Chapter 189: Nian Xialing has been here for fifty-two years. What's wrong with that?
If there is anything different in the 52nd year, it is probably the Wanshou Festival.
Kangxi celebrates his sixtieth birthday this year.
Even in the future, sixty years old will be considered old, let alone now, when one can be considered a centenarian.
Therefore, from the beginning of the year, officials sent to other places to celebrate the birthday have been submitting memorials one after another, and envoys from various vassal states have also arrived in Beijing with gifts to celebrate the birthday.
Since outsiders were so active, Kangxi's sons certainly could not be outdone.
What's more, after deposing the crown prince, Kangxi's various actions showed how much he valued "filial piety".
There is no need to talk about birthday gifts. Countless people from each family went out just to find a unique gift to present.
In addition, after making sufficient preparations, the princes submitted memorials one after another, inviting Kangxi to visit their gardens and celebrate his birthday in advance.
Of a private nature.
Yinzhen was no exception. Although he had no intention of fighting for anything, he also didn't want to be the only one sober while everyone else was drunk. Many times, it was wise to follow the crowd.
The original intention was just to make up the number, but who would have thought that among the nine sons who submitted memorials, Kangxi only approved the ones submitted by Yinzhi and Yinzhen.
On the day he received the imperial edict, Yinzhen frowned and muttered, "What does the Emperor intend to do?"
No one knew what Kangxi wanted to do. After the first month of the year, Kangxi suddenly issued an edict, ordering the eighth prince Yinsi to be in charge of this year's Wanshou Festival.
On February 26, the anniversary of Empress Xiaoyi's death, Kangxi visited the Old Summer Palace. Yinzhen brought Qi Buchen and his son to celebrate the old man's birthday in advance.
As soon as this day passed, people in the court and the country began to talk about it.
On the morning of March 18th, the day of his Emperor's birthday, Kangxi came to Xichun Garden. Yinzhi led the way, and all the princes who were sixteen years old or above knelt to greet him. All of them dressed in colorful clothes and danced to celebrate his birthday.
Afterwards, Kangxi returned to the palace to accept birthday congratulations from princes and ministers.
After the Wanshou Festival, Kangxi issued an edict to commend Yinsi and gave him some rewards for his successful banquet for a thousand elders.
Although the rewards were just vulgar items such as gold and silver, rather than promotions, Yinsi's party was still excited about it and took advantage of it to carry out frequent activities.
But Yinsi's party did not dominate the party.
Ever since Zhao Shenqiao, a favorite of the emperor, submitted a petition in the first month of the year requesting the appointment of a crown prince, there was almost no one in the court or the country who was not concerned about who would be the crown prince, and everyone was guessing what Kangxi was thinking.
In this situation, at this special time of his 60th birthday, following Kangxi's actions, in addition to Yinsi, many people also turned their attention to Prince Cheng, Prince Yong, and... Hongxi.
Yes, although it was very unusual for a grandson of the emperor to suddenly appear among a large number of princes, no one dared to ignore the son of the former crown prince.
This was because, when Kangxi met with envoys from various countries, he not only brought Hongxi with him, but also said to the outside world: "Hongxi is quite virtuous, it is difficult to depose Yinreng."
Such words could not help but make people think more. Because of Kangxi's words, Hongxi's reputation for virtue and ability could even rival that of Yinsi, who had been in power for a long time.
…
"call."
After seeing off the visitor, Qi Buchen slumped down in his chair without any image and let out a long breath.
Lan Hui went forward and pressed her solar plexus, saying, "Let me apply some cooling oil to Madam Fu?"
"No need." Qi Buchen refused, "Are you visiting again today?"
Lan Hui replied, "There are two other families, but they are both visiting the prince, and their female relatives are not accompanying them."
Qi Buchen breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, if there are two more, my eyes will be dazzled."
The women who came to visit her were all dressed as extravagantly as possible. The gold and silver embroidery on their clothes and the jewels on their heads shone with a charming luster in the early summer sun.
...and it almost blinded Qi Buchen's eyes.
Hearing the complaint of the concubine, Lan Hui smiled secretly. She didn't know what these ladies were thinking. They were obviously here to inquire about Prince Honghui's marriage, but they were all dressed in gold and silver like the God of Wealth. She didn't know what they were thinking. Could it be that they were trying to hint that if he married her daughter, the dowry would be huge?
But no matter how much the dowry is, can it be as much as the princess’s private property?
After serving as a personal servant for several years, Lan Hui gradually gained Qi Buchen's appreciation and trust, and helped to deal with some external affairs. She was well aware of how much her wife made.
Lan Hui's loyalty to the princess deepened with pride. "If you don't want to see her, just turn it down. Didn't you say you wouldn't consider arranging a marriage for Prince Honghui?"
Although she somewhat disagreed with her master's decision to put Prince Honghui's marriage on hold, she never raised any objections and just did her job silently.
"Oh, if only I could push it." Qi Buchen sighed.
There were some things she couldn't explain too clearly, and they weren't something maids like Lan Hui could know. The reason she met these ladies one by one was not to enjoy their admiration or reject them in person.
Instead, we can get a glimpse of the current situation from the words and conversations of these ladies.
His family was about to be drawn into the vortex - this was Qi Buchen's greatest realization after the Wanshou Festival.
At night, Yinzhen, who had also been socializing all day, returned to the backyard, and the couple shared their gains of the day.
