Chapter 138
“What?” Rong Xiangmian was confused.
Lady Marquis Yong’an turned pale at his words, “Yu Wang, this is the Empress Mother’s grace, rewarding you and His Highness Prince Yun with side consorts. How can you promise them to someone else?”
Zhou Xian Yang laughed, “Mrs. Hou also said, this is a reward for me and Xian Hui, so they are members of our royal family, so we can decide what to do with them. Back then, in order to honor Marquis Yongan for pacifying the East China Sea, Father also rewarded the Marquis with a concubine from the draft, Mrs. Marquis shouldn’t have forgotten that, right?”
Mrs. Hou’s kind and gentle face immediately became incredibly stiff.
“It’s never wrong for a child minister to follow the Emperor’s example. Recently, the two generals of Qinzhou will return to the capital to report their duties, they were in West Qin to quell the rebellion, and tracked down the assassins of West Qin for me, this king is wondering how to thank them, why not push the boat into the water, and give the beautiful women to the heroes?”
Wu Suifang gets anxious and asks, “Your Highness, does King Yu want to take over his duties?”
“King Yun has already communicated with me the other day. He was very clear about his reasoning, saying that the Empress has shown us a great deal of love, and as a child minister who is grateful for that, he naturally wants to compete to follow suit, so that the Empress’s benevolence will be spread throughout the world.
Recently, the assassin incident in Western Qin has stirred up the country, and it is all because of the generals in Qinzhou who have stabilized the situation for the country, so it is necessary to extend the kindness. If you give them the woman that was rewarded to the prince, it would be a great favor to the world. The more this king thinks about it, the more he thinks it’s a good idea.”
“You …… “As soon as Mrs. Yong An Marquis encountered this kind of situation which is on the line of family and state affairs, she didn’t know how to refute, just staring at Rong Xiang Xiang, “Consort Yu, it seems that Yu Wang is really obedient to you, by your sentence, even the Empress gave you the gift of a pillow, you can’t help but to be a good friend. Even the Queen’s gift of marriage has to be disobeyed by your words?”
The surrounding guests who are ready to leave have long been attracted by this side of the conversation, and all of them are reluctant to leave, revealing a look of watching a good show.
Only now did Rong Xiangmian realize that Zhou Xianyang’s visit to the Descending Clouds Xuan wasn’t all about fooling around.
She immediately put on a virtuous and supple look and asked: “When did Your Highness have this plan, how come you don’t know how to tell your concubine? Although His Highness puts the affairs of the country first, but you also have to ask the two Wu family girls what they mean, right? Qinzhou, but it’s a faraway marriage!”
Yang Zhou Xian smiled and looked at the two Wu girls he couldn’t tell apart, “The Wu girls are from Lingzhou, which is in the middle of Jinling and Qinzhou, so marrying anywhere is considered a long-distance marriage, and since they are able to come to Jinling, they don’t care about long-distance marriages, right?”
After saying this, without waiting for a response, he pulled Xiangmian around as if nothing had happened: “I really didn’t drink a drop of wine today, how is it?”
Seeing that his mind was made up, Rong Xiangmian didn’t say much, “For the sake of you being so self-conscious, I’ll allow you to ride in the car with me.”
In the Wu family girls’ astonished gazes, Rong Xiang See smiled as he stepped down the steps and got into the carriage with Zhou Xian Yang’s help.
The Wu sisters looked at me and I looked at you: who said that Consort Yü Wang couldn’t win Yü Wang’s heart?
When Zhou Xian Yang entered the carriage, he didn’t feel as relaxed as he did outside, and kept pondering over the wording of the request for marriage.
Rong Xiang saw it as strange: “When did you come up with this idea?”
Zhou Xian Yang said, “Just in the past few days, Qin Zhou Ding Cheng and General Asuna purged the rebels and were quite effective, the emperor called them to the capital to report their duties, they wrote to me in advance, the first time they went to the capital to face the saint, they wanted to gain more trust and goodwill.”
“Will the Emperor agree to pledge the Wu family girls to them?”
“Why not agree. Qinzhou is too far away and the situation is complicated, he needs two eyes to keep an eye on it for him, and this time they were summoned most likely to bestow the marriage as well. This matter still needs the Empress Dowager to knock on the side, I’ll go talk to Imperial Grandmother.”
