Chapter 163 Marriage Grant
When Jiang Yuanbai came out of the imperial study, his palms were full of sweat. What he just said was what Jiang Li told her that day. He was skeptical at first, but was finally convinced by Jiang Li.

Instead of asking King Cheng to win over Shen Yurong, it would be better to let King Cheng marry the Li family, who were already his people. After the Li family and King Cheng married, it would be almost clear to the world that the right prime minister was King Cheng's man.

When the Li family first joined King Cheng, they did it secretly. Now, although everyone in the court knows this, they don't show it on the surface. If Emperor Hong Xiao agrees, it means that the right prime minister is completely tied to King Cheng. This seems to be a good thing for King Cheng, and it will make the relationship even closer. But once it is announced to the world, if one day King Cheng rebels and fails, the Li family will go to hell with King Cheng without any reason.

We should share the good times and of course, we should also share the bad times.

For Emperor Hong Xiao, this should also be a hassle-free decision.

Jiang Yuanbai thought so, and walked out quickly without stopping. He had already said what he wanted to say, and as for how Emperor Hong Xiao would decide, he had no control over it.

In the imperial study, Emperor Hong Xiao was looking at the memorial in front of him in deep thought.

Eunuch Su was on guard, and Emperor Hong Xiao suddenly asked, "How old is Li Xian, the eldest son of the Right Prime Minister Li's family?"

Eunuch Su hurriedly said, "Step aside. Young Master Su is only 23 years old."

"Twenty-three..." Emperor Hong Xiao pondered, "Shen Yurong is one year older than him. In this case, he is more suitable for her than Shen Yurong." He said, "I will draft an edict."

Eunuch Su hurried to grind ink, only to hear the young emperor say again: "Grant a marriage."

……

The first thing Jiang Yuanbai did after leaving the palace and returning to the Jiang Mansion was to find Jiang Li, who was reading in Fangfei Garden, and called her into his study.

"How did you know that I came to the palace to arrange Princess Yongning's marriage?" Jiang Yuanbai asked.

When Jiang Li said that before, he didn't take it seriously, but now it has been confirmed that what Jiang Li said is true, which forces Jiang Yuanbo to take it seriously.

"Father, do you still remember?" Jiang Li said, "I went to the Duke's Mansion for General Ji's birthday party." Jiang Li blamed everything on the Duke's Mansion without changing her expression. After all, Jiang Yuanbo would not go to the Duke's Mansion to verify it. She said, "I heard these things from their words at the birthday banquet. In fact, what I said to father that day, saying that Li Xian was the best candidate, was not said by me, but by those people in the Duke's Mansion. But I think these words make a lot of sense, and father walks around the palace all day, and he may be asked about this matter. If I can help, it will be great."

"Did someone from the Duke's Mansion say that?" Jiang Yuanbai didn't believe it. "Why would someone from the Duke's Mansion care about this?" Ji Heng had no grudge against King Cheng, nor was he close to the Jiang family. In fact, in the entire court, except for Emperor Hong Xiao who trusted him, no one else was worthy of Ji Heng's attention. The people from the Duke's Mansion said this, and it seemed that they were standing on the opposite side of King Cheng. Although this was natural - if Ji Heng supported Emperor Hong Xiao, he would naturally be at odds with King Cheng. But Jiang Yuanbai also thought that the things Ji Heng did on a daily basis seemed too ambiguous and untrustworthy.

"Father, I really can't answer you when you ask me these questions." Jiang Li said honestly, "It's only been a meal, I really don't know more. If father wants to know more, since the people in the Duke's Mansion said so, it's better to go to the Duke's Mansion in person and ask for clarification."

Jiang Yuanbai choked. How could he visit the Duke's Mansion? What would others think if they heard about it? They would think that their Jiang family and the Duke's Mansion had some private dealings. The emperor was already suspicious, so wouldn't this just add fuel to the fire?

"But father," Jiang Li looked at him inquiringly, "Do you mean that the palace is really preparing for Princess Yongning's marriage?"

Jiang Yuanbai glanced at Jiang Li, who looked at her curiously. Thinking that this matter would be known sooner or later, Jiang Yuanbai sighed and nodded, "Today, the emperor asked me who the right candidate is. I told the emperor that I think Mr. Li and Princess Yongning are a perfect match. As for how the emperor will decide, I don't know."

Jiang Li said: "The Emperor will definitely grant a marriage between Master Li and Princess Yongning."

"How do you know?" Jiang Yuanbai looked at her suspiciously.

"Is there anyone in the court who is more suitable than Mr. Li?" Jiang Li said as a matter of course.

