Yan Xuening: "..."
Yan Xuening cried: "How can you be so annoying!"
Shang Shaoyan was overjoyed, but quickly became serious and said, "Tell me first, what are your thoughts on your marriage? It's easy to want wealth and status, but those families are fraught with difficulties, and your future husband will always be surrounded by beautiful women. High-ranking families also have strict rules. It's also easy to want a handsome and devoted husband, but countless noble ladies want to marry such a man. What makes you think you can compete for him? You would absolutely refuse to marry into a poor family or a collateral branch of a noble family, wouldn't you?"
Yan Xuening thought for a moment and nodded willingly.
Shang Shaoyan continued, “Li Langxuan is a marquis, orphaned and with only an elder sister in the palace. He can’t really help her much, so he doesn’t have many rules. He comes from a good family and has plenty of servants. Although he’s blind, it doesn’t affect him much. You just said he’s also very handsome. Besides, I’ve heard he’s always been gentle and polite. Where else can you find such a good husband? You have to make choices. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. How can you have all the good things in the world?”
Yan Xuening was persuaded, but she was still not quite satisfied.
Shang Shaoyan didn't say much, after all, seeing is believing: "If you're not at ease, just try to get in touch with him. I'll have a few guards follow you. Don't suffer any grievances, but if he treats you well, you mustn't be ungrateful."
Yan Xuening's eyes widened: "If I get to know him and we don't get along, how will I ever get married?"
Shang Shaoyan thought to himself, "In less than three years, you'll be the new emperor's cousin. How could you possibly worry about this? Even if you've been married several times, there are still plenty of men who want to marry you."
However, he couldn't say that out loud, so Shang Shaoyan simply comforted him, "At worst, you can keep a male concubine like me and be happy. What can others say?"
Yan Xuening: "..."
That makes so much sense; she really couldn't find a way to refute it.
So she could only leave, her heart heavy with worry.
Watching her departing figure, Shang Shaoyan couldn't help but sigh softly—truly, fools have their own kind of luck.
...
Before dawn the next day, Shang Shaoyan got up, still half asleep, and her eyes were closed when she got into the sedan chair—thank goodness, she hadn't gotten up early since she transmigrated.
"Princess, why don't you rest for a while in the sedan chair?" sighed Granny Li. "It's going to be a tough battle soon."
Shang Shaoyan suddenly snapped out of his daze and slapped his face hard: "No, I can't sleep. If I sleep, my brain won't work properly."
As she said this, she took a book from the table inside the sedan chair and began to read it intently. She then lifted the beaded curtain to let the cold wind make her more awake.
Seeing this, Shang Yunlan, who was riding a horse alongside her into the palace, sighed with emotion: "The Prince of Juan is still alive."
Shang Shaoyan was speechless: "I don't want to either, why don't you do it?"
It was impossible to mention the rebellion while they were out, so Shang Yunlan felt a little guilty and quickly changed the subject: "Ahem, I've noticed you've been preparing for your trip to Shu Prefecture these past few days. Didn't you say you'd go after the New Year and spring? Why are you packing your things now?"
Shang Shaoyan paused in his book-turning: "I heard a few days ago that the Left Prime Minister and the Right Prime Minister have been exiled there and will be leaving the capital in half a month. If we could get on their good side, wouldn't that be killing two birds with one stone?"
Shang Yunlan clicked her tongue in amazement: "I wonder what they did to deserve being exiled together."
That's not true. Shang Yunlan is an expert at investigating things. Shang Shaoyan dares to say that there's nothing in the entire Shengjing that Shang Yunlan doesn't know. He's just pretending to be stupid because he's worried about being overheard.
Shang Shaoyan didn't play along with him, but asked, "What about your good friends? Last time the Duke of Chengen's family came to break off the engagement, they did a lot of work to spread the word that the Duke of Chengen's family was kicking someone when they were down. You should thank them properly."
Shang Yunlan couldn't help but sigh: "It's hard to say, but one of the three young men who came that day is the eldest grandson of the Left Prime Minister, and he's about to be exiled to Shu Prefecture."
Shang Shaoyan frowned, feeling nauseous—she was utterly disgusted by Emperor Chen's absurd words and actions in court that day: "I will take good care of you on the way."
As they were talking, they arrived at the palace gate.
Today is not a day off, so a number of officials have already gathered at the palace gates, waiting to attend court. They are all quite curious about Shang Yunlan, who is only a duke with a nominal title.
Those from noble families or military generals who were on good terms with the Zhenguo Gong (a local government official) all asked a few words of concern. Shang Yunlan once again displayed her acting skills, shaking her head and sighing whenever anyone asked, looking sadly at the sedan chair.
Shang Shaoyan: "..."
Your father isn't dead yet, what does that look mean?
Shang Yunlan's appearance attracted the attention of many people, who all secretly looked over. Just then, a female official came out from the palace gate, looking at the sedan chair with an unfriendly expression: "Princess Heyang, come with me."
Then a slender and graceful young woman stepped down from the sedan chair. She was dressed in plain clothes and had a bright and beautiful appearance. She was Shang Yunlan's younger sister, the orphan of the old Duke, and the Princess of Heyang County.
After Shang Shaoyan followed the female official into the palace with his head down, someone tentatively looked at Shang Yunlan: "Nephew Shang, this..."
Shang Yunlan smiled bitterly: "Uncle also knows that the Duke of Chengen's mansion said that He Yang's fate was tough, and then the engagement was called off... Coincidentally, yesterday, a young lady from the Duke of Chengen's mansion invited her to go boating. She didn't want to go, but I said that it's better to resolve conflicts than to make them, and I persuaded her to go after much persuasion. As a result, a conflict broke out. Not long after, an imperial decree summoned my sister to the palace today for training."
Finally, he sighed with self-reproach: "It's all my fault, it's all my fault."
The officials, however, paid no attention to the trivial matters of these young women. But Shang Yunlan's words contained a lot of information, so they couldn't help but look at each other in bewilderment.
The conflict that started yesterday was soon followed by an imperial edict, and he entered the palace this morning.
Among the officials present were many whose daughters had entered the palace as concubines, and they all knew very well that even the Empress couldn't simply see her family whenever she wanted. How could this Empress Li...?
These officials, who managed to survive under Emperor Chen, were quite cunning and immediately understood the true nature of the matter.
Empress Li's reach is a bit too far.
Or rather, the Cheng'en Duke's mansion has become increasingly arrogant, bullying the loyal and valiant orphans at will simply because of the quarrels of the women in the household.
Seeing this, Shang Yunlan lowered her eyes to hide the smile in them—Empress Li had labeled Consort Zhao as a wicked concubine in order to create the persona of a virtuous empress for herself. After this incident, she probably couldn't keep up the facade of a "virtuous empress" anymore.
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