Qin Wan sighed again after she finished speaking, "I'm a kind-hearted person, but I can't stand seeing others make a fool of themselves. Let me remind you again, even if you are granted the title of Imperial Consort, your rank is dependent on your husband, while I earned the title of Princess through my own merits."
"In other words, no matter what rank a princess holds, it's an imperial decree. Apart from paying respects to the royal family, I don't need to greet anyone else. Madam Bai, learn this well. There are many rules in the capital."
Bai Wanyi's face turned red and white with anger. She didn't know what to say. She could only watch Qin Wan enter the door of Yuchuan Tea. She stomped her feet hard, turned around and rushed home.
Lu Yan was lying on the couch in the study with injuries all over his body. He originally thought that he was very skilled in martial arts, but after participating in the military competition, he realized that there are always people better than you.
Moreover, many people came for him, and seemed to be playing with him in the ring. They could have defeated him in a few moves, but instead they had to spend dozens of moves and watched him struggle before kicking him off the ring.
Lu Yan sometimes thought that he would just lose like this, but unfortunately, he either advanced by the last bit or was resurrected in the resurrection match.
At this point, if Lu Yan didn't understand that no one was giving instructions or doing anything behind the scenes, then all these years would have been lived in vain.
However, he had already been put on the stage and had no choice but to participate.
What's more, the champion was worth one thousand taels of gold, and now, His Majesty has added another five hundred taels of gold, which converts to a total of fifteen thousand taels of silver! With this amount of silver, the Marquis's Mansion can have a good New Year this year.
After all, each of his two wives gave him 20,000 taels, and he couldn't ask them for money during the New Year. He was a man and should earn money to support his family.
The family's farm and shop were running low, so they couldn't move. Previously, all they had sold were valuable antiques, calligraphy, and paintings from the bottom of their chests. They had to sell another shop to barely scrape together enough money to pay it back to the Ministry of Revenue.
He wanted to redeem it but was powerless. If he could get this money, he would redeem some of it. After all, it was passed down from his ancestors...
"Brother Yan!"
Lu Yan was lost in thought when he heard a soft cry. While he was stunned, a soft and delicate body fell on him.
Lu Yan groaned and struggled to free himself: "Wanyi? Get up, you're hurting me."
Bai Wanyi was stunned. He quickly helped Lu Yan up and gave him a large pillow to lean on. "Where are you hurt? How did you get hurt?"
Lu Yan's expression turned cold. He had been injured during this period. Even though he seldom went to the backyard, Bai Wanyi was the mistress. If she wanted to know, she could just ask the maid about his recent situation. But now, hearing her say this, she had never asked before.
Bai Wan saw that he didn't answer, and alarm bells immediately rang in her heart. She turned to look at Chu Yun.
Chu Yun hesitated for a moment, then quickly turned around and went out to inquire.
Bai Wanyi went to serve tea first: "Have some tea."
Lu Yan snorted and asked her, "You are rarely so reckless. What's the matter? Tell me."
Bai Wanyi's eyes immediately turned red. "The nanny my grandmother gave me before only taught me some of the rules of aristocratic families, but didn't tell me that the Marquis' wife also needed to apply for an imperial decree. Why didn't you ask for one for me?"
Lu Yan frowned and looked at Bai Wanyi: "Is that the case?"
"That's right." Bai Wanyi was very unhappy: "Why do you think it's not a big deal? Did Qin Wan have an imperial decree before?"
Lu Yan's face darkened at the mention of Qin Wan. He snorted and said, "I was urgently summoned to the border the day before my wedding. You know that. Although the Xuanwu Marquis's Mansion isn't as powerful as it used to be, the Xuanwu Marquis has made great contributions. To honor him and appease me, His Majesty not only gave him the honor of having the Crown Prince escort the bride, but also conferred the title of First Rank Lady on me on the day of the wedding."
Bai Wanyi didn't understand: "First Rank Lady? Isn't that the Marquis' Lady?"
Lu Yan shook his head. "There are nine grades of Imperial Consorts. The lowest is Ru Ren, and upwards are An Ren, Yi Ren, and finally Lady of the State. Lady of the State is usually the Lady of a Duke, and Lady of a Marquis usually has Lady of the County, Shu Ren, and Shuo Ren."
Bai Wanyi caught the term "County Lady" and asked, "Is the title of County Lady higher than that of Princess?"
Lu Yan frowned and stared at Bai Wanyi: "Why are you asking this?"
"Isn't it Qin Wan? Now that she has been conferred the title of princess, she is very proud. She even asked me to salute her in public!" Bai Wanyi pouted, extremely angry.
Lu Yan had been so engrossed in the martial arts competition these past few days that he hadn't even heard of this. "When was she given the title of Princess?"
Bai Wanyi got even angrier when he talked about this: "Didn't they say they handed over some high-yield grain seeds? Bah, how high-yield can they be? I can still produce seeds that can yield 2,000 or 3,000 kilograms per mu. Corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, which one can't yield several thousand kilograms per mu? A few dan are nothing!"
Lu Yan didn't understand what she said, but she was always like this, he was used to it, so he only asked about what concerned him: "Is it because of this that she was named a princess?"
"Isn't it? She was shaking so badly." Bai Wanyi got angry whenever he thought about it. "She asked me to bow to her, and I said she should bow to me instead. She laughed at me for not having an imperial decree. Brother Yan, please help me get one. There's no hope for the title of Lady of the State for now, so I can get the title of Lady of a County. A Lady of a County is older than her, right?"
Bai Wanyi rubbed Lu Yan's shoulder gently. He used to be very susceptible to this, but he didn't notice that his face wrinkled because of her action.
Lu Yan sighed softly, supported her shoulders and pushed her away, saying, "A Consort of Imperial Consort only has a salary but no real power. It's just a symbol of honor. On the other hand, a Princess is bestowed by the royal family and also has fiefdoms. Therefore, it's a title with real power. In terms of rank, a Princess is not as high as a Consort of Imperial Consort. However, you still have to bow to her when you see her, because even if she's not the future Crown Princess, she's still a Princess with real power, personally appointed by His Majesty."
Bai Wanyi's face turned grim. "So, even if I'm the Queen, it's useless? His Majesty personally bestowed the title, so who isn't personally bestowed the title?"
She thought of shaking the mushroom and said, "You are the imperial concubine appointed by His Majesty himself, and I am the queen appointed by His Majesty himself. Who is more noble?"
Although Bai Wanyi was not convinced, he still asked Lu Yan to help him get the imperial edict.
Lu Yan thought about it and agreed: "There will be a military competition soon, which will end after the Mid-Autumn Festival. Once I get my ranking, I will ask His Majesty for a title."
"Thank you, Brother Yan!" Bai Wanyi agreed in a sweet voice and rubbed Lu Yan's shoulder lightly.
Lu Yan used to like Bai Wanyi like this, but now seeing the traces of time on her face, it was particularly awkward for her to act like a little girl. He frowned and looked outside. Seeing Chu Yun come in, he hurriedly called to her, "Chu Yun, help me get the medicine for my wound."
"Yes." Chu Yun took out the medicine and brought it to the bedside. He took Bai Wanyi's hand off Lu Yan's waist and put the medicine into her hand. "Madam, there is a military competition recently. The winner will receive a reward of 1,500 taels. The Marquis has put a lot of thought into the competition and has been injured. Please help the Marquis apply the medicine."
Note: This is divided into nine levels according to the titles of women in the Song Dynasty, namely, Lady of the State, Lady of the County, Lady of Virtuous Lady, Lady of Great Excellence, Lady of Respect, Lady of Pleasantness, Lady of Peace, and Lady of Childishness.
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