Chapter 304 - Some Misgivings & Become the County Lady

Ji Weiguan entered the palace at this time. He probably had nothing else to do except to speak for his wife. However, even the Empress Dowager didn’t expect that he would propose to give up the dukedom of the Ji Family in exchange for not relegating Grand Princess Daiguo.

“What nonsense!” Hearing him out, the Empress Dowager who was sullen looked angrier. Before Emperor Xianjia could speak, she scolded, “Your ancestors earned this dukedom by risking their lives in the wars. They left it to the future generations of your family. You think you can decide this alone? There are no outsiders here. I’ll be frank with you. Zifu is an idler and doesn’t work. If he doesn’t have the dukedom, what do you want them to live on in the future? You want my grandson to worry about the basic necessities of life in the future, just like common people?”

The Empress Dowager’s favorite grandson must be Jian Xubai, who was raised by her in person. Even several other grandsons couldn’t be favored like that. However, that didn’t mean she didn’t care about her other grandchildren at all. Ji Zifu was the only one who idled about all day and was unambitious among the Empress Dowager’s grandchildren. Such a junior would not only disappoint the elders, but also worry them.

So she refused without hesitation, “What’s more, I have just reached an agreement about Daiguo’s matter with the emperor…”

Speaking of this, she glanced sideways at Emperor Xianjia, who smiled apologetically in a hurry and said, “Yes, Mother.”

Turning to Ji Weiguan, the emperor said in a calm and distant tone, “Weiguan, you don’t have to worry. Daiguo will still be the grand princess in the future.”

However, Ji Weiguan, who was kneeling below, refused to get up. After kowtowing, he said sincerely, “Husband should guide his wife. Daiguo did wrong things because I failed to do the duty as her husband and guide her! I should be the one who is punished not her! Mother and Your Majesty, you are generous and kind, but there are laws in a country and rules in a family. The ancients also said that if a prince violates the law, he must be punished like an ordinary person, let alone that I’m inferior to a prince! Mother, Your Majesty, please give me your consent and deprive our Ji Family of the dukedom to maintain the laws and fulfill our wish!”

Emperor Xianjia and the crown prince looked at each other and then both looked carefully at the Empress Dowager, “What Weiguan said made sense…”

“You and Daiguo are going to be grandparents.” The Empress Dowager did not look at the emperor and the crown prince, but looked coldly at Ji Weiguan, “But Zifu has not been married, and he has always been unfettered. What do you want him to live on in the future without the dukedom?”

Ji Weiguan hurriedly said, “The ancestors of our Ji Family left some property to us. Zifu is the only son of me and Daiguo. Even if the property will be divided between him and my nephew Mingfei, I guess it’s enough for them to be better off for a lifetime!”

“Well, Xianjia, what do you think?” Hearing this, the Empress Dowager kept silent for a long time before she asked with hesitation.

Emperor Xianjia pondered and said carefully, “Mother, I think…”

Before he finished speaking, the Empress Dowager suddenly looked at the crown prince, “Kid, what do you think?”

The crown prince was stunned and subconsciously said, “Grandma, no matter what decision you’ll make, I’m in favor of it!”

“He-he!” After hearing this, the Empress Dowager sneered and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she already looked calm, “Since you two have no objections, what else can I say?”

Ji Weiguan who was below the red stairs kowtowed again in a hurry, “Mother, Your Majesty, Your Highness, thank you for doing me this kindness!”

“Mother, Weiguan wants to be punished in place of my sister, and I previously wanted to relegate my sister as a princess. Since Weiguan has made this request, I’ll just relegate him to an earl.” After Ji Weiguan got up, Emperor Xianjia said to the Empress Dowager, “I have no intention of depriving the Ji Family’s dukedom. After all, I’m Zifu’s uncle.”

At this point, he quietly glanced at the crown prince with a slightly disappointed look.

