Chapter 55 Imperial Power

When the two imperial edicts of marriage were passed to the Empress's maiden family, the Ye family, and the Xian Guifei's maiden family, the Liu family, the first reaction of the two families was that the imperial edicts were delivered to the wrong family.

How could it be… How could it be done this way? When they meet on the street, they would spit at each other. How can they be in-laws? Isn't this a mess?!

But there was no way the imperial edict could be wrong. The eunuch who came to convey the edict said again and again that it was correct, and that was what was written in the imperial edict.

The expressions of the two families looked as if they had received not an imperial decree of marriage, but an order to confiscate their property.

It wasn't just these two families; everyone in the government and the country was shocked.

When Princess Kang Le heard the news at home, she was so shocked that she stood up from her chair.

"Is he crazy?!"

This is not the right way to randomly choose a doll. Isn't this just sheer madness?

People outside naturally wouldn't dare to speak of the emperor like the princess did, but they would probably have such thoughts in their minds.

In the afternoon, Xie Hui, who was on duty at the Dali Temple, also received an oral order from the emperor, asking him to go to the palace after he got off duty.

Although things were in chaos outside, the emperor himself seemed to be in a good mood. When he saw his nephew coming, he happily invited him to eat.

After Xie Hui finished his greetings, he said nothing and just stood quietly before the emperor.

In the end, the emperor himself could no longer hold back and took the initiative to bring up the matter of arranged marriage.

"Sometimes, do you also think that your uncle's marriage is wrong?"

"Yes." Xie Hui answered without any hesitation.

"Humph." The emperor seemed very unhappy when he heard this. After sitting down, he replied to Xie, "Tell me, what's wrong with your uncle?"

"Everyone in the court knows that the Ye and Liu families have always been at odds. Now you are marrying the Ye family's daughter to the eldest prince, and the Liu family's daughter to the third prince. How will they get along after they get married?"

Xie Hui could probably guess what the emperor meant. He simply didn't like the two families fighting over who would be the crown prince between the eldest prince and the third prince, and they were also overtly and covertly pressuring the emperor to appoint a crown prince as soon as possible.

The emperor's move is probably to let your Ye family's daughter marry the eldest prince, and Liu family's daughter marry the third prince, and then see how you can fight.

But Xie Hui felt that this was extremely irresponsible. Not to mention what would happen in the future, just now, after the two princes got married, how would they get along with each other? Xie Hui didn't think that they could still be a loving couple without any grudges under such circumstances.

According to ancestral rules, the eldest prince and the third prince can marry two concubines and four maids in addition to their principal wife. They can then find the women they like.

However, these two girls from the Ye and Liu families might very well become sacrifices on the emperor's whim.

Xie Hui knew that his uncle was the emperor, and whether the marriage between the two women was happy was never something he considered.

The emperor did not answer Xie Hui's question, but asked him instead, "The Ye and Liu families are both my subjects, why are they at odds with each other?"

Xie Hui pursed his lips and said nothing.

The emperor did not insist on his answer, but continued, "Because they want to fight for the position of crown prince. But is it their turn to fight for the position of crown prince? They are just the uncles of the prince, do they think they can control the fate of the country?"

"So you make them in-laws, and what if they don't care?"

There are aristocratic families like this who treat their daughters as tools and even sacrifice them when necessary, and they can continue down this path until the end.

"They won't."

Because they will know that this is a warning.

Xie Hui understood what the emperor meant, but he still couldn't comprehend it.

"The eldest and third princes are your sons. Isn't their marital happiness important to you?"

Hearing Xie Hui's question, the emperor suddenly laughed.

"Because they are my sons, it doesn't matter whether their marriage is happy or not. But I know that they will be harmonious as husband and wife in the future, at least in public."

The emperor walked up to Xie Hui and patted the shoulder of this child who was taller than him.

"Sometimes, even I cannot do everything as I please."

In the end, Xie Hui did not stay in the palace for dinner. Before leaving, he heard the emperor say behind him:

"Those two girls are good girls. As long as they can figure it out, they will live a good life."

…

After Xie returned home, he told his mother about his visit to the palace.

Princess Kangle rolled her eyes after hearing this. "It's hard for him to come up with such a bad idea. If the two families really get along because of the marriage, he will be even more sleepless."

As an emperor, he cannot bear to see discord among his subordinates, nor can he bear to see them being too harmonious.

"Don't listen to his nonsense. He can do whatever he wants. He was very happy when he had a beauty on his left and a concubine on his right. Anyway, his own son will be the same as him in the future, so he doesn't need to feel bad."

"Mother..." Xie Hui originally wanted to ask his mother to say less. Even at home, she couldn't keep saying things that were disrespectful...

But he was interrupted before he could finish.

"You are not allowed to learn from him. If you dare to hug me left and right, I will let your father beat you."

Princess Kangle wanted to hit someone just by thinking about the scene of her son having concubines on both sides of the house.

Xie Hui was helpless, not knowing how to bring this up again. "Mom, please stop imagining this."

…

Si Nanbo Mansion.

"This is simply too much!" Guan was so angry that she smashed the cup. "He couldn't wait to come to my place to see the joke. I am still the mistress of this Si Nanbo Mansion, and it is not his son's turn yet!"

Guan's maid also looked indignant, "Madam, don't be angry. Gao has always been arrogant. You are the mistress. If she offends you, just teach her a lesson. No one can say a bad word about you."

Si Nanbo's concubine Gao, who used to be arrogant because she gave birth to the eldest son of the Lu family, rushed to the emperor's house to provoke trouble when she heard the news of the emperor's marriage.

Guan was worried about her daughter today and had no time to pay attention to Gao's provocation.

"I don't have the energy to take care of her now, so I'll just put her under house arrest." Guan stood up and led people to her daughter's yard.

"Mother, why are you here?"

Lu Shuyan was reading in the room. When she saw her mother coming, she stood up quickly.

"Shu'er..." Guan hesitated. She wanted to say something but was afraid that her daughter would be sad.

Lu Shuyan smiled at her mother and said, "Mother, I'm fine. I've said before that the Queen only praised me for what I said. Those rumors are just their own speculations. They have nothing to do with me."

Seeing her daughter's smile, Guan felt even more distressed. She reached out and stroked her daughter's face, "My dear child, mother will definitely find a best husband for my daughter."

"Mother, I am not in a hurry to get married. I just want to stay with you."

"Silly child, what good does mother have to accompany you?"

That was the way it was for her whole life, but it was definitely not the case for her daughter.