"Yes, Master." The middle-aged man respectfully replied and withdrew.
— — — — — — — — — — — —
The next day in the imperial court, Kangxi looked at the strange atmosphere among the court officials and the smug Yinzhen, feeling a bit of a headache. He looked in other directions to avoid seeing them and getting annoyed.
To others, it appeared that the Emperor was disgusted with the Ninth Prince. Those with ulterior motives exchanged ambiguous glances and avoided eye contact before calming down.
The happiest person in the court was Yinzhen, who had achieved his wish. Even without close observation, it was obvious that the Ninth Prince was exceptionally happy, with a smile on his face.
The one who understands the Ninth Prince best is undoubtedly his cousin Xu Yili, who is standing behind him. He tightly clutches the hem of his clothes, lowers his head to hide his unwilling and disappointed eyes. His beloved has become his cousin's wife, and his mouth is full of bitterness.
Recalling his mother's cautious and concerned gaze, Xu Yili finally managed to conceal his sadness and resentment, calmly brushing it off as if he had never made the request.
But only he himself knew how forced his smile was.
Meanwhile, Qingyin, who was brought from Yikun Palace, was also cultivating a relationship with her future mother-in-law. Yifei was a sucker for good looks at heart, and the two women, mother and daughter-in-law, became as close as a biological mother and son in just a few days, which greatly disappointed outsiders who thought that Yifei would mistreat this cheap daughter-in-law.
Even Emperor Kangxi was somewhat shocked. His Consort Yi was not a gentle person. Lin was also chosen by the Crown Prince, and he thought she was quite good, but her status was too low. He felt that the primary consort was too low, so he gave her a secondary consort, but it was still much lower for Yinzhen. He did not tell Consort Yi in advance, and Consort Yi did not make a fuss. She even got along well with Lin. Kangxi was a little surprised, but it also reflected that Yinzhen did not have any ambition to seize the throne.
Recalling the day Yinzhen came to him so frankly, Kangxi's lips twitched slightly. However, seeing that his son wasn't concerned about his position and only cared about him, he was secretly pleased.
A few days later, Consort Yi looked at the pile of lavish gifts sent by Eunuch Liang.
Looking at the several boxes of jewelry and accessories displayed in the palace, Consort Yi's lips curled slightly.
He Lu smiled and said, "Your Majesty, the Emperor still cares about you quite a bit."
"He doesn't care about me at all. He thinks he's already rewarded me with a concubine and for Xiao Jiu to behave. Ha, what a dog of a man."
He Lu looked at Consort Yi disapprovingly: "Your Majesty."
Consort Yi waved her hand, "There are no outsiders here, and that scoundrel can't hear anything anyway."
He Lu just stared: "..."
"Alright, I won't say anything more, okay?" Consort Yi said helplessly.
"Oh right, this is for Arou too. Helu, take a look at the ones that are suitable for young girls and pick them out to send to Arou."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Qingyin, who had just received a batch of beautiful jewelry, looked at the neatly arranged and attractive accessories in front of her, smiled helplessly, and gently thanked Aunt Helu.
During this time, she lived in Yikun Palace, where Consort Yi dressed her up like a doll every day, with all kinds of clothes and jewelry. Qingyin felt that even if she wore the same clothes for another two years, she would never wear the same thing twice.
During this time, the imperial concubine selection also ended. Her good friend Guo Luoluo Minghui was successfully betrothed to the Eighth Prince as his primary wife, and her two sisters were also betrothed to scions of prominent families in the capital. According to Consort Yi's investigation, those two families were not particularly noble, but they were still a class above the young masters of Anqing County. Not to mention that the young masters of those two families had decent personalities, and Lin Mengya and Lin Heyu were extremely satisfied.
Although Fucha Yuebin was not selected, she was not sad. She was pampered at home and made true friends during the selection process, which made the young girl much more confident. When she returned home, her father and his family would look after her and arrange a good marriage for her.
Time flies like an arrow, and before you know it, it's Qingyin's wedding day.
For some reason, the Ninth Prince was assigned a secondary consort, and Kangxi forced two more concubines into the Prince's residence.
The Prince He's Mansion was decorated with festive decorations everywhere, with red characters, red flowers, and exquisite lanterns. The servants moved about in an orderly manner.
Although there were many guests attending the Ninth Prince's wedding to his secondary consort, most of them were not of very high status. Only the Fourteenth and Thirteenth Princes, who were on good terms with him, came. The rest were represented by the primary or secondary consorts of the princes. Looking at the secondary consort, Lady Ma'ertai, who had come in place of the Eighth Prince, Yinzhen's eyes flashed with a hint of sarcasm. He hadn't expected his Eighth Prince to be such a cold-hearted person. He had pretended to be on good terms with him all the time, probably just to get money out of him. Ha, now that he seemed to have offended the Emperor, he was keeping his distance. He really knew how to read the situation.
With his sunny disposition, Yinzhen looked at his ninth brother, who was dressed in a red robe and had a gloomy expression, and at his eighth brother, who was absent, and gave an awkward smile.
"Haha, congratulations Ninth Brother on the birth of your new sister-in-law! You look even more handsome after your wedding, your new sister-in-law will definitely love you."
Yinzhen raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, "What are you talking about, shameless? You'll see when you get married."
The two interruptions immediately broke the slightly stagnant atmosphere, and the Thirteenth Prince also joined in, and the group chatted happily.
Meanwhile, the guests were secretly observing the furnishings of the Prince's Mansion, and several familiar officials sitting at a table chatted and laughed.
A man with a long beard laughed and said, "You say this Prince's mansion is decorated so well, I'm afraid the primary consort's mansion must be decorated just as well."
"That's for sure. This concubine must be very much to the Ninth Prince's liking. She's probably a rare beauty," the slightly younger man said enviously.
“Indeed, indeed. I attended the wedding of the Fourth Prince to his primary wife before. The Ninth Prince’s arrangements are even more elaborate than the Fourth Prince’s. This secondary wife is sure to be favored.” The older official in blue robes nodded and said.
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