When Xu Yan and Yan Ping, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, walked into the Chengqian Palace, Emperor Huiping had just finished approving the folds and was leaning back in the chair with his eyes closed. Duan Bao, the great eunuch who was serving him closely, knelt beside him, slowly beating his arms and thighs with his hands, evacuating fatigue.

Hearing the rustling of footsteps, Emperor Huiping raised his eyelids and glanced at it.

If it was only Xu Yan who came, he would probably keep this comfortable position and continue to lie down, after all, he was a younger brother who was raised by himself, and he didn't have to pay too much attention to his appearance many times.

However, with the presence of the Ministry of Etiquette, Emperor Huiping had to cheer up, sit up properly, and then asked, "What is Yan Qing doing here?" ”

Yan Ping saluted again and replied: "The Holy Lord has ordered the ministers to prepare for the wedding of His Royal Highness King Duan, and the ministers have drafted the rituals, please take a look at the Holy Lord." As he spoke, he presented the document with both hands and presented it to the emperor.

- Xu Yan is the respect of the prince, and he has to enter the family genealogy when he marries a wife and has children. Especially since he has made it clear that he wants to marry Shen Yu as a concubine, and Emperor Huiping does not object, this procedure is naturally becoming more and more strict. The marriages of important figures in the royal family are all prepared by the Ministry of Rites, and the procedures of the "six rites" are strictly followed, which is much more cumbersome than ordinary people.

Emperor Huiping took a cursory look at the documents and asked, "What did the concubine say?" ”

Xu Yan remembered the argument he had with Concubine Cui that day.

Concubine Cui obviously didn't want Shen Yan, who was born in Buyi, to be the concubine, and said a lot about the family. To the effect that Shen Yu was born in Pengmen, she is not as knowledgeable as the ladies in Beijing, and she knows how to advance and retreat, so she may be fine as a side concubine, but if she is in the position of a concubine, I am afraid she can't.

However, Xu Yan was too stubborn, although Concubine Cui had a lot of persuasion, he didn't say anything, just left a sentence-

If you marry a concubine, you must take Shen Yu as the main concubine; If it weren't for Shen Fei, he would rather never marry for life and be a bachelor for the rest of his life.

Concubine Cui talked for a long time, but it was the chicken and the duck talking, and it had no effect at all, and finally she was so angry that she only dropped a sentence, and she didn't want to pay attention to him anymore, she said: "Since you marry your daughter-in-law, just watch it yourself, you don't have to go back to me!" ”

This was naturally her angry words, but Xu Yan took it as a holy order, and replied at this time: "The concubine didn't say anything. ”

Emperor Huiping didn't think about it, so he said: "Since this is the case, let's do it according to this ritual." It's just that the wedding date is a little tight, from the lottery to the big wedding, only more than four or five months? ”

Xu Yan smiled calmly, "The younger brother is not too young, and the marriage is naturally as soon as possible." ”

When Emperor Huiping heard this, he couldn't help but smile and said: "You think about this now, in the past few years, I didn't see you in a hurry." "Although he is the lord of the world, he is also a person who has deeply experienced the word love, and knows that love is like magic in people, Xu Yan used to be indifferent to marriage, and this time he suddenly became enthusiastic, which can only show that he really likes that girl.

Meng Shu's daughter is naturally excellent, and his younger brother is so adoring, Emperor Huiping is not surprised at all.

Naturally, there was a brief introduction to the Shen family's family history on this document, and Emperor Huiping flipped it again at will, his eyes fixed on the word "Meng Shu", unable to move.

Xu Yan and Yan Ping stood for a long time and didn't see him speak, so Xu Yan had no choice but to ask, "Brother Huang?" ”

"Hmm." Emperor Huiping immediately came back to his senses and put the document on the table, "I'll take a closer look at this, and the Ministry of Rites will prepare according to this." It's just that Luling is too far away from the capital, so you should be more careful on the way to and fro. ”

Yan Ping and Xu Yan retreated according to their orders, Emperor Huiping sat alone in front of the royal shore, and looked at the word "Meng Shu" for a long time, after all, he couldn't hold back the ups and downs in his heart, and got up and went to Concubine Cui's Yongfu Palace-

The atmosphere of the Meng family gradually eased.

Although everyone was worried and sad during the days when the old lady was dying, when the great sorrow and mourning on the funeral had passed, it was as if all the feelings had finally found an opening and been released, and the sadness and depression in most people's chests dissipated, but they could gradually hear one or two laughs.

Mrs. Shen has not returned to the capital for eight years, so naturally she has saved up a lot of things to tell her mother.

Previously, because of the matter of Mrs. Meng, everyone in the house was sad and busy, and they couldn't talk freely, and it was freezing in the past two days, and everyone was dormant in the house and leaned on the charcoal basin for the winter, and it was appropriate to talk around the fireplace.

The white curtains in the Ming Courtyard have all been removed, although there are still couplets pasted on the pillars, and the atmosphere of the funeral is fading day by day. The brazier in the house was burning brightly, and there were several bottles of freshly cut red plums next to it, and the aroma of the fire was smoked by the charcoal fire, and it spread into every corner of the house.

Mrs. Meng is still sitting on the commonly used Huanghuali short couch, next to the sandalwood-colored soft pillow bedding, she is really tired these days, and her body is a little unbearable, at this time she is leaning on the soft pillow, talking and resting.

At the bottom sat Lu and Han, and Aunt Jiang, Mrs. Shen, Jiang Zhen, Shen Yu and Yuxue's lovely little girl Meng Yang. The Tian family was busy with the end of the funeral, and these days his feet still don't touch the ground, the princess of the county still went back to the county palace after sending the spirit, and Meng Xin also went back to the house.

