Rows of majestic words came into view. Chen Zishu read them word by word, and cold sweat began to appear on his forehead.

His heart sank little by little, his fingertips trembled slightly, and the imperial edict in his hand seemed to be as heavy as a thousand pounds, and he almost had to struggle to hold it steady.

Xiao Junzhan's tone became softer, and he said, "My dear, do you understand what this is?"

With a thump, Chen Zishu knelt on the ground, holding the imperial edict and saying, "I acknowledge my guilt!"

"Get up," Xiao Junzhan said in a gentle voice, "Not many people know about my private affairs. Ignorance is not a crime. My dear, you don't have to do this."

Chen Zishu's mind was like a thousand horses galloping, he almost lost his rational thinking and stood up stiffly.

Suddenly, I remembered that many days ago, His Highness took a woman to the Dali Temple prison, and the person he was visiting seemed to be... the Jiang family.

Why didn't he think of it sooner...

Xiao Junzhan looked at him quietly, his eyes dimmed, and suddenly said, "I have a question, I hope you can answer it for me."

Chen Zishu bowed and said, "Your Highness, please ask."

"My Crown Princess grew up in Xuzhou and has only been back in Beijing for three or four months." Xiao Junzhan's expression was slightly restrained, and he said calmly, "When did you meet her, my dear?"

She had asked Wei Hanzhang exactly the same questions in the afternoon. If she were in this hall at this moment, she would probably be angry.

She carefully coaxed him again and again, hugged him again and again, and explained to him for so long...

He didn't completely believe it.

After Chen Zishu told him everything slowly, he said respectfully, "Miss Wei and I have only met a few times and have never had a deep conversation. There is nothing innocent between us. I was annoyed by the elders in my family urging me to get married, and I learned that she had called off the marriage, so I thought of asking my aunt to come to my house to arrange a marriage for me."

He held the imperial edict in both hands, bowed and said, "I did not intend to offend Miss Wei. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

There was no sound in the hall for a while. Xiao Junzhan closed his eyes slightly, carefully trying to figure out if there were any discrepancies between the explanations of this minister and his sweetheart.

He couldn't tolerate the slightest deception in this matter.

Xiao Junzhan remained silent, and Chen Zishu naturally did not dare to speak. He stood quietly in the hall waiting for his fate. The hall was filled with cool air from the ice jars, but a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Just then Ning Hai brought up tea. Xiao Junzhan picked up the teacup, opened the lid and moved it, thinking about something, then put it back on the imperial desk.

He lowered his eyes and looked down with an indifferent expression. This was his beloved minister whom he had used for many years.

Chen Zishu was a man of considerable talent and good moral character. Xiao Junzhan's love for talent made him an exception and promoted him regardless of his family background. Over the years, the emperor and his subject got along well with each other.

According to Xiao Junzhan's plan, among the young generation of civil officials whom he focused on training, Chen Zishu had a place.

It is not impossible for him to become a prime minister in the future.

The red sunset outside the window makes the hall seem even more tranquil.

Xiao Junzhan picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip of tea, and said slowly: "Ran Ran is lively and lovely. My dear, you didn't know her identity before, so it's normal for you to admire her. I won't punish you."

Chen Zishu bowed and thanked him, saying that he dared not.

"I won't pursue the past," Xiao Junzhan said calmly, his expression unchanged, "Now that you know who she is, no matter what you thought about her, I will stop thinking about her... I won't allow anyone else to think about her."

In his heart, he didn't actually feel that he was wronged. After all, as a subject, he and the king fell in love with the same girl, which was a heinous crime.

Even if he had not known about it before, even if everything was just a coincidence, the fact is that he had the intention to marry the Crown Prince's chosen Crown Princess, and even put it into action.

As a man, Chen Zishu asked himself that he could not allow his sweetheart to be remembered by other men, let alone the supreme man in the world.

He sighed in his heart, for he was moved by the love of his beloved for the first time in more than 20 years, but he was also afraid that it would be remembered by His Highness, which would not only affect his future, but also hurt His Highness's feelings for... her. After thinking for a few breaths, Chen Zishu said slowly: "I have remembered it. I will abide by my duty as a subject and will never dare to have any other thoughts."

Xiao Junzhan nodded slightly, paused for a moment, and suddenly said calmly: "In this case, the things that the Wei Mansion accepted, you should take them back the same way you sent them."

……………………

Wei Hanzhang's inference was correct, but he calculated the time wrong.

I thought that I would have to wait until at least tomorrow before the Chen Guogong Mansion would take back the generous gifts that had been sent to me. However, I didn't expect that before nightfall, the wife of the Marquis of Yongchang came to the Wei Mansion again.

When she came out, her face was flushed with anger. It was a pity that she had been decent all her life, and this was the first time she had such a big embarrassment.

Even the last time her second son and her niece got pregnant before marriage, it didn't make her as embarrassed as this time.

What a big deal! When she came in the afternoon, she was very happy to sound out the situation on behalf of her nephew. Although the Wei Mansion did not agree outright, they accepted the gifts. According to the rules, she could formally propose marriage after some time.

She thought her nephew's marriage was secured, but she never expected that not long after returning home, she would be asked to take back the gift...

On one side is her nephew from her mother's family, and on the other side are her children's in-laws... She wanted to help them get married with good intentions, but ended up being caught between a rock and a hard place.

Especially the Wei family, they have offended everyone this time. They probably think she is playing tricks on them on purpose.

Liu was indeed annoyed. She didn't understand why her granddaughter's marriage had so many twists and turns.

The Gu family canceled the engagement if they wanted to, after all, the princess had set her eyes on his daughter, and there was nothing they could do about it.

The Qian family wanted to discuss marriage, but they offended His Royal Highness the Crown Prince yesterday. Qian Silang is not allowed to enter the officialdom within five years... Being punished by His Royal Highness in this way, his future is worrying, and he is naturally not a good marriage candidate.

Just when he was hesitating whether or not to continue discussing the marriage with the Qian family, the wife of the Marquis of Yongchang actually came in person to propose marriage to her granddaughter on behalf of the prince of the Duke of Chen.

One can imagine how surprised Liu was when the wife of Marquis Yongchang stated her purpose. She even thought that her second daughter-in-law, who strongly opposed this marriage, was possessed by evil spirits.

As surprised as I was then, I am as annoyed now.

Liu stroked her chest and angrily threw the teacup beside her after the wife of Marquis Yongchang left. For a moment, even Wei Hanzhang was annoyed.

She was never raised by his parents, so there is not much of a grandparent-granddaughter relationship to speak of. Now he feels that this granddaughter raised by her maternal grandparents is probably incompatible with the Wei Mansion, otherwise why would she cause so many disputes after returning to Beijing for a few months.

The marriage was full of twists and turns, and that beautiful face was wasted.

"Go, go to Jingya Hall and tell Jiang about this." Liu instructed Nanny Wu, who was helping her to calm down, with a look of disgust in her eyes, "Ask her to choose a good day and take Jiu Niang to Puxian Temple to worship Buddha for a few days to get rid of Jiu Niang's bad luck."

Isn't that unlucky?

Is it possible that the daughter of a marquis's family is really going to rot in her hands? (End of this chapter)