"Yes, get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
The Emperor looked the two over and suddenly asked, "Are you married?"
The female guests held their breath, listening to what Su Yi had to say.
Su Yi replied, "My family has already arranged a marriage for me. Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty."
Su Cheng said, "Your Majesty, I am not yet married. We will consider this matter after you are married, brother."
Many of the female guests looked disappointed. Everyone knew that Su Yi had a fiancée, and if he didn't say anything when the Emperor asked, it would be considered that he didn't have one.
Now that it's public, it's impossible for them to find another son-in-law. As for his younger brother, he's a reckless military man and is basically not within their consideration.
"Hahaha, Minister Su, is your brother urging you to get married soon?"
Su Cheng blushed. "Your Majesty..." he began, but didn't know what to say, afraid of saying the wrong thing.
Su Yi, however, was quite composed. "Your Majesty, I have indeed reached the age where I must get married. I will take my fiancée back home this year to get married."
The Emperor asked, "Is she here today as well?"
Su Yi said indulgently, "She's here. I brought her to broaden her horizons."
The phrase "seeing the world" made everyone secretly laugh. The Empress spoke up at the right moment, "Your Majesty, since that's the case, then bestow a marriage upon the two newlyweds, so that the lovers may be united in the end."
"Yes, Your Majesty is right. Where is Su Yi's fiancée?"
Liu Huan stepped forward and said, "This commoner greets Your Majesty and Your Majesty the Empress."
"Yes, get up!"
The Empress looked at Liu Huan and said, "I had long heard that the two of you were childhood sweethearts, and now that I have met you, you are truly a match made in heaven."
"In that case, I will bestow a marriage upon the two of them and grant Minister Su leave to go back and settle her life's important matter."
The emperor was pleased with the situation at the border and even rewarded Liu Huan with a set of jewelry.
"Since His Majesty has also bestowed a gift, then I will join in the fun and consider it an addition to the young couple's dowry."
"Thank you, Your Majesty and Your Majesty the Empress."
Some were happy while others were sad. Xie Nan, sitting in the audience, looked in her husband's direction and saw that he kept his head down. She felt a pang of sadness in her heart.
Wang Ning and Xu Jiuyan wrung out their handkerchiefs, filled with resentment.
Liu Huan returned to her seat, and the princess winked at her. She lowered her head shyly, feeling extremely embarrassed.
The palace maids served dishes one after another, and after everyone finished their meal, they watched many performances before leaving.
On the way out, the princess held her hand the whole time: "You really are something, running off to the border town without a word back then, making me worry so much."
The princess was worried about her throughout her pregnancy, saying, "Come see my child when you have time, he's very cute."
After becoming a mother, the princess unconsciously spoke with a gentle tone.
"I've been thinking about the young lady the whole way here. Now that I'm back, of course I have to go see her."
The two chatted and laughed until they reached the palace gate. Just as they were about to go their separate ways, someone called out to them.
"Little Sister"
The two looked over and saw Li Yu.
The princess sighed inwardly, feeling helpless. "Third brother, what a coincidence."
Liu Huan patted his forehead and said, "Third Master."
Li Yu forced a smile. "Okay, get up."
“I’m waiting for your third sister-in-law. We’ll go back together when she comes out.”
Liu Huan was very embarrassed and didn't know what to do.
"Huanhuan, what are you still doing there? Let's go."
Liu Huan turned around and saw Xiao Shi standing at the carriage door calling her. "Princess, Third Master, my brother is calling me, I'll go first."
The two watched her leave, and the princess noticed that her third brother was staring at the departing horse, so she spoke up to remind him.
"Third brother, third sister-in-law is here."
Li Yu looked away. "I'm leaving now."
Before Xie Nan could get close, he got into the carriage first.
Liu Huan boarded the carriage, and Su Cheng, riding beside her, asked, "Huanhuan, who is that person?"
“Those are the princess and her third brother; they are from the Prince’s Mansion.”
Su Cheng exclaimed in surprise, "How do you know people from the Prince's Mansion? And you're so close to the Princess."
Although he knew that Liu Huan used to live in the capital, he didn't know what she did for a living and assumed she was also in business.
"Changbai, hurry up."
Before Liu Huan could answer, Su Yi had the carriage driven away and released Liu Huan's hand. "Reluctant to part with it?"
Liu Huan was bewildered by his cryptic question, "What's wrong?"
Su Yi looked at her with a mournful expression, but remained silent.
Liu Huan suddenly realized something, "What's wrong, are you jealous?"
Su Yi looked away, and Liu Huan suppressed a laugh and said, "Alright, don't be angry."
Su Yi then said, "You are not allowed to talk to him anymore." Su Yi was still angry at the thought of someone coveting Liu Huan in the past.
