The emperor and empress both agreed, and soon, the empress personally left the Palace to the Princess Qingping’s residence. The relationship between the empress and the Princess Qingping has always been good. Over the years, Qingping, in order to protect her daughter, has been watching the Duke Residence with dissatisfaction, but she never had any conflict with the empress.
Therefore, regarding the Crown Prince’s marriage to Duanhua, whatever the empress said, she just nodded, no opinion.
The empress spoke with her for a long time and noticed that she just nodded altogether, without a word of rebuttal or even a viewpoint. She then broke into a smile, "Why are you so obliging?"
Qingping tells the straightforward truth, "Dear sister-in-law, I never dreamed that Duanhua would marry into the Eastern Palace. I’m aware of my own daughter, and for her character, this fortune is beyond her reach, what other thoughts could I possibly have?"
The empress chuckled as she said this, "All right, then I will let the Ministry of Rites handle it. Once the Imperial Astronomical Bureau selects the auspicious wedding date, I will inform you."
Qingping kept nodding.
The empress saw that she looked healthy and put her gaze on her belly, "One month and more? Have you started experiencing morning sickness?"
"Yes." Qingping placed her hand on her belly, "I wonder if he/she will be an easy one."
The empress laughed, "If it’s a boy, given his father’s character, he should be an easy one."
Qingping loved to hear such words, "I echo your good words."
So, after the empress returned to the palace from the Princess Qingping’s residence, she went to meet the Emperor to request for the issuing of the marriage edict.
The emperor looked at her, "Issue the decree so soon? Won’t we wait for the Crown Prince to think it over for a more few days?"
"Your Majesty, you’ve known the character of the Crown Prince since he was a child. Once he decides something, it never changes. Moreover, the Qingping’s family have no objections. Establishing the Crown Prince’s Consort promptly will also save him from dealing with the incessant urging from the court officials. He can thus free himself from the daily worry of his marriage as he is already burdened with a mass of state affairs."
The emperor sighed, "All right then."
Therefore, on the same day, the Emperor issued the royal decree of marriage, one copy of it was sent to Yan Huisheng, and the other one to the residence of Princess Qingping.
The announcement of the Crown Prince’s marriage to the Duanhua Princess shook both the court and the country. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚
Everyone was stunned by the royal marriage decree. It was beyond anyone’s imagination that this was so sudden, so incredible. In everyone’s mind, whoever the Crown Prince married, it should not be Duanhua.
Even the old duke of the Duke Residence and the eldest princess Sheng An were stunned, with Sheng An incredulously asking her mother-in-law, "Is this really happening?"
Her mother-in-law also was astonished, "Indeed, it is."
"This is really ..." Sheng An was puzzled, "What was the Crown Prince thinking about? This matter couldn’t have been finalized without the consent of the Crown Prince."
Her mother-in-law nodded, "What mother said is true, now nobody can influence the Crown Prince, unless it is his consent."
The eldest princess Sheng An pondered for a moment, lowered her voice, and said to her mother-in-law: "I was considering that the Crown Prince might choose my fifth son ..."
There were no outsiders here, and only then did the Princess Sheng An say this in front of her mother-in-law.
The mother-in-law also nodded, "I was taken by surprise too."
The Princess Sheng An instructed her, "You send someone to investigate and see what the inside story is? I always feel that this matter is too sudden and too weird."
The mother-in-law was also curious, "I already sent someone."
Not only the Princess Sheng An and her mother-in-law sent people to seek information, but court officials of various houses also couldn’t sit still and sent people for news. The result they obtained in the end was that Duanhua’s carriage broke down twice and the Crown Prince just happened to pass by and gave her a ride. Then in the few days, the close ties of Princess Qingping’s residence and the Eastern Palace, the Princess Duanhua even stayed in the Eastern Palace for a day, Princess Qingping and her son-in-law also visited the Eastern Palace. In just a few days, the royal decree of marriage was issued.
In the evening, when the Rui’an King left the office, the Rui’an Queen asked him, "Dear husband, do you know what happened? Why did His Majesty abruptly assigned the marriage between the Crown Prince and Duanhua Princess?"
King Rui’an was also puzzled, he shook his head, "I do not know, ever since the Crown Prince returned to the capital from the border, the courtiers in the court have been taking turns to submit their petitions. Seeing the Crown Prince was indifferent, several court officials even assured the Crown Prince after leaving office, urging him to marry. Perhaps it’s because they annoyed him? So, he chose the Princess Duanhua?"
The Queen of Rui’an said, "Princess Duanhua is actually quite adorable."
She whispered, "If the Princess Duanhua hadn’t set her mind on Xie Lin, when Princess Qingping proposed the marriage for Duanhua, I was considering looking for someone to talk to."
Rui’an King suddenly looked at his queen, his whole face became serious, "Don’t ever mention this again, keep it to yourself."
Queen Rui’an glanced at him in playful annoyance, "I know that, of course."
She sighed, "Who would have thought that Princess Duanhua would have such luck."
"Isn’t that right?" King Rui’an was also taken aback. Among all the girls in the capital, she is the one who has been pampered since she was a child. Now that it was time to consider her marriage, in the past six months, it is said that Princess Qingping had chosen all the young masters in the capital, and even selected scholars of humble background until her eyes were blurred. And yet, she could not select a suitable husband for Princess Duanhua. Many people shook their beard and said that the Princess Residence was too picky, with Princess Duanhua’s temperament, they did not know what kind of husband would satisfy her. Saying this actually meant making fun, after all, their sons were among the ones being chosen.
But people are just talented. After picking and choosing, she went directly to be the Crown Prince’s consort.
"The Crown Prince is really a handsome man." The Queen of Rui’an whispered.
King Rui’an glanced at her, completely disagreeing with her words, "Is the only merit of the Crown Prince being handsome?"
"Of course not, there are countless merits." Queen Rui’an laughed, "Speaking of which, when Princess Qingping initially proposed the marriage for Duanhua, she only had one requirement, it ought to be a good-looking one, and then others came into consideration. The Crown Prince is in perfect agreement with this first condition."
Rui’an King was utterly speechless. If one looked at this from this angle, it indeed gave a heart attack. The Crown Prince of Daliang, In the end, was his marriage based on appearance? What did he see in Duanhua then?
Xie Lin came back from outside, he was filled with gossip, "Father, mother, have you heard about it? Crown Prince is going to marry Princess Duanhua? The decree has been issued."
He was sighing continuously, "Oh dear, I still remember the madness of Duanhua and Zhou Gu, looking back at it now. I feel like I was blind!"
Rui’an King glared at him, "From now on, old things are not to be mentioned, especially the old affairs of Duanhua Princess, otherwise, the Crown Prince will exile you out of the capital."
Xie Lin chuckled, "I don’t dare, I just mentioned it in front of you two."
The Queen Rui’an looked at her son, and she hadn’t forgotten that her son looked a bit depressed these two days. Now he is smiling like this, it is quite rare, she directly asked: "You’ve asked Qin Luan at the Eastern Palace? She didn’t agree with you?"
Xie Lin instantly stopped laughing, "Yes."
The Queen of Rui’an looked at him, "What are you thinking? Begging her to agree? Or what?"
Xie Lin shook his head and said solemnly: "Nothing like that, I would never force marriage. If she’s not happy, let’s just forget about it."
The queen hearing this secretly let out a sigh of relief, "Then your marriage got ..."
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