Chapter 14 I Became the Goddess's Son-in-Law?! (Fourteen)
The horse stopped before the Forbidden City, and Jiang Yiqing and the others walked to the Hongguang Hall where the Emperor resided. Along the way, they saw a world of vermilion walls and glazed tiles, with magnificent and beautiful halls and pavilions, all displaying imperial grandeur...
The horse stopped in front of the Forbidden City, and Jiang Yiqing and the others walked to the Hongguang Hall where the Emperor was. Along the way, they saw a world of red walls and glazed tiles, with magnificent and beautiful halls and pavilions that showed the imperial grandeur.
Jiang Yiqing couldn't hide her excitement upon seeing such a vibrant ancient palace. Si Xuansu secretly admired her for her composure and poise as she entered the palace.
Finally, we arrived at Hongguang Hall. As we walked in, we saw Marquis Huaiyi and Yin Qiang in the hall. Although this was not the place for the morning court, it was still one of the most important halls in the palace.
Besides Marquis Huaiyi and Yin Qiang, there were also some civil and military officials in the hall. It is estimated that Marquis Huaiyi wanted to defeat them in one fell swoop and had these officials as witnesses.
Sitting on the dragon throne in the center was the supreme ruler of this world. Jiang Yiqing glanced at him subtly and found him to be a dignified and imposing middle-aged man.
"Minister Si, I've summoned you here for no other reason than that Marquis Huaiyi accuses you of not marrying into the Jiang family. Marquis Huaiyi is asking me to grant you a marriage, but you don't want to form a marriage alliance with him, so you're using the pretense of marrying into the Jiang family to get me to refuse the marriage. Is this true?"
Si Xuansu remained calm in front of the Emperor. He first bowed to the Emperor and replied, "The Marquis of Huaiyi is spouting nonsense. Your Majesty should not believe him."
Upon hearing this, the hall erupted in commotion. No one had expected Si Xuansu to be so bold as to say that Marquis Huaiyi was "talking nonsense."
However, if what she said is true, then things will get interesting. Everyone is curious to see which of these two families will ultimately prevail in front of the Emperor.
The Emperor was taken aback and said, "You have always been straightforward. Since that's the case, you and Marquis Huaiyi should confront each other face to face, and I will determine who is in the wrong."
Marquis Huaiyi had been holding back for a long time after hearing Si Xuansu's retort, but he had refrained from doing so because the Emperor was in front of him. Now that the Emperor had finished speaking, he immediately pointed at Si Xuansu and said, "What an impudent brat! I am a generation older than you, yet you dare to speak to me like that! Your Majesty, look how ill-mannered she is. As a woman, she still had to join the army. That's why she became like this."
The Emperor frowned upon hearing this. He was tired of hearing Marquis Huaiyi say these things. He kept harping on the fact that Si Xuansu was a woman, even though the matter had already been settled.
"Marquis Huaiyi, back then, when Minister Si competed with other generals in front of me, she excelled in everything from formation and archery to strategy and martial arts. I said then that regardless of gender, the strongest should be the commander, so I appointed her as the General of the Central Army. This was my decision, so why do you still have objections now?"
The Emperor's words dampened the arrogance of Marquis Huaiyi considerably, probably because he knew that continuing the conversation would only anger him.
Si Xuansu said, "Your Majesty has set aside your prejudices and given me an important position. I am grateful to this day."
"Minister Si is the most sensible. Marquis Huaiyi, you are not young anymore. I hope you will learn some manners."
Jiang Yiqing thought to herself that it seemed the Emperor was on Si Xuansu's side, which was a good thing.
At this point, the system told her that Marquis Huaiyi and the Emperor were cousins, and that the Yin family had been protected by the royal family for generations, which had led to their arrogant and conceited nature.
Jiang Yiqing felt uneasy again after hearing this. With this connection, it wouldn't be easy to bring down the Yin family.
Marquis Huaiyi lost face and toned down his attitude considerably. However, he then grinned maliciously and said, "Your Majesty, Si Xuansu said I was talking nonsense. You see, am I talking nonsense? The person who should have become her husband is actually with another girl outside. I have already caught him. Your Majesty can bring him to the palace with a single order."
Upon hearing this, the hall erupted in uproar, and the situation seemed to have reversed. Everyone looked at Si Xuansu and Jiang Yiqing with incredulous eyes, never expecting that such a thing could happen behind the scenes.
"Minister Si, if the real son-in-law is elsewhere, who is the person beside you? Can you tell me?" The Emperor was also quite surprised.
"Your Majesty, there's no need to ask. The man beside you is obviously a fake son-in-law!" said Marquis Huaiyi. "When did the Jiang family ever have such a handsome man? They only have Jiang Yifan as their sole heir!"
Such hurtful words shocked everyone. Yin Qiang stepped forward and said to the Emperor, "Your Majesty, everything my father said is true. The Jiang family does business in the capital, and their household registration can be verified in the court. No one has ever heard of them having such a son! This person is a woman disguised as a man, and she looks exactly like Madam Si's so-called niece. I saw her once at the Peony Banquet, and everyone can testify to that!"
"The more I listen, the more confused I get..." The Emperor frowned more and more, and asked Si Xuansu, "Minister Si, can you explain this?"
"Your Majesty, I have only one thing to say: the man beside me is my true husband, and only him. As for the fake son-in-law and niece mentioned by Marquis Huaiyi and the Crown Prince, they are all fabrications. Slandering me is a small matter, but do they know that they have committed the crime of deceiving the emperor?" Si Xuansu's phoenix eyes swept sharply across the hall, and his imposing aura immediately silenced the ministers. Even Marquis Huaiyi and Yin Qiang turned pale.
