The Empress Dowager felt a little sad when she heard her say this. In fact, her words were nothing more than asking for a promise from her, because the Eighth Prince would be back soon.
However, she deliberately avoided it, which was somewhat contrary to her previous words that she didn't care and didn't fight for anything.
After finishing her dressing, the Empress Dowager called Eunuch Sun and asked, "Have you drafted the edict?"
Eunuch Sun lowered his head and said, "I have drafted a reply to the Empress Dowager."
The Empress Dowager said, "Read it to me once."
Eunuch Sun was stunned for a moment, "Read it now?"
"Yes, read it," said the Queen Mother.
Eunuch Sun replied, "Yes, I will go get the decree. Anyway, the Empress Dowager will personally stamp it with the imperial seal."
Eunuch Sun turned and left. Just as he got the decree, he heard a voice from outside the door, "The Regent has arrived."
The Queen Mother was slightly startled. "Isn't it morning court now? Why are you here?"
Murong Jie walked in with a smile, but his smile faded when he touched the noble concubine, "Mother, I am here to get your imperial decree."
"Oh," the Queen Mother was surprised, "you want it now? Don't you have to discuss political affairs first?"
"Let's issue the decree first. After the decree is issued, it will be easier for the people below to get started. After all, time is tight and there is only a day or two to prepare."
The Empress Dowager thought about it and it made sense, so she said to Eunuch Sun, "Take my seal."
Eunuch Sun breathed a sigh of relief and immediately took out the seal. He slightly opened the imperial edict to cover part of it.
The Queen Mother put down the seal and was about to take a look when Murong Jie quickly stepped up to take the decree and said, "The ministers are waiting for me. I will come back later."
The Queen Mother said: "Since the decree is issued first, I will go with you."
Murong Jie said, "Alright, go ahead."
The Queen Mother turned around and invited the Noble Concubine, "You can go with us."
The noble concubine looked indifferent, "Sister will not go."
"Go, go, Zhuangzhuang is also your sister-in-law, you should go." The Queen Mother asked her to go because she wanted her to participate in royal affairs and make her feel a sense of belonging so that she would not always think of herself as an outsider.
Eunuch Sun glanced at Murong Jie worriedly, but Murong Jie did not even look at him, as if he had no idea that the content of the decree had changed.
Liang Shulin was the commander of the Eastern Palace, so he naturally could not attend the morning court. However, he also made an excuse to patrol in front of the palace, just waiting for the imperial edict to be issued.
Taifu Liang knew yesterday that the Empress Dowager was going to choose Liang Shulin as her consort, and he was looking forward to it. Last night, he deliberately tried to show his goodwill to Liang Shulin. Liang Shulin's attitude was very good, which made Taifu very satisfied.
Lord Xiao naturally knew that the marriage decree for Zhuangzhuang and Liang Shulin would be announced at the morning court today. He originally wanted to use illness as an excuse to not attend the court today, but after not sleeping well the night before, he finally decided to come.
Since you have made the choice, you must bear all the consequences.
No one knew how much he liked the eldest princess. It would be a blessing for the Xiao family if such a beautiful, intelligent and smart woman could marry Xiao Xiao.
It was fate that even if they committed suicide for love, they could not be together.
This is the cruelest thing.
He felt ashamed of Xiao Xiao. Over the years, Xiao Xiao had made great achievements and consolidated the status of the Xiao family. The Xiao family became powerful because of his military exploits, but the man who paid all this got nothing in return.
"The Empress Dowager is here, the Noble Concubine is here, and the Regent is here!" the eunuch in charge of ceremonies in front of the palace shouted loudly.
The bells and drums of the morning court rang out, one after another, shaking the entire capital.
All the officials knelt down and shouted "Long Live the Queen Mother" three times.
Although the regent temporarily took over the emperor's position, officials did not need to kneel when attending court, they could only bow.
After the ceremony, Murong Jie sat on the dragon throne and looked around at everyone. When he was not smiling, he was very serious and stern, and his eyes were particularly sharp, so basically no one dared to meet his gaze directly.
"Before the morning court today, the Empress Dowager has an order to be issued. Please put aside the matters you were planning to report and listen to the Empress Dowager's order."
The Queen Mother looked at the civil and military officials with a dignified look, "I believe everyone knows that the princess is past the marriageable age, and she must hurry up to get married. Therefore, although she is ill now, I think we should find a prince consort for her. With the help of a husband, perhaps the princess can get through this disaster."
