The prince only allowed me to have a baby, so the pressure is a bit high!

Chapter 15 The Wedding

In the front yard, the Ulanara family's courtyard was already filled with betrothal gifts from the royal family. The crown, headlined by a phoenix, was made of green velvet, embellished with red thread, due to the still-hot weather. The crown had three tiers, each pierced with a single oriental pearl, all embellished with a golden phoenix. Each tier was adorned with three oriental pearls, seventeen pearls, and crowned with a large oriental pearl. The red weft was adorned with seven golden phoenixes, nine oriental pearls, one cat's-eye stone, and twenty-one pearls. At the back was a golden pheasant, adorned with a cat's-eye stone and sixteen pearls. The tail of the pheasant was decorated with five rows of two pearls, totaling three hundred and two pearls. Each row contained a large pearl, with a golden knot of lapis lazuli in the middle, adorned with six oriental pearls, and adorned with coral. The collar was protected by a bright yellow ribbon adorned with gemstones, and the belt was made of blue satin.

The entire phoenix corona was magnificent and elegant, not much different from the empress's. This was only achieved through the efforts of Yinreng. Kangxi had originally intended to simply remove one of the oriental pearls from the empress's imperial corona. Upon hearing this, Yinreng, convinced that this was unacceptable, hurried to the Qianqing Palace, reciting the rules and regulations three times. This ultimately dissuaded Kangxi from the idea, and the phoenix corona was modified to its current form.

The number of golden phoenixes on the xiapei was reduced from nine to five. However, other than this, the rest of the xiapei was similar to the one when Kangxi married Empress Renxiao.

Apart from these, the rest were all prepared according to the rules for the prince's wedding, but the specifications were of the highest quality, only slightly inferior to those of the emperor. Some items were even used with the emperor's permission. From these, we can see how much Kangxi cared about the marriage of his legitimate son. It is said that Kangxi personally reviewed every frame and gave his approval before arranging it. It can be said that Kangxi's daily rest time for this month was definitely no more than two hours. The rest of the time he did not go to the harem to see the concubines, but was always discussing the details of the prince's wedding with the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Even the prince's wedding was held in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the same building used when he married Hesheli. The wedding invitations were also arranged early on. This time, anyone in the capital who could get a number was invited.

According to the budget of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, about 800 tables will be set up, and this is for the main personnel from each family. If all of them come, then 1,500 tables probably cannot be set up.

The betrothal gifts were brought in boxes by the servants of the Imperial Household Department. Fei Yanggu only left the steward Liu to help look after them. He actually brought several of his sons to meet Li Guangdi, Chen Tingjing and other ministers to go into the house for tea.

Today, all the male members of the Ulanara family took leave and stayed at home to welcome the royal betrothal. Their superiors were aware of this, so they approved the leave early.

This is the future in-laws of the prince. No one would make trouble at this critical juncture. Not only that, the superiors all greeted them with smiles and congratulated the Ulanara family on the happy event!

This time, the ministers who came on behalf of the royal family to deliver the betrothal gifts would not be in a hurry like before. This time they came on behalf of the royal family, and their words and deeds represented the royal family's attitude towards the Ulanara family. So when the two groups gathered together, the whole scene could only be described as joyful.

On the scene, you praise the prince for his excellence, I praise your Ulanara family princess for her kindness, and finally praise the emperor's grace. Although they are all big men, they are as good at using small words as matchmakers. When it comes to compliments, they all have a set of words, and no sentence is repeated.

The bustle of the Ulanara household didn't end until the evening, at the end of the evening. By then, the servants had helped the masters of the household into the inner chambers to rest, while they hurriedly cleaned up the trash scattered on the ground. The royal betrothal gifts in the courtyard were also covered with tarpaulins, and the palace guards took turns to investigate.

While the masters rested, the servants took turns working. A princess was to be married off, and to the current crown prince, so the occasion had to be handled with great care. Today was the day for the royal engagement, tomorrow would be the day for the master's close associates and the ladies to come and do the princess's wedding. The day after tomorrow would be the day for the family's closer relatives to come and do the makeup and show off their beauty. The final day was the princess' wedding.

