Looking across the Qing Dynasty, who doesn't know that Princess Gulun Huihe is the apple of the Emperor and the Empress's eye
What's more, the Queen Mother also loves the princess like the apple of her eye, not to mention the princess's brothers.
The nobles and important officials in the court still remember clearly that when the little princess was born, the 200,000 taels of silver notes presented by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince set off a wave of silver gifts, covering the third day of the baby's birth, the full moon, the first birthday, and every birthday.
They gasped and didn't even dare to calculate how much money was in the Sixth Princess's piggy bank.
This is not called a golden baby, this is called a golden mountain.
When Kangxi didn't know, someone became interested and looked at his baby boy with a loving face, secretly thinking about the possibility of marrying the sixth princess.
But it was just a thought after all. After all, the emperor had not yet given a definite answer on whether Fu Meng would stay in Beijing. Besides, if he stayed in Beijing, the nobles would scramble for him, and it would not be his turn.
But they could not imagine that the emperor and her brothers had already taken precautions against the Sixth Princess when she could speak.
Wulinzhu grew up listening to stories about unfaithful men.
"Don't trust a man's sweet words. He must have some ulterior motives when he's smooth-talking." The Ninth Prince told the story earnestly, "Just like the third place winner in the imperial examination, who was born in a rich family, but coveted the princess's wealth and planned such a shocking scam..."
"Don't lower your standards and be fooled by that brat. So what if you have a huge fortune and can buy snacks? How can a little favor buy off my sister?" The prince finished speaking earnestly, then took out the wooden box and blamed himself, "My second brother didn't give you pocket money last month, so I'll make it up this month. The silver inside is a little less, only 10,000 taels."
"Appearances are the most deceptive, so we Wulinzhu must keep our eyes open." The Tenth Prince kept talking, and then pointed at himself, "You can't find someone as caring and loving as the Tenth Brother, even with a lantern, and you won't find anyone like him in the future."
"…" Wulinzhu stared at him without blinking. The Tenth Prince smiled awkwardly, "It's just a joke, just a joke."
"If you encounter an unfaithful person, I have a secret weapon here, Eleventh Brother." Yinzhen pulled out the brocade bag from his waist and whispered, "This is given to me by the Empress Dowager. Just sprinkle it and people's eyes will go blind. It is specially designed to deal with those who have evil intentions. No one can get close to you."
Wulinzhu was still young, but she was growing up day by day, and her facial features were becoming clearer and clearer. Seeing his precious daughter getting more and more beautiful, Kangxi, who was increasingly feeling the crisis, took advantage of his free time to figure out the "Code" corresponding to the "Hadith", and read it to Wulinzhu while holding her.
"These are all the rules that Wulinzhu's future husband should abide by." Kangxi read in a deep voice, "... If someone praises the princess's beauty upon first sight, this person cannot be trusted."
Wulinzhu leaned in his arms and said in a soft voice: "Father Emperor, but when you saw the Empress Dowager yesterday, you praised her for her beauty."
"…" Kangxi coughed lightly, "Such rules are not limited to fathers and brothers."
Wulinzhu said "oh" and nodded obediently.
Without Yunxiu knowing, they took turns preaching to Wulinzhu day after day, planting a seed in Wulinzhu's young heart -
There are tens of millions of men in this world, all of whom are good at sweet talk but have no real substance. Except for their fathers and brothers, they all seem to be unreliable.
******
In the blink of an eye, Gulun Huihe Princess was fifteen years old.
When she was fifteen, marriage was no longer a taboo. Kangxi could not stand the eager looks of the civil and military officials in the court, so he mentioned it lightly: the little princess did not have to marry far away in Mongolia, and the prince consort should be chosen in Beijing.
When these words were spoken, the capital city was in an uproar.
This year is not the year of the talent show, but all kinds of men's clothing have suddenly become popular in clothing stores, and the accessories in the Treasure Pavilion have been sold out. The gatherings of noble ladies in the past have become gatherings of noble men, and comparison has become the norm.
Whether they were from duke's mansion, marquis' mansion, minister's mansion or general's mansion, as long as they had young men of the right age and with decent looks and abilities, they were all taken out for a walk by their elders.
