Chapter 90: Imperial Decree for Marriage

  Thank you sss Xiaoxuehua for rewarding zongzi, muah...

  This unease made Qingjin eager to see her cousin Junmu Xiang, to calm down the somewhat uneasy mood.

  Thinking of what Yuanyang had just said, the emperor was hosting a banquet for his officials in another grand hall. As the son of the Jun family, Tabo would definitely attend the banquet as well. With this thought, she made a hand gesture to Yuanyang behind her. Yuanyang saw her mistress's gesture and leaned down, putting her ear next to Qingjin's mouth. Qingjin turned sideways and whispered a few sentences into Yuanyang's ear. After hearing Qingjin's words, Yuanyang nodded in agreement and quietly slipped out of the grand hall.

  However, Qingjin still didn't see Junmu Xi that day.

  Soon after the Empress Dowager's birthday, Emperor Ming formally issued an edict to confer titles on all his sons. The second son was conferred as Prince An, third son Long Han yuan as Prince Jing, fourth son as Prince Yue, fifth son as Prince Shou, sixth son Long Shu yuan as Prince Ning, seventh son as Prince Rui, and even the youngest eighth son was conferred as Prince Fu. Then came the lively princes - no, it should be said that the princes moved into their new residences, each occupying a separate mansion.

  In the capital city, due to the numerous princes' opening of their separate residences, the movement among the nobles became even more frequent, and banquets were held one after another.

  Anji Houfu, Chaoyaxuan, early in the morning, Shen Shi woke up from her sleep, dazed and unsure what dream she had last night. It seemed like a good dream, but when she opened her eyes, she couldn't remember what happened in the dream. Listening to the crisp bird chirping outside, she asked Wang Nian'er beside her: "Wang Nian'er, why is it so noisy outside today?"

  Upon hearing Madam Shen's words, Wang Ayi walked to the window and looked at the birds chirping on the branches, saying: "Come to think of it, these birds have been calling out since early morning. Would you like to sleep a bit more, Old Mistress?"

  Shen heard Wang's words and sat up, "I won't sleep, I won't sleep. When people get old, they can't sleep."

  Wang's wife heard Shen's words, came forward and helped Shen up from the couch, then said: "You're not old at all! The girls haven't gotten married yet, the young masters haven't taken a wife, how can you say you're old?"

  "Look at you, able to talk, and in the blink of an eye your grandsons and granddaughters have grown up so big. As for me, I should be old by now, but I'm still not old." Shen said with some emotion.

  Wang's aunt heard Shen's words and didn't say a word, helping Shen to wash and dress while smiling slightly at the corner of her mouth. After dressing Shen in her clothes, she also combed Shen's hair in front of the copper mirror.

  Seeing Wang's neatly combed hair, Shen Shi carefully examined herself in the mirror. After a while, she opened her mouth with satisfaction: "It's still your hairstyle that I'm satisfied with."

  "That's Old Madam, you're praising me, an old servant. I've served Old Madam for so many years now, if I didn't do these things well, I should be ashamed to go home and retire." Hearing Shen Shi's words, Wang Nian'er humbly smiled, her eyes gleaming with delight.

  "By the way, what's with the birds outside?" Shen asked, turning her head around.

  "The old slave just saw it. It's a magpie, people say that magpies are auspicious and bring good news. Maybe today we'll have an honored guest at the Anji Marquis' residence or something wonderful will happen!"

  "You're just good at talking, what kind of noble guest and happy event could there be!" Shen said this when she thought about the previous visits of the Third Prince and Sixth Prince, what kind of noble guest could be bigger than a prince? Then thinking about the happy event, thinking about the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, the Empress Dowager's fondness for her granddaughter Qingyao.

  Recently heard that the emperor granted titles to all the princes, although previously thought that the emperor might have arranged a marriage for his granddaughter, now that the princes have been granted titles, don't know about the granddaughter's arranged marriage...

  At this moment, Chū Liǔ rushed in from outside and said to the Shen family in the house: "Old lady, there is an imperial edict. The eunuch from the palace has come to deliver the imperial edict..."

  Shen heard Chuyue's words and turned her head to exchange a glance with Wang Ayi.

  "Old Madam, the Bodhisattva blesses us, what a wonderful thing!"

  Shen heard Wang's words and was overjoyed, stood up, and said to Wang and Chuyue: "Let's go, you two follow me to receive the imperial edict."

  "Ah." Wang's servant heard Shen Shi's words and immediately walked to Shen Shi's side. Chu Liu also came over from the other side, and the two of them helped Shen Shi adjust her clothes before supporting her as she hurried towards the main hall of Anji Hou Fu.

  In the main hall of Anji Houfu, all the masters of Anji Houfu gathered together. After Shen's arrival, under her leadership, everyone knelt down to listen to the imperial edict.

  "...By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: It has been heard that the daughter of Guo Huaiyi, the Marquis of Anji, Guo Qingyao, is warm and elegant, refined and intelligent, with a noble demeanor. The Empress Dowager and I are delighted to hear this. ...Now that the sixth imperial son, Prince Ning, has come of age, it is time for him to marry. A virtuous maiden should be chosen as his consort. Guo Huaiyi's daughter, Guo Qingyao, who is waiting in her boudoir, is a perfect match for Prince Ning, a heavenly pairing. Therefore, Guo Qingyao is hereby betrothed to Prince Ning as his princess..."

