Shang Luoshu made no attempt to hide the fact that he had just overheard the conversation between Shang Mozheng and the Lu family. However, what was even less concealed was yet to come.
In front of everyone, Chen Guang walked respectfully behind his master, holding a magnificent brocade box in his hands.
"I didn't want to take this out so early," the man said with an apologetic smile to the two elders of the Lu family. His expression gradually became solemn, and then he took out a roll of bright yellow silk from the box.
"Prime Minister Lu Wenhan of the Right, receive the imperial edict!"
Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then they quickly reacted and knelt on the ground in unison. Even Shang Mozheng, who held great power in the court, had to bow his head in the face of the imperial edict at this moment.
"It has come to my ears that Lu Yinxi, the fourth daughter of Prime Minister Lu of the Right, is gentle and charming, elegant and composed. Her heroic demeanor makes her a paragon of the contemporary young ladies. I am greatly pleased to hear of this. Now, Prince Jing Shang Luoshu has reached the age of marriage and should choose a virtuous woman as his wife. To fulfill the beauty of this match, I hereby betroth her to Prince Jing as his princess and choose a auspicious day for the wedding!"
"Prime Minister Lu, receive the imperial edict!"
Lu Wenhan took the imperial edict from Shang Luoshu's hand in a daze. Various thoughts flashed through his mind. What did the emperor mean? Why did he suddenly betroth Xi'er in marriage?
Madam Lu was no better. She was in a daze. If it weren't for Lu Yinxi supporting her, she might have fainted.
Personally, she didn't want her daughter to marry into the royal family. That's why she had probed before. But if her daughter really liked someone, Madam Lu wouldn't go against her wishes.
However, now, whether she liked it or not, Xi'er's future had been determined by an imperial edict of marriage, and there was no turning back.
On the other side of the room, the hostility between Shang Luoshu and Shang Mozheng was almost on the verge of breaking out.
"Luoshu really acts quickly!"
The Regent Prince almost gritted his teeth as he said this. The kind smile he had previously feigned had long disappeared from his face.
All along, he had never taken that young emperor seriously. But today, because of his imperial edict, it was absolutely impossible for him to recognize Lu Yinxi as his adopted daughter.
According to seniority, if the young girl became the child of the Regent Prince, she and Shang Luoshu would be regarded as cousins. It would go against the ethics and moral principles for cousins to marry, and it would also be laughed at by the world!
"Thank you, uncle, for your praise!"
The man accepted his words without any hesitation. The smile on his face made Shang Mozheng want to smash it!
"Return to the mansion!"
Leaving these two words behind, the Regent Prince flicked his sleeve and left. Seeing this, the people behind him all sighed in unison. The invisible pressure that had previously lingered in the air finally dissipated.
But Madam Lu's expression was still solemn. She scrutinized Shang Luoshu over and over again, trying to find something wrong with him.
But whether it was his appearance or his status, he was a perfect match. If someone else had such a good son - in - law, they would probably be happy even in their dreams.
In the end, it all depended on her Xi'er.
If she didn't like him, even if she had to risk her life, she would throw out this imperial edict of marriage!
As Madam Lu was thinking this, Shang Luoshu bent down at some point and bowed to Prime Minister Lu. Lu Wenhan was so shocked that he almost knelt down.
"Your Highness, this is absolutely not allowed!"
If a member of the royal family bowed to a courtier and was seen by the officials of the Censorate, there would surely be a great deal of criticism and condemnation!
"Prime Minister Lu, don't be alarmed. This bow doesn't represent the Prince Jing of the royal family, but just Shang Luoshu himself."
Saying this, he偷偷 glanced at the young girl behind Lu Wenhan and gave a smile.
"Moreover, I also have a few words to say to the fourth young lady alone. I hope Prime Minister Lu will grant me permission."
Hearing this, Lu Wenhan subconsciously looked at his wife. He saw that her face still didn't look good, but it was better than before.
"Xi'er, do you want to go?"
She held her daughter's hand and asked very seriously.
This made Lu Yinxi have an illusion that as long as she showed that she was unwilling, her mother would dare to drive Shang Luoshu out of the mansion.
Taking a light breath, the young girl didn't dare to be perfunctory and said seriously, "Daughter wants to go."
The servants around were all dismissed. Everyone consciously retreated to another room, leaving the space for the two of them.
"Mother, why do you have such an expression? It's a happy event that little sister has been betrothed in marriage. You should be happy."
Putting a sour plum into her mouth, Lu Yinqian said with satisfaction.
"Do you really think this is a good marriage?"
Seeing her second daughter being so heartless, Madam Lu couldn't help but sigh. "Is marrying into the royal family really a good marriage?"
"Isn't it good? Prince Jing likes Xi'er, and Xi'er also has feelings for Prince Jing. What's wrong with that?"
Putting another sour plum into her mouth, the voice of the princess of the heir apparent became a bit muffled. But Madam Lu heard it very clearly and even caught the key point.
"Prince Jing likes Xi'er? Where did you hear that?"
In Madam Lu's impression, her daughter had very few contacts with Shang Luoshu. One time was when they encountered robbers at Anguo Temple, and the other was during the spring outing on the Summer Solstice.
During these two meetings, Lu Yinxi's situation was almost not very good. So Madam Lu didn't dare to tell her second daughter and even told the Heir Apparent Xu not to let her know.
So the question was, how did Qianqian know that Prince Jing liked Xi'er?
Under her mother's pressing gaze, Lu Yinqian swallowed nervously. Finally, she had to tell the whole story about how Shang Luoshu had sent her little sister to her mansion after she had fallen into the water last time.
"You dared to hide such a big thing from me!"
Before her daughter could finish speaking, Madam Lu was already furious and almost couldn't help but strike.
Seeing this, Lu Yinqian quickly hugged the Heir Apparent Xu's waist and shouted, "Husband, save me!" On the other side, Prime Minister Lu heard the commotion and quickly came over to stop his wife.
The room suddenly became a bit chaotic, making the two unmarried girls, Feng Wan and Xu Siyan, stare in astonishment.
In contrast to the excitement here, it was extremely quiet on Shang Luoshu's side.
The two of them remained silent tacitly, as if they were both waiting for the other to speak.
"I'm sorry."
Finally, Shang Luoshu couldn't hold back first.
"The imperial edict of marriage was originally intended to surprise you, but I didn't expect to run into my uncle."
This imperial edict of marriage was specifically requested by Shang Luoshu from the palace.
According to his plan, he would first express his feelings to the young girl, then go to her family to propose marriage, and then take out this imperial edict to announce to the world that Lu Yinxi would be his woman from then on.
He hoped that the girl he liked would marry him willingly, rather than being forced by external constraints.
But now, the imperial edict, which should have been the last step, had been directly moved to the first step, and even his feelings had changed in meaning.
"And then?"
After listening to the explanation, Lu Yinxi's cheeks were already blushing like blood, but she still pretended to be calm.
"And then, what?"
This time it was Shang Luoshu's turn to be confused. What else did Xi'er want? Did she mean for him to bring the betrothal gifts right away?
"Are you a fool?!"
Stamping her foot hard, Lu Yinxi was almost angry with the man in front of her, but looking at her expression, she didn't seem really angry.
Glaring at the man fiercely again, she then continued, "How can you be so sure that I will marry you?"