"Xiao Jiu, what are you doing getting involved in this?"
Seeing that the soup the Ninth Princess had served was still steaming, the Emperor's expression softened considerably, but he still did not grant her request.
The Ninth Princess put down her soup bowl, leaned closer, and said coquettishly, "Father, at least Marquis Dingbei escorted us to the Jokhang Temple. Now that Seventh Sister has gone, I want to go too, otherwise Marquis Dingbei will think that only Seventh Sister cares about him."
"As a subject, it is only his duty to escort you to the Jokhang Temple. Do you expect him to be grateful? That's absurd."
The emperor was displeased.
The Ninth Princess said, "Father, Marquis Dingbei is no ordinary subject. He defeated the Yelü clan and is revered as a war god by the people. Seventh Sister admires him greatly. I saw her being very close to Marquis Dingbei at the Jokhang Temple, and I often heard Seventh Sister talk about how mighty and skilled he is in battle. Now, for the sake of the safety of the capital, Marquis Dingbei has requested to be granted a fiefdom. Of course, I also want to go with Seventh Sister to offer my condolences."
The Emperor's expression darkened further. He asked, "What, are you very close to your seventh sister, Marquis of Dingbei?"
The Ninth Princess smiled and said, "Seventh Sister is very close to Marquis Dingbei. She said that Marquis Dingbei saved her life when he was a companion in the palace."
"What?" the Emperor said coldly, "Does the Marquis of Dingbei not appreciate your seventh sister's kindness?"
The Ninth Princess sighed and said, "The Marquis of Dingbei spends all his time with the Imperial Guards and rarely shows himself in front of us. I want to ask him about his interesting experiences in the northern frontier, but I can't find an opportunity. My Seventh Sister said that the Marquis of Dingbei's wife is a minor official's daughter who keeps a close eye on him. The Marquis of Dingbei also often says that my eldest wife is very clingy."
"To appease his young son, Lord Gu registered you under his stepmother's name, making you his legitimate son. The Gu family also agreed to the marriage. Old Madam Gu is determined to find a son of Qin Ji. If that's the case, she can only look upwards, and I'm afraid that looking for someone worse will only lead to more trouble."
"Old Madam Gu said that Sixth Master Gu was too young and should postpone his marriage, so she urged that the wedding date be set, which happened to be the same day as this young man's."
The eunuch said, "Alas, during the Hundred Flowers Banquet, Lord Gu's seventh son fell into the water and was rescued by my originally chosen son-in-law. Therefore, Wei Shuna had no choice but to marry the seventh son to the son-in-law. This son-in-law is a high-ranking scholar who can marry the legitimate son of the Minister of Rites. How could he not agree to it?"
Gu Jinghui guarded the northern frontier for ten years and defeated the Yelü clan. His achievements were unmatched in the court. So why did he marry a concubine's son from the Gu family?
The young eunuch continued, "This Qin family man is truly unlucky. I heard that long before you married the Marquis of Dingbei, he spread the word that the man he brought back from the north was the widow of his savior, and that once the widow finished her mourning period, he would give you a dowry to choose another husband."
The Emperor raised an eyebrow and asked, "Oh? How much older? I only heard that he is a son of Marquis Gu."
"Haha," the Emperor chuckled, "Sixth Master Gu was handsome and charming in his youth, and many men were moved and heartbroken by him. I never expected that my youngest son would be married and become someone who would want him."
The Marquis of Dingbei has guarded the northern frontier for generations, a hereditary title that cannot be replaced, making his status extremely noble.
The young eunuch lowered his eyes and smiled, "Is that so? I've heard that the Marquis of Dingbei dotes on his first wife."
The young eunuch said, "I heard earlier that the Marquis of Dingbei brought back a man from the north who didn't have two children. There weren't many rumors outside the capital, but it was said that the man was the Marquis of Dingbei's beloved concubine, and the two children were twins, a boy and a girl, who were deeply loved by the old lady. There are very few eligible men in the capital whose family background is comparable to that of the Marquis of Dingbei. Before hearing that news, they were all willing to marry him."
