In front of Xiao Jingxi and the prince and princess, the old nanny dictated the Queen Mother's order, which was to grant Xiao Jingxi a marriage, and the one he would grant was a girl from the Queen Mother's family, the eldest daughter of the Yan family.
The King of Yanbei and the Princess remained silent after hearing the Queen Mother's instructions. The King of Yanbei glanced at Xiao Jingxi and calmly took a sip of tea.
Xiao Jingxi said calmly, "Thank you, Queen Mother, for your kindness. Unfortunately, I'm already engaged, and the wedding is scheduled for September next year."
The old nanny was unimpressed by what she said: "With the Queen Mother's decree, the young master's previous marriage will be settled. Could it be that the girl is as noble as Miss Yan's?"
Xiao Jingxi smiled and said, "This...I'm afraid it's not appropriate."
The old nanny was a little displeased when she heard this: "So, the second young master wants to disobey the order?"
Xiao Jingxi sat there pondering for a moment, then smiled at the old maid. "Regarding whether or not one's status is noble...why don't you come and help me sort it out? Miss Yan is the daughter of the Empress Dowager's family, so her status is naturally noble. The one I'm engaged to is the legitimate daughter of Princess Jiayi, the granddaughter of the late emperor. The Xiao family is a vassal of the Li family. If they want the Yanbei Palace to cancel the engagement, I'm afraid they won't be able to face the late emperor."
The old nanny choked upon hearing this, and after a pause she said, "I wonder if Princess Jiayi, the late emperor's granddaughter, and all the princesses and queens are in Kyoto."
At this time, the King of Yanbei spoke up: "You have been in the palace the whole time, so it's not surprising that you didn't know. Before his death, the late emperor left a will to His Royal Highness Prince Xian, pardoning Prince Xian and conferring the title of Prince of Hezhong. Princess Jiayi is the legitimate daughter of Prince of Hezhong."
The old nanny naturally knew about this matter. The Queen Mother was furious about it. No one in the palace dared to mention anything related to King Xian or King Hezhong, otherwise their lives would be in danger.
"That imperial edict..." The old nanny was about to say it was a fake, but she was a senior member of the palace after all, and she realized the inappropriateness of her words the moment she opened her mouth. It was not for a servant like her to judge whether the imperial edict in Prince Xian's hand was real or fake. Even the emperor and the empress dowager had not publicly stated that the edict in Prince Xian's hand was a fake.
The old nanny was frightened and broke out in a cold sweat. She glanced at King Yanbei and dared not do it again.
King Yanbei was too lazy to haggle over words with a servant.
The old nanny had a mission to accomplish, and continued, "If this marriage is truly unavoidable... the second young master can follow the old prince's example and marry two wives. Miss Yan is also a sensible and well-bred lady from a noble family." This time the old nanny was smart, and only said that Xiao Jingxi should marry two wives, without specifying who would be the older and who would be the younger.
King Yanbei nodded and said, "As a man, it is quite common to have three wives and four concubines."
The old nanny was delighted to hear this. She thought the Yanbei Palace would agree, and was about to say a few more words, but the Yanbei King sighed again, looked at Xiao Jingxi a few times, and said regretfully, "But I'm afraid my son won't have this blessing. He's been frail since he was young. It's good enough for him to have a wife. Two? Tsk... If you don't have the skills, you'll have to take on the job." The Yanbei King shook his head.
princess:"……"
The corner of Xiao Jingxi's eyes twitched, and thanks to his cunningness, he didn't let the smile on his face fall.
But the King of Yanbei was so shameless and foolish that even the old nanny couldn't continue.
The father directly said that his son was not capable of handling two women and that his physical condition was not enough. What else could he say? To die under the peony flowers, to be a romantic ghost? This is not matchmaking, but deliberate murder.
In the end, the old maidservant at the Empress Dowager's side was defeated and could only think of returning to ask the Empress Dowager for a decision. The Yanbei Palace was so adamant about disobeying the order that, frankly, the few palace servants didn't dare confront them head-on, given the precedent of Eunuch Lu. Even if they lost their lives, they wouldn't necessarily find justice.
The imperial court officials didn't stay long in Yanbei, returning to the capital the next day and leaving Yunyang City. However, word still spread that the Queen Mother was planning to marry the Yan family's daughter to the Xiao family's second son.
The people of Yanbei were all buzzing with discussion upon hearing this. Everyone felt that if the court insisted on granting the marriage, the Second Young Master Xiao would likely follow his grandfather's example and marry two wives. After all, marrying the Yan family's daughter would be nothing more than a decoration. The Yan family was a million miles away from Yanbei, and even if they wanted to support their daughter, it would be too much to do. There was no need to directly offend the Empress Dowager and the Yan family over such a small matter. Having three wives and four concubines was commonplace for men, let alone the Second Young Master of the Yanbei Palace.
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