Chapter 11 Demoted to a position of serving one's husband, adhering to his virtues, following one's wife after marriage.
Nonsense. If the Empress Dowager could resolve the matter entirely according to her wishes, why would she bother with the trouble of forcibly taking a bride?
Yuan Yan felt disdain, but these words were clearly not a valid reason to retaliate, and he could not openly say them in front of his mother.
“Lord Zhu, I am a woman. For a woman to have her engagement broken off by a man without her consent is a great disgrace. You should understand this, Lord Zhu. Even common people cannot endure such humiliation, let alone us members of the royal family.”
"As the Prince of Yue, personally appointed by His Majesty, to be looked down upon and insulted by my subjects would likely invite ridicule from all under heaven, and even my mother would be implicated and lose face because of me."
"You only say that my act of kidnapping the bride was inappropriate, but why don't you say that Lord Lu's actions were a true insult to the royal family and a disregard for the royal family's reputation?" Yuan Yan's eyes narrowed slightly as he stared intently at Lord Zhu.
In the Phoenix Kingdom, women are the foundation of society, and in any marriage disputes between women and men, the man is always at fault. This is a universally acknowledged principle, and there is no room for argument.
"This..." When questioned like this, Lord Zhu was speechless and couldn't say anything.
"There is one more thing I didn't want to mention, but since Lord Zhu has brought it up, I have no choice but to tell you everything."
"The reason why I did not inform Your Majesty or express my grievances when I had the betrothal token was because my elder sister publicly expressed her interest in Young Master Lu. I could not bear to compete with my elder sister, so I decided to step down and let my elder sister and Young Master Lu be together."
"Who knew that my third sister somehow found out about this matter that day, and actually mocked me for not being able to protect my own fiancé and hiding in the palace, afraid to come out and see anyone. Then, my eldest sister told me not to use the matter of our engagement to pester Young Master Lu..." Yuan Yan said, his face showing shame and indignation as he spoke.
"Only now do I realize that my eldest sister and third sister both knew about my engagement with Young Master Lu. But they believe that I had no choice but to back down because I was afraid of my eldest sister's power."
"These words make my previous act of offering the marriage a complete joke. I was so angry that I took Young Master Lu back. It was not for any other reason than that I did not want my deceased father to see that his daughter was being humiliated because of the marriage he arranged, and that he could not rest in peace in the afterlife..." Yuan Yan said, and couldn't help but shed a few tears.
Upon hearing this, Yuan Jing knew without even looking that his mother must be looking displeased. Seeing that Yuan Yan was deliberately playing the victim, portraying herself as a kind younger sister who cared about her sisterly bond and wanted to give way to her, thus shifting the blame onto her and Yuan Xiao, Yuan Jing could no longer hold back and personally stepped in to argue with her.
"Second Princess, you can't just say things like that. When did I ever say such a thing?" Yuan Jing said with a dark face.
Yuan Yan only replied with a few words: "Ping An Fang, Qiong Zhen Ge".
“That day at Qiongzhen Pavilion, my elder sister invited Young Master Lu out and presented him with a hairpin in public. I saw this and we started arguing, during which I said these words. Perhaps my elder sister had forgotten what she said because of the beautiful woman beside her, but there were other people present in the pavilion who can testify for me.”
Upon hearing the words "Qiongzhen Pavilion" and the testimony of others, Yuan Jing's pupils contracted, and his expression changed drastically.
She competed with the emperor's younger sister for a husband and even insulted her.
I never imagined that His Highness, who appears so benevolent, would be this kind of person in private...
Even the ministers standing nearby exchanged glances upon hearing this, feeling that it somewhat overturned their impression of Yuan Jing and they were unsure how to judge him.
Yuan Jing was furious: "Second Imperial Sister! How can you shift the blame onto someone like this..."
"Enough!"
Finally, Yuan Hao, who was at the head of the table, could no longer stand the farce and sternly reprimanded them.
"As a princess, how dare you make such a scene in the Golden Palace!"
"Eldest brother, you knew perfectly well that Lady Lu was already engaged to your second sister, yet you concealed this and requested the marriage here. You even tried to deceive me by claiming ignorance. Do you think I and all the officials are blind and deaf, allowing you to fool and deceive us?" Yuan Hao rebuked Yuan Jing.
Seeing that his mother was angry, Yuan Jing dared not argue any further.
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Your son knows his mistake... Your son will never dare to do it again!" Yuan Jing kowtowed heavily.
"You have committed such a wrong act, yet not a single one of the chief clerks or others in the mansion offered any advice. It seems that in such a large Qi Prince's mansion, none of the officials have fulfilled their duties, and they should be punished."
Yuan Hao did not want to shake the position of Prince Qi at the moment, but he also wanted to give her and Feng Qing a warning. So he decided to take action against the officials of Prince Qi's mansion as a warning.
"Immediately dismiss the Chief Secretary of the Prince of Qi's Palace from his post and remove him from the register of officials. All other officials under the Prince's Palace shall be fined one year's salary. From this day forward, the Prince of Qi shall receive daily admonitions from the officials of rites in order to correct his own conduct." Yuan Hao finally decided on her punishment.
However, to the astonishment of the ministers, Yuan Yan took the initiative to admit his mistake, bowing his head in remorse and begging for forgiveness.
