After seeing off the official from the Ministry of Rites who delivered the imperial edict, the atmosphere in the Ming family became extremely solemn.
Ming Jingzhou held the imperial edict in his hands, his hands trembling slightly, as if it was not an imperial edict embroidered with golden dragons and auspicious clouds, but a thousand-jin hammer.
"Third Uncle." Ming Cunfu was worried that Ming Jingzhou might choke and faint, so he quickly got up and helped him up.
It was a good thing that my cousin was marrying into the royal family, but when I thought about who Jiuzhu was going to marry, I couldn't say "congratulations".
Everyone in the capital city knows that His Majesty favors Concubine Su, and is even more fond of Prince Chen, who was born to Concubine Su.
When Prince Chen was less than 15 years old, he was crowned king together with the eldest prince who was five years older than him. Now that he has reached the age of 20, his palace outside the palace is magnificent, but His Majesty often stays in the palace, and the other princes and princesses have to stay away from him.
There are rumors in the court that Prince Chen is the invisible crown prince. If it weren't for Concubine Su's humble birth and Prince Chen's lack of status as the eldest son, His Majesty would have named him the crown prince long ago. However, apart from the good looks given by Concubine Su, Prince Chen has nothing worthy of praise. Many ministers in the court do not want him to inherit the throne.
Jiuzhu knelt on the ground, looked at her father with a sad expression, then looked at her heartbroken cousin, lifted her skirt and climbed up, carefully moved to Ming Jingzhou's side, took the imperial edict and looked at it.
"The imperial edict says that the prince is gifted, beautiful, handsome and studious. These are all good words." After rolling up the imperial edict and stuffing it back into Ming Jingzhou's hand, Jiuzhu patted his wrist gently: "Daddy, don't be so sad."
Looking at his daughter's sweet and innocent face, Ming Jingzhou's voice trembled: "Even Wang Po, who sells melons in the West Market, brags about herself, let alone..."
What's more, Your Majesty is looking for a wife for your son.
Ming Cunfu coughed dryly, reminding his uncle not to say anything that would offend the royal family: "Sister, your uncle and I are reluctant to let you get married."
At that time, their lineage lost power in the court and was exiled to a cold and bitter land. In order to protect his newborn cousin, his third uncle entrusted her to the elders of the clan. Later, when the current emperor ascended the throne, his father and his second and third uncles were rehabilitated and returned to Beijing to resume their duties.
Although officials in the capital were not allowed to leave the capital without an imperial edict, my third uncle sent people to the Lingzhou clan’s home several times to pick up my little cousin. At first, the clan elders always refused to let them take my little cousin away, saying that my little cousin was weak and could not be moved.
But my uncle and aunt really missed their child, so after my cousin had been recuperating for a year, they spent a lot of money to hire a doctor to accompany them and only then did they bring my cousin, who was already six years old, back home.
As soon as the "little cousin" was brought back home, the third aunt felt something was wrong. Although the little girl looked a bit like her and her third uncle, she just suspected that this child was not her own blood.
Later, they found out that shortly after the three brothers were exiled, the clan members were afraid of offending the powerful officials and did not dare to raise her, so they abandoned her in the wilderness.
The name Jiuzhu means that her parents treated her like a pearl. However, those cruel tribesmen threw away their precious pearls at will.
When the third uncle and aunt learned the truth, they were heartbroken and immediately sent the fake cousin back to Lingzhou. They also opened an ancestral hall, separated themselves from the clan, and set up their own family.
His father was from the same family as his second and third uncles. After being exiled to a cold and bitter place, they supported each other and shared the joys and sorrows. Naturally, he could not bear this, so he cut off the family tree with his third uncle's family. From then on, the three families had nothing to do with the Lingzhou Ming family.
Jiuzhu was found by him and his servants in a small, dilapidated Taoist temple in Lingzhou a few months ago. The temple had mottled walls, broken tiles and rotten windows, and was so shabby that even mice were unwilling to come.
The sixteen-year-old sister was holding a big steamed bun, chewing it with a satisfied look on her face. When she saw him, she quickly hid the bun behind her body and said, "Sir, are you burning incense or telling fortunes? The gods in our Taoist temple are very powerful."
