"No, I have to spread this news so that everyone knows that Li Youran is a picky person."
Before Xia's mother could finish speaking, Xia Xiao walked in with a dark face.
"Mother, how many times have I told you not to do such things again? Why do you always have this problem with Li Youran?"
Xia Xiao originally thought that his mother hated Li Youran because he had feelings for her.
But now, he no longer has that intention, after all, he is not good enough for Li Youran, but his mother still hates Li Youran, and he can't understand it at all.
“I didn’t do anything, these are all facts. Young Master Zhou of the Zhou family is a well-known genius, yet Li Youran doesn’t even think much of him.”
Xia's mother continued.
"You don't need to be afraid of offending Li Youran. Although she has a noble status, our Xia family also has powerful backers."
Ever since she spread the rumors last time, Xia's mother has been afraid of Li Youran's retaliation, so she has been looking for ways to find a powerful backer to cling to.
As the saying goes, perseverance pays off; she actually found a way and ended up working under Hongxiu's tutelage.
Although Hongxiu was not a high-ranking official, she was still the prime minister's mistress and had given birth to his only son.
“Mother, although our Xia family are merchants, we are also respectable people. How could you get involved with someone like Hongxiu?”
Xia Xiao frowned and said that he never expected his mother to go astray. She had always been profit-driven and only cared about money.
Nowadays, they've completely lost their sense of right and wrong, actually finding such a person. How can the Xia family possibly grow and succeed in business by associating with someone like that?
"Perhaps in a few days, the Prime Minister will take Hongxiu into his household. Then we will be under the Prime Minister's jurisdiction, and we won't have to worry about little Li Youran scolding us."
Xia's mother completely ignored Xia Xiao's advice and believed that she had taken the right path.
Little did she know, she had become a pawn in Hongxiu's revenge against Li Youran, merely a tool to be used as a weapon.
Before everyone could even begin to discuss how picky and discerning Li Youran was, even more exciting news arrived: the emperor had bestowed a marriage upon Li Youran.
The eunuch who came to deliver the imperial decrees brought two decrees: one was to confer a title upon Li Youran, and the other was to grant her marriage.
"By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Li Youran is intelligent and quick-witted, dignified and virtuous, cautious and prudent, and has long served in the palace. She is naturally intelligent, always adhering to propriety, gentle and virtuous, with an elegant and pleasing demeanor. She is virtuous and gentle, peaceful and chaste, and pure and harmonious. Therefore, she is hereby granted the title of Princess Jiaxin. This is the imperial decree!"
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
Li Youran knelt on the ground, raising her hands above her head. The eunuch delivering the imperial decree placed it in Li Youran's hands and then congratulated her.
"This old servant congratulates Master Jiaxin."
"I'm so sorry to have troubled you to make this special trip, Father-in-law."
As the Second Prince's Consort spoke, she instructed the maid beside her to slip the silver notes to the eunuch who was delivering the imperial decree.
"Second Prince's Consort, there is even greater joy to come."
Immediately afterwards, the eunuch who had been announcing the imperial edict produced another imperial edict, and Li Youran and the others knelt down again.
"Now, there is Princess Jiaxin, virtuous and gentle, exceptionally talented, and a model for all princesses of the Celestial Empire. Now that she is sixteen, to avoid wasting her youthful years, the Imperial Clan Court is hereby ordered to select a suitable husband for her. It is heard that the Grand Duke of Pingguo's maternal uncle, Feng Yu, is the son of a noble family, skilled in both literature and martial arts, a man of exceptional talent and virtue, and has long admired Princess Jiaxin's beautiful appearance; thus, I wish to marry her. After the Imperial Clan Court reported this to the Emperor, and the divination at the temple yielded an auspicious result, I personally issue this decree to offer my congratulations."
He is hereby granted a fief of two thousand households and five hundred household slaves, and his son will be granted the title of Yunqiwei (a military rank) upon having an heir, to celebrate this joyous occasion.
The palace also bestowed upon him eighty pieces of gold and pearl jewelry, forty bolts of brocade, one hundred and twenty bolts of various colored silks, one hundred and twenty sets of clothing for all four seasons, and six sets of agarwood wardrobes, as an aid to his personal adornments. This is the imperial decree.
Li Youran was stunned when she heard that it was an imperial decree bestowing a marriage upon her.
She knew there was no such thing as a free lunch. The emperor must have had a reason for bestowing the title of princess upon her without any apparent cause. She never expected that he would betroth her to the eldest son of the emperor's maternal uncle's family.
Although Li Youran had never experienced such a thing, she had heard that as long as it was a marriage bestowed by the emperor, you had to obey the imperial decree no matter where you were.
Moreover, disobeying the imperial decree would be considered defying the imperial order, and the only way to defy the imperial order is to be beheaded.
Not to mention Li Youran, even the Second Prince and his wife were stunned.
The Second Prince really couldn't figure out the Emperor's intentions. If the Second Prince's family were to form a marriage alliance with the Guo family, wouldn't that be a clear indication of favoritism towards him?
However, the Second Prince knew very well that he was not so favored by the Emperor.
He thought about it carefully and ultimately concluded that it was a conspiracy, a test from the emperor to see if he, with his growing power, would do the same things as the Third Prince.
"You Ran, hurry up and accept the order."
The Second Prince's Consort knew that Li Youran was unwilling, but she had no choice but to disobey the imperial decree. Disobedience meant execution, and even a prince could not escape this fate.
Li Youran really wanted to jump up and tear that imperial edict to shreds, but it was just a thought in the end.
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
Li Youran took the rope, but there was no joy on her face.
The eunuch who delivered the imperial decree was also bewildered. Everything had been going smoothly, so why had it suddenly turned out this way? He wondered if he would even receive his celebratory gift...
"I'm sorry to trouble you, Father-in-law, to make this trip."
The Second Prince's wife said something polite, and a servant hurriedly stuffed the silver that had been prepared earlier into the eunuch's hand.
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