Chapter 96 The First Assist in the Chinese Server
The Duke of Zhenguo hurriedly caught up: "Alas, Grand Tutor, what do you mean? Can you explain it clearly?"
Grand Tutor Xie kept walking without stopping or turning around, his hands behind his back.
The Duke of Zhenguo quickly grabbed Xie Yunman, who was following behind, and asked:
"My dear son-in-law, what... what does this mean?"
Xie Yunman, who had been lost in thought with his head down, stopped when he felt the Duke of Zhenguo pull his arm and spoke:
“My grandfather will decide this matter.”
The Duke of Zhenguo hurriedly chased after Grand Tutor Xie, and just as they were about to leave through the gate, Grand Tutor Xie finally spoke:
"If there is no imperial decree from the palace today, you can choose an auspicious day in a few days to come to my house to discuss marriage."
Upon hearing this, the Duke of Zhenguo grinned, revealing his large teeth.
The wind has died down, the rain has stopped, and the Duke of Zhenguo is back in power!
"Yes, yes, definitely."
As he spoke, he quickly moved his legs and carried the three of them out.
He waved to the three of them as he left.
"Goodbye, Grand Tutor."
"Goodbye, in-laws."
Upon hearing the term "in-law," Xie Yuanshan ignored him completely, arrogantly turned his head away, and rode off.
The Duke of Zhenguo kept grinning as he watched the three figures on horseback disappear from sight before turning back to his residence.
Once back in the courtyard, he said, "Someone, go and fetch Third Master."
Now let's talk about the Crown Prince.
As soon as Xiao Ling and Xiao Ling came out of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, they were spotted by servants from the Princess's mansion who had come to watch the commotion.
He hurriedly returned to report to Princess Jinyang.
Princess Jinyang had been quite supportive of the Emperor's decree of grace ever since she heard about it.
After discussing the matter in the Empress Dowager's palace, the two had already made arrangements.
Having some free time these past few days, I've started thinking about Xiao Ling's problem again.
Upon hearing that the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion had issued a notice seeking a son-in-law, they seized Xie's second son.
He immediately stood up from his chair, beaming with delight, and looked intently at the servant before him:
"Say it again, who was arrested?"
"Xie Yunman, the second son of the Xie family, the old master Xie." The servant repeated.
"Great, great, that's wonderful."
The princess was overjoyed and excitedly walked around in circles twice.
This is like a pillow being delivered to someone who's sleepy; before you've even started, someone else has already done it for you.
After taking a couple of steps, he suddenly turned back and asked, "You just said that the Prince went to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion?"
The servant nodded: "Yes, he went with the Crown Prince."
Upon hearing this, Princess Jinyang thought to herself, "This is bad. Could it be that this boy is taking the Crown Prince to put pressure on the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion and try to snatch someone away?"
"Where are the Crown Prince and the other two?" the Princess asked.
"They should have returned to the palace. Oh, right, the eldest prince went there too, but then left."
Upon hearing the name of the eldest prince, Princess Jinyang hesitated for a moment before quickly saying:
"Quickly, quickly, have someone prepare the carriage; I need to go to the palace."
Princess Jinyang had been well aware of the Crown Prince's desire to marry the Ninth Daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion ever since Princess Yongning's birthday celebration.
It seems that the eldest prince went there for Xue Weiyang.
The Crown Prince and Ling'er went there for Xie Yunman.
If these two groups approach His Majesty at the same time, they will surely be able to break up the newlyweds.
No, I have to stop it.
We must destroy this marriage between the Duke of Zhenguo and the Xie family.
We must completely extinguish Ling'er's hopes.
The princess made the driver urge the carriage on as if it were flying.
When they rushed to the palace, the Crown Prince and the First Prince were already facing off in the Emperor's study.
Upon hearing the eldest prince's words, the emperor felt a chill in his heart, mixed with a hint of disgust.
However, it doesn't show on the face.
She simply looked coldly at the Crown Prince and asked, "Why did the Crown Prince have time to go to the Duke of Zhenguo's residence today?"
The Crown Prince quickly replied, "Well, Xie Yunman and Ling'er are good friends. Ling'er dragged me there."
Then he gave Xiao Ling an innocent look.
He silently prayed, "Better to die than to die myself. I'm counting on you this time, Ling'er."
Xiao Ling glanced at the Crown Prince and nodded in agreement.
