The content of the novel comes from-DIDIDA Novels
Yu Wan sent the three little lads back to the Young Master Manor, and the little sick cat was also brought back.
The nannies were all frightened. The little young masters had always been naughty and could always shake off the servants, causing them to search everywhere. However, they could always find them safely in the end. Therefore, no one suspected that the little young masters had actually left the manor. Moreover, from what Miss Yu said, it did not seem to be the first time.
Fortunately, nothing happened, but what if something happened…
The nannies’ legs went limp from fear!
The dog hole was blocked. Yu Wan made three rules with the little munchkins. In the future, they were not allowed to leave the manor without permission. She would bring them wherever they wanted to go.
After getting three big kisses, the little munchkins agreed shyly.
Yan Jiuchao was not in the Young Master Manor today. He had gone to court. As a person who did not even have an idle position in the royal court, it was extremely strange for him to rashly appear in the throne room.
The noisy court fell silent the moment Yan Jiuchao stepped through the threshold. Everyone looked at Yan Jiuchao. Yan Jiuchao ignored the sizing up of the court officials and walked to the front row. He looked at the Minister of Rites holding the ritual baton and said, “Make way?”
“Uh…” The Minister of Rites, who was halfway through his speech, moved aside in a daze.
After that, the Minister of Rites came back to his senses. Why should he make way?!
The Fourth Prince muttered to the Fifth Prince, “Wasn’t this guy punished by Father to reflect on his mistakes? Why does he have the guts to come out?”
The Fifth Prince’s biological mother, Concubine Yu, was on good terms with Consort Zhen, so the two princes were also close. However, the Fifth Prince was not favored and was not as confident as his fourth brother. He advised in a low voice, “Stop talking. Be careful that Father hears you.”
“Hmph!” The Fourth Prince rolled his eyes.
The Third Prince and Yan Huaijing were on the same side. He pouted at Yan Huaijing, indicating for him to look at Yan Jiuchao. Yan Huaijing frowned unhappily.
The only person who did not care why Yan Jiuchao came to the throne room was probably the Eldest Prince. The Empress had lost her power, and Worthy Consort Xu had been causing trouble for him. His days were not easy, and he began to feel like he had nothing to lose.
“Ignore me. Continue,” Yan Jiuchao said calmly.
Everyone: Ignore you. Then why are you standing there? Are you a dog in the manger?
The Emperor’s head hurt!
“Ahem!” As the Emperor’s considerate little darling, the Minister of Rites decisively continued with the memorial after his incomparably precise observation.
They were talking about the marriage between the Xiongnu and the Great Zhou. Since ancient times, marriage between the Xiongnu and the Great Zhou had been the most common method of peace between the two countries. However, since the beginning of the Great Zhou Dynasty, this was the first time that the Xiongnu had sent Princess Mingzhu for marriage. The Minister of Rites had recommended three candidates who were compatible to the Emperor, regardless of age or status. They were the heir of the Prince Liang Manor, the heir of the Prince Jing Manor, and the second son of the Prince Li Manor.
The three princes were all the Emperor’s half-brothers. They were not considered powerful when they were princes. It was precisely because of this that they did not participate in the competition for the throne and avoided the bad luck of being killed by the Emperor.
Yan Jiuchao nodded and said, “They are all the Prince’s sons. I’m the same. Why didn’t you mention me?”
The Minister of Rites staggered and almost fell!
“Minister Li—” Yan Jiuchao drawled, as if he wanted to force him to say something.
The Minister of Rites broke out in a cold sweat. He thought to himself, In terms of status, you’re naturally the most suitable, but who would dare to push you into the fire pit of the Xiongnu? Isn’t it obvious from His Majesty’s expression? Unless I don’t want the black hat on my head anymore!
Yan Jiuchao answered his own question. “I understand. It must be because my status is not noble enough. I heard that the princess of the Xiongnu is the most beloved niece of the Xiongnu Khan. The princesses of the Xiongnu are not as good as her. It’s indeed unfair to her to marry her to the son of a prince.”
Minister of Rites: It’s rare for the little popinjay to be so humble, but why does it feel like something is wrong…
As expected, he heard Yan Jiuchao say, “No matter what, they have to match a prince…”
The harem exploded.
“What? The Princess of Xiongnu wants to choose a husband from the princes?” Worthy Consort Xu was shocked by the eunuch’s words.