Ming Cunfu looked at the dusty statue on the altar and could not figure out what its spirit was.
However, he still hoped that the Taoist temple would be effective. After all, the two female Taoist priests said that he was blessed by the God of Literature and would be able to win the imperial examination, meet noble people, and have a smooth career in the future.
As a scholar, who doesn’t like to win the first prize?
That requires spirituality!
"Brother Fuliu." Jiuzhu pulled Mingcunfu's sleeve: "What are you thinking about?"
Ming Cunfu came back to his senses, and before he could say anything, he heard hurried footsteps coming from outside the yard.
"Is mother back?" Jiuzhu walked quickly to the door and happened to run into Shen walking towards her.
Shen, who was originally a little anxious, softened her expression instantly when she saw Jiuzhu standing at the door: "Jiuzhu, why are you standing at the door? It's a cool autumn day, don't let the wind hurt your face."
Jiuzhu smelled the scent of incense on Shen's body, and reached out to hold Shen's arm and walked into the house: "Don't worry, mother, I'm too thick-skinned to brag."
The mother and daughter have been together for a short time, but they are already very close. Perhaps this is the invisible bond between them.
As soon as Shen sat down, she ordered the servants to bring soup to Jiuzhu. She looked at her daughter's little face, her eyes full of heartache.
There is a kind of thinness that makes mothers feel very thin.
Over the past decade or so, Jiuzhu has experienced all kinds of hardships in her mind, so much so that whenever she sees the poor people in operas, she can't help but think of it: what if her own daughter also has such a miserable life? What should she do?
So after Jiuzhu stood in front of her with her fair skin, she developed the habit of feeding her daughter food from time to time. It was as if she wanted to crush and heat up the fifteen years of maternal love, grind it into the finest powder, and gently wrap the child, so that the child would understand that she always loved her, cared about her, and never abandoned her.
Fortunately, Shen loved to feed Jiuzhu, and Jiuzhu also loved to eat. All the motherly love in her heart went smoothly into Jiuzhu's stomach.
"Just now the concierge said that someone from the Ministry of Rites came to deliver an imperial decree." Shen gently touched her sleeve pocket, which contained an amulet she had asked for for her daughter. "What's the matter?"
"The Ministry of Rites just issued an order that Your Majesty should act as a matchmaker for Prince Chen and marry Jiuzhu to be his consort."
"Which king?"
"Chen...King."
"What concubine?"
"Princess Chen."
Ming Cunfu was afraid that the third aunt would get angry and become ill, so he quickly added: "The principal wife."
The room suddenly became quiet. After a long while, Shen stuffed the half-taken amulet back into the room.
What a lousy god, he can’t even protect her daughter. What’s the point of praying to him!
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She stood up and tried to walk out the door.
"Madam, calm down, calm down!" Ming Jingzhou quickly stood up and grabbed her sleeve: "If you have anything to say, let's close the door and talk slowly."
Don't try to break into the palace, or you'll lose your head!
Jiuzhu looked at the two parents who were pulling each other, and asked with her face in her hands, "Is the King of Chen not okay?"
Ming Jingzhou and Shen turned their heads to look at the young lady, their eyes filled with grief and anger at having their rare treasure stolen by bandits.
"Sit down and talk slowly." People in Lingzhou speak softly. Jiuzhu grew up in a Taoist temple in Lingzhou and rarely came into contact with outsiders. She was naturally cute and naive. When she spoke, it was like she was acting coquettishly, and the couple felt their hearts soften when they heard it.
"Prince Chen is this person..." Ming Jingzhou was about to say something, but stopped, opened his mouth and closed it again, and sighed after a while: "Father will go to the palace and ask His Majesty to revoke the sacred order."
"He looks extremely ugly?" Seeing that his father didn't want to mention King Chen, Jiuzhu's mind flashed with the image of a wolf-ape with green face, fangs, bear arms and big body.
Jiuzhu lowered her head and touched her slender white wrist, and she felt that the tonic soup brought by the maid no longer tasted good.