"How dare you! We're accusing you of deceiving the emperor, and you're turning around and slapping a label on me?" Marquis Huaiyi shouted. "Fine, let's see if you're still so stubborn when the others come in."
Upon hearing this, the Emperor remained calm and gestured to the chief eunuch beside him. The eunuch then called out in a drawn-out voice, "Guards, please invite Lady Jiang to the palace!"
Jiang Yiqing stared outside the hall when a figure was slowly dragged in. It was none other than Jiang Yifan, whom she had met once before.
Jiang Yiqing never expected that the guy who was so energetic when they met back then would have disheveled hair and a pale face today. He had no visible injuries, but she had no idea what underhanded tricks he had taken.
Seeing her, Jiang Yifan regained some of his spirits, and looked at her with apology and worry. Jiang Yiqing thought to herself, "You should worry about yourself."
Upon seeing Jiang Yifan's condition, Si Xuansu knew he had been tortured. Her gaze was fixed on the Marquis of Huaiyi and his son, her aura as cold as ice. She said to the Emperor, "Your Majesty, this man is my husband's elder brother. The Marquis of Huaiyi has abused his power against my brother-in-law. I beg Your Majesty to investigate! If he dares to lay a hand on my brother-in-law today, who knows what he might do in the future!"
Si Xuansu's anger reached everyone's hearts, and everyone felt that Marquis Huaiyi had gone too far, daring to use his private prison and arrest people arbitrarily without an imperial edict.
The Emperor looked at Marquis Huaiyi, who coughed somewhat guiltily and said, "Your Majesty, he stubbornly refused to admit that he had allowed his own sister to marry into the General's Mansion. I had no choice but to resort to private torture. Si Xuansu also admitted that he was a member of the Jiang family! Then there is no mistake. This man should have been Si Xuansu's husband. The Jiang family only has one son and one daughter. The man is Jiang Yifan in front of us, and the woman is the one standing next to Si Xuansu! She disguised herself as a man and committed the crime of deceiving the Emperor with Si Xuansu!"
After hearing what Marquis Huaiyi said, everyone looked at Jiang Yiqing. Was she a woman?!
Jiang Yiqing saw that the Emperor was also looking at her, so she stepped forward with neither arrogance nor servility and said to the Emperor, "Your Majesty, I have never encountered such a ridiculous thing in my life. Someone actually doubts my gender. I beg Your Majesty to see the truth."
The Emperor thought Jiang Yiqing looked remarkably like the man on the ground. He asked, "Young Master Jiang, is your name Jiang Yiqing?"
“Exactly,” Jiang Yiqing said.
The Emperor looked at the household register presented to him and said, "Then why does the household register say that Jiang Yiqing is a woman?"
“The record is wrong. Given that I am an ordinary person, it’s not surprising that such an error would occur,” Jiang Yiqing said.
Upon hearing her say this, Yin Shang immediately became anxious and said, "How do you explain that you look exactly like the woman at the Peony Banquet?"
“Indeed, there is no niece; that was me dressed as a woman.” Jiang Yiqing looked at the Emperor and said, “Your Majesty, is it wrong for a commoner to disguise myself and attend the Peony Banquet? What does this have to do with Marquis Huaiyi?”
"This..." The Emperor was stunned for a moment when he heard such an unbelievable thing for the first time. He then laughed and said, "You are right. There is nothing wrong with this!"
"Your Majesty!" asked the heir apparent of the Marquis of Huaiyi, "Aren't you going to investigate her for disguising herself as a man? How can the Si family allow two women to shoulder the heavy responsibility of commanding hundreds of thousands of troops? This is simply unbelievable!"
Upon hearing this, a hint of anger appeared on the Emperor's forehead. The heir of the Marquis of Huaiyi realized he had spoken out of turn, shut his mouth, and was pulled away by his father.
The Emperor picked up the jade paperweight from the table and angrily threw it to the ground of the hall, cursing, "I approved the marriage of the Si family. Is it really worth you filing a lawsuit against me like this and arresting Jiang's brother? What a disgrace! You created this farce to amuse me. It seems you think I won't get angry, so you're fearless!"
The ministers trembled upon hearing this. They knew that Marquis Huaiyi was fearless, but now that the emperor had said it himself, it seemed that he had a problem with him.
From now on, the arrogance of Marquis Huaiyi will probably not be as rampant as before, right? Thinking of the losses they had suffered in other places, many ministers felt a sense of satisfaction.
The most frightened were undoubtedly the Marquis of Huaiyi and his son. Seeing the emperor's anger, they all knelt on the ground, not daring to utter a single word of rebuttal, and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. It's not worth ruining your health!"
"Get out of my sight, both of you! I hereby order you and your son to stay home and reflect on your actions for three months. During this time, I am not to see you."
Upon hearing this, Marquis Huaiyi and his son breathed a sigh of relief; it was alright if they were confined to their rooms to reflect on their mistakes.
The Emperor said to Si Xuansu, "Minister Si, it has really troubled you to make this trip. You and your son-in-law must have been quite frightened, as well as Jiang's eldest son. I will reward you with one hundred taels of gold and one hundred catties of ginseng and deer antler as compensation."
Jiang Yiqing knew that the Emperor still favored Marquis Huaiyi, but the issue of military power was a major taboo for an emperor, and she did not believe that Marquis Huaiyi and his son could continue to be so complacent.
I finally got my revenge, it feels so good!
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