When Su Tang mentioned the Pure Imperial Noble Consort, Yongying suddenly remembered that Yongzhang had told him that another cousin had come to visit. After a moment's thought, Yongying guessed her identity.
"Are you Su Mingfeng's daughter?"
Su Tang puffed out her cheeks, angrily scoffing, "How dare you... call my father by his name?"
Yongying crossed her arms and snorted, "What's wrong with your father's name? I dare to call your grandfather Zhang Tingyu by his name!"
He's really taking advantage of my kindness! "You're so rude!"
What is etiquette? In Yongying's view, power is etiquette. "I'm telling the truth, they have to bow to me too!"
Su Tang thought to herself: If my grandfather is an earl, and my uncle has to bow to this person, then he must be above the earl.
Su Tang glanced at him, but didn't reply. She turned and continued walking forward, a scene that surprised Yong Ying. "Hey---why don't you ask me who I am?"
Without turning her head, Su Tang said, "No interest! No matter how noble your status is, it can't hide the fact that you're arrogant."
"Am I arrogant?" Yongying felt that the word didn't suit him; he felt he was very kind and approachable! "Little sister, do you seem to have some misunderstanding about the word 'arrogance'?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he received a glare. Yongying was about to say something more when he saw a girl coming from the front, who was Yanzhi.
Now, Yan Zhi, noticing Su Tang wasn't in the room, went out to look for her. Seeing Yong Ying staying close by, Yan Zhi stepped forward and blocked Yong Ying's path, gesturing for Su Tang to go first. Then she said to Yong Ying:
"My cousin is sad right now! Don't bully her."
Yongying said righteously, "Who bullied her? I was just concerned about her."
"You actually care about people?" Yan Zhi looked incredulous, pouting and teasing, "That's truly a rare sight!"
"How could I not care about people?" Yongzhang joked, unconvinced. "I want to care about you too, but I'm afraid Yongzhang will beat me up."
Why is he bringing up Yongzhang for no reason? "What does it have to do with him?"
"You're his cousin! He warned us long ago not to let anyone bully you."
Upon hearing the word "cousin," Yan Zhi became unhappy and specifically corrected, "How many times have I said it? I am his older cousin!"
Yongying spread her hands innocently, "But he always tells others that you are his cousin. Anyway, you are only three months apart, so it's not much different."
This Yongzhang never acknowledged her as his cousin, and Yanzhi couldn't do anything about it. Not wanting to argue with Yongying any longer, she turned to leave, but Yongying called her back.
"Hey---was that your cousin just now? What's her name?"
"Don't ask a girl's name casually." Yan Zhi refused to tell him, but Yong Ying didn't care. If she didn't want to tell him, fine, he had plenty of ways to find out!
Now that Yonghuang has been betrothed, it is time to prepare for his wedding.
The Imperial Astronomical Bureau selected three dates: July, August, and October. Su Yushan thought that July was too hot in the middle of summer, and her daughter-in-law would suffer from wearing heavy wedding clothes. August was both the Mid-Autumn Festival and Hongli's birthday, so it would be busy. After considering all the options, they decided to set the wedding date for the two in October.
The most pressing issue now is that the eldest prince is getting married, so the empress dowager must attend, since he is the eldest grandson. It would be unreasonable for the empress dowager not to attend the eldest prince's wedding.
This means that Hongli had to ask the Empress Dowager to return.
He had finally enjoyed three years of carefree life, and now he was reluctant to ask the Empress Dowager to come back.
However, Yonghuang's marriage was a joyous occasion, and if the Empress Dowager did not attend, Yonghuang would be the subject of much gossip. Hongli did not want his son's marriage to have any regrets, so he discussed with Yushan the idea of inviting the Empress Dowager back.
Ultimately, it was all for the sake of making their son's wedding more respectable. Su Yushan understood and had no objections, "Then please come back!"
It's easier said than done. "I don't want to go. My mother will definitely tease me again and refuse to come back, making me coax her into saying nice things."
Su Yushan covered her mouth and laughed, "Aren't you the best at coaxing people?"
Hongli declared sternly, "I'm not good at coaxing people, I'm just willing to coax you unconditionally. I don't have the patience to coax the Empress Dowager. She was clearly in the wrong first, why should I be the one to coax her?"
Su Yushan didn't want to force him to do what he didn't want to do, so she could only think of other ways. "How about we let Prince He do it again?"
Hongli had the same idea, and the two hit it off immediately. However, this was a hardship for Hongzhou. When he received the order from his elder brother, Hongzhou looked utterly dejected.
"It's me again, Your Majesty. How could I refuse?"
“No!” Hongli said righteously, “Only you can accomplish such an important task. Do not fail my expectations.”
Hongzhou hung his head dejectedly and sighed repeatedly, "This is no good job! If I go to Changchun Garden, Mother Empress will definitely vent her anger from the past few years on me."
Hongli deliberately brought up the past, saying, "Didn't you volunteer to invite the Empress Dowager back that year?"
"That's different. It didn't matter whether the Empress Dowager returned to the palace that year or not, I didn't feel any pressure! I just had to try. But this time it's different. The eldest prince is getting married, and the Empress Dowager has to be there. Now I feel the pressure!"
Besides, it was easier to invite her the first year, but now it's been three years. The Empress Dowager has been ignored by you for three years, and she must be full of resentment. If I go, wouldn't I just be the target of her anger? Hongzhou saw things clearly, so he was unwilling to do this thankless and arduous task, and Hongli didn't force him.
"Fine! Go if you want, or don't. At worst, we won't bring the Empress Dowager back. It'll just mean your nephew gets a few comments. Anyway, I'm used to being talked about, so I don't mind."
"..." The emperor had already said so much, what could Hongzhou say? If he refused again, wouldn't he be unreasonable and unwilling to share the emperor's burdens?
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