Noble Lady

Princess Cheng was speechless.

After a moment, he nudged Prince Cheng with his elbow and whispered, "Prince, please speak. You are the head of the family."

The words "head of the family" immediately restored Prince Cheng's confidence.

"That's right, I am the head of the family. I have the final say on matters concerning Prince Cheng's Mansion."

"Situ Zhen, don't be ungrateful. We are all doing this for your own good. If you know what's good for you, you should make a clear break with the people in Wu'an Marquis Mansion as soon as possible, so that we won't have to suffer from you anymore."

These shameless words made Situ Zhen laugh. "Father's shamelessness is truly admirable. Do you know what the consequences would be if your words, which confuse right and wrong, were to reach the ears of the Empress Dowager?"

"You dare!" King Cheng was furious.

The Queen Mother is Prince Cheng's biological mother. How could he not know what kind of person she is?

If she knew these words, she would definitely skin them alive!

Princess Cheng also said angrily, "Are you trying to disobey your parents?"

"I'm disobedient, so what can you do? If you're not convinced, you can go to the palace and ask His Majesty and the Queen Mother for an explanation."

Princess Cheng was so angry that her face turned blue and red. "You, you are simply unreasonable."

"I've always wondered how there could be such heartless parents like you in this world. But then I realized that's not true. You're just heartless to me."

"You guys always grant your precious son whatever he asks for."

After a pause, Situ Zhen couldn't help laughing and said, "Sometimes I even doubt whether I am your biological child."

After these words were spoken, Prince Cheng became furious again.

"You bastard, you can even say such things. I think I've been too good to you over the years and let you live too comfortably."

He was ready to pounce on Situ Zhen and teach him a lesson, but although he was the emperor's younger brother, he was neither good at literature nor martial arts, and was no match for Situ Zhen.

He was defeated in a few moves, gasping for breath and cursing Situ Zhen.

Princess Cheng, however, became unexpectedly quiet, her face pale, and she even stopped pretending to mediate but actually adding fuel to the fire, which was her usual favorite move.

Situ Zhen saw their reactions clearly, made a "tsk" sound, and smashed a vase.

"Since you guys can't stand me associating with her, I want to."

"Fang Sui, go find eight or ten official matchmakers, and then gather all the money, land, farms, and shops that this prince has. This prince is going to ask Miss Xue for her hand in marriage!"

"You unfilial son! You are determined to piss us off to death." Prince Cheng was so angry that he jumped up and down.

Princess Cheng seemed to have not yet recovered from the question "Is he a biological child?" She was in a daze and no one knew what she was thinking.

Then, they were driven out of Songyuyuan by Situ Zhen.

……

The incident at Prince Cheng's Mansion soon spread to Ci'an Palace.

"Madam Fang, tell me the truth, what does Dafu think of the girl from the Xue family?" The empress dowager held a string of Buddhist beads in her hand, but her heart was still uneasy.

"The Crown Prince doesn't even look at anyone else, except Miss Xue. Because of Marquis Xue's relationship, His Highness was a little more polite and greeted her."

Nanny Fang repeated her previous explanation and emphasized, "It's really nothing else."

The Queen Mother: "There's no way it could be spread like that?! Do you really think I'm old and confused?"

Nanny Fang was so frightened that she quickly knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. It's really nothing. Even if you gave me ten times the courage, I wouldn't dare to lie to you."

"So, what exactly is going on?"

Nanny Fang said, "The prince just asked Miss Xue a few more questions, and they were all about Marquis Xue's injuries."

"Although I didn't get close, they didn't hide from people. I heard everything carefully, without any personal feelings. But for some reason, those people just held a grudge against her."

"They didn't hold a grudge against the girl from the Xue family. They saw that Dafu was getting close to her and that she was blocking their way. They didn't dare to do anything to Dafu, so they only dared to vent their anger on her, a woman."

The Queen Mother had been in the deep palace for so many years that she saw through all these truths at a glance.

"That girl made this trip at the request of me and her father, and now the whole capital is making a big fuss about her divorce."

"Don't say that Marquis Xue has made great military achievements and is a meritorious official of Dasheng. He is also Dafu's savior. That kid has always been very clear about what he loves and hates. I dare not even imagine what he can do."

As he was speaking, a eunuch came running in hurriedly, "Queen Dowager, Prince Cheng wants to see you."

Said that Cao Cao Cao Cao arrived.

The empress dowager paused and said, "Look, here it comes." She raised her hand again and asked Nanny Fang to stand up.

Thinking about what that rascal might say later, she felt a headache.

