Chapter 41 Pre-wedding Preparations
Back in the Ming Dynasty, Li Sihong was eating. She quickly put down her chopsticks and came to Zhao Xiaofei. Zhao Xiaofei asked, "What happened these days?"
"I'm in trouble! The palace has issued an order asking you to come to the palace to listen to the Hadith." Li Sihong said guiltily.
"Why?" Zhao Xiaofei was also puzzled.
"The princess wrote you a letter. I replied for you and let the queen know. The decree was conveyed yesterday." Li Sihong said anxiously.
"Yesterday? You've been wearing it for a whole day. How did you do that?" Zhao Xiaofei's heart tightened. He was told to go to the palace yesterday, but he hasn't gone yet today. If the Empress and the Emperor were to get angry later, the consequences would be serious.
"It was Eunuch Erxi who came yesterday. I told him that he was sick and couldn't get up. I gave him 500 taels of silver and told him to go back and tell the prince consort to come to the palace to apologize as soon as he felt better," said Li Sihong.
"That's what I said! If you disobeyed the order, our house would have been ransacked long ago. I'm scared to death! I'll go to the palace early tomorrow morning!" Zhao Xiaofei said, patting his chest.
Li Sihong didn't say anything, just stood there with her head down. Zhao Xiaofei said, "Why are you standing there? Eat your meal quickly."
Li Sihong didn't say anything, just sobbing softly. Zhao Xiaofei understood that she was waiting for him to punish her! So he whispered to comfort her: "Isn't everything okay? Why are you crying? Your husband doesn't blame you! Be good! Eat your meal! Anything that can be solved with money is not a big deal. Besides, the emperor and the empress haven't sent anyone else, which means everything is okay. Your husband will feed you, okay?"
"No! I've been worried these past two days, afraid that the emperor would punish us or confiscate our property or something." Li Sihong started crying again as she spoke.
"It's okay, it's okay! Don't cry! Come, give me a hug!" Zhao Xiaofei started to dote on his wife. After coaxing her for a long time, he finally made Li Sihong laugh out loud.
The next morning, Zhao Xiaofei changed into his Qilin robe and entered the palace. He arrived at the Hall of Mental Cultivation and knelt before the main hall, awaiting Chongzhen's summons. Inside, several ministers were arguing, vaguely suggesting they were discussing the Liaodong issue. They were urging Hong Chengchou to advance quickly and resolve the Jianlu issue once and for all.
Zhao Xiaofei thought to himself, Hong Chengchou is quite resilient. Any other official would have followed orders and launched a rash attack, only to be completely annihilated by the Jianlu. It's a shame for Hong Chengchou, a man of such talent, to be met with such a master and such incompetent teammates. According to historical records, you could only hold out until next year at most, before you were defeated and captured. And then you would help the Jianlu unify the country.
A little later, news of Li Zicheng's siege of Kaifeng spread. Chongzhen was probably getting anxious and wanted Hong Chengchou to finish off the Liaodong campaign before returning to Henan to eliminate Li Zicheng. Just as he had done with Li Zicheng's troops before, he wanted to defeat him once again.
Zhao Xiaofei thought to himself, "Ideals are great, but reality is tough." Even if everything goes according to plan, there's no money left in the treasury, right? "Everyone in there, hurry up and finish your conversation and go home to your wives!" "I've been kneeling here for almost an hour, and you guys aren't done talking yet! My legs are almost broken. I should have come later!"
After an unknown amount of time, Zhao Xiaofei's legs were already numb when he heard someone inside shouting, "The Prince Consort, Commandant Zhao Xiaofei, is here to see you!"
Zhao Xiaofei thought to himself, "Oh my god! You finally see me! I can't even move my legs. No one is helping me, Wang Erxi! You damn eunuch, I gave you 500 taels, and you didn't even come to help me!" Unfortunately, no one dared to come to help him. Zhao Xiaofei staggered into the hall, then walked up and knelt in greeting.
Chongzhen said with a stern face: "Do you know what mistake you made?"
"I understand! I will be careful and cautious in the future and follow the rules." Zhao Xiaofei said.
"Rules? Do you keep the rules in mind? If you hadn't saved the prince, I wouldn't be so easy to talk to! Go down! Go to Kunning Palace and apologize." Chongzhen said.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your magnanimity!" Zhao Xiaofei replied loudly, bowed, and left the Yangxin Palace.
Chongzhen sighed as he watched Zhao Xiaofei leave, and said to Wang Chengen, "Go and tell the Ministry of Rites to move up the wedding date. Marry Kunxing next month."
"Your Majesty, isn't this a bit against the rules? I'm afraid the Ministry of Rites will have opinions, and it won't sound good if it gets out. Besides, Zhao Xiaofei, the son-in-law, is not a good learner of the rules." Wang Chengen said.
"I don't want to cause any more trouble. I will feel at ease if Kunxing gets married earlier. The Ministry of Rites will not take the princess's affairs too seriously." Chongzhen said.
"I understand!" Wang Chengen said and left the Yangxin Palace.
Chongzhen loved this daughter very much. She was obedient and sensible, knowing when to advance and when to retreat. She was friendly to her brothers and respectful to her younger sisters. It can be said that she embodied all the qualities of a good child, until Zhao Xiaofei appeared. The fact that her daughter made mistakes again and again, and was scolded by Empress Zhou, also showed that she was very concerned about her husband. Since her daughter had feelings for him, she should let them get married soon and not stay in the palace anymore. Once out of the palace, she would be free. Zhao Xiaofei, that unruly boy, would make Kunxing's life better.
Zhao Xiaofei went to Queen Zhou, where, of course, he was met with another barrage of nagging and criticism. Zhao Xiaofei knelt on the ground, listening attentively. But his mind was filled with internal criticism. He thought, I didn't even cry out to be a consort. Now you two are causing so much trouble, what are you trying to do? If you didn't want to stay here in the future, I'd probably beat you up and run back to the modern era.
"I thank the Queen for her kindness!" After listening to Queen Zhou's nagging, Zhao Xiaofei bowed and left.
Of course, she didn't forget to apply to go to Yonghe Palace to see Kunxing, but this time Liu Gong was blocking the door. The wound on her face hadn't healed yet, so she didn't dare let Zhao Xiaofei in.
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