The matter of Shi Aohan's marriage alliance caused not the slightest ripple in the capital. Lu Wanning stayed in the palace until the marriage alliance team left the capital.
Lu Hongxi was in great grief. He volunteered to escort the princess out of the Great Zhou but was rejected by the emperor. Lu Hongxi saw the team off all the way out of the capital and almost fainted several times.
He cried heart - rendingly outside the carriage, while there was no sign of movement inside.
Lu Hongxi felt that although his daughter had spoken calmly on the surface, she must have hated him deeply, hated this father who had personally sent her away for the marriage alliance.
He knelt on the ground, crying uncontrollably, which made the common people sigh with emotion.
Wei, with her big belly, followed the team. When Lu Hongxi walked, she walked too. Some familiar ladies stepped forward to persuade her, but Wei shook her head, saying that her mother - in - law was seriously ill in bed and she couldn't be unfilial.
Finally, the eldest daughter - in - law of the Wei family couldn't bear it and dragged her into the carriage by force.
However, when Lu Wanning appeared in front of everyone at the Mid - Autumn palace banquet a few days later, everyone was stunned.
Wasn't Princess Zhaoyang supposed to go for the marriage alliance?
Among the surprised people, Lu Hongxi was the most shocked. He staggered forward regardless of the impropriety in front of the palace hall. He stopped two steps away from Lu Wanning, tears streaming down his face.
"I must be confused. I even feel that the girl in front of me is my daughter..."
Such a heartfelt remark even made the emperor sigh.
Lu Wanning stepped forward and hugged Lu Hongxi's arm. "Father, it's Ning'er."
Lu Hongxi's eyes were red, and his hands trembled slightly. He gently touched Lu Wanning's hair. "Ning'er?"
The emperor laughed heartily. "Lord Lu, this is your daughter. It's definitely Princess Zhaoyang!"
Lu Hongxi asked in a daze. "But, didn't Ning'er... go for the marriage alliance?"
The Minister of Rites then stood up and said. "My lord, you've made a mistake. Zhaobi insists on a legitimate princess. Since Princess Zhaoyang is not the emperor's biological daughter, how could she go for the marriage alliance?"
Hearing this, Lu Hongxi quickly turned his head and saw Princess Qingnian sitting safely in her seat. Only then did he heave a sigh of relief.
The emperor was not reserved either. After drinking a large bowl of fruit wine, he said. "This Zhaobi threatens us everywhere. Do they think I really have no way to deal with them? Do I have to send my own biological daughter there?"
The Minister of Rites was quite helpless to see the emperor go back on his word in public, but he quickly explained. "Your Majesty, since it's to form a good relationship between two families, the Great Zhou is not such a domineering and unreasonable country. Of course, a legitimate princess was sent there. My lord, Princess Junying is the emperor's legitimate daughter. Since she was finally found after being separated for many years, the emperor loves her even more than Princess Qingnian. But Princess Junying is going there to be the Crown Princess of Zhaobi. Please, Your Majesty, don't miss her too much."
Lu Wanning had never seen such a person who could distort the truth, but the emperor was very happy and rewarded him with ten bolts of brocade.
The queen was still in a daze. She prayed to Buddha every day and didn't dare to interfere in the affairs of the palace. Recently, the Eighth Prince was unwell, and Concubine Qi had been taking care of him. All the affairs of the palace were handled by Concubine Jing. The queen only knew that the emperor had brought Shi Aohan to the Western Three Palaces, granted her the title of princess, and then let her recuperate. She didn't know what had happened later.
Seeing Lu Wanning at this moment, her surprise was no less than Lu Hongxi's.
She immediately turned to look at her son, Sheng Chenyi. Seeing that her son frowned and said nothing, she felt a little relieved. Her son must have gotten the news in advance. Although she didn't know if he had made any countermeasures, at least he wouldn't be caught off guard.
