The old lady was very concerned about this visit to the palace.
As soon as Wan Jinlan returned home, he went straight to Jinchun Hall.
The old lady asked in detail about what happened after entering the palace, and Wan Jinlan answered one by one.
The next day, the palace issued two imperial edicts, one to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion and the other to the Prince of Duan's Mansion.
When the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict arrived, everyone in the mansion had just finished breakfast.
The Empress Dowager's Decree:
By the Will of Heaven, the Emperor proclaims, "I have heard that the daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo, Wan Jinlan, is beautiful and intelligent, of outstanding character and appearance, and is gentle and honest. The Empress Dowager is very pleased to hear this. Now that the Prince of Qi is getting married, he should choose a virtuous woman to be his match."
At this time, Wan Jinlan is still unmarried, and you and the King of Qi are a perfect match. In order to complete the beauty of this beautiful woman, I will betroth you to the King of Qi as his princess.
All ceremonies were jointly handled by the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, and an auspicious date was chosen for the wedding.
I hereby order you."
The eunuch who announced the decree smiled and said, "Miss Wan, please accept the decree."
After Wan Jinlan received the order, everyone in the mansion stood up.
"You must have been exhausted from the trip, eunuch. Why don't you have some tea in the mansion?"
Shen Qing asked Aunt Cuiwen to give a purse to the father-in-law who announced the decree.
The eunuch took it with a smile, "Forget about the tea. The Queen Mother still needs us, and we have to return to the palace. When His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi marries Miss Wan, we will come and ask for a glass of wedding wine."
Shen Qing smiled and said, "That's for sure."
"The Empress Dowager likes Miss Wan and has specially rewarded her with a jade ruyi, three sets of head ornaments, twenty pieces of brocade, and a hot spring villa."
The young eunuchs behind the eunuch handed the wooden tray covered with red cloth to the servants of the eunuch's mansion.
After everyone left, Wan Jinlan picked up the title deed of the hot spring villa and took a look. It was actually in the north of the imperial city, and seemed to be not far from the North Palace.
Second Madam Lin felt jealous and thought that Shen was really lucky.
Although she came from a merchant family, she married into a government mansion as the eldest daughter-in-law.
She had two sons and one daughter. Not only were her sons very capable, but her daughter's marriage was also arranged by no one in the whole mansion who could marry her better than the King of Qi.
Wan Qiuyu was in a daze.
In the past two days, she asked Aunt Zhao and learned that Wan Jinlan fell off a cliff near Huayan Temple last year.
She was glad that the letter was delivered in time, otherwise, Wan Jinlan would not be involved with King Qi now.
Wan Qiuyu now feels a little gloating because Wan Jinlan is destined to be a widow.
Wan Jinlan glanced casually and saw Wan Qiuyu looking at her and smiling. There was something strange in his eyes. She frowned slightly.
Wan Qiuyu stepped forward and said sincerely, "Congratulations, Third Sister."
The atmosphere in the mansion was quite harmonious, but Wang Minghui, the queen's maiden family, did not look very happy when she received the imperial edict.
The Wang family naturally fully supported Prince An, who was born to the Queen. The Queen also agreed with the Wang family and married Wang Minghui to Prince Duan, just to occupy his position as the princess and prevent Prince Duan from getting help from his wife's family.
The entire Wang family knew why, and Wang Minghui naturally knew it too. As the one who was abandoned, how could she be happy?
Not to mention Wang Minghui, Xiao Minghuan, another party involved in this marriage, was also not very happy.
He planned his own marriage and first took a fancy to Wan Jinlan, but Wan Jinlan was married to the King of Qi; then he took a fancy to Song Yun, the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Wuning, but Song Yun was married to the Sixth Prince. His efforts were in vain and he ended up making wedding dresses for others.
Now, this Queen's niece sounds good, but to him, she is completely useless! Moreover, Wang Minghui's reputation is still blemish.
Xiao Minghuan clenched his fists.
Concubine Wan is not close to him now, which makes him very angry.
