The Power of Role Models

  However, when it comes to the Princess of Ying Cheng from the Dai Wang Fu, I suddenly thought that this year she is already 17 years old. According to the marriage laws of the Great Qing Dynasty, ordinary girls can get married at the age of 13, while official family girls usually get married between 15 and 16 years old after their hairpinning ceremony. The children of the royal family are also the same. However, because the empresses and imperial concubines cannot bear to part with their daughters too early, they will often delay for half a year, but at most, they can only delay until the age of 17 before they must get married. This Princess Ying Cheng, by next year she will be 18 years old, I suppose she is already married.

  Later, Bao Daling's Linglong displayed her excellent gossip skills and shared all the news about Ying Chengjun within half a day with Ruqing.

  "...Since the annulment of her engagement to the Hong family, the news of Princess Yingcheng beheading the matchmaker with a sword had spread far and wide. Which family would dare to marry into our household after that? The Empress Dowager searched high and low for a suitable husband, but it was indeed a difficult task. In the end, she married off her younger sister to the second son of the Shanxi Provincial Governor. They got married this October." Linglong continued to explain in detail, "This eldest son of the Huang family is only seventeen years old and has not yet passed the imperial examination."

  It turned out that they were still cousins, but after all, marrying close relatives always has more disadvantages than advantages. Anyway, Princess Ying Cheng is finally married off. As for emotions, it's hard to see her jokes anymore, and she feels quite depressed.

  Linglong walked closer to Ruqing and said with a sly expression, "However, the Marquise of Yingcheng had an argument with her husband on their wedding day that couldn't be reconciled. Even Madame Huang was annoyed."

  He laughed unkindly and hastily asked: "What's going on?"

  Her eyes sparkled as she licked her lips, a strange look on her face: "It seems... that Second Young Master Huang has some hidden illness."

  As soon as the emotions subsided, he suddenly had a frantic sweat, and at such a young age, the man already had that kind of hidden illness, which was indeed difficult to mention. As his wife, apart from enduring humiliation and suffering in silence, she could only secretly find a doctor for treatment. If it became public knowledge, who would ultimately lose face and dignity? No wonder Huang's mother-in-law couldn't get off the stage, and was furious with her niece-in-law.

  "...Actually, Huang Er Gongzi had always had serving maids by his side. On the night of his grand wedding with Ying Cheng Junzhu, he made a fuss about sending these serving maids away. Huang Er Gongzi naturally refused, and then Junzhu ridiculed him in front of everyone, saying that even if a man who is not virtuous has many concubines in the house, it's just like covering one's ears while stealing a bell."

  It's like a good drama becoming Genghis Khan, this is the county master, it's really too powerful and too strong. To dare to say such things out loud, it's indeed extraordinary.

  What happened next doesn't need to be elaborated on, as one can guess the general idea. Huang Er Gongzi's self-esteem and face were hurt by the county princess, so he was furious with her and vowed never to set foot in her room again, only sleeping in the outer chamber. To prove that he wasn't impotent, he must have made a great effort, and fortunately, his efforts paid off, as the concubine became pregnant. This proved his "innocence". However, the county princess was not one to be trifled with. Shortly after she arrived, the concubine became pregnant, which was a slap in her face. Taking advantage of when no one was paying attention, she tricked the concubine into drinking a bowl of red flower soup, causing her to miscarry on the spot. Due to the excessive dosage, the concubine bled profusely after the miscarriage and soon died. Although the concubine's life was worthless, the child was precious, so Huang Er Gongzi and Huang Furen were furious and severely scolded the county princess. The county princess then ran back to her parents' home to complain and ask for support.

  The princess of the county is the only daughter of the king's concubine, and she is the apple of her mother's eye. The second son of the Huang family is also the treasured darling of Madame Huang. These two spoiled children have their own grievances and indignation, and the king's concubine and Madame Huang, these two sisters, are also filled with resentment. The king's concubine thinks to herself: although we are sisters, I am a noble princess, my daughter is a noble county princess, even if you are her aunt, you cannot treat my daughter like this. Now, treating my daughter as a mere concubine, it's too much of an insult to the dignity of the royal palace.

  Madam Huang thought to herself, even if you are a princess and your daughter is the mistress of a noble family, can't you still not bully my precious only son like this? Your daughter looks down on my son for being useless and makes it known throughout the world, is this the behavior of a normal wife? You don't want to share a bed with my son, but there are plenty of women who would be willing to get into bed with him. Now, you've caused the death of my unborn grandson, and yet you still have the nerve to act so arrogant? Even princesses aren't as haughty as you.

