Chapter 191: Nian Rui and Fourteen "You said you wanted to ask for help for Fourteen..."
"You said you want to ask for someone for Fourteen?" Defei sat upright, looking at Wanyan's lowered head, and repeated it slowly.
Wanyan bowed her head respectfully, her tone unchanged as she spoke, "Yes, my daughter-in-law has to take care of several children, and her energy is not as good as before. There are only Shushu Jueluo and Irgen Jueluo in the backyard now, and they are both quite old, so Master needs someone to be around. Besides, since Hongguang, there have been no new children in the family for six years. Please, Mother, make the decision."
Concubine De's expression softened considerably. "Yes, I understand."
"Thank you, mother." Wanyan paused, lowering her head even more. "I heard that among the selected girls this year, there is a girl who is quite good..."
Wanyan had been gone for a long time, and a faint sigh was heard in the empty palace.
…
The concubines are leaving the palace!
As expected, there were only three beauties left in the palace, all of whom were bondservants and had no official status at first.
Normally, the palace should have issued a large number of imperial decrees granting marriages, but because Kangxi and the Empress Dowager were still away from the Great Wall, it was temporarily put on hold.
At the end of the intercalary fifth month, when the weather was at its hottest, Kangxi accompanied the Empress Dowager back to Beijing.
After returning to Beijing, the first thing he did was not to deal with the mountain of requests for marriage, but to order Prince Cheng Yinzhi to preside over the revision of laws and mathematics.
Afterwards, they began to stamp the imperial edicts granting marriages in batches, and the first batch included Hong Sheng's.
However, the target was not the granddaughter of Marseille who had been rumored for a long time, but a girl from the Niohuru family, whose great-uncle was the famous Ebilun.
However, Ebilun has many brothers, and although this girl claims to have a prominent family background, her current situation is still slightly inferior to that of the Marseilles family.
Qi Buchen just watched these things. The influence of history was too profound. Due to her preconceived notions, she was always pessimistic about the troubles of Yinzhi and his wife.
What shocked her inexplicably was an inconspicuous decree among a large number of imperial decrees granting marriages.
The daughter of the former Huguang Governor, Nian Xialing, was betrothed to Prince Yinzhen as his concubine.
The "Da Qing Hui Dian" stipulates that only the concubines of princes, dukes and their eldest sons can become concubines, while the concubines of beile, beizi, zhenguogong, etc. can only become concubines.
——The point isn't this! It's Nian Rui! And Fourteen! How are they connected?!
Not only Qi Buchen couldn't figure it out, everyone who knew about it felt baffled.
"The Nian family belongs to Fourth Brother. Why would the Emperor give his daughter to Fourteenth Brother?" Yin'e approached Yinxiang and asked, puzzled, "Thirteenth Brother, tell me, what on earth is the Emperor thinking?"
Yinxiang had gone through a lot of hardships, and no matter in appearance or in his cunning, he was much calmer than Yin'e. At this moment, he sighed and said, "Tenth brother, I don't know either."
"Tsk." Yin'e said irritably, "Should we go ask Fourth Brother?"
Yinxiang hesitated and said tactfully, "I think Fourth Brother probably doesn't know about this either."
Although he has always had a close relationship with his fourth brother, after all, the fourteenth brother and the fourth brother are brothers from the same mother. Even if their relationship is not good on a daily basis, there are still ties that others do not have. As the saying goes, distance does not separate close relatives, and Yinxiang still has this sense of propriety.
Yinzhen really didn't know. At this moment, he asked Su Peisheng with a grim expression: "Is it true that Fourteen has no contact with the Nian family?"
Su Peisheng lowered his head and said, "Yes, according to the information we have received so far, it was the Fourteenth Lady who came to the palace to ask the Virtuous Consort to give the Fourteenth Prince two more people. The Virtuous Consort casually pointed out two people and reported them to the Emperor."
Just casually?
It just happened to the Nian family?
Yinzhen's eyes were deep: "Are you sure the Fourteenth Concubine didn't hint at a candidate?"
"According to the information we have found so far, yes." Su Peisheng replied more cautiously.
Yinzhen waved his hand to let the servants in the room leave, then leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and his chest heaved.
Mother, is that you?
In Yinzhen's eyes, the Nian family was actually not that important, but what he cared about was the attitude of Concubine De revealed behind this matter.
The door was cautiously pushed open. Yinzhen knew who it was just by the sound of footsteps. He opened his eyes and asked, "Why are you here?"
Qi Buchen looked at him worriedly: "Are you okay?"
Yinzhen stretched out his hand and pulled the person to his side: "What can I do?"
Qi Buchen hesitated to speak: "Nian family..."
Having lived in the Qing Dynasty for twenty years, she now understands very well that in the eyes of Yinzhen and others, the important thing in this matter is not Nian Rui, but the Nian family.
Although the control of the bannermen over their subordinates has weakened a lot since the power of imprisonment was transferred to the Ministry of Justice, the rule that bannermen are the private property of the bannermen has only symbolic significance.
However, this is an unspoken rule. On the surface, the relationship between the banner owner and his subjects is still that of master and servant. Now, someone gives your property to someone else without your knowledge. What is the difference between this and stealing?
Even Kangxi would not take it without asking. After all, the flag owner's system was set by the royal family themselves. How could he break the rules they set?
