Chapter 79
Princess Yongjia was afraid that Li Yijin would not understand how much weight a single question from Yin carried, so she tugged at Li Yijin's sleeve. "A single question from Yin is more than enough, it will definitely get things done."
Li Yijin was well aware of that, and she looked at Cui Lanyin with immense gratitude, letting out a remark, "My aunt and I will keep a close eye on Prince Duan. We won't let him set foot anywhere he shouldn't."
Princess Yongjia nodded in full agreement. "That's right. From now on, we'll make Fifth Brother stay at home to cultivate his character."
Knowing that Cui Lanyin would find it awkward to respond to that, Princess Yongjia changed the subject. "One day soon I'll host a feast, and you two must come over to my residence. I have household entertainers there who are exceptionally skilled at singing and dancing. They recently choreographed a brand new performance that I haven't had the chance to enjoy yet, so you two can keep me company when I watch it."
Li Yijin said with a hint of envy, "Your Highness certainly knows how to enjoy life."
Cui Lanyin then said, "I have never had the chance to watch such a song and dance performance before."
Li Yijin smiled at her. "You're not the only one, neither have I."
Cui Lanyin could not help but ask, "I've heard that the song and dance performers in the Li family's household are even more brilliant than the ones in the imperial palace."
Li Yijin curled her lip. "Those are all arranged for men to watch. No women from any household get to see them. If you don't believe me, ask Her Highness Princess Yongjia, even she never got to see them when she was living in the palace."
Princess Yongjia nodded. "Back in the palace, all I could do was watch operas, listen to storytellers, and watch variety shows. Precisely because I couldn't see those performances, the first thing I did after leaving the palace and gaining control over my own household was to raise a troupe of private entertainers. I can have them practice whatever I want to watch. Why should men get to enjoy things that we women are not allowed to?"
Cui Lanyin had often thought the same way, and after hearing Princess Yongjia's words, she felt their minds were perfectly aligned.
So she did not decline the invitation. "I have to head back to the palace this afternoon, and I will be staying there for three to five days before I can leave again. Let's make the appointment for after I get out."
The three of them settled on that arrangement.
Lady Jiang, Lady Chang and the others who had been listening in the sidelines were all staring wide-eyed in astonishment. Cui Lanting said to Cui Lanzhi, "Sister Lanzhi, if I could live a life as free as Sister Yin, I wouldn't even want to get married."
Lady Chang rolled her eyes at her, then seized the opportunity to step forward and speak to Cui Lanyin. "Yin, look at how old Lanting is already. If you come across a suitable young man, could you help play matchmaker for her?"
Princess Yongjia could see that Cui Lanting and Cui Lanzhi got along very well with Cui Lanyin, and that Cui Lanyin treated them more warmly than the other members of Cui Mian and Lady Chang's branch of the family. So she spoke up, "Yin hasn't even married herself yet, so it's not appropriate to burden her with this matter. Leave this to me. I'll keep an eye out for a good match for her."
Lady Chang was overjoyed and thanked Princess Yongjia over and over again.
Seeing that the hour was getting late, Cui Lanyin guided Princess Yongjia and Li Yijin to the main room of Yifang Hall at the back to sit down, and asked Cui Lanzhi to keep them company.
Cui Lanzhi was due to give birth in the middle of next month, and Li Yijin was five months pregnant. The two expectant mothers sat together and quickly struck up a warm conversation.
Cui Lanzhi was just about to head to the second gate to welcome the guests alongside Lady Jiang, Lady Chang, Lady Ding, and Cui Lanting, when Princess Yongjia looped an arm through hers to stop her. "Fifth sister-in-law, you're heavily pregnant, you can't go. I absolutely must accompany you to greet the guests."
Cui Lanyin still tried to decline, but Princess Yongjia spoke candidly, "You are now considered part of His Majesty's side. If you are standing at the entrance to welcome guests while I sit comfortably inside, I'm afraid His Majesty will take a dislike to me."
That made Li Yijin so nervous that she stood up immediately. "Then I'll go too."
Cui Lanyin quickly pressed her back down to her seat. "You two are being far too dramatic. His Majesty wouldn't even bother to ask about such a trivial thing."
Princess Yongjia still followed her out anyway. As soon as the group reached the second gate, guests started arriving one after another.
Seeing Princess Yongjia there to greet them alongside the host, all the female relatives from the various households, who had already been eager to build good relations, now went out of their way to be extra warm and attentive to her.
Seeing the bustling scene before her, Lady Xiang could not help but regret not arriving earlier. She had thought she had gotten there fairly early. The night before, Tan Shixian had already discussed with her that they ought to come extra early. Given the close ties between the Tan family and the main branch of the Cui family, as well as his long-standing friendship with Cui Sheng, it was only proper that they turn up early to offer a hand.
