Qingning Pavilion of the Noble Concubine.
"The Empress Dowager has personally issued an edict to grant the marriage, and the wedding banquet will be held in three days. Do you know whose family the girl is from?" The Noble Concubine asked Ah Fu.
Ah Fu replied: "No one knows, I'm afraid even the Empress Dowager doesn't know."
"No, I think she knows." The noble concubine thought for a while, but couldn't think of which girl the Empress Dowager would fall in love with to the point of arranging a marriage for her.
This made her feel full of crisis.
Ah Fu said: "No matter who it is, it's better than Xia Zian."
The noble concubine said: "Yes, she is indeed better than Xia Zian. Xia Zian is popular among the people now, and the people almost worship her as a bodhisattva. If she had not died and came back to marry Murong Jie, it would be very disadvantageous to us."
Ah Fu nodded and said, "Yes, if Xia Zian comes back, it will be bad for the Concubine and Prince Nan Huai. This wedding is so hasty, there are only three days to prepare. Even if we send a letter to Prince Nan Huai now, the prince will not be able to come back in time. Why don't you go to the palace to discuss with the Queen Mother to see if the wedding date can be postponed. It's not too much to say that it's to let Prince Nan Huai come back to drink a glass of his brother's wedding wine?"
The noble concubine waved her hands and said, "It's difficult. The Empress Dowager did this. I suspect that she wanted to complete the marriage quickly and prevent the Eighth Prince from coming back."
"But isn't the prince in mourning? You can use this reason to talk to the Empress Dowager, and then let the Empress Dowager say no to the Grand Empress Dowager, right? You can't get married during the mourning period, right?" Ah Fu said.
The noble concubine said, "Sizhu has been dead for less than a hundred days. If they got married within a hundred days, it would be to show filial piety. The Empress Dowager is taking advantage of this loophole, so this reason is invalid."
The custom in the Great Zhou Dynasty was to observe mourning for 27 months or 3 years when one's biological parents died and for 1 year when one's adoptive parents died.
There is another situation, that is, getting married within 100 days of the death of parents, which is to show filial piety.
This practice exists among the people, and it is also clearly stated in etiquette and laws. If there is an unavoidable reason, one can violate the etiquette and laws of filial piety.
However, wealthy families and even royal aristocrats seldom do this, because they are very particular about taboos. Holding a wedding right after a funeral is somewhat unlucky. The more prominent and wealthy the person is, the less willing they are to do this and would rather wait a year or three years.
Moreover, mourning is not so strict nowadays, and many families observe mourning for a year.
There is not much difference between a hundred days and a year. It takes several months to prepare for a wedding of noble families. In fact, if they want to hold a grand wedding, it may take more than a year to prepare.
Ah Fu regrets wasting this opportunity. "It would be great if the prince could return to Beijing at this time."
The noble concubine also wanted to, but it was obvious that there was no way to get the Eighth Brother back for this marriage.
However, the word "mourning" did serve as a reminder to her.
If they are not here for a happy event, then what if they are here for a funeral
"By the way, is the old lady of the Prime Minister's Mansion really dead?" asked the Royal Concubine.
Ah Fu said: "She died in the epidemic area. She was beaten to death by the people. It was so miserable. Her face was blurred. General Li collected her body, but the people robbed her again. They said they wanted to leave no trace of her body."
The noble concubine thought of her methods, "What a pity."
If she could use this old lady for her own purposes, she would be one of her most powerful generals.
"Now Prime Minister Xia is still in the Ministry of Justice's prison. Does the Concubine want him?" Ah Fu asked tentatively.
The noble concubine sneered, "What use is Prime Minister Xia without the old lady?"
Preparing for a grand wedding in three days really put a lot of pressure on the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Household.
They all tried their best, first decorating the palace and then preparing various matters for the wedding.
However, it also saves a lot of trouble because you don't know who the woman is, so there is no need for a gift ceremony or an engagement ceremony, and you don't have to consider the preparation of a betrothal gift.
But holding a grand wedding in three days is indeed quite difficult.
In order to save time, the Internal Affairs Department found Hu Huanxi from Dingfenghao and asked her to host the banquet. That is to say, all the raw materials for the dishes and the chefs were provided by Juxianju, which was affiliated with Dingfenghao. However, because the palace had never held a large-scale banquet, and this time the Empress Dowager gave the order during the morning court, all officials attending the morning court that day had to be present, which meant that there would be a lot of guests.
What bothered the imperial court most was the groom's wedding dress. What could they do? With only three days to make it, even if the embroiderers worked overnight, they still couldn't make it.
This was because the embroidery on the prince's wedding gown was extremely intricate, and a fine one could take half a year to make. Even if it wasn't too elaborate, it would still take at least a month.
Where can I go to make a prince's wedding dress in these three days
The internal affairs department was in a state of panic, so the chief steward of the internal affairs department had no choice but to go to the empress dowager. The empress dowager thought for a moment and said, "It's too late to rush the production. How about this? When Prince Li got married, I personally ordered people to rush the production of the wedding dress. I'll go and ask him to borrow it."
The chief steward of the inner court smiled bitterly, "Ask Prince Li to borrow something, isn't that more difficult than rushing to make it?"
Prince Li was not stingy or mean, he just believed that some things belonged exclusively to him and could not be lent to others.
The Queen Mother smiled and said, "I will naturally find a way to cure him."
After the housekeeper left, the empress dowager instructed Eunuch Sun to make an arrangement and then summon Prince Li to the palace.
Sure enough, when Prince Li heard the Queen Mother asking him to borrow the wedding dress, he pulled a long face and said unhappily: "This can't be borrowed. How can it be borrowed? This can be borrowed, even pants can be borrowed."
"Third brother, isn't this something we have no choice?" the Queen Mother advised.
"You can borrow from other people, why do you have to ask me?" Prince Li said.
"Ajie is the regent. Among all the princes, your dress is the most exquisite."
Prince Li complained, "Getting married is not a big deal, why must it be so particular? Can't you just wear anything? You can wear his royal royal dress, or the regent royal dress."
"Okay, I won't ask you anymore. I remember you told me before that your wedding dress is also very important. You might get married again in the future, so you should keep it so that you don't have to make another one later." said the Queen Mother.
Prince Li was startled and stammered, "Wasn't this just a joke before?"
On the day of their wedding, he particularly disliked the princess because she was not pretty and was very fierce. So when he entered the palace to pay his respects, everyone talked about this and said that his wife was fierce. He then said that he would marry another one in the future.
These were just impulsive words spoken at the time, and this is the only joke I have ever made in my life.
"Whether it's a joke or true, I've heard you say bad things about your wife many times. Now that I think about it, it's a good idea to keep this wedding dress. I don't know when I'll have to find a new sister-in-law."
Prince Li's eyes widened. "Nonsense! When did I ever say anything bad about her?"
"You said she was fierce, didn't you?"
Prince Li thought for a moment and said, "I did."
"You called her rude?"
Prince Li nodded, "It seems he did say that."
"You said she's not pretty?"
Prince Li swallowed his saliva and said, "Well, whether it looks good or not, it's fine if I like it."
"Alas, the dignified Princess Bei'an married you, but you said she was rude, fierce and ugly. How unfair it is?" sighed the Queen Mother.
(End of this chapter)