21 Preparation

After the crown prince left the high platform in front of the throne room, he was escorted by numerous palace guards to the East Palace.

Only then did Bai Chengze step down to the hundreds of levels. "The direct descendant has a difference" Bai Chengze knew this very well.

Bai Chengze muttered these words in his heart, then suddenly turned his head to look at the tall and lofty Hall of Golden Chimes, so what if the empress had given birth to a direct descendant? As long as it was a dragon, they had the right to sit on that chair in the palace. Their royal father was also not the empress of the Middle Palace.

"Master." After Bai Chengze stepped down from the steps, the eunuch who served him came up to welcome him.

"Return to the manor." Bai Chengze didn't stop and walked straight out of the palace with a calm expression.

Gao Deng followed Bai Chengze and left the palace. Only then did he speak to Bai Chengze in a low voice, "Master, this servant sent the Guan Yin image that this servant sought for the Empress into Qi Fang Palace. The Empress really likes it."

"Is my mufei doing well?" Bai Chengze asked.

Gao Deng did not dare to lie to Bai Chengze, and quickly said in a low voice: "Master, the newly chosen beautiful girl entered the palace a few days ago."

Bai Chengze did not say anything else. When a pretty girl entered the palace, no one would be in a good mood like the woman in the palace. Concubines was chosen once every three years. Bai Chengze felt that the last talent show had just ended, but he didn't expect it to happen again so soon.

Gao Deng continued, "The Empress also sent a servant to deliver a message to Master. The Second Miss of the Residence of An is not blessed."

Bai Chengze urged his horse to a distance away from Bai Deng. Was it An Jin'sthat was unlucky, or was it that he had no fate with her? He had met An Jin twice. Back at the Eastern Palace, the girl had put on beautiful makeup. Back at the An clan's incense garden, the girl had put on clean makeup. As he read the name 'An Jin', Bai Chengze could not bear to part with it. The Crown Prince had spoken the truth, it was a pity that he matched Shangguan Yong's name to that beauty.

"Master," Gao Deng caught up again. "The Grand Preceptor."

Bai Chengze didn't need Gao Deng to remind him. He had seen Grand Preceptor An and Shangguan Yong enter a restaurant. "Were they going there to discuss the marriage?" Thinking of this, Bai Chengze felt that it was absurd, but at the same time, he felt annoyed. He suddenly whipped his horse and galloped forward.

Grand Preceptor An didn't notice that the Fifth Prince had passed in front of him on horseback. He brought Shangguan Yong into the capital's finest restaurant, and sat down opposite of Shangguan Yong in the small room. He asked, "When do you want to marry this old man's second daughter?"

Shangguan Yong wanted to say tomorrow, but after some hesitation, he said: "I want to wait for three days."

"Three days later?" Grand Preceptor An asked.

Shangguan Yong nodded and said seriously: "This general hopes the sooner the better."

Grand Preceptor An knew that if he continued to talk to Shangguan Yong now, he would only be an exception. If that was the case, Shangguan Yong wouldn't have believed that An Jinxiu was living a good life at home. Add to that the words that Eunuch Xie had mentioned this morning, Grand Preceptor An nodded towards Shangguan Yong, saying, "You can arrange the marriage in three days?" If you have something difficult to deal with, you might as well tell me. "

Shangguan Yong didn't look at Grand Preceptor An, but shook his head. "No."

His future son-in-law's ignorance had angered Grand Preceptor An. How was he going to arrange a wedding ceremony in three days? The imperial court, "Grand Preceptor An said kindly," Yesterday, His Majesty bestowed upon us a large amount of gold, silver, and jade artifacts. His edict said that they were to be used as dowry for Ah Jin.

Shangguan Yong said, "Your Majesty is merciful."

"You don't understand what I'm saying!" Grand Preceptor An sighed, finding such a son-in-law for himself was asking for trouble.

Shangguan Yong looked at Grand Preceptor An with a puzzled expression. What did the dowry that the Emperor had bestowed upon her have to do with him? He wasn't the type to covet his wife's dowry.

"His Majesty bestowed a treasure to add dowry to Ah Jin," Grand Preceptor An had no choice but to explain, "General, how simple was your wedding with my daughter? This is a marriage bestowed by the Emperor.

On the day of marriage, you and my daughter even got the chance to kowtow in front of the palace door to express your gratitude to the e

Emperor. Do you really know the severity of this marriage? "

Shangguan Yong sat there in a daze for a long time. How could he have thought of so much?

"Just listen to everything I say," Grand Preceptor An didn't want to waste any more words with Shangguan Yong. "We'll be family in the future, so there's no need for family members to talk about two things at once.

"Grand, Grand Preceptor," Shangguan Yong vaguely felt that there was something wrong with his future father-in-law's words, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong.

"You can go," Grand Preceptor An caught up to Shangguan Yong and left. "I'll send someone to your estate to help you. In three days, this old man will be waiting for you to come invite me to your wedding."

"Then …"

"Do you think I will harm you?" Grand Preceptor An waved a hand at Shangguan Yong. "Hurry up and go."

Shangguan Yong muddled out of the tavern, unable to even drink a single mouthful of water.

Grand Preceptor An sat alone in a small room, staring at the table full of fine wine and delicious dishes without the slightest bit of appetite. The Emperor had actually set their sights on An Jin. When Grand Preceptor An thought about it carefully, his clothes were drenched in sweat.

