When Murong Jie said this, everyone present was shocked except Prince Li.
Even Zi'an didn't expect him to handle it this way.
Ximen Xiaoyue's face changed drastically, and she felt so angry that her teeth were itching.
It was a joke to confer the title of a county lady so lightly. You should know that a county lady was different from a lady of imperial title. A lady of imperial title, even if she was of the first rank, had no real power, only a title, and no fiefdom or reward.
But the county lord was different. In the Zhou Dynasty, most of the county lords were the concubine daughters of princes or the eldest daughters of princes. Naturally, there were also daughters of foreign officials who were given the title of county lords. However, they had to have extraordinary wisdom or have made contributions to the court and the people to be given the title of county lord.
Alternatively, if a marriage is to be made with a foreign country, the princess may be given the title of princess, county lady or county lady depending on the object of the marriage.
Although Yuan had a great reputation, it was somewhat hard to accept that she was conferred the title of county princess many years after she had been married.
Although, the ancestral rules and laws did not say that one could not be conferred the title of county princess after getting married.
In short, it sounds like Murong Jie wants to take care of the Yuan family and promote the Yuan family.
However, if the regent wanted to take care of the Yuan family, why didn't he just make Xia Zian the county lord? Why did he make the Yuan family the county lord
There is another point, that is, if the piece of land in the back garden of the prime minister's mansion was granted to the Yuan family, wouldn't it be equivalent to the Yuan family owning a part of the prime minister's mansion
This will make the old lady and Prime Minister Xia angry to death!
As expected, the old lady said coldly, "Your Highness, I have already compensated the people for the land in the back garden, and I have not owed a penny. How can Your Highness take it back just like that?"
Murong Jie exclaimed, "Has compensation been paid? Why do I keep receiving memorials saying that the people are complaining and that the compensation from the Prime Minister's Mansion is unreasonable? I have also read the memorial, which was submitted by the Jingzhao Yin, saying that the old lady only compensated fifty taels of silver for the ten-plus acres of land."
The prince blurted out, "Uncle, Jingzhao Yin would never write such a memorial."
The Jingzhao Yin is the Taifu's man and also on the prince's side. How could he possibly criticize the prime minister
"Prince, be careful with your words!" Taifu Liang had long seen through Murong Jie's pretending to be ignorant. He was a phoenix that would not land without a treasure, and he had come to the wedding banquet today with this plan in mind.
The Crown Prince didn't know yet, and looked at the Grand Tutor in confusion, thinking that the Grand Tutor didn't understand the meaning of Murong Jie's words, and reminded him again: "Grand Tutor, the Emperor's uncle probably read it wrong, and he must be corrected. All memorials must first pass through the Secretariat and then be submitted to the Regent's study. You are the Secretary of the Secretariat, have you seen this memorial?"
Liang Taifu was furious. This prince was really stupid. He first said that there could not be such a memorial, and then said that all memorials had to go through the Secretariat. Wasn't that telling everyone that if there were any impeachment memorials, if they were related to the prince's party or his relatives, he would withdraw them
He straightened his expression and said, "Whenever there is a memorial to the emperor, I will verify the facts before submitting it to the regent."
The old lady changed the subject and said, "I am honored that the prince has named my daughter-in-law as a county lady. I am also very grateful for the prince's kindness. However, I feel that the Xiangfu is unworthy of it. To be awarded a county lady, one must have made contributions to the court or be particularly outstanding. I think that although Cuiyu is talented, she is not outstanding, and has never made any contributions to the court. Especially today, Prince Li is here, I think the Xiangfu is unworthy of the prince's kindness."
The old lady's words made the elders of the clan very unhappy. It was such an honor for the Xia clan to have a county lady? But she actually rejected it.
Prince Li listened to the old lady's words, thought for a moment, and said, "What the old lady said makes sense. It is indeed not right to confer a county lord title without reason."
Murong Jie hummed, and asked with a humble attitude, "Then in your opinion, what are the conditions for being a county lady?"
Prince Li said, "According to the rules, first, the marriage is a peaceful marriage. Needless to say, it does not exist. Second, as the old lady said, she must be outstanding. Whether Yuan Shi has this is not up to you and me. We have to go back and discuss and listen to opinions from all sides. Third, she must have made contributions to the court and done favors to the people. If she has any of these three points, she can be named a county lady and granted food and fiefdom."
After hearing what Prince Li said, the old lady and Ximen Xiaoyue looked more pleased.
If Yuan is really given the title of county lady, it will be easier to deal with her in the future? This is absolutely impossible.
The old lady decided to oppose it to the end no matter what.
Grand Princess Murong Zhuangzhuang reminded: "There is one more thing you must not forget."
"What else?" Murong Jie asked.
Murong Zhuangzhuang said calmly: "The Empress Dowager once issued an order that if this person is valued and liked by those who have the power to confer rewards, he can also be rewarded. I wonder if the Regent thinks highly of Yuan?"
Murong Jie tilted his head and thought for a while. His handsome face was very embarrassed and his sword-like eyebrows were furrowed, as if he was thinking about a very important issue. Finally, he spread his hands and said, "Yuan is my future mother-in-law. How can I not value her? How dare I say I don't like her?"
Murong Zhuangzhuang smiled, "In this case, there will be no problem with this reward, right, Third Brother?"
Prince Li nodded, "There is such a thing. Since the Regent values Yuan and she is the Regent's future mother-in-law, she meets the conditions for the reward, and no one present has the right to question it."
The regent stood up and said, "Okay, the matter is settled. Madam, take your red envelope and let's go out for a drink."
After he finished speaking, he walked out quickly, as if the jar of wine had really been hooking him all along. He had no idea that the words "quickly collect the red envelope" meant that Ximen Xiaoyue's status in this mansion would truly be a concubine.
Ximen Xiaoyue clutched her dress, shaking with anger, her face turning blue.
Prince Li was a serious person, and after hearing what the Regent said, he kept staring at Ximen Xiaoyue, waiting for her to receive the red envelope.
But Ximen Xiaoyue just held on to her dress and didn't take the red envelope. He couldn't help but frown and said impatiently: "Take it. If you take it, I can go out for a drink."
Prime Minister Xia saw that Murong Jie had gone out, and this matter was set in stone and could not be changed. He ordered: "Xia Quan, please go out and have a drink."
Prince Li was almost jumping up and down, "New Madam, why don't you accept the red envelope? If not, how can I go out for a drink?"
Ximen Xiaoyue slowly reached out for the red envelope, took it humiliatingly, stood up and bowed, "Please ask the prince and the others to go out for a drink."
Although she was extremely angry, her abstinence life over the years had made her tolerant, so she endured today's insult.
When Prince Li saw her take the red envelope, he said contentedly, "Let's go and have some wine. I heard that the Xiangfu specially purchased a batch of aged wine from Sunjiazhuang for this wedding banquet. We can't drink this daughter's wine anymore, so it's good to have some aged wine."
Nv'erhong is a type of wine buried with a girl when she is born. However, this was not Ximen Xiaoyue's first marriage, so naturally there was no Nv'erhong.
Prince Li just said it unintentionally, but to Ximen Xiaoyue, she thought that Prince Li was deliberately mocking her, and she was so angry that tears welled up in her eyes.
(End of this chapter)