Chapter 159: True Image Reads the Imperial Edict
After leaving the Chu family's shop, Song Yunchu got on the carriage and told Bai Zhu, "Go to Xingyue Pavilion."
Beautiful clothes must be matched with beautiful jewelry. Xingyue Pavilion is the most famous jewelry store in this area. It is deeply favored by noble ladies because of its meticulous workmanship and exquisite and diverse styles.
The carriage drove for a while and arrived outside the gate of Xingyue Pavilion.
As soon as Song Yunchu stepped through the threshold, the shopkeeper came up to greet him warmly, "Master Song, you are here? I have already prepared the jewelry you ordered last time."
Song Yunchu responded indifferently and was led to the second floor by the shopkeeper.
The jewelry in Xingyue Pavilion was famous for its exquisiteness, but it was divided into different grades. The price mainly depended on the materials. The noble ladies would customize their jewelry with high-quality jade, pearls, agate or gemstones as the materials, and the benefits she prepared for her subordinates were also of the same grade as those of the noble ladies.
After returning from the west of the city, the dog emperor gave her a lot of rewards. She planned to use 30% of the rewards to reward his subordinates. Most of the guards in the prime minister's mansion were men, and the silver and wine rewards for the men were enough to make them happy. Few women liked to drink, so naturally it would be better to reward them with jewelry. Even if they didn't like to wear them, they could keep them and sell them later.
She didn't like those common styles, so she designed some patterns in her spare time and gave them to Xingyue Pavilion for customization. The owner of Xingyue Pavilion took her business and was very happy. He repeatedly promised to speed up the production and complete it as soon as possible.
Look, in just a few days, the goods were delivered.
The shopkeeper led her to the counter and took her goods out of the locked drawer.
He lifted the red silk cloth, and on the tray lay rows of exquisite hairpins and bracelets, which were colorful and dazzling.
"My Lord, are you satisfied?"
Song Yunchu raised the corner of his lips, "It is worthy of the Xingyue Pavilion, the craftsmanship is exquisite and the reputation is well-deserved."
"Your Excellency, I appreciate your compliment." The shopkeeper said with a smile, "If there is nothing that needs to be changed, I will do it all for you right away."
"Well, wrap it up."
Not far behind Song Yunchu, several female guests gathered together and talked in low voices.
"Is that Lord Song? This is the first time I've seen Lord Song."
"This is the first time you see it. How did you recognize it?"
"Tsk, you are too uninformed. Look at the hair crown he is wearing, a snake-shaped purple gold crown. How many people in our Tianqi country have it? Apart from Prime Minister Song, there are only two other old princes."
"So this is Mr. Song, he is so handsome... I wonder which girl he is going to give these jewelry to."
"Maybe it's for his fiancée, Miss Jiang."
As soon as the word "Miss Jiang" came out, a pink figure in the corner raised her head.
Jiang Yuxi was a frequent visitor to Xingyue Pavilion, coming here several times every month. She had not expected to see Song Yunchu today.
Song Yunchu and Jun Tianyi were not on good terms. Since they were on the same turf, she would naturally avoid him if possible. It was impossible for this guy to put on airs everywhere he went. As long as he didn't use his power as an authority and the guests didn't have to go out of their way to greet him, she would just pretend not to see him.
But the discussions of the female guests made it impossible for her to ignore Song Yunchu's presence.
She glanced at the hair crown on Song Yunchu's head and gritted her teeth secretly.
Recalling that when the late emperor was still alive, he valued the prince very much. The prince also had made contributions to the court in suppressing bandits. If the late emperor could live a few more years, he would definitely make use of the prince, and this purple gold crown would also be in the prince's pocket.
Unfortunately, the new emperor does not value the prince very much, and all the benefits were taken by the thief Song.
No matter how much merit this man has made, he is just a minister and has no royal blood flowing in his body. However, His Majesty still awarded him the snake-coiled purple gold crown. Now he wears it everywhere to show off, which is annoying to look at.
Jiang Yuxi was naturally not happy to see Song Yunchu enjoying success. The more successful he was, the more support Jiang Rumin would have.
However... she had heard some rumors recently. There seemed to be a rumor on the streets saying that Miss Jiang and Prime Minister Song were not compatible in fate, and if they were to get together, it might bring disaster. It sounded very mysterious.
Jiang Yuxi was just thinking this when the other female guests started discussing this point.
"Haven't you heard about it? I'm afraid that Mr. Song and Miss Jiang won't be able to get married. Recently, storytellers in major teahouses have been talking about the astronomical phenomenon of two stars accompanying each other."
"I've heard a little bit about it, could it be a scam?"