In this world, there were many people who wanted to send their daughters to the palace, hoping that their daughters would be favored by the imperial court, and that the entire clan would follow them to heaven. But for a clan like the An clan, the most disdainful thing would be sending their women to the palace for favors.

After drinking a cup of wine at the wine shop, Grand Preceptor An returned home and told her mother about Shangguan Yong's visit three days later to escort and marry Ah Jin. "There's still a big marriage to be arranged, otherwise His Majesty …"

"I know what you mean," Matriarch He didn't even let Grand Preceptor An finish his words before she spoke again. "His Majesty bestowed upon us the fortune of our estate to weave a concubine born and arrange a wedding ceremony. Otherwise, what will we do when the young masters and mistresses marry each other?"

"Mother," Grand Preceptor An couldn't tell his mother the truth, so he could only say, "Even a son has his own intentions when it comes to the grand scheme of things. I have my own guilt towards this child, Ah Jin."

"This is even more absurd," the matriarch said immediately. "Why do you feel ashamed raising her? Shangguan Yong is also a court official, after she marries, she will still be the principal wife, I don't see how you treated her badly. Did Aunt Xiu tell you something? " Seeing Grand Preceptor An speaking up for her, the matriarch couldn't help but suspect that the concubine had been bragging in his ear.

"How can she intervene in Ah Jin's marriage?" Grand Preceptor An asked. "Mother, His Majesty is already dissatisfied with us waiting forAh Jin ceremony. If the Ah Jin wedding doesn't go well, it'd be bad if His Majesty gets angry."

Why would the Emperor be angry when he was married to a daughter? When Matriarch Zhou saw Grand Preceptor An's hesitant expression, she suddenly understood something. She only felt her vision darken. "You really have a good daughter!" Matriarch Zhou slapped the table as she spoke to Grand Preceptor An.

Grand Preceptor An was speechless.

"What can this servant's stomach grow?" The Grand Preceptor's mother and son were the only two in the room, so he wasn't polite at all when he spoke.

Grand Preceptor An lowered his head to listen to the lecture. He had spent the rest of his life in the imperial court, and had truly never done much in the inner chamber. Today, when he heard Matriarch Zhou speak of servants and saints, he thought to himself, No wonder née Qin and An Jinge are saying this too.

"We can't start a big wedding," Matriarch He scolded before speaking to Grand Preceptor An.

"Why is that?" Grand Preceptor An hastened to ask.

Matriarch He said softly, "This world belongs to His Majesty. Who would dare not to offer something that he has his eyes on?" Were the things bestowed by His Majesty really dowry for the Ah Jin? "It's better if we pretend that we don't know anything. It's better for everyone to just safely send that little girl into the Shangguan family."

The matriarch and her son spent the night discussing the matters in the Residence of Peace, while the group of brothers busied themselves for the rest of the night. After the new house was tidied up, Shangguan Yong and his brothers busily tidied up the yard and temporarily got some greenery so that the small yard in the mansion would look as good as it did.

As they worked, Shangguan Yong's brothers all complained to Shangguan Yong. Judging from Grand Preceptor An's words, marriage arrangements will be made by the Residence of Tranquil East, so was their eldest brother going to marry or marry into the family?

Shangguan Yong only understood after hearing his brothers' complaints. In the restaurant, he felt that something was wrong.

It was only after the military officials followed Shangguan Yong and complained to him that some of the military officials remembered that they didn't think too well of Shangguan Yong's father-in-law's family. They hastened to add, "Big brother, we had no other intentions, but we felt that the Grand Preceptor was underestimating us too much." For you to be able to get married, your brothers are all happy for you. "

Shangguan Yong smiled innocently, wiped away the sweat on his face, and buried his head in his work again. Originally, Shangguan Yong only felt that he could marry his daughter from the An clan and take care of this important matter in his life. It was only when he saw his fiancée in the incense garden of the An clan that Shangguan Yong truly felt the need to marry and start a family.

Shangguan Yong didn't know what was going on. He only remembered that his father had once said that the woman he took a fancy to at first glance was a woman who could live with him for a lifetime.

Shangguan Yong thought back to the An Jin he had seen in the incense garden yesterday, the light blue dress alone had almost disturbed his heart. With just that one glance, Shangguan Yong knew that this girl called An Jin would be someone he would spend the rest of his life with.

"Brother, drink some water," Shangguan Rui handed a bowl of water to Shangguan Yong, but unexpectedly saw the silly smile on his elder brother's face. Shangguan Rui's hand trembled, and he almost threw the water bowl on the ground.

Shangguan Rui's face twisted slightly, but Shangguan Yong didn't notice it at all. He drank the water in one gulp, then raised his head to look at the sky.

As for An Jin? She knew nothing about what happened outside the pavilion. Sitting in front of her embroidery rack, An Jinxiu was completely focused on her work. Zi Yuan was also silent as she sat by the side. The master and the servant were busy with their tasks, and the candles in the pavilion had once again burned for the entire night.

The next morning, when the young generation of the Residence of An paid their respects to the matriarch, she found out that her wedding was in two days' time.

Matriarch gave a cold snort and said to her, "We have arranged this marriage in a hurry, but this is not our intention. It is because that General Shangguan is anxious to marry you, afraid that you will be bullied in our Residence of Peace."