1. Cancel the engagement? Grant the engagement?
"Miss! Miss, something's wrong!"
In the quiet and somewhat desolate courtyard, a light green figure swept into the inner room like a gust of wind, causing the wind chimes hanging by the door to tinkle.
In the elegant room, a graceful figure sat facing the half-open window, and the needlework in her hands did not stop even for a moment because of the interruption of the visitor. When the little girl took a breath, the woman stopped sewing, turned around and smiled, "What made you so surprised?" The woman had a beautiful and elegant appearance, but there was a sharpness and sharpness in her eyes that was somewhat inconsistent with her weak appearance. She was wearing a plain dress, and her long hair was casually tied up with a jade hairpin. If an outsider saw her, it would be hard to believe that this woman was the eldest daughter of the Shangshu Mansion.
"Miss! You are still in the mood to embroider. Do you know... do you know that King Li has broken off the engagement with you?" The little girl snatched the embroidery from her hand and stamped her feet anxiously. She had been so anxious that she was about to get angry since King Li broke off the engagement with her three days ago, but her young lady still acted as if it had nothing to do with her.
"Qingshuang, Prince Li broke off the engagement three days ago. Aren't you a little too slow to react by getting anxious now?" Ye Li looked at her maid with amusement, not caring about her rude behavior.
"Miss!" Qingshuang glared at her own young lady madly, "I'm not worried about Prince Li." Her young lady didn't care about Prince Li, so why should she care so much? But... "Oh, Miss. The Emperor has given you another marriage! The master asked you to go out and receive the decree."
"Another arranged marriage?" Ye Li was startled, but couldn't help frowning. She originally thought that she would be able to live in peace for a few years after the marriage was broken off by Prince Li. After all, not many people in this era are willing to marry a woman whose marriage was broken off. "Our family is just the Shangshu Mansion. Why does the emperor care so much about it?" The marriage was broken off three days ago, and another arranged marriage was made three days later. Does the emperor value the Shangshu Mansion too much or does he dislike the man who was arranged to marry?
Qingshuang's eyes turned red with anger, and she gritted her teeth and said angrily: "It's Prince Ding! It must be the eldest daughter who instigated the emperor. She has loved bullying the young lady since she was a child, and now she actually... actually wants the young lady to marry Prince Ding. Wuwu..."
Ye Li looked at her daughter helplessly. Such a crying girl wasted the name Qingshuang. "Okay, don't say this outside. Let's go out and receive the order."
Ye Family Hall
"The Emperor of Heaven and Order proclaims: Ye Li, the eldest daughter of the Ye family, is intelligent, virtuous, and a good match. I hereby grant her marriage to Prince Mo Xiuyao of Dingguo as his principal wife. An auspicious date will be chosen for the wedding. I hereby declare."
Everyone in the Ye family thanked them in unison. The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict handed the imperial edict to Ye Li and said with a smile: "Congratulations, Madam Ye, congratulations, Miss Ye." Ye Li took the imperial edict, endured the eunuch's slightly harsh laughter, and smiled calmly: "Thank you, eunuch, it's been a great honor for you." The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict looked at Ye Li with some surprise. It was said that the third daughter of the Ye family was a famous daughter of no talent, no appearance, and no morality in the capital. But looking at the woman in front of him, although she was not as gorgeous as Ye Zhaoyi in the palace, nor as beautiful as the fourth daughter of the Ye family, who was known as the most beautiful woman in the capital, she was also a rare and beautiful lady. Moreover, she was graceful in her manners and well-mannered in her speech. How could she be like what Ye Zhaoyi said, who didn't know how to behave and couldn't show up in public? After taking a look at the Ye family members' undisguised gloating, the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict understood everything. Although he felt a little sorry for Miss Ye, these matters were not something that a eunuch like him could control. He said he was not worthy of the responsibility and took his leave.
The mistress of the Ye family courteously asked the butler to personally escort the person out the door, then she glanced at Ye Li and said with a feigned kindness: "Fortunately, the emperor is wise and has found a good marriage for the third young lady. Otherwise..." Otherwise, how could a woman whose engagement was broken off get married?
Ye Li looked calm, but sneered in her heart. What a good marriage. Do you think she doesn't know anything because she doesn't like to go out? When Prince Ding Mo Xiuyao was 18 years old, he was seriously injured and his legs were disabled and his face was disfigured. He has been bedridden ever since. He married two wives successively. It was thought that one of them drowned in an accident less than half a month after entering the house, and the other died of excessive fright on the night of the candlelight in the bridal chamber. There are rumors that she was frightened to death by looking at Prince Ding's face. If not, how could Prince Ding, with his status and position, not have a wife at the age of 25? "Madam is right. No matter what, Prince Ding is also a first-rank hereditary prince. It is true that Li'er is marrying up."
The Ye family mistress's face was slightly stiff. She glanced at Ye Li and then said, "Now that you know, prepare for the wedding well and don't lose face for our Shangshu Mansion. Your fourth sister will also be getting married in a while, and the mansion has been very busy these days."
"I understand. I'm sorry to have caused you so much worry."
"I am the mistress of the Ye family, so naturally I have to worry about these matters." The mistress of the Ye family said, looking at the calm Ye Li, she snorted lightly and left.
