The emperor was just about to tell everyone in the Xiao family about the rules of the royal family and the Yun family when he heard the door of the private room being opened again. Yun Yichen walked in, looking at him with resentful eyes.
Your nephew asked you to help him, not to sabotage him. Do you think it’s too early for him to get married at the age of 20?
The emperor rubbed his nose with his right index finger. His nephew had asked him to help, and it seemed he had almost scared the Xiao family away. This ungrateful brat, whom he had been helping to secure benefits for, was now being blamed. His kindness was truly unrewarded, and he deserved to be stuck with a little girl for the rest of his life.
"Yichen greets all the elders, old man, Uncle Xiao, and Aunt Xiao. Don't worry, Yichen will agree to whatever you said. If you are still not assured, I swear in the name of Prince Jing's Mansion..." Yun Yichen said to himself, ignoring the emperor's frequent winks at him.
"Your Highness, there is no need to be like this. Ping'an has been spoiled by us. She is not comparable to those ladies from prestigious families. You..." Tong Mingyu was moved by Yun Yichen's words, but the emperor's words also made her realize that there was indeed something wrong with her family's marriage with Prince Jing's Mansion.
"You want to go back on your word." Yun Yichen's face changed. He originally thought that today's marriage was a sure thing, but he didn't expect that his uncle's words would make the Xiao family want to back off. What should he do?
Seeing the awkward situation, Old Madam Yuan mustered up the courage to stand up and smooth things over: "Since Chen said so, he must be able to do it. My old father-in-law has taught him for so many years, so he should understand his temperament best, right?"
Old Master Xiao looked at Yun Yichen and then at the emperor. The person in charge of Yun Yichen's side had now become the emperor. How could he feel at ease if he wanted his granddaughter to marry into Prince Jing's Mansion without his approval?
"Uncle Emperor, you haven't forgotten what you are here for today, right?" Yun Yichen almost bowed and begged the emperor. He didn't understand why his uncle was still hesitating when he was willing to accept the Xiao family's conditions!
"After you get married, if you give birth to three children for Prince Jing's Mansion within five years, and no less than five within eight years, I will agree to the agreement between your two families." The emperor gave in. He believed that this was the most tolerant promise he could make.
"No." Yun Yichen said hurriedly when the emperor finished speaking. He didn't marry the little girl for... How could the emperor's uncle make such a request in front of so many people? Really.
The emperor turned his head and stared at his nephew. Did this kid come here today just to go against him?
"Junior sister is so young." Yun Yichen lowered his head and looked at the ground and said in a low voice. He wanted to marry the little girl because he liked her. Besides, Prince Jing's Mansion was also very good now. There were only two children, him and his sister. It was very quiet. It was much better than those families with a bunch of illegitimate sons and daughters.
Although his voice was low, the people in the room heard it clearly. If the Xiao family had had such thoughts before, after seeing Yun Yichen's performance today, they could no longer say anything. If he didn't like Ping An, how could he have argued with the emperor!
"Since Achen is willing, we'll grant his wish. I wonder if Old Man and Brother Xiao have any other requests?" King Jing, seeing that the situation was almost ripe, spoke at the right moment. He wasn't surprised by his son's decision at all. He had only just come forward to show the Xiao family just how committed his son was to their granddaughter (or daughter).
The emperor also looked at Old Man Xiao leisurely. He didn't believe that this stubborn old man didn't give him any face and still had the nerve to make demands.
"The Xiao family doesn't have any requirements. They just want the engagement to be publicized. As long as both families know about it, it's fine. Can the wedding date be postponed? After all, my granddaughter is too young, and we're worried that she won't be able to adapt to the new life all of a sudden."
If other families could get married to Prince Jing's Mansion, it would be strange if they didn't urge an engagement! The Xiao family was indeed different from others. The emperor was particularly curious about the reasons of this stubborn old man, so he asked kindly, "Why do you have these two requests?"
"Once a woman is engaged, she loses her freedom. I still have a lot of things to do with my granddaughter, like going out for a stroll around Beijing, or building a small farm where we can grow vegetables and feed chickens together..."
Upon hearing the old man's wild idea, several people in Prince Jing's mansion, including the emperor, were stunned. General Yuan and his wife were also speechless. Xiao Jingkang and Tong Mingyu smiled awkwardly at everyone. Such whimsical ideas were definitely not taught by us.
Prince Jing pondered for a moment and assured the old man that Xiao Yao could do whatever she wanted before she turned eighteen. The Prince Jing's palace would neither force her to have children nor make her the head of the household. However, the marriage could not be delayed for too long and she had to marry after she reached the age of 18.
Since the emperor was in charge, the Xiao family did not dare to insist too much, and with the help of Old Lady Yuan, although this meeting had many twists and turns, the final outcome was relatively satisfactory.
The emperor could not stay outside for too long, so in order to save his face and win over his nephew to work for him wholeheartedly, he made a small request to Tong Mingyu.
"It's okay not to have an engagement banquet, but you should at least leave a token of your love! Let your eldest daughter make a dress, some new shoes and socks, and embroider a purse for Achen!"
