Chapter 1577 Wedding

It was July, and it was rainy in the capital this year. As the temperature rose and the humidity increased, the capital was very hot and stuffy. The rumors about the empress being seriously ill gradually dissipated.

Although the queen did not show up, no worse news came out. Everyone was smart and knew that the queen would not die, so no one bothered her anymore.

Xue Han entered the palace again and returned to her parents' home the next day, bringing Xiaer with her.

Zhulan felt sorry for her grandson who was in poor health. She held Xiaer in her arms and signaled Qingxue to move the ice basin away and stop fanning him.

Zhulan frowned, "The weather is so hot, why did you come here with Xiaer?"

Xue Han wiped the sweat off her forehead and said, "Tomorrow we will go to a farm outside Beijing to escape the summer heat. I will bring the child to you before we leave Beijing."

Zhulan's heart moved. She also wanted to escape the summer heat. Then she sighed. Shuren couldn't leave the capital, and she couldn't leave either. The older she got, the more she clung to Shuren. "It's good to leave the capital. It's too hot and humid recently."

Xue Han fanned herself with a fan, motioned for the maids to go down, and approached her mother and said, "I went to the palace yesterday."

"Did you meet the Queen?"

Xue Han was not surprised when her mother guessed, "Well, the queen has lost a lot of weight. The palace is full of the smell of medicine and the incense can't even get out."

Zhulan asked, "How are you feeling?"

"He seemed to be in good spirits. I didn't ask any more questions. I chatted with the Queen for a while and then left."

Xue Han felt heavy in her heart. Although the queen was fine, she was getting weaker. It was a hot summer day, but the queen had a thin quilt covering her legs and she didn't even hold the little princess.

Zhulan nodded. She sincerely hoped that the queen could live a few more years. Seeing Xiaer sitting there playing quietly, the child was very well-behaved. Although he was in poor health, he was precocious. She didn't want to talk too much in front of the child and asked, "Is Ning Hou also going to escape the summer heat?"

Xue Han smiled and said, "Xia'er is leaving Beijing, so Third Uncle will naturally go with him. Third Uncle can't leave Xia'er."

Xiaer raised his head and saw his grandmother looking at him. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, "Grandma."

Zhulan felt soft in her heart when she heard this, "Hey, are you hot?"

Xiaer shook her head, "It's not hot."

Zhulan felt sad. The child was not in good health. Looking at her grandson's thin arms, her heart felt like it was being stabbed with needles. He had to take medicine before he could even drink milk. His little body had to drink too much medicine. His hair was not in good health either, so she had to keep shaving his head.

Xue Han and her son stayed for lunch. At noon, Rong Chuan brought Lin Xi and the other two over. The family of five had dinner before leaving.

The next day, Zhou Shuren didn't like attending court in the summer. He felt bored as soon as he woke up. His unhappiness at waking up early affected his mood for the whole day. He also had no patience for the court and just wanted it to be over quickly.

Unexpectedly, when the morning court was about to end, a thunderous voice was heard, saying that the prince was not young anymore and it was time for him to get married.

Zhou Shuren was surprised, and turned his head to see who had put the fold on it, and then fell silent. If he remembered correctly, he had met Lord Meng in the palace a few days ago.

This is obviously what the emperor meant. Why doesn't the emperor say it himself?

Zhou Shuren understood immediately. The Emperor was afraid that if the royal family spoke out, the ministers would interpret it as the Empress was no longer able to survive, so the Prince was in a hurry to get married, lest the Empress pass away and delay the Prince's wedding!

Zhou Shuren lowered his head. He truly had the emperor's trust. He should be the only one who knew Lord Meng.

After hearing this, the light in Old Master Wen's eyes burned brightly, "I will reconsider this."

The Wen family was also afraid that the empress would die. The empress's serious illness this time was not fake. Old Master Wen had been much more haggard since the empress was seriously ill, and he only recovered recently.