"It is true that Miss Jiang is a miracle doctor. She has always been known as the Phoenix Girl. This time she saved so many people in the west of the city. It shows that auspicious celestial phenomena are credible. My mother believes in this very much. She said that the position of Madam Song in the future is vacant."
The female guests' voices contained either regret or excitement.
If the position of Prime Minister Song's wife is vacant, it means that all the noble ladies have a chance.
Just looking at how Lord Song spends his money, you can tell that becoming Mrs. Song would be a life of jewels and luxury, and extremely respectable.
Jiang Yuxi gritted her teeth secretly.
She had originally spent a lot of money spreading rumors. The title of Phoenix Girl originally belonged to her. She had thought that Jiang Rumin would become more miserable after moving out of the Duke's Mansion, but she didn't expect that her life would get better and better, and even the title of Phoenix Girl could be snatched away by her.
Oh... If the rumor about the two stars accompanying each other spreads thoroughly, even if Jiang Rumin gets the title of Phoenix Girl, what will happen? She won't be able to become Mrs. Song.
Thinking of this, Jiang Yuxi felt better.
Originally, because Jiang Rumin and Song Yunchu were engaged, she couldn't openly go to Ruihetang to cause trouble. If this marriage was cancelled, it would be easier for her to deal with Jiang Rumin.
At the counter, Song Yunchu naturally heard the female customers' discussions.
This story, fabricated by Mr. Kongxu at the request of the Dog Emperor, has spread throughout the imperial city through word of mouth.
Given the harshness of the world towards women, it was inevitable that women who repeatedly broke off engagements would be criticized. But now people's focus was all on the celestial phenomena, and when she and Jiang Rumin had made great achievements, the saying "lucky stars collided" was put forward, which created considerable credibility among the people and helped them to break up.
Seeing the shopkeeper packing the jewelry, Song Yunchu said to Bai Zhu, "Let's go."
As soon as Song Yunchu and his servant left, the female guests surrounded the shopkeeper and asked questions.
"Shopkeeper, the hairpins that Mr. Song bought are really beautiful. Do you have any more?"
"I just took a look from a distance. The bracelet on the corner of the tray is also beautiful, but why don't I see anything similar on the shelf? Shopkeeper, do you hide your good things from people when you do business?"
Facing the guests' inquiries, the shopkeeper quickly explained: "You are all regular customers. How could I hide my good things from you? The jewelry that Mr. Song bought just now was custom-made by someone he sent in advance, and the jewelry was from the Song Mansion. I dare not imitate the style he specified."
Upon hearing this, the female guests expressed their regrets.
"Then, shopkeeper, do you know who Mr. Song is going to give all these jewels to?"
"I heard Lord Song and his followers exchange some words about this." The shopkeeper replied, "It seems that Lord Song used it to reward his subordinates. There are some female guards in the Song Mansion. Isn't it the Flower Goddess Festival soon? These jewels will be decent to wear out."
"Give it to a subordinate? Did you hear me correctly?"
"The servants in the Prime Minister's Mansion can all wear jewelry customized by Xingyue Pavilion? This Lord Song is really generous with his money."
Even though they knew that Song Yunchu was very generous, they were still shocked by his behavior.
The attire of the female guards in the prime minister's residence is as good as that of these rich ladies.
The more she knew about Mr. Song, the more she wanted to marry him.
Unfortunately, there is only one Lord Song, and the women who want to be Mrs. Song line up from the east to the south of the city. I don’t know who will be lucky enough to do so in the end.
Behind the crowd, Jiang Yuxi sneered, turned around and left Xingyue Pavilion.
Those jewellery were not bought for Jiang Rumin, but given to the servants?
I heard that after Jiang Rumin came back from the west of the city, he still lived in the small place of Ruihetang.
Song the dog thief's attitude towards Jiang Rumin... is just that.
…
The next day, the sun was warm.
The aroma of tea floats in the imperial study.
Jun Liluo took a sip of hot tea, picked up a few memorials on the table and handed them in the direction of Song Yunchu.
"Yun Chu, come and take a look at these memorials."
Song Yunchu stood up, took the letter, opened it, and raised his eyebrows slightly.
The contents of these memorials were all requests to the emperor to cancel her and Jiang Rumin's arranged marriage. The general meaning was that the theory of celestial phenomena had sparked heated discussions among the people. If Prime Minister Song really married Miss Jiang, the people would probably be uneasy.
Even officials began to report the incident, which shows the influence of this matter.
"The astronomical event has reached this stage, and it is time to wrap it up."
Song Yunchu closed the memorial, bowed to Jun Liluo and said, "Your Majesty, this is a brilliant move."
Although she lowered her head, Jun Liluo could see the slight curve at the corner of her lips.
A smile also appeared in his eyes, "I will immediately draft an order to cancel your engagement."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Song Yunchu said, "I would like to ask Your Majesty to let me read out this imperial decree and cancel the engagement without avoiding suspicion, so that both parties can appear open and honest."
