As an emperor, Emperor Longfeng certainly knew that Ming Jingzhou was not willing to marry his daughter into the royal family, but the daughter of the Ming family was the best candidate.
The three brothers of the Ming family are upright officials who care about the court and the people. For Prince Chen, marrying into their family is the best choice.
In the past, he always felt regretful that since all three brothers were boys, they could not become in-laws. Now that the daughter of the third son of the Ming family has been found, if we don’t take action now, when will we take action?
A thin-skinned person cannot become an emperor.
Emperor Longfeng thought about it, and then ordered the palace servants to take a few calligraphy and paintings to send to Mingyue Palace. It was rare for his beloved concubine to have such a refined interest, so he wanted to support her more.
Compared to Ming Jingzhou who retreated in disgrace, Jiuzhu was very happy staying in Mingyue Palace. After she accompanied the imperial concubine to appreciate the paintings, she was invited to stay for dinner.
The food was delicious and the palace servants who served it were considerate. After the meal, she was very satisfied and happy.
Concubine Su glanced at the empty plate on the table and raised her hand to signal the palace servants to clear the remaining plate.
This little girl looks petite, but she can eat a lot.
"Your Majesty, His Majesty sent someone to deliver a few of his treasured paintings." The female official whispered in Concubine Su's ear, "Would you like to show them to Miss Ming?"
Concubine Su coughed lightly, glanced at Jiuzhu who was rinsing her mouth and washing her hands, and whispered, "Next time, next time."
Seeing Concubine Su and the female official whispering something, Jiuzhu thought they had something to discuss. She wiped her hands, stood up and saluted: "It's easy to get sleepy in the afternoon, please take a good rest, I will come to see you again in the future."
Concubine Su smiled and said, "I won't keep you, but this is the first time we meet, I can't let you go empty-handed."
After saying this, he ordered the palace servants to take out the gifts that had been prepared long ago.
Gold, jade, jadeite, silk and satin were all in the hands of more than a dozen palace maids.
The various jewelries on the tray sparkled brightly. Jiuzhu covered her chest with her hands, feeling a little breathless for a moment.
There was no other way. Having lived in poverty with her two masters for more than ten years, when she suddenly saw so many jewels, her eyes became uncontrollable and she couldn't help but look at them.
"These are things that girls like. Take them back and play with them." Concubine Su saw Jiuzhu staring at her and asked, "Do you like them?"
"I like it." Jiuzhu nodded honestly. Which normal girl doesn't like these shiny and beautiful things?
"As long as you like it." Concubine Su seemed very satisfied with Jiuzhu's answer. She arranged for the most useful female official around her to personally escort Jiuzhu out of the palace.
"I told you, what little girl doesn't like beautiful jewelry?" Concubine Su leaned back on the couch and said, "You only said you wanted to give her books and paintings, but what's the point?"
The personal maid smiled and said, "You are the one who has foresight, Madam."
"It's not just the Majesty who has foresight. From what I've seen, Miss Ming and the Majesty have a mother-daughter bond." Another maidservant chuckled, "I just looked carefully and saw that Miss Ming was very close to the Majesty after she came in, as if they were old friends who hadn't seen each other for many years."
"That's what they call... if you're not from the same family, you won't enter the same door."
Concubine Su was amused by the palace maids' words. Originally, she was reluctant about this marriage, but she understood the emperor's intention.
Most of the civil officials in the court disliked her and her children, and some even called her a witch concubine behind her back. Marrying the daughter of the Ming family for the emperor's son may not change the opinions of the civil officials, but at least it can ease the conflict between the two sides.
As for deeper things, Concubine Su was too lazy to think about them because it was useless.
What she didn't expect was that the little girl Ming Jiuzhu was very likable, sweet and amiable, and didn't seem like a child raised in a scholarly family.
"What did you say? Concubine Su gave Miss Ming a bunch of gold and silver jewelry as a gift?"
After hearing the palace maid's report, Concubine Ning laughed heartily: "Merchant family is merchant family, and their behavior is indeed vulgar. The three brothers of the Ming family, two of them are number one in the imperial examination, and one is number three. Their descendants are all handsome gentlemen. How could they like these things?"
"My lady, I heard that Master Ming came to the palace to meet His Majesty today, hoping to cancel the engagement."
"No one can change what your majesty has decided." The smile on Concubine Ning's face gradually disappeared: "Ming Jingzhou is just doing useless work."
"What should we do? What if the Ming family helps Prince Chen from now on..."
"Impossible." Concubine Ning interrupted the palace people's speculation and said firmly: "Since ancient times, there have been a few families who have given advice to their daughters who married out and abandoned their own honor."
"Woman." Concubine Ning smiled, but there was no smile in her eyes: "She is just a tool for the family to weigh the pros and cons."
"My lady."
"No need to say more, I understand." Concubine Ning snorted coldly: "I want to see how far Concubine Su and her future daughter-in-law can go."
There have always been many problems between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, not to mention that one is a favored concubine from a merchant family and the other is the daughter of a scholarly family.
Just wait and see, there will be plenty of excitement to watch in the future.
On the palace road, Jiuzhu was sitting in a sedan chair and saw from afar a child with a few eunuchs walking towards them.
The child was wearing brocade clothes with no royal symbols on them. He raised his chin slightly and looked a bit arrogant. He looked at Jiuzhu sitting on the sedan chair and asked, "Who are you?"
Jiuzhu looked down at him and explained seriously: "When asking for someone's name, you should first tell us your own identity."
The child is still young and can be saved if he doesn't know manners.
"I'm a child, and I'm the cousin of the King of Qi." The child raised his head high, waiting for Jiuzhu to take the initiative: "You should let me go."
