novelraw Chapter 408
Chapter 408
The mother and son turned around, only to see Feng Ying walking over.
Yan Chenghao was overjoyed: "Cousin-in-law is right! Mother, help your son beg the Empress to grant a marriage!"
Li Yu hesitated, but unable to withstand her son's persistent pleading, she finally went.
At the palace banquet.
Cups and glasses were exchanged, making it a very lively scene.
Chu Ruoyan took two sips of fruit juice and listened to them talk with a smile.
She had known some of these titled ladies when she was the wife of the Chief Grand Secretary, while others were newly elevated, but without exception, they were all masters of polite conversation.
"Has Your Majesty heard? After Prince Yu was convicted and his home confiscated, Duke Zou's mansion immediately cut all ties. They didn't even care about their own sister, Princess Yongyang. After resigning from office, the entire clan moved back to their hometown in Yueyang."
"That's not all. Didn't the legitimate daughter of Duke Zou marry Minister Ji? I heard that Minister Ji's mother deeply dislikes this daughter-in-law, and now she is also clamoring for them to divorce..."
Chu Ruoyan chuckled and shook her head.
It is said that husband and wife are birds of the same forest, but aren't these royal and ducal estates the same, flying their separate ways when disaster strikes?
She had no interest in these people of the past, so she turned her eyes to Madam Li: "Second Sister-in-law, does this fruit juice suit your taste?"
Madam Li was lost in thought about something, staring blankly at the jade cup in her hand, not even listening to her.
Chu Ruoyan followed her gaze. The people sitting at that table over there seemed to be the Pei family?
She remembered what Yao Qing had said, and her eyes darkened. Nanny Zhou leaned over to remind Madam Li, and the latter nodded as if waking from a dream: "Ah, yes, it suits me, thank you for your concern, Your Majesty!"
Chu Ruoyan pursed her lips and stayed silent for a moment, then suddenly asked: "Second Sister-in-law, do you know Prefect Pei?"
Smash!
The cup fell onto the table, and Madam Li's face instantly turned deathly pale.
Chu Ruoyan was about to ask more when Yin Li stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, someone from the third branch of the Yan family is here and wishes to see you."
She had no choice but to suppress her doubts and nod. Soon, Li Yu from the third branch came in, knelt down directly, and said loudly: "Empress! My eldest son, Chenghao, is in love with the daughter of the Jiang family. I hope you can grant this match!"
The palace banquet fell silent, and many eyes looked over.
Chu Ruoyan frowned and said lightly: "The daughter of the Jiang family? Is it the sister of Supervisor Jiang?"
Li Yu quickly said yes, drawing even more stares.
They all knew Li Yu and knew even better that Yan Chenghao was the current Emperor's cousin.
Now that she was asking for a marriage to be granted, everyone wanted to see if this Empress would show favoritism...
Unexpectedly, Chu Ruoyan asked in return: "Does Cousin Chenghao have any official scholarly honors?"
Li Yu was stunned: "He doesn't have that, but his father..."
"His father is his father, and he is himself." Chu Ruoyan's lips curled up slightly, smiling as warmly as the spring breeze. "Third Aunt, it's not that I refuse to grant the marriage, but Supervisor Jiang only has this one sister and dotes on her like a precious treasure. Without any official honors, Cousin Chenghao might not be able to marry Miss Jiang!"
These words already saved her some face by not explicitly saying they were a mismatch.
But Li Yu blurted out: "But he is a royal relative! As a dignified royal relative, can't he even marry the daughter of an official?"
The banquet fell silent, and Chu Ruoyan's smile faded: "Third Aunt, mind your words. If we are really talking about royal relatives, who is closer than the Sixth Brother? But even he hasn't received any titles or rewards. Does Third Aunt want to overstep and let Cousin Chenghao ask for rewards first?"
Li Yu shuddered in fear and kowtowed repeatedly, and the crowd felt reassured.
Sure enough, this new Emperor was different from the previous one; he would not blindly indulge his royal relatives.
Li Yu went back resentfully and told Yan Chenghao the result. Unexpectedly, her son flew into a rage: "Who does that Chu woman think she is! A divorced woman dares to humiliate me, a royal relative?!"