Time waits for no one, and soon it was time for Burhe to show her dowry. The night before, the family gathered again. This time, nothing major was happening, but Burhe's dowry was simply too generous. Even though Jueluo had made the dowry boxes larger, the dowry was still too much. Even after packing all the dowry into the boxes, it filled up to 140 boxes, far exceeding the original plan. This didn't even include the dowry that would be added tomorrow by the relatives, who would have to carry at least a few more loads.

The old lady finally made the decision to prepare 140 pallets. As for the extra ones, they would be sent in slowly when there was a chance. It would be great if the emperor could allow the crown princess to return home on the ninth day. Then these extra ones could be included in the return gift, and it wouldn't be so conspicuous.

It's no wonder the family was worried. Frugality was always advocated during the Kangxi era. Even Empress Renxiao's dowry was only 150 cartons when she married Kangxi. Her daughter was only the Crown Princess, so she couldn't have more dowry boxes than her mother-in-law. If she did, even if the Emperor didn't say anything, the censors would criticize the Ulanara family.

Bu Erhe had no objection. The amount of dowry was a reflection of the family's love and support for her, and it was also the confidence of a woman after getting married. If her family could provide such a large dowry, then she would just accept it with peace of mind.

That night, the old lady quickly asked Fei Yanggu to report the decision of the Ulanara family. This meant that Fei Yanggu did not need to go to the palace to meet the emperor so late at night. In order for the wedding to go smoothly, people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs had already stayed at the Ulanara family for the past two days. As long as Fei Yanggu informed the other party of the information, the palace would get the news soon.

The emperor's reply was swift, indicating his approval. The Ulanara family felt relieved upon receiving the news. Fortunately, the emperor agreed, otherwise, they were worried that the 140 pieces of equipment would have drawn the emperor's accusations of extravagance and waste. If she had already displeased her father-in-law before even entering the palace, her future wouldn't be easy.

In the palace, Kangxi was also exhausted at this time. If his favorite son was not going to get married in two days, he would have collapsed according to the intensity of his previous work.

Even so, he felt he'd treated Yinreng unfairly. As the first crown prince since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, many of the old calendars had to be borrowed from the Ming Dynasty, requiring the Ministry of Rites and Emperor Kangxi to consult numerous ancient texts. Furthermore, unlike in his previous life, it took years; this took less than two months. They finalized all the necessary procedures, ensuring they both met his status and expressed Emperor Kangxi's love for him. In those two months, everyone involved had lost several pounds. If the wedding wasn't happening soon, even robots would probably stop working.

Kangxi also decided to give everyone three days off after the Crown Prince's wedding banquet, as a benefit for everyone who had been busy during this period.

While the emperor and his court officials were happily anticipating the upcoming wedding banquet, the concubines in the harem were eagerly waiting for the right opportunity to trip up the Crown Princess. It was no wonder they were so petty; the emperor, in order to ensure the smooth and swift progress of the Crown Prince's wedding, had issued a direct order for the concubines to remain in the Qianqing Palace unless necessary.

Even the prince's wedding banquet was directly handed over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for full handling, and the four concubines in power in the harem had no say in it.

Not only that, in the past half month, the imperial kitchen has been working overtime to prepare the food list for the wedding banquet, and the tasks of fetching meals from the harem on weekdays have all been handed over to the deputies.

Although there is no difference in taste, or they cannot taste it, the Crown Princess has not even entered the palace yet, but she has forced the elders like them to eat only the food cooked by the deputy. How can they not mind?

The most infuriating thing is that Kangxi issued an oral decree today that the prince's wedding will be held in the main hall of Baohe Hall, and at that time, except for the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager, all other concubines in the harem do not need to attend.

What does it mean?

So now that they are the masters of a palace, they can't even attend the prince's wedding banquet?