In fact, he wanted the crown prince to say these words, but the crown prince couldn’t play to the score tactically and failed to tell his intention. Seeing that depriving the dukedom of the Ji Family was about to a foregone conclusion, the emperor had to say these words himself.

Therefore, the emperor was not only disappointed with the crown prince but also feel embarrassed when he looked at Ji Weiguan below, “The crown prince is so simple and he only relegated Marquis Fuyang of the Ji Family to Earl Fuyang. Will it be enough?”

However, if he deprived the dukedom of the Ji Family as Ji Weiguan requested, countless people might start to bully Grand Princess Daiguo for her previous arrogance and rudeness.

After all, whether grand princesses could be respected and prestigious was related to the emperor’s favor. If the emperor relegated Daiguo, it meant she was no longer favored by the emperor. If her husband was also relegated at this time, she would lose all her backers. None of her father, husband, and son could support her. Then how could others value her and respect her?

She had never gone through any hardships in her life. Even if she wouldn’t be bullied and tormented, she would be in a great grievance.

He thought of the time when they faced the enemy together and he was seriously ill. If his sister hadn’t asked Ji Weiguan to secretly send him out of the palace for treatment, he would probably have died. The emperor sighed inwardly. The crown prince was good at managing affairs and was simple because the situation had always been favorable to him. After he died and the crown prince lost his backing, the crown prince would probably change and become shrewd?

If the crown prince really couldn’t change, it was no use even if he hardened his heart and wiped out the Ji Family for him.

After sending Ji Weiguan away, Emperor Xianjia saw that the Empress Dowager still looked sullen. He thought for a moment and motioned for the crown prince to leave first, and he stayed, “Mother, I need your advice on one thing!”

The Empress Dowager said coldly, “You are always full of ideas. How come you need to ask others for advice? What’s more, I’m old and could only idle away my rest time. What advice can I give to you?”

“Mother, it’s something about the crown prince and his wife.” Emperor Xianjia said in a soft voice, “The crown princess has given birth to Zhongling. I want to get rid of her, but I have to spare a thought for Zhongling. Now, I don’t know what to do. After thinking about it, I can only ask for your advice!”

“The crown princess?” The Empress Dowager frowned and snorted, “You chose her as your daughter-in-law in person, didn’t you? You always say she is a good daughter-in-law, and I also like her. Why do you suddenly want to get rid of her?”

Emperor Xianjia didn’t mind the Empress Dowager’s mocking tone, and smiled apologetically, “I chose her as my daughter-in-law back then because I took a fancy to the prominent Wei Family behind her. But the main reason was that I heard she was intelligent and smart. However, judging from what happened this time, I found that she was too smart!”

After a pause, he said helplessly, “Compared with her, the crown prince is naive and simple!”

“You like the crown prince because of his naive and simple character, don’t you?” The Empress Dowager sneered at his words and said, “Prince of Wei and Prince of Zhao are sensible, but you don’t even want to keep them around you and had them adopted. Well? Now, you’ve changed your mind and think the crown prince is not good enough?”

“Mother!” Without hesitation, Emperor Xianjia lifted his robe and knelt down. Then he said in a deep voice, “Prince of Wei and Prince of Zhao are both my own children. Prince of Zhao is even my legitimate son. I only have these several children. Although they were adopted by my brothers, I was also distressed! For their futures and preventing them from hurting each other, I had to do that!”

Speaking of this, the emperor choked up, “I know why you are angry with me. You blame me for punishing Daiguo like that and think the crown prince doesn’t have qualified character and ability to be an emperor! I agree with that. If I have ten more years. No, five more years or even three more years! If I have three more years, I will also consider selecting another prince as the heir to the throne and carefully teach Prince of Zhao!”

When the Empress Dowager heard this, she was shocked and said, “What… What do you mean by ten years, five years? You are in your prime! I… I’m much older than you, but I still…”

“I’m lucky to see that you are so healthy.” Emperor Xianjia lay prone on the Empress Dowager’s knees and smiled sadly, “But I can’t hold on anymore. Otherwise, I would never make such a bad decision!”