When meeting a colleague, he would even pretend to praise him: "Your son is very intelligent, my son is far inferior to him."
"No, no." The colleague praised back hypocritically, "My son can't even lift anything with his hands, how can he compare to your son's extraordinary martial arts? I'm so ashamed, so ashamed."
After saying that, he walked away with his head held high. Qi Qi snorted in their hearts, "With someone like you, you still want to marry the princess?"
As the business of the Ninth Prince, no, the Ninth Beile grew bigger and bigger, overnight, the gossip that the boss behind the scenes was Gulun Hui and the princess spread throughout the capital like the wind.
The next day, the Ninth Prince's mansion was filled with countless visiting cards, which frightened the Ninth Lady: "What's the matter? You don't owe them money, do you?"
Jiu Ye sneered, and said with great regret: "Besides money, what else can you care about?"
"Master, I was bitten by a snake once, so I am afraid of ropes for ten years." The Ninth Lady smiled and spoke softly, which frightened the Ninth Master so much that he ran away in a hurry, fearing that this woman would step on him again.
Yinzhen took the visiting card with a smile, and was still sighing, "Wow, they are all young talents." He received the visitor with a smile, but after asking about the purpose of the visit, his face completely sank.
One by one, they wanted to invest money to become shareholders, their wolfish ambitions were obvious, and they were all targeting his sister.
With anger burning in his heart, he said with a fake smile: "Send you out!"
After thinking it over, Jiu Ye couldn't swallow this breath, so he packed up and went to the palace to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager. Yun Xiu saw that he was not interested in wine, so she smiled and said, "Your sister is in the small garden, go ahead."
Jiu Ye hurried to the small garden, and when he saw Wulinzhu, who had grown into a big girl, he was overwhelmed with sadness and pride. Those little brats only heard of her reputation, and if they saw her in person, wouldn't their eyes pop out
Wulinzhu had a small and delicate oval face, her eyebrows and eyes were as beautiful as a painting, her lips were red without any makeup, and her face was even more delicate than a flower. She looked 40% like her mother, but she had a completely different kind of restrained beauty. Looking at her carefully, I felt my heart calm down.
When she saw Yinzhen, she bowed and said, "Ninth Brother."
Jiu Ye responded with a gratified sound, and then he started to talk to her, his disdain evident in his words: "… You are all crooked people, you can only give 50,000 taels at most, you are so stingy, and you still have the nerve to invest. Think about how many meals we Wulinzhu eat in one meal? 50,000 taels, how many of you can we support?"
"..." Wulinzhu's smile remained, and it looked even sweeter. "Ninth brother, last time the emperor asked me if I was losing money and if I needed to change people to run the business, but I haven't answered yet."
Yinzhen suddenly became like a chicken with its neck pinched and stopped talking.
The small garden became quiet, and Wulinzhu quickly completed the equivalent conversion in her mind. Being involved with silver = coveting the princess's silver = his heart is not pure and he is false, no, absolutely not.
"If they come looking for me again, I will reject them outright." Wulinzhu said, "I don't like my son-in-law to be tainted by money."
Yinzhen's breath, which had just been relaxed, was heaved again, his lips trembling as if thousands of arrows were piercing his heart. The next moment, the little princess sat on the stone bench, holding her chin with her hand and smiling, "Except for my father and brother."
…
Gulun Hui and the princess would be married at the age of 18 at the latest, so the Ninth Prince used this as an excuse to reject all the young talents one by one. Anyone who came to his door with a visiting card was turned away.
The princess lived in the deep palace for a long time and seldom saw him. Over time, their colorful gowns turned dusty. The gathering of the noble men came to an end, but they still could not get a single word from the emperor.
Now that the princess is sixteen years old, who will be the winner of the golden baby
The Empress Dowager was not anxious, Kangxi was not anxious, but the ministers were anxious.
Someone finally couldn't hold back and tried to ask the emperor a question in a roundabout way when they met him alone. But this euphemistic question touched the emperor's sensitive heart and he was scolded so badly that people cried when they saw it.
"I have Wulinzhu to support her. She won't get married until she's 20. Why should you worry about her?!"
After His Majesty's angry curse, the ministers tactfully stopped their protests.
