Chapter 431 Miao Family

Song Yichun, who had happily welcomed the imperial edict, was struck by lightning when he heard its contents, and was unable to recover for a long time.

In his opinion, Wang Ge helped to sound out the emperor, and the emperor also had this idea. Even if Song Han could not marry Princess Jingyi, the biological daughter of the Empress, he could marry the most beautiful Princess Jingfu. But now the princess has become a country girl, and a country girl who came out of nowhere... He felt a breath stuck in his chest. If he hadn't heard Song Mo whispering to greet the eunuch who came to read the imperial edict, he would probably not be able to breathe.

How did this happen?

Who was behind this?

Song Yichun glanced at Song Han, who was stunned and at a loss, and his eyes couldn't help but fall on Song Mo, who was chatting and laughing with the eunuch.

So as soon as the eunuch left, he jumped up, pointed at Song Mo's nose and questioned: "Is it you? Otherwise, why would the Empress suddenly issue an imperial decree to arrange a marriage for Tian'en? You must have seen that Tian'en was favored by the Emperor, and you were afraid that Tian'en would be a burden to you in the future, so you did something..."

But before he could finish, Song Mo sneered and said, "Father really thinks highly of me! Don't you know whether I am one of the Three Dukes or one of the Three Orphans? I can actually influence the emperor's thoughts!" Then he glanced at him with contempt, "Don't blame me, your son, for not reminding you. You'd better be careful with your words, lest this word gets to the emperor's ears and he thinks you are dissatisfied with his arrangement. If he is unhappy, don't say that I did something behind it. I don't deserve such a 'praise' from father!"

"You!" Song Yichun's face flushed.

Song Mo walked away.

Song Han called out "brother" in grievance behind him, and repeatedly said, "Father was just angry for a moment, and didn't mean to blame you. This marriage was too sudden. Brother is working in the palace, can you find out what's going on for me?"

His tone was sincere, but Song Mo seemed not to hear it and walked out of the main hall without stopping.

"This little bastard, I raised him for nothing!" Song Yichun was so angry that he was shaking all over. He cursed at Song Mo's receding back, "If I had known he would be like this, I should have strangled him to death when he was born, so that I wouldn't have to endure the anger of this evil creature until today!" After scolding the eldest son, he scolded the second son, "You useless piece of crap, he doesn't consider you a brother anymore, but you still call him brother. Do you have any shame? He is your brother, not your father. Can't you live without him?"

Song Han's face turned red and white from being scolded, and he lowered his head, like an eggplant hit by frost.

Song Yichun became even more annoyed when he saw this. He raised his leg and kicked Zeng Wu, saying, "Why don't you go and invite Mr. Tao over? Why are they all so stupid that they won't move unless you call them!"

Zeng Wulian rolled out of the main hall and asked Tao Qi to come back.

Song Yichun ordered Tao Qizhong to find out the details of the Wanping Miao family, while he himself went to the Third Princess's Mansion.

It was the end of July and the beginning of August, the time when the autumn osmanthus was in full bloom.

Shi Chonglan was picking osmanthus flowers with the third princess in the backyard.

Hearing that Song Yichun was coming, he couldn't help but smile and said, "He must have good news for us."

The third princess smiled and asked, "What did you do?"

As the saying goes, it is better to demolish a temple than to ruin a marriage. Shi Chonglan thought she had done a great thing and did not hide it from the third princess. She smiled and told the third princess that Song Yichun intended to let Song Han marry the princess, and said, "I calculated the time, and the imperial edict should arrive in the next few days."

The third princess couldn't help but frown and said angrily, "Why didn't you tell me beforehand? Mother intended to marry Jingyi to the Xingguo Duke's Mansion, but the eldest son, born to the Xingguo Duke's wife, and the second and third masters were already married, and the seventh master was three years younger than Jingyi, so mother didn't mention Jingyi's marriage. Why are you interfering in this?"

Shi Chonglan was stunned: "My mother intends to let the third master of the Xingguo Mansion marry Jingyi?"

Why does it sound weird to him?

But before he could think about it, the Third Princess urged him to go see Song Yichun: "Go early and come back early. Let's go see those green calyx plants together later."

Shi Chonglan loved plum blossoms, so the third princess found a way to plant various plum trees in her own garden.

He smiled and nodded, then went to the study.

But in less than an incense stick of time, Shi Chonglan turned back with a serious look on his face.

The third princess asked curiously, "What happened? Could it be that Princess Shang's affairs are not going well?" She added, "You'd better not get involved in this matter, or you may upset our mother!"

"It's more than just unsuccessful!" Shi Chonglan smiled bitterly. She wanted to ask the Third Princess for help, so she told the Third Princess the purpose of Song Yichun's visit in great detail. "Mother actually issued an imperial decree to give the sixth daughter of a Miao family in Wanping to Song Han as his wife. Who exactly is this Wanping Miao family? Is it related to Mother or is it the descendant of a fallen meritorious official? How come I have never heard of it? Do you have any impression?"

Although Concubine Miao was the most beautiful woman in the harem, that was more than 20 years ago. Now she is just a forgotten woman in the cold palace, struggling to survive under the majesty of the empress dowager. How many people still remember her?

"Wanping Miao Clan?" The third princess frowned and thought for a long time, then asked hesitantly, "Could it be the Miao Concubine's family?"

When it comes to Concubine Miao, Shi Chonglan will have an impression of her.

