His calm and composed expression made it seem as if he were simply serving Luo Chaoxi by changing her clothes.
Before Luo Chaoxi could react, he had already unbuttoned her eunuch robes. She quickly dodged away, her still-wet eyes glaring at the man who had taken the initiative.
"I'll do it myself."
"These clothes are uncomfortable to wear, and it's inconvenient for you to put them on yourself, so I'll help you. Don't refuse me. Since you've agreed to consider it for a while, you should give me a chance to prove myself, don't you think?"
Luo Chaoxi paused for a moment, then did not refuse again.
As they spoke, the man had already taken off her blue-gray eunuch's robe, glanced briefly at the rise and fall of her chest, and changed her into another set of clothes without changing his expression.
He wouldn't let her dress herself, but he wasn't familiar with how to dress women either. It took him a while to figure out how to dress her, and he was quite flustered.
Even a dignified emperor was stumped by a set of clothes, which made Luo Chaoxi chuckle.
Seeing her smile, Murong Ling felt much more at ease. He raised an eyebrow and said, "What are you laughing at? It's my first time serving someone, so I'm bound to be a bit clumsy. I'll get used to it after a few more times."
"With palace maids to serve him, the emperor doesn't need to do anything himself."
"I am willing to serve the person I cherish most. I would gladly do anything, from feeding and dressing her to bathing and sleeping with her."
Luo Chaoxi, “…” It seems like you’re the one who’s getting the better deal, and you’re even willing to go for it.
"You...don't talk nonsense! How can you be so shameless?" Luo Chaoxi lowered her head, somewhat embarrassed and annoyed.
"What's the use of being reserved? Can you eat it?"
Luo Chaoxi was speechless after being cornered by him.
Murong Ling smiled and saw that her attention had been diverted and she was no longer immersed in grief. He turned around and ordered the palace servants to prepare the meal.
After the meal, Murong Ling wrote down the imperial edict for divorce and summoned Ying San.
"Take your men to the Han residence to deliver the imperial decree, and while you're at it, bring all of Miss Luo's dowry into the palace."
"I am giving you to Miss Luo. From now on, you will protect her and serve her as your master."
Ying San was startled. It seemed that His Majesty truly cared about this Miss Luo and could not live without her.
Shadow Three responded solemnly, "Your subordinate obeys!"
Then Murong Ling said to Luo Chaoxi, "This is Shadow Three, who is best at concealment. He is the shadow guard you saw in the temple before. I am giving him to you."
Luo Chaoxi didn't stand on ceremony and accepted the shadow guard.
When Ying San looked at Luo Chaoxi again, his attitude was full of respect. "Your subordinate Ying San greets Miss Luo."
Luo Chaoxi nodded, gesturing for him to stand up. "Ying San, there is a dowry list in the main courtyard of the Han family mansion. It's in the box at the bottom of my dressing table. When you go to retrieve the dowry, check the items according to the dowry list."
When Luo Chaoxi married into the Han family, she brought a considerable dowry, which was half of her father's life savings. Luo Chaoxi lost her mother at a young age, and after her father's death, all the shops in the remaining Luo family property were managed by Luo Chaoxi, while the remaining farmland and silver were left to the concubines in the mansion for their retirement.
In her memory, for more than a year, Wei had been secretly selling off her dowry to supplement the family income. Otherwise, how could the Han family, with only Han Lianjing, a military general who was not in the capital for most of the year, have so many servants and live such a comfortable life?
As for Han Lianjing's rapid rise from the third rank to the second rank, it was certainly due in no small part to the contributions of Luo's father, the Minister of War.
Now it's time to get back what we've got.
Ying San accepted the order and, carrying the imperial decree and a team of guards, left the palace and headed straight for the Han residence.
When Han Lianjing saw someone coming from the palace, he thought it was either the Prince of Jin who had come to the palace this morning to accuse him, or that the Emperor had found out that the accusation of treason was completely unfounded and wanted to clear his name.
When Ying San finished announcing the decree, Han Lianjing and Wei Shi were both dumbfounded.
The emperor wanted him to divorce Luo Chaoxi immediately. Why?! She was his lawfully wedded wife!
However, upon further reflection, Han Lianjing felt disgusted that Luo Chaoxi was currently missing and had been abducted in the middle of the night, and her innocence might already be in jeopardy. The thought that he had left the capital to go to war on their wedding day and had not even touched the woman he had been with since then made him feel disgusted that she might have been defiled by someone.
Whether it's a divorce or not, he's getting a divorce by imperial decree, so no one will think he's ungrateful.
As soon as Han Lianjing received the decree, Ying San continued, "His Majesty has ordered me to take back Luo's dowry."
Then, without saying a word, he barged into the main courtyard, found Luo Chaoxi's dowry book in the house, found the mansion's storeroom, and ordered the steward to open it.
The housekeeper dared not disobey and quickly found the key to open the door.
Immediately after Ying San waved his hand, a group of guards behind him split into two groups. One group rushed into the storeroom and carried out everything, which Ying San then counted one by one. The other group rushed into Wei's house and searched out all the valuables and jewelry, then separated them according to the items recorded in the register.
In the blink of an eye, the entire Han residence looked like it had been robbed, with everything ransacked.
Carved screen, dressing table? These are part of the dowry, take them with you!
A canopy bed blessed by Guanyin for a child? Take it as part of the dowry!
Gold jewelry, gemstone hairpins? Take them all!
When everything was taken inventory, there was practically nothing left in the Han residence; it had been completely looted.
Many of these items were found in the Wei family's house.
The Wei family was stunned. When they came to their senses, they rushed over and grabbed the boxes filled with silver ingots. "What are you doing? These are all the property of the Han family! What right do you have to take them?"
Shadow Three said coldly, "These are all the items recorded in the dowry register. In addition, there are thirty-eight pieces of jewelry and one thousand taels of silver that have not been found. You can figure out how to explain this to the Emperor yourselves!"
"This was brought into the Han family by Lady Luo when she married into the family. How can the Emperor forcibly take it away?! What kind of justice is this?!" Lady Wei cried out to the heavens.
She already considered Luo Chaoxi's dowry as her own.
"If it weren't for this dowry and Luo Chaoxi's father's connections, my son would never have married her!" Madam Wei complained indiscriminately. "I've been managing this dowry all along, why should I take it back?!"
Han Lianjing also looked angry. "Even if the dowry is to be returned, it should be Luo Shi herself who comes to collect it. Now that she has disappeared, the dowry should not be taken back by the Emperor. Brother, please go back and ask the Emperor why this is happening?"
Ying San sneered and looked at Han Lianjing as if he were an idiot.
Why? Of course, it's because she has become the emperor's darling. The emperor is currently displeased with him, and if he can't come up with a proper dowry to return, he'll be in big trouble.
Han Lianjing would never have imagined that the wife he always talked about was in the palace.
After all, who would have thought that an emperor with an empty harem would take a fancy to a married woman?
Right now, he felt a bit tricky. The emperor ordered him to divorce and then took away his dowry, which was almost like confiscating his property. Did the emperor want to convict him?
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