  After hearing the imperial edict, everyone in the Anji Marquis's residence, including Qingjin, knelt down to thank the emperor's grace. The eunuch handed over the imperial edict to Gu Qingyao with a smile, Qingyao lowered her head and covered up the joy in her eyes, kowtowing to the eunuch holding the imperial edict: "Your subject's daughter thanks the emperor's grace!" Then she took the imperial edict from the eunuch.

  At the same time, she slipped a silver note to the imperial envoy, who quietly put the silver note into his sleeve and smiled warmly at Qingyao: "Congratulations to our Ning Wangfei!"

  When she heard the old man call her Ning Wangfei, Qingyao's eyes were calm and she politely opened her mouth: "Thank you, sir. You must be an old man in the palace, right? I'll have to rely on your care in the future, and if there's anything lacking, I hope you can remind me in time." After finishing speaking, she also handed over a ingot of silver to the old man, who accepted it and smiled even more kindly at Qingyao, responding: "Certainly, certainly!"

  Qing Yao smiled back at the emperor, just as she was about to stand up. Suddenly, the emperor's face turned stern and he pulled out another imperial edict from his sleeve, addressing the kneeling crowd of Anji Hou Fu: "Ah, yes! There is also an imperial edict for your esteemed household. I almost forgot, fortunately I remembered in time."

  Upon hearing the eunuch's words, the people kneeling below, who were about to rise, knelt down again. They exchanged puzzled glances with each other, their eyes revealing the same confusion - how could there be another imperial decree?

  "...By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: It has been heard that the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Anji, Gu Qingjin, is virtuous and elegant, intelligent and talented, with great moral character... She is hereby betrothed to the Third Imperial Prince, Jing Wang, as his secondary consort, and granted the title of Zhen..."

  Qing Jin, who had been kneeling with her head down, was shocked to hear this and looked up at the eunuch reading the imperial edict. Consort? Bestowed the title of Chastity? What's going on? She and her cousin Junmu Xue were already engaged, so the imperial marriage edict should have been about their marriage, how could it be...

  The people in Anji Houfu, including Shen's family, were also shocked when they heard the imperial edict. "Wait..." A clear and crisp female voice spoke up.

  The Duke raised his head from reading the imperial edict, furrowed his brow and looked at the person who spoke out, interrupting the reading of the imperial edict. This was a crime of disrespect. What did the Anji Marquis Manor want to do?

  The gaze searched for the person who spoke out, and it was actually Ning Wangfei, who had just been betrothed to Ning Wang. The furrowed eyebrows of the old man relaxed, and he asked Qingyao, who had spoken out: "Does Ning Wangfei have any questions?"

  "Your Majesty, is this imperial edict..."

  "Grandma Shen looked up and interrupted Qingyao: "Yao'er..." Qingyao closed her mouth as soon as she heard Grandma Shen speak, and then Grandma Shen spoke to Grandpa: "Grandpa, my granddaughter Qingyu and..."

  "Madam Gu, this imperial edict was personally handed over by eunuch Zhang from the Emperor's side to our humble household. If Madam Gu and the esteemed members of your household have any doubts, please wait until I finish reading out the imperial decree. After all, I am just a messenger and cannot answer any questions even if you do have doubts. Please don't make things difficult for me, Madam Gu..."

  Shen's family fell silent after hearing the eunuch's words.

  Gu Huai returned to his senses from the shock, and immediately responded to Shen's words: "Yes, mother, let's receive the imperial edict first..." The excitement in his eyes could not be concealed. He had originally thought that he would have to find a way to send the concubine-born daughter into the harem of the crown prince, but unexpectedly, the emperor actually granted an engagement between Ji'er and the third prince, with the title of side consort, equivalent to a princess consort in the history of Da Jing.

  Shen heard his eldest son's words and looked at his shocked granddaughter Qingjin, lowering his head.

  Seeing no one else speaking up, Duke immediately took out the imperial edict to continue. At this time, Qing Jin finally came back to her senses, "Wait..."

  "Does the Second Young Mistress have anything else to say?" The old man's words carried a hint of annoyance, having been interrupted repeatedly while proclaiming the edict. If it weren't for the fact that the Anji Hou Mansion had just produced an imperial consort, he might have immediately ordered the person who interrupted him to be taken away on charges of disrespect and openly defying the imperial decree.

  "Your Majesty, I'm afraid my daughter Gu Qingyu cannot accept your edict... My daughter is already..."

  "Gu Qingjin!" Shen's voice was full of majesty.

  Hearing Grandma Shen's voice, Qingjin turned her head and looked at Grandma Shen, calling out: "Grandma..."

  The Shen family's eyes were filled with solemnity as they looked over, and she had also been puzzled by this imperial edict, wondering how the emperor could have issued such an order. However, since the emperor dared to issue it openly and fairly, there must be some unexpected event in the marriage between Qingjin and the eldest son-in-law's nephew, and this reason was enough for the emperor to issue this edict openly. At this time, she also had many doubts in her heart, but since the emperor had issued the order, even if there were any reasons that the emperor did not tell them, the Anji Hou Mansion could not openly defy the imperial decree.

  Shen's gaze looked at Qingjin, sweeping over the crowd in the hall, and finally looked at Qingjin with a deep meaning. She was telling her granddaughter to bear it for now, at least to receive the imperial edict first. The Anji Houfu could not afford to be known for openly defying the emperor's orders. After receiving the edict, Grandmother would accompany you to the palace to see the Emperor and ask him why.