Tong Mingyu's heart gradually calmed down until she saw the familiar figure coming in. The maids brought sour plum soup cooled by well water and seasonal fruits, placed them in order and then left one by one.
Soon, brothers Xiao Jingkang and Xiao Jingmin discovered that there was something wrong with their wives. Their expressions and behaviors were so different from usual, as if they had been hit on the head with a stick and became dull.
Xiao Jingmin just opened his mouth to ask what happened, and Yuan Yutong immediately recounted what had happened that day.
The two men with daughters were stunned, their movements halted as if they'd been struck by a needle. Xiao Jingtai even exaggeratedly overturned the teacup, causing it to slip from his hands and fall at Li Jiaoying's feet, shattering and spilling tea. Neither the couple was spared, soaking them all. "Do you really need such a big reaction? If you didn't know better, you'd think you were the girls' real parents!"
"Let's go back and change our clothes and come over." Li Jiaoying glared at her husband. This man didn't even say a word when she needed his help, but he was good at making trouble.
"Don't go back to change, it's too troublesome. I have some new clothes here that you haven't worn yet. Just let the maid take you to change." Tong Mingyu called the maid and asked her to take her second brother and his wife to the guest room to change clothes.
"Don't give the new clothes Ping'an made for me to the Second Master." Xiao Jingkang felt lost, but he did not forget to instruct the maid who led the way.
If the marriage with Prince Jing's Mansion is really completed, my daughter can live at home for a little more than a year at most, because Yun Yichen will be nineteen next year, and he will be twenty when my daughter reaches the age of marriage. How can the palace wait any longer? They have to marry his daughter back home quickly!
If a boy who was about the same age as my daughter asked for marriage, my family would have the nerve to delay for a few years. However, facing a son-in-law who is already a bit "old", it is really difficult to ask for this.
After the six of them sat down again, Xiao Jingmin spoke first: "Let's put Ruyi aside for now. That Prince Min doesn't seem very old. It won't be too late to make a decision after observing him for a year or two."
Several people nodded together. There was no rush for Xiao Yuan's marriage. What was important was Xiao Yao. They had to find a way out because they had to deal with not only Prince Jing's Mansion, but also the old father who gave them a headache just thinking about him.
"Prince Jing's Mansion won't mention this matter again before my father's birthday. Even if they want to propose marriage, they won't choose this time." Xiao Jingkang was certain. There was no reason why they had to bring it up now and make people unhappy when everyone in Kyoto knew that the old man was reluctant to part with his granddaughter.
"What if... I mean, what if they propose marriage?" Tong Mingyu, who was always decisive, had slightly red eyes and asked while suppressing the heartache. If it were just the two of them at this moment and no one else, Tong Mingyu would probably have cried out loud.
Xiao Jingkang knew that as long as Prince Jing's palace spoke, the marriage would be a done deal. Others might not understand the situation, but he knew full well that the boy had already held his daughter, and their marriage was the most suitable and perfect outcome for his daughter.
But it was still a little difficult for him to nod his head readily now. Xiao Jingkang was also in a dilemma at the moment and couldn't extricate himself.
"Brother and sister-in-law, please state our demands. Next time my cousin asks about the marriages of the two children, I will go to Prince Jing's Mansion to confront them. It would be best if they all agree. If they don't, don't blame us." Yuan Yutong made her position clear in just a few words. She was a member of the Xiao family.
"You'd better not be so ungrateful." Xiao Jingmin said this casually with some doubt, and at the same time thought to himself that he would go with him when the time comes, so that his wife would not be bribed by her cousin.
Yuan Yutong glared at her husband. She had already made her position clear by saying this. Her cousin and nephew combined weren't as important as her niece, whom she had watched grow up! How could he doubt her? She had to make sure this guy slept in the study when she got back to Yiyuan tonight.
"I believe my sister-in-law is on the side of peace." Seeing that Yuan Yutong was really a little angry, Tong Mingyu quickly spoke.
This was the only way to deal with the matter for now. They had to discuss countermeasures within a small circle, not letting the old marquis get wind of it, nor could they tell Qin, who got incredibly excited when she heard about the royal family. They had to keep it a secret from the children, as otherwise the boys would demand a one-on-one fight with Yun Yichen (even better if they could gang up on him), and as for the girls... they couldn't imagine how they would react.
In the days that followed, Tong Mingyu strictly forbade the two girls from leaving the house. Nanny Ruan started a new course for them, specifically teaching them various survival skills in a large mansion and how to prevent those dirty tricks. The two sisters were drowsy from listening to it every day. If it were another teacher teaching these things, Xiao Yuan would have quit the class long ago, but she didn't dare to do so in front of Nanny Ruan.
"Aunt! If Mammy keeps talking, I won't even dare to leave the house. I feel like there are a lot of bad people watching me. I have to think about what's in my soup every time I drink it. It's too torturous. There's no one in our family who's a troublemaker. Can we just not take this class?"