"Your Majesty, I shouldn't have acted so impulsively in a moment of anger, damaging the royal family's reputation. Now that I've calmed down, I feel remorse. If my father were still alive, he would surely rebuke me for my rash actions, which have put Your Majesty in a difficult position... I was wrong, please punish me, Your Majesty."
Yuan Hao originally wanted to punish her for snatching a bride in the street, but seeing that Yuan Yan's confession was sincere and that he mentioned his biological father, the Imperial Nobleman, he paused slightly before speaking.
Thinking of the virtuous and kind-hearted way the Imperial Noble Lady had been, Yuan Hao was touched and changed his tone.
"You brat, you've always been this reckless since you were little... I'll put your score on hold for now and settle it with you later."
The ministers present, seeing that His Majesty had punished the King of Qi but treated the King of Yue leniently, suddenly had a completely new perspective on the previous rumors of the King of Yue falling out of favor in the court.
Now that the argument between Yuan Yan and Lu Yingkan had been resolved, Yuan Hao's cold, sharp gaze finally fell on Lu Yingkan.
"The root of this matter lies with the Lu family. The wicked minister Lu Yingkan married two men, sowed discord between the two princes, betrayed his promises, deceived the emperor, and harbored impure intentions. I spared his life in consideration of his past merits. However, the laws of the country cannot tolerate this, and the principles of discipline cannot be abandoned. Therefore, I hereby remove him from his post as Minister of Rites and demote him to a commoner as a warning to others."
"Since the Lu family had already betrothed their son to the Prince of Yue when the Imperial Noble Minister was still alive, I hereby issue an edict to award this son to the Prince of Yue as a consort. He shall be considered to have entered the Prince's household today, and there is no need to hold any further marriage arrangements. A virtuous and capable man shall be selected as the chief minister of the Prince of Qi and the Prince of Yue. This matter shall not be mentioned again in the future." Yuan Hao looked down with a cold and deep gaze.
The position of a servant husband is the lowest among the prince's officials, below the chief minister, secondary minister, and junior minister, and is only slightly better than a nameless male servant.
Originally, Yuan Hao had a good impression of Lu Lingyue, a talented and virtuous man from the Lu family. However, after this incident, her opinion of Lu Lingyue and the Lu family plummeted to its lowest point.
In Yuan Hao's view, since they were already engaged, Lu Lingyue belonged to Yuan Yan and he should follow her husband's virtues and marry her.
However, he sided with the Lu family and turned to Jing'er, showing no manly virtue whatsoever. Such a man is completely unworthy of entering the royal family. If it weren't for the sake of the Lu clan's reputation and the fact that Yan'er had already taken him back, Yuan Hao would never have allowed such a troublemaker to enter the Yue Prince's mansion.
Furthermore, Yuan Hao was also furious about the Lu family's switch of allegiance to Yuan Jing. Even if Yuan Yan was reprimanded, she was still Yuan Hao's daughter, of noble status. How could Lu Yingkan, a mere subject, have the right to nitpick and cause such a mess, thus disgracing the royal family!
Upon hearing the imperial edict that he had been dismissed from his post and that Lu Lingyue had been appointed as a concubine of the Prince of Yue, Lu Yingkan knew that the emperor was extremely dissatisfied with her and that if it weren't for the Lu family's sake, he would probably have executed her long ago.
It's over, it's all over...
Lu Yingkan felt a pang of guilt, his vision blurred, and he nearly fainted, but he still had to kneel down and kowtow to express his gratitude.
Now, not only has she failed to please Prince Qi, but she has also lost a man and the Emperor's favor. If she had known this would happen, why bother with all this trouble? She should have just let Yue'er marry Prince Yue.
"I know I am guilty, and I thank Your Majesty for your leniency..." Lu Yingkan's spirits had mostly dissipated, and even his voice sounded a few years older.
The emperor's decree was simply telling everyone that the blame for this matter rested solely on Lu Yingkan. The reason why the King of Qi and the King of Yue were in this farce was entirely due to Lu Yingkan's instigation.
Whether it was Yuan Yan's crime of abducting a bride in the street or Yuan Jing's intentional act of taking away the emperor's sister's husband, Yuan Hao forbade anyone to pursue the matter further. He ordered that the matter be put to rest and forbade anyone to mention it again.
"Your son is unfilial and has caused Your Majesty much worry." Yuan Yan kowtowed to express his gratitude after hearing the imperial decree, having already anticipated this outcome.
In stark contrast to her reaction was Prince Qi, Yuan Jing, who stood to the side.
Yuan Jing was punished, and seeing that Yuan Yan had committed the crime of kidnapping a bride but was leniently forgiven by the Empress Dowager, her hatred for Yuan Yan grew even stronger. However, at this moment, in front of the Empress Dowager, she dared not show it in the slightest, and could only kowtow and retreat with Yuan Yan.
...
After all the officials in the hall had left, Yuan Hao finally showed a hint of fatigue and asked the attendant beside him.
"Do you think I've been too harsh on Yan'er lately? It's gotten to the point that even the Lu family, who are her subjects, dare to look down on her. The eldest and third sons have even teamed up to bully Yan'er."
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