The beauty of the Hou family and the king's plan

In the quiet hall, even the sound of a pin drop could be heard.

Seeing this, the princess stood up and bowed to Emperor Chengde: "Your Majesty, Duan Ning has a volatile personality. She is neither dignified nor virtuous. I am afraid she is not fit to be the prince's consort."

Emperor Chengde didn't care. He knew very well what kind of person Duan Ning was.

Of the four people kneeling before His Highness, how many of them wanted to marry Duan Ning because of her character? If we really want to say, there is only one Mei Qianhe.

"Royal sister, there is no need to belittle yourself. Duan Ning is my niece, so she is naturally perfect. Otherwise, why would everyone want to marry her?"

Emperor Chengde looked at a few more people. The prince thought he was still hesitating, so he also expressed his determination.

"Father, I sincerely love Duan Ning. If Duan Ning is made the Crown Princess, I can guarantee that the mother of the eldest son will definitely be Duan Ning."

Needless to say, everyone knows what being the eldest son of the crown prince means.

The second prince secretly sighed inwardly, he did not expect that the crown prince would be so willing to sacrifice so much for the help of the eldest princess.

Princess Yu stood up with a smile and said to Emperor Chengde: "Your Majesty, these young people are all sincere, and I can understand their admiration.

However, I have to remind you that as the crown prince, you should put responsibility first. "

"Earlier, Doctor Zhao's daughter fell into the water. Fortunately, the prince came to her rescue. He carried her to shore in front of everyone.

I'm afraid it will be difficult for Miss Zhao to marry anyone else. She has always had a very good reputation and her status is high enough to be the Crown Princess. What does Your Majesty think?"

The prince actually dared to join hands with Zhao Pingting to plot against Zhao Zhao, and even wanted to marry Duan Ning and win over the Princess's Mansion. This was wishful thinking.

Princess Yu is determined to tie the Crown Prince and Zhao Pingting together tightly, so that it will save trouble when they have to deal with them later, right?

"Is this true?" Emperor Chengde was obviously unaware of this matter.

Queen Mother Cui nodded, but she was a little surprised that Princess Yu, who usually didn't care about anything, would speak rashly at this time.

"In this case, Rui'er, as the crown prince, you should set an example. You cannot let your subjects mistakenly think that you are irresponsible."

The prince didn't dare to say much at this time. He couldn't refuse to marry Zhao Pingting in front of so many people, otherwise Zhao Qi would probably be the first one to jump out and disagree.

Furthermore, he could not let the court officials who followed him feel disheartened.

He had no choice but to grit his teeth and agree, and he had already made a deep note of Prince Yu's Mansion in his heart.

The second prince thought that the crown prince was the strongest competitor. After all, the position of crown princess was a very popular one.

Now that the Crown Prince has been kicked out, who else but him is left? If he can succeed, he must thank Princess Yujun, his great-aunt.

"Father, your Majesty, the love I have for Duan Ning is attested by the heavens and the earth, and the sun and the moon can attest to it. I beg your Majesty to grant my blessing."

The third prince had already understood Emperor Chengde's intentions, so he stopped expressing his loyalty to Duan Ning and tacitly withdrew from the competition.

Mei Qianhe saw the Second Prince's inverted triangle eyes and glared at him fiercely, as if with a warning.

But he was not afraid, and said loudly: "I am willing to exchange the position of Langzhong of the Ministry of Revenue."

It turned out that after he returned to Beijing to report on his work the day before, Emperor Chengde was very pleased and promoted him to Langzhong of the Ministry of Revenue, and the transfer order was issued to the Ministry of Revenue today.

Everyone in the court knew about this.

Therefore, when they heard that Mei Qianhe was so courageous that he was willing to give up his official career for a woman, they thought he was stupid.

Duan Ning saw the figure kneeling upright in the middle of the hall, as hard as pine or cypress, and unyielding.

My nose felt sore and I was moved to tears.

If Duan Ning could not become the Third Prince's consort, Emperor Chengde would not be willing to marry her to any prince.

From this perspective, Mei Qianhe is the best candidate.

Just when everyone thought that Mei Qianhe was going to anger the emperor, Emperor Chengde burst out laughing instead.

"Mei Hanlin."

"I'm here, your old minister." Mei Hanlin stepped out. He really didn't know that Mei Qianhe could be so bold today.

