After grinding the ink for a few times, Prince Chen turned around and saw Emperor Longfeng standing still. "Father, a gentleman's word is as good as his bond. You wrote the imperial edict today, and tomorrow I will take the trouble to take it to the Ministry of Rites to copy it as a backup. Then the matter will be done, right?"
Emperor Longfeng raised his chin towards Liu Zhongbao.
Liu Zhongbao took out a brocade box from the bookshelf and placed it on the imperial desk with a smile: "Your Highness, can you see what's inside?"
Prince Chen put down the inkstone, and the palace servants waited for him to wash his hands. He dried his hands and opened the brocade box.
There was an imperial edict inside, and Prince Chen glanced at Emperor Longfeng.
"Du Qing, open the imperial edict and take a look." Emperor Longfeng walked to the dragon-patterned wooden chair and sat down. "It has what you want."
"Your Highness, please open it and take a look." Liu Zhongbao also urged Prince Chen to open the imperial edict with a smile.
He took out the imperial edict and opened it. It was an imperial edict promoting the daughter of Minister Ming to the rank of county princess, but the edict had not yet been stamped.
"That day, I wrote two imperial edicts, one to promote Ming Jingzhou to the rank of Earl, and the other to confer the title of Princess of the Ming family on the daughter of the Ming family." Emperor Longfeng took the imperial seal and stamped the edict with a bright red seal: "If you can go to the Ministry of Rites quietly, I will give you, my future father-in-law, an honor. If you don't want to, this honor will be given to your future princess."
The future husband has been spoiled by his father, so he has to give him some compensation.
"Ming Jingzhou is a clear-headed man. It's good for you to have such a father-in-law." Emperor Longfeng stuffed the imperial edict with the seal back into his son's hand: "Okay, take the imperial edict to the Ministry of Rites tomorrow to register it, and then let Li Shang go to announce it in person."
"Father." Prince Chen held the imperial edict, "So... you have already written the imperial edict?"
So why did he work so hard just now?
"Why, you don't want this imperial edict?" Emperor Longfeng stretched out his hand to take back the imperial edict: "In fact, it's better not to give the Ming family the title of lady. There must be people in the court who disagree with this matter. This way, there will be fewer disputes."
In fact, if Du Qing had not mentioned it, he would not have intended to issue this decree.
"It's just the enthronement of a small county lady, not a princess or a county chief. What kind of dispute can there be?" Prince Chen put the imperial edict in his arms. Fearing that Emperor Longfeng would go back on his word, Prince Chen bowed and said, "Father, the palace gates are about to close. I will take my leave first."
"No problem, you can stay in the side hall." Emperor Longfeng glanced at the inkstone where the ink had already splashed outside. This was not helping to grind the ink, this was clearly sabotage.
"Thank you for your kindness, Father. I'd better go back to the palace to sleep, so as to avoid the civil servants complaining again." Prince Chen touched the imperial edict in his arms, "I'll take my leave."
Watching his son run away with the imperial edict in his hand, Emperor Longfeng dipped his brush into the ink in the inkstone and wrote a few words on the paper: "Liu Zhongbao, how many days are left before the Prince of Qi and Miss Sun get married?"
"Your Majesty, there are still six days."
After writing a page, Emperor Longfeng studied it for a moment and put down his pen: "It was a good thing that I didn't let the daughter of the Sun family get engaged to my son."
"The auspicious time for the wedding should remain the same. There is no need to change it." He thought for a moment, "Send two rolls of tribute silk to Lanxu Palace."
"Your Majesty is so partial!" Concubine Ning pushed the two pieces of tribute satin to the ground, her eyes red with anger.
Concubine Yang had just passed away, and she was worried that it would affect the auspicious time for Yan Ze's wedding. However, the Imperial Astronomical Observatory said that the auspicious time had been set and the wedding procedures had been prepared and could not be changed.
What's the point of sending these two pieces of cloth? Are you sending them away to get rid of cats and dogs?
"My lady." Bai Shao bent down and picked up the tribute satin on the ground: "Don't get angry and get yourself sick."
Concubine Ning ignored her. Ever since she failed to do her job well last time, she no longer had the face in front of Concubine Ning as before.
"Your Majesty." A eunuch hurried in: "Today, the Ministry of Rites went to Minister Ming's residence to announce an imperial decree."