Ye Li smiled as she watched the mistress of the Ye family leave, raised her eyebrows and said nothing. Although she was the legitimate daughter of the Ye family, she was not born to the current mistress Wang. Instead, she was born to the original wife of Ye Shangshu, Xu. Xu came from a scholarly family, and her health had not been very good since she gave birth to Ye Li. Ye Shangshu favored the concubine Wang who came in first, and even gave the power of the mansion to Wang after Mrs. Xu became seriously ill. When Ye Li was seven years old, Xu died, and it was at that time that Ye Li became the current Ye Li. After Wang was promoted to the legitimate wife, she was afraid that others would say that she was mistreating the original wife's legitimate daughter, so she did not dare to abuse her. However, she was bound to make trouble from time to time, and Ye Li resolved them one by one without making a sound, which made Mrs. Wang dislike her even more.
"Third sister, congratulations." As soon as Wang left, the girls in the Ye family who were still in the foreground immediately surrounded her, and said congratulatory words with various expressions of pity and gloating on their faces. The first one to speak was the sixth girl, Ye Lin, who was a concubine's daughter. Since she was a child, she loved to follow the legitimate daughters of Wang, and occasionally made trouble for Ye Li to please the legitimate daughters of Wang. Ye Li was generally unwilling to argue with her. It was just a means of survival for concubines. As long as it was not too excessive, she did not want to argue with a child who was only ten years old.
"Why should we congratulate Third Sister? It's scary to think about her marrying Prince Ding. Prince Ding is crippled and ugly, and he scared a princess to death. He might have killed the first princess as well. We should congratulate Fourth Sister. In another month, Fourth Sister will be Princess Li." Fifth Miss Ye Shan looked at Fourth Miss Ye Ying, who was known as the most beautiful woman in the capital, in a flattering manner. She couldn't hide the envy and jealousy in her eyes.
Ye Ying is indeed worthy of the title of the most beautiful woman in the capital, with eyebrows like willow leaves, eyes like autumn water, and a jade-like face that is exquisitely beautiful. Every move she makes is tender and elegant, making people want to pity her. However, such tenderness is less stunning in the eyes of Ye Li, who has seen countless beauties in her previous life.
"We are all sisters, so why congratulate or not. In the future, mother will definitely choose a suitable husband for the fifth and sixth sisters." Ye Ying said softly, her voice was soft and pleasant, her breath was like orchid, and every move she made was full of fascinating grace, and everyone who saw it was jealous again, "But third sister, I hope you can forgive me about the matter of Prince Li." Yingying looked at Ye Li with apologetic eyes. Ye Li smiled generously and said to Ye Ying, "It doesn't matter, maybe Prince Li and I are not destined to be together. We can't ruin our sisterly relationship for a man, right?"
Ye Ying was startled. She was a little unwilling to not get the expected reaction. She originally thought that she would be heartbroken when she received the news of the broken engagement three days ago, but what disappointed Ye Ying was that her third sister was just silent for a moment, said "I know" and went back to her room to rest. She didn't look haggard at all when she saw her again today. Prince Li is the dream husband of the ladies in the capital, she didn't believe that she was really not sad! After a while, she smiled shyly and said, "I know that my third sister loves me the most. If you have any difficulties in the future, you can go to Prince Li's mansion to find Ying'er."
Ye Li agreed indifferently, not wanting to look at the smugness on her face. After bidding farewell to a bunch of sisters who were eager to annoy her, Ye Li took Qing Shuang to her own courtyard. Along the way, Qing Shuang kept muttering in dissatisfaction, "What does the fourth young lady mean? She was the one who robbed the King of Li, but she's still pretending to be so hypocritical. It's really disgusting!"
Ye Li turned around and looked at her with amusement, "Alright, be careful if someone hears you, or you'll get hurt. I really don't care whether I marry Prince Li or Prince Ding."
"How can you be so nonchalant?!" Qingshuang glared at her. "Prince Li is a famous elegant young man in the capital, the emperor's younger brother. Everyone knows that Prince Ding is a man with disabled legs, a disfigured face, and a serious illness... uh..." Thinking of Prince Ding who was about to become her young lady's husband, Qingshuang tried hard to swallow the word "waste".
"So what?" Ye Li raised her eyebrows and looked at Qing Shuang with amusement, "Could it be that you think Prince Li is handsome and want to marry me so that I can be his concubine?" Ye Li had no interest in knowing whether he was handsome or not, although her ex-fiance was said to be one of the four most handsome men in the capital. But Mo Junli's character would definitely not be better than Prince Ding. She had heard about Mo Junli and Ye Ying's affair before, but Mo Junli's motive and mentality of waiting until the wedding date to cancel the engagement were worth pondering. Thinking of this... The emperor's intention to marry herself, who had just been canceled, to Prince Ding was also very thoughtful. Intelligent, virtuous, and worthy of being a good match... Who in the capital doesn't know that the third lady of the Ye family is a famous ugly-looking, lacking talent, and poor sewing skills? Does that mean that she, a woman worth three or five thousand gold, is a good match for Prince Dingguo, who is called waste?
"Miss!" Qingshuang blushed and stamped her feet, "No way! Qingshuang would rather marry a servant than be a concubine." The most important thing is that she will never be the concubine of her mistress's husband. Qingshuang's mother was originally a concubine of a wealthy family. After her father died early, she and her son were driven out of the house by the main wife and lived on the streets. After Qingshuang's mother died of illness, she was almost sold to a brothel. Fortunately, she was bought by the mistress and given the name Qingshuang, who taught her to read and write. Qingshuang is not an ungrateful person, and she will never forget this kindness.
Seeing the little girl was so anxious, Ye Li couldn't help laughing, "Okay, can't we just joke around?"
"Miss……"