Duanhua heard the emperor sent someone to call her to the palace, she looked at her mother.
Qingping said, "Go ahead, this is your uncle after all. You can’t blame it all on yourself. If the emperor blames you, the Crown Prince will protect you."
She was not worried.
Duanhua nodded, got into the carriage and entered the Imperial Palace.
The Emperor met Duanhua in a side hall. After her greeting, the Emperor looked her up and down, he has not seen Duanhua for a while. Seeing her standing obediently and appearing rather elegant, unlike her previous obstinate behavior. He was astonished, "Duanhua, if I agree to announce a husband selection for you, what do you think? Do you still want to marry into the Eastern Palace?"
Duanhua immediately widened her eyes and blurted out, "Uncle Emperor, you agree? If I had known earlier, I would not have bothered the Crown Prince. I would have come straight to you."
The Emperor fell silent.
When did he agree? He said if he agreed.
Duanhua was disheartened, "But I have already promised the Crown Prince. Wouldn’t it be wrong to go back on my word? How about you talk to the Crown Prince yourself, if he agrees then I have no objections."
Upon hearing this, the Emperor realized this girl wasn’t that interested in the Crown Prince. As the Crown Prince said, it was merely a coincidence. She was eager to marry and he wanted a bride for the Crown Prince, the two desires just happened to coincide, he was a bit angry, "If I could make him agree, why would I need to bring you here?"
Duanhua immediately said, "Since the Crown Prince doesn’t agree, you calling me here doesn’t help anyway because I can’t make the decision."
The emperor choked up.
Duanhua innocently looked at the Emperor, "Uncle Emperor, I’m just telling the truth. He is the Crown Prince. He just has to snap his fingers, and I won’t even dare cry."
The Emperor was annoyed, "Enough with that, I don’t want to hear it."
He remembered once when Yan Huisheng punished her hard for failing to recite her books properly, then told her mentor to hit her hand if she was disobedient. Her eyes swelled with tears, and she came to the palace to complaint. He had been looking for a fault to pin on the Crown Prince, and punished him on this occasion. At that time, Duanhua seemed to feel that she had gotten her revenge and took pleasure in the Crown Prince’s punishment.
Didn’t dare to cry my ass!
However, later, for some reason, Duanhua didn’t come to complain after crying and making noise every time she followed Zhou Gu to the Eastern Palace and the Crown Prince punished her.
Thinking about the past, the Emperor’s expression softened slightly, "Do you really want to marry the Crown Prince?"
Duanhua was embarrassed, "Uncle Emperor, it’s not that I really want to marry him, but the Crown Prince is handsome. My mother has checked many men for me, and none in the Capital City is more handsome than Zhou Gu. The Crown Prince has good looks, which isn’t much worse than Zhou Gu, so I naturally want to marry him."
The Emperor got angry, "You’re being irresponsible about your lifelong matters just because of his good looks?"
Duanhua sighed, "Uncle Emperor, all the concubines in your palace are beautiful. Even you reject those who are ugly."
The implication was that everyone loves beauty, and you are no exception. So why should I be exceptional and face an ugly husband every day?
The Emperor was completely speechless.
Duanhua stepped forward, hugged the Emperor’s arm and acted cute, "Uncle Emperor, what’s wrong with me? I am your dear niece. Is there anything wrong if I marry the Crown Prince?"
The Emperor felt a sudden jump in his forehead, "If you are not my niece, considering all the troubles you have caused, I would have ordered your entire family to leave the Capital City long ago."
Duanhua grinned, "Uncle Emperor, so you are saying that you won’t agree to my marriage to the Crown Prince? I am okay with it, but I won’t tell the Crown Prince that I won’t marry him. I should keep my word. If you disagree, you can tell him, let him give up and announce the husband selection for me, I won’t mind."
The Emperor brushed off her hand and snapped, "Get out of here!"
Duanhua didn’t leave, but asked, "What do you mean by that? So am I getting married or not?"
"I see that you haven’t learned manners till now so I will send two wet nurses from the palace to the Princess Residence to teach you manners tomorrow." The Emperor said sternly, "How can you become the Crown Prince’s wife without manners? Get out!"
Duanhua looked upset, she didn’t want to leave. But if she continued arguing, she might end up staying in the palace to learn manners. That would be a disaster. So, she obediently nodded and left.
Seeing her running away fast, the Emperor couldn’t help but laugh, "When she has common sense, she knows how to profit and avoid harm and to weigh the situation."
Once Duanhua left the side hall, she immediately stopped a eunuch and inquired, "Do you know where the Crown Prince is?"
"The Crown Prince seems to be in the Council Hall."
Duanhua nodded and lifting her skirts stepped off the jade steps, planning to wait for Yan Huisheng at the entrance of the Council Hall. She wanted to tell him that Uncle Emperor was planning to personally appoint two wet nurses from the palace to teach her manners, she didn’t want that, but as she walked some way, she stopped and sighed, "How can I become the Crown Prince’s wife without having manners? I have had bad manners since I was little and I think it’s time to learn."
As a Princess, it wouldn’t matter if she embarrassed herself as she had her mother and the emperor to back her up. But if as the Crown Prince’s wife she would risk making him lose face.
He had never lost face since he was little. If marrying her would constantly make him lose face, wouldn’t that be bad? Wouldn’t it damage his dignity?
Therefore, she couldn’t go. She had to learn the manners.
Moreover, the Emperor didn’t treat her harshly. He simply asked her a few questions, personally appointed two wet nurses to teach her manners and then let her go just like that, she should be content. If it were anyone else, they would have probably returned home crying.
Therefore, she turned around and headed outside the palace.
When she got to the gate of the palace, got into the carriage and muttered to herself in a low voice, "Am I too sensible?"
The first step to being a good wife isn’t avoiding causing trouble for her fiance? She felt that she was already doing it.
Returning to the Princess Residence, Qingping saw that Duanhua returned unharmed and asked, "How was it? Did your uncle emperor give you a hard time?"
Duanhua shook her head and recounted what had happened in the palace. Then, taking Qingping’s arm, she said, "Mother, am I very sensible? I didn’t go to the Council Hall to wait for the Crown Prince and ask him to help me."
Qingping poked her forehead, "You did become sensible. You should learn manners."
Duanhua sighed, "But if I’m not marrying the Crown Prince, I wouldn’t have to learn to be that good."
Qingping nodded, thought for a moment and then said, "What do you think about Su Rong’s manners?"
"Good."
"There you go, she learnt her manners from your aunt since she was a child, and then later from Madame Zhao, and she took them seriously. As for manners, you should know them, but how to follow and use them depends on you. Once you become the Crown Prince’s wife and live inside the Eastern Palace, you can do whatever you want behind the scenes, your cousin knows what you’re like and won’t be harsh on you. But you can’t embarrass yourself in public. You have to hold your own in public appearances."
Duanhua sighed, "The Crown Prince also mentioned arranging some help for me. I knew it couldn’t be that easy. I will have to do everything that is meant for me."
Qingping smiled, "You fancy his looks, and are marrying the man whom many women wish to marry, you can’t expect to not make any contribution, right?"
Duanhua felt that this made sense and immediately was spirited again and firmly said, "Yes."
Who will laugh at her for marrying someone who is less handsome than Zhou Gu in the future? The Crown Prince was absolutely the best.
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