Liu Huan said with a stern face, "You're being a bit nosy. They're already married. You're getting angry just because they said hello."
Liu Huan ignored him and admired the magnificent headdress bestowed upon her by the Emperor and Empress. The more she looked at it, the more she liked it.
Which outfit do you think I should wear to my wedding?
These words appeased Su Yi, "I think both sets are fine, why don't we just wear them together?"
Thank you for your suggestion.
Back home, Su Cheng kept pressing her for details, and Su Wan finally told him about Liu Huan's activities in the capital over the years.
"No wonder we couldn't find her; she'd been kidnapped."
Su Wan slapped him, "What nonsense are you talking about? The Prince's Mansion did save Huanhuan. Don't talk nonsense next time."
Su Cheng was still unhappy. "Hmph, what decent family's daughter would want to be a maid? Humph!"
One person kept rambling on and on for a long time.
The next day, Liu Huan went to the Princess's residence, while Su Yi and Su Cheng went to make arrangements for returning home.
In the afternoon, Su Cheng drove his carriage to the Princess's residence to pick up Liu Huan. On the way back, he almost collided with a speeding carriage. If he hadn't pulled the reins, he would have definitely crashed into the other horse.
Liu Huan steadied herself, lifted the curtain, and asked, "Young man, what's wrong?"
Before he could even speak, a girl got off the other carriage and ran over angrily, shouting, "Hey, how do you drive a carriage? You almost crashed into my carriage!"
Su Cheng stared wide-eyed in disbelief, "It was clearly your people and carriages that were going too fast and almost hit us, don't be unreasonable."
"I'm being unreasonable? Shouldn't you check whose carriage this is?"
Su Cheng naturally saw the large character "Qi" on the carriage, but so what? It's not like whoever is powerful is right.
I can't be bothered to talk to you.
Su Cheng knew this must be related to the General, so he took the reins and prepared to leave, but the maidservant blocked the carriage.
"Don't leave. Apologize to my young lady."
"you……"
"Young man," Liu Huan interrupted him, got off the carriage and went to the girl, "Miss, you can tell me what's wrong."
The maid looked her up and down. "Who are you?"
Liu Huan's attitude was firm: "Don't worry about who I am. Your carriage almost hit mine. No matter you're from the Qi family, even if it were His Highness the Crown Prince, it's whoever's fault is at fault."
A crowd had gathered around, all watching the spectacle, especially since the other side was the Qi family, the Qi family that had just been appointed as the Great General of the State.
"you……"
"The general has always been upright and honest. I don't believe he would tolerate his family members wrongly accusing people without distinguishing right from wrong. If that's the case, we'll go to the yamen to settle the matter."
The maidservant panicked upon hearing this, and a woman's voice came from inside the carriage, "What are you still doing outside? Let's go."
The maid glared at them fiercely as she mounted her horse, then scolded the coachman, "Keep an eye on her. If you hurt the young lady, you'll be held responsible."
After everyone left, Su Cheng said with a sullen face, "How could the women in the General's family be like this? They really disgrace him."
Liu Huan boarded the carriage, and Su Cheng then slowly drove away.
In a restaurant above the scene of the incident, a strikingly beautiful woman with a great figure was watching everything unfold.
After everyone left, she asked, "Who was that person down there?"
The maid said, "I'll have someone inquire about it later. But this young lady is really annoying. She takes advantage of the old lady's influence and the Qi family's reputation to act arrogantly and domineeringly. She's just irritating."
"Don't worry about her. She'll get married sooner or later. It's not worth getting angry over someone like that."
The maid was still indignant: "I'm afraid she'll ruin Miss's reputation outside and affect her."
Miss Qi smiled nonchalantly: "It's nothing. Go check if my brothers are done yet. I want to go back."
That evening, in the boudoir of Miss Qi Yuechan of the Qi family, her maid was recounting the information she had gathered.
“Miss, that man is Su Cheng, the younger brother of the top scholar Su, and the young lady inside is Su’s fiancée.”
"At the palace banquet, the master kept praising him, saying that he was a rare talent among young men. It's just that you were out due to a cold and didn't attend, so you didn't know."
Qi Yuechan thought of that person from earlier; the way he scratched his head in frustration because he couldn't win the argument looked hilarious.
"So it was him."
Upon hearing this, the maid immediately asked, "Miss, do you know her?"
Qi Yuechan said, "I don't know him. I only heard my brother mention him yesterday. I didn't expect to meet him today."
She recalled what Qi Yuexiu had said yesterday: "Su Cheng is a good person, but his position is too low. Otherwise, it wouldn't be impossible for him to be my brother-in-law."
She had barely finished speaking when the eldest brother, Qi Yueming, slapped her on the head. "What nonsense are you spouting? How could my little sister possibly marry such a boorish man?"
"Yes, yes, I misunderstood."