The young eunuch nodded. “Yes, Your Highness!”
Worthy Consort Xu frowned.
Marriage with the princess of Xiongnu sounded like a pie falling from the sky, but on careful thought, it might not be a blessing for the prince. Princess Mingzhu’s status was noble, so she naturally could not be a concubine when she married her. That meant that she had to be the Princess Consort. The children of the Princess Consort were the legitimate sons. It was fine if this legitimate son was born in the Prince’s manor, but if he was born in the Crown Prince’s mansion, he was qualified to fight for supremacy.
No emperor would be willing to hand over his empire to a descendant with impure bloodline. On the other hand, whoever married the princess of Xiongnu would basically have no chance of becoming the crown prince.
Worthy Consort Xu was puzzled. “Who came up with the bad idea?”
The young eunuch said, “Young Master Yan.”
Worthy Consort Xu felt a lump in her chest. “His Majesty agreed?”
The little eunuch said nothing.
Worthy Consort Xu laughed self-deprecatingly. “That’s right. Didn’t His Majesty want to agree? How could he miss such an opportunity to remove the obstacles for Yan Jiuchao?”
“Your Highness.” The nanny in charge walked over and supported the furious Worthy Consort Xu. She said to the young eunuch, “You can leave first.”
“Yes.” The little eunuch left.
Worthy Consort Xu brushed the porcelain on the table to the ground.
The nanny in charge said, “It might not be His Highness. Don’t worry too much.”
Worthy Consort Xu felt a lump in her chest. “The eldest and the third already has a Princess Consort, and the fourth and fifth have already arranged a marriage. Other than my son, is there any other prince of suitable age? Is it the fourteen-year-old Sixth Prince, or the twelve-year-old Seventh Prince? Don’t say that it’s the five-year-old Eighth Prince!”
The nanny in charge said, “Consort Zhen only mentioned the marriage for the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Prince to His Majesty. He hasn’t issued a decree yet.”
“What if my son is chosen?” Worthy Consort Xu asked uneasily.
The nanny in charge consoled, “No, Your Highness. The Second Prince is His Majesty’s most beloved prince. His Majesty won’t treat him as an abandoned son.”
Worthy Consort Xu gradually calmed down. “Nanny, do you think Yan Jiuchao… is really not His Majesty’s flesh and blood?”
“That’s not important, Your Highness,” said the nanny in charge.
Worthy Consort Xu said indifferently, “That’s right. He’s about to die. What happens to him isn’t important anymore. His Majesty won’t pass the throne to someone who can’t live anymore… but he still has three sons!”
The nanny in charge did not answer Worthy Consort Xu. Instead, she seemed to have recalled something and said, “His Majesty treats Prince Yan extremely well. I heard that His Majesty planned to use his life to exchange for Prince Yan’s life back then.”
Worthy Consort Xu sneered. “Unfortunately, Prince Yan was one step ahead of him and ended his life… Speaking of which, when the previous Emperor was alive, he once wanted to kill Prince Yan, right?”
The nanny in charge nodded. “That’s true. Those who knew about it were all executed. I was lucky to escape by hiding under the bed.”
Worthy Consort Xu slowly took a sip of tea. “Why did the previous Emperor sentence Prince Yan to death? Doesn’t he dote on Prince Yan?”
“I don’t know,” the nanny in charge said.
Worthy Consort Xu put down her teacup and said, “So the late Emperor actually didn’t die of illness, but was poisoned by His Majesty, the filial son?”
“Your Highness! Be careful that the walls have ears!” The nanny in charge said seriously.
Worthy Consort Xu smiled sarcastically and lowered her voice slightly. “His Majesty didn’t hesitate to kill his father for a younger brother. His Majesty treats Prince Yan very sincerely…”
… .
The matter of choosing a prince to marry was not only troubling Worthy Consort Xu. Just as Worthy Consort Xu had said, the marriages for the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Prince had yet to be announced. There was still a possibility of reneging. The Fourth Prince was so angry that he caused a ruckus in front of Consort Zhen and directly declared that he wanted to kill Yan Jiuchao. Although the Fifth Prince did not have the guts to cause trouble, he still closed the door and worried for a long time. The most depressed person was probably the Emperor. No matter which son he did not favor, he would not want a Xiongnu as his daughter-in-law.
