Just sit back and relax
"What a beautiful bride!" This was said by Tong Jia, er, the successor to Prince An. Her husband had been a nuisance to Kangxi, and had recently fallen ill. She had been expected to stay home to care for him, rarely going out. This meant she had never met Cao Jia before, and today was the first time she had seen him.
The surrounding concubines all responded in unison, and Shujia nodded with a smile, "That's what the Empress Dowager said. When she first saw this child, she fell in love with him."
They came to see the bride on King Ping's wedding day.
King Ping's wedding was very lively.
According to the regulations, the wedding of a prince was subject to legal standards. The type of betrothal gifts, the number of ceremonial guards, and the number of tables for the wedding banquet were all clearly stipulated. Even if you were a member of a prestigious family, you would be careful not to violate the rules. Therefore, Prince Ping's wedding banquet adhered to the regulations. While the law could limit the size of the wedding, it could not limit the rank of the guests.
King Ping's wedding was attended by many dignitaries.
No matter from which perspective, King Ping is a person who needs to be befriended, is worthy of friendship, and is relatively easy to get close to - the child is young.
Every imperial prince, iron-hat prince, prince, duke, heir apparent, and consort to the throne who could attend had arrived. Kangxi's sons were particularly fierce; their brothers alone filled two tables, not counting those too young to leave the palace. Most embarrassingly, the Crown Prince, along with his brothers and cousins, claimed to be classmates with Nersu and wanted to join in the fun. At the level of Beile and Beizi, it depended on your connections to the Prince Ping's palace and your personal influence. Below the rank of Fuguogong, even getting a ticket was difficult. This was the clan.
There were also Manchu and Han officials, and Mongolians in Beijing. They also had to rely on connections and background, and it was difficult to squeeze in and even ask for a glass of wedding wine.
The guests were of high status, so they could joke with the host without being afraid to do so. Therefore, the wedding of King Ping was more lively than any other wedding banquet in the palace.
When the men arrived, the women were also there. Their focus was different from the men's. The men wanted to make friends, while the women were more there to join in the fun, evaluate, and gossip.
The most talked-about topic in Beijing lately has been the marriage of Prince Yiping. The first point of discussion has been the new wife's origins. Since the founding of the country, there has never been a first wife of bannermen origin. Secondly, Cao Jia's father held a lucrative position in Jiangnan, and the Cao family was a close confidant of the emperor. The second point of discussion has been the Prince Yiping's acceptance. Considering that this was Kangxi's idea, everyone has speculated about the emperor's intentions. What was the emperor's reasoning? It's said that the Empress Dowager is also very fond of the new wife, and the palace masters all say she's not a bad person.
The next step was to evaluate the dowry sent from Jinling.
Before the wedding, the bride is sent off with a ten-mile red wedding dress.
The style of this furniture is different from that in Beijing, and the jewelry looks so exquisite! The patterns on the satin from the south are so beautiful...
All of this combined made the noble ladies in the capital almost burst with curiosity about Cao Jiashi. After her marriage was announced, Cao Jiashi had lived in seclusion in the capital, and few people had ever seen her. Naturally, everyone was eager to see her in person.
At first sight, those who had never seen Cao Jia before were amazed. They praised her out loud and admired her in their hearts: They used to wonder why the emperor chose a girl from a bondservant family, which was really embarrassing for Prince Ping. Now, it seems that the girl has also been promoted and is not bad looking, so she is a good match.
Cao Jia sat upright on the bed, her cheeks flushed, feeling somewhat uncomfortable being stared at by the other wives. However, at a time like this, everyone was coming to give her face, and the Crown Princess had also led the other princes' wives into the fight, along with the wives of the various iron-hat princes, the wives of Prince Fu, and the wives of Prince An, so she had to accept this favor.
Nersu was not of high rank; the princes were his grandfathers. Just based on their generational background, Cao Jiashi had to sit still and let them criticize her. Fortunately, they only spoke of praise for her.
