klisemfg Chapter 310
Chapter 310
Speaking of this, Mrs. Zhang lowered her voice, and Second Aunt Yu also wore a mysterious smile. Yue Fuguang, who was always eager for gossip, instantly smelled drama in the air.Something was definitely going on!
Mrs. Zhang whispered, "A few days ago, when your three older brothers were coming home for their end-of-month break, they saved a mother and daughter on the way."
Yue Fuguang couldn't help but widen her eyes, looking at Mrs. Zhang with suspicion. It couldn't be such a coincidence!
The Yu family wouldn't have deliberately staged a hero-saving-the-beauty scene just to marry a girl, would they?
But she quickly shook her head. No, they wouldn't go that far!
"Mother, are the girl and mother that Eldest Brother and the others saved Hong Yueling and Madam Fang?" Yue Fuguang directly voiced her guess.
Mrs. Zhang nodded. "Our Fuguang is indeed smart, guessing it right away! We later found out that Lord Hong has been ill recently and hasn't been getting better, so Madam Fang took Miss Hong to the temple to pray for him.
Who knew they would encounter highwaymen on the road? If they hadn't happened to run into your eldest brother and the others passing by on their way home from the academy, and since our family has many guards, that mother and daughter would have probably suffered a terrible fate."
[Master, the Hong mother and daughter went to pray because Hong Feng was bewitched by Concubine Mu into sending them. Moreover, other than the carriage driver, they only brought one guard; the rest were all maids and old female servants.
Those highwaymen were also local thugs hired by Concubine Mu.]
'This Hong Feng supposedly angered the Emperor and was despised by him, ordered to reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors. He can't even stay peaceful at home, taking his anger out on his wife and daughter!
And that Concubine Mu, what kind of trouble is she stirring up now?'
[Seeing that the marriage alliance between the Hong and Murong families fell through, Concubine Mu's goal of finding a high-status match for her son was thwarted, so she was naturally angry.
Furthermore, seeing Hong Feng treating that mother and daughter better day by day since he was punished to stay home, she became anxious to get rid of them so they wouldn't be an eyesore to her and her children.
Hong Feng is easily swayed. When Concubine Mu used the excuse of doing it for his own good, saying that the prayers of the legitimate wife and daughter could dispel bad luck and illness, he believed her!
He completely forgot why the Emperor despised him in the first place.]
Yue Fuguang clicked her tongue. Hong Feng had listened to her entire revelation back then; there was no way he didn't know why the Emperor was angry.
To still act as if nothing happened and let his old mother and Concubine Mu manage the household, she had to admit he was really oblivious.
'No wonder Hong Feng is still just a Reader-in-Waiting at the Hanlin Academy. With his lack of tact, he'll probably die of old age in that position.'
[Master, if the Yu family has such in-laws in the future, let alone being a help, they will purely be a burden.]
'Little Zhu, whether they are a burden or not isn't up to them. They can only hold us back if I let them; if I don't, no one can even think about getting close.'
[Master, do you mean to make Hong Yueling lose her father?]
Hearing the words of the divine artifact and looking at their Fuguang's expression...
The two women tightly gripped their silk handkerchiefs. Although they were afraid, they were mostly moved.
Their Fuguang usually looked cold and indifferent, but she was absolutely devoted to her siblings.
What other family was like theirs, where every single older brother and sister had benefited from their younger sister?
Mrs. Zhang and Second Aunt Yu were actually also worried that the Hong family would hold them back in the future. However, they felt the two children were a good match and couldn't make up their minds, which was why they came to ask their precious darling.
In the words of the old master and old madam, the brothers would all have to rely on their sister in the future and be Fuguang's helpers. Whether this bride could be married in or not also depended on their sister's opinion.
Otherwise, what would they do if they brought home a troublemaker? The Yu family already had one Mrs. Sun, and that was enough!
'As an alternative, Hong Feng can either die or leave the capital with his concubine and son. If Eldest Brother and Hong Yueling get engaged, we'll have the Emperor choose a remote place for Hong Feng and send him off to his new post early, so he doesn't stay here and be an eyesore.'
Mrs. Zhang and the other secretly nodded, both feeling this was a good idea. Deep down, they didn't want an irrelevant person to dirty their daughter's hands.
"Do Mother and Second Aunt mean that because of this incident, Eldest Brother and Miss Hong have taken a liking to each other?"
If Hong Yueling no longer thought about marrying the Crown Prince, having her as a sister-in-law wouldn't be bad.
"The day the Hong family sent their thank-you gifts, you were at school and not home. Miss Hong and Madam Fang came over personally.
Looking at the expressions of your eldest brother and Miss Hong at the time, this marriage should work out."
As long as the two children were willing, their family only needed to propose; even a royal marriage could be secured.
Having such a precious darling at home gave them that much confidence.
Yue Fuguang nodded. "Since that's the case, I also think Miss Hong is quite nice."
Seeing Yue Fuguang agree, Mrs. Zhang smiled and said, "Then Mother will invite Madam Cai to help propose the marriage tomorrow."
Among high-ranking officials in the Great Yan Dynasty, if they truly had their eyes on a family's daughter, to show their respect for her, the proposal wouldn't just involve a matchmaker. They would also find a noble female guest to help propose.
The higher the status of this female guest, the more it demonstrated the groom's family's status and showed their high regard for the bride's side.
"Is the Madam Cai you mentioned Cai Bing's mother? With Madam Cai helping to propose, nothing should go wrong."
The wife of the Minister of Justice certainly had high enough status. Moreover, not only was Madam Cai noble, but she was also straightforward and decisive. She would definitely be able to suppress Hong Feng's mother, who might want to cause trouble in the Hong family, forcing her to bow her head and accept this marriage.
Once the marriage between the two families was settled, Yue Fuguang would send them out of the capital. If they didn't leave, she would send them on their way to the afterlife.
However, as the saying goes, plans cannot keep up with changes. Originally, Mrs. Zhang only invited Madam Cai, but unexpectedly, the news spread very quickly among the ladies.
Before Madam Cai even went to the Hong family, Madam Wei showed up, volunteering to go together with Madam Cai.
How could Mrs. Zhang refuse? She naturally thanked her profusely.
Just as the marriage between the children of the Yu and Hong families reached the stage of exchanging names, two major events occurred in the capital city.
One was the appearance of a low-priced white paper called Snowflake Paper in the Great Yan Bookstore, which was snapped up by scholars as soon as it hit the market.
The other was that the Ninth Prince was assassinated on his way to Baoye Temple to pray. As for whether he died, there were constant rumors among the people, but since the royal family never held a funeral, everyone assumed the Ninth Prince was fine.
After all, he was the Emperor's son; how could he die so easily?
Yue Fuguang looked at Wei Ping, who was reporting this matter. However, throughout the court and the public, aside from a few ministers, most people didn't take this matter too seriously.
[Master, Wei Ping, Cai Xian, and the others were all deceived by the assassins.]
'Little Zhu, do you mean the assassins aren't from the aristocratic families that Wei Ping and the others investigated?'
Emperor Mingxi and his ministers also pricked up their ears. The Fourth Prince and Ninth Prince had encountered 'accidents' multiple times, all starting when news of the papermaking and printing techniques spread.
Originally, the methods used by those hiding in the dark against the two were relatively 'mild', mainly focusing on creating accidental deaths for them.
But ever since cheap and high-quality paper was produced using the new papermaking technique, those people suddenly escalated from staging accidents to direct assassinations on the streets.