"What is the will?"
"Appoint the daughter of Minister Ming as the county lady."
"Didn't Your Majesty just confer the title of Earl on Ming Jingzhou?" Concubine Ning asked, "Is this news confirmed?"
"It's all spread out there." The little eunuch saw that the queen looked unhappy, and whispered, "It's spread out there that Minister Ming Jian is in the emperor's heart, and he has a bright future ahead of him."
"The three brothers of the Ming family all hold important positions in the court. How can they have a promising future?" Concubine Ning sneered, "Your Majesty is clearly trying to save face for Yun Duqing."
There are three brothers in the Ming family, so why do all the good things fall on Ming Jingzhou's family?
It is simply because His Majesty has a daughter who is about to marry into Prince Chen's Mansion that he has shown grace to Ming Jingzhou's family time and time again.
The Ming family is only slightly related to Yun Duqing, but His Majesty favors them so openly. Poor Yan Ze, who was about to marry the daughter of the Sun family, but did not even get a chance of grace.
In terms of nobility, family background, and reputation, in what way is the Sun family inferior to the Ming family?
Ultimately, it's just partiality.
She gritted her teeth and sneered: "Ming Jingzhou's daughter is also a little bitch like Su, who is sycophantic and vicious."
Bai Shao, who was standing beside him with her head down, raised her head slightly.
"Hongmei." Concubine Ning called another trusted maid: "The Ming family raised such a good daughter, and the whole family has been favored by His Majesty. There will be more or less rumors outside, right?"
"Your Majesty is right." Hongmei saw that she was favored by the Majesty, and smiled proudly at Baishao, lowering her head to respond to Concubine Ning's order: "It is better to have a daughter than a son. Who wouldn't envy the Ming family for having such a grace?"
Concubine Ning nodded with satisfaction: "I want to see whether the noble Ming family will be grateful to Prince Chen or stay away from him in the face of all these envy."
One Ming Jiuzhu is not important, what is important are the three brothers of the Ming family.
She would never allow the three brothers of the Ming family to become Yun Duqing's helpers. How could a lowly girl from a merchant family compare with her Yan Ze!
It had been less than half a year since Jiuzhu returned to the capital, and the Ming family had received three imperial edicts. If she hadn't heard from Brother Fu Liu that imperial edicts were not easily issued, she would have almost thought that these were just casual things.
She looked at the reason why the imperial edict conferred her the title of county lord, and felt a little confused.
When had she ever copied scriptures for the deceased Holy Mother Empress Dowager, or when had she ever worked hard for the Imperial Concubine?
Out of nothing?
"What did His Majesty and Concubine Su say to you on the day when they offered incense to Concubine Yang?" Even Shen felt that His Majesty was too generous to their family.
As everyone knows, His Majesty is very stingy when it comes to giving out titles, but within just a month or two, His Majesty gave their family two titles.
"Nothing special." Jiuzhu shook her head. "His Majesty and His Majesty treated their daughter very kindly and did not mention the title."
"When His Royal Highness Prince Chen sent you back yesterday, why did he take out money?" Ming Jingzhou asked, "The imperial edict to confer the title of Jiuzhu was brought by Prince Chen early this morning."
According to a clerk in the Ministry of Rites, as soon as the door of the Ministry of Rites was opened, the Prince of Chen came with the imperial edict, urging all officials to register. After the book was completed and stamped with the official seal of the Ministry of Rites and the official seals of several relevant officials, he urged Minister Li to come to the Ming family with a guard of honor to announce the edict.
Jiuzhu recalled the story of the overbearing prince that was very popular in the capital recently, and lowered her head guiltily: "Did my daughter cause the money issue?"
Ming Jingzhou and Shen looked at Jiuzhu in surprise. Their daughter was well-behaved and cute, and she didn't like to spend money recklessly, so how could she get into trouble with money?
"Father and mother, have you ever heard the story of the domineering prince?"
Ming Jingzhou frowned. What was the story behind the domineering prince?
In the whole court, there is no other prince who acts more domineeringly except Prince Chen.
"I have heard of it a little bit." Shen nodded. "These are all stories made up by storytellers. Under the influence of others' fabrication, many people mistakenly believe that the prince in the story is the Prince of Chen."
"What kind of story?" Ming Jingzhou had been an official for many years and was very sensitive to such means of inciting people: "Did the overbearing prince in the story kill people or set fire?"