If the mountain doesn't come to him, he'll go to the mountain. No matter what happens inside, his relationship with the government must be close in front of outsiders.
Ever since the imperial decree granting the marriage was issued, Wan Jinlan felt much more at ease.
Compared with other sons of noble families in Kyoto, the Prince of Qi has a high position, is handsome, has his own palace outside the palace, does not have to live with his mother-in-law, and has no other elders in the palace. In all aspects, she likes such a husband very much.
Now that her marriage was settled, she no longer had to worry about what kind of marriage her grandmother would arrange for her.
Half a month later, the day of the palace examination arrived.
Even though Wan Zhijing was a carefree person, he was so nervous that he almost didn't sleep the whole night before the palace examination.
For Wan Jinlan, she had only played two games of chess with her grandfather, and before lunch time, Wan Zhijing returned from the palace.
Wan Zhijing looked as if he was in a trance and seemed to be dazed even when walking.
The old Duke picked up his spear and stabbed forward.
Wan Zhijing let out a cry and shouted angrily, "Grandfather!"
The old Duke was full of energy and said, "Come and fight with me."
Wan Zhijing groaned in his heart, he was no match for his grandfather.
After it was over, Wan Zhijing was panting with exhaustion, but his previous anxiety had also disappeared.
"Brother, how do you feel about yourself?" Wan Jinlan asked.
Her good sister Fang Biqu's brother Fang Xiu won the first place in the imperial examination three times in a row and is also a popular candidate for the top scholar.
Anyang also said that the imperial concubine's aunt had asked people to inquire about Fang Xiu.
Since ancient times, there have been many cases of people choosing a son-in-law based on the list of candidates.
Censor Fang was a censor, and the most hated among all censors. Fang Xiu's marriage had not been smooth before, but after he won the top three places in the imperial examinations, the Fang family's doorstep became more prosperous.
Concubine Wan also inquired about Fang Xiu, but she revealed some clues. Princess Anyang heard the news and secretly left the palace to meet Fang Xiu. Seeing Fang Xiu's "honest" appearance and seemingly dull, her heart was half dead.
Wan Zhijing wiped the sweat from his forehead, and his pounding heartbeat slowed down after he came out of the palace.
"It should be okay." Wan Zhijing didn't say it too confidently, but the key point was that he really felt too good about himself, so when he came back today, his steps were still unsteady and it didn't feel real.
Two days later, it was the day to announce the results.
On that day, Wan Jinlan and Wan Jinyu left home early in a carriage. They thought they had arrived very early, but they could not even squeeze into the place where the list was posted. It would not be an exaggeration to say that there were huge crowds of people here.
Fortunately, the two of them had made preparations and booked a private room in Wangjiang Tower. Standing in front of the window on the third floor, they could just see the parade of the top scorer and the successful Jinshi scholars.
Wan Zhijing's servant went to wait in front of the palace wall of Chengtian Gate early. When the list was posted, he saw that the third row of the first class was the name of their young master.
The servant's shoe was squeezed off, but his mouth stretched to the heels of his ears, and he kept saying excitedly, "I got it, I got it, the third place winner, our young master is the third place winner!"
Wan Jinlan left some servants outside. When the news reached Wangjiang Tower, Wan Jinlan and Wan Jinyu hugged each other happily.
Wan Jinlan didn't expect that her brother was so capable and his ranking was even better than in the provincial and imperial examinations.
In the Duke Zhenguo's Mansion, the old lady almost cried with joy.
The mansion was a military family, but during peaceful times, the status of scholars was always higher than that of military generals. The old lady gave birth to three sons, and only the third son had some talent for studying. However, he did not make any achievements in the imperial examinations. Even his entry into officialdom depended on his family background, so his future prospects were not foreseeable at a glance.
Among the grandchildren in the family, the eldest son of the second wife Lin is quite good. Although he is the last one in the third class of Jinshi, he has passed the imperial examination after all.
Now, she finally has a grandson who makes her proud.
The old lady's heart was so happy that she almost flew away.
If she wasn't so old, she would have gone to watch the parade of the top scholar today.
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