Rong xiangmian then Rong xiangwen heard the wu family girl’s matter to say, zhou xianyang frowned, put xiangmian in his arms: “the wu family girl is by no means at ease in the side room of the generation, how can my weak yu wangfei suffer her killing and maiming, or quickly send people to the top.”
Rong Xiangmian laughed lightly, “Those two generals may not be willing.”
“They are willing. Surrendering to the state dynasty, can’t get the emperor’s full credibility, the best way is to marry with the old ministers to show their sincerity, this is something that we pass the gas.”
Seeing his thoughtfulness, Rong Xiangmian was originally happy, but on second thought, the Wu sisters’ life is so fixed, and some overreacting, and I don’t know how their mothers will be.
In the end, they are all unloved and unprotected girls, so they can only fight for a future by themselves.
Zhou Xian Yang saw her silent, patted her hand, comforted: “Married to Qinzhou is the wife of a second-grade general, in charge of the family, and their husbands are only half a level lower than their fathers, and young, there may be a rise in the future, the mother’s family will not be neglected. If they enter the Yuhang Mansion, then they can only look at the garden in the Jing Yi Yuan for the rest of their lives, which one has a better future?”
Hearing him analyze like this, Xiangmian was also relieved, and for a moment she thought of Xiangyi again, compared to them, the official family members who were worried about marriage, Xiangyi’s life was much more unfortunate.
“Xiang Yi’s matter, what did you and Jianyun inquire about?”
Zhou Xian Yang’s mood was instantly low: “The other day when I came to perform at the Jing Yi Yuan, Jian Yun said that Xiang Yi was abducted and raised for five years by Hualizhou’s mannequins, and then sold for 800 taels to the Descending Clouds Gallery. She could sing and dance, but she refused to come out to receive guests, and was beaten several times, but to no avail. Because her body is all injured, she can’t see people, so she was temporarily told to do some sweeping and rough work ……”
Listening to Zhou Xian Yang’s account, Rong Xiang See’s heart was broken. The Yu Xiangyi she remembered was such a lively and bright girl. At that time, many little girls were taught by their families to stay away from her, the horse-taming female species, but little Xiangyi didn’t mind and took the initiative to sit and eat with her. I really don’t know, how did she survive all these years.
As she was worried, suddenly a ray of light flashed through her mind, Huazhou, Huazhou, this was a very out-of-the-way place name, which she definitely heard for the first time in her life. However, it seemed that she had seen Huazhou in her previous life.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t recall it for a moment, and as her mind returned, she heard Xian Yang say, “Fiber Cloud told me that when her injuries are healed, she’ll still need to accompany the guests, so we have to hurry.”
Just when everything was ready to stop, news suddenly came from the palace that the Yuzhou examination was fraudulent and the candidates had joined together to strike the examination, causing His Majesty to be furious.
The imperial examinations have always been the main way of selecting talents for the country, and to shake the credibility of the imperial examinations is to shake the foundation of the dynasty.
The court officials have submitted a number of petitions to urge His Majesty to personally investigate the matter.
There was a time when this happened more than twenty years ago. In order to show the importance of the emperor and stabilize the people’s heart, he personally went to do justice to the candidates. However, nowadays, the emperor knew that his energy was not as strong as before, so he thought of sending a prince down there.
Because the examiner and invigilator of the examination, respectively, is sent by the imperial court and local officials jointly responsible for, and they are also with the dynasty factions relationship is very shallow. I thought that only by sending King Yup to go, will not be disturbed by other interference, focus on investigating fraud.
Zhou Xianyang’s recovery of Western Qin and relief efforts in Jiangzhou had given him a lot of credibility among the young scientists, so His Majesty asked him to come to the palace and gave him some careful instructions.
Zhou Xianyang was anxious that the rescue of Xiangyi had reached a critical juncture and could not afford to fail, so he resigned on the grounds that he was a roughneck who did not know much about the imperial examinations.
The emperor knew that recently he had indeed done too much work, and had risen to the top too quickly, which had caused some people to be dissatisfied.
Just by inviting the dancers from the Descending Cloud Cuisine to perform in the garden, he had already been impeached several times. Not to mention the fire and assassination in the Jing Yi Garden.
