CHAPTER 20
As soon as the imperial edict was issued, the Zhenbei Marquis’s Mansion acted very quickly, urging the Imperial Observatory to choose a good day. Madam Qin happily opened the warehouse herself and counted the betrothal gifts that had been prepared long ago. Recalling Song Yuanzhi’s good nature, she felt that the betrothal gifts that filled the warehouse were still a little less.
Lu Shaoyou came to Madam Qin’s side uncalled and looked at the festive boxes tied with red silk in the warehouse. He knew that this was the betrothal gift that his family was going to give to Song Yuanzhi. For a moment, his heart moved, and a pair of clear and bright eyes suddenly appeared in front of him. He couldn’t help but cough softly, pretending to be calm, and said, “I have a lot of things in my warehouse, and it can’t hold them all. It’s just taking up space, so let’s send them over together with this.”
Madam Qin glanced at her son with a smile and said jokingly, “It seems that you can’t change your stubbornness. Why are you pretending to be calm in front of me? You are already past the age of getting married. It’s not shameful to think about your wife.”
Lu Shaoyou touched his nose as his ears turned slightly red, but his expression did not change at all. “Miss Song will soon become a member of our mansion. If the mansion does not give her face, others will look down on her.”
That’s true. Madam Qin had long seen that Madam Liu was sweet on the outside but cruel on the inside, and Song Yuanzhi’s life in the Song Mansion was probably not easy. She also really liked Song Yuanzhi, and not only did they have similar personalities, but Madam Qin also remembered the lucky number Song Yuanzhi had drawn. Now that Lu Shaoyou had returned safely, Madam Qin also attributed the credit to Song Yuanzhi. When she looked at Song Yuanzhi again, she felt that she was good in every way; she was also born with good fortune, and she and her son were a perfect match.
Thinking of this, Madam Qin stopped teasing Lu Shaoyou and started to feel sorry for Song Yuanzhi. “You’re right. Her parents are not good people. If we don’t protect her, she will suffer so much! Where are your things? Move them all over, add them to the betrothal gifts list, and send them all over! We can’t let anyone look down on our Lu family’s daughter-in-law!”
As Lu Shaoyou achieved his goal, his mouth corners slightly raised. Unexpectedly, he received a knowing blow from his mother: “The marriage has been decided, and your identity should also be told to Ah-yuan, right? Do you really have to wait until the wedding night, after the veil is lifted, to let Ah-yuan know that you are the Marquis of Zhenbei?”
Lu Shaoyou rarely felt embarrassed in his life. Even when he was fighting on the battlefield and risking his life, he never felt uneasy. However, when he thought about confessing to Song Yuanzhi that he had concealed something from her, Lu Shaoyou suddenly felt a little guilty.
Madam Qin saw that his eyes suddenly darkened and guessed a little bit. She was happy to see her son in trouble. “You were very happy when you lied to Ah-yuan, but now you must be regretting it, right?”
Lu Shaoyou frowned slightly, as if he were facing an eternal problem. His expression was extremely solemn and even more stressful than when their armies were fighting each other and deploying troops.
Madam Qin had seen enough of her son’s embarrassment, so she smiled and gave him some advice: “Ah-yuan is not an unreasonable person. Tell her about your concerns, and she won’t be angry with you. Besides, your safe return is a great joy, and she would be the most happiest one!”
Lu Shaoyou naturally knew that Song Yuanzhi would not bear a grudge against him because of this. But it was also a fact that he had lied to her, and he was extremely conflicted for a moment, probably because he didn’t want to see those clear eyes filled with disappointment.
Madam Qin continued, “You have no choice but to conceal your identity. Those villains have not been caught yet, so it is inconvenient for you to show up. By the way, have you found the evidence that they are plotting against you? If the evidence is sufficient, you must report it to His Majesty and punish them for the crime of murdering loyal officials!”
Lu Shaoyou nodded. “Don’t worry, mother, they can’t escape.”
In fact, the evidence had been found, but the imperial decree for the marriage was not yet issued. Lu Shaoyou thought that the Song family was not of high status and that they could marry into the Marquisate only because he “died in battle.” If he showed up earlier, then the marriage might have twists and turns again, so he begged Emperor Yongkang to conceal the news of his safe return and hurriedly asked for the imperial decree for the marriage.