Fortunately, even guests couldn't disturb the bride for too long. They came in to look at her, exchanged a few words, and then they started feasting. Cao Jia felt like her smile was about to freeze. Her smile fell, and she twitched her cheeks a little before she felt the muscles on her face return to her normal self.
The maid who came with the dowry came up and said, "Miss... uh, Fu Jin, may I bring you some snacks to fill your stomach?"
Cao Jia was wearing a heavy formal gown, and the movement of her neck seemed a bit mechanical: "Pick out a small piece of the tasteless one and give it to me."
The maid broke the pastry into small pieces, carefully placed it on a plate, and placed it into Cao Jia's mouth bit by bit. She then brought tea, and Cao Jia took a sip: "That's all." She then checked her clothes for any pastry crumbs and adjusted her makeup.
After everything was packed up, Cao Jia asked again: "Please count the purses for reward tomorrow again." The eldest maid counted them herself and brought out a tray: "They are all here. I ordered them yesterday, and added ten more as backup." Cao Jia silently recited the procedures to be followed from tonight to tomorrow, and after confirming that they were correct, she sat down with her head down and waited for Nersu to come back after finishing his social activities outside.
As the hostess of Prince Yu's mansion, Shuyi was also present at the wedding. However, with so many people around, Shujia couldn't say much to her sister. If she really wanted to talk, she might as well wait until Shuyi arrived at the palace and find a place for the two sisters to have a good chat.
It was supposed to be a wedding banquet, but the people living in the palace only ate a small portion as a token of their appreciation. It wasn't that the chefs at Prince Ping's mansion were bad, but... the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess left the table early.
The Crown Prince first said that it was the end of the year and he did not dare to stay outside for long, as he had to report to Emperor Kangxi on the progress of the wedding. He then sent someone to the back to call the Crown Princess: "The Empress Dowager is waiting for you to go back and talk about the bride."
Hongxi and Hongdan were quite nostalgic. One of them had few opportunities to leave the palace, and even if the other one left the palace, he would mostly hang around in front of the emperor, so such scenes were rare.
Hong Xi, a master of reading people's expressions, pulled Nersu aside and whispered, "Mafa arranged this marriage, so be happy." Hong Dan, upon hearing this, tugged at Nersu's sleeve, pulling him down and whispering in his ear, "Didn't I tell you? Everyone who has seen her in the palace says she has the looks and personality to be a good wife. She's raising her hand again, and Mafa has her considerations."
Nersu was stunned when he received the imperial decree that a dignified prince married a bondservant woman, but he still had to express his gratitude. Even though Cao Jia had already been promoted, Nersu was still not happy: his father-in-law's family was still bondservants, what kind of a deal was this?
He lost his father at a young age, and his time in the palace had forced him to mature early. Even if he felt discontent, he quickly suppressed it and returned to seriously prepare for his marriage. His fellow palace students would tease him, making the young Prince Ping extremely depressed: he would rather have a fifth-rank father-in-law like Qi Beile than a third-rank Tongzhengshi.
This is basically giving me to Cao Yin!
Even Cao Jia's generous dowry couldn't offset King Ping's resentment. He wasn't short of money. He still wanted to save face! Even though Cao Jia was a beauty, it didn't completely make him feel better. King Ping wouldn't be unable to find a beautiful woman. He wanted a wife who was just as good as him.
However, the matter was settled, and Nersu had no choice but to marry this wife. After watching the prince and his family leave, Nersu cheered up again, fooled the people who stayed behind, and then walked into the bridal chamber.
He had been the one to remove his wife's veil and had already taken a good look at her; she was quite pretty. Because of her appearance, Nersu was quite polite to Cao Jiashi.
The couple's subsequent interactions were like something out of a novel. The husband, initially dissatisfied with his wife, finally fell head over heels for her.