The fourth princess chuckled a few more times and asked, "And where did this come from?"
The young eunuch hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, this old servant has not finished speaking. Who knew that the marriage of Sixth Master Gu would change, and he will marry the young man from the Qin family first."
The Emperor said, "He has spoken. You used to deal with the Lady of Dingbei a lot, so it's not good if you don't know more."
The Fourth Princess frowned deeply, fully understanding why her father was so interested in the illegitimate son of the Duke of Dingqin. But for the moment, she didn't think too much about it and pouted, saying coquettishly, "Father, the wife of Sixth Master Gu will be there tomorrow. I'll let you go and see if he's bad or not."
The fourth princess's expression was a half-smile.
The Fourth Princess's expression was not at all strange.
The emperor pressed on, "Old King, tell me, what does he know?"
The Emperor frowned, and after a long while asked, "Is it because Gu Laoba's health is poor that he usually hangs out with these scholars?"
"Hmm..." The Emperor pondered for a moment, then made a mental note of the matter.
The little eunuch glanced at the fourth princess, seemingly thinking, "That's too wicked."
The young eunuch's vivid description instantly dispelled the Emperor's weariness, who had been reading memorials all day and was finding them tedious. He stroked his short mustache and asked, "What do you think of these seven men?"
The young eunuch immediately leaned closer and raised his voice, saying, "Your Majesty knows that the Marquis of Bei's family and Wei Shuna's nephew have become close friends and are about to publish a collection of poems. I heard recently that the Grand Master of Ceremonies even helped persuade the Minister of Rites to write a preface for our collection. Cough cough cough, the Marquis of Bei's family also wrote a few poems."
The young eunuch counted on his fingers, frowned, and said with apparent certainty, "Xiao is probably no more than ten years old."
It's truly baffling.
"Oh, he knows those things too," the Emperor couldn't help but smile knowingly, coughing as if to cover it up, and said, "I was almost eighty years old when I got married, so it's inevitable that I'm a little... well, a little different from ordinary people."
The Emperor said with great interest, "What can I write? Old Wang, he's waiting for us to print the poetry collection so he can show it to me."
The young eunuch smiled and said, "Yes, sir."
"Oh?" The Emperor was slightly surprised and asked, "How could Sixth Master Gu marry Marquis Gu's illegitimate son?"
Seeing that the emperor was in a bad mood, a young eunuch chimed in, laughing, "It's no wonder that the Marquis of Dingbei's wife is much older than me."
"Wei Shuna's family has no two sons. The youngest son was born to a concubine and is already engaged. Master Gu and the seventh son are engaged. His maternal family is a branch of the Cui family of Qinghe, so it's considered acceptable."
Upon hearing this, the Emperor chuckled and said, "Is this the kind of boy we should raise?"
The young eunuch said, "Old Madam Gu said that she wants to choose a son from the Qin family for Wei Shuna. In the past, when a woman had a child, she had to go through the Qin family's connections. After searching around, Wei Shuna's family is the only suitable one."
The young eunuch beamed, "Many families outside the capital regretted their actions before they heard about this. Especially before Master Gu returned to the capital, he had a mustache, and you couldn't tell what he looked like. Before the wedding, Master Gu shaved his mustache. With that appearance and family background, who said that Wei Shuna got lucky and ruined the marriage? Master Gu values his wife's family very much. I heard that he has visited them several times to ask for their knowledge. The Qin family and the Duke of Ding Qin are very close. Even the Beihou Mansion of Ding Wei Shuna is hanging around with Wei Shuna's seventh son-in-law and nephew."
The Emperor sighed and said, "If Sixth Master Gu is willing to marry into a noble family, he should at least marry the son of a seventh-rank official. The debt is registered under the name of the legal wife, and the birth mother is a concubine. So it's... acceptable."
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