When the imperial concubine returned to her own bedroom, all the palace servants were in high spirits. The emperor's edict conferring the title of imperial concubine on her had spread throughout the six palaces.
He originally wanted to ask for good luck from his master, but seeing that his master looked unhappy, he returned to the palace and sent away all the servants, leaving only the princess.
The imperial concubine casually threw the pearl hairpin on her head onto the table to vent her anger, otherwise she was afraid that she would be so angry that she wanted to hit her daughter: "Jiaojiao, I just hope you can find a good man. Your mother does not need the honor of being an imperial concubine."
Danruo stepped forward and hugged the imperial concubine, rubbing her neck affectionately to make her happy.
"I know mother is doing everything for her daughter's own good, but she is a princess. It doesn't matter who she marries. Who dares to wrong her?"
The imperial concubine knew this truth, but when she thought of the Lin family's situation, she felt so wronged that she wanted to cry:
"But the head of the Lin family is already thirty-two years old, only two years younger than my mother. He is also injured and cannot have children. Even if he is a princess, it is not good for him to be childless for his entire life."
Dan Ruo knew that the Imperial Concubine would not believe her if she said she could bear him a child, so she could only change the subject: "Mother, it's useless for you to think about these things in the future. Now that we and the Queen are at loggerheads, I'm afraid that when the Crown Prince ascends the throne, he won't be able to accommodate us mother and daughter."
The imperial concubine raised her eyebrows: "He dares? Your uncles are still here."
"He's the Emperor, why wouldn't he dare? My uncles are just ministers, and we don't have any intention of rebelling. So, whatever the Emperor says is what we have to do. Therefore, the most urgent task is for Mother to quickly give birth to a younger brother."
Hearing this, the imperial concubine touched her belly unconfidently and said, "There has been no movement for so many years. I don't even have any hope. Why don't I adopt another younger prince so that he can protect you in the future?"
That was because neither the emperor nor the empress wanted the imperial concubine, who had the support of the general's mansion, to give birth to a prince. The emperor allowed the empress to give the imperial concubine a sterilizing drug, and the original owner was able to grow up successfully because she was a daughter.
While in the palace, Danruo had used his spiritual power and 100 merit points to repair the imperial concubine's damaged body.
As for adoption, forget it. There were concubines of lower rank who wanted to give the prince to the imperial concubine, but the emperor always sent them to the empress to raise through various roundabout ways.
"I had a dream. I dreamt that a little boy smiled at me. Mother, please don't think about adopting him. Maybe there will be good news in a while. During this time, while the Queen is under house arrest, let's quickly take over the palace power."
Without her daughter's reminder, the imperial concubine also planned to use her power in managing the palace to organize a grand and magnificent wedding for her daughter so that the former court and the harem would not look down on her daughter.
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After Dan Ruo agreed, the emperor summoned the Minister of Rites and the Minister of Revenue and asked them to go to the Lin family to negotiate the marriage (actually a deal).
The two old men discussed it and appeared in Lin Hancheng's study that night.
After understanding the divine will conveyed by the two ministers, he said, "This matter is of great importance. Please ask the other elders for their opinions and I will personally report to you two tomorrow morning."
After seeing the two off, Lin Hancheng, as the head of the family and clan, called the clan elders and the Qin family to discuss the matter overnight.
The Third Uncle stamped his cane angrily: "The court wants to take a princess and easily exchange it for the wealth accumulated by my Lin family for generations. How shameless."
Another cowardly elder sighed, "But the people don't fight the officials. At least we can negotiate with the court. If they just confiscate our property and exterminate our clan, wouldn't we be helpless?"
Third Uncle sighed: "That's because the emperor still wants to save face and the people's support. Otherwise, he wouldn't cover himself up with a fig leaf and ask for a betrothal gift of five million taels to marry his princess. Is his princess a fairy from heaven?"
Seeing that everyone was in a depressed mood and immersed in the pain of losing a large amount of wealth.
Lin Hancheng coughed lightly and said, "What I mean is that the emperor's order is hard to disobey. Our Lin family has experienced many hardships over the years, big and small. This time, whether it is a blessing or a disaster, we can't escape it. Let's discuss how to arrange for this princess within the clan."
"Did you say which princess it was?"
Lin Hancheng said calmly, "Princess Rong'an, born to Imperial Noble Consort Yue, comes from a family that is the home of a general who defends the country. Her family has been generals for generations and has made great military achievements for our dynasty."
Third Uncle's hands were shaking with excitement, his previous anger completely gone. "The Yue army has guarded the border for many years. Generations of men from the Yue family have shed blood on the battlefield to defend their country. I admire them. If we can marry into the Yue family, our descendants will have the Yue bloodline in their family, which will bring honor to our ancestors."
The shrewd fourth uncle of the Lin family sighed: "But if the princess marries into the Lin family, she will definitely become the mistress of the Lin family. Then we will definitely not be able to have any descendants of the Yue family's bloodline."
This is a subtle reminder to everyone that the head of the family is injured and the family line will be extinct.
Qin's face turned grim. "Hancheng suffered this disaster because he was trying to open up new trade routes for the Lin family. I've found a miracle doctor who will cure Hancheng."
Although others have complaints about Lin Hancheng having no offspring, Lin Hancheng has trained all the promising children in the family together in the past few years, saying that he will select the best one to be the next head of the Lin family.
So everyone has their own little thoughts, and they all hope that their own sons can be chosen as the next head of the family.
The fourth uncle of the Lin family continued, "But there's no telling when the miracle doctor will be able to cure the head of the family. What if the princess can't give birth to a boy or a girl for the Lin family? Then our five million taels will be wasted. That's more than half of our Lin family's wealth."
Qin slammed the table and said, "The Lin family's fortune has grown in my son's hands over the years. Without my son, where would we have come up with five million taels?"
The other old men looked unhappy, but they could not say anything to refute. Lin Hancheng's father was an unreliable person. Not only did he not develop the family business, but it also fell apart quickly because he had too many women.
Lin Hancheng gave Qin a soothing look and bowed to everyone. "Dear elders, Hancheng is aware of his physical limitations and dares not delay the princess's life. However, as you all said, the princess must be the head of the family. Therefore, we will select a young master and let him marry the princess."
After several heated debates, the final vote was held and Lin Yong, the grandson of the fourth uncle of the Lin family, was elected as the young master of the family.
As the day dawned, only Qin and Lin Hancheng were left in the huge ancestral hall.
No one knows a son better than his mother. What Qin regretted most now was giving her son the bowl of medicine that opened his heart to love: "Are you still thinking about looking for that girl named Jiaojiao who ran away from your room?"
Lin Hancheng nodded. "My son will marry her after he finds her. It's only been half a month. No matter if it takes ten or eight years, I will always find her."
"She's a princess. Marrying a princess is something I never dreamed of in my lifetime. Even if you marry her, what difference does it make? The court has something to ask of us, and they won't mind your difficulty in having children. The other branches of the clan depend on us for their livelihood, so even if you act tough, they won't dare to act rashly."
Qin only wanted the best for her son. As for the Lin family's foundation and future, those were not her concerns.
Lin Hancheng insisted, "My son has made up his mind. I will only marry Jiaojiao in this life. Mother, please stop thinking about the princess and treat Jiaojiao well."
Qin couldn't help but wonder, could her son's infatuation be the product of his father, a woman with a romantic nature who was determined to love the world?
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