Chapter 028

Princess Dening was three years older than Emperor Zhanghe. As siblings from the same mother, their relationship was naturally deeper than that of other royal relatives.

But De Ning never expected that Emperor Zhanghe summoned her to the palace today just to discuss Jiashan's marriage with her.

Princess Dening had no opinion on Jiashan, she just didn't get along well with the late empress in the past. So naturally, she was not that close to Jiashan.

When she heard Emperor Zhanghe ask her who she thought would be a good match for Jiashan, Princess Dening just smiled. She took the tea handed to her by the palace maid and said nonchalantly, "Hasn't your majesty already chosen a candidate?"

Emperor Zhanghe said gently, "There are too many talented people in the court. I am overwhelmed. My sister knows that Jiashan is my eldest daughter and I have always been kind to her. A Qiao passed away early. After much thought, I have no choice but to discuss this with my sister."

Ah Qiao was the Empress's childhood nickname, and Emperor Zhang He always called her that. Seeing Emperor Zhang He mention the Empress, De Ning asked, "Your Majesty, can you recall what the Empress had asked of Jiashan's consort when she was alive?"

Zhang Hedi really thought about it carefully. After a while, he turned his head and said slowly, "Jiashan was too young at that time. Ah Qiao would never think so far ahead."

He sighed, "I originally wanted the eldest grandson of Duke Anguo, but Jiashan said Zhan Shaoying was not virtuous enough. After I asked someone to investigate, I didn't want to let Jiashan down."

Emperor Zhanghe spoke in a fatherly tone, but Princess Dening looked uneasy.

One of the main reasons why she had not gotten along with Empress Yuan in the past was that she felt that woman was too proud and arrogant. If she were made Empress Central, she would not be worthy of the title of a virtuous queen.

Although she passed away early and didn't even serve as empress for ten years, but when she was in charge of the six palaces, De Ning would not enter the palace unless it was an important matter, so as to avoid the two of them getting disgusted with each other.

Now, hearing that Jiashan was dissatisfied with the husband chosen for her by Emperor Zhanghe, De Ning immediately thought of the empress. She straightened her face and said, "Then who do you think is worthy of being her consort, according to the eldest princess?"

Emperor Zhanghe said: "It's the parents' order and the matchmaker's words. Naturally, I will make the decision for her."

He paused and smiled, "When my father was selecting a consort for my sister, he also chose very carefully. My sister is living a stable life now, which just proves that my father's vision is not bad."

Denning smiled.

Emperor Zhanghe said: "Yunchi is seventeen now, he is loyal and honest, very much like Duke Zheng."

When Princess Dening mentioned her eldest son, she finally showed some kindness on her face and nodded: "Yes."

"Just too honest." Dening laughed.

Emperor Zhanghe also clapped his hands and said, "Be more honest. What I hate most is those who do whatever it takes to gain power."

After a moment, he said casually as if he was chatting with his family: "Yun Chi is not a child anymore. After all, he is the son of my sister. I want to keep him by my side and raise him for a few more years."

"Are you engaged now?" Emperor Zhang He asked calmly.

Princess Dening was not on guard. When she heard that Emperor Zhanghe wanted to promote her child, she smiled and said, "Not yet. I originally wanted to find a suitable marriage for him after he got an official position."

Emperor Zhanghe also nodded, as if he agreed with Princess Dening's idea: "That's right."

"Speaking of which, Jiashan and Yunchi are a good match in terms of age." Emperor Zhanghe raised his eyes, looked at Princess Dening who was sitting quietly beside him, and said with a slow smile, "Yunchi grew up under my care, and I trust his character."

Princess Dening had not expected that Emperor Zhang He would suddenly turn around and return to Jiashan's marriage. Her face changed slightly, and she carefully looked at Emperor Zhang He's expression. Seeing that he was serious, Dening could not help but secretly say "bad" in her heart.

"As for my sister, I can trust her even more." Emperor Zhanghe leaned back on the dragon chair. His tone was gentle, as if he was just joking. "If I die in the future, I'm sure my sister won't treat Jiashan harshly."

Dening said hurriedly: "Your Majesty is now in the prime of life, you should not say that."

"Everyone must die," Zhang Hedi raised the corner of his mouth slightly, "Don't be nervous, sister."

Princess Dening smiled dryly. After all, he was her brother, and she understood Emperor Zhanghe's temperament. As an emperor, he was tolerant of officials and people, and as a father, he always loved Jiashan.

He specially invited her in today and talked in a roundabout way for a long time. I guess he wanted to tell me that he wanted to make Jiashan his daughter-in-law.