Seeing the Empress Dowager’s astounded expression, the emperor was calm, “My health had been ravaged in those years. The reason why I was able to ascend the throne was that I had been holding on with my last breath! I thought I wouldn’t live long after I ascended the throne, so I sent Gu Shao back to his hometown early! However, God took pity on me, and has let me rule this country for 21 years!”

At this point, he closed his eyes slightly and sighed softly. The dignity revealed by his features remained the same, but the strong fatigue could also be found on his face!

The Empress Dowager opened her mouth and tears flowed down her cheeks into her mouth, but she didn’t notice it. She trembled for a long time and then said, “The imperial physicians always talk nonsense! Over the years, although you often feel unwell, you gradually recovered, didn’t you? Besides, you are of noble status. They would get all the rarity medicinal materials for you, right? After twenty years of recuperation, even if it was a serious chronic disease, it could be cured, right? You… You…”

The Empress Dowager was finally too sad to go on. She stroked the emperor’s hair with trembling hand and shed floods of tears!

“Among the five princes of mine, Prince of Shu is the same age as Zhongling. They are still children, and there’s no need to talk about him.” Emperor Xianjia felt the warmth of the warm tears dripping on his cheek. He kept silent for a while and continued calmly, “Prince of Liang was raised by Cui. He was originally raised as an idle prince, and he didn’t show any outstanding qualities, so there’s no point in talking about him.”

“Daiguo decided that Prince of Wei was an ideal person to compete for being the heir to the throne with other children. However, you know that no matter how I spoil Daiguo, the country will eventually be dominated by people surnamed Lu!”

“In fact, Prince of Zhao is the most qualified one. He is as broad-minded and generous as the crown prince, but compared with the crown price, he has an obvious bearing of emperors. However, he was born too late!”

Emperor Xianjia lowered his head and the expression on his face couldn’t be seen, but the Empress Dowager could still feel his agony and hesitation from his tone, “He is only 13 years old this year, and his natural endowments only represent his potential, not current strength! Without educating him for at least three years, I’m really not sure whether he could check and balance the court with his own strength after he ascends the throne!”

If Prince of Zhao couldn’t seize the power firmly by himself, he could only turn to his mother’s family for help.

Especially he was always on good terms with the Su Family.

“If it’s other big families, it doesn’t matter. How long have the six influential families existed? The old dynasty has been replaced with new ones several times, but they are still prosperous!” Emperor Xianjia sobbed, “How domineering they were when they were in power in the past! In Yong Dynasty, when the imperial competition was just set up, they forced Emperor Changtai to depose the first legitimate son of the empress and appoint his second son who married the daughter of the Su Family in Qingzhou as the crown prince! Such a family has a deep foundation that even our royal family couldn’t compare with it! Therefore, I never dared to take risks. I was afraid that they would revitalize their family and regain their past glory as long as I gave them a chance!”

The glory of the influential families means the concession of imperial power!

The Empress Dowager was not in the mood to think about these things at all. She loved Grand Princess Daiguo and Ji Zifu, but the one she loved most was Emperor Xianjia!

After all, he was her only living son, and her confidence that enabled her to take revenge on Noble Consort Shentu and Madame Zhenyuan back then!

If she hadn’t had such a son, she would not have got a chance to be the Empress Dowager of the Palace of Mingren!

The reason why the Empress Dowager pressed Emperor Xianjia for Grand Princess Daiguo and her family was that she didn’t know the real condition of Emperor Xianjia. She only thought that the emperor had always made it through over these years, and he could do that again this time. Therefore, she naturally cared more about her youngest daughter who looked pitiful!

At this time, after hearing that Emperor Xianjia’s days are numbered, the Empress Dowager was flustered and shocked. She pleaded incoherently, “I won’t mention those things anymore. I only want you to be okay… Good boy, stop worrying about those things, okay? Anyway, you said that the crown prince was good at handling state affairs. Let him and his courtiers take care of the country. You will recover if you recuperate as before… How can you be terminally ill? What should I do if you die?”