But now, all this has happened, and the meaning behind it cannot help but make people think a lot. Even in the eyes of those who are unaware of Concubine De's involvement, this may be a signal, a signal that Kangxi is dissatisfied with Yinzhen. Maybe Kangxi will deprive Yinzhen of his status as a banner master and give his subordinate's position as a captain to someone else soon.
Once this kind of cognition is formed, the people under Yinzhen will no longer be peaceful.
"It's okay." Yinzhen squeezed her hand tightly, "When the fourteenth takes a bride, I'll go there."
This was to send a signal to the outside world that he knew about and agreed with the Nian family's affairs.
Qi Buchen patted him distressedly and asked the reason: "Why is the Nian family involved with Fourteen? Nian Xialing is not senile yet, right?"
Yinzhen sighed, "From what we've found so far, the Nian family and Fourteenth have no contact. It was Mother who pointed it out."
Defei… Qi Buchen frowned slightly, looking at Yinzhen with even more distressed eyes, and couldn't help but excuse Defei: "Mother must not know the identity of the Nian family. After all, the Nian family is a Han army flag."
More Han Chinese.
Yinzhen squeezed her hand unconsciously: "Mother may not know, but the Emperor must know."
Yes, although Kangxi never intervened in his sons' concubines, the decree must have passed through his eyes, and he must have remembered the three Nian family members. If it is possible that Concubine De was unaware and caused the pairings to be random, how could Kangxi agree without even asking?
While the couple here were guessing what Kangxi was thinking, Yinsi and his wife next door were also talking about the same thing.
"Have you asked Fourteen about this?" Baya asked.
Yinsi shook his head: "Not yet. I sent someone to invite him over, but he happened to be out."
"That's just right." Baya said sarcastically, raising her eyebrows and looking at Yinsi, "Who do you think came up with this idea?"
Yinsi frowned, feeling a little tired: "Perhaps the Defei didn't understand the situation and pointed at the wrong person."
"Heh." Baya rolled her eyes at him. "If you don't want to say it, don't say it. Stop trying to give me the cold shoulder. How could Concubine De make such a mistake? You're just kidding."
Yinsi frowned: "You should call her Your Majesty."
Baya ignored him and said to herself, "Ming'er, I have to submit a letter to the palace to see Concubine Yi."
Yinsi felt a slight headache and said, "This matter has nothing to do with us, please don't meddle in it."
Baya was dissatisfied: "How am I interfering? Who said it has nothing to do with us? Don't forget, Old Fourteen has been chasing you all the time! Now that this has happened, will others think it was you who did it, trying to alienate brothers? And what about the Emperor? What if this was really Old Fourteen's idea, would the Emperor think it was you who came up with it behind the scenes?"
"Also, who can say for sure whether Fourteenth is trying to steal his brother's girlfriend, or is secretly colluding with Fourth Brother to frame you? How can we get away with this without getting to the bottom of it?"
"Now that Hongxi is watching the Emperor's side covetously, if Fourteenth has other ideas again, aren't you worried?"
Yinsi opened his mouth and then closed it.
I have to admit that what Baya said makes sense. In fact, he also has secret worries in his heart. The most important thing is the emperor. What does he think?
What does the emperor think?
Ever since she sent someone to inform Kangxi that she wanted to marry the daughter of the Nian family to the Fourteenth Prince, Defei had been restlessly waiting for Kangxi to come and inquire, or even to reprimand her. However, after waiting for a long time and even after the decree was issued, Kangxi still did not show up in Yonghe Palace.
As if it were just a trivial matter.
But Concubine De knew that this was not a trivial matter, and she couldn't help but worry. Could it be that someone leaked the news, and the emperor knew that it was Fourteenth who wanted the daughter of the Nian family, and not the one she insisted on giving to Fourteenth?
When she thought of this, Concubine De's heart began to pound, but even though she was so worried, she did not show it on her face. Even after she "naturally" learned that the Nian family was a subordinate of Yinzhen, she specially summoned Qi Buchen to the palace and "condescended" to explain a few words.
Qi Buchen put on a perfect smile and said, "Mother, you worry too much. Our grandfather also said that he has been busy with official duties in recent years and has rarely had the opportunity to be close to Fourteenth Brother. This time, when Fourteenth Brother welcomes Nian into the family, our grandfather will definitely go and have a good drink with Fourteenth Brother."
Concubine De looked at her deeply, still with that cold and indifferent look: "They are close brothers, so as their mother, I am relieved."
When he got on the carriage, the handkerchief that Qi Buchen had hidden in his sleeve had been twisted into a ball.
She felt sorry for Yinzhen!
I just can't understand it. They are obviously her biological children, and Yinzhen has always been very filial to him. How could Concubine De be so partial to her?
Although she said that Defei might not have known about it in advance, that was just to comfort Yinzhen. How could Defei make such a mistake when she could sit on the position of the fourth concubine in Kangxi's harem, give birth to three sons and three daughters, and stand firm for many years?
Everything is just an excuse for favoritism!
Regardless of whether this was originally Fourteenth's idea, Concubine De played an important role in it!
Although he was indignant, Qi Buchen still sorted out his emotions before returning home and did not bring them back to the mansion or in front of Yinzhen.
Facing Yinzhen who came to greet her, Qi Buchen only smiled and said, "Mother asked me to come to the palace to explain the matter of Nian."
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