Lin Yajun thought of the Ma family. If she hadn't taken a liking to them and given the father and son the opportunity to run the shop, how would they have had the chance to show their talents?
They will likely continue to rely on odd jobs to barely make ends meet, crammed into that small, dilapidated house, worrying about their daily meals, let alone arranging a marriage for their son.
After thinking it over, Lin Yajun decided to find an excuse to send the mother and daughter home.
"I'm going to buy two more younger maids. Then I'll see how the Duan family father and son are doing. If they're honest, I'll keep them; if they're not, I'll release them all. Humph, I don't make money from that shop. That shop is just a front for me to openly take gold and silver out of my spatial storage." After making up her mind, Lin Yajun got up and examined the cloth bag that the man had brought.
She opened the bag and was astonished to find it full of silver notes. Clearly, this was a betrothal gift from someone behind Zhao Canchen.
Madam Ma whispered to her daughter Qiaoqing for a while before bringing in the water that was almost cold.
Hearing Ma's footsteps approaching, Lin Yajun quickly moved the silver notes into her spatial storage, closed her eyes, and rested for a while.
Seeing that her young mistress had fallen asleep, Madam Ma gently put down the wooden basin and left, continuing to do her needlework in the corridor.
"Miss is asleep," Madam Ma whispered to her daughter. "Don't go in and wake her up for now. We can do more needlework and earn a few more copper coins."
Qiaoqing rolled her eyes and said, "She can still sleep at this hour, she's really brainless."
Madam Ma and her daughter Qiaoqing sat quietly in a corner of the corridor, seemingly oblivious to the surrounding noise. Their needlework continued tirelessly, each stitch earning them a copper coin.
Madam Ma said softly to her daughter, "Daughter, don't worry. Just now, the news of Miss's engagement came, and I used the excuse of delivering a cloth bag to the shop to quickly find your father and ask him to agree to the marriage."
Qiaoqing nodded slightly, sighed, and said, "Well, let's take it one step at a time. I originally thought that the Lin family would be a good family, but who knew it would be even worse than the previous one."
Madam Ma stopped what she was doing and comforted them, saying, "There's nothing we can do. Many servants in officials' households are born into the family and have grown up together since they were little. They know each other very well. The people who serve the young ladies are naturally the same people who have grown up together since they were little."
Qiaoqing said somewhat unwillingly, "I really envy the maids of the eldest daughter of the Prime Minister's mansion. They actually got to go to the palace to see the Emperor. He is the Emperor!"
Madam Ma continued sewing the shoe soles, saying regretfully, "She's a maid in the Prime Minister's residence, so naturally she's different from us. That's just fate, my daughter."
Qiaoqing's eyes were filled with jealousy. "I've seen all those maids, and none of them are as pretty as me."
Mrs. Ma sighed helplessly, "Alas, what's the use of this?"
"It's all my fault for being so useless, unable to marry into a good family, and ruining my whole life!"
...
Royal Palace
When Prince Lu learned that the princess had persuaded Zhao Canchen to propose marriage to the Lin family and that the wedding date had been set for the next day, he happily went to the palace to meet the emperor and ask for credit.
He entered the Imperial Study and saw officials from the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs and the Prefectural Government standing inside with solemn expressions. Lord Li from the Prefectural Government reported to the Emperor, "We just received a list of wedding dates from the matchmaker at the Prefectural Government. It is the engagement certificate of Zhao... and Lin. They have agreed to the marriage and will get married tomorrow."
The Emperor looked surprised, as if he was unaware of the matter. Then he asked Zhao Zongzheng, "My dear minister, what do you think of this?"
Unaware of the Emperor's considerations, Zhao Zongzheng was somewhat timid and stammered, "Men should marry when they are of age, and women should marry when they are of age. It is not impossible for feelings to develop over time."
The emperor was pleased with these words and nodded, saying, "In that case, we should grant your request."
"Then..." Zhao Zongzheng hesitated for a moment, then mustered his courage to ask, "Your Majesty, should our Imperial Clan Court offer some kind of token of appreciation?"
The Emperor glanced at Prince Lu, then turned to declare, "Marriage is a joyous occasion, and we must let the world see that our royal family treats him well. We still need to give him something." But he didn't specify what he would give, leaving the officials in a difficult position.
After thinking for a moment, Zhao Zongzheng tentatively suggested, "Our Imperial Clan Court will give him a thousand taels of silver, a small, unused courtyard, and two palace servants. What do you think, Your Majesty?"
"Very well!" The Emperor nodded, and generously added, "Give me ten thousand taels of silver. If it weren't for the large expenses at the end of the year, giving me a little more wouldn't be a problem."
At the same time, he tacitly agreed to the suggestion of giving him a small courtyard and two servants.
The Emperor waved his hand and said, "Go and do your business. I have something to discuss with Prince Lu."
"As Your Majesty commands, I take my leave." Zhao Zongzheng and Lord Li bowed respectfully and withdrew.
After the two officials left, the Emperor saw that besides the Imperial Guards, only Prince Lu remained in the hall. He became furious and said, "That Imperial Son-in-Law Liu is too greedy. He's actually running a brothel and a gambling den. The Empress's brother died in a brothel, and now the Duke and the Empress are demanding that I punish the Imperial Son-in-Law. What do you suggest we do?"
The Prince of Lu's smile froze on his face. His small eyes darted around, and he stepped forward to bow, saying, "Your Majesty, actually speaking of which, the death of Prince Hu in a brothel is not entirely the fault of the Prince Consort. Your Majesty may not know that Prince Hu had been taking drugs, Five-Stone Powder and Aphrodisiac Powder. Even if he hadn't died at the hands of his enemies, he probably wouldn't have lived for more than a few years."
"Besides, he went to the brothel, not because the prince consort dragged him there. He died in the prostitute's bed, not because of the prince consort's people. Prince Hu's death was purely caused by jealousy and quarrels. Why should the prince consort bear the responsibility?"
"Disgraceful!" the Emperor couldn't help but curse. "I don't know how the Duke's mansion disciplines its son. How could the Duke's heir be such a thing?"
He frowned and asked, "Brother Lu, what do you suggest we do about this?"
Prince Lu was pleasantly surprised to see that the emperor seemed to be giving him a more important position.
He cautiously suggested in a low voice, "Your Majesty, you know that the princess deeply loves her husband. Your Majesty and the princess are also siblings, and their blood ties should naturally be above all other relatives. Why don't you have Your Majesty order the prince consort to give more money to the Duke's mansion, and Your Majesty can also bestow some favors upon the Duke's mansion? This matter should then be resolved."
"It's not that easy." The Emperor shook his head, looking distressed. "The Duke's mansion won't take the money. They want me to demote the Imperial Son-in-Law to a commoner."
Prince Lu was shocked. "Your Majesty, this... the Duke's Mansion has gone too far."
The emperor was very annoyed. He had been able to sit on the throne from the age of ten until now thanks to the full support of Duke Hu Bojin.
Hu Bojin was the former leader of the imperial guards of the late emperor. His father-in-law was the Grand Tutor. The emperor married Hu Bojin's eldest daughter when he was thirteen years old. To date, Empress Hu has only given birth to one princess.
After the emperor came of age, he gave important positions to Prime Minister Xiao and took his eldest daughter into the harem as a concubine. However, Prime Minister Xiao was not capable enough and has not been able to restrain the huge power that Hu Bojin had already built up.
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