Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Chapter 341 "Wedding Ceremony"

Xuanzheng Hall.

Emperor Zhaoming urgently summoned Prince Zhongshun.

The grand court meeting didn't last long. Everyone was confused by the orders from Emperor Zhaoming. After the meeting, they all gathered in private to speculate.

The Prince Zhongshun's mansion was no exception. A dozen people gathered in the study, all of them were his trusted aides. Even Jia Yucun disguised himself and walked out of the back door of the mansion to get information.

Prince Zhongshun was thinking with a sullen face, listening to the noise of the crowd, but not one of them was on the mark, and he couldn't help feeling annoyed.

Seeing that no one was paying attention, Jia Yucun quietly came up and asked in a low voice, "Does the prince have any news about the life or death of the Northern King?"

Prince Zhongshun glanced at him, but before he could say anything, the Chief Secretary hurried in and said that Eunuch Lu in the Xuanzheng Hall in front was waiting for him to enter the palace.

Everyone’s expressions changed drastically!

Is the emperor going to cause trouble now? !

Prince Zhongshun glanced at the crowd, calmly waved his sleeves, and said soothingly: "Don't panic. Your Majesty is young and doesn't like the New Year, but the Supreme is old and likes peace and excitement the most. I think he wants me to discuss how to please the Supreme."

Everyone knew they were overreacting, so they all smiled and flattered him.

Yucun reminded quietly: "The emperor likes to use tricks, so you should be more careful."

King Zhongshun hummed with a forced smile and turned away.

The chief secretary hurriedly followed him out.

Prince Zhongshun walked out of the yard quickly, tilted his head and whispered to the chief secretary: "Keep an eye on Yucun. If he runs around again, find a chance and kill him!"

The chief secretary was startled. "The emperor has ordered that this time, the people to be affected are probably the four princes and eight dukes. We have always had a grudge against them, so they won't implicate us."

Prince Zhongshun sneered, "The emperor has always been ambitious but incompetent! You only thought he would deal with the royal family and the nobles separately, but how could you know he wouldn't do both?"

After a pause, he lowered his voice even lower, "Besides, Tai Shang won't be around for long."

The chief historian's eyes widened instantly, and he stroked his beard non-stop: "This..."

Outside the Moon Cave Gate, a piece of costume flashed and floated away.

Prince Zhongshun entered the palace with a lot on his mind. He bowed according to the rules and looked at the worried Emperor Zhaoming. He asked carefully, "What's wrong with my brother? Aren't all the things going on outside suppressed during the New Year?"

Emperor Zhaoming sighed, stepped down from the throne, took Prince Zhongshun's hand affectionately, sat down with him on the steps, and said worriedly:

"My royal brother doesn't know. Father has been in poor health since he came back from Jiangnan because of Rong'er's incident."

King Zhongshun’s heart skipped a beat: Here it comes!

"Isn't it great? A few days ago I heard that Lao Chuan went in to listen to a play, and he was in high spirits!"

Emperor Zhaoming smiled bitterly, leaned over and whispered in Prince Zhongshun's ear: "You have been strong all your life and don't want others to know."

That's true.

Prince Zhongshun then changed his expression to one of sorrow and hunched over: "This is really..."

He sighed and comforted Emperor Zhaoming, "Don't think too much. May the emperor live long and be blessed. Maybe he is just angry about the water. If he has a good time during the New Year, he will recover."

"I am looking forward to this as well." Emperor Zhaoming said to Prince Zhongshun in a friendly manner, "It is for this reason that I invited my brother to the palace."

Prince Zhongshun's heart skipped a beat again. He was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, "Your Majesty, are you saying that the marriage decree that the Queen gave to my son the other day should be carried out quickly?"

Emperor Zhaoming had a look on his face that said, "Only my brother understands me." He patted Prince Zhongshun's shoulder vigorously and said, "My brother's loyalty to my father is truly evident to all!"

