Chapter 145: The news of the two princesses' wedding, along with the new...
The news of the two princesses' wedding, along with the joy of the New Year, neutralized the strange atmosphere in the capital since the crown prince was deposed.
The newly appointed head of the Imperial Household Department, the Eighth Prince Yinsi, was in charge of the wedding. He was a careful person to begin with, and this time he was in charge of a major event, so he was even more careful and took care of every aspect. Because Muxue had experienced several princess weddings, the Eighth Prince and his wife made a special trip to the Fourth Princess's mansion to sit down.
The Eighth Prince is gentle and refined, while the Eighth Lady is cheerful and capable. This couple seems to be very easy to talk to.
"This is a set of riding clothes prepared for the little princess, made of material from Jiangning." The Eighth Lady smiled, "I liked the color of this material as soon as I saw it. People below me said it was called Hai Tian Xia, which is the color of the sunset on the sea. With this color, riding a horse on the grassland will definitely stand out. It's a pity that I don't have a daughter, so it would be a waste to keep it. Coincidentally, the last time the Ninth Prince came to the mansion for tea, he talked about the fourth sister's little princess, who was smart and cute. So I asked someone to make this set of riding clothes specially and gave it to the little princess, so that the material would not be wasted."
Mu Xue took a look at the riding suit. The color was indeed beautiful. She smiled and nodded: "My little princess should like it. So I would like to thank you two on her behalf."
The Eighth Prince said, "There is no need to thank me, we are all family. This time, the Monghan Father valued me and entrusted me with the marriage of the two princesses. I am afraid that I have not done it well, so I came to ask for Fourth Sister's advice."
"What advice can I give? There are precedents from the past, and you can't go wrong if you follow them."
Mu Xue thought for a moment and said, "But the Sixth Princess' husband Celeng doesn't have a house on the pasture, so it will take some time to build a princess' mansion."
A few days ago, I received a letter from Guihua, saying that the pasture where the Khalkha Nei Tsereng tribe was originally located had been cleared. Although it was inevitable that there would be some trouble, fortunately, the northern desert is vast and sparsely populated, and with the will of the emperor to coordinate, it was done.
The Eighth Prince said, "That's fine. We have already prepared a house in the capital. We estimate that we will have to wait until the beginning of next spring before the two princesses can follow their husband to the territory."
The conversation was pleasant, and the Eighth Prince would occasionally implicitly praise Mu Xue's achievements in Mobei over the years. After a conversation, Mu Xue couldn't help but admire the Eighth Prince's emotional intelligence. No wonder everyone said he was "virtuous". Now she understood a little.
The Eighth Prince is completely different from the arrogant character of the Crown Prince and the eldest prince. He is humble and listens carefully to opinions. If Mu Xue was an official in the capital, he would definitely like such a master to take the throne. It makes sense that these ministers like him.
After seeing off the Eighth Prince and his wife, the next thing was the Chinese New Year. Celebrating the Chinese New Year in the capital was like celebrating a "robbery", with all the formalities of wearing formal attire, attending various sacrifices, and attending various banquets in the palace, and there was no end to the red tape.
Muxue had not celebrated the New Year in the capital for a long time and had forgotten some of the etiquette. She relied on the eunuchs who were in charge of guiding the Mongolian princes and nobles in the capital all year round to help her sort out the etiquette, so that she did not make any mistakes.
Etiquette is easy to explain, but some details need to be experienced firsthand before they are remembered. For example, when I went to the palace for a banquet, I left the palace in the middle of the night and was so hungry that my stomach growled, so I went to the palace the next day with a small silk bag to bring some candies and cakes in advance.
The most noticeable difference in the palace this year was the absence of the crown prince. He was still under house arrest and was not allowed to move around.
Thanks to the Eighth Princess, the Thirteenth Prince was allowed to walk around the courtyard and take a look at his sister who was to be fostered.
During the days of house arrest, time always seems to move slower.
Stepping onto the corridor leading to the Palace of Heavenly Purity again, the Thirteenth Prince Yinxiang felt that the sunlight was too dazzling and stretched out his hand to block it out. The confinement life these days was too claustrophobic, and he was not used to standing in the sunlight all of a sudden.
Yinxiang walked slowly with his eyes narrowed. In the distance, a few eunuchs hurried past. When they saw him, they saluted from a distance and then hurried away. They seemed to be very busy.
As we approached the Qianqing Palace, we saw several ministers. Among them was a tall minister who had a very good relationship with Yinxiang in the past.
Yinxiang subconsciously walked towards the tall minister.
The man didn't see the face clearly at first, only saw the prince's formal dress, with a smile on his face, ready to bow. But when Yinxiang came closer and he could see who it was, the tall minister's shoulders stiffened, his eyes wandered, and even his smile became much lighter. He greeted him as a routine.
"Good luck, Master Thirteen."
Then he hunched over and stepped aside, as if to make way for him. He looked respectful, but... it could also be said that he didn't want to talk any more with the Thirteenth Prince.
Yinxiang's heart sank at this action.
He nodded as if nothing had happened, walked past, went around to the other side of the red wall, stood there for a while, waiting for the ministers to pass from the other side first.
Yes, he laughed at himself in his heart. After the crown prince was deposed, who would want to be associated with a prince who had lost his power? It was clear that he had no future, so why bother to talk a few more words and get himself tainted by the deposed crown prince's party?
As for myself... I was criticized by Khan Ama as treacherous and hypocritical, and I would probably live in a muddle-headed way from now on. All my efforts to assist the ministers were in vain.
Yinxiang stood there blankly for a long time, and the eunuchs who followed him were a little worried. At this time, someone behind him said, "Is there anything particularly beautiful here?"