"Okay, as you wish."
…
It was a cool afternoon breeze. Jiang Rumin was sitting at the counter counting medicinal herbs. Out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of a slender figure slowly approaching.
Jiang Rumin originally thought that the man came to see a doctor and buy medicine, so she turned around to greet him. However, when she turned around, she saw a face she had not seen for a long time.
"Sister, I haven't seen you for a long time. You don't look any better than before."
Jiang Yuxi said slowly, "It's been a few days since you moved out of the Duke's Mansion. Have you ever regretted it?"
Jiang Rumin heard this and responded expressionlessly: "Why should I regret it?"
"Originally, you thought that with Prime Minister Song's support, it would be okay for you to leave the Duke's Mansion, but did you know that your engagement with him would be annulled soon?"
Jiang Yuxi's eyes revealed a cold smile, "Sister, I heard some rumors that the two of you cannot be together because of your conflicting fates."
Jiang Yuxi thought Jiang Rumin would change her expression, but she didn't expect her to respond calmly, "So what if we can't be husband and wife? If I get into trouble, Lord Song will still be willing to help me."
"Don't be ridiculous. You don't really think he likes you that much, do you? If I tell you that the servants in Song Xiang's mansion are more generous than you, would you believe it?"
Jiang Yuxi thought Jiang Rumin was just pretending to be calm, but she was actually feeling extremely bitter.
But Jiang Rumin's expression did not change much. She just asked her curiously, "What happened to the servants in Song Xiang's mansion?"
"He ordered a bunch of jewelry at Xingyue Pavilion. The guests were envious. I went to the shopkeeper to ask him about it. I heard that all of it was given as a reward to the servants. Let me ask you, you have known him for such a long time. How many things has he given you? Does he really care about you? He is so generous to his servants, but he never thought of coming to comfort you."
Jiang Yuxi said in a sarcastic tone, "You have been fighting with me for so many years, always thinking of defeating me, but you are not as good as me after all. My father dotes on me more, and the prince trusts me more. You know that you are not liked by them, and you think that becoming Mrs. Song will also bring you glory, but Prime Minister Song doesn't care about you at all. You are dispensable to him."
"He received a generous reward from His Majesty as soon as he returned from the west of the city, but what about you? You got nothing except the title of a miracle doctor. How much money can you make from treating patients in a day? If you really can't make it, you might as well go back to the mansion and beg me and my father for help."
The reason why she dared to come and sneer was naturally because she had already received the news.
There are many gossips and many people in the palace. The prince has several spies in the palace who will find opportunities to pass on messages to the prince.
The fact that Song Yunchu and Jiang Rumin broke off their engagement was hardly a secret in the palace. It was said that many ministers submitted memorials to His Majesty and some even went to the Imperial Study to request His Majesty to cancel the marriage.
Maybe they didn’t believe in the celestial phenomena, but the news of the celestial phenomena was widely spread among the people, and many people believed it, so - canceling the engagement could appease the people.
Jiang Rumin really can't become the Prime Minister's wife.
"Are you done? If you're done, leave now. Don't block the door and interfere with my business."
Jiang Rumin looked down and flipped through the account book without changing his expression. "You have always had an inexplicable desire to win, and your self-righteousness has become more and more serious. I can't cure this disease, so you should find someone else who can help you."
She used to think Jiang Yuxi was hateful, but now she just thinks Jiang Yuxi is ridiculous.
If someone makes malicious assumptions about others and treats others maliciously, he will eventually be killed by himself.
Jiang Yuxi saw Jiang Rumin mocking her in return, her face darkened, and just as she was about to continue speaking, she heard the sound of a horse being reined in behind her -
"Ouch"
Jiang Yuxi turned her head and her expression changed slightly.
The carriage behind him was spacious and luxurious, and the driver was Bai Zhu.
Behind this carriage, there were three more carriages following closely.
There are four horse-drawn carriages parked on the side of the road. They look like they are carrying goods?
Bai Zhu lifted the curtain, Song Yunchu leaned out, and when he landed, he took the brocade box containing two imperial edicts from Bai Zhu's hand.
She glanced at Jiang Yuxi who was a few feet away and raised her eyebrows slightly, "Second Miss Jiang is here too? It's been a long time."
Jiang Yuxi calmed down a bit, bowed and said, "Hello, Master Song. My elder sister has been away from home for a long time, so I came to visit her."
"Miss Jiang is very considerate. Now that you are here, let's listen to the good news about your eldest sister."
As Song Yunchu spoke, he walked to the counter, put down the brocade box, and took out a bright yellow silk book from the box.
"I am here at the order of His Majesty to read the imperial edict."
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