Jiang Yuanbai was speechless for a moment before he said, "Empress Dowager Liu hopes that Zhongshu Shelang will be Princess Yongning's consort."

Jiang Li sneered in her heart, but she looked calm on the surface, saying, "Sir Shen's family is too poor. Besides, the emperor thinks highly of Sir Shen, how could he be willing to give him to someone else? I think the moment my father mentioned Master Li, the emperor decided to grant the marriage to someone else."

Jiang Yuanbo sighed: "I think so too."

"Why is Dad so unhappy?"

"Sooner or later, King Cheng will find out that I was behind this. If they had favored Shen Yurong from the beginning, and I messed up this matter, I'm afraid they would resent me."

Jiang Li said calmly, "Even if this incident didn't happen, King Cheng and our Jiang family are not friends. In this case, why bother with all that? It's better to see clearly who is the master and follow one person attentively," she said with a hint of meaning, "If you sit on the fence, you will end up pleasing neither side."

Jiang Yuanbai was always smooth, and Jiang Li's words were a warning to him not to be lucky. Since he had decided to support Emperor Hong Xiao, he should not think about getting along peacefully with King Cheng. Jiang Yuanbai naturally heard the implication of Jiang Li's words, and was a little annoyed by being taught a lesson by his own daughter. But seeing Jiang Li's gentle expression, as if she really cared about him as a father and the fate of the entire Jiang family, he swallowed the rebuke that was about to come out of his mouth.

Forget it, now he only has this one daughter by his side.

Walking out of Jiang Yuanbai's study, Jiang Li's expression faded.

Princess Yongning's actions were faster than Jiang Li had imagined. It seemed that she was very much looking forward to this unborn "life". That was why she couldn't wait to facilitate the marriage with Shen Yurong.

But her plan was doomed to fail.

As Jiang Li walked forward, she thought about Xue Huaiyuan in the Ye Mansion. Ye Mingyu had someone bring news that Xue Huaiyuan had not woken up yet, but Situ Jiuyue said that it was not a bad thing. Jiang Li hoped that her plan would go smoothly, at least before Xue Huaiyuan woke up.

When Xue Huaiyuan really wakes up, he will face the culprit of the Xue family. After being at large for a year, he finally starts to pay the real price.

……

In spring, everything grows, the grass and trees are fresh, and many new things happen in the city of Yanjing.

But the new thing that happened this morning came too suddenly and many people were not prepared.

When Emperor Hong Xiao was attending the morning court, he suddenly issued an edict when he was about to leave, granting a marriage between the eldest son of the Right Prime Minister's Mansion and Princess Yongning, the sister of Prince Cheng, and the wedding was to be completed next month.

This marriage was granted so suddenly that the expression on the face of the eldest son Li in the Golden Palace changed instantly. Even when the right prime minister reminded her to go and receive the decree, the eldest son Li almost stumbled when he received it.

King Cheng also looked unhappy. It seemed that no one had informed him of this matter. It made sense. His sister's lifelong event was suddenly decided. King Cheng knew nothing about it before. But in front of the civil and military officials, King Cheng couldn't say anything. Moreover, Emperor Hong Xiao didn't give her a chance to say anything. He issued the marriage decree and saw that Master Li had accepted the decree, so he smiled and withdrew from the court.

The young emperor was rarely in such a good mood.

The people who were related to him were left with gloomy faces. At the same time, Shen Yurong, who was loved by Emperor Hong Xiao, was standing in the crowd. He was gentle and elegant, and always had a faint smile on his face, but today, this smile seemed to be difficult to maintain. He did not greet his colleagues after leaving the court. He paused and strode away, as if he could not stay here for a moment longer.

After Concubine Liu learned the news, she went to the Cining Palace to find the Empress Dowager to argue.

"Sister," she said, looking at the Queen Mother who was twirling her Buddhist beads, "I clearly told you about the marriage between Yongning and Lord Shen, but how come the Emperor finally granted the marriage to Master Li? How can I explain this to Yongning? Sister, are you doing this on purpose?"

The Queen Mother looked at her calmly, her voice like a stagnant pool of water, unable to stir up any waves. She said, "I didn't lie to you. I told the Emperor that it was Lord Shen. But the Emperor is not a child. He has his own decisions, and I don't know what the Emperor means. Since you don't believe it, go and argue with the Emperor. Maybe the Emperor will change his mind."

Concubine Liu was anxious and angry. How could she go to Emperor Hong Xiao? Emperor Hong Xiao had already hated her and her son in his heart. It would be strange if he would listen to her.

