Ning Rui was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly bowed, "Thank you, mother, for your concern. I am not in good health, and marrying a wife would harm other girls. I am still young, so it won't be too late to discuss marriage in a few years."
"You, child, have no one to take care of you, that's why you can't get well." The Imperial Concubine interrupted him, "Although your father is gone, you still have your brother and sister-in-law. They will naturally choose a good girl for you. You are sixteen years old now, so I believe your sister-in-law has already found a girl for you, right, Queen?"
After saying this, the Imperial Concubine looked over with a smile.
The queen's face was a little stiff. She really didn't expect this.
How could a 20-year-old girl, who didn't even have any children, think of helping her brother-in-law choose a wife? But the imperial concubine put her on the spot when she said this.
If she couldn't explain it clearly, wouldn't that be mistreating her brother-in-law too much
Seeing the Queen's expression, Ning Chen frowned, guessing in his heart that the Queen was not prepared. His eyes darkened, and he spoke to smooth things over.
"Marriage is ultimately a matter of parents' orders and matchmakers' words. My father has passed away, but my mother is still alive. The queen has been arranging this matter for a while, but the queen is still young. This is her first time arranging such a thing, and she hasn't figured out the clues yet. I invited my mother to the garden to take this opportunity to ask her for advice."
Although the Queen Mother was a concubine before, she is now the Queen and the principal wife, which means she is Ning Rui's biological mother. Naturally, she has a say and can make the decisions.
When it comes to this, the Grand Concubine's face turned unhappy. She was a noble concubine before, and she should have been more honorable, but now she was stepped down, so she was naturally unwilling to accept it.
But the Queen Mother was pleased.
"Huan'er is a very sensible child. She will ask me for help if she doesn't understand something. I will also help to choose a good match for the fourth child. And Lin'er will be coming of age in October this year, so I will also help to choose a good match for her."
This Lin'er is the second princess of the late emperor, Ning Lin, the youngest daughter of Concubine Dowager De.
Ever since the death of the previous emperor, Concubine Dowager De has been sincerely worshipping Buddha and has not participated in any banquets, big or small. The second princess serves her mother and rarely goes out either.
Today, it is Concubine De’s eldest daughter, the late emperor’s eldest princess Ning Jin, who is here.
The eldest princess has already married. She came today with her husband He Xinyan, and brought with her a pair of seven-year-old twins, a boy and a girl.
Speaking of his sister, Ning Jin naturally had to say a few words and stood up, "Thank you, mother, for your concern. My sister is a quiet person, so she should find someone with a compatible personality. There is no rush to wait and see."
The Queen Mother nodded, and the matter was resolved.
Although she didn't like the queen very much, she was her daughter-in-law after all, and she couldn't let others talk about her.
But Imperial Concubine Yao was not someone who could be easily dealt with, and she immediately started talking about children again.
King Ping had two sons and one daughter. The Queen, Fang, gave birth to a daughter, the concubine, Zhao, gave birth to a son and was five months pregnant with another, and the third was born to a concubine in the palace.
The eldest princess already has twins, a boy and a girl.
From this perspective, among all the married people, Ning Chen has the least offspring. The Queen has been married for four years but has never been pregnant.
Offspring is indeed Ning Chen’s shortcoming.
But even so, Imperial Concubine Yao could not allow herself to say this!
"I have only been on the throne for a short time, and the country is not stable yet, so I have no interest in the harem. However, since the Grand Concubine mentioned it today, I should also promote the status of the women in the harem. So that I can share in the good fortune."
Ning Chen smiled wryly, obviously a little annoyed, and took a sip of wine before continuing.
"Zhaoyi Jing was promoted to the rank of Second-rank Consort, Concubine Wang was promoted to Concubine Jieyu, Concubine Li was promoted to Wanrong, and Chen Baolin was promoted to Concubine and given the title of Min."
Most of those who were called were old men who had been serving in the palace since ancient times. Those who were slightly favored quickly stood up to express their gratitude.
Jing Zhaoyi, now Jing Fei, was even more surprised. After all, she did not give birth to the child that year, and she thought that it was the end of her life sitting at the head of the Nine Concubines. She never thought that she could still have the position of a concubine.
The other person who was promoted, Min Cairen, was really relieved. If she didn't get promoted again, it would be too embarrassing.
Those who are called are naturally happy, but those who are not called feel a little uncomfortable.
Especially the Shufei, these two were already awarded the second rank before they gave birth. The Jingfei was okay, but the Wenfei would probably have to climb to the first rank in her lifetime.
Now, in the first rank, the three positions of Guixiande are still vacant, and she occupies one position of Shufei. If there are more people coming, they will directly bypass her.
Twisting the handkerchief in her hands, Concubine Shu became more and more unwilling.
But no one would pay attention to her here because there were gods fighting above.
After Ning Chen's rather angry promotion, the Grand Concubine didn't say anything more. She looked calm, as if she was not the one who was picking on him just now.
Yao Cairen downstairs lowered her eyes while drinking, wondering what her aunt was doing.
Normally, the Grand Concubine is always cautious and rarely does anything to find fault. But today she acted out of character, and I'm afraid she's trying to test something.
No matter how the undercurrents were, on the surface the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet was still going on harmoniously.
Prince Kang couldn't drink, so Prince Ping Ning Hao took the lead and drank with Ning Chen along with several members of the royal family.
As for King Ping, he also had ambitions at the beginning. After all, his mother was a noble concubine and he was born into a good family.
However, he was not as good as his brothers in studying and martial arts since childhood, and his aptitude was not good. Later, even the Yao family felt that he had no hope and once hoped that the imperial concubine would have another child. This also led to the gradual disappearance of King Ping's ambition.
By now, he had become a completely idle prince, and his wife, Fang, was also quiet and gentle. The couple's life became more and more leisurely.
Ning Chen was clear about these two brothers and knew that neither of them had any ambitions.
Otherwise, when he first ascended the throne, if King Ping was dissatisfied and wanted to do something, it would be easy with the help of the Yao family.
After the dinner, nothing unexpected happened in the second half and it was quite enjoyable.
Prince Ping was drunk, so he stayed in the garden to rest. The princess took care of him and sent the pregnant concubine Zhao back home. Prince Kang was weak, so he left before the end.
Ning Chen was also a little tipsy. Today was the fifteenth day of the lunar month, so naturally he went to the Queen's place.
In Wutong Palace, the two of them washed and dressed separately. When the queen came out of the bathroom, she saw that the person on the couch had fallen asleep, and she couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.
"My Lady..."
Suqin wanted to say something, but the Queen waved her hand to signal her to be silent, so she could only lower the curtain and walk out.
Two people were lying on the couch. The queen turned slightly to the side, wanting to look at her husband, but Ning Chen happened to turn over and had his back to her. A feeling of sadness rose from the bottom of her heart, and her eyes suddenly became wet.
She got married at the age of sixteen, and four years have passed, but she just can't get pregnant. She took bowl after bowl of pregnancy-preventing medicine. The bitterness of the medicine didn't matter, but the pain in her heart was the real pain.
At the banquet today, the Imperial Concubine brought up the issue of offspring, which easily suppressed her and made her unable to raise her head.
She lost face and brought shame to the emperor and the empress dowager. Who would care about her sadness and grievance? They would only think that she was useless.
Having offspring is so important that even adopting one is better than having nothing at all.
That night, the Queen couldn't sleep, and neither did Yao Xiang. She changed into eunuch's clothes, concealed her whereabouts, and went to the residence of the Grand Concubine.