Earlier, she had tried to get Lady Chang to act as a matchmaker for the proposed marriage between Tan Lian and Cui Su, only to be turned down by Lady Chang who said the match was not suitable. Lady Xiang had felt so embarrassed afterward that she dropped the idea entirely.
Then the day before yesterday, Tan Shao passed the provincial imperial examination and obtained the rank of juren. Lady Xiang's old thoughts began to stir again. She reasoned that while the main branch of the Cui family was on the rise, the Xiang family was no less well-off. Cui Sheng held a rank of fifth pin from the inferior class, but Tan Shixian was a fifth pin official of the superior class. The Great Ying Dynasty valued civil officials over military officials, so Cui Su, a commandery governor of the fourth pin from the inferior class, could not compare to a fifth-rank civil official. Now that Tan Shao had passed the provincial examination, if he managed to pass the metropolitan examination next year, with Tan Shixian and the Yao family paving the way for him, his official career would surely be smooth sailing, and he would catch up in just a few years' time. With such capable father and brother backing her, and with Tan Lian not lacking in good looks, this marriage for her niece to Cui Su was certainly no overreach.
As for Cui Lanyin, Lady Xiang had long believed that all her current glory would be nothing more than a fleeting bloom, and would not last long.
Right now, the Emperor had no children of his own, so he was only using her to fill the gap of having no young relatives to wait on him. Once the Emperor had his own biological children, Cui Lanyin would no longer be able to stay close to him. But even so, with the favor she had accumulated, if Cui Lanyin made more frequent visits to Empress Dowager Chen's palace, she would be able to marry herself into a prestigious and noble household. While her future status would not be as grand as the heights she could have reached now, it would still be far above the average, and she would be able to offer considerable support to both her natal family and her future husband's family.
Today, everyone had come to show their support for Second Miss Cui, and there were many others who shared the exact same thoughts as Lady Xiang.
This was especially true among the noble and powerful families. Over this long period of time, they had all had more than enough opportunity to dig up the full details of how Cui Lanyin had managed to move between Prince Wei's Mansion and the Funing Palace.
These people all held a great deal of admiration for Cui Lanyin's clever and resourceful mind. After all, not every distant relative who showed up at a wealthy household's door seeking temporary help could turn that situation into such a brilliant, prosperous standing.
The Emperor had always been a man of few words, and Empress Dowager Chen was notoriously difficult to approach, yet Cui Lanyin had managed to win the favor of both of them. With the firm foothold she had established, the father and sons of the main Cui branch were clearly capable men, and they also had a new son-in-law who had just passed the provincial imperial examination. It would not be long before the main branch of the Cui family earned a respectable place among the prominent households in Yingcheng.
The noble families always preferred to take brides from families of lower status when arranging marriages for their sons, but Cui Lanyin had carved out an outstanding status for herself, and her father and brothers had such promising futures. The only question that remained in many of their minds was whether or not she would be able to bear children.
That was why many of the people who had come to the gathering that day had the hidden intention of sizing up Cui Lanyin as a potential wife for their sons.
When they actually arrived at the former Prince Wei's Mansion, now the Emperor's official residence, they saw the Chief Steward bustling around taking care of all the arrangements. They noticed that the Chief Steward had only sealed off the front hall study where the Emperor had once lived and handled official affairs when he was still Prince Wei, and had turned the main hall, the two west rooms, and the east and west side halls all into spaces for the Cui family to receive their guests.
This was a blatant act of overstepping the proper boundaries of rank! How could the Cui family dare to do such a thing?
All the male guests who had been welcomed inside hesitated to step further in, until the Chief Steward explained, "His Majesty originally decreed that the study could be used too, but Lord Cui insisted that it would be improper, so I had to seal the study off instead."
Only then did all the guests feel relieved. After all, the former residence of the current Emperor was not a place that ordinary people could casually enter. Now that this rare opportunity had presented itself, none of them bothered to sit down first. Instead, they wandered through every part of the residence carefully, looking around at every corner.
Some well-informed guests had already gotten wind of the news that when the current Emperor was still Prince Wei, the Yao family had once proposed a marriage to the Prince for Second Miss Cui, and the Yao family had even put forward the condition that if the couple had no son after ten years, they would adopt an heir from another branch of the family. Even such a generous condition had been rejected by the Prince.
Everyone said that the Prince had turned down the offer because he thought the Yao family had too many branches and complicated internal relations, and he did not want Cui Lanyin to have to tire herself out dealing with all the endless family conflicts if she married into the Yao family.