"In fact, it may not be a bad thing if it's Young Master Li." The Queen Mother said slowly, "The Right Prime Minister Li's family is much richer than the Shen family. This point that you care about most is nothing to the Li family."

Concubine Liu was moved. This was indeed the truth. Although she was very angry about the emperor's random marriage, Concubine Liu didn't like Shen Yurong. First, she was a commoner before, and second, Yongning would marry her as a second wife, which she was not happy about. But Li Xian was different. No matter how bad the right prime minister was, he was still the prime minister. Li Xian was also talented and handsome, no worse than Shen Yurong.

"But Yongning doesn't know about this." Concubine Liu thought about Princess Yongning's temper and still felt something was wrong. "How can I explain this to her?"

The Queen Mother was still calm. "Marriage is a matter of parents' orders and matchmaker's words. This has been the truth since ancient times. Even though Yongning is a princess, it doesn't mean she can choose her husband at will. Compared with those princesses who married far away, she is already very lucky. Besides, this matter is not your fault, nor is it my fault. This is the will of the emperor. If Yongning doesn't marry, it will be disobeying the emperor's order."

Concubine Liu was also upset. If Prince Cheng could really succeed in one fell swoop, who would care about Emperor Hong Xiao's will? Unfortunately, Yongning was very anxious and proposed a marriage at this critical juncture. Now everyone had to listen to what Emperor Hong Xiao said.

"Young Master Li looks like a good guy, and Yongning is just being stubborn for a few days. Once she really gets married, she will naturally understand that you are doing this for her own good. There is no need to worry so much about this," said the Queen Mother, "It will be in vain to say more. This is all I have to say. If you are still dissatisfied, take Yongning and go to His Majesty to cry to her." After saying this, the Queen Mother closed her eyes, as if she was unwilling to say anything more to Concubine Liu.

Concubine Liu was resentful, but she also knew that what the Queen Mother said was not a lie. She stood in front of the Queen Mother, thinking about it, and felt that it was right. Compared with Shen Yurong, she originally favored Li Xian more. Yongning was just childish for a moment, and after a few days of making a fuss, she would naturally understand. She didn't say much, turned around and walked out, intending to go back to her side hall first. If Princess Yongning wanted to look for her, she should be in her own hall now.

……

In the side hall of Concubine Liu, the servants were all kneeling on the ground, the palace maids were trembling, and the ground was a mess.

Princess Yongning suddenly barged in to see Concubine Liu. When she learned that Concubine Liu was not there, she began to smash things on the table. She looked very angry. The palace maids who knew the princess' temper did not dare to say a word and only hoped that Concubine Liu would come back quickly. Although Concubine Liu was also arrogant and domineering on weekdays, at this time, only Concubine Liu could make Princess Yongning stop.

Princess Yongning felt uneasy.

No one knows how she felt when she learned about the marriage rope. She thought it was a sure thing. She even heard that the Queen Mother went to see the Emperor. She thought that the Emperor would not refute the Queen Mother's words just for the sake of face. Who knew that Emperor Hong Xiao was so good, he did not refute it, but she changed someone else!
How can this work!
How could she marry someone else when she was pregnant with Shen Yurong's child? Princess Yongning wanted to find out what was going on. She wanted to explain to Shen Yurong. But after the court session, there was no trace of Shen Yurong in the palace. Princess Yongning couldn't find him, and wondered if he was angry, which made her even more panicked. But what was more urgent was that she had to correct this mistake quickly.

The most direct way is to let Concubine Liu come forward.

Just when she was getting impatient, a palace maid came in to announce, "The Concubine Dowager is back." Princess Yongning stood up and went to greet her, saying, "Mother!"

"What are you doing?" Concubine Liu frowned, looking at the mess on the ground, and said unhappily: "Yongning, it's okay for you to make trouble on weekdays, but this is not your princess's mansion!"

Princess Yongning was unmoved, her eyes red as she said, "Mother, you still care about these things. I'm about to be sold, why do you still care about these things?"

"What do you mean by being sold?" Concubine Liu said as she stepped over a broken vase, so the palace maids cleaned up the place, sat down on the seat, and said, "Don't talk nonsense."

"The imperial decree granting marriage!" Princess Yongning shouted, "I was clearly talking to you about Shen Yurong, how could it become Li Xian? Mother! I will not marry Li Xian. In this life, I will only marry Shen Yurong!"

Concubine Liu quickly asked the maids to leave and glared at her, "How dare you say anything? There are spies everywhere in the palace. You are not afraid of being overheard, but I am."

