Chapter 20: Plan Success
In just a moment, Emperor Rongcheng put down his pen and a freshly-made imperial edict was completed.
"Okay, I will personally grant a marriage between Luo Ziqian, the legitimate son of Minister Luo, and Gu Jingchun, the legitimate daughter of Marquis Yong'an."
As Emperor Rongcheng spoke, he personally handed the imperial edict to Luo Kejin and patted him on the shoulder.
At this time, in the eyes of Emperor Rongcheng, Luo Kejin sacrificed his son's future happiness to solve his own urgent problem.
He has already thought about it. When Luo Kejin's son gets married, he will definitely reward him well and give him a big gift.
Shoukang Palace.
Chu Qianlan chatted with the ladies of the noble families in the hall for a long time. Seeing that the time was almost up, she stood up, saluted the Queen Mother, and asked for instructions:
"Your Highness, today is your birthday banquet. We should have been accompanying you the entire time, but I haven't seen my two daughters for a long time. I'm a little worried and want to go out and see them."
"After all, this is my daughter's first time in the palace, and I'm afraid she doesn't understand the rules. It would be bad if I offended you, Your Highness. I hope the Empress Dowager will allow me."
Chu Qianlan said this in a neither humble nor arrogant manner. Upon hearing this, the Queen Mother also stood up.
"I've been sitting here long enough. It's rare to see so many new faces today. Why don't you come along and take a look? What do you think?"
After the Queen Mother stood up, the ladies of the noble families also stood up and echoed her.
"Yes, the weather is so nice today, and Shoukang Palace has such beautiful flowers. We should go and enjoy them."
One of the ladies also responded.
"I heard that the flowers all over the yard were specially picked by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for the Empress Dowager, just to celebrate her birthday. Today, we are able to feast our eyes thanks to the Empress Dowager's presence!"
The Queen Mother never liked such flattery, especially the false smiles of ladies from aristocratic families.
But she really enjoyed the words of praise for her favorite grandson.
Hearing this, he immediately laughed.
"This guy only knows how to come up with these fancy things to appease an old woman like me."
"It's a pity that I'm too old to appreciate these flowers."
"This prince, I guess he is just using my birthday party as an excuse to give flowers to these beautiful ladies."
When the Queen Mother said this, everyone present laughed.
After all, everyone knows today that the Queen Mother intends to choose a princess for the Crown Prince.
The Queen Mother's words clearly stated the matter, and were equivalent to stating that the Prince was also aware of it.
This means that everyone present is very likely to be chosen by the prince.
Upon hearing this, Chu Qianlan immediately followed up with, "Oh, come to think of it, I haven't met His Royal Highness the Crown Prince yet today."
As soon as she finished speaking, the Queen Mother looked at her immediately. No emotion could be seen on her face, but there was a coldness in her eyes.
How could she not know what Chu Qianlan was thinking?
She had always looked down on Gu Yunjin before, and now that she knew she was not the biological daughter of Marquis Yong'an, she looked down on her even more.
The daughter who grew up in the countryside is pretty good.
It's a pity that she was already married and had a child, otherwise, she could have...
That’s all!
The Queen Mother sighed softly.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has important matters to attend to today, so he will probably be late when he returns. Let's ignore him and just have fun."
With that, the Queen Mother led her people out.
As soon as Chu Qianlan walked into the yard, she looked around for Gu Yunjin and Gu Jingchun.
Just then, someone in the crowd exclaimed.
"The Third Prince is here."
Everyone looked over quickly.
At this moment, a huge man as big as a ball slowly walked towards the corridor.
He walked very slowly, stopping to rest for a while every few steps.
Perhaps because he was too fat, the flesh on his face drooped, which also made the corners of his mouth droop, making him look fierce at first glance.
Moreover, the third prince has a bad temper and is very violent. He will get angry at the slightest mistake.
Therefore, the noble ladies in the courtyard bowed their heads and saluted, or quietly hid in inconspicuous places when they saw this.
And just when the third prince Shen Xunwen walked to the end of the corridor, he saw a woman.
The woman was pretty, half lying on the ground, her hair cascading down the corridor.
Shen Xunwen frowned slightly, and just as he was about to order someone to throw her down, his eyes suddenly fell on a certain place on her chest.
There was a puppy pendant hanging there, with brown curly hair and a silly head, exactly the same as the puppy he had raised before.
At this time, Gu Yunjin slowly opened his eyes.
She moved her aching neck, a little surprised that she was lying here, but she didn't expect to see a fleshy face.
Her gaze paused for a moment, and she vaguely saw a pair of narrowed eyes on the face.
But at this moment, these eyes were full of surprise.
"Xiao Hui, is that you? Xiao Hui? I know it's you. Did you miss me and come back to find me?"
Shen Xunwen stepped forward and held Gu Yunjin’s shoulders, speaking happily.
Gu Yunjin was completely frightened and wanted to dodge but there was no way. Moreover, her arm was pinched so hard that she subconsciously wanted to scream!
"ah--"
A scream attracted the attention of everyone present.
This allowed everyone to see clearly that the third prince was holding a woman in his arms.
The corners of his mouth, which had been drooping, also curved up.
He held the person in his arms and saw the Queen Mother watching him from afar. He immediately smiled and said, "Grandma, Grandma, Awen found Xiaohui."
"Little Gray is back!"
"Little Gray has come back to find me."
As Shen Xunwen spoke, he was about to walk quickly through the corridor, wanting to walk in front of the Queen Mother and share the good news with her.
As Chu Qianlan was standing behind the Queen Mother, she only heard a scream and saw Shen Xunwen holding a woman, but she did not see the woman's figure or appearance.
But when I heard him talk about Xiao Hui, I felt relieved.
She got the news by accident.
At the beginning, she had rescued a little maid in the palace. This little maid had been serving beside the third prince, so she knew everything about the third prince.
So, when Chu Qianlan asked how the Third Prince could identify someone, the first person she thought of was the puppy that the Third Prince had raised before.
Little Gray.
Chu Qianlan breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the plan had succeeded.
It would take some time for the Third Prince to come over from the corridor, so Chu Qianlan smiled and said, "What's Xiao Hui?"
"How did this servant see that it was a woman?"
"I wonder which girl is so lucky to be chosen by the Third Prince."
Mrs. Situ has always disliked Chu Qianlan's behavior, and now she couldn't help but speak.
"Madam Chu, what you said is strange. Everyone in Tiandu knows that your daughter is going to marry the Third Prince. Why didn't you say it was a blessing back then?
Now that she has seen this, Mrs. Chu seems happy. Could it be that she thinks she can avoid this marriage?"
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