"If Miss Four has a way, please help me invite His Majesty here. Shen Yue is grateful for Miss Four's help." Li Shenyue got up, walked around the small table, came in front of Murong Jia, and kowtowed to express her gratitude.
Murong Jia's heart was pounding with nervousness. She quickly helped Li Shenyue up and said, "Sister-in-law, you're too polite. Just be good to my brother in the future."
After that, Murong Jia really went to the palace.
Li Shenyue lay on the hibiscus couch with her eyes closed, waiting quietly.
The first step of the plan had been successfully completed. There were still the last two steps left: for the emperor to come and for him to agree to bestow the marriage.
Since success was within reach, and these two steps were the most likely to go wrong, her heart was in her throat at the moment. She was on high alert, with all kinds of possible scenarios running through her mind. She just couldn't calm down.
At this time, Chu Junyi's carriage happened to pass by the mansion of Princess Yuanyang. The hand on his knee tightened slightly. He was struggling with the idea of taking a last look at the princess mansion.
If he didn't look, he was afraid he would regret it. If he did, it would only add to his sorrow.
While he was hesitating, Murong Jia came out of the princess mansion and got into a carriage to go to the palace.
Chu Junyi lifted the curtain of his carriage. He only saw a carriage passing by. He thought it was someone else's carriage and didn't pay much attention. He put down the curtain and continued to lower his head in deep thought.
A moment later, the carriage arrived at the Murong Mansion. He didn't see Murong Jia, but he bumped into Murong Xiu arguing with the Duchess.
"Mother adopted you from the Second Master so that you can support the future of the Duke's Mansion, not for you to act willfully and drag the Duke's Mansion into trouble!
You've wasted all the painstaking efforts I've put into cultivating you over the years!"
"Mother!" Murong Xiu was extremely agitated but managed to restrain himself a bit.
Anger and restraint were like two conflicting forces on his noble face. His sword-shaped eyebrows were tightly knitted, and his expression was solemn.
He had already decided to give up, but unexpectedly, Chu Junyi had been betrothed to Princess Fourteen by the emperor, and the Western Jin Dynasty wanted to form an alliance through marriage.
So, no matter for what reason, he wanted to make one last attempt.
Coming back to his senses, Murong Xiu kowtowed three times heavily to the Duke and the Duchess. "Mother! If there's an afterlife, Zisheng will surely be a bull or a horse to repay your kindness of raising me."
Then, he got up and walked out.
As he turned around, he saw Chu Junyi coming in.
Chu Junyi was also looking at him. His eyebrows were tightly knitted in annoyance, but he reluctantly compromised.
It was for the best!
If Yuanyang married Murong Xiu, it would fulfill her wish and also resolve the current crisis.
Moreover, he could no longer protect her. She always needed someone else reliable to protect her.
Murong Xiu was that person.
It just made him feel a bit uncomfortable. To be honest, he was quite jealous.
"Go to the palace. I'll take you there!" Chu Junyi said to him, then turned around and walked out of the Duke's Mansion first. At this moment, the hand hidden in his sleeve was trembling slightly.
Murong Xiu was stunned for a moment. He didn't have time to think too much and jumped into the carriage.
"Zisheng!" The voice of the Duchess gradually faded away.
In the palace at this time, since Emperor Mingde had been reluctant to agree to send Li Shenyue to form an alliance through marriage, many ministers decided to go into the palace to pay their respects.
Suddenly, Murong Xiu barged in and said that he wanted to marry Princess Yuanyang, which stunned everyone!
But instead, he felt calm and relieved. The emotion that had been suppressed for a long time finally saw the light of day.
"Princess Yuanyang went to the south of the Yangtze River for me."
"My birth mother's surname is Bai. She was from the Bai family, a wealthy merchant family in the south of the Yangtze River. In the case of the Fu family in the south of the Yangtze River this time, there was collusion between officials and businessmen, and the Bai family was also involved.
I have a cousin, who is my only relative. She is innocent and was not involved in it. I wanted to bring her back to the capital. When the princess heard about it, she wanted to go on my behalf. That's why this happened.