In fact, Cao Jiashi was a very qualified wife for Prince Ping. She served her mother-in-law, cared for her husband, managed household chores, and handled diplomatic affairs. Her personal qualities were impeccable. After spending some time with her, one would naturally discover her good qualities.
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For the Crown Princess, all this was just a show. A political display to demonstrate the Eastern Palace's stance, to show that it wasn't so difficult to get along with. What did Prince Ping's happiness have to do with her? What did Cao Jiashi's well-being have to do with her?
The Crown Prince and his wife didn't need to be deliberately friendly, nor did they need to show off their authority by hysterically beating people up. They ate when it was time to eat and slept when it was time to sleep. Ever since their son Hongdan was born, everyone had made up their minds. Since the establishment of the Crown Prince, all thoughts had been put to rest - even Mingzhu had become a relative.
The most important thing is to take care of yourself. If you feel like it, you can also take care of your relatives. Apart from opposing the emperor, you can do whatever you want.
There is a matter concerning a relative right now that requires the Crown Princess's attention.
Another letter arrived from Shengjing. Shujia often corresponded with Shuxian, who only shared small talk about family matters. In reality, the palace was forbidden from communicating with the outside world, but only under special circumstances. The rules and regulations that governed the imperial concubines didn't govern the prince's wife, let alone the crown princess's consort. They had to socialize with the outside world.
Today's letter posed a dilemma for Shujia, so she had no choice but to ask Yinreng, "Who is Dai Zi?"
Yinreng thought briefly and then gave Dai Zi's resume: "He was a man of good learning. He once served in the Southern Study, but was exiled to Shengjing. What happened?"
Shujia said helplessly: "My sister wrote to me and asked if I could hire him as a teacher."
Yinreng was silent for a moment, then asked, "Why did they think of this?"
Shuxian had brought her youngest son to Shengjing. As the child grew older and neared the beginning of his education, he needed to find a teacher. At his age, while he was still young, he couldn't help but start studying. While he was still old enough to travel back to Beijing alone, she was concerned about entrusting him to someone else to deliver the child. It would be best to keep him close to her and find a good teacher.
After looking at several, Shuxian wasn't impressed by any of them. Later, she heard about a man who had once worked in the Southern Study, and she was intrigued. Someone who could work in the Southern Study must be a man of extraordinary learning. She sent someone to inquire about him, and they found out that the man was named Dai Zi. He was quite old, but very well-educated, and his educational level was well-documented. Dai Zi had four sons: Dai Jing, Dai Liang, Dai Heng, and Dai Gao, all of whom were highly educated.
Shuxian told Jiang Ting about it, and Jiang Ting used his connections to check again, but came back with a negative answer. Shuxian asked why.
Jiang Ting, a cautious man, rarely asserted himself. "There are so many learned men here. Even if we need to exile someone, it doesn't have to be Dai Zi!" This place had a huge number of exiles, and honestly, many of them were... either involved in secret affairs or had received heavy sentences. Chen Menglei, for example, was eventually taken away by Emperor Kangxi himself. The problem was... Dai Zi's crime was illicit communication with the Japanese. Simply put, collaborating with the Japanese. This was a difficult charge to prosecute, as it implied collusion with foreign powers and treason.
He was being assertive, but the problem was that his wife always had the final say in matters at home. Shuxian couldn't bear to see her son's academic performance suffer, and the choice was difficult. In the end, she couldn't bring herself to refuse.
Shuxian gritted her teeth and finally wrote a letter to Shujia: Can this person be used? If it will cause trouble, we will stay away from him. If not, then forget it.
Yinreng hesitated, then simply denied the allegation. However, Yinreng knew about Dai Zi's affair. It was Nan Renhuai, harboring a personal grudge, who had colluded with others to falsely accuse Dai Zi. Kangxi likely knew this, too; otherwise, such foreign ties would have meant more than just exile.
After thinking for a moment, Yinreng smiled and said, "It's just to enlighten me, so it's fine."
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