"This matter is Chunhui's fault. What does it have to do with Lizhe or Yanyan? It's all her own fault. She insisted on listening to her mother and wanted to marry into the Duke's mansion. I know all this. I'm not so old and senile that I don't know anything."
"Get up. I will give you an explanation for this matter. It is also thanks to Li Ze that I know I would not know how to face you in the future. You and your son have worked hard for me and the Crown Prince in the court, and the Crown Princess has done the same in the harem. I cannot let you down."
"Moreover, I had the whole story investigated last night. Yan Yan was never disrespectful as she claimed. On the contrary, she treated her with courtesy. It is my fault for not teaching my daughter well."
The Duke of Rong raised his head: "Your Majesty has made your own decision and is a wise ruler."
"Alright, come and draft the imperial edict." The emperor sat back down and then noticed several eunuchs carrying in a table with neatly arranged bright yellow imperial edicts, which they placed in front of the Duke of Rong.
"I say, write it."
The Duke of Rongguo rose, picked up his pen, and listened as the Emperor said, "The Marquis of Ruyang is now of marriageable age. I have only one daughter, Chunhui, who has already reached marriageable age. She is virtuous, generous, gentle, and kind. Considering the Marquis of Ruyang's sincere feelings for the princess, I hereby bestow marriage upon the two of them. I hope they will choose an auspicious time to marry in Runan County. Without further summons, they are not allowed to return to the capital."
The Marquis of Runan's mansion was once far more prosperous than the Duke of Rong's mansion, but since the old Marquis passed away, the mansion is now just an empty shell. He is not allowed to return to the capital without being summoned. It seems that the Emperor is giving up on his daughter and has married her off far away so that she will not be allowed to come back and cause trouble.
Upon seeing the imperial edict handed over by the Duke of Rong, the Emperor glanced at it and reached out to take the imperial seal. He raised his hand, and a eunuch stepped forward to affix the seal.
After all, she was his only daughter. The Emperor's eyes reddened, and he looked at the imperial edict with a bitter smile. He waved his hand and said, "Send it to the Pixiang Palace. Have things prepared, and choose an auspicious day to depart for Runan for the wedding. If the Consort makes a fuss, let her make a fuss."
"Let's not talk about that for now. How is the Prince of Yan doing lately?"
As Li Shiyue emerged from the Funing Palace, a smiling servant stood guard beside her, saying, "Princess, this way please."
"Thank you for your trouble." The palace door closed, and she couldn't hear the conversation inside. She nodded and smiled. It was about political affairs being discussed inside, so she consciously withdrew.
The side hall was a place for rest. Li Shiyue sat in a chair and watched the palace maids serve tea and then leave. The two palace maids guarding the door had their heads down and their eyes were fixed on the ground.
Even the eunuchs outside the Funing Palace were silent, as if she were the only one there. When she looked up, the palace maids and eunuchs were like motionless wooden figures.
I took a sip of the hot tea, and its aroma filled the air. As expected, everything in the palace was extremely precious; the tea was even more fragrant than the one from the Duke's mansion.
"presumptuous!"
"Your Highness, Your Highness."
There was some noise outside. Li Shiyue looked up and, feeling that it hadn't been long, got up and walked to the window. She hid behind the window and carefully watched what was happening outside.
She was a richly dressed woman being stopped by palace maids and eunuchs.
The Imperial Concubine... I suppose it's Consort Fu from the Pixiang Palace.
Li Shiyue had no intention of watching others make fools of themselves, and turned to walk back. Princess Chunhui was Consort Fu's only child, and her urgency, coupled with the bright yellow imperial edict in her hand, made it obvious why.
Runan is a very prosperous place, at least under the current dynasty's rule, it is more prosperous than Yunzhong County. The only downside is that it is far away from the capital.
The noise outside had stopped at some point. Li Shiyue thought that Consort Fu had left, but when the palace maid led her out, Duke Rong and Xu Yunci were standing under the corridor. The elegant and noble Consort Fu in front of Xu Yunci had an almost ferocious expression.
She pointed at Xu Yunci's face, her mouth agape before she could utter a word, and then, upon seeing Li Shiyue walking out behind the palace maid, she was utterly stunned.
That face?
Consort Fu looked at Li Shiyue suspiciously: "What is this?"
"Your Highness, this is the Lady of Yichang County, a cousin of the Duke of Rongguo, who has been bestowed the title by the Emperor." Xu Yunci remained calm as she shielded Li Shiyue behind her in front of Consort Fu.
"My cousin is young, so please forgive her if she is impolite in any way."
"It was you who caused my Chunhui to be married off to a distant place and forbidden from returning to the capital without being summoned?" Consort Fu shook off the hand of the maid behind her, her eyes filled with a mixture of coldness and shock, and even a hint of hatred.
"That's enough. Escort the Imperial Concubine back to the Pixiang Palace."
The Emperor's powerful voice came from behind him. He stood on the high platform of Funing Palace, looking down at what he saw as a farce, and looked at Consort Fu with disappointment: "Consort Fu is mentally confused, send her back to Pixiang Palace."
While Consort Fu was lost in thought, she was escorted away by the palace maids behind her. Her gaze toward Li Shiyue was completely blocked by Xu Yunci.
After leaving the palace gates, Li Shiyue raised her head and looked at Xu Yunci with a complicated expression: "Uncle, cousin, Consort Fu looks very familiar to me. It's her appearance that I feel very familiar with."
Xu Yunci remained silent, meeting Li Shiyue's gaze, and heard his father's soft sigh: "Yes."
With just one word, Li Shiyue understood that Xu Yunci was answering her question about Consort Fu's appearance. Even though Xu Yunci had covered her up completely, she could still see Consort Fu's face.
She looks a lot like her mother, but her mother must have been gentle.
The imperial concubine never gave birth to a prince, but she remained a favorite for many years.
Li Shiyue trembled. She seemed to understand something. So, Consort Fu had always been a substitute for her mother in the Emperor's eyes.
This is unfair, it's simply absurd.
The carriage stopped directly in front of the Duke's mansion. They had all moved back to the Duke's mansion this morning. Just thinking about the bottomless Bixin Lake made Old Madam Xu feel a wave of fear.
After bidding farewell to Duke Rongguo and Xu Yunci, Li Shiyue returned directly to Chengyu Pavilion, her only thought being that she never wanted to enter the palace again. Her face was so much like her mother's; whenever the Emperor saw her, did he also think of his mother through her?
But Mother, Mother told the Emperor and Grandmother that she never had such an intention.
Love and romance are complicated and troublesome.
After the Emperor's decree was announced to the world, in order to save face for the Marquis of Ruyang's family, the matter was not made public. However, the Emperor's decree's statement that "after marriage, one shall not return to the capital without being summoned" was enough to arouse speculation. In addition, the Emperor did not set foot in the Pixiang Palace after that, leading many to speculate that Consort Fu was about to fall out of favor.
However, less than a month later, news came that the Prince of Yan had been betrothed to Fu Yunning, the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Changping. It was said that the Prince of Yan had taken the initiative to ask for the marriage.
The capital was peaceful and tranquil. At the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, Princess Chunhui, dressed in her wedding gown, set off for Runan with a ten-mile-long red procession, which caused a stir. However, seven days of wind and snow suppressed the nascent excitement.
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