"If you don't learn now, when will you learn? Will you wait until you fall into someone else's conspiracy and tricks before learning? I tell you, it will be too late then." Yuan Yutong slapped her daughter's hand that was holding her sister-in-law's arm. Ping An has always been cautious, but her sister-in-law is still worried! Not to mention this girl in her family who is good at eating and drinking.
If Ping'an fails to recruit a live-in son-in-law, his daughter will not be able to enjoy this privilege alone. With her status and background, even if she does not marry Prince Min, she will marry into a wealthy family. How can she do that without studying hard?
Nanny Ruan will definitely stay with Ping An in the future. How can my daughter be at ease? It seems that she needs to find a Nanny for her. Where should she find one? Let's ask Nanny Ruan for her advice first.
Xiao Yao was so happy that she didn't have to go out. The portrait she was embroidering for her grandfather was nearing completion. This work, which she had been preparing since last winter and had taken a year to prepare, had taken all her effort and emotion. Now that it was finally completed, she believed her grandfather would like it.
I also had to embroider a half-length portrait for each of my grandmother and my parents. For anyone else, I could only embroider their heads. Nothing else would be acceptable. I owed Yun Yichen a dress, and it had been ages since I'd embroidered it myself. If that guy found out, it would be a real hassle.
I'll get started now while I'm not going out. I'll try to finish embroidering the belt first, and then the pattern on the body. I've put a lot of time and effort into this dress, and when Yun Yichen gets married, I'll definitely go to the ceremony and see how the dress looks on the bride. It's a pity I don't have a camera. If I had one, I'd definitely take a picture of the beautiful bride.
Yun Yichen didn't know about Xiao Yao's strange thoughts. If he knew, he would be so angry that he would vomit. How could he find another little girl exactly like her?
He was busy preparing for an appointment with his future father-in-law. If his father had not been too busy and it would have seemed not serious enough for him to make the appointment himself, Yun Yichen would have taken action long ago.
"The Crown Prince, Eunuch Hai from Fengxiang Palace requests an audience." Little Anzi knocked gently on Yun Yichen's study door, then waited a moment to listen until there was no sound from inside before pushing it open. Little Anzi knew exactly what the Crown Prince was doing in his study. Those gifts, originally given by Miss Xiao to others, would be placed on his desk every few days. He knew it all, but he pretended not to see, to avoid embarrassing his master.
"Hmm!" He put everything else back into the brocade box, and Yun Yichen rubbed the small sachet with his fingers in his sleeve. He couldn't even remember how many years it had been hidden in his sleeve. The string was about to break, and the edges were frayed in several places... After confirming their relationship, he insisted that she embroider a purse for him no matter what.
Are you letting people in or not? Xiao Anzi waited quietly for Yun Yichen to return to "normal", not daring to breathe.
"Ask him what's the matter." After a long time, Yun Yichen slowly spoke. Xiao Anzi let out a long breath. This person finally spoke.
"Your servant greets the Crown Prince. The Empress Dowager has issued an imperial decree, ordering you to escort her to the royal temple the day after tomorrow to pray for the country and to obtain amulets for the Emperor and the prince." The visitor was the new chief steward of Fengxiang Palace, Eunuch Hai. The previous eunuch was demoted to the cold palace by Prince Jing when the Empress Dowager was ill and died in less than half a year.
"Got it, go back and report!" The Empress Dowager had already said she was going to pray, so how could she refuse? I wondered how long she wanted to stay in the temple. I had to wait to celebrate the old man's birthday. It seemed that the meeting with my future father-in-law would have to be postponed again. When would I finally have a legitimate position? Pah! It was a legitimate position!
When King Jing came back, he brought back another piece of news.
"Are you saying that this time only the Empress Dowager brought Han Yueting and Yun Ruoxing?" Yun Ruonan asked in surprise. There was no need for King Jing to explain any further. She had already smelled a conspiracy.
He had just expressed his attitude to the Xiao family, and now he was traveling with another girl from another family. What would the Xiao family think?
"I'll find someone to go with me." The Han family still hasn't given up? After this trip, I'll let the Han family understand how determined the Jing Palace is to exclude their family.
"Be very careful!" Yin Qianhua clenched her fists. She and her family had been harmed so badly by the Han family. Was her son going to repeat the same mistake?
King Jing held his wife's slightly cold hand. He believed that his son could handle this matter well, as long as he knew what he valued and cared about. How could he not handle such a small matter when he was about to get married?
"If Ping'an and I can go too..." Mother can rest assured, and brother won't have to worry about the Xiao family's misunderstanding. Yun Ruonan doesn't care what she is in the eyes of the Empress Dowager, she just wants to help.
Prince Jing and Yun Yichen shook their heads together. Prince Jing couldn't bear to see his daughter suffer any injustice. Yun Yichen didn't want to see Xiao Yao humble herself. Even if he couldn't make the man he loved dominate all other women, he couldn't let her live her life at the mercy of others.
As long as she was around, she would try her best to prevent the little girl from meeting the Empress Dowager. As for the others, hmph! The little girl could make her angry, but if others wanted to bully her, they had to be prepared to pay double the price.
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