"Not really." Shen smiled and shook her head: "Although the stories are absurd and bizarre, they are all good things. Because of these stories, the image of the Prince of Chen has improved a lot in the eyes of the female relatives."
Ming Jingzhou was surprised. When did Concubine Su and Prince Chen start to use such euphemistic means?
"This matter has something to do with my daughter." Jiuzhu lowered his head and recounted what happened.
After hearing what his daughter said, Ming Jingzhou didn't know how to start for a long time.
It was a good thing that the story helped the Prince of Chen to solve a conspiracy against him. However, because of these stories, the Prince of Chen became a topic of discussion for many people after dinner. Given the Prince of Chen's temper, he would not tolerate the storytellers making up stories about him like this.
"Is the Prince of Chen really not angry with you about this?" Shen had seen with her own eyes that the Prince of Chen, when he was seventeen years old, gave the married Princess Roude a cold shoulder at the annual banquet, not giving the other party any face at all.
After being embarrassed in public by Prince Chen, Princess Roude did not appear in public for a long time. From then on, she would walk around Prince Chen whenever he was present.
He is so harsh towards his own sister, how much tolerance can he have towards her daughter?
"Your Highness is gentle and considerate, and he was not angry about this matter." Jiuzhu shook his head: "Not only that, I heard that my daughter had spent all her money because of her obedience, and he even gave her money."
Ming Jingzhou raised his eyebrows slightly. Just those stingy twenty or thirty taels of silver?
"Such a thick stack of banknotes." Jiuzhu compared the thickness of the banknotes, her whole face was shocked, "And it's 500 taels in denomination, how could my daughter dare to keep it on her."
Ming Jingzhou realized that he had misunderstood Prince Chen. He snorted in his heart. It turned out that he was planning to use money to corrupt his good girl's heart. No wonder his wife said that few men are good.
Prince Chen is a man, so naturally he is not a good person.
No father-in-law can like his son-in-law, no matter how high and mighty he is.
He was just about to talk about the Prince's extravagant past when his eyes suddenly fell on the imperial edict in Jiuzhu's hand.
Since the imperial edict was brought to the Ministry of Rites by Prince Chen, it is possible that it was requested by Prince Chen.
Since his daughter didn't want the Prince's money, he went to His Majesty to ask for a title for his daughter? According to the Dacheng ritual system, although the titled noble had no fiefdom, he did receive a fixed monthly salary, silk, rice and oil.
Could it be that... Prince Chen is trying to give his daughter money in another way?
Which prince would go through so much trouble just to give money to his fiancée? As expected of the absurd King Chen, he can even do such a thing. Your Majesty happened to agree to Prince Chen’s request. What a favor this is!
Any prince with a smart mind would not ask for benefits on behalf of his father-in-law's family in this way. First, he is afraid of gossip, and second, he is afraid of the emperor's suspicion.
"Prince Chen's actions are really..." Ming Jingzhou wanted to say that he was willful and reckless, but when he looked up and saw his daughter staring at him with burning eyes, he sighed, "Just follow your heart."
It was Prince Chen who did the work, and it was the Ming family who benefited. What could he say?
"Since it is the Prince of Chen who has specially requested this grace for you, I will go and thank the Prince tomorrow."
"Father, is this imperial edict really requested by Your Highness specifically for your daughter?" Jiuzhu held the imperial edict with a happy face.
Ming Jingzhou nodded slowly: "Since the imperial edict was personally brought to the Ministry of Rites by the Prince of Chen, and not by outsiders, my guess is that he requested it."
"That's fine, that's fine." Shen touched her daughter's head and whispered, "Prince Chen has this intention, you should keep it in mind. Jiuzhu, if there are any unpleasant words spread outside, don't take it to heart, and don't vent your anger on others."
Jiuzhu nodded blankly, feeling somewhat confused. Unpleasant words?
Seeing her daughter's ignorant look, Shen smiled and said, "Just remember, don't hurt the feelings of those who truly care about you because of the words of insignificant people."
"Yes." Jiuzhu nodded, her eyes bright: "My daughter doesn't care about what others say."
Masters often say that those who practice Taoism should not destroy their hearts because of external things. Only by cultivating oneself, mind and morals can one truly practice Taoism.
