Forbidden Autumn, Summer, Winter and Spring Rebirth

Chapter 183 179. Granted Marriage
The emperor knew everything about the matter of the Third Prince. He also knew that it must have been Concubine Qi who came up with the idea and asked Hongshi to deliberately show filial piety when the emperor was seriously ill in order to gain the support of the old ministers in the court.

However, the emperor now has no time to take care of the harem, and he is too lazy to care about Concubine Qi and Hongshi.

It was the Imperial Noble Consort who suggested that since the Third and Fourth Beile had reached the age for marriage, it would be better to arrange a marriage for them.

The emperor thought this proposal was a good one, as it could not only solve the marriage of the two princes, but also warn the restless people by granting marriage. The imperial concubine wanted to take this opportunity to bring happiness to the emperor and dispel the bad luck in the palace, but she didn't say it explicitly.

Hongzhou received the emperor's instruction and ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to prepare for the marriage of the third and fourth princes. After receiving the order, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs immediately got busy. They first selected a list of noble women with prominent family backgrounds, and prepared to let the third and fourth princes choose their fiancees from them. The news quickly spread throughout the capital, and various families were eager to take this opportunity to marry into the royal family.

At the same time, the Third Beile and the Fourth Beile also learned the news of the upcoming marriage.

The Fourth Prince Hongli had long known the emperor's wishes and had given up the idea of ​​fighting for power. This time, he had spread the news that he would arrange a marriage for the two of them and allowed them to choose from the candidates selected by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This was simply an attempt to test their ambitions.

If one is ambitious, he would naturally choose the daughter of a high-ranking official, or even the daughter of a military general.

The third prince Hongshi and his mother Concubine Qi did not see this meaning, so they made their selection freely.

Two days later, Hongzhou couldn't help but sneer at the two lists in his hands, with disdain in his eyes.

There were two names written on the two lists. One was Xilin Jueluo Shumin, the second legitimate daughter of Ortai, and the other was Juercha Xiulin, the legitimate daughter of Duolong.

Ortai was the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, with a large army under his command. Hongzhou also knew that Ortai was the regent appointed by the emperor's father. His good third brother really had his heart set on Sima Zhao.

The daughter of Duolong chosen by the Fourth Beile was a civil official. Now he served as Tongyi Doctor, a third-rank official. This was a very conventional choice.

After sending the two lists to the Emperor, he did not say much after reading them, but fell into deep thought. After a long time, so long that Hongzhou thought that the Emperor would not mention this matter again today, the Emperor suddenly pointed at the two memorials and motioned Hongzhou to look at them.

After seeing the signatures on the two memorials clearly, Hongzhou understood.

Not long after, an imperial edict was delivered to the residences of the Third and Fourth Beile.

The Fourth Prince was not too surprised when he received the imperial edict and thanked the emperor. He sent someone to inquire about it. Juercha was born in the Zhenglan Banner. His father was a civil servant with a very good reputation in the court. He was upright and cautious, and his family tradition was also upright. Since he was choosing a wife for himself, he was also choosing a lifelong partner, so he could not be careless. He looked at the imperial edict in his hand and now he had gotten what he wanted.

After receiving the order, the Third Prince went into the study in a restless state, with his facial expression changing, sometimes puzzled, sometimes angry, and sometimes frightened.

The wife chosen by the Emperor for her was also from the Xilin Gioro clan, but she was changed from the second daughter of the Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou to the daughter of the Zhongxian Doctor.

Zhongxian Doctor was just a fourth-rank civil servant. Even if he was dumb, he could see that the emperor had a deeper meaning this time.

Without allowing them to have any objections, the wedding of the Third Beile and the Fourth Beile was scheduled for October 9th, half a year later.

When the weather warmed up, Hongzhou ordered the imperial sedan to carry the emperor to the imperial garden for a stroll, and he naturally accompanied him.

On this day, Hongzhou was pointing to a newly transplanted flower bush in the imperial garden, explaining to the emperor that this was a new variety cultivated in the greenhouse. At this time, he heard the sound of a flute not far away. Looking up, he saw a woman in cool clothes dancing among the flowers not far away.

After the dance, the woman seemed to have just noticed someone, and she knelt down in panic to greet him. Her appearance was really pitiful. After hearing her greeting, Hongluo realized that she was a concubine of Chuxiu Palace.

It's no wonder some people are restless. Since the emperor became seriously ill, he has never summoned his concubines again. It's not that he doesn't want to, but that he can't. So no one dared to mention this matter, even a word, for fear of offending the emperor and dying without knowing how.

Now I don't know what kind of stupidity this promise has committed to make him act so blatantly as if he wanted to slap the emperor in the face.

As expected, the emperor did not do as the woman had imagined. He immediately summoned her to accompany him and serve him. Even if she could not sleep with him, it would be good to get some other benefits.

The emperor frowned at this moment, staring at the figure that he thought was graceful, anger boiling in his heart, and he uttered two words with difficulty.

"Beat... to death!"

It was still a somewhat vague instruction, but one that was clear enough for everyone to understand.

Immediately, the guards came forward and dragged away the man who agreed.

The cries for mercy gradually faded away, but the emperor still seemed to have not calmed down from his anger. It had been a long time since anyone had made him so angry. He even began to feel dizzy.

Hongzhou turned around and saw that his father was pale, his eyes were closed and his brows were frowned. He felt something was not good and hurriedly urged the palace servants to return to the Yangxin Palace quickly.

The imperial physician had received the news and had been waiting for a long time.

After taking the tranquilizer, the emperor calmed down and fell into a deep sleep.

Hongzhou took the imperial physician out of the hall and listened to the physician's report with a frown.

"The Emperor was extremely angry this time, but he held it in, so the anger accumulated in his chest, and the wind, fire and phlegm covered his head, causing him to have a splitting headache, dizziness, and lack of energy. I am afraid that in the future... the Emperor's spirit will become worse day by day."

"What the Dean meant... could it be..." Hong Zhou asked in a trembling voice in disbelief.

The imperial physician sighed, "Alas, I am incompetent. The most urgent task is to ensure that the emperor is no longer mentally stimulated and does not lose his temper again. Otherwise, I am afraid..."

Hongzhou frowned as he watched the imperial physician's departing back, not daring to ponder the deeper meaning behind his words. Was his father, who had been so wise and powerful all his life, really going to end up in such a situation?

According to the imperial physician's words, the palace maids serving in front of the emperor were informed that the emperor needed a lot of sleep to recuperate his spirit and no one was allowed to disturb him.

Then he returned to his mother. Since he moved into the Palace of Tranquil Longevity to take care of the emperor's daily life, he had not been alone with his mother for a long time.

What happened in the Imperial Garden naturally could not be hidden from everyone in the harem. At this moment, Xia Dongchun was sitting and talking with Shen Meizhuang and Concubine Ji.

Xia Dongchun smiled but said nothing. Concubine Ji couldn't help herself. However, because the emperor was ill, she was afraid of gossip, so she lowered her voice and said, "Your Highness is so smart and clever. I admire you."

Shen Meizhuang smiled faintly and said, "That is what I am thinking about, but Chen is willing to serve His Majesty in front of the emperor. I am just helping her. It is hard for her to express her deep feelings, but our emperor does not appreciate it."