The Empress Dowager cried, “Let me die in your stead! It’s useless for me to live so long! You are the most important to the country and people… I’m old and have one foot in the grave but still alive. You are so young but your days are numbered. Why?”

“Mother, don’t say that,” Emperor Xianjia casually wiped his face, took out his handkerchief from his sleeve, raised his head to wipe the tears on the Empress Dowager’s face. Then he comforted her in a low voice, “Illness and death are inevitable. It is a great favor that God can allow me to arrange everything before my death. Mother, please hear me out. The crown prince is not as qualified as Prince of Zhao, but he has one advantage, that is, he was raised by me alone. He is not particularly close to the courtiers, not even to his wife’s maiden family the Wei Family! In addition, Gu Shao, who was left to him by me, is also old and has no promising offspring in his family. I guess he could only be a loyal and honest courtier.”

The Empress Dowager was just crying and didn’t pay attention to what he was saying.

Emperor Xianjia sighed and stopped explaining why he had to choose the crown prince. In short, he had no choice. Only two of the five sons were really cut out for being the crown prince. The younger one had better natural endowments but he was raised by the empress and the Su Family. The elder one had inferior natural endowments, but he was raised by the emperor personally.

So, if only one of them could be chosen, anyone would trust the one who was raised up by himself personally, right?

He pondered for a while and got back to what he wanted to say earlier, “I thought that although the crown prince respected the crown princess, he didn’t spoil her, let alone acting upon whatever she said. This is what I wanted to see. After all, the ancestors of the Wei Family are similar to the Su Family. I don’t want consorts’ family to be in power in our dynasty!”

“But from what happened this time, I found that the Wei Family was declining. And the crown princess bewildered the crown prince and made him obey her words coincidently! If she wasn’t Zhongling’s biological mother, I wouldn’t have had any misgivings, but she is!”

Emperor Xianjia laughed bitterly and said, “I’m really worried about keeping such a woman who is loved and trusted by the crown prince around him! If I get rid of her, I’m afraid that Zhongling will suffer!”

Commandery Prince Zhongling was the emperor’s favorite grandson at present. His origin, performance, natural endowments, and teachers all dissuaded Emperor Xianjia from giving him up easily.

The emperor himself suffered a lot after his father gave him up. The first legitimate son of the official wife, who was only eight years old, would suffer many losses in the struggle in the harem without the protection of his mother. The emperor knew this best!

After sobbing for a while, the Empress Dowager pulled herself together under the comfort of Emperor Xianjia, roused herself to ask what happened, and also felt that this was a tricky matter, “The crown prince trusts you very much. It’s not difficult to remind him to guard against the crown princess in the future. The problem is that the crown prince is still young. If this thing sows discord between him and the crown princess, he might also dislike Zhongling in the future!”

“This kind of thing can’t be told to others. So, I can only ask you for advice!” Emperor Xianjia poured a cup of tea for the Empress Dowager with a bitter smile. When he lowered his head, the look in his eyes was already calm. He knew his condition well. Even if he was unwilling to die and worried about the crown prince very much, he had no other choices and had aired his grievances in private. Today, he told the Empress Dowager about his condition and was more worried that she was too old to accept it.

Seeing that the Empress Dowager had calmed down, he quickly regained his usual composure. In fact, he already had a plan about how to deal with the crown princess. Asking the Empress Dowager for advice on it was just an excuse to help him repair the relationship between him and the Empress Dowager.

However, the Empress Dowager did not know his thought. She carefully considered it for a while before giving her opinion, “The crown princess is usually sensible and considerate of the crown prince. Back then, Cui Jianlian always made trouble and the crown princess mainly chose to tolerate her. Obviously, children from decent families are more judicious and generous. Even if she is shrewder than the crown prince now, I guess it’s because they are still a very young couple, and the crown prince has been protected by you without experiencing any hardships. When he gets older, he won’t continue to obey all the crown princess’s words.”

