316, Princess of Zhennan
316, Princess of Zhennan
"Your Highness is joking."
Lu Mingfei knew that Qi Jun had misunderstood him and the Fifth Princess, so he explained, "I think the prince has misunderstood. There is nothing between me and the Fifth Princess."
"There might be some misunderstanding between the Crown Prince and the Fifth Princess."
"Why don't you find an opportunity to have a good talk, so as to avoid misunderstanding each other and delaying a good marriage, right?"
"A good match?" Qi Jun chuckled, raised his eyebrows slightly, looked at Lu Mingfei and asked, "Why do you think so, Lord Lu?"
"Why I think so is not important. What's important is what you think, Prince." Lu Mingfei threw the question back to Prince Qi. This kind of question was not something he, an outsider, could answer casually. He feared that the more he explained, the greater the misunderstanding would be.
He didn't know what was going on between Prince Qi and the Fifth Princess. Did they dislike each other? Or was it that one of them liked the other, and the Fifth Princess no longer liked Prince Qi?
However, he thought, if a man is willing to marry a woman, he must have some feelings for her, right? Even if he doesn't have any feelings for her, a man like Qi Jun wouldn't be happy to have the woman he's about to marry cheat on him.
Here, he wasn't deliberately distancing himself from the Fifth Princess; he was simply speaking the truth. There really was nothing between him and the Fifth Princess. There was no need for him to offend Prince Qi because of the Fifth Princess.
His mission in coming to Nanjun this time was to negotiate peace with the King of Zhennan, which was more important.
This time, Qi Jun looked at Lu Mingfei intently, obviously trying to judge whether what Lu Mingfei said was true or false.
Lu Mingfei was sensitive to the fact that after hearing his explanation, the murderous look in Prince Qi's eyes had lessened considerably. It seemed that Prince Qi was not completely indifferent to the Fifth Princess.
That would make things easier. At least the Prince of Qi is not very opposed to marrying the fifth princess.
But the situation with the fifth princess might be a bit tricky.
Qi Jun made a gesture of invitation, "Master Lu, please come in."
"Prince, please." Lu Mingfei also made a gesture of invitation.
After the Prince of Qi who came to pick them up got on his horse, he sat back in his own carriage and let their convoy follow the Prince of Qi into the city.
After entering the city, Prince Qi settled them in a large house and left a housekeeper and servants to serve them. Prince Qi then left on the pretext of having something to do.
Seeing the prince stride away, Guard Ma asked their master, "Sir, what should we do now?"
"It's nothing. Let's rest for a while. We will go to the Prince of Zhennan's Mansion to read the imperial edict later." Lu Mingfei could see that Prince Qi left on purpose without even giving him a chance to read the imperial edict.
However, the departure of the Prince of Qi did not affect his going to the Prince of Zhennan's Palace to announce the imperial decree.
"Prince Qi can run away, but Prince Zhennan's Mansion cannot." When he said this, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
He must read out the imperial edict given by the emperor, otherwise the emperor will cause trouble for him.
As for whether the Prince of Zhennan is willing to marry the Fifth Princess, that is a matter between the Prince of Zhennan and the Zhennan Palace.
Anyway, the Prince of Zhennan has already rebelled, so it’s no big deal if the Prince of Zhennan disobeys the emperor’s order.
But in this incident, the fifth princess seemed a little helpless and pitiful.
Thinking of the fifth princess who went to the next yard, Lu Mingfei began to ponder the fifth princess's recent behavior.
Ever since she was rejected by him that day, the fifth princess never came to see him again.
I just wonder if the fifth princess has completely let him go and accepted her fate of marrying Prince Qi, or is she planning something big?
Based on his understanding of the Fifth Princess, he always felt that she would cause trouble again. Thinking of this, Lu Mingfei became a little alert. It seemed that they had to be more careful during the period before returning to Beijing.
"Your Excellency is right." Guard Ma no longer had to worry about their Excellency failing to complete the mission of this trip to Yunzhou City.
Lu Mingfei said to the guard Ma in the room, "Go tell the people outside to prepare hot water for me. I need to take a shower and change clothes." He was going to read the imperial edict soon, so he had to go in a respectable manner and not damage the image of the court.
"Yes, I'll go call someone right away." Guard Ma responded and walked out the door, instructing the servants outside to bring a bathtub and hot water for their master, as well as prepare some food.
The food was delivered first.
Lu Mingfei ate something first, then went to take a shower and change clothes.
After taking a bath and changing into official uniform, he boarded a carriage to the Prince of Zhennan's Palace to announce the imperial decree.
***
However, they stood at the gate of the Prince of Zhennan's Mansion for a while, and the servant who was supposed to inform them had not come out to lead them into the mansion.
Guard Ma said to their master with some concern, "The people in the palace won't let us stand here all night, right?"
"..." Lu Mingfei remembered that they had been waiting at the city gate for the whole morning this morning, and he felt that the people in the Prince of Zhennan's Mansion were very capable of doing such a thing.
Fortunately, although the people in the palace were slow to come in, half an hour later, the palace steward came out and welcomed them into the palace.
After entering the inner house of the palace, he saw Princess Zhennan sitting in the seat of honor.
The Princess of Zhennan has a dignified appearance and a majestic aura. One cannot tell her actual age from her appearance.
