Quick Wear: The Development of a Pure Cannon Fodder

After returning to the palace, Yu Li told the Right Prime Minister, who had just returned from court, about this matter. The Right Prime Minister also frowned upon hearing this, but he was much calmer than Yu Li. He said, "We don't need to rush this matter. The one who should be most anxious should be Concubine Dong. Concubine Dong has been fighting with the Empress for so long. Not only has she been favored for so many years, but she has also saved the trouble-making Fourth Prince. This proves that she is not stupid and understands the interests involved. She is the one who least wants the Fourth Prince and Ziyin to be involved."

Yu Li felt his father was right and nodded. "It was my son who lost his composure. However, Ziyin's marriage really can't be delayed any longer, otherwise something unexpected might happen."

The Right Prime Minister actually thought so too. He knew that Concubine Dong must understand the pros and cons of this matter and would not let the Fourth Prince be involved with Yu Zinyin. But if the Fourth Prince really listened to his mother, he would not have such a bad reputation for being arrogant and domineering. If the Fourth Prince really forced Concubine Dong to bow her head and ask the emperor for permission to grant the marriage, that would not be what the Right Prime Minister's Mansion wanted to see.

The reason why the Right Prime Minister's Office has existed from the founding of the Li Dynasty to the present day is because they do not get involved in party disputes and are only loyal to the emperor. One of the most important reasons why the emperor can be assured of them is that the children of the Right Prime Minister's Office will not have any connection with the royal heirs.

After thinking about it, the Right Prime Minister asked Yu Li to leave, then walked to the backyard and told Madam Yu that the Fourth Prince might take a fancy to his daughter today. Madam Yu did not feel honored after hearing this. She was also terrified like her son. It was because, as the wife of the Right Prime Minister, she understood the survival of the Right Prime Minister's Mansion best. If they were implicated by the troublesome Fourth Prince, the emperor would definitely not trust them as much as before.

But after being comforted by the Right Prime Minister, she soon calmed down and said, "I understand. I will find a marriage for my daughter as soon as possible. I will not give the Fourth Prince any chance."

The Right Prime Minister patted her shoulder and said, "I will help investigate the situation of each young master. Don't worry too much."

"Yeah." Although Mrs. Yu nodded, the worry between her brows lingered for a long time.

Yu Ziyin naturally took action as well. It was impossible for her to have anything to do with the Fourth Prince. In order to prevent another Li Changxuan, who was more difficult to deal with than Li Heng, from hindering her in her search for a husband, she had to find someone who was even more unbearable to offend than the Fourth Prince. Yu Ziyin thought about it again and again, and finally set her sights on the Empress Dowager's family, that is, the current emperor's uncle's family.

The Empress Dowager's surname is Jiang. Although the Jiang family is not as famous as the current Empress's family and Concubine Dong's family in the capital, its existence cannot be underestimated. It just acts low-key. The head of the Jiang family only interacts with the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, and stays at home at other times. Only the wives of the Jiang family's backyard bring their children to some royal banquets, and he is not seen at other times.

Moreover, the reason why the emperor was able to sit on the throne of the present emperor was that the empress dowager's family had exerted the greatest force behind the scenes. After he came to power, in order to express his gratitude, the emperor made the head of the Jiang family, that is, the emperor's uncle, the Duke of Cheng'en. This is the highest title of duke, and this duke title can be inherited for five generations without being demoted. After five generations, it needs to be demoted according to the ordinary title. Although the title of Duke of Cheng'en is not as good as that of the prince whose status is second only to the emperor, because the prince of this generation has no real power, he can only rely on the favor of the emperor and the empress dowager to stand firm, and his kinship is not as close as that of Duke Cheng'en and the empress dowager and the emperor. Therefore, if she really has a relationship with the empress dowager's family, then Li Heng of the prince's mansion will not be able to do anything to her or the empress dowager's family.

As for Li Changxuan, Yu Zinyin had even less to worry about. Although the empress dowager loved Li Changxuan, she also loved her own family. Moreover, the empress dowager also understood that the children of the Right Prime Minister's Mansion could not be involved with the princes. Otherwise, it would not be good for either the Fourth Prince or the Right Prime Minister's Mansion. The most important thing was that it might be detrimental to her own son, the current emperor. She would most likely try her best to stop Li Changxuan's misbehavior behind the scenes.

When she thought of this, Yu Zinyin hurriedly looked through the list of husbands she had previously discarded to see if there was any descendant of the Jiang family who had an unhappy marriage in the future. It would be best if she could find one among them. If not, she would have to find another way. It seemed that God was blessing her, and there really was a descendant of the Jiang family among them.

Jiang Qi, the eldest son of the Jiang family, should have married five years ago, but he had to delay it because the old man of the Jiang family passed away. In ancient times, when an elder in the family passed away, his descendants who were officials in the court would need to leave the court and stay at home in mourning for three years before returning to the court to resume their duties. Descendants who did not hold official positions were also not allowed to get married during these three years to show filial piety.

For Jiang Qi, it was worth waiting for these three years, because he was only 14 at the time, and would only be 17 after three years. In ancient times, although it was a little late to get married at 17, it was not a big deal. Moreover, the Jiang family was powerful, and as long as they looked carefully, they could still find a wife suitable for Jiang Qi. But the tragedy was that after the Jiang family had finally waited for the three-year mourning period to be over, the old lady in the family, the queen mother and the mother of Duke Cheng'en, also passed away. Now, both Jiang Qi and the other descendants of the Jiang family had to wait for another three years, and this year is the second year.

In the original owner's memory, the Jiang family would be in mourning again at the end of the next year. In order to find a good marriage for him as soon as possible so that he could have a wife and children and continue his family line, Duke Cheng'en and Madam Jiang began to search in the capital. It was very late for him to be 20 years old and still not have a wife. If it were an ordinary aristocratic family, they would have to choose from the lowest level. But Jiang Qi was different. He still had the position of Duke Cheng'en to inherit, so there were still many girls from aristocratic families who wanted to marry him. For a while, the Jiang family could not make a decision and delayed it for a while. As a result, during this time, the Queen Mother passed away in the second month of the new year.

The Empress Dowager was injured in the harem in her early years and has always been in poor health. She was plagued by illness, but because of the treatment of the imperial physician, nothing could be seen on the surface. She could still muster up energy and talk and laugh with her sons and grandchildren all day long. But her inner body had been eroded by drugs for many years and she didn't have much time to live. Death came so unexpectedly. She passed away peacefully in her sleep and died of old age.

This was a double blow to the Jiang family. One was that their Cheng'en Mansion had lost its support. Although the emperor was still alive and treated them very well, he was only an uncle and nephew relationship, not as close as the relationship between Cheng'en Duke and the empress dowager. After all, the two were siblings. Even though there was a big age gap between them, their relationship was closer than that with the emperor. So even though the emperor was also a support for their Cheng'en Mansion, it was not as useful as having the empress dowager alive.

Another reason was that the Jiang family's descendants had to observe another three years of mourning. Even though Jiang Qi was the heir to the title of Duke Cheng'en, no one wanted to marry him. After all, with the Empress Dowager's death, the Duke Cheng'en's family had lost half its favor. While the Emperor and Duke Cheng'en were close, their families were far less powerful than those of the concubines with children in the harem. The so-called "the former dynasty and the harem are intertwined" was exactly this principle. The Jiang family would never choose those who tried to cross the social ladder by marrying into the powerful. Since no one was willing to choose Jiang Qi, let alone any of their other descendants, the entire Jiang family was plunged into a sad and helpless atmosphere.