He turned around and walked out: "I'll go tell Song Yichun and ask him to send someone to check it out."

The third princess shook her head as she looked at Shi Chonglan's back.

Song Yichun was stunned on the spot: "Miao Taifei's family? It's good enough that the Queen Mother didn't make Miao Taifei a puppet, but why would the Queen Mother give a marriage to the daughter of the Miao family? What's going on here? Are you asking me to become a relative of a commoner?"

The thought of it made him feel as disgusted as if there was shit on his feet.

Shi Chonglan noticed something.

Song Yichun's luck was so bad. The matter of Princess Song Hanshang was not told earlier or later, but came out at this time. She was taken advantage of by the Empress Dowager, who didn't know whether it was a whim or she had planned it for a long time.

However, the Song family has a prominent background. Although Song Han is the second son, he is more than suitable to marry the daughter of the Miao family. Logically, the Empress Dowager should not disparage Song Han like this. Is there some other secret behind this?

Shi Chonglan then felt deeply regretful.

I really shouldn't have gotten involved in this matter.

If he did something bad to the Empress Dowager and she hated him, even if he had the Emperor's protection, the Empress Dowager's temper would be enough to make him drink a pot of wine.

He wanted to back out, so he said tactfully, "Since there are clues to follow, there is no need to worry about not being able to find out the origin. I'll ask for you, and you can also send someone to investigate the Miao family so that you can have a plan in mind when you propose marriage."

The imperial decree has been issued. Does Song Yichun really dare to disobey it?

No matter how dissatisfied you are, you have to accept it and at most complain to your close friends in private.

At this point, he didn't have any good ideas. He sighed awkwardly, thinking of the three thousand taels of silver he had stuffed into Wang Ge. He still asked Shi Chonglan to help him find out the inside story of this matter.

Shi Chonglan was also afraid that she had accidentally caused a disaster, and wanted to ask Wang Ge for clarification, so she naturally agreed.

Song Yichun returned to the Duke of Ying's Mansion.

The Miao family had a concubine during the reign of the previous emperor, and they had bought land and properties in recent years, becoming a well-known family in Wanping County. Tao Qizhong didn't have to spend much time to find out everything about the Miao family.

He stroked his forehead, not knowing how to explain this to Song Yichun.

Song Mo had already received the news.

The Miao family enjoyed prosperity for several years thanks to Concubine Miao. After the death of the previous emperor, the family's fortunes became worse and worse. As the saying goes, it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality. The Miao family had tasted the sweetness of marrying off their daughter, so the male members did not think about how to support the family, but instead focused on finding a good son-in-law to help support the family.

The sixth daughter of the Miao family was the best-looking among the sisters, and she was also very smart. Originally, the Miao family wanted to send her to the inner court, so they made great efforts to hire a master to teach their daughter chess, calligraphy, and painting at home. Knowing that Concubine Miao had long since lost power in the palace, she changed her mind and wholeheartedly wanted to marry her daughter to a powerful family so that she could often help her parents' family in the future.

Hearing that the Queen Mother had given Miao Ansu to the second son of the Duke of Yingguo as a wife, the Miao family immediately sent people to inquire about Song Han's background. Knowing that Song Han only had less than five thousand taels of silver left by Madam Jiang, that Song Mo was tyrannical and cruel, but the emperor was very fond of him, and that Song Yichun was in his prime, the Miao family's faces immediately became a little ugly, and the brothers sat together to discuss countermeasures.

"The old one will definitely remarry, and the young one is someone you can't afford to offend. Apart from a reputation, there's nothing practical to offer." Miao Ansu's brother Miao Anping was very dissatisfied. Before the elders could speak, he couldn't wait to say, "It's better to marry Master Guo in the county. Although Master Guo's wife is dead, he said that the betrothal gift is five thousand taels of silver. Once you marry, you will be in charge of the middle class, and we can also get a share in the Guo family's shop..."

"Shut up!" Miao Ansu's father glared at his son fiercely and said, "This is a marriage arranged by Yu Ci. Can you regret it? You better say less and be careful about what you say!"

Miao Ansu's uncle asked, "Can we ask for more betrothal gifts? After all, we have raised Ansu to this age, so we should at least get back the tuition fees from the tutors, right?"

"That depends on whether the Song family agrees or not!" Miao Ansu's father said gloomily, "The prince of the Duke of Ying's Mansion is a man who kills without blinking an eye. Wouldn't it be like stepping on an ant to crush us to death?"

Everyone was disappointed when they heard this.

There was a loud noise coming from the backyard.

Miao Ansu's father was feeling upset and became furious when he heard the noise.

Miao Anping hurriedly called the maid to ask what was going on.

The maid timidly glanced at Father Miao, then whispered, "It's Miss Six...she said she doesn't want to marry into the Song family...whoever wants to marry can marry..."

Father Miao suddenly felt a dull pain in his forehead.

He wanted to regain wealth and glory with the help of this daughter, so he doted on her in every way. Over time, not only did his daughter develop a bad temper, but she also lost respect for him. When she got angry, no one in the family could calm her down.

Miao Su'an's second uncle looked at Miao's father with a gloating look and said, "She's an unmarried girl. If the neighbors hear about this, all the hard work we've put into building her reputation over the years will be wasted. You should go and take a look! She can't just say she won't get married now."

Father Miao got up in a hurry and went to the inner courtyard.