Chapter 321 Marriage Grant
Yue Jin hurriedly agreed, then ordered the people below to boil the water, while she went to half-open the window.
Mrs. Zhuo grabbed Mrs. Zeng's hand and acted coquettishly, "My godmother should be nice to me. If I don't let you wipe me, I will stink."
"You, you are still like a person who has never had confinement. Why can't you stay?" Mrs. Zeng looked helpless to her.
At this time, Xia Zihan received a piece of news from the government office.
Anyone who is a fifth-rank minister or above in the capital, from a noble family, or has a royal family, if there is a girl who is over 12 years old but under 17 years old and has not yet been engaged, she must report her name and submit a self-portrait. The emperor wants to choose concubines for the four oldest princes.
As soon as the people from the government office left, Chu Fei rushed in eagerly and said anxiously, "Master, what are you going to do? Do you really want to sign up?"
"How about we say that the master is engaged?" Si Cao said whimsically.
"Where is the marriage certificate? Anyone who has been engaged will have a marriage certificate. When the time comes, what will happen when people from the government come to see the marriage certificate? If there is no marriage certificate, wouldn't the master be deceiving the emperor?"
The Chu family and Xia family cannot bear such a big crime.
"How about asking the second aunt to write a marriage letter to the master." Si Cao came up with another idea.
Nuan Yu frowned and said, "You have all forgotten that the signature said that the county owner cannot be engaged before the age of nineteen. If the second aunt's grandma really wrote the marriage letter, then the county owner would be considered engaged. ”
"Oh, that's right." Chu Fei slapped his thigh excitedly, and then said excitedly, "Then just say that the master can't get engaged."
The signature said that once the master gets engaged, there will be a bloody disaster. I believe everyone will be afraid, right?
Xia Zihan glanced at her and laughed at her naivety, "Some people, for their own benefit, don't care about your life or death?"
If she was really afraid of the signature, she wouldn't send someone from the government to tell her.
Chu Fei snorted, "I don't believe it. If the outside world hears that whoever is engaged to the master will suffer a bloody disaster, how dare they risk their lives?"
No matter what plan they came up with, Xia Zihan still had to follow the imperial court's order, report her name, and hand over a self-portrait of herself.
This self-portrait was drawn by her own hands.
There are three similarities between the person in the painting and her, and the remaining seven points are because she deliberately disfigured her face, and her eyes also exuded a dull look, making her look like a fool.
What a great beauty, but she was painted with an ordinary appearance, and with her dull look, she was just like a stupid goose.
When Chu Fei saw this painting, he couldn't stop being happy, "Master, if I hand over this portrait of you, then the Emperor can still choose you, it means that the Emperor has not opened his eyes."
"The emperor has eyes, maybe some are blind."
Xia Zihan rolled up the portrait and handed it over when the government officials came to collect it.
In fact, Xia Zihan was not very worried about the prince's selection of a concubine because of the prince's previous promise. She believed that since the prince could ensure that she would be fine, he would definitely do it.
This time, she could still remain calm as if nothing had happened. She was betting on the friendship between the Crown Prince and Chu Jingqi, as well as the Crown Prince's character.
However, when five days later, the father-in-law came to announce that the queen had chosen her as the eldest princess, Xia Zihan was completely stunned.
"Lord Chuyu County, why don't you thank me quickly?"
The decree came so suddenly that Xia Zihan had not yet finished digesting it, and was kneeling in a daze.
After the father-in-law announced his decree, he kindly reminded her in a low voice.
"My daughter accepted the order and thanked the Emperor for long live him."
After Xia Zihan stupidly accepted the imperial edict, the father-in-law said again, "County Master Chuyu, the queen has announced that you will come to the palace. Please follow me quickly."
Xia Zihan felt a chill in her heart and her whole body was cold. She asked in a low voice, "Father-in-law, can you allow me to go in and change clothes?"
"Okay, but hurry up, please, the queen is still waiting in the palace."
"Thank you, father-in-law."
Xia Zihan walked out of the hall holding the heavy imperial edict.
Mrs. Zeng hurriedly found an excuse and followed her out. In the hall, only Manager Lu was left to entertain a few young father-in-laws.
After returning to the room, Xia Zihan was full of grievances and anger, but she still forced herself to calm down.
Zeng said, "Yu Niang, my grandma will go with you to see the empress later. I hope the empress will see that your grandpa has helped her and the eldest prince and persuade the emperor to change the marriage."
After Mr. Chu Ge passed away, Mrs. Chu secretly gave all the connections and resources he had left to the eldest prince.
The fact that the queen and the eldest prince were able to stay safe and sound in the harem in recent years was all thanks to Mr. Chu Ge. It was Mr. Chu Ge's influence in the court that kept the eldest prince in the court. This means that the queen and the eldest prince owe the Chu family a huge favor.
Now, Xia Zihan was faced with the matter of granting a marriage to the eldest prince. Mrs. Chu wanted to go to the palace in person to beg the queen, hoping that she would let Xia Zihan go for the sake of this favor from the Chu family.