The water in the pot was just drying, and Mrs. Shen's tea making skills were excellent, so she brewed a pot of Junshan silver needles and presented a cup to everyone.

It is inevitable to talk about the situation of the Jiang family and the Shen family in Luling over the years, and talk about all kinds of things in the capital, just as they were talking, they saw an old mother walk in the door and said: "Old lady, the palace has sent someone over, saying that it is to pass on the message of the concubine Niangniang, and the master has already taken it into the living room, saying that you are also invited over." ”

Mrs. Meng was surprised.

Since the old lady Meng withdrew from the cabinet, the Meng family has never received any holy decrees, and the oracles of the ladies in the harem have nothing to do with the Meng family. Now she suddenly heard the message of the concubine Niangniang, which surprised her.

However, Mrs. Meng has a fate, and occasionally she can enter the palace once or twice a year to go to a banquet, although she has never been the protagonist, but she is more or less used to these scenes.

Naturally, she didn't need the crown of the command, so she told the maid to take the gown and put it on, and then got up and went to the living room. The Lu family and the Han family naturally accompanied her and sent her all the way.

Aunt Xue and Mrs. Shen don't have to move, after all, it is the Meng family's business, they live here, and they just accompany the old lady to relax, but it is not easy to participate in housework. Sisters sit together, Aunt Jiang is such a keen person, when she was in Luling, she saw His Royal Highness Duanwang take care of the Shen family, and after coming to the capital, she saw that Mama Kang gave Shen Yu a gift, and at this time, after a little guess, she had a clue.

"It can't be for Grandma's business, right?" Aunt Jiang put down the teacup in her hand and was slightly delighted.

Mrs. Shen has never hidden things from Aunt Jiang, and after thinking about it, according to Xu Yan's attitude and temperament, it may be possible to mention marriage as soon as she returns to Beijing, so it is not surprising that Concubine Cui will pass on the message.

But after all, it was an uncertain thing, and Mrs. Shen just said, "Maybe yes, who knows." ”

Aunt Jiang made an old mistake, she was troubled by the pain of losing her father before, and this time she finally encountered something that could make people happy, and immediately said: "His Royal Highness King Duan, he really ......"

Mrs. Shen nodded helplessly: "He did mention this matter, but it has not yet been decided, so naturally it can't be publicized." ”

Aunt Jiang naturally knew this, and she was very relieved to hear this. After waiting for two teas, I saw Mrs. Meng coming back with Lu and Han, and her face was quite confused.

After the old lady entered the door, she glued her eyes to Shen Yu and asked, "What kind of overprints did Ah Yu do when she was at home?" ”

Shen Yu was surprised and admitted: "I did do this, and when the engraving was printed, the annotation was marked with the color of vermilion, so it was called overprinting." ”

Old Madam Meng nodded, "No wonder." I don't know where the concubine heard this, she said that she was very curious, and wanted to summon you into the palace to ask carefully, and said that she asked me to go in with your mother. ”

As soon as these words came out, Shen Yan's mother and daughter and Aunt Jiang's mother and daughter knew it - thousands of miles away, who could send the overprinted book to the concubine, it was naturally Xu Yan, who didn't run away!

Hearing this, the Lu family next to him naturally thought of His Royal Highness King Duan, and looked at Shen Yan's gaze and couldn't help but add some vigilance. Xu Yan brushed the Shen family, it was nothing, but he actually recommended the things of the Shen family to the concubine, and provoked the concubine to summon Shen Yu in person, what kind of calculation is this?

Lu was about to speak, but Old Madam Meng had already spoken, "I'm tired today, so you go back first." Shu'er and Grandma stayed, you haven't entered the palace, I have something to tell you. ”

Even though the old lady spoke, the Lu family had no choice but to comply, and the Hetian family and the others were busy after they went out.

As soon as they left, the room seemed empty. Mrs. Meng also took some effort this time, so she took Shen Yan's mother and daughter to the inner room, leaned on the Luohan bed, and asked the maid to take the beauty couch to beat her legs, her face was very worried, "Shu'er, this time the concubine is summoned, are you going or not?" ”

Mrs. Shen lowered her head, and after a while, she made up her mind, and said, "Let's just say that I am too sad and bedridden, please forgive me, concubine?" She discussed with her mother, "After all, what the concubine wants to see is Auntie, and it doesn't matter if I go or not." ”

Others may not know about the affairs of Mrs. Shen and Emperor Huiping back then, but Mrs. Meng and the old lady do, otherwise they would not have connived at Mrs. Shen's marriage to Luling. Now that Mrs. Shen doesn't want to enter the palace to cause trouble, Mrs. Meng naturally understands, but there is one thing that makes her wonder-

"It's so dignified, why did you alarm the concubine?"

"Probably His Royal Highness Duan Wang found the overprinted book made by Ah Yu interesting, so he recommended it to the concubine."

"His Royal Highness King Duan?" Mrs. Meng was stunned.

On that day, the scene of Mama Kang personally giving gifts to Shen Yan was still vivid, and she had doubts in her heart at that time, she didn't know how King Duan could love Shen Yan as a gift, but at that time, all her thoughts were on the old lady's funeral, and she didn't think much about it.

Now that the old words are brought up again, Mrs. Meng feels strange - Emperor Huiping was obsessed with his daughter back then, and this time His Royal Highness Duan Wang will not be thinking about Shen Yan again, right?