According to the rank, the Princess of Zhennan was a first-rank imperial concubine. Although he was an envoy sent by the court, he had to pay his respects when he met the Princess of Zhennan.
Therefore, when he saw the Princess of Zhennan, he stepped forward and saluted, saying, "Your humble servant, Lu Mingfei, greets the Princess."
"Lord Lu, there's no need to be so polite." Princess Zhennan sat there without moving, speaking in a light tone.
Lu Mingfei stood up and did not see Prince Qi here, so he asked, "Excuse me, Princess, is the prince at home?"
"Oh, my son has gone out a long time ago and is not at home." Princess Zhennan knew very well what the court was doing by sending people to Yunzhou City.
Before, she wanted to ask the Fifth Princess to marry her legitimate son, hoping to use the relationship of marriage to make the emperor trust her husband and their Zhennan Palace, and take better care of her legitimate son.
However, they did not wait for the news of the marriage from Kyoto Prefecture to be transmitted back to Pingzhou City. Instead, they waited for her legitimate son to come back and bring back the news that the Hu soldiers had invaded Kyoto Prefecture and the late emperor had passed away.
Not long after the eldest son returned to Yunzhou City, the Zhennan Palace announced its independence from the imperial court.
Therefore, at this time, there was no need for their Zhennan Palace to marry into the royal family, and her legitimate son had no need to marry the princess of the Zhao family.
From the expression of the Princess of Zhennan, Lu Mingfei could easily see the attitude of the Zhennan Palace towards the emperor's marriage between Prince Qi and the fifth princess.
It seems that Prince Qi deliberately hid outside and did not wait for him to announce the decree at home.
Knowing that he wouldn't be able to wait any longer for Prince Qi to return, Lu Mingfei had no choice but to say to Princess Zhennan, "This humble official is here to read the imperial edict on behalf of His Majesty."
But when the Princess of Zhennan heard him say the imperial edict, she remained seated without moving.
"In that case, I will read it out directly." Knowing that the Zhennan Palace no longer respected the Emperor of Dayan as the Son of Heaven, and the people in the Zhennan Palace would no longer kneel to listen to the edict, he took out the imperial edict and read it out directly.
"The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven, decrees: Prince Qi Jun of the Zhennan Palace is distinguished in appearance, gentle and kind, and of dignified character. The Fifth Princess, Zhao Xuanyi, is a refined and kind-hearted woman, with a gentle personality, and is still waiting to be married. She and Prince Qi are a match made in heaven. Now, I hereby grant a marriage between my younger sister, the Fifth Princess, and Prince Qi Jun of the Zhennan Palace... I decree this!"
After the imperial edict was read, the maidservant beside Princess Zhennan came over to receive it.
Lu Mingfei handed the imperial edict to the other party and said to the Princess of Zhennan who was sitting above, "Princess, I heard from His Majesty that the marriage between the Fifth Princess and the Crown Prince was already decided when the late Emperor was still alive."
"Although the late emperor has long passed away, His Majesty has not forgotten this matter, which is why he specially asked me to escort the Fifth Princess to Yunzhou City to marry the Crown Prince."
"Princess, there is something I want to say, but I'm not sure if I should say it or not."
"Master Lu, if you have anything to say, just say it." Princess Zhennan picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip of tea, and said casually.
Lu Mingfei did not balk at the other party's contemptuous attitude, but said directly: "Princess, I believe you are also aware that the Fifth Princess is a princess of the royal family, a princess of a golden branch and jade leaf. In terms of status, she is more than worthy of marrying the prince."
"Moreover, I believe that the Crown Prince is not unintentional towards the Fifth Princess."
"In this world, it's such a blessing for a man to marry the woman he loves. Princess, don't you agree?"
He knew that for someone like the Princess of Zhennan, family background was what mattered most. If he wanted his son to marry a princess, first of all, the Fifth Princess must be worthy of the Prince of Qi in terms of status.
There is definitely no woman in Yunzhou City with a higher status than the Fifth Princess.
The second point is that a mother's priority is her son. If the Prince of Qi likes the Fifth Princess, what reason does Princess Ding have to stop her son from marrying the woman he likes? What's more, this woman is a princess of noble status.
Princess Zhennan placed the teacup back on the table, then looked directly at the young man in front of her and said with a smile, "Sir Lu is indeed a top scholar, and he is very eloquent."
"Princess, you are too kind. What I said was just my heartfelt words. As the saying goes, it is better to demolish ten temples than to marry one person. Isn't that right, Princess?" Lu Mingfei was not surprised that the Princess of Zhennan knew his identity.
I'm afraid that when he was waiting outside Yunzhou City to enter the city, the masters in the Zhennan Palace already knew his identity.
However, this didn't matter to him, he would know it once he knew it. Things that were exposed in public could be known by others.
He would be terrified if someone could find out his identity, which he cannot let others know, and the things he has done.
Princess Zhennan looked at Lu Zhuangyuan steadily, waved her hand and said, "Master Lu, please take a seat."
"Thank you, Princess." Lu Mingfei said thank you, and then walked to the nearest seat and sat down. Author's words: Thank you Bole 9492239 (9492239) for your support, mua! To know more exciting content, please leave me a message on Liancheng Reading
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