"Governor, there is an urgent letter from the capital." The guard stood outside the bamboo house, lowered his head and dared not peek.
After a long while, the lattice door was pushed open from the inside, and Cheng Ying's feminine and handsome face appeared in the bamboo window. His black hair was disheveled, and his robe was loosely tied on his body. His eyebrows were raised, and the corners of his narrow eyes were raised with displeasure, and his face was filled with a gloom that had disturbed the peace.
"What letter? Didn't you tell me not to get close to this bamboo forest?" Cheng Ying's voice revealed deep impatience.
The guard immediately knelt down and explained, "Mr. Xia asked the guard to deliver an urgent letter concerning Miss Liu San. I was afraid that I might be delayed..."
That girl is living a carefree life in Pingliang Prefecture, what could possibly happen to her? Cheng Ying frowned as she took the letter, then closed the lattice door with a snap, lay down on the bed, and unfolded the letter.
With just a glance, the casual and lazy expression on his face suddenly changed. He narrowed his narrow and long phoenix eyes and continued reading.
After reading the letter, Cheng Ying crumpled it tightly, unable to tell who she was angry with. She sneered, her eyes and eyebrows were cold, and said to the outside of the house: "Pack your things and return to Beijing."
The guard who was kneeling outside the bamboo house and had not yet left responded respectfully: "I will arrange it right away."
Throwing the crumpled letter into the paper bowl, Cheng Ying put on her robe leisurely. The joints of her hands, which were tying the collar, were distinct, and when she bent her hands, the blue veins bulged due to the force, forming a sharp contrast with her cold white skin. Suddenly, her beautiful finger bone movements became rough, and she slapped the bamboo chair beside her, which immediately broke into pieces and scattered bamboo pieces.
Cheng Ying sneered. He had only been away from Beijing for a few days? This ungrateful little bastard dared to hide his intention to marry from his adoptive father. He really needed to be disciplined!
She was young and ignorant, so he, as her godfather, would not bother with a little girl. Since she called him her godfather, he was not stingy enough to reduce her share of the dowry.
Under Cheng Ying's supervision, the Hall of Supreme Harmony was on track to be completed. After handing over the remaining finishing touches to Hou Junsheng, the prefect of Xianyang, Cheng Ying led his men back to Beijing.
The servants of the Eastern Depot were all very smart. They could see that the Governor was very angry and no one dared to offend him.
Cheng Ying was not the only one who was angry when she heard the news that Yu Qizhe and Yu Jiao were going to get married. Xue Qingshang's face changed immediately after she heard it from the maid. She asked in surprise, "Are you telling the truth? Did the emperor really grant a marriage to Yu, the Junior Official of the Dali Temple?"
The maid whispered, "If it wasn't true, I wouldn't dare to gossip about it in front of you. It's all over the place."
Xue Qingshang grabbed the handkerchief and frowned, "But aren't they brother and sister? Even if they are not blood relatives, they are still brother and sister. Miss Liu San was fostered in the Yu family in the early years. Now that they are married, isn't it a violation of the moral code?"
The maid saw the coldness on her face and said cautiously, "I don't know where this rumor came from. It said that when Miss Liu San was raised in Lord Yu's house, she was Lord Yu's bride and was waiting to get married as soon as she reached the age of 15. But later Miss Liu San was taken back to the Liu family, which delayed the marriage. When His Majesty found out, he wanted to make things right for them, so he granted the marriage."
A lady who came to get married? Xue Qingshang had heard that those small families in the countryside would use weddings to get rid of their sick children, but she never thought that such a ridiculous thing would be related to the bright and handsome Yu Qizhe.
Seeing that Xue Qingshang's face was becoming increasingly ugly, the maid dared not say anything more.
"Prepare the car, I want to go to the palace to see my sister." Xue Qingshang came back to her senses and ordered anxiously.
The maid didn't dare to stop her and hurriedly asked the servants to prepare the carriage.
In the Liu Mansion, Old Lady Liu and Madam Liu were busy all day finalizing Yu Jiao's dowry list. The old lady opened her own small treasury and bought a lot of good things for Yu Jiao. Madam Liu also took out a lot of good things from her own warehouse. Compared with the dowry added by Liu Yaozhen back then, there was no favoritism.
Yu Jiao was embarrassed to ask Madam Liu for additional dowry, so Manager Zhou asked someone to bring the accounts and the bank's silver to the capital. The hucai in Xixun County had already been harvested, the oil press business was in full swing, and the candles made from it were selling very well. Yu Jiao was now well-off and could afford the dowry herself.
But Madam Liu would not allow her to refuse. After Yu Jiao refused, she even brought up Liu Yu. Although Liu Yu was not satisfied with this marriage, he was determined on the dowry list set by Madam Liu and the old lady. He even wanted to buy some more things for Yu Jiao, but finally had to accept it.
The next step was to have the wedding dress tailored and embroidered. The embroiderer was an old maid hired by Madam Liu who used to work in the clothing room but was later rewarded and released from the palace. Yu Jiao only had to sew a few stitches on the wedding dress symbolically.
"Wei Min and Shen Wan both asked me to congratulate you." Liu Yaoyu followed behind Yu Jiao, watching her busying around, and couldn't help but ask, "Why are you getting married out of the blue? You're still so young, the emperor is really just messing around with you!"
Liu Yaoyu was very reluctant to let go, especially when she looked at Yu Jiao's slender waist. This sister had only been found half a year ago, and she had not yet learned how to be a good sister, but her sister was about to get married.
Yu Jiao smiled and asked her, "How has your elder sister been these past two days?"
Liu Yaoyu said: "I'm still not very happy. I heard from the maid that she always has nightmares at night and wakes up with tears all over her face."
Yu Jiao frowned and said, "I'll make a few sachets of medicine to calm the nerves later. You can hang them on the head of your elder sister's bed."
Liu Yaoyu nodded and saw Yu Jiao changed her clothes. "Are you going out?"
Yu Jiao nodded and said, "When I was in Qingyu Village, Aunt Song and Uncle Mengshan took good care of me. After they came to the capital, I have not yet gone to meet them."
"I'll go with you." Liu Yaoyu hadn't left the house since returning to Beijing, and she wanted to go and meet the Yu family. In the future, the Yu family's parents would be Yu Jiao's parents-in-law, and she had to see whether the Yu family treated her third sister well.
Yu Jiao agreed, and the two of them left the house together.
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