Without even discussing it with his family, he decided on his own to marry Lady Duanning.

"You, my grandson, are capable and skillful as an official. You are also a very kind person. You are worthy of being a member of the Mei family."

Emperor Chengde ignored the eager gaze of the Second Prince and made the decision directly.

"Mei Qianhe, I will grant you the marriage of Princess Duan Ning today. I hope you will remember what I said today. However, the marriage will be granted and your official position will be promoted.

I will not let those who have made contributions feel disappointed."

Emperor Chengde attached great importance to reputation, so how could he really let Mei Qianhe exchange merits for a marriage?

Mei Qianhe immediately kowtowed, fearing that Emperor Chengde would regret it if he delayed for a moment, "Thank you, my Lord, for your grace!"

When the dust settled, the eldest princess and Mr. Xue finally put their minds at ease.

Everyone else was congratulating the Princess on having a good son-in-law, and the couple looked at Mei Qianhe with liking.

But the matter is not over yet. Everyone has not forgotten that the most important thing at today's banquet is to choose the principal wives for the princes.

After all the fuss, the Mei family got a daughter-in-law of noble status, and the real owners haven't even started yet.

Emperor Chengde turned his attention to the Crown Prince and Zhao Qi.

Zhao Qi was the prince's uncle and had been his assistant. Emperor Chengde was very happy to see that the crown princess was from the Zhao family.

It was not easy for him to grant the marriage openly, but the fact that the Crown Prince rescued Zhao Pingting from the water today gave him a perfect excuse.

"Crown Prince, you should set an example for all the people in the world. I now grant Zhao Pingting to be your Crown Princess in marriage.

Let the Imperial Astronomical Bureau choose a good day and arrange the wedding as soon as possible. May I have a grandson soon."

The Crown Prince and Zhao Langzhong Ling both stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, your son, obeys your order."

"And the second, third, and fourth brothers, I will choose your principal wives for you today.

"The aunt and the cousin are getting married. Second brother, you will marry Su Yuheng as your principal wife."

Emperor Chengde was very disgusted with the Second Prince for coming forward to ask for marriage today, as it had messed up his plans.

She also did not put much effort into choosing a concubine for him. At the eldest princess' birthday banquet, everyone with a discerning eye knew that Su Yuheng had framed Feng Feiyan. Given her character, she would never be able to become a royal daughter-in-law.

But Emperor Chengde didn't care about all that.

"The third son, marry Sun Shuran, the granddaughter of Minister Sun of the Ministry of Revenue. The fourth son, marry Li Wan'er, the daughter of Censor Li of the Censorate."

Emperor Chengde casually handed the power of the Ministry of Revenue into the hands of the third prince, and before the fourth prince could even ask for Mei Ruolan's hand in marriage, he was betrothed to her for life.

Although Censor Li was not bad, the Fourth Prince had not forgotten that it was he who had reported on the Ning'an Marquis's Mansion, making it a laughing stock in Kyoto.

Why did His Majesty bring them together? Madam Li was overjoyed. It was a great honor for her daughter to become the prince's consort.

All of these can cover up her regret of being childless. However, Li Yushi was complaining in his heart. His concubine gave birth to a son for him. He had a son in his old age. God bless the Li family.

But his daughter happened to be the prince's consort, so he dared not bring his concubine's daughter back home and record her in the family tree.

"Congratulations to His Majesty on the birth of his daughter-in-law." Everyone raised their glasses in a toast to Emperor Chengde.

The palace was filled with joy and a peaceful scene. Only the Crown Prince and the Second Prince felt sick to their stomachs.

Shen Baozhao also held Duan Ning's hand and teased her. She was really happy for Duan Ning, that she could communicate with the person she loved, and run towards each other in such a desperate way.

This was something she had once dreamed of but could not achieve.

Although today's banquet solved her long-standing doubts, it also left her deeply conflicted.

And in the main hall, where the clan members were, Xiao Yuanhuai's heart and eyes were filled with the beautiful figure in the distance.

Just when both the host and the guests were happy and everyone thought it was a successful conclusion, the prince stepped out again.

"Father, I have something to ask of you."

"It is inevitable that it will be slow for the Crown Princess to have children alone. For the sake of the Crown Prince, I intend to take Shen Baozhao, the daughter of Shen Weishen, Shen Siye, as my concubine."

"I hope my father will grant my wish!"