Princess Dening was also born a princess. She understood the advantages of marrying a princess to ordinary subjects, and also understood the disadvantages of marrying a princess to a man.

Her rank was already noble, and Emperor Zhanghe would never treat her descendants badly for her sake. So the benefits of being a concubine were almost insignificant to Princess Deyang. But the disadvantages were too many.

Unless Jiashan had no children for seven years, her son would not even think about taking a concubine. Moreover, with Jiashan's personality, Yunchi would probably be controlled by her, and he and her would have to argue in the future.

Dening forced herself to raise the corners of her mouth. Seeing that Zhang Hedi was just staring at her firmly, she did not confront him and could only smile and say, "If Yunchi can really have this blessing, I will thank him first."

Emperor Zhanghe nodded with satisfaction, and said, "I am also willing to have a closer relationship with my sister."

De Ning's heart suddenly felt even colder, and she left the Qianqing Palace with a wry smile.

When leaving the palace, Princess Dening stayed at the entrance of Dongzhimen for a long time. After thinking it over again and again, she turned around and walked back towards the rear palace.

At this time, Zhan Yue just came out of the Jinwu Guard's duty room. When he saw Princess Dening, he naturally greeted her politely.

De Ning smiled at him, as if he had thought of something, and said to Zhan Yue: "Some time ago, the Crown Prince's wife came to my house to meet me. If you have time, please tell her that I have a lot of new West Lake Longjing tea here, and ask her to come and taste it when she is free."

Zhan Yue looked indifferent and just said, "Yes."

"And..." Denning paused, his eyes half-smiled, "Last time she asked me why His Majesty asked about her eldest brother's birth date, and I made up a story and told her that it was probably because Ying was going to marry a princess."

Princess Dening smiled and said, "If you see her, make sure she doesn't take it to heart."

"I will convey this message." Zhan Yue said.

"Yes." De Ning whispered, "Her Majesty intends to match Jiashan with Yunchi. If she wants to choose another girl from a noble family for Ying'er, she can start making preparations."

Zhan Yue was slightly startled. He raised his head and said in a hoarse voice, "What?"

Dening smiled, but did not respond, nor did she continue to go to the harem. Under Zhan Yue's gaze, she slowly got on the carriage from the Dongzhimen Gate.

Zhan Yue's expression froze. He stared at the wrinkles on his clothes and whispered to the Jinwu Guards beside him, "Help me go to Changchun Temple and ask Princess Ruyang to take time out to come to the palace in the next two days."

The Jinwu Guard said, "Yes."

"Go quickly and come back soon." Zhan Yue stretched out a slender hand and patted Jinwuwei's shoulder gently, looking as if it was nothing special.

But the Jinwu Guard clearly saw a hint of pale trembling on the commander's fingertips.

The Jinwu Guards took the order seriously and left.

That afternoon, Jiashan also learned from Chen Gong that her father intended to marry her to Princess Dening's eldest son, Zheng Yunchi.

She immediately became extremely anxious.

Jiashan had already seen that Princess Dening didn't like her very much. To be honest, her relationship with this aunt might not be as close as her relationship with Princess Ruyang.

But Jiashan also understood that his father had good intentions. No matter how distant Princess Dening was from her, marrying into her aunt's family would at least make her feel more comfortable than marrying someone else.

Moreover, Zheng Yunchi has always been a kind person, and they are cousins, so he will definitely not treat her badly.

This selection was probably made after Emperor Zhanghe had carefully considered it for a long time and weighed the interests of all parties. This meant that it would not be so easy to persuade his father to change his mind this time.

Jiashan frowned tightly and breathed a sigh of relief several times. She had almost no mood to do anything else for the whole afternoon.

Zhao Youze had already written a few characters for longevity, and all she needed to do was give her some time to embroider them. But now, she had a splitting headache, and she was in no mood to embroider.

"What's wrong with sister?" Zhao Youze had just woken up from a nap. He rubbed his eyes and came out of the inner room. Seeing Jiashan sighing and complaining, he couldn't help but ask.

Ever since returning from Changchun Temple, whenever Zhao Youze had no classes, he liked to go to Fengyang Pavilion to stick with Jiashan.

Jiashan also felt sorry for his brother, so he naturally agreed to everything. But when he heard his question, he said, "It's just some troubles."

"Yeah." Zhao Youze nodded. He has always been obedient and would not ask too many questions about things Jiashan didn't want to talk about.

He listened to Jiashan's heavy breathing, so he grinned and said, "Let me help Sister read the letter. Just now, Madam Zheng brought the reply letter from my cousin, and I opened it for Sister."