The emperor pressed Xiao Ling, "Are you friends with Xie Yunman? When did you meet?"
"I met Xie Yuntang when I went to learn the Slender Gold style of calligraphy," Xiao Ling replied.
The emperor nodded in agreement. According to the Duke of Qi, Xiao Ling did indeed frequently visit the Xie family to learn calligraphy from Xie Yuntang.
The eldest princess overheard these questions and answers at the door, which further confirmed her suspicions.
So he rushed in.
When the emperor saw that his elder sister had arrived, he had someone come in and offered her a seat.
The eldest princess pretended to know nothing, and looked at the three people in the hall with a smile, saying:
"Hey, what are you three doing here?"
The emperor then spoke up: "It's perfect that you're here, my elder sister. What do you suggest we do about this?"
The eldest princess glanced at her and asked, "Oh, what is it?"
The emperor briefly explained the situation, and to everyone's surprise, the eldest princess burst into laughter:
"Our servants all came back saying that the streets were lively today. It turns out that this is what happened."
The search for a son-in-law after the imperial examination results were announced was quite a lively affair.
Then, feigning gossip, he asked, "I've met that Lady Xue Jiu; she's a valiant young lady."
I've never met the second son of the Xie family. What does he look like?
Is he worthy of Lady Xue?
Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince quickly interjected, "Yes, the man is refined and the woman is heroic; they are a perfect match."
To everyone's surprise, the eldest prince scoffed softly, "He's no match for you. Xie's second son is as weak as a chick."
Upon hearing this, the eldest princess smiled and asked in return, "Oh, according to Lin'er, what kind of person should Lady Xue be paired with?"
The eldest prince spoke up, "Father promised me that he would bestow Lady Xue upon me as a concubine."
Upon hearing this, the eldest princess turned to look at the emperor: "A concubine?"
Your Majesty, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo is qualified to be the Crown Princess, or at the very least, the principal wife of a prince. How can she be a concubine?
Wouldn't doing this be a slap in the face to the Duke of Zhenguo?
Upon hearing this, the emperor lowered his head and said, "What my elder sister says is true. I was inconsiderate."
The Duke of Zhenguo is not like other mansions; this action is indeed inappropriate.
Upon hearing this, the eldest princess turned to look at the eldest prince, who was glaring at her, and said:
"Lin'er, it's not that your aunt is trying to undermine you."
This Duke of Zhenguo helped the dynasty conquer the entire Southern Li Kingdom, expanding its territory by a thousand miles, and made great contributions to the country.
He had three legitimate sons and only one daughter, whom he raised with the utmost care. How could she be made a concubine?
If you truly desire her, you should have pleaded with your father, the Emperor, to make her your principal wife long ago.
The eldest prince felt a tightness in his chest as he looked at Princess Jinyang, who seemed to be doing it all for his own good.
He didn't believe that Princess Jinyang was unaware of what happened at Princess Yongning's birthday celebration last time.
His aunt came today specifically to ruin his plans.
The eldest prince lowered his head and looked down, concealing the resentment in his eyes.
He turned to the emperor and said, "Father...you promised your son..."
The emperor waved his hand and said, "It was Father who broke his promise and failed to think things through. Why don't you choose another one?"
The eldest prince lowered his head and stubbornly said, "I want Lady Xue Jiu."
The emperor said helplessly, "They have already exchanged vows and paid respects to heaven and earth with the Xie family. I can't very well issue an edict to ruin their marriage."
How can I face my ministers in court like this?
After speaking, without waiting for the eldest prince's reply, he arbitrarily concluded:
"Let's leave it at that. Now choose another person, and I will bestow a marriage upon you."
After saying that, he seemed to have a headache and chased the three of them away.
Only the Emperor and his sister remained in the Imperial Study. The eldest princess whispered:
"Ambitious".
The emperor sighed, "Who can argue with that?"
...
Meanwhile, Xie Yunyu and Wu Yumin were halfway there when they saw Xie Yunman and the other two riding back on horseback.
The two then went back to the mansion together.
When Zheng saw her son return, she rushed to him with tears streaming down her face:
"Son, are you alright?"
Xie Yunman shook her head and said, "Mother, I'm fine."
Madam Zheng carefully looked her son up and down:
"It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright..."
After everyone was seated, Old Master Xie asked:
"Man'er, what do you think of what happened today?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com