When Lu Yuyan came to Tongjia Hospital to see Zhu Yu, he was writing down the precautions during pregnancy that Ayan had just mentioned.
Upon seeing Lu Yuyan enter, before he could even speak, Zhu Yu extended his hand: "Let me take your pulse and see how my body is now."
While taking his pulse, Lu Yuyan asked, "Have you really not taken the contraceptive pills I gave you during this time?"
"Yes, I ate it."
"Then what did you do just now? Zhu Yu, you did it on purpose, you deliberately let your older brother hear what you just said."
"yes."
"Huh? Why?"
Zhu Yu glanced at Lu Yuyan indifferently: "Now that we're back in Shengjing, Lu Xiaoyun has been in the palace for so long and hasn't returned yet. Guess what the Emperor is keeping her in the palace for?"
Lu Yuyan's forehead vein throbbed: "Zhu Dan wouldn't be so shameless, would he?"
"Heh, who knows?"
He clearly remembered that when they were about to leave for Nanliang, Lu Xiaoyun came to say goodbye. When she came out, she didn't look well. He asked her if Zhu Dan had made things difficult for her. She didn't say anything, only that she would handle it. But how could he not know?
"So, you want your elder brother to completely accept 'Prince An' as his brother-in-law?"
“Smart. You know your older brother, he’s very stubborn. Last time it was because there was no cure for the poison of the Four-Colored Grass, he had no choice but to do this.”
"If the fifth prince, as the emperor, were to force your elder sister to become empress, would Father and eldest brother object?"
Lu Yuyan shook his head. They were people of the past, and loyalty to the emperor was ingrained in their bones.
"But what if Father and my eldest brother knew that I had been with her all this time, and that we weren't forced to consummate our marriage at the time? What would Father and my eldest brother do if the fifth prince still wanted to force your sister to become empress?"
They naturally couldn't agree to that anymore. Their daughter was already Prince An's woman, and they had slept with her so many times. How could they possibly marry her off to the emperor?
Another point is that the two of them had been divorced. Generally speaking, families with some status would not marry divorced women, let alone a king.
If Zhu Dan were to insist on making his elder sister empress, he would face opposition from everyone.
Lu Yuyan gave Zhu Yu a thumbs up, saying that Zhu Yu was indeed cunning.
They only have 3,000 points left, and they can exchange them back in three or four months at most.
Lu Yuyan released his hand from taking her pulse: "It's very good, she's recovering better than I expected."
Zhu Yu looked into Lu Yuyan's eyes: "So, what you told me a few months ago about needing to recuperate for two or three years was also a lie to me and Lu Xiaoyun?"
Lu Yuyan paused in putting away the pulse pillow: "Zhu Yu, being too perceptive is not good."
"Heh, so you admit it?"
Lu Yuyan spread his hands: "What else can we do? The old emperor issued that stupid imperial decree, and you and my sister are both so irresponsible. What if you get pregnant? Should we keep the child or not?"
Zhu Yu nodded: "That's true, thank you for your trouble, brother-in-law."
Lu Yuyan scoffed at him, packed her things, and left.
After Lu Yuyan left, Zhu Yu fiddled with the jade bracelet on his wrist, wondering what way he could raise his score again.
He asked Li Feng, "What has the Second Miss been doing all this time?"
Li Feng's face fell: "Miss, after you left, the Second Miss tried every means to please the Duke, slapping herself and kneeling down, and personally serving the Duke meals every day. The Duke thought she had truly changed her ways, so he lifted her confinement."
Oh, so you're about to cause trouble again?
“She has been frequently associating with the young ladies of various families lately. All her scandalous affairs have occurred within the mansion, and the young ladies outside are unaware of the inside story of her stepfather... ugh, Fang Shi's affairs, so they are all willing to associate with her.”
Zhu Yu listened quietly.
Who does she associate with?
"There's You Limin, the daughter of the Minister of Works; the daughter of the Vice Minister of Revenue; and Xie Lan, the youngest daughter of the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy. These are all fine, but I've heard that she's very close to the eldest princess."
"Hasn't the eldest princess gone to the northwest with her husband yet?"
Li Feng nodded: "Yes, yes, I heard that the eldest princess dislikes the harshness of the northwest and is unwilling to go."
In reality, the prince consort meant that she didn't want to go with him, and since she couldn't endure the hardships of the Northwest, she didn't go.
The eldest princess, Zhu Ruorou, married Xiao Cheng. After the death of the Duke of Yingguo, Zhu Dan transferred him to the Northwest to guard the region.
I thought my eldest sister would set off for the Northwest after observing three months of mourning for our father, but I never expected that she, the eldest princess, would be completely controlled by her husband.
This eldest princess was selfish even before she got married. Now that she's so close to Lu Jinmi, I wonder what kind of trouble she's going to cause.
After returning to the Prince An's residence from the palace, Lu Xiaoyun was overwhelmed with official duties. She didn't leave her study until dinner.
Lu Yuyan returned to the Prince An's residence and told her about her sister-in-law's intuition. After that, she also went straight to the pharmacy to prepare medicine.
The following morning at court, Gu Weizhi and Guo Shaoning brought up the issue of the hereditary official system again, more than three months after their previous meeting.
In late August, the two men brought it up once, but at that time the emperor only left a message saying, "I also think this is inappropriate. However, what Prime Minister Gu and Minister Guo said also makes sense. I will give this matter some time to think about it," and then nothing more was said.
The hereditary powerful families gathered together for a long time to discuss the matter extensively. Some even proposed to stage a sit-in at the entrance of the council hall to force the emperor to back down.
As a result, several months passed, and the emperor did not mention the matter at all. They thought the emperor had forgotten about it, but they did not expect that the two of them would bring it up again today.
Everyone knows that these two men are the Left Prime Minister appointed by the Emperor and the newly appointed top scholar appointed by the Emperor. Their words were not at the Emperor's behest.
As soon as Gu Weizhi and Guo Shaoning finished speaking, the ministers in the court who had climbed up the ranks through the hereditary official system immediately objected.
Led by the two former and current top scholars, a considerable number of officials now hold positions in the court through their own hard work and merit. The two sides argued heatedly.
It seems they're determined to fight before they'll stop.
Looking at the noisy morning court session, and then at Zhu Dan, who sat steadily on the dragon throne with a faint smile on his face, Lu Xiaoyun truly admired him.
Emperor Zhu Dan is becoming increasingly adept at ruling; in just a few months, his imperial skills have reached a level of perfection.
Lu Xiaoyun coughed loudly and raised her voice, saying, "What kind of behavior is this, making such a racket! This is the morning court session, the Hall of State Affairs, not a teahouse, a theater, or a vegetable market!"
Lu Xiaoyun scanned the crowd: "What? The Emperor is gentle and good-tempered, so you all disregard him and want to argue however you want! If things could be resolved through arguing, what would be the point of having you ministers? A few shrewish women who curse in the streets would be better at arguing than you!"
Upon hearing this, the two sides that had been arguing fiercely immediately fell silent, and many people even secretly glanced at the young emperor sitting on the dragon throne watching them.
A scholar-official lamented, "His Highness Prince An is absolutely right. Their noise is utterly disgraceful, a disgrace to culture!"
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