Chapter 151 Marriage
After walking out of the Great Zhou Palace, Su Fengzhang's expression was not at all relaxed.
Although the emperor did not arrange a marriage, the implication of his words was very clear, directly cutting off his chance of meeting and getting engaged.
This is a great honor, but it will also be a huge constraint and more likely to bring trouble. Once again, Su Fengzhang felt the dominance of feudal centralization. His life and his marriage can be decided by a single word from others.
The feeling of being powerless to resist was really terrible, especially after he felt that he had some control over his life.
After hearing her son's words, Su Zhaoshi's face darkened. Seeing they were silent, Aunt Bai whispered, "Madam, Erlang, if His Majesty intends to arrange a marriage for you, wouldn't that be a great blessing?"
Before they went to the capital, they naturally felt that their Erlang was outstanding in every way and was a good match for any woman.
But after arriving in the capital, Su Zhaoshi was slapped in the face by reality and realized how naive she had been before.
The Su family had no connections in the capital. Apart from Su Fengzhang's colleagues, no one else would even invite them to a banquet. Let alone meet girls from wealthy families, they hadn't even met many who were a good match for them.
There were some people who sent people but no one came, but since those people had no background knowledge and were not wealthy, Su Zhao was naturally dissatisfied.
It is because of this that Su Fengzhang's marriage has not been settled. Su Zhaoshi is determined to find a perfect match for her son, but this is not an easy task.
Now that the emperor had come up with a brilliant idea, Su Zhaoshi breathed a sigh of relief, yet at the same time, she began to worry: "The families that His Majesty can arrange marriages for are probably either high-ranking families or high-ranking officials. Will girls from such families be arrogant and domineering?"
"Qi Da Fei Ou..." When the Su family fell into decline, even the Chen family wanted to go back on their word, not to mention these families.
Aunt Bai came back to her senses from her surprise and realized this.
She thought more than Su Zhaoshi. If Su Fengzhang really married a noble lady, the daughter-in-law might be polite to Su Zhaoshi, but what about her concubine and her illegitimate sister-in-law? Would she look down on them?
Su Zhao sighed, patted the back of her son's hand and said, "Never mind, it's a good thing after all."
The emperor has the final say. No matter what the future daughter-in-law is like, she will definitely be more noble than the one she went to see.
At this point, Su Fengzhang didn't want Su Zhaoshi to worry, so he said, "I don't think His Majesty will force me to resent you."
Su Zhao nodded and said, "I'm not worried about other mothers, I'm only worried about you being wronged."
Su Fengzhang laughed when he heard this: "Mother, what are you thinking? Even if she is a princess, can she let her husband suffer injustice? Besides, the current emperor doesn't have a princess of the right age."
In the Zhou Dynasty, the prince consort could serve as an official in the court. Relatively speaking, the princesses did not have that much power. In general, they would not even supervise the construction of the princess's mansion. The lives of the princesses were far worse than those of the princes.
After hearing this, Su Zhaoshi was really relieved. As long as she was not a princess, even if it was an arranged marriage, the daughter-in-law had to obey her husband and be filial to her elders.
The arranged marriage had not yet been finalized, but that day in Xuanwu Hall, Su Fengzhang met an unexpected person.
Prince Rong was bringing his men to inspect the progress of the book revision. Originally, the revision of the "Xuanwu Grand Code" was the job of the Fourth Prince, but the Lantern Festival incident a few days ago angered the Emperor, so Prince Rong was sent down out of nowhere.
Now, on the surface, the Fourth Prince is still in charge of compiling the book, but in reality, the power has fallen into the hands of Prince Rong.
Su Fengzhang happened to come to deliver books this time. This batch of books was donated by folk scholars in the south.
Before he could say a few words to Xiao Hanlin, Prince Rong suddenly appeared with his men. Seeing the books, he asked, "Another collection of books from the folk? How many volumes are there this time?"
"Your Highness, they are all unique copies, with a total of 101 books." Su Fengzhang reported.
"Indeed, this way the Xuanwu Ceremony will be more complete." Prince Rong nodded and said, "This is my first time at the Xuanwu Library. I wonder if Lord Su could lead the way and show me around the library?"
As soon as the words fell, Xiao Hanlin and others were surprised. Prince Rong's relationship with literati has always been not good. After being forced in by the emperor this time, he didn't do much and usually just showed up to report for work.
Now he suddenly suggested that Su Fengzhang lead the way, which seemed very strange no matter how you looked at it.
"Sir Su, the prince has ordered that I will handle the matters here. Please accompany the prince for a walk." Xiao Hanlin said immediately.
"Yes, sir." Su Fengzhang obeyed the order.
"I wonder where His Majesty wishes to go and what he wishes to see? The library is now divided into six sections, housing over 300,000 volumes of books, as well as tens of thousands of calligraphy, paintings, and stone tablets, all stored in the Xuanwu Pavilion."
"I am not interested in collecting books, but I would like to look at inscriptions and calligraphy." Prince Rong said with a smile.
"Your Highness, please follow me." Su Fengzhang shouted.
The building where the inscriptions and calligraphy were hidden was at the very end of the Xuanwu Hall. It was a long way from here. Before he even entered the building, Prince Rong dismissed his attendants and said, "Wait at the door. I will go in with Lord Su to take a look."