Li Yu was so frightened that she hurriedly tried to cover her son's mouth, but he swatted her hand away and muttered maliciously: "Cousin-in-law was right. That bitch can't stand to see us do well. I really should listen to her and force the issue..." As he spoke, a gleam of cunning flashed in his eyes.
Li Yu advised bitterly: "Chenghao, listen to your parents. There are so many girls in the world, we can take our time to choose..."
Thinking of those pure, deer-like eyes at the palace banquet today, Yan Chenghao felt a burning heat in his chest and pushed her away: "Mother, I know what I'm doing. Leave me alone!" With that, he turned and left.
Although Li Yu was deeply worried, she had never been able to control this son.
At night, the palace banquet ended.
Jiang Yi and Xie Yaozhi came out of the palace, just in time to see a man crawl out from under the Mei family's carriage, sweating profusely and saying: "Eldest Miss, it's no good! The wheel is broken. I'm afraid we can't go back tonight. Why don't I ask the Eldest Young Master to escort you..."
"Hexuan is busy with military affairs, how can we delay his important duties? Never mind, just go back and report this, and ask the gatekeeper to send another carriage..."
Before she finished speaking, a timid voice came over: "Excuse me, are you Eldest Miss Mei?"
Mei Fangru turned around in surprise: "And you two are?"
Jiang Yi blushed and didn't dare to continue. Xie Yaozhi pushed her forward: "My surname is Xie. This is Jiang Yi, the sister of Supervisor Jiang of the Directorate of Astronomy. She heard that Eldest Miss Mei's carriage is broken, and since the Mei residence and the Jiang residence are on the same way, she wanted to offer you a ride."
Mei Fangru breathed a sigh of relief: "In that case, thank you very much."
In the carriage.
At first, the atmosphere was a bit awkward, but after Jiang Yi boldly talked about the past events at the Directorate of Astronomy, Mei Fangru smiled and said: "Hexuan was obsessed with astrology and deduction for a while, and he did pester our father to send him to the Directorate of Astronomy for a time. I didn't expect that by chance, he would actually get to know Supervisor Jiang..."
Jiang Yi felt her heart pounding. Her brother had said that when arranging a marriage, one must look not only at the man but also at his family background.
Although the several young ladies of the Mei family were still unmarried, this eldest sister seemed very easy to get along with...
Just as she was about to say something, Bang!!
The carriage was suddenly rammed hard by something, and both women lost their balance and fell forward.
"Who are you? What are you doing?!"
The coachman's scream came from outside the carriage, and then several men in black rushed in. Seeing two women in the carriage, they were momentarily stunned.
"Why are there two people?"
"Never mind, grab them both first!"
With that, they reached out to grab them. Coming from a military family, Mei Fangru pulled out her hairpin and stabbed fiercely.
"Ah!! This bitch!"
The man in black had his hand stabbed and covered in blood, but his accomplice shouted: "The Jiang girl doesn't know martial arts, this is the one!"
After saying that, a few of them went to grab Jiang Yi. Mei Fangru wanted to save her, but her palace dress today was too inconvenient.
By the time she chased them out of the carriage, the men in black had already dragged her into another carriage and sped away.
"Miss Jiang, Miss Jiang!!"
Late at night, in the inner palace.
Chu Ruoyan was sleeping soundly, leaning on Yan Zheng, when she heard Yin Shun call softly: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty?"
She groggily opened her eyes, only to see that Yan Zheng had already gotten up: "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
The man shook his head and leaned over to kiss her forehead: "You go back to sleep, I'll go out and take a look."
Yin Shun wouldn't call in the middle of the night unless it was urgent.
Chu Ruoyan yawned and sat up as well: "I'm already awake, I'll go with you."
A flash of tender affection crossed Yan Zheng's eyes. He draped an outer robe over her shoulders and they walked out together. Seeing the Emperor and Empress emerge at the same time, Yin Shun hastily bowed. "Your Majesties, something terrible has happened! Miss Jiang was abducted by ruffians while leaving the palace tonight, and her whereabouts remain unknown. Eldest Miss Mei, who was traveling with her, also suffered minor injuries!"