Lord Shangguan couldn't figure out whether it was the Wen family's instigation or who was behind it. The process for the prince's marriage was complicated and it would take until next year to prepare. The earliest the wedding could take place would be next autumn, so now was just the right time to prepare.

After Lord Shangguan figured it out, he remained silent. This matter was up to the Emperor, and the Shangguan family had no say from beginning to end.

The emperor frowned, then slowly relaxed his brows, "So the prince is not young anymore. When I was your age, I was already married. The unrest in recent years has indeed delayed the prince."

Zhou Shuren lowered his eyes. If he were the empress, he would have asked the prince not to get married. The past two years were not a good time for marriage. Unfortunately, no one could have expected that the empress's health would deteriorate so quickly. The empress couldn't delay it. It was obvious that the empress's condition worried the emperor, and he made up his mind to let the prince get married.

In the end, the emperor just sighed and didn't make up his mind, then he dismissed the court.

Although he did not give a definite answer, the emperor asked the Qin Tianjian people to calculate the date, and everyone in the court knew that the prince was indeed going to get married.

Naturally, some people speculated about the Queen's health, but unfortunately there was no news. After a few days, the news of the Prince's wedding was finally confirmed.

Qin Tianjian also calculated the date, and it would be October next year, the day for the prince's wedding.

Zhou Shuren could not get any news from the Empress, but he could get news from the Emperor. He then realized that the Emperor also had the intention of planning the Crown Prince's wedding, and the Empress' serious illness also stimulated the Emperor.

The Zhou family doesn't interact much with the elders of the Shangguan family, but more with the younger generations. Mingrui interacts with Shangguan Liu, while Yujiao interacts more with Shangguan Li. As soon as Yujiao came back from Shangguan Mansion, she went straight to the main courtyard.

Zhulan glanced at the clock, "Why are you back so early today?"

Yu Jiao came back with gossip, her eyes sparkling, "Grandma, guess what I saw in Shangguan Mansion?"

Zhulan thought about it and guessed it, but still pretended not to know and said, "I can't guess it."

Yu Jiao said mysteriously, "The Empress's maid and nanny have moved into Shangguan Mansion today. They will teach Sister Shangguan in Shangguan Mansion before she gets married."

She felt that Sister Shangguan was so miserable. The female officials and the nanny would always follow Sister Shangguan, saying that she needed to learn a lot of courses in order to be a better Crown Princess.

Zhulan, "If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight."

The Crown Princess’s classes give me a headache just thinking about them.

Yu Jiao nodded in agreement, "So Sun Nu came back. The female official's eyes were so stern that Sun Nu and Shangguan Li didn't dare to speak loudly."

Zhulan tapped her granddaughter's nose and said, "You."

Yu Jiao giggled, "My granddaughter's future husband must be able to pamper her. She wants to live a comfortable life."

Zhulan, "How old are you and you're still thinking about your husband? You have no shame."

Yujiao was not afraid of her grandmother. The youngest granddaughter had special privileges. She shook her grandmother's arm and said, "Grandma, are you willing to let your beloved granddaughter suffer?"

Zhulan was dizzy from the shaking. "Okay, okay, stop shaking, my hair will fall apart."

Yujiao didn't dare to waver, "Grandma, I'll take this as your agreement."

Zhu Lan was helpless, "I will help you choose a good one when the time comes, but don't tell anyone about it in the future."

Yu Jiao nodded, "My granddaughter knows, and she will definitely not say anything nonsense."

At dinner that night, Zhulan told Shuren, "Look at your granddaughter who got used to it."

Zhou Shuren couldn't do anything with Yujiao. The youngest one really took advantage of her. She was also a lively and coquettish girl, so she was really spoiled. "This girl was scared."

Zhulan, "There are only two granddaughters left, so we really need to choose good husbands for them."

In the palace, the queen picked up some food for the prince, coughed, and saw that her two sons were looking at her. She indicated that everything was fine, and then said, "The maid has arrived at the Shangguan Mansion."

The prince knew, "Father asked me to go to the Shangguan Mansion in two days."

The queen coughed again, "Hmm."