For a moment, Helian Chen was unsure whether the young lady from the Mu family was good or bad.
She's too sentimental; if she remarries, she'll definitely never forget her ex.
She's too materialistic. If her second husband also gets into trouble, will she be the first to run away?
Helian Chen knew he shouldn't be so harsh on a poor woman who had no choice but to break off the engagement.
But he was just an ordinary man.
And seeing the emperor and empress devoted to each other through thick and thin, pledging their lives to one another, he longed for such love as well.
It's not about abandoning each other when disaster strikes, nor about treating each other with cold indifference, but about being intertwined and inseparable.
A couple united in heart, having several more little ones—ah, that's what a perfect family is!
“Father, the Mu family's daughter is indeed quite lovely! However, my marriage is not something I can decide!”
Helian Chen instinctively refused.
However, he did not express his dissatisfaction because he was considering the woman's feelings; instead, he blamed everything on someone else.
"Nonsense! Of course you can't decide your own marriage! It's all about your parents' wishes and the matchmaker's words!"
The Prince of Guangling failed to grasp the subtext in Helian Chen's words.
He adopted the domineering manner of a feudal patriarch, saying, "Your mother and I think the Mu family girl is excellent!"
"In a couple of days, it will be an auspicious day, so I will ask an official matchmaker to go to the Mu family to propose marriage—"
Helian Chen: ...
He knew his father wasn't very smart, but he still didn't expect his own father to be so slow-witted.
"Father! You can't decide my marriage!"
Helian Chen had no choice but to be more direct, "Both the Emperor and the Empress have said that they want to choose an excellent wife for their son!"
When the Prince of Guangling heard the first half of the sentence, he was still a little angry.
He was about to explode with rage.
What a little brat! He thinks he can do whatever he wants just because he has a title?
Does that mean I can disobey my parents' arrangements?
Let me tell you!
No way!
Filial piety is of paramount importance.
As his biological father, he could arrange a marriage for his son, or even beat him to death without any problem.
At most, they would be suspected of being "unkind," but they wouldn't have to pay any money or even their lives.
However, before the Prince of Guangling could get angry, he heard the second half of the sentence.
"A saint? And a queen? They want to be your matchmakers?"
Although the Prince of Guangling held the title of Prince, he had long since lost all real power.
In the imperial court and among the imperial family, he was practically invisible.
Helian Jue was the new emperor, but he secured his throne in the shortest possible time.
In the few months following his ascension to the throne, he quietly dealt with wave after wave of powerful families and nobles.
Those old forces still exist, but they are being quietly weakened.
With just this cunning and perseverance, Helian Jue is at least above the standard of a ruler.
He's even a little better than the late emperor—he's younger!
She's only twenty-five.
He was once the crown prince, his ascension to the throne was perfectly legitimate, and he even personally trained tens of thousands of elite soldiers.
Uphold filial piety and advance by retreating.
Those old foxes in the imperial court are not to be easily manipulated.
With such character and ability, given time, he will surely become a wise ruler who surpasses the late emperor!
Facing such an emperor, the princes who were gradually marginalized and held nominal titles naturally had little confidence.
In addition, the Prince of Guangling still remembers how willful and capricious this sage was when he was the crown prince!
Back then, Helian Jue did a lot of trouble for the Guangling Prince's Mansion in order to stand up for Helian Chen.
The second son of the Prince of Guangling was the one whose face was disfigured by Helian Jue's whip.
Even now, there is a deep whip mark on his face, running from his eyebrow to the corner of his mouth.
After Helian Jue became emperor, he seemed to have stopped being tyrannical.
But old habits die hard.
And then there's Empress Xie. Although she's only just returned to the capital, stories about her have already spread throughout the city's elite circles.
The "hen crowing at dawn" of yesteryear has been replaced by the "purging of palace women."
There may not be many classic cases, but each one reflects her true nature—toughness!
Not to mention, she was a woman, yet she had a private army.
Women Soldiers!
A full three thousand people!
They are comparable to the personal guards of a first-rank prince!
"As expected of Helian Jue's wife, she's just as shrewd as him!"
Behind the scenes, members of the imperial family, nobles, and court officials often sighed in this way.
"Hehe! The Sage and the Empress want to be your matchmakers, that's wonderful!"
The Prince of Guangling forced a smile, chuckled a few times, and then glossed over the matter.
He personally saw his adopted father off from the Marquis's mansion, and as he gazed at the obese figure, Helian Chen fell into deep thought.
"It seems we must finalize the marriage arrangements as soon as possible!"
"It's not just mine, it's Ayan's too!"
Helian Yan is Helian Chen's younger sister from the same mother. When they were exiled, she went to Lingnan with them.
The little girl was only fourteen years old at the time.
Now, three or four years have passed, and her marriage has been delayed.
In fact, before leaving the capital, the Prince of Guangling had already arranged a marriage for Helian Yan.
The man was an old "acquaintance"—Mu Shao, the General of the Thousand Bull Guard.
They were the people who "escorted" Helian Jue to Yuezhou back then.
Mu Shao also came from the Qiu Muling clan, but he was not from the same branch as Mu Jialan.
Mu Shao's father was the Earl of Yongyi. He entered the Thousand Bull Guard through family connections. He was promoted to General of the Central Army for his meritorious service in saving the emperor during the autumn hunt.
But judging from their status and appearance, Mu Shao is definitely a good match.
She is more than a match for a concubine's daughter from a prince's mansion like Helian Yan.
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