News of what happened at Princess Mingke's residence reached the palace a few days later.
When the palace servants reported this, Consort Que happened to be in Xu Lejin's Yikun Palace and overheard it. Of course, Xu Lejin did not intend to hide it from Consort Que.
With her eyes shining brightly, Consort Que lowered her voice and said, "Your Highness, Princess Mingke is a promising child."
"Your Highness, you only gave a few casual pointers, and Princess Mingke handled things so perfectly. The Niohuru family must be furious. They finally managed to marry a princess, but they've brought home a living ancestor instead."
Covering her mouth, Consort Que giggled.
Xu Lejin remained calm and spoke softly, "Consort Que is joking. Princess Mingke's imposing and domineering presence ultimately stems from the fact that her husband is not a direct descendant of the Niohuru family."
“Princess Mingke’s husband is from a collateral branch of the Niohuru family. Although he has officials in the court, they are only civil officials and do not have much real power.”
After a pause, Xu Lejin continued in a cold voice, "If it weren't for the Niohuru family and Faka's increasing arrogance over the years, why would I have needed to use such methods to intimidate Faka?"
"By the way, in the Niohuru family, Faka is merely the son of Ebilun's concubine, and the son of Ebilun's third wife, Bayara. Aling'a was sent back to Shengjing many years ago."
"Consort Que, His Majesty mentioned that Aling'a is still unmarried. What do you think would happen to the Niohuru family if Aling'a married a princess from your Tongjia clan and returned to the capital?"
Consort Que was taken aback upon hearing this.
After a cup of tea, Consort Que spoke in a low voice, "Your Majesty the Imperial Noble Consort's kindness is overwhelming, but I have already broken ties with my father and am afraid I cannot help Your Majesty."
"Your Majesty's maternal family also has princesses of marriageable age. Why doesn't Your Majesty arrange for a princess from your maternal family to marry Aling'a?"
Xu Lejin curled her lips into a faint smile.
“In my maternal family, all the women of marriageable age are born to my half-brothers. They are always making trouble, which I already find annoying. If we were to arrange for their daughters to marry Aling’a…”
Changing the subject, Xu Lejin lowered her voice and whispered, "Although Consort Que has broken with Tong Guowei, she still has her uncle, Tong Guogang, doesn't she?"
"Lord Tong Guogang is the eldest son. I have heard that Tong Guogang's eldest granddaughter is sixteen years old, a beautiful age. Consort Que, you are Tong Guogang's eldest granddaughter's aunt. It is only natural for an aunt to arrange a good marriage for her niece."
Consort Que was taken aback.
After a moment, Consort Que whispered, "The current head of the Niohuru family is Faka, Aling'a? Although Aling'a is Ebilun's eldest son, he was granted the title of First-Class Duke of Cheng'en because of Empress Xiaozhao. The current successor to the title is Faka, Aling'a."
"Although Aling'a is the eldest son, he is still a commoner. My uncle may not be willing to marry his eldest granddaughter to Aling'a."
Xu Lejin nodded upon hearing this.
Indeed, that's something she overlooked, but things can be done by human effort.
Aling'a is Ebilun's eldest son, of higher birth than Faka. If Faka makes a mistake and is stripped of his title, Aling'a will undoubtedly inherit it. The most important thing now is to bring Aling'a under our control.
The best solution is through marriage.
Consort Que felt that Tong Guogang looked down on Aling'a, so she could only try to find a solution from her own family.
As for the daughters of my own half-brothers, that's fine; let them marry into ordinary families. As for the matter of Aling'a's wife, I'll summon my mother to the palace later to discuss it with her and see if my uncle's family has any suitable women.
Although her uncle's family was only raised to the Han army banner, with her as the Imperial Noble Consort, she thought that Aling and Ahui would agree to the marriage.
As the year drew to a close, Xie was summoned to the palace and brought good news: her uncle Xu Fu's family did indeed have several girls of marriageable age, one of whom was the man Yingchun, a former palace maid who had served her, had married.
Her cousin, Xu Fu's second son, and his second wife Yingchun's daughter, were the second legitimate daughters.
The second eldest daughter of my second cousin, born to Yingchun, was well-educated by Yingchun. She was beautiful and well-mannered. Two prominent Manchu families, Qijia and Fuca, came to her door to ask for her hand in marriage.
After weighing the options, Xu Lejin decided to summon Yingchun and her daughter to the palace in a few days.
Yingchun curtsied and respectfully bowed to Xu Lejin, saying, "This humble servant greets Your Highness the Imperial Noble Consort. May Your Highness enjoy boundless blessings and peace."
Behind Yingchun, a girl of sixteen or seventeen years old lowered her head slightly, revealing her beautiful profile.
"No need for formalities, please get up!"
Xu Lejin glanced at Yingchun without making a sound, then spoke with a smile.
As far as she knew, Yingchun had only one daughter after marrying her cousin as his second wife. Of her cousin's other children, only the eldest daughter, who was born to his first wife and had already married, was born to his concubines.
Yingchun's years outside the palace must have been difficult; she looks much older now.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Xu Lejin looked at the girl behind Yingchun and said with a smile, "This is your daughter with your second cousin. How old is she? What's her name?"
"Your Highness, my daughter is seventeen years old and her name is Xu Lingyi."
Yingchun considered her words carefully before replying softly.
Xu Lejin nodded and said softly, "Seventeen years old, a beautiful age. I remember when I served the Emperor, I was also seventeen."
"Lingyi, Xu Lingyi, is a nice-sounding name."
Yingchun lowered her head slightly.
Xu Lejin then asked, "Niece Lingyi, have you been betrothed to anyone?"
"Your Majesty, I have not promised anyone to you. I was hoping to keep Lingyi here for another year or two."
After thinking for a moment, Yingchun replied softly, wondering if the Imperial Noble Consort meant to arrange a marriage for Lingyi.
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