Yunxiu also felt that it was too early for a girl to get married at the age of sixteen, so she did not say anything to refute it.
She thought that the words "not getting married at 20" were just a rant, but the emperor was serious. Two years later, Wulinzhu was 18 years old, and the burden on the prince became heavier. Kangxi gradually began to think about passing on the throne, but there was no sign of a son-in-law.
After the marriage proposal, it will take at least half a year before she can get married. If she delays any longer, she will become an old maid. Yunxiu rubbed her temples and smiled: "The eldest brother is like a father. Is the emperor waiting for Yinreng to arrange the wedding ceremony for her?"
Kangxi was speechless, and Yunxiu made the final decision: "It can't be delayed any longer."
The Queen summoned Princess Huihe and asked her directly: "What kind of prince consort do you like?"
During the interrogation, Wulinzhu was surrounded.
Sitting at the top was Kangxi, who looked very nervous. To his left sat the Crown Prince and the Emperor, who also looked very nervous. To his right sat the Crown Princess and the other wives, who also looked very nervous.
It looked like a three-judge trial.
"..." Wulinzhu said calmly, "I like good-looking things."
Yun Xiu thought for a moment and said, "I remember that the third place winner of this year's imperial examination was very handsome. He was appointed as a member of the Imperial Academy. He was the most handsome among all the civil and military officials in the court."
Without waiting for the jury to object, Wulinzhu quickly shook his head.
Tanhualang = unfaithful man = coveting her money, no, absolutely not.
Yunxiu tentatively proposed several candidates, some of whom were sons of nobles who had made great achievements, but Wulinzhu shook her head. They had failed to get a stake in the company, and their poems and essays were greasy. Their veiled praises of her, and the lingering friendship they implied, sounded unreliable.
Sweet words = having ulterior motives = coveting her money, no, absolutely not.
Yunxiu finally understood why Concubine Cheng was worried when Yinzhen got married.
She barely managed to hold back a sigh, and said coldly, "Your Majesty, please tell me what to do."
Kangxi naturally heard the signs of Yunxiu's anger, coughed heavily, and quickly proposed a solution: "Palace banquet, recruiting a bride."
…
This palace banquet was no different from a beauty pageant, except that the candidates were for choosing the consort of Gulun Hui and the princess.
As soon as the imperial edict was issued, the whole capital was in an uproar. Applicants flooded in like a flood of fish, and after multiple rounds of screening, only 100 spots were left to enter the palace, all of whom were the best among the young talents.
The palace banquet went on as scheduled, with the inner and outer halls separated by a screen. Wulinzhu stood behind the screen, looking quietly for a long time, and looked into the corner many times.
There sat a young man, who was very handsome but looked cold, with a murderous look between his brows. He didn't say a word from beginning to end, as if he was isolated from the crowd.
"who is he?"
The eunuch took a closer look and said hurriedly, "That is General Rong Fu, the eldest grandson of the Bordered Yellow Banner Fu Cha family."
Wulinzhu: "The Fucha family? The Maqi branch?"
"Exactly."
Wulinzhu seemed to be thinking about something.
The Fucha family has been wealthy for generations and has no shortage of money.
The banquet was gradually coming to an end, and suddenly a notice came from outside the palace: "Gulun Huihe Princess has arrived—"
There was a moment of complete silence.
There were many excited and admiring looks cast at Wulinzhu, until the palace maid smiled and said, "The princess is not a bossy person, so you gentlemen can speak freely."
There were noisy sounds of praise everywhere, but Rong Fu in the corner stood still, like a sculpture, with only a light red on his ears.
The more Wulinzhu looked at him, the more satisfied she was. She immediately made the decision and later went to Kangxi and said, "Father, my daughter has taken a fancy to Fucha Rongfu."
Kangxi almost couldn't catch his breath: "Who?"
Although the boy from the Fucha family has superb martial arts and a dignified personality, he is like a block of wood and cannot speak a single nice word. How can he love his precious daughter
"Wulinzhu, listen to the advice of the Emperor..."
"He has a clear and honest look, is not short of money, doesn't speak sweet words, and has never praised my beauty. What a good candidate for a son-in-law." Wulinzhu said longingly, "Father Emperor, this is him."