vncnus Chapter 400 Requesting an Imperial Decree for Marriage
Chapter 400 Requesting an Imperial Decree for Marriage
Bai Kui is a bit of a simpleton; she wouldn't think of these things.
The dishes served at the New Year's Eve banquet were mostly Shen Shixi's favorites. The grand opera performed at night was "Havoc in Heaven," which was Dongjun and Xihe's favorite show. The emperor and his ministers stayed up all night to welcome the new year. The second prince also arranged for playing cards. The ministers gathered in groups of three or five, either pulling carts or playing cards. Everyone was in high spirits, and even an old man like Lu Shixun stayed up all night.
The Second Prince did a very good job.
New Year's Day is also the birthday of Dongjun and Xihe, who are both five years old this year (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning).
At the grand banquet on New Year's Day, Shen Shixi rewarded the Second Prince in front of noble ministers and ladies of the court, who were extremely pleased.
Shen Shixi also proposed that the three concubines, Yuan Zhaoyue, Xu Miaoying, and Li Sihe, should be promoted for their meritorious service in caring for the Empress Dowager during her illness.
The suggestion given was that Yuan Zhaoyue be promoted to the rank of Consort, Xu Miaoying to the rank of Lady Consort, and Li Sihe to the rank of Imperial Concubine, which is equivalent to each being promoted to the first rank.
Li Yuanke disagreed, saying, "There are already four concubines, there's no need for another one. You may promote Yuan and Li. Li comes from a humble background and has already been granted the rank of concubine. She should be grateful. Serving the Empress Dowager is her duty, not a matter of merit!"
Li was taken aback.
Yuan Zhaoyue and Xu Miaoying hurriedly expressed their gratitude.
Li Sihe was stunned. Why was it her duty to take care of the sick?
Weren't they all concubines?
However, there is a difference. Yuan Zhaoyue and Xu Miaoying were acting on the Empress's orders, while she volunteered. Therefore, the Empress was wary of her and informed the Emperor in advance. She then made the suggestion on such a grand occasion to show off her magnanimity and get the Emperor to reject it, so she would not be able to be promoted to the rank of Consort.
As expected of the Empress!
Li Sihe took a deep breath, barely managing to maintain a calm expression, though she couldn't help feeling disappointed and resentful inside.
If it weren't for the Empress, she would have died giving birth to the Third Prince, along with her unborn child. But since the Empress saved her life, she is now unwilling to give her even a mere concubine rank.
Xu Chongrong glanced at her, and Li Sihe felt that she was also mocking her.
Aren't they all ranked as the Nine Concubines?
Consort Yuan was very happy. Now, apart from the Empress, no one in the harem was qualified to serve the Emperor. In this way, everyone was on the same starting line as her.
If it's just about vying for a higher position, she's quite confident in herself.
Xu Miaoying was very happy to become a concubine. She had only one goal: to become the head of a palace and raise her son openly and legitimately.
With the Empress's support, she was full of confidence.
On New Year's Day, the noble ladies of the Shen family came to Zhaoyang Palace to see Shen Shixi, and the whole family talked together.
The Dowager was in good health. The First Madam, the Second Madam, and the Third Madam, along with their peers, including their second sister-in-law He Qimo and their cousin Du Hanyun, exchanged greetings and then began to talk about Shen San, who was far away in the south.
Shen Shixi asked, "Has Third Sister mentioned finding a suitable person?"
The second wife said, "She wrote back and mentioned Jiang Zuibai, the head of the Jiang family in Tongcheng. I also asked Your Majesty's third brother. He is a decent man. It would be good if things could work out. Although the Jiang family are merchants, they have a clean family tradition and the whole family are upright."
Shen Shixi nodded, "If Third Sister thinks it's good, then it's good. Marriage is a matter of personal experience; only the person experiencing it knows whether it's hot or cold. She's already been through it once, so she'll have more experience to make decisions about again."
The second wife thought to herself, "What experience do I need for this? Since I've come this far, I can only accept my fate."
Du Hanyun then said, "I heard the other day that the Kang Prince's Mansion and the Changning Marquis's Mansion are discussing marriage. The Changning Marquis is going to marry Princess Shengping. Has Your Highness heard about this?"
Shen Shixi said, "Xu Chongrong did mention it, but what does this have to do with me? Would I object?"
He Qimo laughed and said, "Princess Shengping has lost two husbands, and has gained a reputation for being a jinx. Marquis Changning favors his concubine over his wife, and his reputation is not good either. They are quite a good match."
No sooner had the Shen family members taken their leave than Princess Kang requested an audience. Shen Shixi, curious to hear what she had to say, let her in.
Princess Kang came to request an imperial decree to grant her a marriage, and her reason was quite legitimate.
"After all, he was originally the Empress's brother-in-law. If he could receive the Empress's imperial decree to marry him, it would show the Empress's magnanimity and fully demonstrate the Empress's dignified demeanor."
Princess Kang adopted the demeanor of an elder.
Shen Shixi smiled and said, "I have never sought fame in such matters, otherwise I would not have issued an edict to divorce Marquis Changning and my third sister."
I am deeply gratified that Shengping has found another good husband. I hope that this time she and Marquis Changning can grow old together. If anything unexpected happens again, it would tarnish the royal family's reputation.
Princess Consort Kang stormed out of the palace to complain to the Empress Dowager, but was not allowed to enter the Cining Palace.