His Majesty has taken such a keen personal interest in Second Miss Cui's marriage that all the families who have learned Second Miss Cui is staying at the rear of Yi'an Palace, all being seasoned and calculating, have come to the same thought: if their own family extends a helping hand to Second Miss Cui now, they might very well ensure she stays in the emperor's good graces and enjoys lasting prosperity.
With the exception of the Li family, nearly every prominent household in Yingcheng has sent representatives, though the people who came are all peers of Cui Sheng, or those who share a close friendship with Cui Lanyin and Cui Su.
For instance, the Grand Secretary Shen's household is represented by his eldest son and eldest daughter-in-law, who have brought along their unmarried younger generation. From Prince Jing's residence, the Heir of Prince Jing, his wife, and Princess Tong'an have all arrived.
After all, Cui Sheng only holds a rank of the fifth degree from below. If a high-ranking and powerful official came to personally show support for someone of such a rank, it would surely raise eyebrows and invite gossip. Sending family members to express their willingness to form friendly ties is more than enough.
Even so, the gathering today is a grand occasion that ordinary families could never assemble.
Especially now that everyone has seen how highly the emperor holds Second Miss Cui and the entire Cui family, some of the guests have already begun to imagine that when they return home and recount today's events to their elders, those elders will surely regret not coming in person.
Upon arriving at the imperial prince's former residence, which belongs to the emperor's cousin, not a single person from the chief steward down to the lowliest eunuch asked any unnecessary questions, treating all the guests as honored regular visitors. This made Fourth Master Yao and Fifth Master Yao feel extremely unsettled.
These past few days, the members of the Yao family who are of the same generation as the emperor have been successively put into important posts. Third Master Yao has been dispatched outside the capital to serve as the prefect of Baoding Prefecture, Fourth Master Yao has been appointed as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Fifth Master Yao has been named the Chief Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments. After many years, the Yao family has finally returned to the core of the imperial power circle.
Though their current status still falls short of the heights they reached in years past, the knowledge that their own cousin sits on the imperial throne leaves them with no reason to rush.
They had been feeling uneasy for a while because of the incident involving Wen Song, but much to their relief, right after they escorted the late emperor's funeral procession to its final resting place, the emperor began to promote members of their family one after another.
The several masters of the Yao family have come to a clear understanding: as long as they do not overstep their bounds by meddling in matters close to the emperor's side, His Majesty will still be willing to show favor and consideration to the Yao family.
If the Yao family can see this clearly, there is no reason other families cannot see it too. These days, countless people have been calling at the Yao residence to curry favor, and the bustle and activity outside the Yao family's gates is no less than that outside the Li family's.
After all, the Yao family is the emperor's maternal clan, a status no other household can rival.
Yet today, after arriving at the imperial prince's former residence, they have realized that the emperor does draw clear lines between close and distant kin. Compared with Cui Lanyin and the main branch of the Cui family, the Yao family is nothing more than a group of competent officials in the emperor's eyes.
Fourth Master Yao discussed the matter with Third Master Yao, saying, "Why don't we bring up the proposed marriage alliance between our family and Second Miss Cui to His Majesty again? No matter which young man Second Miss Cui chooses in the end, we can promise the young couple a separate courtyard residence to live on their own."
After a moment of thoughtful silence, Third Master Yao nodded in agreement. "Very well. One of us will find a suitable moment to sound out His Majesty's intentions. We can break the news to the rest of the elders, including our eldest brother, only after the matter is settled."
Inside the Yifang Palace, Lady Jiang is surrounded by a crowd of chattering ladies, many of whom have pulled their own daughters to sit beside them. Among them is Madam Shen, the daughter-in-law of Grand Secretary Shen, who has also brought her own daughter along. Seeing this, Lady Xiang can no longer sit still.
She throws all sense of propriety to the wind, steps forward to take Lady Jiang by the arm, and says, "Sister-in-law, I have something extremely important to discuss with you. Please come outside with me for a moment."
This scene is witnessed by Li Yijin, who points it out to Cui Lanyin and says, "Isn't that a relative of yours? She's clearly set on getting your younger brother to be her son-in-law. I'm afraid my aunt won't be able to handle her on her own."
Glancing not far away at Tan Lian, whose face is flushed shyly and who keeps stealing glances in their direction, Cui Lanyin gives a quiet instruction to the servant beside her. The servant then walks over to stand by Lady Jiang's side.
He says to Lady Xiang, "We have so many honored guests here today that the hostess cannot be absent and leave everyone unattended. Madam, please come back another day to speak with our mistress in private."