"It's not ugly, but what about Prince Chen..." Ming Jingzhou was silent for a moment: "It's hard to put it into words."
Not only is he not ugly, he also has a face that girls like. But as a man, as a prince, having a good face is not enough.
Throwing away the image of a snarling man in her mind, Jiuzhu looked at Ming Jingzhou with sparkling eyes: "Father, let's talk slowly."
"Prince Chen's biological mother, Concubine Su Guifei, was born in a merchant family. Since entering the palace, she has been favored by His Majesty for many years. In recent years, His Majesty has gone beyond the rules to make him a king for Concubine Su Guifei, and even his title is higher than that of other princes."
"Chen" means "extreme", which means the place where heaven and earth meet. It has a special meaning. How could an emperor give such a title to his young son?
"There is no empress in the palace, so what does it matter which empress His Majesty likes?" Jiuzhu didn't think there was anything difficult to say.
“You don’t understand.” As one of the civil officials, the grievances and love-hate relationship between Prince Chen and his mother and the civil officials are enough to compile ten books, and each of them would sell well in the market.
Ming Jingzhou straightened his official robes and said, "Let your mother and cousin talk to you. I will go to the palace to meet His Majesty."
He finally found this lovely, innocent and naive girl, how could she marry someone like Prince Chen!
"Father..." Jiuzhu stretched out her hand to stop him, but her father's back was too firm and she only touched a corner of his clothes.
"Don't stop him." Shen said, "Let him try, at least..."
At least I feel better.
"Drink the soup." Thinking that the soup brought by the maid had not yet entered her daughter's stomach, Shen forced a smile and brought the soup to her.
No man could stop her from raising a daughter.
"Madam." The servant ran to the door and said, "Someone from Mingyue Palace came and said that Concubine Su Guifei has obtained a famous painting and calligraphy and invited you to the palace to appreciate it."
When did appreciating calligraphy and paintings have anything to do with Concubine Su?
Shen held the soup steadily and smiled at Jiuzhu: "Drink slowly, there is no rush. After you finish, let someone accompany you to wash up."
After finishing the soup in a few gulps, Jiuzhu got up and went to the backyard. She vaguely saw the housekeeper walking towards her with a middle-aged woman in a purple skirt.
"That must be the daughter of your family." The court lady of Mingyue Palace stopped and looked at the figure in the distance. She nodded and smiled at the guide nanny: "Although I haven't seen her true face, I know at a glance that the daughter of your family is very beautiful."
"Haha, thank you for your compliment, auntie."
The housekeeper thought, come on, it’s amazing that you can tell whether it’s a boy or a girl from such a distance.
She has seen many in-laws who praise the woman to the heavens before she gets married, and then find fault with her after she gets married.
Does this female official want to praise their young lady?
It's obvious that he was attracted by the young lady's status as a civil servant!
The hearts of people in the palace are dirty.
"Spring Equinox, this phoenix-tail hairpin is so heavy." Jiuzhu held the gold hairpin on her temples, worried that it would fall off. It was made of pure gold thread and looked very valuable.
The pearls swayed on her temples, making her little face look even more delicate and lovely.
Being stared at by those watery eyes, like those of a newborn puppy, Chunfen felt numb and tingling in her heart, and quickly looked away: "Miss, you must dress up well when you enter the palace to see the noble concubine."
When she put down the jade comb in her hand, she accidentally placed it on the edge of the dressing table and was about to fall. Before Chunfen could even scream, she saw the young lady pick up the jade comb and put it back on the table.
"Miss," the maid outside reminded quietly, "The carriage in the palace is ready."
Jiuzhu confidently stepped onto the carriage to the palace. Occasionally, she would paint in the Taoist temple, but because her two masters were very poor, they used pens, ink, paper and inkstone sparingly.
But both of her masters praised her and said she was very accomplished in painting, so appreciating paintings should not be a problem for her.
"Madam." Seeing that Shen looked serious, the trusted maid who was supporting her comforted her, "The young lady is your blood and yours, and she must be very talented in painting."
Shen: “…”
Finished.
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