Su Yao could understand the pain in his heart.
The more indifferent a person appears to be on the surface, the more difficult it may be for him or her to let it go in his or her heart.
Normally Xiao Heng seldom talked about these things, but it was not that he didn't care, he just seldom mentioned them. The pains were always with him, making him feel heartbroken every time he thought of them.
She held Xiao Heng's hand and comforted him gently, "It's all over. No matter what, you are married now. Whether it's the Queen or my father and mother, they will be relieved."
Xiao Heng knelt in front of Queen Hu's coffin and spoke for a long time. He was usually a man of few words, but today he said a lot. Su Yao listened quietly by the side without disturbing him.
After a long while, Xiao Heng finally recovered his composure and went out with Su Yao to pay a visit to Concubine Pang.
Concubine Pang smiled and gave many rewards, then asked Xiao Heng and Su Yao to sit down and talk.
She was already very familiar with Su Yao, and seeing that Su Yao and Xiao Heng had a good relationship, she smiled and teased, "It's true that you two are a match made in heaven. Seeing that you two can get along so well, His Majesty and the Queen Mother should be relieved. It's not easy for the two of you to get to where you are today, so you should cherish each other."
Su Yao smiled and agreed.
Concubine Pang said softly, "You will have to take care of all the affairs of the Eastern Palace. That is your palace. From now on, the affairs of the Eastern Palace will be in charge of the Crown Prince's Concubine. Someone from the Ministry of Internal Affairs will hand over the monthly quota to you. If there is anything you don't understand, just come and ask me."
Although Concubine Pang was not the Empress, she had been in charge of the six palaces for many years. Emperor Yuanfeng was still the emperor, so the affairs of the inner palace could definitely not be handled by Su Yao, the Crown Prince's Consort, for the time being. However, the affairs of the Eastern Palace were handed over to Su Yao.
In this case, Su Yao also has to take responsibility. It is not easy to handle the affairs of the palace.
She stood up solemnly and agreed.
Concubine Pang smiled and said, "Don't be too nervous. You are smart and sensible. You will understand these things after a few days. But I have something I want to ask you for help."
Su Yao was a little surprised. She didn't expect Concubine Pang to say that, so she said cautiously, "Your Majesty, you are too polite. If you have anything to say, just tell me directly."
"It's about Eleven." Concubine Pang couldn't help rubbing her brows when she talked about it. "The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Rites selected several candidates for the prince consort, but I'm really not satisfied with them... The Ministry of Rites insisted that this was the ancestral rule. I'm very annoyed by this."
Concubine Pang said something quite serious.
Su Yao could also feel her anger.
Concubine Pang asked Su Yao to help investigate those people.
If Concubine Pang made other requests, Su Yao would most likely refuse. After all, she is different now. Now her every move represents the Eastern Palace, and countless people are watching her.
But Concubine Pang suggested that she just check the candidates for the prince consort, which was not difficult.
In particular, she is also good friends with the Eleventh Princess.
After careful consideration, Su Yao agreed.
Concubine Pang was very happy: "It's not that we can't entrust this matter to the Pang family, but men think about things differently from women. After thinking about it, I can only entrust it to you."
After Su Yao and Xiao Heng came out of Concubine Pang's palace, they looked at Xiao Heng with some confusion: "Why must the selection of the Prince Consort be made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Rites?"
Xiao Heng smiled and patted Su Yao's head: "Speaking of this, it is similar to the selection of concubines. For a long time, because Taizu did not want those nobles to become more arrogant and fight for power, he stipulated that whether it was the prince choosing a concubine or the princess choosing a husband, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Internal Affairs would select suitable candidates from the people."
This is also to prevent the nobles from becoming too powerful.
Su Yao immediately understood what Concubine Pang meant by the ancestral system.
She seemed to be thinking about something.
Xiao Heng immediately followed up by saying, "But, things got a little distorted later on. First of all, the people selected by the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Internal Affairs were of varying quality. Even after being trained as palace ladies, many concubines were still very... ignorant. Not only that, they also began to ask their families for positions. So in fact, it doesn't matter whether the daughter of a noble family is selected or not, or whether she is a descendant of a noble family. As for the princess choosing a consort, now you know why Concubine Pang asked you to do this."
He smiled sarcastically and said to Su Yao, "The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Rites would take benefits from the candidates. For the favored princesses, it was fine. They didn't dare to go too far and the candidates were all acceptable. But for the unfavored princesses, in the later period, they really didn't care about meat and vegetables and dared to pick anyone. They even picked a man with tuberculosis for one princess. On the night of the princess' wedding, the prince consort died in the bridal chamber."
Emperor Yuanfeng had few sons and daughters, so there were not many princesses who needed to choose husbands. The court had not selected a son-in-law for many years. This time, no one knew who took the lead and submitted a memorial requesting that the selection of the son-in-law should still follow the ancestral system and be chosen by the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Why is Concubine Pang so worried
She was worried that her daughter would be delayed.
Why did they give this matter to Su Yao? First, they needed to have a closer alliance with Su Yao, and Su Yao happened to have such a good relationship with the Eleventh Princess, so it was reasonable to let Su Yao do this. Second, the Pang family might not consider the same thing as Concubine Pang, and the candidate they thought was a good match for the Eleventh Princess might not be a good match.
It is indeed most appropriate to let Su Yao go.
Su Yao suddenly understood and at the same time felt some sympathy for the princesses.
I didn't expect there is such a saying.
Perhaps Princess Yongning and the previous Princess Mingchang were too old, the princesses of their generation were not so miserable.
In other words, they are the lucky ones among the princesses.
Sure enough, Xiao Heng seemed to understand what she was thinking. He sighed and said, "Of the thirteen princesses who got married back then, only Princess Mingchang and Princess Yongning remain today. You will understand."
Su Yao really needs to understand.
Before, Imperial Concubine Pang told the Eleventh Princess that she should go if the imperial court wanted her to marry, because Imperial Concubine Pang really could not compete with the imperial court.
But when given the choice, she would definitely do her best to help her daughter choose a better person.
Su Yao took it to heart and nodded in agreement.
After Xiao Heng sent Su Yao back to the Eastern Palace, he was going to the Ministry of Personnel. Now that he was married, he had his own Zhanshi Mansion and his own ministers. Emperor Yuanfeng asked him to observe in the Ministry of Personnel.
He now has a job in the Ministry of Personnel. Although he is a newlywed and does not need to go to the government office, he still needs to discuss with the ministers to see what to do next.