The princess has nothing to do with the Fu family. I beg Your Majesty to make a clear judgment."
The ministers present gasped in surprise because what Murong Xiu said was equivalent to exposing the scandal of the Duke's Mansion.
Back then, the Second Master of the Duke's Mansion had a mistress outside and had a child with her.
For this reason, the Second Mistress and the mistress had a lot of conflicts. It was said that the family was in a complete mess.
Later, this child was adopted by the Duke and his wife. He was the current heir and the No. 1 young master of the Great Yan Dynasty.
Many people knew about this, but they were all afraid of the power of the Duke's Mansion or had a deep friendship with the Duke's Mansion, so they wouldn't mention it on their own initiative. But this time, it was their own family member who brought it up. So, the ministers who were watching the show naturally couldn't help but say a few words.
So, in the afternoon, the affairs of the Duke's Mansion spread like wildfire. The public opinion even overshadowed the matter of the princess's alliance through marriage.
The common people kept on gossiping, and there were one thing after another in the noble circle.
The Duchess was so angry that she whipped Murong Xiu with a rattan stick. If the Duke hadn't stopped her, she might have beaten him to death.
"Forget it! Sons will do as they please when they grow up. Zisheng rarely disobeys you. I'm sure he has thought this through this time. Just let him go.
Moreover, if you hadn't declined the matchmaker's offer from the Empress Dowager back then, Princess Yuanyang would have been a new bride in our family. It's all fate."
Hearing this, Murong Xiu, who was on the verge of death, raised his eyes in shock.
The Duchess's angry face showed a hint of guilt, but she still said, "A girl with a personality like Princess Yuanyang's, how can she be the mistress of our Duke's Mansion? How can she manage the household affairs? If she really marries into our family, I might even have to bow to her. Isn't this just like marrying a high and mighty ancestor?"
...
The sun was gradually setting, and the sunlight was getting weaker.
Li Shenyue stared blankly at the light shining through the window crack.
Just then, the door behind her opened.
She turned around and saw her long-awaited father walking in from outside. His face was sad and his expression was complex.
Li Shenyue's face lit up, and then she lowered her eyes slightly. Victory was within reach, and her heart was pounding.
To prevent her father from seeing through her and ruining the plan, she took a deep breath to calm herself down before getting up to salute Emperor Mingde.
Emperor Mingde stood still, with one hand behind his back. He lowered his eyes and looked at Li Shenyue's somewhat lonely and desolate figure. The anger that had been pent up for a long time turned into a long sigh.
"Do you know that your portrait has been circulating in the south of the Yangtze River?"
"I don't know."
"Do you know why I'm so angry? Because you've been completely tied down! You said you didn't go to the south of the Yangtze River, but how did they know what Princess Yuanyang looks like? How did they get the portrait?" So, there was no doubt that she had gone to the south of the Yangtze River and had a close relationship with the Fu family.
Li Shenyue's hands folded in front of her trembled slightly. Her heart was extremely heavy.
She couldn't refute, and she had expected this.
The Fu family was desperately trying to get close to her. Even before she arrived, they had managed to get involved with her. Not to mention when she was actually there. They would never let her go easily.
She knew the consequences, so no matter how much her father scolded her, she would accept it.
Emperor Mingde was so angry that his chest heaved up and down. Even though he had hit her hard that night and didn't even give her a chance to explain, now that he thought about it, he felt that the blow was justified.
Emperor Mingde closed his eyes and stared at his daughter, who was still in a squatting position, in disappointment. "Once the painting scroll was spread, in the face of the questions from the ministers, I couldn't say a word. Even if you went to suppress the bandits and you had merits. Then let me ask you, as a princess, why do you have to meddle in these matters?
Don't you know that what you've done is equivalent to interfering in politics?
Moreover, once you're involved with the Fu family, if the Fu family does something immoral in the future, people will blame you first.
How can you explain it? Can you explain it to everyone you meet?"