Even the ladies in the palace were polite to him. The rich ladies he met on weekdays would take the initiative to say a few words to him when they saw him.
Jiuzhu withdrew her gaze and ignored him.
Children who behave badly are probably spoiled.
"Hello, auntie." The eunuch following the child recognized the female official of Mingyue Palace and was frightened. He bowed and saluted: "Mr. Zheng is still young, so please forgive me if my words are inappropriate."
The maid of Mingyue Palace said with a smile: "I am only following the order of the queen to escort Miss Ming back home from the palace. I cannot accept the gift from the eunuch."
Miss Ming?
The young eunuch's knees went weak and he knelt on the ground. The news that His Majesty had asked the Minister of Rites to personally act as a matchmaker and decide on Miss Ming as the Princess of Chen had already spread throughout the harem.
Even if he had ten times the courage, he would not dare to offend the future Princess Chen.
Jiuzhu was at a loss. Why did he kneel down just because of a disagreement?
The little brat didn't know that the eunuch who came out with him was already scared out of his wits. He looked at the phoenix hairpin in Jiuzhu's hair and said, "The hairpin in your hair is beautiful."
In the past, whenever he asked this, the other party would give him something.
"Oh." Jiuzhu touched the phoenix hairpin and nodded: "I think so too."
The kid looked at Jiuju.
Then what?
Jiuju looked at the kid.
Why, he wanted her to praise him for his good taste?
"Young Master." The eunuch kneeling on the ground gently pulled his clothes and said, "This is Miss Ming, the fiancée of His Royal Highness Prince Chen."
This is something we really can't afford to offend.
Young Master Zheng pulled the hem of his clothes out of the eunuch's hands and muttered quietly, "So he and the demon concubine are from the same family."
The palace maids in Mingyue Palace kept smiling, as if they had not heard these words. However, the young eunuchs were so frightened that they turned pale and trembled all over.
Demon concubine?
Jiuzhu looked at the female official of Mingyue Palace in confusion, and she nodded slightly at her.
Only then did she realize that the evil concubine the little brat was referring to was actually Concubine Su.
"Miss Ming, you don't have to take the child's words to heart." Seeing Jiuzhu frowned, the Mingyue Palace maid knelt down and bowed to her: "The queen will not bother with a child."
"Just because your Majesty is kind and generous doesn't mean others can say whatever they want." Jiuzhu felt her hands itching. If this kind of mute child was in Lingzhou, he would get a beating sooner or later.
Kind heart?
Generous?
The eunuchs kneeling on the ground thought there was something wrong with their ears. What nonsense was Miss Ming talking about?
"Children are ignorant, most of them are not serious in their studies." Jiuzhu considered herself a reasonable person. When the child made a mistake, she could not beat him, so she went to find the child's parents and asked, "Just now you said that this young master is the cousin of His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi?"
When dealing with small matters like this, it’s always right to sue the parents.
But which prince is His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi? Never mind. That's not important.
"Aunt, why don't you ask someone to send the young master back to His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi and let His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi discipline him." Jiuzhu thought for a moment and added, "His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi is gentle and refined, and he will definitely be able to correct the young master's mistakes in speech."
She didn't know what the King of Qi looked like, but praising him for his good temperament was a universal phrase.
"Yes." The female official smiled: "I obey your orders."
Watching the naughty kid being taken away dejectedly, Jiuzhu snorted lightly, "What does a little kid like you know about women?"
The Imperial Concubine is clearly a fairy.
Within two days, the news that Miss Ming and Prince Chen were engaged spread throughout the capital.
"We all know Lord Ming's character, Lord Ming, there is no need to embarrass us."
"A daughter who is married off is like water that has been poured out. Lord Ming, please be more open-minded. Be more open-minded."
Ming Jingzhou left the civil servants who were trying to comfort him and stepped into the carriage with a sullen face.
It's easy to say, but the one who's getting married isn't their daughter, is this something they can easily get over?
What's wrong with my daughter? Doesn't she feel sorry for her?
As a depressed old father, Ming Jingzhou looked at his colleagues, with whom he had a good relationship on weekdays, and began to feel uncomfortable with them.
When he returned home, he looked at his well-behaved, cute and beautiful daughter and almost shed two sad tears.
Seeing his expression, Shen knew that he still could not accept the fact that his daughter was going to marry Prince Chen. While comforting him, she called her nephew to take Jiuzhu out for a walk.
These days she is always worried and even dares not let her daughter go out. It seemed as if as soon as she stepped out of the door, her daughter would disappear and never be found again.
Jiuzhu was very well-behaved. She was not allowed to go out, so he stayed with her in the mansion and never made a fuss about going out.
But His Majesty was determined to make his daughter the Princess of Chen, and as a mother, she had to force herself to learn to let go. She didn't want to imprison her daughter because of this love wrapped in guilt. That was not love, but harm.
"My daughter doesn't like going out and wants to stay at home with you." Jiuzhu gently held Shen's hand, her eyes brighter than the stars.
"Your father and I have something to do. You and your cousin can go out and pick out a few boxes of rouge for me." Shen smiled and helped her tidy up the shawl: "Go ahead, and ask the kitchen to cook your favorite dishes tonight."
"Then my daughter will be back soon." Jiuzhu held Shen's hand with some force before standing up and walking out the door.
Shen stood up unconsciously, took two steps towards the door, and forced herself to stop.
"Mother." Jiuzhu, who had already walked out the door, turned around and smiled at Shen: "I want to eat eggplant pods tonight, don't forget it."
The moment her daughter turned back with a smile, Shen's heart calmed down.
Her child is here.
Like an ordinary child, she would act coquettishly with her family before going out and keep talking about what she wanted to eat in the evening.
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