Seeing that Princess Yongning looked like she was about to cry, Concubine Liu explained, "I did tell the Queen Mother that I hope to grant Shen Yurong and you a marriage, and the Queen Mother agreed. Although I looked down on her for so many years, I also knew that she would not do anything hypocritical, and she didn't care about these things in the palace. It was Emperor Hong Xiao who changed the person privately." At this point, Concubine Liu's eyes flashed with a hint of cruelty, "This little wolf cub will trip us up when he gets the chance. I said long ago that keeping him is a disaster!"

"Why did the emperor do this?" Princess Yongning said, "I just want a prince consort, why should I bother him?"

"Who knows? Maybe he just wants to cause trouble for us." Concubine Liu said nonchalantly, "Yongning, I think Li Xian is actually not bad. His father is the right prime minister, who is very appreciative and is also on good terms with your eldest brother. If you marry into the Li family, they will not treat you badly."

"I've said it before," Princess Yongning said firmly, "I won't marry Li Xian. The only person I want to marry is Shen Yurong!"

"Then what are you going to do? That's an imperial decree. If you don't obey it, you're disobeying the emperor's order. Besides, even if you're a princess and you're not afraid of anything, what about Shen Yurong? Shen Yurong is a subject. If the emperor wants her to die, she has to die. Shen Yurong's life and death is still in the hands of the emperor. Even if the emperor is afraid of other things and doesn't dare to touch you, he can touch Shen Yurong."

When Yongning heard this, he immediately panicked and said, "He can't do anything to Shen Yurong!"

Concubine Liu looked at her, and the panic in Princess Yongning's eyes became more and more intense. Indeed, perhaps Emperor Hong Xiao could not do anything to her because of the power of King Cheng, but he could easily deal with Shen Yurong.

Princess Yongning almost cried, and murmured, "What should I do?"

She had always been arrogant and domineering, and had never been so vulnerable and helpless. Concubine Liu looked at her and couldn't bear it, so she asked her, "Do you really want to marry Shen Yurong?"

Princess Yongning nodded.

"I do have an idea."

Princess Yongning seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw and asked impatiently, "What is the solution?"

"When I talked to the Queen Mother before, I didn't mention when to get married. I guess the Queen Mother didn't mention it when she told the Emperor. Since the imperial edict says to choose a date for the wedding, I can tell the Emperor to postpone it, for example, until this winter. By then..." She trailed off, "The world will have changed a lot, who will care about this imperial edict?"

Princess Yongning was stunned, but she understood what Concubine Liu meant.

King Cheng will soon start a rebellion, at least before this winter. As long as the rebellion succeeds, this imperial edict is shit. The emperor has changed, let alone an imperial edict.

This was the only solution that Concubine Liu could think of, to let Yongning drag on the marriage until the imperial edict was of no use, and then the engagement would naturally be invalid.

But...Princess Yongning shook her head and said, "No."

"Why?" Concubine Liu was surprised.

Princess Yongning was about to speak when she suddenly felt nauseous in her throat. She bent down and covered her mouth with her hands and began to retch. Concubine Liu was startled and quickly asked someone to support her and asked the imperial physician to see if she was feeling unwell.

Princess Yongning grabbed Concubine Liu's hand and said, "Don't look for the imperial physician!"

Concubine Liu looked at her, and slowly her eyes changed. She said, "Yongning, you won't..."

"Mother," Princess Yongning looked at her and said in a panic, "I am pregnant with Shen Yurong's child."

……

Shen Yurong was on her way back home.

Walking towards the imperial house, there were also some official houses nearby. When he walked here on weekdays, people knew him and always looked at him with envy. But when he walked home today, he felt that there were mocking eyes everywhere.

Of course, this was impossible. Shen Yurong only knew that these people could not know his relationship with Princess Yongning. Therefore, they would not know how much of a storm the imperial decree granting marriage this morning had stirred up in his heart.

The feeling of a thorn in his back was an illusion, but it reminded him of another time. When Xue Fangfei was caught having an affair, the people in Yanjing City looked at him with sympathy and amusement.

Today, the past and the present met again. He could hardly tell whether this was a dream or reality, or whether the past year or more was just a ridiculous dream. When he opened the door, his beautiful and intelligent Mrs. Shen would still smile and greet him gently.

Like a joke, Shen Yurong thought.

He did not love Princess Yongning. Every moment he spent with Princess Yongning was a forced perfunctory act for him. When Princess Yongning was obsessed with him, he wanted to push her away. Now that the marriage decree of Emperor Hong Xiao came, he did not need to push her away, and Princess Yongning could not come to him. He suddenly panicked in his heart.