Su Fengzhang was surprised. Although he and Prince Rong had some friendship, they had no contact later. After he went to Beijing and passed the imperial examination, Prince Rong did not show any special interest in him.
Although he was confused, he kept talking, explaining each piece of inscription clearly.
Prince Rong nodded frequently as he listened, and couldn't help but ask, "Master Su, there are countless inscriptions and calligraphy here, yet you know them all by heart. Did you memorize them all?"
Su Fengzhang smiled and said, "Not really. I just remembered some of the famous ones. If I continue to go inside, I will have to look at the records to remember them."
Seeing that he answered truthfully, Prince Rong nodded and smiled, "You are quite honest."
"Then do you know why I came to look for you today?"
Su Fengzhang thought for a moment and replied, "I don't know."
"You saved my princess during the Lantern Festival. Lord Su, have you forgotten about this?" asked Prince Rong.
Su Fengzhang suddenly understood and said with a smile, "The palace has already sent people to express their gratitude and has also given quite a few gifts."
Prince Rong raised an eyebrow and suddenly asked coldly, "Why, do you think that this princess can be compared to that little thing? He Jing is my only daughter."
"The princess is the princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the legitimate daughter of the prince. Naturally, she is not comparable to ordinary people. However, the ones who truly saved the princess that day were actually the Fifth Prince and Prince Xi. I was just lending a hand."
Prince Rong looked at him and said with a smile, "It's been a few years since we last met, and Lord Su is still as flawless as ever."
Su Fengzhang's smile was a little stiff. He really didn't know why this prince suddenly came to him. If he wanted to thank him, wasn't it too late after a few months?
After all, before this, Prince Rong's Mansion had sent people to express their gratitude, and the gifts they brought were also very valuable.
Su Fengzhang thought that the matter was over, but Prince Rong suddenly came to him at this time.
Thinking of what the emperor said a few days ago, a guess popped up in Su Fengzhang's mind. His scalp tingled when he thought of that possibility, and he quickly comforted himself that he must be overthinking it.
Prince Rong was unaware of Su Fengzhang's resistance and asked with a smile, "Sir Su, I left you a token. Why didn't you come look for me after you arrived in the capital? Did you lose it?"
Su Fengzhang had no choice but to answer, "The token is treasured in my home. However, I am of low rank and dare not rashly disturb His Majesty. Moreover, the friendship between gentlemen is as light as water, and I am afraid of being too attentive."
Prince Rong raised his eyebrows again and pressed, "Oh, is that all? Didn't you guess my identity and worry that others would accuse you of clinging to the powerful, so you didn't come?"
Su Fengzhang shook his head and said, "After learning the civil and martial arts, I will sell them to the emperor. Why should I worry about this?"
"You're quite straightforward." Prince Rong laughed heartily. "I wasn't wrong. Although we're both scholars, you're much more interesting than the average scholar."
Su Fengzhang just smiled and said, "Your Highness, thank you for your praise."
Prince Rong suddenly reached out and patted him on the shoulder. He was very strong. If Su Fengzhang was not in good health, he would probably have been made shorter by that pat.
Prince Rong seemed very pleased with his physique and praised him, "You have a good physique. Unlike those scholars who are weak and look like they will die soon."
Su Fengzhang was too tired to complain and could only smile bitterly.
Prince Rong changed the subject again and said, "I heard from the Fifth Prince that your archery skills are quite good?"
"I know a little bit."
"You were able to beat that brat He Jun, so how can you still say you know a thing or two?"
"In that case, the King of Japan will invite you to his palace. There is a martial arts arena in the palace. We can go and play together then."
Su Fengzhang frowned slightly and said, "I'm afraid this will disappoint Your Highness. Since arriving in the capital, I've been so focused on official duties that I've neglected practice. I'm afraid that will ruin Your Highness's mood."
Prince Rong was a little surprised when he heard this. He stared at him and asked, "Why, you don't want to?"
Su Fengzhang said stiffly, "I am willing to accompany His Majesty in archery training. I will follow the whip and stirrup."
Who would have thought that after hearing this, Prince Rong not only did not feel happier, but instead frowned, squinted his eyes and stared at him, and suddenly sneered: "Master Su, Master Su, are you arrogant and proud, or are you looking down on others?"
Su Fengzhang quickly lowered his hand to his ear and said respectfully, "I dare not. I am of humble origin and low position. I would never dare to be so bold. If I have offended you, Your Highness, please forgive me."
Prince Rong pondered in silence, staring at him for a full quarter of an hour before suddenly sneering, "You scholars have too many thoughts in your mind. This prince cannot understand, nor do I want to. But Su Fengzhang, if this prince likes you today, I can honor you. If I dislike you tomorrow, I can also suppress you. Do you understand this principle?"
"This humble official knows, and he would never dare to disobey His Majesty and make him feel disgusted."
Prince Rong narrowed his eyes, patted his shoulder and said, "When I first saw you write the Song of the Flower of the Year, I thought you were interesting, and it turned out to be true."
"Don't worry, I'm not the kind of person who forces you to do things. But Lord Su, you have to think about it carefully. Some things you've missed may be hard to get back even if you spend your whole life on them."
"Alright, these inscriptions and calligraphy are good, but I've never been fond of them. I've wasted Lord Su's time. Let's go back now."
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The author has something to say: The second update is here
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