He is not afraid of being plotted against, but he is afraid that Song Yuanzhi will be wronged.
Now that the imperial decree granting the marriage had been issued, Lu Shaoyou no longer had any worries and began to settle the accounts.
Madam Qin also acted very quickly, and before long, the betrothal gifts from the Zhenbei Marquisate were delivered to the Song Mansion.
The Lu family already had a deep foundation, and after Lu Shaoyou was awarded the title for his military merits, the family became even more prosperous and had a deeper foundation. Madam Qin only had Lu Shaoyou as her son, so she naturally wanted to buy all the good things for his marriage and make it a grand wedding.
The long list of betrothal gifts simply made everyone in the capital stare blankly. The first ones were all gifts from the emperor. Emperor Yongkang really loved his nephew, Lu Shaoyou. Moreover, Lu Shaoyou was good in both civil and military and was able to pacify the border at a young age, making foreign enemies tremble in fear. Even if Lu Shaoyou was not his nephew, Emperor Yongkang would still give him respect. He also thought that Song Yan’s official position was too low and Song Yuanzhi’s status was not enough, so he intended to promote Song Yan.
Fortunately, Lu Shaoyou knew the situation of the Song family very well and knew that if Song Yan was promoted, Song Yuanzhi would definitely be unhappy. He quickly stopped Emperor Yongkang from thinking about this and said very nicely, “Your Majesty is very caring for me, which is a blessing for me. But Your Majesty is the emperor, and you should distinguish between public and private. Although Minister Song has been in the Ministry of Revenue for many years, he has made no achievements. If Your Majesty promotes him out of the ordinary, it will be a disgrace to Your Majesty’s wisdom.”
Emperor Yongkang thought about the various excuses that the concubines in the harem had used to ask for benefits for their families and then looked at Lu Shaoyou’s sincere concern for his reputation. He was immediately moved, patted Lu Shaoyou on the shoulder, and sighed, “Ah-ji, you are the one who cares about me the most.”
Then he lamented, “The status of the Song family daughter is still a little low. If you had come back earlier, so many ladies in the capital would have fallen in love with you, and there would be no way that the Song family daughter would have gotten the position as the wife of the Marquis of Zhenbei.”
Lu Shaoyou smiled slightly, and his eyebrows and eyes, which had always been somewhat flamboyant, softened instantly, and he looked a bit shy and happy like a young man in love. He said in a gentle voice, “Uncle, there is no need to sigh. This is the fate of Ah-yuan and me.”
Seeing his nephew’s expression, Emperor Yongkang also put aside his dissatisfaction with Song Yuanzhi’s low status and said cheerfully, “You are protecting her like this even before she gets married. It shows that you really care about her. It’s good that way, so that your aunt and your mother don’t have to worry about you not being unwilling to get married!”
Lu Shaoyou also returned to his usual sunny and cheerful self, smiling brightly, and stretched out his hand to Emperor Yongkang, “This nephew finally got a good marriage, uncle; you should give me something to make me proud, right?”
“You little bastard, you are just like Prince Ning and the others, coming here to collect debts from me! Xu Shou, bring the key to my private vault, bring the Marquis of Zhenbei over, and let him choose.”
“Thank you, uncle!”
“Go away, you debt collectors!” Emperor Yongkang cursed with a smile and tapped Lu Shaoyou’s forehead with his index finger. “If you empty my private vault, I will give you a beating!”
Eunuch Xu laughed secretly. How funny. The consequence of emptying the private storehouse of Emperor is just a beating. If this news gets out, how many people will rush to get a beating? Does His Majesty think that this can scare the Marquis?
Lu Shaoyou took the key from Eunuch Xu, shook it at Emperor Yongkang, and left happily.
Emperor Yongkang couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh. After looking down at the pile of evidence Lu Shaoyou presented to him, his face suddenly darkened, and he slammed the table fiercely, “Asshole!”
Ah-ji sacrificed his life on the battlefield to defend the territory of the Rong Dynasty, and this is how these guys treat Ah-ji?
Looking at the list of people involved again, even though he had seen it once, Emperor Yongkang’s pupils shrank and his face looked extremely ugly. He leaned back in his chair, pondered for a long time, and finally sighed, closing his eyes slightly. In the end, he had to let Ah-ji down.
**********
Song Mansion.