"Okay." Shen smiled, "Being burdened by external things will only make you unhappy. You are doing very well this way."
"Master also said that my daughter has a good temper." Jiuzhu held the imperial edict tightly, smiling with satisfaction and happiness.
"Miss, the food boxes and carriage are ready. Do you want to go to the Ministry of Rites now?"
"Let's go now." Jiuzhu held a large food box in each hand. "It's cold. Even with the charcoal fire, it's easy to get cold."
Chunfen followed her and tied her cloak: "Miss, please walk slowly."
Recently, officials from the Ministry of Rites have seldom asked their families to send lunch boxes. Ever since His Royal Highness the Prince of Chen came to the Ministry of Rites, the meals in the public kitchen have become much more delicious. Moreover, even the Prince of Chen, who enjoys extravagant lifestyle, eats in the public kitchen. Are they more particular than the Prince of Chen?
It was noon, and it was time for everyone to take a break and have lunch. The Prince threw away his pen and leaned lazily back in his chair.
An official was so bold as to peek outside the window and discovered that the Prince was actually copying the imperial edict for his records. Originally, these imperial edicts were kept in the Hanlin Academy. Minister Ming went to borrow them a few days ago. They didn't know Minister Ming's intention at first, and didn't expect them to be used here.
From memorizing the list of top-ranked candidates in the imperial examinations and their essays, to copying the tax and silver books of various regions of the Ministry of Revenue, to copying imperial edicts for filing, which one of these is not a useless way to kill time?
I didn't expect that Lord Ming, who seemed gentle and easy to get along with on weekdays, could be as tough as a blunt knife when it came to making trouble for others. On the surface, he was teaching Prince Chen something, but in reality, he was not teaching him anything.
"Your Highness." The eunuch stepped forward and massaged the Prince's shoulders. "Your appetite has decreased a bit in the past two days. How about I ask a servant to go to the restaurant to buy you some delicacies?"
"No need." Prince Chen stood up weakly, "I will go to the public kitchen with Lord Ming to eat."
He had said in front of Ming Xiaozhu that the Ministry of Rites could not do without him, so he absolutely could not let Ming Jingzhou ruin his plans.
"Your Highness." Another eunuch hurried into the room and said, "Ms. Ming is waiting for you outside the office."
Prince Chen stood up, picked up the cloak beside him and tied it around himself, snorting with a smile: "This little girl has a conscience."
In order to seek the emperor's grace, he did everything he could to please his father. It would be unacceptable for her not to come to him.
"Your Highness!" Jiuzhu saw Prince Chen coming out and hurried to him.
"What do you want to see me for?" Prince Chen put his hands behind his back and did not mention the matter of conferring the title of County Princess on Jiuzhu.
A real man will never talk about the little things he does for a woman.
"I'm here to bring food to His Highness." Jiuzhu handed the food box to Prince Chen, "You work hard for the Ministry of Rites every day, you need to eat well."
The official from the Ministry of Rites who just came out of the gate of the Ministry of Rites: "..."
"This is what I should do, even if it makes me tired." Prince Chen took the food box, "As a prince, I should endure more hardships than others, so as not to let down my father and the people."
The official from the Ministry of Rites who heard everything: "..."
Men can be shameless when they lie to women.
"Things are important, but your health is more important." Jiuzhu looked at the King with admiration: "Please take care of your health, Your Highness."
Your Highness is truly a good prince who serves the country and the people and is filial to His Majesty!
Looking at the little girl's admiring eyes, Prince Chen coughed and said, "Don't worry, I know."
"There is one more thing." Jiuzhu looked at the King with a smile: "My title of county lord was obtained by Your Highness for me, right?"
"It's just a small matter..."
"Thank you, Your Highness." The way she looked at him was always sparkling, as if he was all in her eyes and heart, and her unreserved trust almost overflowed: "Your Highness is the best person Jiuzhu has ever met."
The Prince turned his head away feeling uncomfortable.
The little girl has met several people and she says he is the best person?
"Your Highness, please go back and eat, or the food will get cold and taste bad." Jiuzhu handed another food box to the Prince of Chen: "Please give this food box to my father, I will come again tomorrow at noon."
Carrying two heavy food boxes, the Prince of Chen watched the little girl bend down and climb into the carriage. He raised his eyebrows and asked himself, "I am the best?"
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