The queen tried hard to even out her breath and looked towards the seat of the Prince of Zhennan's Mansion. She only saw Wei, with her big belly, feeding the young master milk tea. When they entered the palace hall today, the nanny had come to say that her elder sister was ill. She originally thought that her elder sister was sad about Lu Wanning's marriage alliance.
Now she knew that the Lu family was really good at acting, especially Lu Hongxi. He looked as if he had just gotten the news. She didn't believe that others would really be willing to send their own daughters away. Lu Hongxi loved Lu Wanning so much. How could it be possible? It turned out that he had gotten the news long ago.
Lu Hongxi held his daughter's hand and didn't want to let go. The emperor didn't blame him and told Lu Wanning that she didn't need to attend and could just return to the Lu family's seat.
Lu Wanning's eyes curved. She apologized to Lu Hongxi. "The situation was urgent. I only knew when I was about to leave that it wasn't me who was going. The emperor took pity on my weak body and let me stay in the palace for a few more days."
Lu Hongxi didn't say much, but he only half - believed his daughter's words. It wasn't for other reasons. His wife had reported being ill these days. He hadn't thought much about it before, but now that he thought about it, his wife couldn't hide her feelings. Reporting illness when there was none clearly meant that she had gotten the news in advance.
When did his daughter know? Or had his daughter made an agreement with the emperor long ago?
Lu Hongxi dismissed this thought. His daughter wouldn't only tell his wife and not him. His wife's anxiety these days didn't seem to be fake. Moreover, if his wife knew that her daughter was safe and didn't need to go for the marriage alliance, she would have told him immediately.
Perhaps his daughter had noticed something since Shi Aohan was granted the title of princess.
Having lost and then regained his daughter, Lu Hongxi didn't think about what had happened before anymore.
The Mid - Autumn Festival was originally a time for family reunion, but now there were only a few people left in the Lu family. It was rather desolate. After the palace banquet, it was the family banquet. Since there were few people, there was no such formality. So the whole family ate at the same table.
Lu Hongxi asked Lu Cheng to sit beside him and sighed. "I never noticed when I was in the army before. Only after I came back did I find that there are only a few people in the family."
The princess consort scolded him. "When you weren't around before, it was just us four mother and children. Even earlier, before Chengcheng was born, there were only three of us. If we go even further back, when Zhaozhao hadn't married in yet, I only had Ning'er."
Lu Hongxi knew that she was blaming him for what he had said about sending Ning'er away before. He also felt guilty, so he picked the imperial dishes from his plate and put them into his wife's bowl.
Lu Cheng looked up. "Grandma, when my younger sister is born, there will be one more person to accompany you."
Lu Hongxi disagreed. "Hey, how do you know it's a younger sister and not a younger brother? If it's a younger brother, he can defend the country like your father and uncle. Isn't that good?"
Lu Cheng said naively. "It's good, but don't I already have a younger brother? We can be just like father and uncle. If it's a younger sister in mother's belly, she can accompany grandma, mother, and aunt."
Hearing this, Wei felt extremely guilty. These were the words she had said. She didn't expect her son to remember them. Although she was touched, she was also ashamed. As a daughter - in - law of the Lu family, how could she hide her selfishness?
The princess consort wasn't as coy as Wei. She immediately left her seat and hugged Lu Cheng. "Oh, you're really grandma's good boy. You're so considerate. Grandma also hopes that the baby in your mother's belly is a girl."
Lu Hongxi was stunned for a moment, then laughed heartily. "Whether it's a grandson or a granddaughter in my Lu family, I'm happy, very happy."
Inside and outside the palace, it was all full of joy, except for the man sitting on the main seat in the Prince Chen's Mansion.
Sheng Chenyi's eyes were gloomy. He gritted his teeth and glared at his staff. "Such a major event, and you guys failed to find out in advance? Didn't any of you know that the emperor had used the strategy of luring the tiger away from the mountain to protect Lu Wanning?"