Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1618 Refining
"Wait, senior brother, isn't this going too fast?"

"It was indeed a bit too fast. The heat should actually be adjusted. It feels like it needs to be cooked a little longer to taste good."

"No. What I mean is, senior brother, isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to be arranging my wedding now?"

“Isn’t it good?” Zhu Xianxi thought for a moment. “It seems a bit early. I got married at 25. My wife was my college classmate—of course, we dated for a long time after graduation before getting married, and she also took some time to adjust to royal life before agreeing to my request.”

"Did your mother, the Empress Dowager, agree?"

“Of course she agreed,” Zhu Xianxi replied. “Our Zhu family is different from those middle-class families. Those middle-class families might talk about matching social status, but our Zhu family insists on not matching social status, and if possible, it must be a free love relationship. This is a very practical issue, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that marrying the daughter of a duke or marquis would have a rather bad social impact, because dukes and marquises have too many relatives. Who knows if I’ll have some distant brother-in-law who will cause trouble, and then I’ll have to clean up the mess.”

Zhu Xianxi was stating a very real problem, because the royal family needed to cherish its reputation, and everything had to be done simply and strictly to eliminate any potential risks. The children of noble families often couldn't all be effectively disciplined—perhaps the most outstanding ones could, but their extended families might have dozens of cousins, and it was impossible for all of them to be strictly controlled. Furthermore, their relationship with the Empress might be quite close.

If something really goes wrong, if the emperor intervenes, it's considered official collusion; if he doesn't, it's seen as lacking compassion. He can't please either side.

Therefore, royal marriages, especially those of the crown prince, have always prioritized marriages to women from humble backgrounds, the less prominent the better. From the royal family's perspective, or rather, from the emperor's perspective, it's one thing to take the blame for one's closest brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law—that's not unacceptable. But those distant relatives, those who are practically unrelated, are the real problem.

Shangluo can understand that.

Take *Dream of the Red Chamber* for example. It's good that Jia Yuanchun protects Jia Baoyu, and it's not impossible for her to extend that protection to Jia Lian as well. But it would be quite difficult if she dragged Xue Pan into it in a roundabout way. Even the emperor couldn't handle such a fool.

The scenes in Dream of the Red Chamber are still pre-modern, and there is an emperor with three palaces and six courtyards.

Now we live in the modern era, with the nascent form of social media, and the emperor only has one empress. If this empress were to have any other relatives, Zhu Xianxi would truly be at a loss—he is a man of extremely disciplined life, waking up early every day with the steadfastness of an ascetic. Even the empress needed time to adapt to his lifestyle before she could understand and express her support. If such a life were to be disturbed by inexplicable familial ties, his peaceful asceticism would be shattered.

Of course, the situation has indeed become more complicated now, and Zhu Xianxi shouldn't be so calm. It's just that Shangluo's appearance solved all his problems at once, helping him calm all the turbulent waves outside.

"Ah," Zhu Xianxi sighed, "If I had to choose a brother-in-law, I'll be frank, I still hope to choose you."

Zhu Xianxi really disliked anyone disrupting his peaceful life. Although he was very good to his younger sister, he knew that he could never accept someone she "randomly chose" becoming a member of his family, because that would mean endless trouble.

But Shang Luo is different; he's not the one who creates trouble, he's the one who solves it. He's the absolute opposite of someone like Xue Pan, and the perfect choice of a relative.

Needless to say, he and Shangluo already had a very good personal relationship—although he was the only one who could use the Heaven and Earth Furnace to grill meat, only Shangluo was allowed to come in and watch the grilling.

Although Apollonia could technically come in, she preferred to wait outside with Zhu Ling. After all, sometimes it's better to wait at the dining table than in the kitchen. It was also while Apollonia was out that Zhu Xianxi discussed marriage with Shang Luo.

“It’s a bit early for you, but it’s not impossible, is it?” Zhu Xianxi fanned the fire with a small fan. “Hey, Shangluo, fan it from the Xun wind position, don’t fan it to the side. If you fan it from the Zhen thunder position, the meat will burn.”

"Like this?" Shang Luo changed his position.

"Okay, that's it—so, what do you think?"

"I don't want to refuse, but I can't agree either."

"So that's what you were thinking. It's hard for you to choose one, isn't it?"

"It seems like Zhu Ling herself wasn't prepared either."

“Sometimes, even if she’s not ready on her own, I just need to explain it to her, and she’ll be ready—I think you are too. I still need to ask the two of you about this.”

"Can I think about it?"

"It's not a question of whether or not to consider it; it's definitely up to you to decide. Because our Zhu family's rule is that, whenever possible, you must have a free-choice relationship. Otherwise, if something goes wrong—or you can't be formally married, because the people we can arrange marriages for are all from families of equal social standing. Our Zhu family simply cannot marry someone from a family of equal social standing, and the closer someone is to the emperor, the less they can marry someone from a family of equal social standing."

"What if there's no free love? Like Zhu Ling, who's always chasing giant pandas in the wilderness, she probably can't find a suitable person, right?"

"So at times like this, we have to find backup plans—for example, finding someone from a poor family who is of good character and good-looking among the newly appointed scholars for matchmaking. So Shangluo, I think you also seem to be someone from a poor family who is of good character and good-looking."

"Oh? Am I from a poor family?"

"If I remember correctly, you're only the size of a basic unit, which is considered poor among the children of the Imperial Guard—just accept it, I'm saying you're poor, but Apollonia can't even afford roast meat. And you're still yelling at her, do you feel good about it?"

"Ah this."

"So, Shangluo, I know you're a bit hesitant. How about this—you now have the equivalent of a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial civil service examination), so you can directly participate in the upcoming special imperial examination and take the Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination). As long as your level meets the requirements, I will appoint you as the Tanhua (third-ranked scholar), as we agreed before. After appointing you, you can go on a blind date with Zhu Ling, how about that? Whether it works out or not is up to you, you can just meet up every now and then."

(End of this chapter)