A team of carriages moved slowly forward. It was obvious that each carriage did not look like an ordinary carriage. There was also a team of guards following beside them.
The city gate was just ahead. Qu Mingcheng looked back at the people from Prince Jing's Mansion standing on the side and inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.
The matter is about to be over. It can be considered a great achievement for me. It is the first time that I have shown my face in front of King Jing.
My sister is a concubine now. Although she cannot compare to the principal wife, she still has a brother like me. For this reason alone, she may not be worse than the young lady in the general's mansion.
As long as you work hard, the general who assists the country will also grow old.
"Stop, where are you from?" The carriage was stopped by the city guards. A man who looked like a minor official walked up to the carriage, looked at the carriage behind them, and said.
The people from Prince Jing's mansion glanced at Qu Mingcheng and motioned him to come forward.
"We are the people who are escorting the dowry from the General Fuguo's Mansion to Beijing. Everything in here is Miss Liu's dowry." Qu Mingcheng stepped forward and said with a smile.
"The dowry at the General's Mansion? Prince Jing's wedding?" The official guarding the city gate was not completely ignorant, and asked after thinking for a while.
"Yes, it is the dowry to be sent to Prince Jing's Mansion." Qu Mingcheng nodded.
"We need to check it out." said the minor official.
"These... are all wrapped up directly with red silk ribbons. If they are injured... I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain to King Jing." Qu Mingcheng smiled and pointed to the carriages and horses behind.
"Even if you are a prince, you have to check. There are so many carriages. If something happens, who will be responsible?" The small official looked Qu Mingcheng up and down. Seeing that he was young, he should not be an important person. He said arrogantly with his hands on his waist.
"But... are they all wrapped up?" Qu Mingcheng asked in embarrassment.
"Just open it." The official at the city gate said indifferently.
Qu Mingcheng looked at the people from Prince Jing's Mansion and stepped back. He had no way to handle this matter. Since the people from Prince Jing's Mansion were there, he didn't need to force his way forward.
As soon as Qu Mingcheng retreated, the people from Prince Jing's Mansion had to step forward. They were middle-aged men who looked like managers.
"Sir, can you please be flexible? Our prince is getting married soon. If something unexpected happens at this time, no one can bear the responsibility!"
The steward of Prince Jing's mansion said to the official at the city gate with a smile.
The official at the city gate looked him up and down and asked, "Who are you?"
"I'm from Prince Jing's Mansion. Our prince asked me to come and receive Miss Liu's dowry. The general sent someone to deliver the dowry from thousands of miles away. The prince was afraid that something might go wrong, so he sent me here to receive it." The middle-aged steward stepped forward and said with a smile.
"Oh, so that's the reason!" The minor official said indifferently, "If it was before, it would be fine, but just now the military came and said that there was a spy trying to sneak into the city, and asked people to investigate the matter. No one can let him go casually, otherwise this matter... No one can take responsibility either."
"There's... a spy?" The middle-aged manager gasped.
"Yes, there is a spy... After so many incidents, no one dares to take it lightly anymore. Let's open all the dowry and check it. Don't worry, I will tell people to handle it with care." After all, he is from Prince Jing's mansion, and a small official cannot be offended too much.
It is not an easy task to open the tied carriages and check them one by one. Considering the size of the carriages, it will take at least one or two hours to check them.
It was impolite to spread out the bright red dowry in such a blatant manner for inspection.
The tied-up dowry can only be opened after it is sent to the husband's home, otherwise it will be considered unlucky.
Check out so many things, and this
With so many people around, even if one is careful, some damage is bound to occur. Besides, placing such a large dowry of the future Princess Jing here for inspection gives the impression of stepping on Prince Jing's face and making a fool of oneself.
The middle-aged manager's face darkened. "If there is damage... who will be responsible?"
"This... I can't afford it, but I can't afford to let you in like this, and neither can you." The small official looked uneasy, arrogant and smacked his lips, "We can't do anything about this, unless you ask His Royal Highness King Jing to come in person."
"Our prince is coming here, what do you think of him?" the middle-aged steward said coldly.
"I am nothing, and I dare not let His Royal Highness Prince Jing come, but this matter concerns the security of the capital. We can only let him go after the order of Lord Jingzhao Yin."
The petty official refused to give in.
The middle-aged steward sneered, pointed at Qu Mingcheng and asked, "Do you know who he is? With Second Young Master Qu here, is it possible that it is not possible?"
This meant pushing Qu Mingcheng out to get in the way. Qu Mingcheng's face turned ugly. He helped escort the dowry into the city in order to get some credit, and was not willing to get involved in such matters. His father had repeatedly warned him to be careful about such matters.
"Who is this young man?" The minor official looked Qu Mingcheng up and down again.
"This is Qu..." the middle-aged manager sneered.
Qu Mingcheng interrupted the middle-aged steward with a wave of his hand, and said in a friendly manner: "I am nothing. I just want to ask if there is any way to not open the dowry for inspection. After all, it is the dowry of Princess Jing, and it was specially sent by the General of the State. If something really happens, it will be embarrassing for everyone. Even if Lord Jingzhao Yin is here, he will not really open it!"
He stood aside and listened a lot, and knew that the focus was on the dowry.