It's like he spent a long time feeding an animal. He disliked the animal's clinging and wasted too much of his time. He had to wait until the animal grew up slowly and became fat and tender before he could slaughter it. But before the harvest season came, the animal suddenly ran away. It was like trying to draw water with a bamboo basket, so all his efforts were in vain.

Including his beautiful wife, the sacrifice became worthless.

The imperial decree of Emperor Hong Xiao to grant the marriage had been issued. Shen Yurong saw it more clearly than others. He knew that there was no room for maneuver. Princess Yongning had to marry Li Xian. Even if King Cheng succeeded in his rebellion in the future, he would not treat the Li family badly, and he would become a stumbling block between Yongning and Li Xian. King Cheng would have to choose between the Li family and himself.

It seemed that he had no chance of winning, because the Li family was rich, while the Shen family had nothing in the past. But even if he won the favor of King Cheng with his ability and made King Cheng think that the Li family was not as valuable as himself, he was a tiger. If Princess Yongning wanted to marry him again, she had to give up the marriage with Li Xian.

This time, Shen Yurong was really cuckolded.

He was cuckolded twice. The first time, he took the initiative and made himself a laughing stock for everyone’s sympathy and pity, just to climb up. The second time, he was still trying to climb up, but the higher he climbed, the less he wanted to be laughed at by others.

The higher you go, the less willing you are to lose more.

Shen Yurong walked to the door of the house, but he didn't want to go in. He knew very well that as long as he approached the Shen family, his mother would come to greet him, and Shen Ruyun, who had heard the news, would also rush back, and they would ask him what had happened. They regarded Princess Yongning as a big tree, and he was the one holding the tree. Now the tree was about to fall, so they hurriedly came to blame him for why.

why?

It was so absurd that it seemed like a joke, and all the coincidences seemed like God was deliberately punishing him for what he had done in the past.

He had no way out, he was helpless.

……

Princess Yongning returned to the princess mansion in a daze.

Concubine Liu said all kinds of good and bad things, and finally made Princess Yongning understand one fact: this marriage was inevitable as long as she wanted the child in her belly to be born legitimately.

The first thing Concubine Liu did when she learned that Princess Yongning was pregnant was to ask someone to boil some medicine. After she drank a bowl of it, she would pretend nothing had happened.

It was Princess Yongning who knelt on the ground, hugged Concubine Liu's legs, and cried bitterly, which made Concubine Liu soften her heart and change her mind. She had never begged anyone so humbly in her life, but in the past few days, for this child, she seemed to have done everything impossible.

Princess Yongning touched her belly, thinking of herself in the palace of Concubine Liu, and asked desperately: "Mother, is there really no other way? Can you think of another way, brother?"

Concubine Liu answered her, "Your elder brother cannot be told about this. Your elder brother has been very busy recently and cannot be distracted by these things... Besides, the Right Prime Minister has close contacts with him. If your elder brother knows about this, there is no guarantee that the Right Prime Minister will not know about it. Even if the relationship is very good, which family can be so generous as to accept you marrying into the mansion with someone else's child? If Li Xian doesn't know, on the wedding night, I will find someone to think of a way to cover it up for you, and then find a way to give birth to the child in the future. If you tell your elder brother, be careful of trouble."

Princess Yongning had no choice but to accept this solution. In order to avoid showing her pregnancy and arousing suspicion, Concubine Liu had to take the initiative to tell the emperor that she hoped to get married next month.

That is to say, next month, Princess Yongning will marry into the Li family and become Grandmother Li, nurturing this life in the Li family. When the child is born, his father is Li Xian, not Shen Yurong.

Princess Yongning felt as if all her strength had been used up and she could barely sit still. Her face turned pale and she suddenly felt powerless.

She had been thinking about marrying into the Shen family, and she had even started planning long before. From the first moment she saw Shen Yurong, she knew that this man belonged to her. She had killed Xue Fangfei and cleared all obstacles early on, but now, everything seemed to be going smoothly, so how could she fail at the last moment?
Suddenly, she saw Xue Fangfei before she died. Xue Fangfei was lying on the bed, looking at her, with a smile on her lips, which now seemed like a mockery.

Was she mocking herself? She had put in so much effort, but in the end it was all in vain. She married someone else and did not become Mrs. Shen.

Shen Yurong still didn't know she was pregnant with his child. After learning about the imperial decree granting the marriage, he never came to see her. Princess Yongning didn't know what Shen Yurong was thinking. Was she angry or didn't care at all? Or did he think all this was ridiculous, just like her?

What confused her most was how things turned out like this?
(End of this chapter)