Chapter 260 The decision-making power is not in your or my hands.
Prince Rui received the Emperor's message summoning him to the palace early in the morning, and felt a pang of disappointment. He had originally planned to go to the government office to hand over the examination papers to Jiang Yu, but now he could only send his personal attendant with them.
Upon arriving at the palace and meeting the emperor, he was handed a list. The emperor smiled and said to him, "These are all carefully selected by me. Take a look and see which ones you like, and we'll decide when the imperial concubine selection takes place."
Prince Rui glanced at the list, then lifted his robe and knelt on the ground, saying, "Your subject does not wish to get married at this time."
Previously, when he refused to marry, he would always keep a straight face and say he didn't want to marry, but now he knelt down directly, which shows that he is very serious this time.
The emperor's face darkened. "I have already said what I needed to say. Do you really want to defy me and the Empress Dowager?"
Prince Rui lowered his head and remained silent for a while before saying, "My brother often says that there are too many things in life that one cannot do without, even for an emperor like myself."
He looked into the emperor's eyes and said, "But whether I marry or not, and who I marry, will not affect the court or others. Why does Your Majesty make me bear this unavoidable burden?"
The emperor was momentarily stunned upon hearing this. Prince Rui could be said to have been raised by him. As a member of the royal family, there were too many things one had to do. When he was raising Prince Rui, he was doing so according to his own ideals.
And now...
At this moment, Prince Rui's voice rang out again, "Your Majesty and Mother are worried about my future, but I am a prince with a fiefdom, which is enough for me to live a life of luxury for a hundred years. Having a princess consort whom I do not like is what makes me disgusted."
The Emperor sat silently behind his desk, lost in thought at Prince Rui's words. As an emperor, he rarely considered things from other people's perspectives. But Prince Rui was different; his life was the Emperor's ideal.
He projected Prince Rui onto himself. In his entire life, he had never truly loved a woman and couldn't understand why Prince Rui insisted on finding someone who was compatible with him. However, he could understand the helplessness of being forced into marriage against his will.
That's all.
The emperor sighed inwardly. Just as he had said, his marriage was none of the affairs of the court and would not affect others. There was no need to force him to marry a woman he did not like.
"Get up," the emperor said. "You're all grown up now, you know what you want, and I won't be the bad guy anymore."
The last sentence had a hint of spite in it, so Prince Rui quickly said, "Everyone in Daqian knows that Your Majesty is the best person to me."
The emperor couldn't help but smile. "You just know how to say nice things to fool me."
At this moment, Zhao Fuquan came in and whispered, "Prince An has arrived."
"Let him in." The emperor then looked at Prince Rui and said, "Jingwei is the same age as you, it's time for him to get married."
At this moment, Prince An entered, bowed to the emperor, and was also given a list.
"Now only you, Xiaoqi, and Xiaoba haven't married any concubines," the emperor said. "Xiaoqi and Xiaoba each have their mothers who choose their principal wives for them. I've selected a few for you; you can choose one from them."
The emperor spoke casually because he assumed Prince An wouldn't refuse. However, to his surprise, Prince An knelt down upon hearing this and said, "Your subject does not wish to take a concubine at this time."
The emperor fell silent, his gaze towards Prince An growing deep and unfathomable. He knew very well that although handing over the Embroidered Uniform Guard to this son was an implication that he had no chance of ascending the throne, this son had not given up.
The list given to Prince An included two noble ladies of very high status. The reason for including their names was to test his son. He just didn't understand whether Prince An had seen through his test and refused, or if there was another reason.
The Imperial Study was silent. Prince Rui looked at Prince An kneeling on the ground with some pity, but he did not plead with the Emperor. He knew that if he did, the Emperor would become even more suspicious of Prince An.
He couldn't understand why the emperor was so harsh on Prince An.
After an unknown amount of time, the emperor spoke up: "They all have very big ideas. I don't care anymore. If they don't want to marry, then they don't have to."
"Thank you, Father Emperor." Prince An's voice was calm and steady, as if he were not the one being suspected by the emperor.
"Get up," the emperor said. "We've been keeping a close eye on Lingnan lately."
"yes."
The Emperor waved his hand impatiently, and Prince Rui and Prince An left the Imperial Study and walked together out of the palace. They were both rather silent the whole way, unlike usual when they would talk a great deal when they met.
Upon reaching the palace gates, both men stopped, remaining silent. After a while, Prince An spoke first, asking, "Uncle, why don't you want to take a concubine?"
Prince Rui did not answer his question, but instead asked, "And what about you?"
The room fell silent again. This time, Prince Rui spoke first, saying, "Jingwei, although we are uncle and nephew, we grew up together since childhood, and this bond will never change."
Prince An pursed his lips, looking somewhat like a child who had made a mistake. "I'm sorry, Uncle."
Prince Rui patted him on the shoulder, "The decision-making power is not in your or my hands, do you understand?"
"I understand." Prince An's face showed shame. In a sense, without Prince Rui, he wouldn't be where he is today. He had always been grateful to his uncle and considered him his best friend.
Prince Rui breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing his attitude. He didn't want his childhood friendship with Prince An to be altered by certain events.
The uncle and nephew exchanged a smile, then parted ways to attend to their own business.
...........
The notices issued by Baoyuan Money Shop, stating that the silver notes must be redeemed within one month or they would become invalid, were posted all over the capital city. Meanwhile, messengers were also rushing to deliver these notices to various prefectures and counties throughout the capital. In no time, a large crowd of people gathered outside Baoyuan Money Shop, waiting to redeem their silver notes.
At this time, Jufeng Money Shop was nationalized, and a notice was posted that depositing money in Jufeng Money Shop would earn interest. Then a phenomenon occurred: many people exchanged silver from Baoyuan Money Shop and immediately deposited the silver in Jufeng Money Shop.
Even illiterate country folk understood that the imperial court was more trustworthy than a merchant, not to mention the interest on deposits. Meanwhile, Baoyuan Money Shop's cash reserves were visibly dwindling, while Jufeng Money Shop's cash reserves were piling up like mountains.
Upon hearing this news, the Emperor summoned Jiang Yu to the Imperial Study. Jiang Yu knew what the Emperor most wanted to see, so she directly showed him the account books from Jufeng Bank over the past few days. The Emperor's eyes narrowed into slits with delight after reading them.
"How can there be so many?" the emperor asked.
Jiang Yu explained to him, "Because there is interest on deposits, not only did people who exchanged cash from Baoyuan Money Shop deposit their money into Jufeng Money Shop, but people who held silver notes from other money shops also exchanged them for cash and then deposited the silver into Jufeng Money Shop."
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