  However, no matter how much Madame Huang resented her niece, after all, she was a princess and could only make a fuss about it, so the matter was dropped.

  The Empress Dowager also had her own concerns, this matter was originally about her own daughter's fault. Moreover, the current situation of the Imperial Palace is not suitable for having a falling out with the family of the Governor's sister, so both sides were punished with 50 strokes of the rod. In front of the two children, the Empress Dowager scolded her own daughter for being unwise and promised that she would become wiser in the future, and also restrained the temper of the Princess.

  But Madame Huang scolded her son, saying, "You favor your concubine and neglect your wife. Is this the behavior of a gentleman? In the future, treat your daughter-in-law well, do not make any mistakes."

  As for whether or not Xiang Cheng and Huang Er could be in love, she didn't care about that anymore, because she had new troubles now.

  ……

  The General of the Nation gave birth to a legitimate son, and the whole Datong, slightly above the surface, those who were not in the flow sent a thick gift, while those who entered the flow came in person, as a kind of respect and attention.

  But for someone like Li Xiao, it's not possible to accept a gift and then wait for the other person to politely take their leave. This Li Xiao was originally thick-skinned, after sending the gift, he sat down with a clear conscience, sipping tea on one side while waiting for the hospitality of the General's Manor.

  At this time, besides being impatient, one can only put on a cold face and accompany others to drink, saying some empty words that have no nutritional value.

  Although Li Xiao didn't understand why, the coffin-like face had developed an even more icy demeanor over the past few months. However, Li Xiao was already accustomed to Zhiyi's cold expression and didn't think much of it. They chatted on and off about various topics, from the beautiful songs of the courtesans in the brothel to a new apricot wine introduced by a certain winery, which was refreshing and sweet. Seeing that Zhiyi still looked half-dead, Li Xiao suddenly became fierce and asked: "Didn't the Daiwang Fu send over a beautiful flying swallow maiden recently? How is it, does this flying swallow maiden know your taste?"

  Zhi Yi's eyebrows didn't even twitch as he said, "It's barely satisfactory."

  Li Xue came with enthusiasm and asked, "How can it be satisfactory?" That flying swallow girl was raised in the Dai Wang Fu since childhood, and she specially invited a nanny to teach her with great effort. Whether it's piano, chess, books, paintings, or poetry, songs and dances, she is proficient in everything. Such a born beauty, ordinary people would have been fascinated at first sight, but this young man doesn't know whether he is pretending to be experienced or really calm and unruffled.

  Zhi Yi frowned and said, "You also know that my wife has just given birth to a child and cannot move around. I was afraid she would be bored during her confinement, so I let this girl serve by my wife's side and do some chores to pass the time. But this person is sloppy in her work, without any discipline, and always crying and whining. Such a person is really not suitable for serving my wife. I transferred her to the outer courtyard to do some cleaning work that she can handle, but she doesn't do it properly, and spends all day sighing and complaining, which is annoying. So I sent her to the laundry room."

  Li Xiao's jaw almost dropped to the ground as he stared at Zhiyi, who was expressionless. He let out a disbelieving low growl: "Unbelievable! Such a beauty, and you actually made her do manual labor? The Dai Wang Fu sent her over, I don't believe you really didn't know their intentions."

  "I know." Zhiyi said quietly, "The Daiwang Fu has raised many such performers, how would I not know the tricks of the trade? However, now that she's been sent to me, it's up to me to decide what to do with her." Zhiyi glanced at him and snorted in disgust, chuckling: "Can't be because she was sent by the Daiwang Fu, I have to treat her like a Bodhisattva?"

  Li Xiang was silent for a long time before saying, "I know my uncle Wang is not a good person. What you did is absolutely right. But that Fei Yan girl is so beautiful and charming, don't tell me you're not moved by her."

  The expressionless face of Zhiyuan: "The more beautiful a woman is, the more she is the root of family chaos."

  Li Xue burst out laughing, "Unexpectedly, you're still a good role model for being strict with oneself. You're so young, yet your words and actions are so old-fashioned, I don't know who you learned from."

  "Learn from you."

  "Any man who doesn't love beauty, I don't believe it. Such a beautiful woman is always under your nose, and you won't be moved? Hmm, what did you just say? Learn from me?" Li Xiao pointed to his own nose, with a dissatisfied face, "Learn from me to do what?"

  Digression

  Friends, the previous part of this article is called "The Rise of a Concubine". Now this article continues from there. If you like it, please give me some motivation, fresh flowers and diamonds are welcome, but rewards require money. However, someone rewarded us, we still happily accepted it, hehe