After a pause, the Empress Dowager continued, “The most important thing is that you favor the crown prince, and at present, the crown prince has no other promising children except Zhongling. At this critical juncture, the Eastern Palace should remain stable and not have any changes!”

Speaking of this, she whispered, “What do you think?”

“Mother, you are totally right!” This was also Emperor Xianjia’s plan. They looked at each other and knew each other’s thoughts. Although the emperor’s days were numbered, the Empress Dowager became more vigorous with age. The crown princess’s mother-in-law Noble Consort Cui was dead. Empress Su had an awkward relationship with the crown prince and the crown princess. In the future, even if Empress Su became the Empress Dowager later, she was in an awkward position to discipline them. The Empress Dowager was the crown princess’s grandmother and could do that properly!

If the Empress Dowager was always healthy, she could watch Commandery Prince Zhongling grow up.

At that time, if she still had misgivings, she could find a reason to get rid of the crown princess before she died.

The reason why Emperor Xianjia was willing to let the crown princess go was actually for the sake of the relationship between the Empress Dowager and the crown prince. The two were originally very close, but there was an estrangement between them because of the matter of Grand Princess Daiguo. At present, the emperor couldn’t take his time to mediate between them anymore. The Empress Dowager was the crown prince’s grandmother. Even if the emperor was dead, the crown prince could not do anything to the Empress Dowager, but the emperor still wanted them to make it up.

“When Mother heard that I won’t live long, she was no longer in the mood to oppose the crown prince’s accession to the throne. I can entrust the crown princess to her, secretly leave a testamentary edict, and order someone to hand it over to the crown prince after Zhongling grows up. In the future, the crown prince will know that his Grandmother loves him, and there will be no more estrangement between them,” When Emperor Xianjia thought of this, he let out a sigh of relief. With that, he suddenly felt violent dizziness!

“Are you okay?” The Empress Dowager was still considering whether it was appropriate to deal with crown princess like that. Seeing that something was wrong with him, she was shocked and hurriedly supported him with her hand. When she was about to call the servants in, Emperor Xianjia waved his hand weakly and whispered to stop her, “Mother, no… The fight for the title of heir to the throne has just ended. I have to hold on for a few more days. Otherwise, it will cause chaos. We can’t… We can’t…let the news about my condition get out!”

In the Qingxi Hall, when the Empress Dowager was worried about the emperor and in a state of utter stupefaction, Empress Su and her son were also in a sad atmosphere in the Changle Hall of the Palace of Weiyang.

“His Majesty has talked to Grand Princess Jinguo about your marriage.” After a long silence, Empress Su forced a smile and said, “In two days, Nie Wuying will be appointed as County Lady and be betrothed to you.”

Empress Su Looked at Prince of Zhao. No, it should be Prince of Su. Prince of Su nodded expressionlessly. She was seized by sudden sadness and hurriedly turned her head to hide her emotions, “Prince of Su’s mansion is already under construction. Have you been there and seen it? Are you satisfied with it? If not…”

“It’s very good.” Prince of Su interrupted her in a flat tone, “Besides, any small favor is His Majesty’s grace.”

Empress Su turned pale when she heard this. She opened her mouth and then closed it, trying to say something to comfort him, but she couldn’t think of any suitable words. Instead, her tears fell uncontrollably. Prince of Su below the red stairs heard her repressed sobs and looked up. His pupils shrank and softened his tone, “I won’t live there for too long. Mother… Your Majesty, you don’t have to worry about me too much. Besides, that mansion was built under His Majesty’s order. The Ministry of Works won’t dare to cheat in work and cut down on materials.”

After a pause, he said, “Besides, I don’t care about those things…”

Noticing that the empress cried more sadly when she heard this, Prince of Su closed his eyes and said after a moment, “Maybe I can send someone to ask about Wuying’s preference and let them make some changes according to it?”