In fact, Madam Chu was glad that Yu Niang was betrothed to the eldest prince instead of the second and third princes. Otherwise, even if she asked Concubine Lu, Concubine Lu would not let Yu Niang go. .
After Yu Niang got married, she still had to be tortured to death by that evil concubine Lu.
After Zeng went out, Xia Zihan did not change her clothes, but called out, "Flower Snake."
The figure of the flower snake flashed in from the window.
Xia Zihan said with a cold face, "What's going on? How can there be a marriage?"
"Master, don't be anxious first." Hua She said, "The Crown Prince just sent someone to come. The situation was urgent at that time. This is also an impossible solution."
"After your portrait was sent to the palace, the emperor, queen, Concubine Lu, and several princes have all seen it."
"Neither the second prince nor the third prince has taken a fancy to you, but this morning, Concubine Lu went to see the emperor specifically, mentioned your name, and wanted to appoint you to the third prince as his concubine."
"The emperor thought of the good old Chu Ge and didn't want to agree, but he couldn't find an excuse for a while. Fortunately, a young father-in-law beside the emperor went to inform the prince, who then went to beg the queen to come forward."
"After the queen arrived, Concubine Lu was begging the emperor for a decree to grant her marriage. The queen said that Mr. Chu Ge had been honest and upright all his life. He had worked hard for the country and the people. He could not die. He had to marry into the Ao family as the only one of his own blood. The concubine was a maid, so the queen begged the emperor on behalf of the prince to appoint the county lord as his concubine. ”
One is the main concubine, one is the side concubine, one is the master, and the other is a concubine with a slightly higher status than the maid. If the emperor still has a conscience for the dead Mr. Chu Ge, he will naturally favor the position of the main concubine.
No, the emperor decreed a marriage between the eldest prince and Xia Zihan.
And this time, it was also the first time that the queen openly provoked Concubine Lu in front of the emperor and Concubine Lu.
At that time, Concubine Lu's face turned green with anger when she saw that the emperor was partial to the queen.
Hua She also gloated, "She deserves it. She wanted to take advantage of the county lord and was not willing to give her son a position as a concubine for you, so the queen took advantage of it."
"After the prince found out, he was worried that you would be anxious, so he sent someone to tell his subordinates that he would find a way to persuade the emperor to change his will."
At that time, Xia Zihan was receiving the order in the hall, and the people sent by the prince met the snake and fox in the backyard.
"Did the prince say what he would do?" Xia Zihan asked curiously.
Hua Snake chuckled, "This is not easy. As evidenced by the signature from Huguo Temple, the county owner cannot get engaged before the age of nineteen, otherwise there will be a bloody disaster. Half of the people in the capital know this. , The emperor doesn’t know it now. When the emperor finds out, he will cancel the marriage without the prince having to ask.”
Although the king's decree cannot be changed, it is related to the life and death of the prince. Even if the emperor does not want to change it, everyone will submit a memorial to the emperor to change it.
Of course, this also requires the crown prince’s push behind the scenes.
Hua She also told Xia Zihan another thing, "Today, the emperor not only granted marriage to the crown prince, but also to the second and third princes, and not only to the principal concubine, but also to the side concubine. However, Lu The candidate in the imperial concubine’s mind changed over and over again under the Queen’s sharp tongue.”
Then he told Xia Zihan, "We are not allowed to enter the palace. Master, please be more careful when entering. Concubine Lu is very angry now. If she knows that you have entered the palace, I am afraid she will find opportunities to embarrass you."
"Well, I'll be careful."
She is the person who was announced to the palace by the queen, and is currently the queen's daughter-in-law-to-be. If Concubine Lu wants to embarrass her, she might have to pass the queen's test first, right?
Xia Zihan cursed secretly.
"Okay, I'm going to change clothes. You can go out." She paused and then told Hua She, "Oh, by the way, tell Yue Jin what happened. Don't let your aunt get anxious after knowing about the marriage."
"I understand, then I will go find Miss Yue Jin now."
"Well, go quickly."
After the flower snake went out, Xia Zihan quickly changed into a dress, added two red gold hairpins inlaid with jade on her head, and put on a pair of shoes inlaid with large southern beads on her feet.
After arriving at the lobby, it was already an hour later.
The young father-in-laws all accepted the thick red envelope from Mr. Lu, but they looked impatient without waiting. When they saw her coming, they just got up quickly, said goodbye to Mr. Lu of the Zeng family, and met Xia Zihan They left Chu's house together.
The queen sent a carriage over, Xia Zihan and two maids got in, and several young father-in-laws got into another carriage, and the motorcade headed for the palace in a mighty manner.
Xia Zihan entered the palace for the first time in her two lifetimes. She would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. When she entered the palace gate, she was led by her little father-in-law through one palace gate after another, and passed one palace after another. After almost an hour, the sweat on my back was breaking out.
Finally, when they arrived outside a gorgeous palace, the young father-in-law bent down and said, "My Lord, please stay while I go in first to report."
(End of chapter)