Nanny Fang smiled bitterly and stood aside.

"Announce it." The Queen Mother sighed.

……

Situ Zhen stayed in Ci'an Palace for most of the day and left just as the palace gates were about to be locked.

After he left, the Queen Mother kept sighing, "The child has grown up and has his own ideas."

Nanny Fang smiled and said, "The Crown Prince is very considerate and understands your difficulties, Queen Dowager. Isn't that a good thing? When His Highness first came in, his expression was so serious that I thought he was..."

"Do you think he came to the palace to ask me to arrange a marriage between him and the girl from the Xue family?"

Nanny Fang smiled embarrassedly. She didn't expect that the prince came to ask the Queen Mother for help.

"The marriage must be granted," said the Queen Mother.

"Dafu is right. I am the Queen Mother of a country. Since I promised with my own mouth that I would be the one to arrange the marriage for the person who can persuade him to return to the capital, I should keep my word."

Nanny Fang thought to herself, yes, but this does not conflict with sending an invitation to Miss Xue and inviting her to the flower-viewing banquet hosted by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Cheng.

She thought the prince would directly ask the Queen Mother to grant the marriage, but she didn't expect that he wanted the Queen Mother to hold the flower viewing banquet as usual and then give Miss Xue an invitation.

For a flower-viewing banquet like this, since he is the prince of Prince Cheng's palace, there are certain requirements for the noble ladies to attend.

Having a clean family background and being unmarried are just the basics.

Xue Chenyu, the eldest daughter of the Xue family, is no longer suitable for marriage at this age, not to mention that she has been married before and returned home through divorce.

If Prince Cheng hadn't asked for it, she would never have received the invitation to the flower viewing banquet.

But Nanny Fang felt that what the prince said made sense.

He said, "It's already unfortunate that Miss Xue has met the wrong man, and now her reputation is affected by my ear. I don't care about other people, but she is the beloved daughter of my savior, Marquis Xue. I can't just sit back and watch."

"If it were any other daunting matter, I wouldn't be able to ask the Empress Dowager for help, but since this opportunity has come up, I'd like to offer her an invitation to the flower viewing banquet in exchange for a smooth marriage."

Being able to receive an invitation to the palace would be a great honor for the Marquis of Wu'an's Mansion and Miss Xue herself.

Regardless of whether she can be selected or not, just the fact that she can get the invitation from the palace is better than countless women.

If she wants to get married again in the future, she won't be criticized because of her divorce.

In addition, the Queen Mother herself had a good impression of the Xue family, so she readily agreed.

As for why His Royal Highness the Crown Prince stayed in the palace until the locks were about to be closed, it was because he was filial and wanted to spend more time with the Queen Mother.

"Madam Fang, tell me, I have so many grandchildren, why do I like Dafu the most?"

"Perhaps it's because, among all the Queen Mother's grandchildren, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Cheng is the one who looks most like Your Majesty when he was young."

When His Majesty was young, he lived among the people, and the Queen Mother missed that period of his youth and has been trying to make up for it.

But what was missed is missed. Your Majesty grew up among the common people and is not close to the late emperor and the empress dowager. How can you make up for it?

But the Prince of Cheng was born with great fortune. People say that Your Majesty looks like the late emperor, and the prince looked like his grandfather since he was born, and he looks very much like Your Majesty.

So the Queen Mother fell in love with the baby as soon as she saw it.

Unfortunately, Princess Cheng was easily deceived and had a weak eye. She listened to the words of a charlatan from somewhere and insisted that the child was unlucky. She tried to kill the child several times.

The Queen Mother couldn't bear to see this so much that she decided to take the child and raise him by her side.

"You're right. Dafu looks like Your Majesty, and like my child who was lost among the people when he was young and we almost never met."

She looked at Dafu's face, which was similar to His Majesty's, and raised this grandson little by little. This made up for her regret of not being able to see her eldest son grow up.

So it is understandable that she prefers Dafu more.

Nanny Fang smiled and replied, "Over the years, thanks to the Crown Prince's company, the Queen Mother has become happier day by day. This old servant has seen it all."

"Moreover, the prince has a pure heart and is truly a rare filial child."

The Queen Mother nodded with understanding. "That child is kind-hearted and always considerate of others. Returning favors is certainly good. But he's just too pure-minded. He didn't even think of fighting back when others bullied him."

Since her grandson doesn't know how to fight back, as a grandmother, she naturally has to help him.

At this point, the Queen Mother's face was already furious. "You take care of the flower viewing banquet. No girls from the Han or Cui families are allowed to appear at the flower viewing banquet!"

"Yes."

……