When Xique heard Lu Qingyan mention Tan Jie, her face turned red. Lu Qingyan teased her, "Good girl, tell me quickly who it is? Otherwise, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to ask him to help you snatch the bride after the prince has bestowed a marriage upon Tan Jie."
The magpie hurriedly said Tan Jie's name, but when she met Lu Qingyan's teasing smile, she ran away in embarrassment.
Magpie's marriage went very smoothly. People of Tan Jie's status usually married the illegitimate daughters of minor officials or maids from the household. Marrying a maidservant of the mistress of the house was a great honor. Tan Jie, who was always by Lu Qingyan's side, had to greet Magpie quite often, and over time he became quite familiar with her, even developing some affection for her. When Lu Qingyan mentioned it, he agreed.
Finally, Lu Qingyan asked someone to match the horoscopes of Xique and Tan Jie, and the wedding date was set for March of the following year.
Tan Jieren had already been given to Lu Qingyan, and Shangguan Ren had no objections. Besides, he didn't really care about these matters in the manor and entrusted them all to Lu Qingyan with great trust.
Consort Rou wasn't the type to cause trouble; she spent most of her time staying in her own courtyard, and the marriage didn't encounter any major setbacks.
No one in their household had any objections, but Fu Zige was the first to express his dissatisfaction.
The next day, after Lu Qingyan and Fu Zige visited the Empress Dowager at the palace, they strolled around the Imperial Garden. Fu Zige stood on the bridge, looking at the withered lotus flowers in the pond, and talked to Lu Qingyan about the Empress Dowager.
“It’s been a long time since I last saw the Empress Dowager. Back then, she was still quite healthy, chatting and laughing with us young girls, and seemed very happy. I never imagined that she would become so frail in just a few years,” Fu Zige sighed. “Now I would like to come and bother the Empress Dowager more often and have a few more words with her. But with the Empress Dowager like this, I’m too embarrassed to stay any longer. What do you say, sister?”
Fu Zige suddenly asked Lu Qingyan a question.
"Sister's memory is getting worse and worse. Mother has never liked her younger sister. How could she have taken her to see the Empress Dowager? I don't know what the Empress Dowager was like before. Sister, please don't ask such questions and make things difficult for me."
“Alright, sister,” Lu Qingyan said, pulling Fu Zige along. “Let’s go back to the manor. We’re not familiar with any of the concubines in the palace, so there’s no need to visit them all. It’s not good to stay in the palace for too long.”
Fu Zige shook off Lu Qingyan's hand with displeasure, her face still beaming with a smile: "Sister, you're overthinking it. We're royalty, this Imperial Garden is just like our own backyard. Who does it bother if we take a stroll around our own backyard? Why be so cautious, sister?"
Lu Qingyan "saw" the Emperor walking towards the Imperial Garden through Su Han, and the corners of her lips involuntarily curled up: Fu Zige, look, the show I arranged for you is about to begin!
Lu Qingyan nodded: "Since you like it, sister, please stay here a little longer. I have some things to attend to at my residence, so I won't stay here with you any longer."
“Sister, I heard that you arranged a marriage for your maid, Magpie, yesterday?” Fu Zige suddenly blurted out.
"Oh?" Lu Qingyan turned around in surprise: "Sister, you're quite well-informed."
"Isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to just dismiss everyone around you like that, sister?" Fu Zige thought she was being tactful in reminding Lu Qingyan. "I know Prince De doesn't like that you're always looking at that concubine, so it's understandable that you're unhappy. But using your own maid to win over a guard..."
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