Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

When Concubine Xi mentioned Prince Guo's marriage to the emperor directly before, she ignored Empress Yi Xin. The emperor was much more cautious. The next day, he went to Kunning Palace for lunch and told the Empress about Concubine Xi's proposal yesterday: "Yesterday, Concubine Xi said that she wanted to thank Prince Guo for taking care of the Zhen family when he was in the northwest, but she didn't know what kind of thank-you gift to prepare. Later, she suddenly thought of Prince Guo's marriage."

"I think it makes sense, so I came here today to hear Zi Tong's thoughts."

Yi Xin also heard about Meng Jingxian, the only daughter of Duke Meng who loved Prince Guo but was still unmarried. No matter what the circumstances, although it was considered unfair to force others to get married with someone they had no interest in, Meng Jingxian was different. Although she had some admiration for Prince Guo like other women, the late emperor had mentioned that he wanted to grant a marriage between Prince Guo and Meng Jingxian when he was alive.

It was just that Prince Guo opposed too strongly, so the late emperor did not issue a clear decree in the end. Unfortunately, the news had already been leaked in front of the emperor. So even if the late emperor did not say anything until his death, Meng Jingxian's reputation had already been ruined. So she had no choice but to pretend to be very "affectionate" towards Prince Guo and wait for the palace to deal with her.

But Yi Xin still asked, "I wonder if Concubine Xi has any suggestions for candidates? It's really not good to continue to delay Prince Guo's marriage due to his temper."

The emperor felt better after hearing this and said frankly, "Concubine Xi mentioned the only daughter of Duke Meng's mansion. I think it's a bit of a stretch for Meng to be Prince Guo's legitimate wife, but the girl's flowering period was delayed because of the royal family after all."

Yi Xin nodded, pretending to think for a while before speaking, "Although the Meng family can be considered as founding nobles, the Meng family was originally of Han descent. They were given the Han army flag after making great contributions to the Qing Dynasty. They are not of the same origin as the Han army flag of the wife of Xian'an Palace, so it is indeed a bit of a stretch for her to be the legitimate wife."

"But let me be frank. It was all because of Prince Guo's reckless behavior that the good girl has been wasted until now. Anyway, the late emperor had already let it slip when he was alive. Let's just regard it as following the late emperor's will."

The emperor's secret delight became more and more obvious after hearing this. He finally realized that Yi Xin didn't think highly of Prince Guo at all and even felt a little disgusted with him. Thinking back to how Concubine Xi also had a lukewarm impression of Prince Guo yesterday, and how she was willing to distance herself from Prince Guo even at the risk of being accused of being ungrateful, the emperor was very happy.

His younger brother, who had been favored by the late emperor for nearly twenty years, was a talented and romantic wanderer with the style of the Wei and Jin dynasties. But not everyone liked and admired him!

But the emperor was still worried that Prince Guo would reject Meng Jingxian, so he was a little hesitant when it came to issuing an edict.

Yi Xin looked down upon the emperor's cautious look. She really didn't understand. Prince Guo had indeed been favored by the late emperor for many years and was also a man of both civil and military talents, so what?

He can only be a prince, and a prince without real power.

The emperor's fear and jealousy of Prince Guo are too unbelievable. It is obvious that those princes who participated in the fight for the throne are more worthy of the emperor's fear!

So Yi Xin asked sincerely: "Prince Guo had so many brothers before him, why did the emperor treat Prince Guo differently? If it is because the late emperor favored Prince Guo in his later years, I don't see any preferential treatment from the late emperor to Prince Guo. After all, the Fourteenth Master, who was favored by the late emperor before Prince Guo, was able to lead troops in the northwest, but Prince Guo had no rights at all and had never even entered the court."

Yi Xin didn't know why the emperor was so obsessed with this, but after her reminder, the emperor did feel enlightened.

The emperor thought about it carefully. When he was young, the only ones he was really afraid of were the eighth, ninth, and tenth brothers. When the crown prince was deposed, the strength displayed by the eighth brother and his party really made him very afraid. That's why the late emperor asked the court officials to recommend a new candidate for the crown prince. Wow, the late emperor's brothers, sons, and even his uncle and cousin all supported the eighth brother!

At that time, Prince Guo was still an ignorant young boy. Not to mention the older princes like them, even his fourteenth brother didn't pay any attention to the younger brothers.

It seemed that it was from that time that Prince Guo gradually became famous for his favor, and Concubine Shu also really came to the fore.

The emperor quickly figured out the cause of the matter, and it could actually be traced back to his own mother.

In the later period of the fight for the throne, the Queen Mother had been asking him to show more love and care to Prince Guo, and she herself had also personally gone out of her way to build a relationship with Concubine Shu, and then...

The emperor was very angry to find that he was actually influenced and controlled by the empress dowager in many things!

The emperor's expression changed again and again, but Yi Xin pretended not to see anything. She leisurely held the teacup and smelled the tea, taking a sip from time to time to show that her attention was focused on the teacup and she didn't notice anything else.

The emperor understood many things, and he sighed and said to Yi Xin: "As for Meng's matter, Zi Tong can choose a suitable time to invite Duke Meng to the palace to ask about it. If they have no objection, I will directly issue an order to grant the marriage."

Yi Xin naturally agreed without hesitation. She didn't think that Duke Meng's Mansion would have any objection to Prince Guo's marriage. Compared to Prince Guo, Duke Meng's Mansion must not want their daughter to marry far away even more.

Within two days, Yi Xin invited the wife of Duke Meng and Meng Jingxian to the palace. After she asked a few questions, the mother and daughter quickly agreed to the marriage with Prince Guo. The wife of Duke Meng even cried with joy and expressed her gratitude to the emperor and Yi Xin.

However, Meng Jingxian felt sad when she saw her mother like this.

The Menggong Mansion had no objection to Prince Guo as their cheap son-in-law, but Prince Guo, who was discussing marriage with the Emperor, still looked down on Meng Jingxian.

But the emperor at this time was no longer the same emperor as before. He said directly: "When the previous emperor was alive, you let the news of your marriage with Meng from the Mengguo Mansion leak out, causing Meng to remain unmarried until now and be looked down upon. You have always been kind to the poor and the weak. You have taken in so many women in your Qingliangtai, but why don't you show any sympathy to Meng?"

Prince Guo was speechless. The emperor directly granted the marriage. Prince Guo knew that he could take advantage of the emperor's fear in the past, but now that the emperor had become tough, he dared not continue to refuse.

The emperor also explained the origin of this marriage to Prince Guo. Although he did not say that it was Concubine Xi who proposed Meng in the beginning and Yi Xin who finalized Meng's marriage, he clearly expressed Concubine Xi's gratitude to Prince Guo and his feeling that Meng had delayed the marriage until now to save face for the royal family.

Prince Guo originally had some strange feelings for Concubine Xi, so he helped Concubine Xi again and again. But now, although Concubine Xi meant well, she forced him to spend his life with a loveless woman. He had some resentment towards Concubine Xi, and when the Zhen family sent a valuable gift to congratulate him on his wedding, he took the opportunity to cut off his relationship with the Zhen family.

However, this also achieved Concubine Xi's original purpose.