Yun Yichen nodded at the side. "That's right!" The little girl hadn't made anything for him in many years. Even the sachet he picked up that year was worn out. He really needed these.
"This..." Purses were easy to deal with; she could make up a reason to get her daughter to embroider one, but what about clothes and shoes? Tong Mingyu looked Yun Yichen up and down. Xiao Lang was the only one in the family with a similar build. It would be wrong to just say she was making clothes for Prince Yun. If she said she was making clothes for Xiao Lang, it would be strange if her daughter didn't ask why. Besides, it didn't seem appropriate to give clothes to a man before they got married.
Xiao Jingkang didn't have as many concerns as his wife. Besides, the emperor had already issued an order, so how could he dare not obey? He asked Yun Yichen to send the desired style and size to the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery's Mansion in two days.
After seeing off the emperor, several people had a meal together. Yun Yichen personally sent the Xiao family back, politely declined Qin's enthusiastic invitation to have dinner together, and calmly left the Xiao family under the murderous gazes of several uncles.
"Why is he here?" Xiao Jun had a bad feeling. Seeing his smug look, could it be... Xiao Jun grabbed Tong Mingyu and refused to let go, insisting that she give an answer.
After spending a tense morning outside, worrying about this and that, Tong Mingyu didn't have the energy to deal with her youngest son when she got home, not to mention that she didn't know how to explain to her son.
As soon as Xiao Yi saw Tong Mingyu's bad face, he took his brother aside. As soon as Yun Yichen came, he knew that this man was his brother-in-law. Even though he was unwilling to accept this matter, since even his grandfather had acquiesced, what could others do?
My parents must be feeling bad now. My younger brother staying here will only make them more upset and won't solve any problems.
The old man and Xiao Jingkang and his wife all looked exhausted. How could they not be exhausted after dealing with the emperor for a whole morning? What they wanted most was a hot bath and a good night's sleep. Although Qin Shi wanted to know the outcome of the matter, she looked at the cold faces and swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
"You are about to have a son-in-law who is a prince. Are you happy now?" As a couple who have lived together for many years, the old man knows his wife's character better than anyone else. This sentence is to comfort her and to inform everyone that the matter of the granddaughter has been settled.
"Hmph!" Xiao Jun kicked the pillar beside him in frustration. His dissatisfaction with Yun Yichen rose sharply, and he cursed him countless times over and over again.
Xiao Jingkang looked at his youngest son helplessly, letting him go crazy for a while before speaking: "You are not allowed to cause trouble for Yun Yichen again. If I find out, you will never have to come back again."
Xiao Jun looked at his father in disbelief. At this moment, he felt that he and his sister had been abandoned by their parents, and Yun Yichen was like their biological son.
"I'll tell my sister." Xiao Jun didn't believe that his sister would be willing to marry Yun Yichen.
"Don't tell Ping'an and Ruyi about this. The eldest daughter-in-law will be downstairs to give the order soon. If anyone lets it slip, they will be punished according to the family rules." The old man said coldly. From now on, he will protect his granddaughter tightly and no one will be allowed to get close to her.
Did Yun Yichen think that he could get close to his granddaughter just because he got engaged? He was dreaming. I wanted to make sure he couldn't even see me, and even if he did, he wouldn't be able to get close to me.
If his granddaughter didn't know about this, she would still be indifferent and distant to him as before. She just wanted to see him anxious, helpless, and unable to express his pain.
Although everyone didn't know why the old man did this, they all wisely chose to keep quiet and not ask. They also felt that since the marriage had already been decided, there was no way the old man could come up with any more tricks.
After returning to Yayuan, Xiao Jingkang and his wife washed up, changed into casual clothes, and wanted to take a nap, but after lying down, they found that they could not fall asleep.
Xiao Jingkang was just beginning to fall asleep when he was awakened by his wife. He saw that his wife, who was lying down peacefully, suddenly sat up and kept muttering to herself, "It's bad" "It's bad".
"What's wrong with you?" Xiao Jingkang thought his wife was having a nightmare, so he gently took her in his arms and patted her back.
"It's still a little over a year before Ping'an comes of age, but she's still embroidering wedding dresses for others. What about hers? I'm going to the villa to ask her if I can hand over the work she's doing to an embroiderer so she can embroider her own wedding dress."
Xiao Jingkang listened quietly to his wife's ramblings in his arms, not interrupting. The Ministry of Rites would be fully responsible for the wedding of the Crown Prince of Jing's mansion, and the Imperial Household Department would prepare all necessary items, including wedding attire for the Crown Prince and his wife.
As the wife of an official, she should be more familiar with these things than herself, but once her daughter was involved, she panicked and forgot all the royal rules.
"Tomorrow I will go to the villa to ask Ping'an who the wedding dress was embroidered for." Tong Mingyu muttered again.
Xiao Jingkang thought to himself, go ahead, just take it as a way to relax. Besides, he was also very curious about who his daughter was embroidering the wedding dress for.
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