So, his son’s marriage was actually a “good thing”!

Prince Zhongshun felt a surge of anger rushing up his spine, his chest heaving several times. He took a deep breath, but still managed to force a smile:

"Just in time! I heard that my daughter-in-law's old friend, the eldest daughter of the Shi family, had just gotten married. I was just regretting that the decree granting the marriage came so late!

"There is a folk saying: whether you have money or not, you can have a good New Year by marrying a wife! I will go back and discuss with the Xue family, and marry Xue in a few days!

"When we pay New Year's greetings this year, I will bring my son and daughter-in-law to kowtow to the Supreme Lord. He will definitely be very happy!"

Emperor Zhaoming smiled widely, "Great! I'll tell the Queen to prepare a good reward! Please save a seat for the Crown Prince at the banquet on the wedding day!"

This is a great face.

Prince Zhongshun thanked him anxiously, and then sighed and complained to Emperor Zhaoming: "To be honest, this morning at the court, Your Majesty has dealt with the Shi family, the Wang family, and the Jia family.

"I'm still wondering in my heart, the Xue family is related to these three families, I don't know whether to marry my daughter-in-law or not."

Emperor Zhaoming smiled, patted his shoulder again, and said earnestly:

"Marry her! The Xue family has always been far away in Jinling, and they don't mix much with the three families. This eldest house only has orphans and a widow, so the three families probably bully her a lot.

"But Miss Xue has a good reputation, and Tongyi and Shouchang both praise her highly. So when I heard that your two families were interested in getting married, I asked the Queen to take charge of the matter.

"We are all His Majesty's old ministers, and we know each other well. My brother, please take care of him. If His Majesty is relieved, I will be relieved too."

Prince Zhongshun frowned and asked, "What about the three families?"

"Let's talk about it later." Emperor Zhaoming was thinking about the lawsuit when he said this, "The old lady of the Jia family was also an old friend of the Empress Dowager.

"Zhaoqing and Yimin, who serve the Queen Mother, are now close to the Jia family. I also use Wang Ziteng and Shi Nai...

"Alas! They are the same. They insist on getting involved with Rong'er! The situation in Beifu is unclear now, and Zhitong cannot interrogate the two female relatives. Rong'er is nowhere to be found alive or dead..."

Prince Zhongshun looked at him sympathetically: "It's all a debt of favor!"

Emperor Zhaoming smiled bitterly and patted him.

Seeing that he had nothing else to say, King Zhongshun respectfully took his leave.

Tao Xingjian looked at his back, came up to him, handed the hand warmer to Emperor Zhaoming, and asked with a sly smile: "Can I rub your face?"

Emperor Zhaoming glared at him: "How can you alert the snake without disturbing the grass? Stop your sarcastic remarks and go to Kunning Palace and tell the queen to speak nicely!"

Tao Xingjian agreed but did not move. He reported another matter first: "Isn't Zhaoqing sick? I heard that the Queen sent Su Hong to visit him just now!"

Emperor Zhaoming frowned but said nothing.

"Oh and Lord Cao Kuangru will be in Beijing in the afternoon!"

“…Finally, there is good news!”

Tao Xingjian walked away with a chuckle.

Emperor Zhaoming walked around the hall twice, then turned to look at Lu Changqing: "How is Zhaoqing?"

"It's fine now that you're awake, but you still look tired. Princess Hongchang came over early in the morning and told me some interesting stories about the Wei family and the historian.

"Su Hong went there to chase Princess Hongchang away. After a few polite words, Aunt Cheng Qian said that Princess Zhaoqing needed to be well taken care of, and chased Su Hong away.

"It's just that when Su Hong went out, she asked about the princess's new black cloud leopard skin mattress."

Lu Changqing answered fluently.

Emperor Zhaoming narrowed his eyes and murmured, "How foolish! Even a servant of the family has become disloyal! Ha!"