"I'm just making a suggestion. Whether it succeeds or not isn't up to me. I need to ask the two young ladies if they agree before we can discuss asking the Emperor for an imperial decree," Lord Song said calmly.
Tie Qingfeng's face was ashen, and he was feeling incredibly anxious. However, he couldn't show his anger in front of Lord Song. To put it simply, he had the common problem of all officials and noblemen in the capital. His upbringing and education from childhood had taught him to prioritize the overall situation.
For the sake of his family and reputation, he would have to endure it unless he was forced to. It was really not worth offending the new emperor for a woman. So after a moment of silence, Tie Qingfeng said with a straight face, "I need to think about this for a few days. I will take my leave today."
After seeing Tie Qingfeng off, Lord Song turned and went to the courtyard where Song Jiao was staying. Song Jiao had been given ten strokes of the cane in the palace and was still in bed recovering. Lord Song was heartbroken that his niece had suffered so much, which was why he was willing to risk offending the two ministers to fight for Song Jiao's chance.
Lord Song told Song Jiao about Tie Qingfeng's visit to the palace to ask the Emperor to rescind his decree, which made Song Jiao so angry that she almost jumped off the bed.
"Uncle, the arranged marriage is irreversible. Tie Qingfeng will never get rid of me in this lifetime, unless he dies or I die. In short, I will not let go." At some point, Song Jiao's feelings for Tie Qingfeng underwent a qualitative change.
From initial love to hatred, Song Jiao's obsession runs incredibly deep. Perhaps she doesn't love Tie Qingfeng that much now; she's just unwilling to accept it and will rack her brains and use every means to marry him. Once she marries into the Tie family, she will have won.
“Alas, your uncle knows he can’t persuade you. You’re too stubborn, and no one can do anything about it. I know you would rather die than give up the chance to marry into the Tie family, so I didn’t agree to Tie Qingfeng’s request. But we can’t go too far. Otherwise, even if there is an imperial decree to grant the marriage, you won’t have a good life if you marry into the Tie family. We still have to give in a little.”
After listening to Lord Song's advice, Song Jiao was initially furious and extremely unwilling. In the end, Lord Song scolded her loudly, which finally brought her back to her senses.
"Fine, I accept it, okay? You're just afraid of retaliation from the two ministers, fine, we'll put up with it. We'll just be Song Xiyan's concubine, and then we'll see who wins when we enter the Iron Mansion!" Song Jiao said resentfully.
Lord Song shook his head helplessly. His niece had already become a resentful woman before even entering the Tie family. He dared not imagine what it would be like after she actually married into the family. He could only hope that it wouldn't be too miserable.
Such a predictable outcome should logically be avoided, but it was Song Jiao's own choice. Since she is unwilling to turn back, she can only pray for good fortune.
A few days later, when the Minister of Revenue and Lord Song came before the Emperor at the same time, Zhu Lin raised his eyebrows slightly. He hadn't expected that Xingxing would be so prescient, as someone would actually come to ask for a marriage decree to be his concubine.
It is clear that Minister Li agreed to this matter, but since it was the woman, he would not come forward out of consideration for her reputation. Only Tie Yusheng and Lord Song could come to ask for her favor.
In fact, Minister Li was unwilling for his granddaughter to become a concubine, but Song Xiyan insisted on marrying him. She said that she had been kidnapped by Japanese pirates and that Tie Qingfeng had saved her. She and Tie Qingfeng had been riding in the same carriage together, which had ruined their reputation. If she didn't marry him, who else could she marry?
Minister Li was rather old-fashioned. After hearing his granddaughter's words and being rebuked by her a few times, he angrily decided to stop caring about her affairs. He didn't care whether she married or not. Since no one was afraid of losing face, he didn't care either. They would all be shameless and see who had the thickest skin.
After Minister Tie and Lord Song left the Hall of Diligent Governance, Zhu Lin clicked his tongue in amazement, "I really don't know what these people are thinking, rushing to become secondary wives, aren't they just asking for trouble?"
"I played the villain this time, and Minister Tie and Minister Li probably hold a grudge against me. If I hadn't agreed to Song Jiao's marriage decree, Tie Qingfeng and Song Xiyan wouldn't be in such a difficult situation. But let them hold a grudge if they want."
"Anyway, I've already intervened in this matter. It's just that Tie Qingfeng shouldn't have come to Yegou Village for treatment in the first place. If I hadn't happened to run into him and hadn't had some minor disagreements, we wouldn't be in this mess now." Xingxing snorted lightly, not taking the matter too seriously.
Actually, there was something else she didn't say: Song Xiyan had offended her on the way back to Beijing, and she had saved her. Yet, Song Xiyan still dared to covet Brother Lin. Xingxing still remembered this to this day. None of the three of them were likable. She admitted that she was a bit petty and deliberately interfered in the three people's marriage.
For Xingxing, the matter of Song Jiao and Tie Qingfeng was just an interlude. After issuing another imperial decree to grant them marriage, he stopped paying attention to their aftermath, and the grudges between him and these people came to an end.
The third day of the sixth lunar month arrived in the blink of an eye. At noon, the executioner drank a bowl of wine, spat on his broadsword, and was about to carry out the execution when suddenly two hidden weapons flew from the rooftop in the distance, and the two burly executioners fell to the ground at the same time.
The onlookers were terrified by the scene and scattered in all directions, fearing that they would be the next to be hit by the hidden weapon. This spectacle was not to be trifled with; if they were too slow, they might lose their lives.
The area around the execution ground instantly became empty, and all bystanders had already moved far away.
"Fourth brother!" the eldest and third brothers shouted at the same time.
"Big brother, third brother, I'm here to save you!" The fourth brother, wielding two ivory-white bone knives, flew menacingly down from the opposite rooftop.
Zhu Qiuyu, Zhu Xichen, and Zhu Yueran watched coldly as the fourth eccentric came down and got entangled with the soldiers. They didn't need to make a move yet; they had to wait until the second eccentric also appeared before taking them down together.
Zhou Erfu, standing behind him, stared at the weapon in the fourth brother's hand and said in a trembling voice, "What kind of bone weapon is this villain holding? Could it be human bone?"
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