Chapter 9 The Young Lady of the Duke's Mansion 4
The Emperor and Empress both looked on with delight; their son hadn't refused this time!
Are you serious?
Pei Chewei felt a little uncomfortable.
Due to his physical condition, he was surrounded by men after the age of seven, because he would feel nauseous, vomit, and faint if a woman came within three feet of him, let alone have sex with her.
I fell ill today because a woman got close to me unintentionally.
But today, he was in the same car with that lady, and the distance between them was less than two feet. Yet, he felt no discomfort whatsoever. He thought that the lady might be an exception.
He suddenly felt somewhat fortunate. The bodyguards and eunuchs he had brought with him this time had split up with him to lure away the pursuers, leaving him with only Liu Huai, a skilled martial artist whom he was not very familiar with. Liu Huai was unaware of his health problems and had placed him safely in the carriage.
Pei Che hesitated for a moment, but then nodded.
"Which family's daughter is she? How old is she? Should Father issue a decree for her right now?"
Pei Che thought for a moment, then shook his head, feigning difficulty: "I've only met that woman once, and I don't even know her name. However, I suspect her family background isn't very good..."
"Who cares about her family background? Quickly send someone to find her!"
"Your mother doesn't want anything else, just that you can touch him. Even if she's just a woman, she'll help you get him back!"
The Empress's words struck a chord with the Emperor: any woman would do!
No matter how difficult it is, we must help the Crown Prince snatch that person!
Pei Che was relieved; his words were just a test, and fortunately, the result was good.
"Then I shall take my leave now, and send people to search for him immediately upon my return."
The Emperor waved his hand to release the man and told him to hurry up and go.
Over the next two days, Princess Changning was still not found, but the city could not be sealed off indefinitely. Three days was the limit for Prince Jin, so all the guards at the city gates were removed, and the curfew in the city was lifted.
But Song Rui never came to Ning Yan's courtyard again.
That day, someone came to the front yard.
The Duke and his wife went to see the guests, but when they saw who it was, he was a little dumbfounded.
"Chief Steward Su? Does His Majesty have any orders?"
Su Fu is now the Emperor's most trusted advisor, the chief eunuch. His presence here represents the Emperor.
"It is indeed something, and it's a very happy occasion!"
"Congratulations, Your Excellency! You've raised a fine son. The young master is a man of both literary and martial talents, a standout among the younger generation. The Emperor greatly admires him and feels he and the First Princess are a perfect match. Therefore, he wishes to bestow a marriage upon them. What are your thoughts, Your Excellency?"
Lady Dingguo's expression darkened upon hearing this. She disliked Ning Yan, but she was even more reluctant to let her son marry a princess!
Given the Song family's background, they could marry any noble lady. But if they married a princess, not only would her son be unable to advance in the court, but would she be able to act like a mother-in-law?
"Steward Su, my Rui'er already has..."
Knowing what his wife was about to say, the Duke of Dingguo glared at her fiercely, stopping her from making any further foolish remarks. "It is my Rui'er's good fortune to marry a royal princess. My wife and I are more than happy to do so. We are grateful to Steward Su for making this trip."
Su Fu was pleased. As long as the Duke of Dingguo understood the meaning, that was enough. Under imperial power, what was needed were people who knew how to behave.
The Emperor sent him here; how could he not know that the heir of the Duke of Dingguo was already married?
If they weren't already married, the imperial decree would have been issued to grant them a marriage long ago!
"Well then, I'll report to His Majesty immediately. The imperial decree for the marriage will be delivered within three days. Duke Dingguo, you'd better hurry up."
The Duke of Dingguo frowned. Was he being asked to resolve Rui'er's engagement within three days? So hastily?
But he still nodded in agreement.
Su Fu left soon after conveying the Emperor's decree.
After he left, the Duchess of Dingguo and the Duke of Dingguo started arguing.
"How could Rui'er suddenly catch the eye of the eldest princess? Besides, Rui'er is already engaged, and you haven't even mentioned it..." This isn't the one she's interested in!
Duke Dingguo: "Ignorant and foolish woman!"
"I'm ignorant? How am I ignorant?"
"Isn't this exactly what you wanted? You thought Yan'er was just an orphan and not good enough for your eldest son, but this one is of noble enough status, isn't he?"
"It's all your fault! You arranged a marriage between the two children as soon as that girl arrived."
"I disagree. Neither you nor Mother listen to me. Otherwise, my son would have married the Prime Minister's eldest daughter long ago, and none of this would have happened today."
The Duke of Dingguo shouted, "Shut up! Are you trying to disobey the imperial decree? If you dare to utter another word of nonsense, I'll give you a divorce agreement right away, so you won't drag the entire Song family down with you!"
Lady Dingguo was so angry that she ran away, not expecting her husband to even mention divorce.
The Duke of Dingguo was too lazy to coax her, so he simply went to the backyard to report the matter to the old lady.
"Why would the Emperor suddenly issue such an imperial edict?"
Duke Dingguo: "The Emperor said that the Grand Princess has taken a liking to Rui'er, and my son doesn't seem to be the one."
The eldest son had met Rui'er before, but he had never seen her show any affection for Song Rui.
"If it's not Rui'er, then it must be a problem with Yan Yan."
After the old lady finished speaking, she thought of something. His Highness the Crown Prince was not married yet, and the only one who could make the Emperor make such a big fuss was the Crown Prince. It couldn't be that the Emperor had taken a fancy to Yan'er, could it?
The mother and son exchanged a glance, realizing they were thinking the same thing.
Then stop dawdling, or a good thing will turn into a bad thing.
"Go and retrieve the engagement gift for Rui'er. Qiu'er, go and invite Yan Yan."
The two didn't hold an engagement ceremony; they only exchanged tokens and birth charts, which they then returned.
But we need to appease our granddaughter.
For Ning Yan, nothing could be more joyful than this. After receiving the betrothal letter, she returned to her own courtyard without even asking the reason.
She just mentioned to her grandmother that she wanted to move out, but the old lady didn't agree. Of course she wouldn't agree!
She genuinely felt sorry for her granddaughter. Even if she was wrong, she would only feel at ease if she found a suitable family to marry her off to. How could she let an orphan live outside?
If something goes wrong, where will she find a way to undo her mistakes?
The engagement was called off, and the imperial decree to grant the marriage was issued the very next day.
Song Rui accepted the imperial edict with a blank expression, feeling utterly desolate. However, he pretended to be happy and slipped a red envelope to the eunuch who delivered the edict. He wanted to resist, but he couldn't bear the fate of the more than three hundred people in the Duke of Dingguo's mansion!
...
Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Prince of Jin's mansion over the past few days, they finally found the body of Princess Changning in that abandoned house!
Even though the temperature isn't very high right now, Princess Changning's body has already started to decompose because of the long time since her death.
The coroner examined the body and concluded that the princess had been raped and then stabbed in the throat.
Princess Consort of Jin fainted on the spot. The Prince of Jin ordered that the assassin be caught and torn to pieces.
Prince Jin set a trap for Su Qi, offering him 10,000 taels of gold to kill him. When Su Qi arrived, he was met with a large net falling from the sky and a large bag of sleeping pills. No matter how skilled one is in martial arts, one is afraid of a kitchen knife. Su Qi was hacked to death by the guards.
(End of this chapter)
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