The busy month of September ended with the selection process, and He Zhuo still chose a princess from the Han Banner for Hongyu.
The fourteenth prince in the palace chose Wanyan as his primary consort.
When the imperial selection ended, it was Xiao Liu's birthday. He was already six years old, and there was no way he could be raised in the Chuxiu Palace anymore. If Emperor Kangxi hadn't spoken, Xiao Liu, the imperial grandson, was not allowed to live there.
Xiao Liu returned to the Zhijun Prince's residence amidst Consort Hui's reluctant gaze, where he was warmly welcomed by everyone. He Zhuo, in particular, felt that his son hadn't been by his side since childhood, and for a moment, he even overshadowed his youngest son, Xiao Ba.
However, an imperial edict also arrived, bestowing upon the eldest daughter of the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Shumulu, to marry Prince Zhi as a secondary consort.
This shocked everyone. The position of Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices was not a real post; he was only a fourth-rank official. His main responsibilities included: during ancestral temple sacrifices, he would lead the chief priests and attendants to arrange incense and candles, clean and wipe the altar and curtains, and welcome and send off the spirit tablets. During the sacrificial rites, he would also pour wine together with the head of the wine-making department.
This position was usually held by the sons of powerful families or by Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) who had no connections. In reality, this fourth-rank official position was not very prestigious; it was just a nice-sounding title. It was not as good as the one-rank lower position of the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, whose teachers were all from noble families. Moreover, the one-rank lower position of the Prefect was much better than this Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.
The shock extended not only to the Prince Zhi's residence and Consort Hui, but also to the Shumulu residence.
Prince Zhi of the Zhi County was plump and had the most sons among his brothers. The Crown Prince was only two years younger than Yin Zhi, and currently only two princes were still alive under his name.
The Crown Prince's eldest son was physically weak and died at the age of ten.
The third son, Yinzhi, had about the same number of sons as Yinzhi, but he had lost three sons in a row. His eldest son died of smallpox, and he now only had three sons under his name.
He was quite pleased with himself. In May, he requested to be made a concubine, and after the imperial concubine selection, it was approved. Lady Tian became the concubine of Prince Cheng.
The fourth prince, Yinzhen, also had two sons, the eldest son Honghui and the second son Hongyun. He left behind two sons, one of whom, Hongpan, born to Consort Li, died at the age of three.
The fact that Yinzhi had eight healthy sons was already enough to make people envious and jealous. On top of that, he was granted a concubine. What was wrong with Kangxi?
Actually, it's easy to understand if you think about it for a moment. It's the season for a bumper harvest of sweet potatoes. Indeed, as Yinzhi said, a yield of a thousand catties per mu is no problem. Emperor Kangxi felt a little guilty for not giving this task to his son. What to do about his guilt? Make up for it by giving him a concubine.
Since they couldn't increase the chances of their eldest son's success, they gave him the eldest daughter of the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, a fourth-rank official. A daughter from a fourth-rank family could be a secondary consort, which was fine, nothing to say about it. However, their family couldn't provide any assistance to Yinzhi, which was exactly what Kangxi wanted to see.
In Kangxi's eyes, sending women was a form of compensation. Kangxi had personally seen this Shumulu woman; she was beautiful and fair-skinned. In addition, Kangxi also designated two other princesses, so there was no need for imperial bestowal; they were sent to the Prince Zhi's residence through Consort Hui.
Kangxi not only tricked his eldest son, but also tricked Shumulu, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Why? Because she originally thought she would marry a member of the imperial clan who was not a proper official, so she prepared a dowry of more than 8,000 taels of silver.
What to do now? I heard that the concubine of Prince Zhi, Lady Nalan, had a dowry of 58 loads, which must have been at least 50,000 taels of silver. And who knows how much silver she kept in her dowry chest.
It's really worrying. The key issue is that their family has many children. Father is the eldest son, she is the eldest daughter, and several younger brothers are about to grow up and get married. How can they possibly give her all the family's wealth?
The reason she was given a dowry of eight thousand taels was because she was the eldest daughter of the legitimate wife and was very favored at home.
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