, this Princess Fucha was also a pitiful person. She came from the same clan as the primary consort, Fucha, but one was from the main branch and the other from a collateral branch, which created a huge difference. One was a consort, while the other could only be a princess.
Princess Fucha gave birth to a son and a daughter for Hongli. The son was Hongli's eldest son. Unfortunately, since the premature death of her second daughter three years ago, Princess Fucha's health had been poor.
Yunyi vaguely remembered that this Princess Fucha seemed to have passed away before Hongli ascended the throne and was posthumously honored as the Imperial Noble Consort Zhemin.
Although she had thought about it a lot, it only took her a few seconds. As soon as Yunyi sat down, her primary consort, Lady Fucha, spoke gently.
"Come forward quickly and greet Consort Nara, let her recognize your faces. From now on, we're all sisters, so you must get along well..."
This is the advantage of having a high rank. Apart from paying respects to the primary consort, everyone else must also bow to Yunyi when they see her.
Hearing Fucha's words, Yunyi looked down with some curiosity. Hongli was indeed very lucky with women; all the princesses in the backyard were exceptionally beautiful.
The first person to bow to Yunyi was Princess Fucha, who was sitting opposite her.
"This concubine, Lady Fucha, greets the secondary consort."
Seeing how thin she looked, Yunyi quickly asked her to sit down. "Greetings, Sister Fucha! Please sit down!"
This amiable gesture made Lady Fucha feel more favorably toward the newly arrived concubine.
"This concubine, Lady Gao, greets the secondary consort."
After Lady Fucha finished speaking, a soft and gentle voice rang out.
Looking in the direction of the voice, Yunyi understood; it was indeed Consort Gao, Hongli's favorite concubine.
Gao was beautiful and graceful, with a delicate face like a white lotus emerging from the water. Even her voice had a soft and gentle quality, making her the type of woman men liked the most.
Yunyi remained expressionless and invited them to sit down, seemingly oblivious to her subtle provocation.
Disappointed and annoyed that Gao's punch had landed on thin air, he sat down sullenly.
Following them were other princesses from the royal family, such as the Su, Jin, and Hai families, who later became the famous concubines of the Qianlong Emperor.
Finally, there were the two women from Hongli's inner circle who had the least seniority and had participated in the imperial concubine selection along with Yunyi: Suochuoluo and Niohuru.
After they entered the palace, neither of them received Hongli's favor. However, Suochuoluo's family was well-off, and Niohuru had a relationship with Consort Xi, so they both lived quite well in the inner palace.
"This concubine, of the Luo clan, pays her respects to the secondary consort."
Because Yunyi had saved this girl before, when Suochuoluo saw Yunyi this time, her eyes lit up with gratitude.
Yunyi smiled and nodded, gesturing for her to sit down.
When it was Niohuru's turn, the situation changed. She stepped forward reluctantly, her tone devoid of any respect. Before Yunyi could even invite her to sit down, she had already taken her seat.
Hongli's expression was somewhat unpleasant, and he disliked his cousin even more.
Yunyi, however, seemed unconcerned and did not pursue the matter of her disrespect. Instead, she turned to speak with the primary wife.
Seeing that it was almost time, Hongli told Fucha that he had something to attend to, then got up and went to the front yard, leaving a room full of beautiful women to continue chatting.
Normally, when paying respects, Hongli, as the male head of the household, would not come over.
But he came today to make Nala proud, and now that it's almost time, he naturally has to leave.
What kind of image does a prince have, staying here all the time?
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