Lady Xiang did not dare to act presumptuously before Buyan, who was a palace eunuch serving the emperor directly. She dodged and glanced over toward Cui Lanyin, only to find Cui Lanyin smiling right at her. Realizing her petty thoughts had been seen through, Lady Xiang hastily averted her gaze in embarrassment.
Princess Yongjia leaned close to Cui Lanyin's ear and whispered, "Most of the people here are sizing you up. The Commander Meng's mother is looking at you with such eager eyes, it's almost palpable. Even though the Meng family is caught in a messy tussle between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law, they wouldn't dare to show any of their usual tricks in front of you. If you ask me, when it comes to a marriage that brings real benefits, a military officer makes a far better husband. Most of those pretty-faced young men are just fancy embroidered pillows — good to look at, but useless for anything practical." She giggled mischievously at her own words, "Why don't you just skip getting married entirely? With His Majesty backing you up, you could live a free, joyous life just like me, keeping handsome men by your side left and right."
Cui Lanyin pushed Princess Yongjia away, trying to get her to stop spouting such bold, unruly remarks. The only way to quiet her down was to bring up the emperor, "If you keep talking like that, I'll tell your cousin the Emperor to come find you."
The thought that Emperor Xuanning was waiting for her to return made her ear tips burn hot.
Princess Yongjia quickly clapped a hand over her mouth, "Fine, I'll stop. No more of that."
Seeing that Princess Yongjia not only treated Cui Lanyin as an equal friend, but also clearly showed favor and deference to her, all those who had come with the intention of arranging a marriage for Cui Lanyin realized that her marriage was not a matter the main branch of the Cui family could decide on their own. The approval of either the Emperor or Grand Empress Dowager Chen would be required.
Just as they were all turning this over in their minds, the chief administrator hurried to the palace hall, sweat beading on his forehead, and announced loudly, "Second Miss, Grand Empress Dowager Chen and Empress Dowager Xu have both sent people to deliver gifts, to congratulate our family on three consecutive happy events!"
Cui Lanyin immediately led the female relatives from the two branches of the Cui family out to welcome the envoys. She had barely stepped down from the front corridor when she saw Qi An and Leping walking in one after the other. Before Cui Lanyin could even curtsy to them, Qi An stepped forward to support her, "You've only been out of the palace for two days, have you already forgotten your own people?"
Cui Lanyin looped her arm through his, "How could I forget, not with Eunuch Le right here too."
Leping bowed to her first, "I wouldn't dare accept a salute from Second Miss Cui." He clapped his hands, gesturing for the eunuchs behind him who were carrying and holding gifts to step forward. "These are all carefully selected by our Empress Dowager. I am here on her behalf to wish Second Miss Cui and her entire family every joy and prosperity."
He stepped forward and lifted the red silk brocade covering the presentation trays. The first tray held a pair of flawless white Hetian jade Ruyi scepters, the second contained a hundred taels of gold, and the third carried a pot of the extremely rare, top-grade snow-white Cymbidium lancifolium orchid.
Empress Dowager Xu's gift was incredibly thoughtful. She had clearly done her research and learned that Lady Jiang loved tending flowers and plants.
Cui Lanyin thought back to how Emperor Xuanning had once sent Empress Dowager Xu to dispatch a governess to reprimand her, with Leping leading the entourage to put on the proper show before leaving. She now owed Empress Dowager Xu two favors.
Maybe she could ask the Emperor for the favor of arranging the palace relocation?
Grand Empress Dowager Chen's gifts, by contrast, were unlike her usual offerings. None of them were particularly extravagant, but they carried a far warmer, more intimate feeling, just like little trinkets a family elder would casually bestow on a younger generation. There were ink stones, writing brushes, paper, ink sticks, small and lightweight jewelry pieces, and even a soft black steel armor for Cui Su.
After laying out all these items, Qi An called for the eunuch carrying the last tray to step forward. On it were five different short knives of various designs. He smiled and said, "These are from Qian He, who asked me to pass along his congratulations to our Assistant Commander Cui."
Lady Jiang summoned up her courage to invite Qi An and Leping to take a seat in the side hall. The two eunuchs agreed, but just as they were about to step inside, they heard the sound of footsteps approaching. Looking up, they saw Buyan walking over.
He gestured for the eunuchs carrying gifts behind him to line up properly, then bowed to Cui Lanyin with perfect, solemn respect. "His Majesty has bestowed wedding gifts, and ordered me to come bring Second Miss Cui back to the palace."
I made a silly little mistake in the rush and almost accidentally duplicated the entire previous chapter. So, with so many people lining up to ask for Yinyin's hand in marriage, what kind of reaction should Qiqi have? [evil grin]