In fact, he didn’t want to see Nie Wuying recently. It was not because that he didn’t like Nie Wuying who had a compromising origin. Although Prince of Su didn’t get the meticulous care and favor of Emperor Xianjia since he was a child like the crown prince, he also grew up under the care of countless people. Moreover, he was 12 years younger than the crown prince.

When a 13-year-old boy was hit by a blow that his father directly had him adopted by an uncle he had never seen before, Prince of Su still couldn’t recover from it so far. He just felt that there was no place to vent his emotions and didn’t know how to vent them. The dual dignity of being young and noble made him instinctively want to hide so that he wouldn’t see all kinds of mocking or compassionate eyes.

If Nie Wuying looked at him with compassionate eyes, Prince of Su who was so young couldn’t imagine how cruel it would be.

If it weren’t his mother who summoned him on this day, he wouldn’t even have entered the palace at all.

However, in order to comfort Empress Su, he could only mention Nie Wuying. Sure enough, the empress looked less sad when she heard this. After wiping her face casually, she restrained her tears and said softly, “It’s the right thing to do. She’s the future hostess. You don’t care about it but she might do. You should ask her about preferences about the mansion.”

The reason why the empress mentioned Nie Wuying on her own initiative was naturally that she thought the only thing that could comfort her son was that he could marry the girl he loved after suffering such a crushing defeat.

In fact, back then, Grand Princess Jinguo didn’t want Prince of Su to be her son-in-law, and the empress did not want Nie Wuying to be her daughter-in-law, either. After all, Nie Wuying’s origin had long been a known secret among the first-rate nobles. Who would want his son to marry an illegitimate daughter whose father was a mystery?

However, the empress was very satisfied with Nie Wuying at present. No matter how compromising that girl’s origin was, Grand Princess Jinguo truly loved her!

Prince of Su, who suffered a crushing defeat in the fight for the title of heir to the throne, needed the support and protection of Grand Princess Jinguo at the time!

“This pair of blood jade hairpins carved with a pair of lovebirds and twinned trunks was made by Ye Zhufu, a famous craftsman in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Wei. They were the dowry of the young lady of our Su Family in Qingzhou when she married into the Shen Family in the West Liang Region,” Empress Su pulled out the red sandalwood wooden box she had already prepared from the pier table. The wooden box was about 30 centimeters long. The lid of the box was carved with twin lotus flowers on one stalk and a pair of lovebirds. Its both sides were carved with tangled peony flowers and leaves. The four corners were wrapped in gold foil, and each of them was embedded with a luminous pearl. The box was luxurious but simple, showing clear signs of age.

After the box was opened, there were a pair of blood jade hairpins on the brocade pad in the box, bright-red as blood and very delicate. The body of the hairpin was rounded. The head of it was ornamented with a pair of lovebirds and the other end was ornamented with twinned trunks. The feathers of the lovebirds were true to nature and the branches and leaves were like fresh ones.

The empress looked at the pair of blood jade hairpins with a look of recalling the past in her eyes, “At that time, the third son of the Shen Family in the West Liang Region, Shen Zangfeng, was the heir. Shen Zangfeng was engaged to the Wei Family’s legitimate daughter in Fengzhou since childhood. This pair of hairpins was sent to the Wei Family’s legitimate daughter before they got married. Later, although she and Shen Zangfeng experienced the troubled times during the late Wei Dynasty and early Yong Dynasty, they still loved each other for a lifetime and grew old together.”

She handed the box to Prince of Su, “When Shen Zangfeng’s granddaughter got married, she took the pair of hairpins back to the Su Family in Qingzhou. More than 200 years later, they were used as the most precious dowry when I married His Majesty. Now I give them to Nie Wuying as a gift. I hope you can be safe and happy and enjoy a happy life with a lot of children and grandchildren even if you two experience twists and turns like Shen Zangfeng and the Wei Family’s daughter in the future!”