It has to be said that this time, Kangxi has attracted another wave of hatred for the prince. The concubines in the harem did not dare to hate Kangxi, so there must be someone to divert the hatred. Since the emperor did not dare to do so, the prince would be the best target.

Even if Yinreng knew about this, he would probably just laugh it off and not take it seriously. It's true that too much debt doesn't worry you, and too many lice don't itch. In his previous life, he constantly tried to maintain a balance between the two, but in the end, didn't he still end up being deserted by everyone? Even the fourth son, under his own watch, developed slowly and finally achieved success.

Throughout his life, Yinreng just wanted to live happily. Of course, being the emperor would be the best, but if that wasn't possible, then living a happy life would also be a joy. Anyway, he didn't plan to have children in this life, so he had nothing to worry about. So, couldn't he just live the way he wanted?

As for the emperor's harem, to be honest, except for Empress Xiaozhao who came after the emperor's mother, he looked down on the others. None of them had much ability and could only be jealous and coquettish. In his eldest brother's previous life, his wife was Concubine Hui, who was short-sighted and only cared about the face of the eldest grandson and the emperor. She didn't care about the health of her eldest sister-in-law, and let her give birth to four daughters and one son within six years of marrying into the palace. In the end, she was dragged to death.

The Rong Fei behind the third brother is also a fool. The third brother himself does not have much ability, he can only read, but Rong Fei relies on this point to join forces with Rong Xian to support the third brother to take the throne.

A scholar's rebellion would fail in three years. As for the group of so-called literati and poets behind the third brother, who only knew how to talk about romance, whether they had the intention or not, there was no need to pay any attention to them.

If things get out of hand, the emperor will be able to defeat the whole army with just one word.

As for the fourth brother, the one who held him back the most in his previous life was Concubine De, and of course even more so in this life. But no matter what, Concubine De was never a loving mother to the fourth brother. You have to remember that in his previous life, when the fourth brother ascended the throne and named Concubine De the Empress Dowager, she actually refused to accept the title and refused to move out of Yonghe Palace. It was only when the fourth brother threatened the fourteenth brother's future that she finally tamed him. Upon hearing this news, he was so happy that he lay awake half the night, admiring the moon for half the night before returning to his room to rest.

The happy day soon arrived in the anticipation of many people. Early in the morning of this day, Yinreng, led by Kangxi, went to bid farewell to the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager. Then the father and son went to Fengxian Hall together. The main purpose of this time was to burn incense to the Empress Dowager, Kangxi's first empress, Empress Renxiao.

The father and son had actually been to Fengxian Hall before, when the imperial decree for the consecration of the Crown Princess was announced. However, at that time, they were mainly accompanied by ministers to comfort their ancestors and share the good news that the first Crown Prince of the Qing Dynasty was about to marry. This time, they were just chatting privately with Empress Renxiao.

Yinreng knelt before Empress Renxiao's rank and looked at her portrait. "Mother, my son is getting married today. Eighteen years ago, you risked your life to bring him into this world. Now he's grown up and is about to start a family. You can rest assured. I hope you are safe and sound in the other world and that you will know this good news. When the time comes, I will bring her here for you to see."

Kangxi was also lost in thought. "Hui'er, I raised our son. He's filial, intelligent, and considerate. If you were still alive, you'd be proud of him. He's getting married today, and the one I've chosen is someone Master Pudu has approved of. I didn't choose randomly, and I didn't match them up randomly. Please don't blame me! And please bless the Crown Prince so that everything goes smoothly and I can have my little grandson soon."

The father and son were lost in thought. Liang Jiugong, realizing it was getting late, came in to urge the emperor: "Your Majesty!"

Kangxi was awakened from his thousands of thoughts. Seeing Liang Jiugong gesture that it was getting late, he did not delay any longer. He asked Yinreng to get up quickly and go to welcome the bride, while he stayed here for about half an hour before leaving.

As the Crown Prince was traveling and getting married, all the streets in the capital were under martial law, and guards were stationed at the main passages to escort the wedding procession.