A minister consoled her: "Don't worry, Queen Mother. Good luck will come to the princess."
"Yes, with the blessings of you all, she will get better," said the Queen Mother.
She pressed her hand, wanting Eunuch Sun to enter the palace to announce the decree, but Murong Jie took the lead and said, "Let the eunuch read out the decree!"
The Empress Dowager nodded, "That's right, this is the main hall, let the Imperial Household Department announce it."
Eunuch Li from the Imperial Household Department came in with the imperial edict and read it out in public, "Emperor Hui has a daughter, the Grand Princess Murong Zhuangzhuang, who is beautiful and intelligent, kind and honest, and has outstanding character and appearance. I have heard that..."
After reading to this point, Eunuch Li paused, turned around and glanced at the Empress Dowager with a hesitant look on his face.
The Queen Mother said unhappily, "Hurry up and announce it!"
Eunuch Li responded, "Yes!"
He continued to read, "I have heard that Xiao Xiao, the eldest grandson of Marquis Xiao and the Great General of the Great Zhou Dynasty appointed by the Emperor, is an extraordinary martial artist, both civil and military, and is a childhood sweetheart of the princess. I and the Regent are very pleased to hear this, and have specially appointed him as the princess's son-in-law. The wedding ceremony will be handled by the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Household!"
When the decree was read to General Xiao Xiao, the empress dowager knew something was wrong, but she could not stop Eunuch Li from reading it.
There was a sudden look of doubt at the scene, because before the announcement, everyone knew that the candidate for the prince consort was Liang Shulin.
Especially the noble concubine, she immediately looked at the empress dowager and lowered her voice and asked: "What's going on? Isn't it Liang Shulin?"
The Queen Mother's expression was somewhat unpleasant, but she could not explain it. She only looked at Lord Xiao and said, "Lord, why don't you accept the order?"
Lord Xiao hesitated for a while, then walked out with a pale face and knelt down, "I accept your order. I thank you for your grace."
Taifu Liang's eyes were cold and he sneered in his heart, waiting to see what tricks they would play.
Liang Shulin also heard the announcement outside the palace. He didn't expect it to be like this. Why was it Xiao Xiao? But didn't the Queen Mother say yesterday that he was the candidate for the Prince Consort
How come everything changed in just one night
The old prince stepped out and said, "Queen Mother, Xiao Xiao already has a wife, how can he marry the princess?"
"Uncle," Murong Jie said, "Han Qingqiu is dead."
"After she dies, she will be Xiao Xiao's principal wife. She will have to be listed before the princess on the tablet. This is not in accordance with the hierarchy." The old King Xian said.
Zhuangzhuang is the cousin of the old King Xian. As a member of the royal family, she naturally does not want to be inferior to other women after the death of the noble Princess Zhenguo, so she respectfully calls other women "sister".
Murong Jie smiled and said, "Uncle, don't worry. Han Qingqiu was divorced by Xiao Xiao a long time ago."
He looked at Lord Xiao, "Really? Lord?"
Lord Xiao's hand holding the decree was shaking a little, "Yes, Xiao Xiao has divorced Han Qingqiu. They are no longer husband and wife, but he has not made this public in order to avoid being punished by the Empress Dowager."
"This is strange. Why did Xiao Xiao want to divorce his wife? Where is the divorce letter?" asked the old King Xian.
Murong Jie then let Eunuch Sun in, took out the divorce letter, and handed it to the old King Xian. "On the night of the wedding, Xiao Xiao had already divorced Han Qingqiu. Xiao Xiao did not intend to disobey the order, but on the night of the wedding, he heard Han Qingqiu and the maid talking about the case of the princess getting close to Yao Zhi. Xiao Xiao vaguely heard Han Qingqiu say that she killed Yao Zhi. Xiao Xiao was unwilling to sleep with a murderer, but he had no evidence to incriminate Han Qingqiu. Later, when he went to war, he asked me to investigate the case of Yao Zhi's murder on his behalf. I was young at the time and didn't take it seriously. It was not until these few months that I ordered people to re-investigate and bring evidence to Han Qingqiu. Han Qingqiu knew that his crime would be exposed sooner or later, and he was terrified for a while, and finally committed suicide out of fear of crime."
(End of this chapter)