Unable to discern His Majesty's intentions, Marquis Qingping has been reluctant to leave his home for the past two days, repeatedly recalling the events of his audience with the Emperor, trying to understand why!
However, he could not discuss these details with Lady Qingping.
So, after visiting several prominent families, Lady Qingping, still unaware of the situation, returned to inquire further.
"The Marquis of Changping's family intends to wait for Heng'er to issue the imperial decree of investiture before they are willing to arrange the marriage. But the imperial decree appointing Heng'er as heir apparent has not yet been issued, which is... Heng'er is already so old! I'm worried!"
"..."
Marquis Qingping wearily rubbed his forehead, feeling a sharp pain in his temples.
"My lord, this is terrible! This is terrible!"
Lady Qingping's heart skipped a beat. She opened the study door and yelled, "How dare you speak like that! Drag him out and give him ten strokes of the cane!"
The steward outside was also startled and quickly admitted his mistake: "Madam, it was our recklessness. Please punish them as you see fit, just don't delay their work."
The Qingping Marquis's mansion is having a tough time these days and can't afford to support so many people. In some less busy areas, they've already started laying off staff.
We don't have enough people.
Lady Qingping took a couple of breaths before asking, "What happened? Why are you in such a panic?"
The servant brought by the steward then stepped forward and reported: "The people we were watching outside Xinghua Hutong just saw a group of palace eunuchs enter the eldest young master's house and deliver two large carts of gifts."
"What?" Lady Qingping was stunned.
They just stripped him of his title, and then they bestowed gifts on him. What's the meaning of that?
"Is there anything else?" Marquis Qingping had already come out and stood by the door to ask.
"For now... for now we haven't found out any other information. I'll go keep an eye on things again..." The servant was quick-witted and immediately prepared to squat down again.
Just as the servant was about to leave, he heard footsteps running towards him and bumped right into him!
"Father! Mother! Something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!" It was Qi Yunheng.
Qi Yunheng, disregarding his struggle with the servant, rushed in, panting heavily.
Marquis Qingping was already furious and angrily said, "What kind of behavior is this, all flustered and panicked?"
With a character like that, he still wants to sit on the throne as the crown prince?
Marquis Qingping suddenly felt that his second son was not quite up to par.
Qi Yunheng gasped for breath, and it took him a while to catch his breath. He looked up and said, "The palace suddenly issued an imperial edict, appointing Qi Yunxiao as the fourth-rank official, the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, and sending him as an envoy to the Xia Kingdom!"
Marquis Qingping: "!!!"
Lady Qingping: "!!!"
Seeing his parents staring blankly, as if they were dumbfounded, Qi Yunheng stamped his foot: "Father! Mother, please think of something! What... what exactly is going on?"
Marquis Qingping came to his senses: "This can't be, can it?"
Lady Qingping also doubted that her son had misheard: "With that dark forehead, how could he go to the Court of State Ceremonies? How could he become a Junior Minister? How could he... how could he represent our Great Qi as an envoy to the Xia Kingdom?"
"It's true! He's going to represent the Great Qi on a diplomatic mission to the Xia Kingdom! The Crown Prince of Cheng told me the news!"
Although the Crown Prince Cheng's expression was quite unpleasant when he spoke.
"This...this..." Marquis Qingping and his wife looked at each other in bewilderment!
Not only were Marquis Qingping and his wife at a loss for words, but the imperial court was also in an uproar.
Everyone shared the same idea: Our court isn't short of people; there are plenty of eloquent and good-looking officials. Why appoint someone with a dark forehead who is also unfilial and stripped of his title as heir apparent as the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies?
Your Majesty, don't you find it unsightly?
The new emperor didn't argue with them, and ordered someone to summon Qi Yunxiao to the palace.
When Qi Yunxiao, without a hat and dressed in court robes, walked into the hall with a tall and straight posture, all the officials were speechless.
The new emperor smirked, "What's wrong? Are you all dumbfounded? Can't you speak? Keep talking!"
One official questioned, "I heard that this Lord Qi has had a black forehead since birth, but this one... could he be a fake?"
An official immediately echoed, "Perhaps they used some kind of cover-up?"
The new emperor did not reprimand him, but simply ordered Qi Yunxiao to stand in front of the questioning official: "Look, the person is standing in front of you, reach out and touch him yourself."
That official really got handsy!
Qi Yunxiao rubbed his forehead until it was almost red, but he still couldn't rub off anything else.
The official could only admit that Qi Yunxiao hadn't used foundation or anything like that.
But soon, someone brought up Qi Yunxiao's "unfilial piety" again.
The new emperor was furious. He squinted at the kneeling official who was protesting: "I remember that Minister Wang was also a second wife. Does Minister Wang also think that there is no problem with using his late wife's dowry to support his family?"
"I heard that the dowry of the late Madam Wang's family has been sealed and stored in the storeroom? It's said to be reserved for the late Madam Wang's only daughter as her dowry?"
"Could it be that you secretly used it? If I didn't let you use it, would it be that your eldest daughter is unfilial?"
Well, the new emperor has a sharp tongue.
Concerned about his family's reputation, Vice Minister Wang nearly wet himself in fear and hurriedly cried out, "Your Majesty, I did not! I am not guilty! All the dowry items were sealed up, not a single one is missing..."
The entire court of officials then understood: it turned out that the Marquis of Qingping's mansion had used the eldest son's mother's dowry!
Qi Yunxiao forbade them to use it, and they said that Qi Yunxiao was unfilial.
They even appealed to have Qi Yunxiao stripped of his title as heir apparent?!
Ouch!
If this matter escalates to the point of being brought to the imperial court, it will be incredibly embarrassing.
Since His Majesty sided with Qi Yunxiao, everyone fell silent, but the reputation of the Qingping Marquis's mansion was completely ruined.
Qi Yunxiao was waiting in the capital, waiting for His Majesty the Emperor to send someone to prepare gifts to be taken to the Xia Kingdom.
The gifts were not complicated; they were simply silks, satins, and jewels.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