It looked like they were going to open the dowry and check it no matter what. It was obvious that Prince Jing's Mansion would not agree to it, and he was not willing to step forward to stop them.
Helping Prince Jing is a matter of face and affection, and also a guarantee for his sister. As for Prince Jing's wife, he really doesn't care.
We are not at the border now, and the power of the auxiliary general over there cannot reach that far.
"Well... Actually, there is a solution. We just need to file a case with Jingzhao Yin, and then send the dowry to Jingzhao Yin first, and wait for a while before sending it out." Seeing that Qu Mingcheng was easy to talk to, the small official also showed a smile on his face. If possible, he certainly did not want to offend King Jing.
"Send them to Jingzhao Yin?" Qu Mingcheng was silent for a moment, then turned to the middle-aged steward. "It's not good for these carriages to be blocked at the city gate. The steward should let the carriages enter the city first. Even if they go to Jingzhao Yin, it's better than staying here. If the city gate is really blocked, it will be a bigger problem."
The middle-aged manager originally wanted Qu Mingcheng to take some responsibility and get the carriage into the city first, but he didn't expect Qu Mingcheng to say that, and he hesitated for a moment.
I looked back at the city gate, which had been blocked a little by them. It looked like it was indeed blocked from outside the city.
Some people have come to the front to check it out, and there are many people watching the fun, saying all kinds of things. When they heard that it was Princess Jing's dowry, they all made fun of it.
There was not much respect shown in his words towards King Jing and Princess Jing.
If this continues, it's not a good sign. It's only been a short while and there are already so many people stuck in traffic. If the traffic continues for a while, it's hard to say what will happen.
It is indeed not advisable to stay here any longer.
"Okay, then let's go to Jingzhao Yin first." The middle-aged manager had to give in.
Seeing him relax, the minor officials guarding the city gate also relaxed.
He took a breath. In fact, he didn't want to come over to stop them, but he had to.
A few guards were assigned to follow the main force to the Jingzhao Yin Yamen.
On the way, the middle-aged steward went straight to Prince Jing's mansion to report to Prince Jing, while Qu Mingcheng still followed the dowry carriage, and the two men split into two groups.
The carriage entered Jingzhao Yin, who accepted it with a distressed look on his face. It was not that he wanted to accept it, but he had to accept it.
News came from above that there was a spy, asking him to check every person at the city gate carefully and not let anyone off easily. When the matter got to this point, he found out that it was only a matter between the Crown Prince and King Jing. People like him could only squeeze in the cracks and didn't know how to survive.
This matter... is really difficult to handle.
Jingzhao Yin did not have to wait long before Jing Wang Pei Yusheng came rushing over angrily. After scolding Jingzhao Yin, he did not dare to really let someone take the dowry away.
In front of Jingzhao Yin and King Jing, the dowry was taken down from the horse. Some parts that were not properly tied were checked according to etiquette, and those that were not properly tied were opened.
The dowry was opened in front of King Jing, so even if it was a bit embarrassing, at least it was not done in public, and it didn't sound unlucky.
However, Prince Jing had a cold expression throughout the whole process, which made Jingzhao Yin, who was standing beside him, feel uneasy. He thought he had really offended Prince Jing, but he was innocent in this matter, and it was not necessary for him to investigate these things.
After checking everything, Pei Yusheng looked at Jingzhao Yin and asked, "How is it? Do you want to check it again?"
"No... no need." Jingzhao Yin hurriedly shook his hand.
"Really?" Pei Yusheng asked again, "I'll take it back later. Don't make another fuss about it being my intention."
"Your Highness, there is nothing I can do about this matter. This is the order from above." Jingzhao Yin smiled bitterly and spread his hands. He was responsible for the security of the capital. If he didn't investigate this matter, he would be blamed in the end.
Pei Yusheng snorted coldly, flicked his sleeves, turned around and strode away.
Jingzhao Yin hurriedly ordered someone to harness the carriage, transport it out of the mansion again, and send it to the residence of the General Fuguo.
In just a short while, all kinds of rumors spread outside about the problem with the dowry sent by the General Auxiliary to the State. People said all kinds of things, and some people even said it as if they had seen it with their own eyes, saying that a spy had sneaked in and was later stopped by the Jingzhao Yin.
Fortunately, they were stopped, otherwise the spy would have been able to sneak in.
Some people said that the spy was from the northern border and followed the dowry all the way here. Others said that he was at the city gate and escaped after being stopped, just like the assassin at the city gate last time. This time, Princess Jing is also involved in the incident, which makes people very suspicious about how everything is related to Princess Jing...
Prince Jing Pei Yusheng didn't know at first. He returned to the mansion in a rage and heard all kinds of rumors outside. He was so angry that he smashed everything on the table.
With a grim face, he went into the palace to appeal the matter to the emperor. Now that this matter had a reason, he had to go to the palace to explain it clearly.
As for Liu Lanxin, when she received the dowry, she was also reprimanded by the Queen Mother.
As a princess who was about to marry King Jing, Liu Lanxin had endured too much reprimand. No princess had ever been reprimanded repeatedly by the Queen Mother before she got married, and yet she had no way to defend herself.
All of a sudden, various versions of rumors about Princess Jing's dowry emerged, and the entire capital was filled with rumors and rumors surrounding this matter.
Among all the legends, the wedding of King Jing finally came...