After the red sandalwood box and Empress Su’s blessing words were sent to Grand Princess Jinguo, Grand Princess Jinguo stroked the box and sighed for a long time. Then she ordered someone to call Nie Wuying to her, “Put away these hairpins. They are not only valuable but also the empress’s sincere blessing!”

Nie Wuying carefully took them, “Yes!”

Grand Princess Jinguo agreed that Wuying could take this pair of blood jade hairpins, which meant that she had agreed to Nie Wuying’s marriage semi-publicly.

Two days later, the Empress Dowager’s decree was handed down. County Lady Jingmin and County Lady Jinghui were conferred on Pei Yourui and Nie Wuying respectively.

Jingmin and Jinghui were not county names, but pure titles. Originally, the royal family only planned to confer County Lady on Nie Wuying for fear that Nie Wuying’s original status would disgrace Prince of Su.

After all, Prince of Su failed in the fight for the title of heir to the throne and had been at a low ebb. At this time, if the official wife he took was not an illegitimate daughter of a noble family, even if others knew that he and Nie Wuying were already in love, they would inevitably think that the previous legitimate son of the emperor had become someone insignificant and that he couldn’t marry a princess consort with a decent background and could only marry an “adoptive daughter” whose father was unknown.

However, given Emperor Xianjia’s thought of compensating Prince of Su and Prince of Su’s future, Nie Wuying was the most suitable wife for Prince of Su.

Therefore, they could only promote Nie Wuying’s status. However, Nie Wuying’s father was unknown. His “adoptive mother” was already a grand princess. The only way to promote her status was to confer a title on her.

As an “adoptive daughter”, she was ranked lower than biological daughters, so she was only promoted to a County Lady. However, the royal family’s attitude was obvious. Although Princess Consort of Su’s origin was compromising, she was recognized and valued by the royal family.

They married her off to Prince of Su which didn’t mean that they looked down on Prince of Su!

When the Empress Dowager’s decree was just drawn up, Grand Princess Jinguo personally came to the palace after hearing the news and came to Emperor Xianjia, “Now Yourui is my daughter and gets along with Wuying like biological sisters. Although Yourui is always sensible and she will never nurse a grievance if you only confer the title on Wuying, it makes me feel like she is neglected.”

County Ladies seemed noble to outsiders. For the royal family, it only meant an edict and one more person’s salary. The emperor had always respected Grand Princess Jinguo. When he heard that, he granted her request without thinking, “Then I’ll confer County Lady on both of them!”

In this way, Pei Yourui became Jingmin County Lady by sponging off of Nie Wuying.

However, although many people envy her good luck, Pei Yourui didn’t feel overjoyed for that. After thanking the emperor, she still stayed at home to observe mourning for her father. She spoke and behaved as usual, without the slightest intention of being overjoyed and arrogant because she had become a County Lady.

Some jealous people privately said that she was arrogant. She was just an orphan whose parents died and was not close to her brother and sister-in-law. How could she be treated so well by Grand Princess Jinguo?

When Grand Princess Jinguo heard such rumors, she sneered, “I like Yourui because she is never tempted and confused by wealth. If she were someone who would become arrogant after being promoted, I would never like her. And who said she is an orphan? Isn’t an adoptive mother a mother?”

After the Grand Princess’s words came out, Pei Yourui acquired a reputation as a down-to-earth and very filial daughter. Although she was already considered old enough, she could only get married after she finished observing mourning for her father. However, more and more people came to ask the Grand Princess about Pei Yourui’s marriage and showed their intention of bringing up proposal of marriage.

Pei Yourui refused to talk about marriage on the pretext that she was observing mourning for her father no matter who came to propose marriage. The Grand Princess didn’t want to blame her. Thinking that she was in good health and could protect her for some years, she let the matter go.

A few days later after Nie Wuying became the County Lady. The imperial edict was sent to her and granted her marriage to Prince of Su.