As she said this, Consort Wen coughed again.
Granny Yu hurriedly handed her water and a handkerchief, her voice trembling with tears as she advised, "Things have come to this point, Your Highness, taking care of yourself is the most important thing..."
But Consort Wen couldn't swallow this insult. Despite her illness, she dragged herself off the imperial bed and insisted on going to see the Emperor.
At this time, Emperor Pingjia, Zhu Xian, was receiving Prince Jing, Zhu Chao, at the Tianlu Pavilion.
Zhu Xian sat upright behind the imperial desk. As soon as Prince Jing entered, he lifted his robe and knelt down to perform a grand salute: "Long live Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty!"
"Alright, Eighth Prince, there's no need for such formalities between us brothers in private." Zhu Xian raised his hand, signaling Prince Jing to rise.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
After Prince Jing rose, he remained bowed, not daring to face the Emperor directly. This posture was far more respectful than usual. It was no wonder that he was so reserved today. Ever since his second son, Zhu Gaozhuo, was imprisoned for allegedly colluding with bandits, this was the first time the Emperor had been willing to summon him.
Of course, the reason Zhu Xian was willing to summon him was because this time Prince Jing came to the palace not to plead for that rebellious son, but to express his gratitude for the rescue of Princess Yun'an from danger yesterday.
However, Zhu Xian felt that Prince Jing was thanking the wrong person for his solemn expression of gratitude today, and reminded him, "Eighth Prince, even if you want to thank someone, you should thank Li Qingchen, because he saved Yun'an."
These words were exactly what Prince Jing wanted to hear, and he nodded in agreement with Zhu Xian: "Your Majesty is absolutely right. I have come to the palace today to thank Prince Li in person."
Zhu Xian smiled and said, "That's easy to do. Your minister is currently in Changning Palace. I will have someone invite him over."
Prince Jing nodded in agreement, and Zhu Xian then entrusted the matter of inviting Li Qingchen to his most trusted eunuch, Eunuch Cao, thus demonstrating his high regard for Li Qingchen.
Just as Li Qingchen arrived, Prince Jing tentatively brought up the matter again: "Your Majesty, actually, besides expressing my gratitude, I have another request to make of you today..."
Zhu Xian's face darkened. He wondered if they were still unwilling to give up and wanted to plead for Zhu Gaozhuo. If the Prince Jing's mansion hadn't come to him for help, he wouldn't have wanted to get too involved. But if they did, he would suspect that his younger brother had also known about it all along and had been covering it up.
Prince Jing was naturally good at reading people's expressions. As soon as he saw that Zhu Xian's smile disappeared, he knew that he had probably misunderstood. He quickly clarified, "Your Majesty, what I want to ask for is the marriage of Yun'an."
"Oh, Yun'an's marriage?" Zhu Xian's expression finally softened after he relaxed, and he became a loving older brother again: "Yun'an is eighteen years old this year, right? It's time to find a suitable family. If it weren't for the changes that happened in the Song family, she would be married by now."
Thinking back to the marriage he had arranged with the Song family, Zhu Xian said, "I arranged this marriage for Yun'an so that she could live a peaceful life in Shengjing. Since the eldest son of the Song family can never return to Shengjing, I will not let Yun'an go to the border with him to suffer. So that marriage decree is no longer valid."
Previously, when the Emperor ordered Song Zijin to go to the border to take up his post, it was to ensure that this matter could be resolved reasonably. After all, the imperial edict for the marriage clearly stated that the marriage should take place in Shengjing. Now that one party is no longer in Shengjing, it cannot be considered that the Emperor has gone back on his word.
Prince Jing quickly bowed again, saying, "Your Majesty, I, your humble brother, thank you on behalf of Yun'an!"
"Alright, alright, get up. But Eighth Brother, since you brought this up today, do you already have a suitable candidate in mind?"
After Prince Jing stood up, he smiled and nodded, "Your Majesty, I previously thought that Yun'an's path to marriage would be full of twists and turns, but perhaps it is fate. Yesterday, she was in danger, and Prince Li just happened to save her, and in front of so many people in the palace..."
Having said that, Zhu Xian understood that Prince Jing wanted to form a marriage alliance with the Prince of Qiaochuan's family.
One was a prince, the other a prince of a different surname; one possessed the purest royal blood of the Great Ye, the other commanded 100,000 elite troops. Such two families were indeed a perfect match, but their perfection was too much, inevitably making the ruler uneasy.
However, Zhu Xian did not want to be the bad guy, as the saying goes, "It's better to tear down ten temples than to ruin one marriage."
Zhu Xian suddenly burst into laughter, the sound of his laughter causing his chest to vibrate, making him appear exceptionally bold.
Hearing the laughter, Prince Jing's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, gradually calmed down. "Brother, does this mean... you've agreed?"
Zhu Xian's smile faded, and he asked seriously, "Is this Eighth Brother's idea, or Yun An's own idea?"
"Your Majesty, Yun'an was so frightened last night that she cried for a long time in her mother's arms after returning home. She quietly told her mother what was on her mind during the night."
Zhu Xian found Prince Jing's answer reasonable. After all, Li Qingchen was exceptionally handsome and refined, and it would be normal for any woman to fall for him at first sight. Moreover, he had saved Yun An's life yesterday, so it would be strange if Yun An wasn't moved.
However, no matter how "destined" the two of them were, Zhu Xian would never truly allow the two families to become one.
However, this could be a test for Li Qingchen. If the Qiaochuan Prince's Mansion truly harbored rebellious intentions, they would surely agree to the marriage. Winning over a prince would provide a legitimate pretext for any future acts of disloyalty; such things have existed since ancient times.
However, the emperor was too profound, and Prince Jing could not discern any problem from his elder brother's reaction. Zhu Xian even showed an expectant expression, but then said, "We still need to hear what Minister Li has to say about this matter."
Prince Jing nodded repeatedly, "Of course."
However, he was also very confident about the matter: "But I believe that since Prince Li risked his life to save Yun An at that critical moment, it would be hard to say that he has no good feelings for Yun An at all—"
"But I rescued three women yesterday. Does your Eighth Uncle mean that I should marry all three of them?"
Before Prince Jing could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Li Qingchen, who had just arrived. The smugness that had graced Prince Jing's face a moment ago vanished, replaced by a dark cloud. He turned to his former prospective son-in-law: "Li Qingchen, what do you mean by that?!"
Li Qingchen did not pay attention to him immediately, but instead bowed to Zhu Xian first: "Your subject greets Your Majesty."
After Qiaochuan came under the control of Daye, Emperor Pingjia recognized the Prince of Qiaochuan as his sworn brother and Li Qingchen as his sworn son. Therefore, Li Qingchen called him Father Emperor and Prince Jing as Eighth Uncle.
Zhu Xian told him to dispense with the formalities and asked, "Qingchen, what did you mean by that? Did you go to save Yun'an yesterday not out of affection?"
“Your Majesty, I have the right to treat the three I saved yesterday equally. In my eyes, they are all living beings, and that is why I had to take action.”
Hearing this, Prince Jing became even more furious: "But you and Yun'an have already had physical intimacy in the water!"
"What do you mean by that, Eighth Prince? When I saved Princess Yun'an, I only used a shawl to hold her arm. I didn't touch her at all. So how could there be any physical intimacy? If we're talking about physical intimacy, then it was Miss Wei who was quite close to me. Lord Wei hasn't come to ask me to take responsibility yet, so why are you in such a hurry, Eighth Prince?"
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