However…
The Emperor recalled Yan Jiuchao’s reasonable words in the throne room. Dozens of ministers who had read the Sage’s book were so stunned that they could not retort.
If he had not seen it with his own eyes, the Emperor would not have known that Yan Jiuchao, who was usually useless, was actually so eloquent.
“Your Majesty…” Eunuch Wang brought over a cup of cold tea.
The Emperor waved his hand. “I want to be alone.”
After successfully angering everyone, Yan Jiuchao returned to the manor with a satisfied expression.
The palace was in an uproar. Yan Ruyu’s days were not good. Ever since Yan Jiuchao sent two jars of wine to Yan Xie, Yan Ruyu had fallen into deep paranoia.
She thought back to what happened that night time and time again. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that something was amiss. Her alcohol tolerance was indeed not good, but she shouldn’t have fainted after two or three glasses. Was she really drunk? Or was the wine tampered with?
Coincidentally, she heard something else. On the day Yan Xie carried the urn to Ning’an Temple, Yan Jiuchao also went to Ning’an Temple! Where did the note she didn’t find go? Why did Yan Jiuchao appear at Ning’an Temple so coincidentally? Yan Xie really didn’t make any deals with Yan Jiuchao?
“Miss Yan, Miss Yan, Miss Yan!”
The cry in her ears brought Yan Ruyu back to her senses. Yan Ruyu looked at the unfamiliar scenery and was in a daze for a long time before she remembered that she was in Elder Zhang’s mansion. Today was his granddaughter’s birthday banquet, and she had been invited to attend.
The person who had called her just now was also a young lady who had come to attend the banquet. Her surname was Yang.
Miss Yang asked nervously, “Miss Yan, are you alright?”
Yan Ruyu looked at her and then at herself. Only then did she realize that she had come to the pond at some point. She was holding a servant’s child in her hand. The child was about three or four years old and was a little girl. There was a big slap mark on her face and her eyes were red, but she did not cry or make a fuss.
Miss Yang looked at the child and said, “Did something happen, Miss Yan? Did this child offend you?”
Yan Ruyu asked gently, “Do you think I hit her?”
“I, I, I… I didn’t mean that! Miss Yan, don’t misunderstand!” Miss Yang hurriedly said.
Yan Ruyu smiled gently and said, “It’s not me. She was bullied. I brought her to the river to wash her face.”
“I see…” Miss Yang was dumbfounded.
Yan Ruyu squatted down and gently wiped the little girl’s face with a handkerchief. “Don’t be afraid. No one will bully you again. After washing your face, I’ll bring you to eat candy.”
The little girl’s eyes were filled with fear.
Yan Ruyu saved a servant’s child, personally coaxed her, washed her face, fed her candy, and even personally handed her over to her parents. Such a friendly image instantly won the guests’ favor. For a time, the reputation of the Yan family’s daughter being kind, thrifty, and knowledgeable spread.
Initially, everyone thought that Yan Ruyu was not worthy of Yan Jiuchao, but now, they felt that that crazy young master was really not worthy of Yan Ruyu.
After all, such a pure woman must have been forced to give herself to him back then. For the sake of the children in her stomach, she could not even beg for death. She gave birth to them without hesitation and raised them painstakingly. It was really hard on a girl like her.
“Miss Yan, take care. Next time, please come to my house!” Miss Zhang personally sent Yan Ruyu to the door and reluctantly waved her goodbye.
“I will. Thank you for your hospitality.” Yan Ruyu elegantly got into the carriage.
“Miss Yan is really like her name.”
“That’s right. It’s fine if she’s beautiful, but even her talent is so outstanding. Miss Zhang, did your grandfather praise her?”
“Yes.” Miss Zhang nodded. “Her chess skills are above my grandfather’s, but she didn’t defeat him. Grandpa said that it’s rare for juniors to cultivate to her level.”
“When she played the zither just now, I also felt that she gave in to me,” said Miss Sun, who had competed with Yan Ruyu.
She clearly had the strength, but she never fought for first place with them. Everyone would like such friends, right?
Only Miss Yang did not say anything. She thought that she must have seen wrongly by the river. Miss Yan was such a knowledgeable person. Why would she bully an innocent child and even drag the child to the river to drown?
Miss Yan wasn’t crazy, right?
She must be… seeing things.