Seeing him speak seriously, Ye Wanshu sneered in her heart.
Is it for me or to maintain your own power?
Her father was indeed quite capable as an official. In just ten years, he rose from a prefectural magistrate to the prime minister highly regarded by the emperor. He was extremely powerful, but the only thing that bothered him was that he still had no son.
I heard that after he came to Beijing, he took several concubines, but all of them gave birth to daughters.
Now that the imperial power is about to be transferred and the empress dowager does not like him, he wants to use the emperor's power to support the new emperor. The only bargaining chip he has is to marry his daughter. However, none of those arrogant royal family members are willing to marry his illegitimate daughter, so he becomes his only hope.
"Why does father have so much prejudice against my aunt and uncle's family?"
The Gu brothers had not yet caused any trouble in the Duke's Mansion. Ye Wanshu knew that she could not let them see any hope at the moment, so she deliberately protected the Duke's Mansion.
"Father also knows that my two cousins love me deeply. My greatest wish in this life is to marry into the Duke's Mansion."
With a faint smile, Ye Wanshu said unwillingly, "My two cousins only brought Miss Yue Ling back home because they saw her life was pitiful. It won't affect me in any way."
"My silly daughter, how could you be so confused?"
Ji Yuan said anxiously, "If those two bastards really cared about you, how could they do such a thing at this critical moment?"
"Men, after all, are accustomed to the taste of life. Why should I be so serious?"
Ye Wanshu glanced at him jokingly, "Father used to love Mother so much, and he had several concubines at home."
"How can this be compared?"
Ji Yuan said angrily, "How have I ever treated your mother unfairly? She has been married to me for so many years and only gave birth to you, a daughter, but I have never blamed her. Even if she was a prostitute, I would not bring her home."
"Take the several concubines that have taken in the mansion as examples. I have a pity for each of them because they bear some resemblance to your mother when she was young. I am even willing to raise all their children under your mother's name. What else do you want from me?"
He spoke of his heartlessness and disloyalty with such confidence that Ye Wanshu felt a little suffocated.
Today, she had no intention of rehashing her mother's past, and quickly said, "Wanwan invited father here today simply because she wanted him to see that she was doing well."
She stepped forward and grabbed Ji Yuan's hand, begging earnestly, "Father, please grant your daughter's wish?"
Looking at his daughter's earnest eyes, Ji Yuan's expression suddenly became stiff.
Now the Empress Dowager and the Emperor have long been at odds with each other. Gu An is the Empress Dowager's nephew. If he agrees to his daughter marrying into the Duke of Rong's Mansion, it will surely make the Emperor suspicious.
Moreover, he had to rely on his legitimate daughter to welcome the new king and preserve the prosperity and wealth of the Ji family.
Just as I was hesitating, Gu An and Ye Huaisu walked straight in.
"Brother-in-law."
Ye Huaisu called out enthusiastically, and said apologetically, "I invited you in so hastily. It's really my fault for not being considerate. I hope you will bear with me as today is Wanwan's wedding day."
"Wedding day?"
Ji Yuan's thick brows knitted together. "Since Duke Rong is determined to marry my daughter, yet he allowed your son to do such a ridiculous thing in the brothel, does he really think that my Wanwan has no one to support her?"
"What are you talking about, brother-in-law?"
Gu An explained with a bitter face, "Wanwan is my wife's niece. My wife and I have always treated her as our own daughter and would never treat her unfairly. That bitch is just a pathetic creature who is not worthy of being mentioned in public. She is not worth mentioning."
"That's easy to say." Ji Yuan said angrily, "Duke Rong, I will never marry Wanwan to those two bastards."
Hearing this, Gu An waved his sleeves and his face darkened: "Master Prime Minister, I'm afraid it's too late. The Queen Mother's decree granting the marriage has already arrived at the palace."
Ji Yuan's face tensed up: "What? The Queen Mother granted the marriage?"
The astonishment on his face had not yet faded when Zhou Fuhai walked in with a smile on his face, leading the palace servants and carrying gifts.
Smiling, he bowed to Gu An and Ji Yuan, and then Zhou Fuhai said sharply, "Duke Rong, Prime Minister, congratulations to you two. Congratulations to you two. We, under the order of the Queen Mother, have specially prepared generous gifts to come and confer marriage upon Miss Ye and the young master."
Gu An glanced at Ji Yuan proudly and knelt down first.
After the group knelt down to receive the imperial edict and sent the people from the palace away, the whole room suddenly fell into deathly silence.
Ji Yuan and Gu An stared at each other with hatred, and no one spoke. Ye Huaisu was caught in the middle and felt torn. However, Ye Wanshu sat at the tea table with a relaxed look on her face, taking a few sips of the new spring tea from time to time.
The rich aroma of tea lingered in her mouth and nose, making her feel refreshed.
I guess my two cousins have already known the situation here and are on their way.
The show is about to begin.
......
After Gu Tingzhou and Gu Tingchen sent Jiang Yueling back to Biqingzhai, they took advantage of the time when the maids accompanied her to take a bath and change clothes to start discussing outside the yard.
"Tingchen, just now that girl Xiaodie said that Yueling fell into the pool by herself. Could it be that what she said is true, and we misunderstood Wanwan?" Gu Tingzhou asked suspiciously.
Gu Tingchen shook his head in disdain. "Brother, you believe this nonsense. If Wanwan is truly innocent, she only needs to explain it to us clearly. But she actually pushed Yueling into the water again in front of us. This is clearly a provocation to us brothers."
Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, Gu Tingchen's face was already full of anger: "She has taken advantage of us two brothers and thinks we can't live without her, so she deliberately did these things to attract our attention."
Gu Tingzhou pondered for a moment, then suddenly sighed, "But today, my father is going to announce Wanwan's marriage to us. Tingchen, if you really like Wanwan, I won't fight with you."
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