The mother and son did not allow Prince Jin and others to refuse, and they sang the same tune and rewarded the group of dancers.
The King of Jin reluctantly thanked the other sixteen officials, and after the Qianqiu Banquet, each of them took one back home.
Back at the palace, the King of Jin asked Chang Youzhong to settle the famous dancer, "Find a remote courtyard for her, and don't bother the princess."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Chang Youzhong accepted the order.
When Prince Jin returned to Rujingyuan, Jiang Changning was standing in the corridor playing with a parrot. When she saw him come in, she was about to smile and greet him, but she saw that he had a gloomy face.
Jiang Changning's heart skipped a beat. Could something have gone wrong at the Qianqiu Banquet
He welcomed the King of Jin into the room and sat him down, and personally served him tea. "Yong Zhou, what happened?"
Prince Jin took the teacup, drank two sips, and put it down, "Ningning, come here, let me hug you."
Jiang Changning didn't know what was going on, so he just threw himself into his arms obediently.
The King of Jin held her quietly for a long time before letting go and said, "That beast made the dancer sing "There is a Girl in the Car" at the Qianqiu Banquet."
Jiang Changning didn't react at once. After all, this poem was not widely sung.
When she remembered the words in the poem, her face suddenly turned cold and she said angrily, "I shouldn't have taken the risk to save this beast!"
"You did nothing wrong in saving people. It was he who was ungrateful and repaid kindness with enmity. He is unworthy of being a human being." Prince Jin hurriedly comforted his furious wife.
Jiang Changning walked around the room twice, but couldn't find anything cheap to throw at him. He could only throw himself on the kang and grab the pillow, "Ahhh!"
He took the pillow as if it were the emperor and punched it a few times to vent his anger.
"Don't hurt your hands." Prince Jin hugged her.
"What should I do next?" Jiang Changning leaned in his arms, with a hint of worry in his eyes. "There's no reason to guard against thieves for a thousand years, and I can't not attend the palace banquet."
After a pause, Jiang Changning continued, "Even if I claim to be sick and never attend the palace banquet, the Queen Mother will not let me go. She will definitely summon me to the palace. After all, she had no good intentions when she arranged my marriage to you. I am a pawn she put into the palace, and she will definitely let me play a role."
"Ningning, I'm not telling you this to make you upset. You have to believe me. I won't let him hurt you."
Jiang Changning turned around in his arms and looked up at him, "Yong Zhou, have you never doubted me?"
King Jin reached out and touched the corner of her eye. "A person with such clear and lively eyes will never become someone else's pawn."
Jiang Changning smiled, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him on the lips, "Yong Zhou, thank you, I will be a good Princess Jin."
The King of Jin did not hear the reservation in her words, but told her, "There is one more person eating for free in the mansion."
Jiang Changning's mouth twitched slightly, "Another reward of a beauty?"
"A dancer."
Jiang Changning raised his eyebrows, "Is it the one who danced to 'There's a Girl in the Car'?"
King Jin nodded, and Jiang Changning sneered, "Okay, now we have four mahjong tables."
"It's a waste of money to support so many idle people."
"Don't be so stingy, my lord."
"The salary is meager, and it's not easy to support a family, my princess."
Jiang Changning pursed his lips and smiled, "Then I should think of a way to sell them all and make some money from selling their bodies?"
"Thank you, Princess."
Jiang Changning snorted, "If I really chase them all out, my reputation as a jealous woman will surely spread throughout the capital."
This was also one of the reasons why she did not drive Wang Jiao'e and Fan Meizhu to the farm.
"I indulged you."
"Your Majesty, aren't you afraid that I will become spoiled by your favor?"
"I just love Ningning's delicate look, especially in bed." The King of Jin said the second half of the sentence while biting Jiang Changning's earlobe.
Jiang Changning hit him lightly, "Not serious."
"If I were serious with you, you would cry." Prince Jin laughed.
"That won't do. I can't let you hate me." Prince Jin pressed the man down on the kang and tickled him.
Jiang Changning was ticklish, so she dodged his hand and laughed so hard that her body shook.
The couple laughed and joked for a while, and Jiang Changning's hair was all loose. She called the maid in and helped her to re-do her makeup.
Jiang Changning handed the military book on the shelf to King Jin, "Let's read the book, stop tickling me."
"Okay, let's read." Prince Jin looked at the bright sunshine outside and felt a little regretful that it was too early.
Both of them were lying on the kang, in different postures, one was leaning on a pillow reading a storybook, and the other was sitting upright reading a military book.
At the beginning of the You hour, the two went to Liuxuanyuan to pay their respects to the Dowager Concubine and have dinner with her.
After the meal, on the way back to Rujingyuan, Cao Jiang came over and said that he had something to report.
"I'm going to Jingshe Hall and will be back soon." said King Jin.
"Okay." Jiang Changning returned to Rujingyuan.
Cao Jiang reported to the King of Jin about the investigation of Chen Daochang. "Everything he said was true. Master Gu recommended him to meet the King, not just because he accepted his money."
"Could it be that he has his eyes on the daughter of the Chen family?" Prince Jin said casually.
Cao Jiang smiled, "Your Majesty is wise."
The King of Jin was stunned and laughed, "Since he likes her, let him ask a matchmaker to propose marriage and marry her as his second wife."
"I will tell Master Gu."
"As for the vacancy." King Jin hesitated for a moment, "Always be loyal."
"Your Highness, there are vacancies in the Ministry of War's Imperial Chariot Cleaning Division and the Ministry of Works' Water Cleaning Division. The mother of the Right Assistant Secretary of the Dali Division is seriously ill, so it is time to submit a letter of recommendation soon." Chang Youzhong replied.
"Let him stay in the Ministry of War first." said the King of Jin.
The Prince of Jin made all the arrangements, and Chang Youzhong and Cao Jiang acted separately.
When Gu Zhongjiao learned that the King of Jin agreed to let him marry Chen Dingding, he was overjoyed. He immediately informed his parents, asked a matchmaker to go to Chen's house.
Although Gu Zhongjiao was twelve years older than Chen Dingding, he still remarried and had a daughter from his original wife, but Gu Zhongjiao was the cousin of the King of Jin and also held an official position.
The most important thing is that Chen Dingding will marry him and become his legal wife.
It is said that one would rather be a concubine of a rich man than a wife of a poor man, but the Gu family is not poor.
Who would want to be a rich man’s concubine when you can be his wife
Although the Gu family is not as well-off as the Prince of Jin's Mansion, it is a great fortune to be able to be associated with the Gu family.
Moreover, the wife’s family is the real relatives.
Chen Daochang and Mrs. Chen were quite satisfied with this marriage.
However, Chen Dingding was unwilling to do so and asked the reason.
She only said: "My daughter is still young and wants to stay with her parents for a few more years."
No one knows a daughter better than her mother. Mrs. Chen saw through her at a glance and knew that her daughter still wanted to enter the palace and become the concubine of Prince Jin.
"Ding'er, although the Prince of Jin is good, he is not your ideal man. If you become his concubine, your life and death, honor and disgrace will all depend on the princess, not on you. Let alone other things, you need the princess's permission even to go home to visit your parents."
Chen Dingding bit her lower lip and said nothing. It was obvious that her mother's words did not convince her.
"Ding'er, if the Prince of Jin wanted to take you as his concubine, Lord Gu would never let a matchmaker come to propose marriage. This marriage shows the Prince of Jin's intention. So, Ding'er, even if you refuse this marriage, the prince will not take you in."
Chen Dingding looked at Mrs. Chen with a pale face, "Mom, why? Am I not good-looking?"
(End of this chapter)