The emperor thought that he was for this reason to excuse, in turn angry: “your brothers in the dynasty may be very, scrambling for father to share the worry. You are good, I have the intention to honor you, but you look forward and backward.”
In the ears of Zhou Xian Yang, this seems to have something to say, he said: “I would like to share my father’s worries, but the Imperial Examination is related to the selection of talents for the dynasty, the prince should not be involved in it, so that the people will know the truth. Otherwise this batch of candidates will join the government in the future, if they are categorized by people who are interested in them as partisans of the son’s party …… the son is terrified.”
The Emperor looked at Zhou Xian Yang’s anxious demeanor with some understanding.
He stood up and walked over to Xian Yang, patting him on the shoulder, “As long as you are impartial, why should you be afraid of outside disturbances? In the case of the selection of the shade officer, the son of Marquis Yongding and the cousin of Xiangyang, you did not show favoritism and deliberately avoided suspicion, which I have seen in my eyes. I know that you do not take the personnel in the dynasty as their own party to fight for profit, is very pleased. Because of this, I am optimistic about you going to Yuzhou. You just do a good job, and Father has the rest in mind.”
The words had been said to this point, Zhou Xian Yang knew that he could not back out, and could only take orders first.
Returning to Jing Yi Yuan, he immediately discussed with Xiang Xiang to see if the matter of rescuing Xiang Yi should be brought forward or delayed.
Unexpectedly, Rong Xiangmian was not surprised at all. She smiled with her palm and said, “Your Highness, this is a heavenly opportunity. You are not in the capital, the matter of Xiang Yi’s disappearance, no matter what, has nothing to do with you. Anyone with a heart that wants to plant it on your head won’t be able to do so.”
“But …… if someone pursues the Yuhuang Mansion, won’t it leave you alone in the capital to deal with it? How can this work!”
“My father and the Yu family have no connection. If I come to deal with it, it’s more like I have a clear conscience. Don’t worry, just follow the plan, you don’t have to worry.”
Looking at Xiangmian’s righteousness, Zhou Xian Yang was touched. He held Xiangmian tightly in his arms, feeling that she was exceptionally slender today, and seemed to weigh nothing in his arms, as if she would disappear at any moment.
“You can’t be okay, Aimi. I can’t involve you in this.”
“Since we are husband and wife, it’s impossible not to get involved. It’s this time of the day, and you’re saying such out-of-the-way things, is this a deliberate attempt to make me angry?”
“I won’t say it, I won’t say it.” Zhou Xian Yang knew that if he hesitated any longer, it would look like he didn’t trust her, so he urged, “You must be careful, and if anything goes wrong, blame me for everything and say that I forced you to do it.”
“There will be no mistakes.” Although Aimi wasn’t all that sure in her heart, she thought that she had to feel that it would work, and that she had fooled herself in order to fool everyone else.
She lifted her head from Xian Yang’s arms, smiled with fake relief, and kissed him on the lips again, “Don’t be afraid, Xian Yang.”
With such a brave and courageous woman in the world, who also happened to be his wife, Xian Yang felt that the only good thing that had happened to him in his bleak life was that he had met her.
He was determined to give her the kind of life she wanted, no matter what obstacles lay ahead.
As the heat subsides, they move back to Yü Wang’s mansion as planned. Zhou Xian Yang arranges for the guards in the mansion, and the three teams of feathered forest guards follow them to continue protecting the mansion.
On the second day of the move, Zhou Xian Yang went to the palace to say goodbye, and then went to Yuzhou. He originally wanted to leave Xiao Bei in the capital as well, and it took a lot of persuasion from Xiang Xiang to convince him.
“Don’t just worry about your family’s affairs, but when you’re out there yourself, you need to be more careful about everything. Don’t let me get things done, but if you go wrong, I won’t be able to forgive you.”
Zhou Xian Yang thought to himself, “Your Highness is accustomed to using the toughest words to say the gentlest things. He didn’t care about the eyes of the onlookers and hugged and kissed her for a long time before he left.
This time, the separation was even more tormented than the last time, and the meeting also forgot the rules for a moment, letting him linger for a long time before reluctantly pushing him away.
“Quickly go, go early and return early.”