Actually, what the prince was referring to was a three-courtyard house, a smaller three-courtyard house, but it could still be called a three-courtyard house. This place in the palace was meant for princes to stay in until they came of age. Usually, they would move out after their wedding. Emperor Kangxi couldn't bear to part with his sons, so he granted them permission to stay for a few more years.
The brothers are living in such a cramped and uncomfortable place.
The three-courtyard residence of this prince was only about the size of the welfare housing allocated to fifth or sixth-rank officials in Beijing during the Qing Dynasty.
A sixth-rank official is given five rooms, a fifth-rank official is given seven rooms, and this prince's quarters are all seven rooms in total: two rooms in the front courtyard, one room in the main courtyard, and the side rooms are not considered formal rooms. Currently, the Khoja children all live in the side rooms, two small rooms in the west wing, and two small rooms in the east wing.
Actually, it's possible to consider the east wing as one large room, since it's not as big as the main courtyard. However, the married princes all had their rooms divided into two smaller rooms.
All things considered, there are at most six rooms. The eldest prince is the oldest among all the princes. There is a small garden in front of the main courtyard, and the back room is also quite large, enough to house the servants and store the princess's dowry.
I looked at the construction plans for the mansion. It was originally the residence of a first-rank official in the Ming Dynasty.
Because the old man had not yet been granted a noble title, the building was constructed according to the rank of a Beizi (a princely title).
The Qing Dynasty tacitly agreed that princes should be granted the lowest rank of Beizi.
He Zhuo carefully examined the original blueprints of this grand mansion, which, strictly speaking, was a large three-courtyard siheyuan official residence, much larger than the prince's residence, and particularly imposing, commonly known as a grand mansion.
The gardens inside are quite nicely landscaped, but the houses are old and dilapidated; some need to be demolished and rebuilt, while others need some repairs.
This house has about the same number of rooms as the houses given to a first-rank official in the Qing Dynasty, also 20 rooms. He and Zhuo thought the renovation plans they brought back were good, so they only made some minor changes.
He Zhuo had the main courtyard enlarged. The main courtyard originally had a garden and the building was two stories high. However, He Zhuo also enclosed more space on the side, including a small courtyard next to the main courtyard. This small courtyard was next to the garden, so the main courtyard now had gardens on two sides.
In addition, they ordered the embroidery tower to be expanded. This was the place that official had given his daughters to live in, but it wasn't very big. He Zhuo gave them a much larger one.
Several more rooms were built in the front yard, as He Zhuo planned to move in when his son turned six, and perhaps even live there after his grandson was born. The Imperial Household Department handled this very well, as a small garden was built in the front yard, leaving plenty of space.
The area in the front courtyard where Yinzhi stayed was a small training ground built by the Imperial Household Department because Yinzhi was skilled in martial arts.
This separated the main courtyard from the concubines' courtyards in the back. The small courtyard behind the main courtyard, which was originally where the official's favored concubine lived, was now arranged by He Zhuo to be far away.
In this way, the concubines lived quite a distance from the main courtyard, and even further from the front courtyard, keeping them far away so that they wouldn't have to see them.
There are east and west wing rooms in the main courtyard, each with its own small garden. Outside the main courtyard is a large garden. He Zhuorang also made the wing rooms two stories high, but they are shorter than the main rooms.
To put it simply, the front courtyard was larger, the main courtyard was larger, and the rooms where Yinzhi's daughters lived were closer to the main courtyard, while the concubines lived further away from both the front and main courtyards.
This could be considered one of Hezhuo's little schemes.
Yinzhi didn't say anything after reading it. In fact, if Yinzhi had someone in his heart, he would have found a way to get her to his side.
What's that saying again? Though the road is long, our hearts are close.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