Yinxiang turned around and saw that it was the Fourth Princess. He smiled bitterly and said, "What kind of beautiful scenery can there be in such a remote and small place?"
"That may not be the case. 'The most magnificent and beautiful things in the world are often found in remote and dangerous places.'" Mu Xue walked to his side and turned to look. "I think this red walled avenue is also very unique."
She made a picture frame with her fingers and asked Thirteenth Prince to look at it. Yinxiang looked over and said, "Indeed, the picture is framed beautifully like this."
"I've often heard that Thirteenth Brother is good at both literature and martial arts, so I'm going to shamelessly ask you for this landscape painting. How about that?" Mu Xue said, "I'll take it back to show Nuomin. The last time you took her riding, she admired you very much. After seeing this painting, she will definitely admire you even more. I'll also take this opportunity to encourage her to learn more and set an example for her."
“I’m not a good role model either.”
"Tsk, don't talk about this, don't you want to paint?"
Mu Xue asked with a faint smile.
The Thirteenth Prince shook his head and said, "Since Fourth Sister likes it, I will naturally paint a picture for you."
"What are you talking about? You seem very happy."
Muxue and the Thirteenth Prince looked back at the same time, and saw the Fourth Prince Yinzhen standing not far away.
Oh, it turns out that these two have some friendship at this time. Mu Xue's eyes moved between the Fourth Prince and the Thirteenth Prince, and said with a smile: "Nothing, just some small talk. What's the matter, Fourth Brother?"
The Fourth Prince came over and said, "Nothing."
He looked at the Thirteenth Prince: "How are you?"
"Thank you for your concern, everything is fine."
The fourth prince nodded and said, "I have just built a new farm and I am in need of a plaque. Your calligraphy has always been good. Can you write one when you have time?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the Thirteenth Prince and the Fourth Princess laughing at the same time.
The Fourth Prince was puzzled: "Why? Was what I just said funny?"
Mu Xue shook her head and smiled, "No, it's just that Fourth Brother has to wait for a while. He just promised to make a painting for me. You have to wait in line behind me."
The Fourth Prince came back to his senses and a smile appeared on his face: "Okay, then I'll wait."
The three chatted for a while and then walked towards the Qianqing Palace together.
There were big banquets and small banquets. The big banquet was to entertain court officials, Mongolian princes, and other officials, and the people from the Guanglu Temple were busy preparing the meals.
Xiaoyan includes the princes and the married princesses in Beijing, and Muxue is the only one left.
Everyone led their own banquet and waited for a while. Emperor Kangxi, who came from the banquet, finally appeared and took a seat.
He subconsciously glanced at the chief seat on the left. Originally, Yinreng should have sat here. But now that he was deposed and confined, this position was vacant. The seat for the eldest prince was placed nearby.
Emperor Kangxi retracted his gaze and said calmly: "Try this newly brewed wine."
Everyone raised their glasses and said a lot of auspicious words. As they passed the cups around, the atmosphere gradually became more lively.
The eldest prince sat in this position and could not see the deposed prince. He felt that half of the depression in his chest was relieved.
In any case, it was a good thing that the crown prince who had always been at odds with him was deposed. One of the brothers was the eldest son, and the other was the legitimate son. They were both proud and it was hard for them not to have conflicts. The eldest prince was really worried about what would happen to him if the crown prince ascended the throne one day. Perhaps, he would end up like Oboi?
Thank God, the prince was finally deposed.
The eldest prince drank a glass of wine, and the waiter beside him immediately filled it up. He drank several more glasses, his face turned red, and he was a little drunk.
He heard people gossiping about the marriages of the Sixth and Eighth Princesses, and about the Eighth Prince, who was newly appointed as the Director of the Internal Affairs Department, and was very experienced. The eldest prince said, "Eighth Brother has always been sensible in his work, and he is doing very well."
His voice was loud to begin with, and after drinking, it became so loud that even Kangxi looked over at him.
The eldest prince continued, "Eighth brother's ability is beyond reproach. Last time I met a fortune teller who could read faces. He said that he had a very noble face and would definitely achieve more in the future."
Emperor Kangxi's voice sounded, coldly: "What sorcerer? What is Dagui?"
He stared at the eldest prince, then shifted his gaze to the eighth prince: "How could I not know that there are such important people who can read faces?"
The eldest prince turned pale, and was so frightened that he regained some consciousness. He immediately said, "He is not an important person. I just heard it by chance. Who knows whether it is true or not?"
"By chance?" Emperor Kangxi put down the ebony and gold-inlaid chopsticks in his hand and turned to ask the Eighth Prince, "Old Eighth Prince, do you know this sorcerer?"
The Eighth Prince left his seat and knelt down: "Maybe he was talking about the sorcerer Zhang Mingde, but what truth can such a person say? He is just making up stories to get more money."
Emperor Kangxi laughed in anger: "Oh, so the Prince of Zhi honors you like this just for a few bucks?"
He slammed the imperial case and said, "What a treacherous man you are, Yinsi! You are so treacherous and ambitious! You even dared to collude with the sorcerer to create such a reputation!"
There was dead silence in the Qianqing Palace.
The Eighth Prince reacted and kowtowed repeatedly: "I would never dare to have such an intention!"
Suddenly, the Ninth Prince stood up and said, "Father Khan, I can guarantee that the Eighth Prince has no such intention!"
The Fourteenth Prince also stood up suddenly and said anxiously, "Your Highness is willing to vouch for me! My Eighth Brother is usually very filial and respectful, how could he do such a treasonous thing? Your Majesty, please understand!"
The two men left their seats and knelt firmly beside the Eighth Prince.
Mu Xue was stunned when she saw it.
Isn't this adding fuel to the fire?
Emperor Kangxi's expression became even uglier: "Well, there is actually such a loyal person from Liangshanpo under my nose!"
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