Madam Liu and Song Lilan looked at the betrothal gifts that could not even fit into the entire courtyard and listened to the hoarse voice of the steward of the Marquis’s Mansion reading out the gift list. They could hardly hold back the proper smiles on their faces and were filled with jealousy in their hearts: How could this little bitch have such a grand betrothal gift?
Song Yan was extremely happy. The Marquis’s mansion was so generous because they valued Song Yuanzhi, the future Marquis’ wife. As Song Yuanzhi’s biological father, he was naturally very proud. He also thought that Song Yuan should get closer to Song Yuanzhi, the elder sister, so that she could take care of Song Yuan more.
Song Yuanzhi looked at the large amount of betrothal gifts and was grateful to Madam Qin for supporting her. She also remembered another thing and went to Song Yan in private. “The Marquis and I are getting married by His Majesty’s blessing and decree. The Marquis’s betrothal gift was so grand. If my dowry is too small, it would be a small matter to be laughed at, but it would be a great sin to make His Majesty lose face.”
Song Yan was startled and had a plan in mind, but he said, “Your mother has always been kind; she will definitely prepare your dowry.”
“Dad, do you even believe what you said?” Song Yuanzhi smiled bitterly and looked at Song Yan sadly. Her eyes seemed to be filled with grievances, and they were sparkling and pitiful. “If mother was really as tolerant as father said, my sister wouldn’t have said such harsh words to me when she saw me.”
Song Yan had been pretending to be deaf and dumb for many years. When Song Yuanzhi exposed his true feelings, he immediately became angry and said, “Your sister is young and naive. Why do you care about these things?”
“I don’t want to care about it.” Song Yuanzhi lowered her eyes; her slender body trembled, and she looked even more pitiful. “But if I follow the things Mother prepared, after entering the Marquis’ Mansion, I will just be laughed at by others. At worst, I will just stay at home. Father, you have to attend court every day. If someone with ulterior motives mentions it in front of the emperor again,
Song Yan was so confused that he couldn’t help rubbing his brows. He waved his hand to stop Song Yuanzhi from saying the next word and said tiredly, “I know. I will tell your mother.”
Song Yuanzhi curled her lips slightly and continued to ask, “The dowry my mother left for me…”
Song Yan almost jumped up. “Of course your mother’s dowry is left to you; could it be that I would embezzle it?”
Song Yuanzhi pursed her lips and said nothing, looking flustered as if she had said something wrong and didn’t know what to do.
Song Yan was tired and waved his hand, saying, “Madam Liu won’t touch your mother’s dowry.”
Song Yuanzhi chuckled and thought. “You didn’t touch my mother’s dowry. Then where did the money for the Song family’s lavish spending over the years came from? Don’t you have any idea?”
***
Madam Liu didn’t want to give Song Yuanzhi a large Betrothal gift. She was not willing to spit out what she had eaten. She just ignored Song Yan’s instructions and was trying her best to hide something, but Song Yuanzhi came to collect the dowry list left by her biological mother with a smile. “Father said that I should take away all the dowry left by my mother. I have brought the dowry list. Please open the storehouse, and I will count the things.”
Madam Liu’s face turned pale, and her chest heaved with anger. “Could it be that you think I would covet your little things?”
“Mother is naturally not the kind of person who shamelessly embezzles the original wife’s dowry. It’s just that the wedding is urgent, and we cannot lose face for His Majesty. So I can only let mother open the storehouse and make preparations early.”
Madam Liu forced a smile and said, “Although it is His Majesty who has granted you the marriage, you should still behave yourself. If a girl prepares her own dowry, won’t she be afraid of being laughed at if the news gets out? Don’t worry, you will get what is yours, and I won’t let the Marquis suffer any loss.”
Lu Shaoyou died in the battle, and Madam Liu mentioned him now just to stab Song Yuanzhi.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the words fell, a clear voice could be heard saying, “Thank you, Madam Song, for your well wishes.”
Song Yuanzhi looked back and saw a familiar young man walking slowly towards her. Song Yan was beside him, looking flattering and fearful. When Song Yan saw Song Yuanzhi, he said happily, “Zhi’er, you are so lucky. The Marquis is back safely!”
Song Yuanzhi: “!!!”
When did Brother Yu Zhi become Lu Shaoyou, the Marquis of Zhenbei?
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