Quick Wear Beauty

Chapter 1092 The eldest daughter is as bright as spring flowers (214)

Chapter 1092 The eldest daughter is as bright as spring flowers (two hundred and fourteen)

In ancient times, the living environment for women was indeed difficult, and even if they were born as royal princesses, it was difficult for them to stay out of trouble.

The struggle for the throne among the princes is evident in the marriages: the loser often suffers a tragic end. Once a prince dies, the power he represents declines, and those associated with him are also implicated.

The Ninth Princess had neither the protection of her mother nor the Fourth Prince, nor the favor of her father, so she naturally could not compete with the Eleventh Princess.

The Ninth Princess was also a princess, and when the marriage was arranged, she was asked to consider the overall situation. However, when the Ninth Princess was unable to marry due to her upcoming marriage, the Emperor, at the pleas of Consort Shu and Prince Ren Zhao Yu, suddenly changed his stance and abandoned his intention to marry the Eleventh Princess to the Mongols. Previously, the Mongols' envoys had refused to give in, insisting on a marriage of a royal princess or signing the Ten-Year Peace Treaty.

Now that the emperor was taking a hard line, the Mongolian envoys softened their stance, suggesting that legitimate imperial princesses would also be accepted. After several turmoil, there were only a few imperial princesses still listed in the imperial genealogy. Among the emperor's direct lineage, only three princesses of marriageable age remained, one of whom was the eldest prince's consort's biological daughter.

As for the emperor's brothers, only Prince Heshun was left, and his daughter had already married.

If Zhou Zhiying, the daughter of the former great lord, still had the identity of a fake princess, perhaps the emperor would consider sending her to marry.

As for the daughters of the other princesses, they were not princesses, but at most county ladies. The Mongolian envoys were so arrogant that they even despised these noble ladies as unworthy of their Prince Mengdan, who was their future king.

Since he was unwilling to let his daughter marry, he could only let the emperor's granddaughter marry. The emperor felt a little sympathetic towards his eldest son's death, and he also felt pity for his legitimate daughter, the emperor's granddaughter whom he had met several times. He could not bear to let her marry, so the eldest prince's wife's biological daughter was not chosen in the end.

As for the other two young ladies, one was so frightened by the news of the marriage that she fell seriously ill and was dying. This young lady, whose biological mother had died young, was not threatened by the eldest prince's wife.

Then, the only option was to send another one to marry. And this young lady's mother was the eldest prince's concubine, who was still alive and whose family background was not prominent, so the eldest prince's wife could use this to control the concubine's daughter.

At this banquet, there are few new faces among the concubines around the emperor because the emperor was ill this year and no selection was held.

Sitting with the Emperor was naturally the Empress. In the past, the Empress and the Emperor had been at loggerheads over the death of the previous Crown Prince, and her expression often shone with gloom and madness. Perhaps because several of her enemies had died before her—Zhao Yi, Zhao Lan, and Zhao Qing had also passed away—the Empress's resentment and hatred had diminished considerably.

Seeing the empress again now, she seemed to have gained some weight. On such an occasion, the empress, adorned in a red dress and rich attire, appeared far more impressive than the emperor, who had just recovered from a serious illness. One radiant, the other frail; the emperor and empress formed a curious contrast. The couple appeared harmonious, but deep down they harbored a deep grudge. It was only because the emperor, balancing feelings of separation from his wife and guilt towards Zhao Duan, and considering the balance of power between the court and the harem, that the empress was able to survive.

On either side of the emperor sat Consort Shu and Consort Jia. Consort Jia was the former Consort Huan, who was promoted to Consort for her meritorious service in tending to the sick.

Concubine Shu was in high spirits. Her daughter was spared from marriage and her son was the next emperor. She would definitely become the empress dowager in the future.

Zhao Yu had recently been favored by the Emperor, and he felt both tormented and happy. The pain was that his father often scolded him for being unfit for important tasks, but the joy was that he had effectively become the invisible crown prince. Although not officially crowned, he could attend court and participate in government affairs, and a large number of people also came to his side.

Perhaps the marriage matter had nothing to do with them, so Concubine Shu and the others smiled very sincerely, and it was still possible to distinguish between fake smiles and real smiles.

This time, the Mongolian envoys did not mention the competition between the two countries as they did last time. Instead, they flattered the emperor to the utmost and appeared to be submissive to Emperor Zhao. This made the emperor's expression much softer, and he said polite words about wishing for peace and friendship between the two countries.

As for the Ninth Princess, after the marriage was resolved, she had a new worry:

Her future husband's family treated her coldly, Zhu Yuanwu still hadn't severed his ties with Chen Ba, the Eleventh Princess often quarreled with her, the Queen just watched the joke from the sidelines, the Concubine Shu asked her to be humble to her younger sister, and the Emperor... the Emperor just ignored her.

Among the royal family, those who were unhappy included Zhao Jian and his wife, as well as Zhao Xuan, the daughter of Zhao Qing who was about to marry and was now named Princess Yongning.

Qingli just took a few quick glances and took in all the situations at the banquet.

She felt a little complicated.