"I'm here to test Honghui's opinion. Including the previous ones, almost all the captains under your name who have daughters of marriageable age are here. Only a few families did not send in visiting cards." Qi Buchen said.
These people did not all come here to aim for the position of Honghui's wife. Some of them knew that their family background was not worthy of him, so they set their sights on the position of Honghui's backyard.
After all, although Princess Yong had a firm grip on Prince Yong's harem, how could she possibly treat her husband and her son in the same way? They were also mothers, and which mother didn't want to give the best to her son?
Yinzhen nodded: "Which families?"
Qi Buchen counted on his fingers: "Hilgen family, Duiqi family, Lerken family, Zig family, Baofu family... and Nian family."
Except for the Nian family, which is from the Han army flag, the others are all Manchu lieutenants, and most of them have the surname Fucha.
Seeing her acting like a child just learning to count, Yinzhen couldn't help but smile. He reached out and pinched her fingers to play with them. "Don't worry about these families. Their foundation is mainly in Shengjing, and they don't care that much about the capital. As for the Nian family..." He pondered, "I did receive a visiting card from Nian Xialing today."
Qi Buchen frowned slightly: "Hasn't the old man been away from doing things for a long time?"
Nian Xialing had retired in the 43rd year of Emperor Kangxi's reign. As his two sons rose through the ranks, he had long been enjoying himself and playing with his grandchildren. Why did he suddenly want to visit Yinzhen at this critical juncture?
Yinzhen said meaningfully, "Nian Xiyao is far away in Guangdong, Nian Gengyao is in Sichuan, and the younger generation at home is not yet grown up. If he doesn't come forward, who will?"
"Tsk." Qi Buchen pulled his hand back, "Is this what I'm asking?"
Yinzhen laughed and started to act coquettishly: "I haven't even seen him, how can I know what he wants to do? Are you just guessing? You're making it too difficult for me."
That made sense. Qi Buchen gritted his teeth and put his hand back into his.
Yinzhen lowered his head slightly, suppressed his smile, and said seriously, "I'm afraid Zhou Yuanliang can't stay."
"Huh?" Qi Buchen asked, not understanding why he suddenly mentioned this.
Of course, she had also told Yinzhen about Baohuan's affairs. At that time, she wanted to deal with Zhou Yuanliang, so she had people investigate Zhou Yuanliang, intending to get evidence against him. However, at that time, this plan was just a wait-and-see approach. After all, Baohuan's two daughters were not married yet, and she was willing to think about this person who had been close to her for the longest time. However, Zhou Yuanliang was surprisingly clean, without any corruption or violence, so she put it aside for the time being.
Yinzhen's face darkened slightly. "He has been getting close to the godson of Sun Qirong, the eunuch who serves as the ninth prince, and is planning to discuss marriage with him."
Qi Buchen was surprised and confused: "Yin'er?"
Yinzhen shook his head slightly. "It's hard to say. I've had someone investigate this Sun Qirong. He's got very long arms and even dares to accept money from the local prefect."
Qi Buchen frowned: "What are you going to do?"
Yinzhen pondered and said, "There's no need to make a big move. Just find a fault and kick him out of the house."
Qi Buchen knew that he was being lenient because of his kindness. He was touched but also a little confused: "Will there be any consequences?"
Yinzhen laughed: "What are you thinking about? It's not a big deal. Zhou Yuanliang has been unimaginative and unpromising these years. He's just a decoration beside me and knows nothing. It's no big deal to keep him around. It's just that people in the palace have been very restless recently, so I'm just using him to give them a warning."
"That's good." Qi Buchen felt relieved. Although she was willing to take care of Baohuan, she would never take risks with Yinzhen's affairs.
Yinzhen said jokingly, "If you care about your maid, why not ask her daughter to serve Honghui?"
Even though he knew he was joking, Qi Buchen rolled his eyes at him fiercely: "Stop talking nonsense."
Yinzhen pinched her finger bones and said, "What a domineering woman! It's ok to control me, but she also wants to control her son."
"Why, are you unhappy?" Qi Buchen pinched his face with a dangerous look in his eyes.
Yinzhen smiled and said, "I'm very happy."
Within two days, Zhou Yuanliang made a big mistake while carrying out a task assigned by Yinzhen and was dismissed from his post and sent home. Baohuan then asked to see Qi Buchen to plead for mercy, but Qi Buchen said he was powerless and the matter became a foregone conclusion.
This punishment involved people close to Yinzhen and Qi Buchen respectively, which immediately made the servants in the Man Mansion tighten their belts and even had to be more careful when walking.
One day, just after Nian Xialing left, Qi Buchen, curious, approached Yinzhen and asked, "What did he say?"
Yinzhen shook his head. "Nothing much. We just talked about the progress of the bandit suppression in Sichuan."
Three years ago, the Sichuan aboriginals rebelled, and Nian Gengyao was ordered to suppress the rebellion together with Yue Longsheng. Afterwards, he was impeached for delaying military intelligence. Although he was not dismissed, he was given a punishment of being retained for observation. Now he has been in the position of Governor of Sichuan for four years without moving.
It seemed that Nian Xialing came this time to show off his son's achievements and ask Yinzhen, the leader of the banner, to speak well of him in front of Kangxi and pave the way for Nian Gengyao.
"That's it?" Qi Buchen didn't believe it.
Yinzhen nodded and said, "He also asked about Honghui's marriage. I stopped him and he didn't continue."
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