The Duke of Rong's deep voice drew everyone's attention back. Looking at the kneeling crowd, especially the beautiful couple in front of him, and then at the leisurely face of his son, he cursed inwardly: "You brat!"

"The Emperor decrees: The heir of the Rongguo Duke's Mansion is of upright character and should be married to a virtuous lady. The Princess of Yichang County is gentle and kind, and of a virtuous nature. Therefore, the Princess of Yichang County is hereby betrothed to the heir of the Rongguo Duke's Mansion. To ensure the happiness of this beautiful couple, an auspicious day shall be chosen for the wedding. This is the imperial decree."

Li Shiyue placed her hands in front of her, her intertwined fingers seemingly unsure of where to go. For a moment, she forgot to express her gratitude, looked up at the Duke of Rong, and felt flustered, not knowing what to do.

Besides Xu Yunci, even Old Madam Xu was full of surprise.

The Duke of Rong glanced at his son and coughed lightly, saying, "Young Master of the County Princess, please accept the imperial decree and express your gratitude."

My scalp tingled instantly; it felt really strange to be called "County Princess" by my own uncle.

Li Shiyue turned to look at Xu Yunci, but unexpectedly met his smiling gaze. Suddenly she understood something, and with a helpless smile, she reached out her hand: "Yichang receives the decree and kowtows to thank His Majesty for his long life."

Helped up by Chunling, Li Shiyue still held the bright yellow imperial edict in her hands, which was burning hot, even hotter than the mocking gazes of others.

"Okay, put it away, you don't need to keep it."

After Xu Yunci finished speaking, he took the imperial edict from her hand and naturally noticed her blood-red earlobes. He couldn't help but cough lightly and look away.

"You said Erlang doesn't know how to be considerate, but I think Erlang inherited it from his elder brother." Xu Huailou sat to the side, seemingly unconcerned, and chuckled as he put his arm around Xu Yunci, casually talking about how to respect his wife in small matters.

Before anyone else could say anything, Madam Zhou blushed and pulled Xu Huailou to sit down, saying, "You should rest now, Fourth Master."

Li Shiyue was pulled back to sit next to Madam Xu, and Xu Yunci, who was on her left, also sat next to Li Shiyue. Li Shiyue was so embarrassed that she dared not look up.

Madam Yang shook her head helplessly: "The reason for opening the ancestral hall today is for the whole family to witness the engagement between me and Yan Yan. The formal marriage ceremony will be held on an auspicious day."

Logically, Li Shiyue's engagement should have been communicated to the Yunyang Earl's Mansion. However, since the Yunyang Earl had previously caused a scene at the Ministry of Rites, and the marriage contract was already in place, there was no need to notify the Yunyang Earl's Mansion again.

"Since it's an auspicious day, let the daughter-in-law also give the ancestors a double blessing, so that good things come in pairs."

Madam Zhou smiled and stood up, glancing at her eldest son beside her: "Your daughter-in-law has found a suitable daughter for Fourth Brother. She is the younger sister of the Third Rank General of Huaihua, surnamed Zhang. The two families have already exchanged pleasantries, and we are thinking of bringing her to show the Ancestor one of these days."

"However, since Erlang is the eldest, Erlang and Yan Yan should naturally be prioritized. There is no reason for the younger brother to get married first."

This was indeed a joyous occasion. Xu Yunci and Xu Yunyao walked out together. No one saw Wei Yujie sitting at the back, her eyes gleaming as she stared at their backs, lost in thought.

The news of the engagement between Xu Yunci, the heir of the Rongguo Duke's Mansion, and Li Shiyue, the princess of Yichang County, caused quite a stir in the capital. In particular, the commotion began when it was reported that Xu Yunci himself went to the Funing Palace to request an imperial decree to grant them the marriage. The shockwave started when the third daughter of the Minister of Revenue's Mansion, Feng, fainted.

What else could have caused Feng Lanyin to faint? Naturally, it was because Xu Yunci was engaged to Li Shiyue, whom she hated the most. She couldn't accept it and when she woke up, she cried and begged to marry into the Rongguo Duke's Mansion.

Unfortunately, the wife of the Minister of Revenue doted on her daughter and shamelessly went to visit, only to find that the gates of the Rongguo Duke's mansion were not even opened. They said that the old lady had suffered a headache and the duke's wife was attending to her, so it was really not appropriate for her to receive guests.

The Feng family was naturally unwilling to give up. However, the next day, Xu Yun left the morning court session and went to the Funing Palace. When he came out again, the palace sent an imperial edict to the Ministry of Revenue. After that, no one from the Feng family came to knock on the door again.

When asked about Feng Lanyin again, she was gradually no longer seen in the capital.

Chun Jinxuan's inner guard Yu Jie looked at the velvet flowers in front of her. They used to be her specialty. But when she went to Chengyu Pavilion with great joy, she found her velvet flowers on Li Shiyue's dressing table. It was like a piece of wire suddenly mixed into a dazzling array of things.

“Miss, when we go to the capital, the master said that we must find a noble son-in-law through the Rongguo Duke’s mansion…” The maid Ling’er followed her to the capital, remembering the instructions of the Wei family master, but seeing that the young lady was not in a hurry every day, she was getting anxious.

Wei Yujie held a velvet flower in her hand, its green leaves covering the delicate pink buds inside, as if telling her that the green leaves were ultimately just a backdrop for the pink stamens.

“A son-in-law, a son-in-law, how many sons-in-law in the world can meet one’s heart?”

Thinking back to that handsome young man in the ancestral hall that day, it turns out that he was the future head of the Rongguo Duke's Mansion. He was good-looking and powerful. The county princess is truly blessed.

If she were to have such good fortune someday, she wouldn't have to make a living in such a worthless family.

She didn't go to Chengyu Pavilion today, and what was rare was that Li Shiyue felt more relaxed than ever before, and she didn't have to restrain herself when there were people around.

It must be said that Xu Yunci was extremely fast, perhaps because he didn't want to waste time.

"These are all my drawings, which one do you like?"

He calmly spread out the papers, seemingly unaware that the layout on these few pages was a tedious matter in Li Shiyue's eyes, as if he were discussing a trivial matter.

But even after putting down his teacup, the joy in his eyes betrayed his inner turmoil.

Li Shiyue looked at the papers in her hand, carefully compared them, and picked out her favorite one: "How about this one?"

Xu Yunci nodded. Since he could only show his little cousin his best drawings, he naturally had no objections to this one and had the others put away.

"The phoenix crown isn't urgent. I'll have it delivered before the wedding. If it doesn't fit, I'll have a craftsman alter it. As for the wedding attire, I'll trouble Yan Yan to do it."

Apart from his mother, he had never worn clothes sewn by a woman before, so he still had expectations in his heart, especially since he had drawn the patterns himself.

Li Shiyue felt the same way. The news of her engagement had already spread throughout the capital, but she still blushed when people mentioned it.

Looking at the paper in her hand, she felt a warmth in her heart. Fortunately, her embroidery skills were presentable. Embroidering her own wedding dress before her marriage was a very auspicious gesture.

Back in the Yunyang Marquis's mansion, she and Chunling would embroider their clothes repeatedly, taking them apart and re-embroidering them, but they were never as willing as they are now. She was actually grateful for her situation in the Marquis's mansion, otherwise her embroidery skills wouldn't be so good.

“Mother has chosen a date for the spring next year. After all, it’s almost July, and it would be a bit rushed if it were before the new year. There aren’t any good days in February either, so March next year will be enough time for me to prepare the betrothal gifts.”

Xu Yunci smiled and looked at Li Shiyue's rosy and full earlobes, speaking deliberately.