Ever since the Empress Dowager was angered by Prince Guo to the point of vomiting blood, her health has deteriorated. Although the imperial physicians tried their best to treat her, Yang Tingyu was later bitten by a dog and then exiled. Under these successive blows, she became completely bedridden.
On Shen Shixi's side, Chaoyu was telling her about Princess Shengping and Marquis Changning, revealing that Princess Shengping had set a trap for Marquis Changning.
It is said that Princess Shengping's carriage broke down, and she fell off the carriage. Marquis Changning happened to be passing by and asked about it. As a result, he was caught in Princess Shengping's arms.
In public, the two were intimate, and since one of them was a princess, the Marquis of Changning had no choice but to marry her.
When Princess Consort Kang returned to the mansion, she was still furious and on the verge of madness. Princess Shengping, upon hearing that the Empress had cursed her in such a way, was so aggrieved that tears welled up in her eyes. Seeing his wife and daughter in such a state, Prince Kang was naturally unable to calm down.
"I also said that if the Empress is sensible and gives Shengping some face in his marriage, I might just expose the Prince of Xun's little scheme."
Since she's so ungrateful, don't blame me for helping her cover it up.
On the 18th day of the third month of the 14th year of Yongxi, the birthday of the Emperor Qianqiu, Shen Shixi received the homage of the court officials during the morning court session, then went to pay respects to the Empress Dowager, and then received the congratulations of the ladies of the inner and outer courts in Fengyi Palace.
As evening fell, the family finished their work and planted another peach sapling in the peach orchard. This was their twenty-first peach tree.
On April 22nd, the first birthday of Fuguang and Wangshu, the emperor held a grand banquet for guests in Hanyuan Hall. All the nobles and officials of the third rank and above, as well as the wives of officials from outside the court, were invited.
The scale was no less than that of the Crown Prince and Xihe's first birthday celebration.
Li Yuanke bestowed names upon the eleventh prince, Li Chenghui, and the twelfth prince, Li Chengche.
The crown prince's name was Li Chengyu. The names of his two younger brothers, who were born of the same mother, were derived from the double-person radical of his name. The names of the three of them were different from those of all the princes born of concubines.
Even the Second Prince felt a pang of bitterness in his heart. Since his father had made his favoritism so blatant, he didn't take them, his illegitimate sons, seriously.
Needless to say, the Third Prince was so angry that his hands were trembling and he couldn't even pick up his chopsticks.
Last night, my mother said that these princes, who were not born from my mother's womb, have never even had a full-month celebration since they were little, let alone a first birthday celebration.
From now on, there's probably no need to even think about a "coming-of-age ceremony." He'll probably only have one grand wedding ceremony in his life. How pathetic!
But no one dared to cause trouble.
This year, without the troublesome eldest princess, the first birthday banquet proceeded smoothly.
Fuguang and Wangshu were well cared for and were able to walk when they were just over eleven months old. After practicing for a few days, they walked quite steadily. Wangshu could call out "Dad" and did it quite clearly. Fuguang, on the other hand, was a little less capable; when he called out "Dad," it sounded like he was making a "beep beep" sound.
Every time he called out, Shen Shixi would silently add two words for her son: "Take a taxi."
She didn't know that whenever she was complaining in her heart, Li Yuanke would glare at her.
After the Dragon Boat Festival, a caravan detoured through Xiling into the Great Zhou Dynasty. With all the necessary paperwork in place, they passed through checkpoints all the way and headed straight for the capital, where they stayed in Chonghua Ward.
Chonghua Ward, Buzheng Ward, and Liquan Ward are close to the West Market, where a large number of non-Han people lived.
The head of this caravan was a wealthy man in his forties. He had a son in his twenties named Ahanna, a Sogdian, who had come specifically to apply for admission to the Imperial Academy.
The Sogdians belong to the Eastern Iranian language branch and were historically known as the "Nine Sogdian Clans." From the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, they were famous for their commerce. Since the Han Dynasty, Sogdians have migrated to China on a large scale along the Silk Road.
The Great Zhou is currently at its peak, and many Sogdian merchants are taking advantage of the newly announced study abroad policy of the imperial court to bring their sons to the Great Zhou to study and do business, hoping to settle down in the Great Zhou if the opportunity arises.
Ahan was just one of many.
His father paid a high tuition fee for him to study abroad, and Ahanna was able to enter the Imperial College's study abroad class with great success. This class was full of international students, and they had to learn Chinese from scratch.
But Ahanna's foundation was undoubtedly very good, and he passed the exam in less than half a year and entered the outer dormitory of the Imperial Academy.
Under the impetus of Empress Chen Yuanzhao, the Tianxia Academy underwent institutional reforms, adopting the Three-Tier System proposed by the later reformer Wang Anshi.
Students are divided into three levels—outer dormitory, inner dormitory, and upper dormitory—based on their academic performance and daily conduct, forming a tiered training and promotion system.
However, unlike other schools, the Upper Dormitory also has three levels of talent, but this is only linked to scholarships and does not offer exemption from exams. In this way, it is equivalent to finding a way out for poor children.
Children from wealthy families may not care about scholarships of thirty, twenty, or ten taels of silver, but for students from poor families, these scholarships can sometimes be life-saving money or a ladder to success.
Because going to the capital to take the imperial examination requires a considerable amount of money.
Shen Shixi heard about the eldest princess's unexpected pregnancy at the New Year's Eve banquet at the end of the year. It was Princess Kang who said this, toasting Shen Shixi in front of the entire imperial clan and congratulating her on having a grandson.