She overheard them from outside the door, and once they went inside, they stopped talking.
Thinking back to how Su Cheng looked when she saw him earlier, he wasn't as bad as her brothers had described.
"It's nothing, let's leave it at that. You can go now, I want to sleep."
The maid made the bed for her and helped her get into bed before saying, "I'm on duty today. If you need anything, Miss, just call me."
The next morning, Qi Yuechan went to the main courtyard. Madam Qi was dressed neatly, exuding the noble elegance of a high-born noblewoman.
“Let’s go, or your grandmother will bring the bridge again.”
Madam Qi came from the Duke's mansion. She fell in love with General Qi, who came from humble origins, and married into the Qi family.
The couple were harmonious, but everything changed after Old Madam Qi came to the capital.
When Madam Qi brought her second son's family to the capital, their loud and petty manner made Madam Qi look down on them.
Despite the glamorous appearance of the Qi family, they actually dislike each other and are just short of making their relationship public.
We usually pay our respects to the emperor on the first and fifteenth of each lunar month, and today is the fifteenth.
Qi Yuechan took her arm and asked, "Did Mother sleep well last night?"
Madam Qi always told her daughter good news and never bad: "It's not bad. Don't worry about me. Just be careful of that person."
The person she was referring to was Wang Qing, the cousin who was staying at the Qi family's residence.
She was the granddaughter of Old Madam Qi's brother, a girl from the countryside. She had only been in the Qi family for a short time when she started acting like a young lady. Madam Qi knew what they were up to. As long as she was there, such a petty person was not even worthy of being her son's concubine.
"I know, Mother," Qi Yuechan obediently replied. She also disliked her cousin, whose eyes were full of scheming.
In the old lady's courtyard, Wang Qing was serving her, showing her concern and care, making her extremely happy.
"You're so much more considerate than those others."
The two stopped when they saw Madam Qi enter the room. The old lady had a stern face as if someone owed her something, while Wang Qing had a superior feeling of having someone backing him up.
"Mother/Grandmother"
The old lady hummed in agreement. "Please sit down."
"What are the boss and the others doing tomorrow? Why do we never see them?"
Madam Qi said calmly, "Mother, they are busy with official duties, so naturally they can't compare to my second brother and the others who can make you happy all day long."
The second wife, standing nearby, grew anxious. "Sister-in-law, what do you mean? Is it wrong for the second master to be filial to his mother?"
Madam Qi didn't even look at her. "I didn't say that. What's wrong with a person with free time being more filial to the elderly? They can't bring honor to the family, yet they still have so many things to do at home to take care of the elderly."
"Sister-in-law, you've gone too far..."
Madam Qi stood up: "If Mother has nothing else, I will go down first. There are still many things waiting for me to deal with."
"Wait, I heard that the princess is going to hold a banquet. Why don't you ask Yuechan to take Qing'er to see it? She's new to this place, so it'll be good for her to have company when she goes out with Yuechan to join in the fun."
Madam Qi refused without hesitation, "Mother, I cannot make this decision. Her name is not on the invitation, so Mingchan is not qualified to bring her."
Without waiting for Madam Qi to speak, he turned around and left with Qi Yuechan.
The old lady was trembling with anger. "Look at what she means by this! Does she even respect me as her mother?"
Wang Qing quickly tried to calm her down, "Grandma, please calm down. I won't go. I won't make things difficult for you."
The old lady got even angrier when she heard this. "When Hongchuan comes back, call him over. I want to see if I can make the decisions in this family."
Wang Qing pretended to coax her, but the second wife smiled disdainfully and made an excuse to leave.
On the day the county magistrate hosted the banquet, Wang Qing still went with Qi Yuechan.
In previous years, Qi Yuechan was in poor health and rarely participated in such activities. Only in the last two years, as she has grown older, has she started to move around more slowly.
Wang Qing followed behind Qi Yuechan, dressed in bright pink and green, her hair adorned with pearl hairpins and flowers, completely oblivious to the opinions of others.
"Cousin, are you acquainted with the princess?"
Qi Yuechan asked calmly, "What's wrong?"
She said, "If we are acquainted, could you introduce me to the princess? This capital city is so boring, I can't find anyone to play with."
Qi Yuechan laughed in anger, "Who do you take the princess for? To recommend her? The only reason you're allowed to come along is because of my maternal family."
Wang Qing's face was grim, but he didn't refute her. His eyes kept darting around, and it was unclear what he was planning.
At the door, they ran into Su Cheng seeing Liu Huan off. Wang Qing looked at him with disdain and said, "Who is this? He almost crashed into my carriage on the street the other day. He looks like a poor wretch. That man looks really rude."
Qi Yuechan glanced at her with an idiotic look, not intending to pay her any attention, and even moved away a little with disdain.
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