Jiashan rubbed her brows, not wanting to worry about these nonsense anymore, so she nodded: "Okay."

In fact, the letter Jiashan sent to Pei Yuantang a few days ago was very simple. It was just to thank him for providing those accurate gossips so that she would have a reason to refuse her father's arranged marriage.

She originally thought that there was no need to reply to this letter, but now that Pei Yuantang had replied, Jiashan naturally wanted to know what he had said in the letter.

"Eh..." Zhao Youze hesitated when he opened the envelope. He sniffed the seal and wrinkled his nose and said, "It seems a little strange."

Jiashan really liked seeing him like this. She wiped the sweat off Zhao Youze's nose and finally smiled: "What's wrong?"

"This lacquer seal smells like rosin." Zhao Youze leaned over and sniffed the envelope carefully. He said calmly, "Rosin is mostly used to seal confidential letters and is used frequently in the palace. My cousin sent a letter to my sister, which is a family letter. Given my cousin's personality, he shouldn't be so serious. Moreover, my cousin wrote a letter in Pei's house, and the one he used to seal the letter should be ordinary wax. Where did he get the rosin from?"

Jiashan was shocked, her expression changed slightly, and she quickly took the letter from Zhao Youze. At this moment, she thought of countless possibilities.

Could it be that the fifth uncle had found Doctor Kong, so Pei Yuantang was so serious about it? Or could it be that...they had let out a leak, and Cheng Qian Palace knew what she was going to do, so they secretly opened her letter? !

Jiashan's hands were shaking slightly as he opened the letter. Zhao Youze said, "Maybe I heard it wrong. Don't worry about it, sister."

Jiashan replied with a soothing "OK" and immediately took out the letter to read.

After reading the letter, Jiashan pursed her lips and finally calmed down. She breathed a sigh of relief and said softly, "It's okay."

Zhao Youze poked his head in and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I roughly know who read this letter." At this moment, Jiashan's heart seemed to be on a swing, experiencing ups and downs.

She raised her eyelids and her gaze fell on the four words on the letter again.

In her previous life, her marriage was arranged early, and she really didn't know she was such a popular girl. A few days ago, Zhan Yue confessed his true feelings to her, and now she has received a confession from her cousin.

There was still the issue with Princess Dening that had not been resolved, so Jiashan closed his eyes slightly.

Zhao Youze said, "Sister, do you think it is Master Zhan?"

"It's him." Jiashan snorted and laughed, her tone certain.

"Oh," Zhao Youze concluded, "If my cousin knew, they would definitely be enemies."

Jiashan just smiled bitterly. Don’t they have any grudge against each other now?

There was a hint of helplessness in her almond-shaped eyes: "It seems that I really should have a good talk with Master Zhan."

Zhao Youze hummed, and said, "Then Sister, you have to think about how to say it."

Jiashan nodded, thinking in his heart: I will definitely not be led by him this time.

However, when she thought of that beautiful moonlit night, Jiashan's breathing became a little heavier. She lowered her eyelids and let go of the letter.

After dusk, Zhao Youze returned to Changle Palace. Jiashan asked Su Yu to secretly send a message to Zhan Yue under the pretext of delivering desserts to Qianqing Palace, asking him to come to Fengyang Pavilion in the evening.

When Zhan Yue received this message, he nodded calmly.

That night, he almost stepped on the ground and appeared accurately in the courtyard of Fengyang Pavilion.

Su Yu had been guarding the door for them. When she learned that Zhan Yue had arrived, Jia Shan changed his outer clothes and said, "Please let him in."

Su Yu hurriedly and carefully invited Zhan Yue over.

Jiashan summoned Zhan Yue in the main hall. This time Zhan Yue was very quiet. Jiashan didn't speak, so he didn't say anything either. It was just that his eyes, which were very noticeable, kept moving left and right with Jiashan.

After Jiashan drank a sip of tea, she smiled and asked him, "Did you have dumplings tonight, sir?"

"No." Zhan Yue raised his eyes, seeming a little surprised why Jiashan asked that.

Jiashan said lazily, "I didn't eat the dumplings, so why do I smell so jealous?"

She shook the letter in her hand. It was a rare opportunity to tease Zhan Yue. Her eyes widened a little and her face turned pale as she said, "My letter was all burned."

Zhan Yue was not as embarrassed as Jiashan thought. He looked at her steadily, his expression calm.

The corners of his mouth curled up, and he admitted with a half-smile, "I am jealous."

Zhan Yue raised his eyes slightly, and tapped his fingers lightly on the table: "How does Your Highness plan to respond to him?"