Refusal of marriage
Duan Min was not too surprised to see Su Musong coming.
"Yesterday, Sang'er mentioned that he saw you in front of Wangjing Tower. I guessed you would come over. I was planning to erect a monument for them, and your coming would be a great opportunity to lend a hand."
Duan Min handed the measuring rod in his hand to Su Musong, and picked up the paper and pen beside him.
One person measured and the other recorded, and apart from the numbers they reported, they had nothing else to say.
After measuring the cemetery, Duan Min left first. She thought Su Musong probably had a lot to say to Xiao Luochen. But she didn't wait outside the cemetery for long before Su Musong came out.
"I thought you were going to stay for a while."
"He wasn't there."
Yes, there was only an empty tomb inside; Xiao Luochen was not buried there. Duan Min had also wondered why Su Musong had not brought Xiao Luochen back to bury him after having gone to Luzhou and found his jade statue. The question she had not been able to bear to ask then now surfaced in her mind again.
"Why didn't you bring Brother Luo Chen back?"
"Maybe he doesn't want to return to this sad place."
Su Musong did not tell the truth. To this day, he still cannot accept the fact that Xiao Luochen ended up with his head and body separated and no remains left.
But he should just bear these alone, there is no need to hurt another person who treats Xiao Luochen sincerely.
Duan Min felt that Su Musong was hiding something, but she was not going to ask any more questions. To the two of them, she was just an outsider.
"I haven't thanked you properly yet. Now is the day to do it. I'll treat you to a feast at Wangjing Tower."
"No need to thank me. I have to eat at Wangjinglou's banquet. There's a new chef from Zhangcheng who has come in recently. His cooking skills are superb."
"If you want to taste his cooking, then we'll order him today."
"Business at Wangjinglou is booming. Even if you book three days in advance, you might not get a table. I'm afraid we won't be able to eat there if we go there today."
"Since we sincerely invite you to our restaurant, it's only natural that we should close for a day."
So, under the instruction of Mr. Su, the shopkeeper asked all the guests to leave, waived all the bills, and promised all the guests that they could come to the restaurant another day, and Wangjinglou would give them the same dishes they ordered today.
Su Musong originally just wanted to show his sincerity, but he didn't expect that this matter would quickly become the new talk of the town in Yongjing.
Outsiders did not understand the inside story. They only knew that the eldest son of the Duke of Anguo, who was not keen on making friends with the powerful, spent a huge amount of money to entertain Princess Duanmin. So they concluded that the eldest son Su admired Princess Duanmin.
For Su Musong, after the heartbreak came the crazy longing.
When he returned from Shenghuang, there was no one around him who could remember Xiao Luochen with him, so Princess Duanmin became his only choice.
Duan Min accompanied Su Musong to see the scenery that he and Xiao Luochen had seen before, to eat the delicious food they had eaten before, and to listen to him talk about their interesting stories. Most of the time they went alone, and sometimes Ji Ziming would come along.
Back then, Duan Min wanted Xiao Luochen to tell her the story of him and Su Musong, but now the person telling the story has become Su Musong.
They were just reminiscing about the past, but in the eyes of others, it looked like Princess Duanmin and Young Master Su were in love with each other.
One day, news came from nowhere that the emperor was going to arrange a marriage for Princess Duanmin. When the people of Yongjing City heard the news, the first person they thought of was Su Musong.
They were of similar age, had comparable family backgrounds, and shared similar interests. They looked like a perfect match made in heaven. Everyone in the city had agreed to their marriage, except for themselves.
It was not until later that the imperial decree granting the marriage was issued, and Princess Duanmin married Hanlin Academician Ji Ziming. For a time, the people of Yongjing City said they were confused.
Although Ji Ziming was a former top scholar and a member of the Hanlin Academy, he came from a poor family and had no foundation. He was obviously not worthy of Princess Duanmin, whose biological mother was the eldest princess and had the support of the empress dowager.
But there were also rumors that the marriage was arranged by the princess herself, so the people thought that Hanlin and the princess were truly in love and not worldly.
According to the etiquette of Xiangping, men will have a coming-of-age ceremony when they reach the age of eighteen. Su Musong's coming-of-age ceremony is approaching. According to convention, after the ceremony, the emperor will appoint him as the crown prince and he will inherit the title of Duke of Anguo in the future.
Su Musong was a man of extraordinary good looks, his scholarship and character standing out among the many sons of the noble families of Kyoto. Furthermore, the Duke of Anguo's mansion was as wealthy as a nation, and the Duke and his wife were renowned for their relaxed and generous nature. Consequently, he became a favorite among the marriageable ladies of Kyoto. Previously, due to rumors, the ladies had assumed they had no chance of marrying into the Duke of Anguo's mansion. However, with the marriage granted to Princess Duanmin, proposals for Su Musong flooded in.
The Duke of Anguo and his wife didn't know what Su Musong was thinking. The dead are gone, and the living must always move on. If he let go of the past and decided to start over, then a marriage would be fine. Therefore, although they did not seem anxious about Su Musong's marriage, they were not without thought.
Su Musong acted as if he was completely out of the matter. Changsun Qinan felt uneasy at first, but when she saw that he did not show any disgust, she gradually felt relieved.
The Anguo Mansion rarely interacted with the nobles of Kyoto, and they had no relatives or friends in Yongjing City, so no banquet was held for Su Musong's eighteenth birthday. It was almost noon when Princess Duanmin arrived. She didn't know that today was Su Musong's birthday, she just came to announce it.
Duanmin was wearing palace clothes, obviously she had just come out of the palace.
"I met my cousin Xinle at the Imperial Grandmother's today. She asked the Imperial Grandmother to grant her a marriage, and the candidate is you."
Princess Xinle is the daughter of Prince Rui and the granddaughter of the Queen Mother. She has always been favored and always likes to compete with Duanmin. When she saw that Duanmin had asked the Queen Mother for a marriage, she also wanted to do the same. Rather than being assigned to someone she doesn't like in the future, it is better for her to ask first.
Su Musong was stunned when he heard this. He had never met Princess Xinle before and had no idea how he had caught her eye.
"The Empress Dowager has already agreed. The imperial decree will probably come down in the next day or two. You should be prepared."
Duanmin knew that Su Musong would definitely not be willing to accept it, but she had no idea how to refuse the Queen Mother's arranged marriage.
"I see. Thanks for telling me."
Duan Min was surprised by Su Musong's calmness, but she didn't have time to say anything more to Su Musong. She had to go to the palace to accompany the empress dowager to appreciate the flowers in the afternoon, and now she sneaked out to inform Su Musong.
After Duanmin left, Su Musong also left the mansion. He had no intention of discussing the arranged marriage with the Duke of Anguo and his wife. Even if Su Maoyi, leveraging his connections with the Emperor, petitioned the Emperor to stop this matchmaking, there was no guarantee another would be proposed in the future. Su Musong was certain he would never marry or have children in his lifetime. Ever since matchmakers kept appearing in his family, he had been thinking about how to resolve the issue once and for all, and now the situation was ready. He had to have Princess Xinle petition the Empress Dowager to cancel the arranged marriage before the Empress Dowager issued her decree, so as to avoid causing harm to anyone.
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