"Pei Qing, does your nephew know that you came to me to ask for the princess' hand in marriage on behalf of me?"
After a long silence, the emperor's voice was finally heard in the hall.
"Your Majesty, up to now, my servant Erlang has no idea."
The emperor raised his eyebrows, said "oh" softly, and looked at Pei Ji with a meaningful look.
"Pei Qing, are you confused? Now that the princess has returned to the court, why are you still talking about the past?"
"Besides, I know to some extent that some people are ignorant of the world and have humiliated her. I am already being magnanimous by not pursuing the matter now. How can there be any so-called fate?"
Although the emperor spoke in a leisurely tone, the dissatisfaction and resentment that seemed to be bursting out from his words could not be concealed no matter what.
Obviously, if the person who spoke just now was not Pei Ji, but anyone else, the emperor would probably have lost his temper on the spot.
"Your Majesty is absolutely right. I know this may be presumptuous, but I still beg Your Majesty to allow me to finish what I want to say." Pei Ji looked calm.
"Go on!" the emperor said calmly.
"Your Majesty does not want me to talk about the past, but I still dare to start from the past. At the beginning of the year, the princess came to me and suffered a great injustice. Everything was my family's fault. I still feel guilty when I think of this matter. My nephew should be the same. After the princess left, he searched for her in many places. He started from Ganliang and went all the way to find the princess's old residence, but to no avail. The deadline for the official release was approaching, so he had no choice but to temporarily stop looking for her and go to the capital. Later, by chance, he was able to meet the princess again in Chang'an."
"I remember clearly that he wrote to me at that time. His purpose was to inform me of this matter so that I could rest assured. However, between the lines of his letter, I could still read his infinite joy."
"Your Majesty, my nephew has been with me since he lost his father at the age of eight. It can be said that he grew up in front of my eyes. He has a melancholy temperament and is cautious in dealing with things. He is also very self-disciplined and has never been concerned about the word "love" which is the most difficult for young people to control. This is the first time in many years that I have felt that he would be so worried about someone and even completely controlled by her. From that day on, I understood that my nephew already had someone in his heart, and that person was none other than Miss Ye, who was still a painter at the time."
"To be honest with you, Your Majesty, I was half happy and half worried at that time. I was happy that my Pei family's Erlang, who I thought would be lonely all his life, finally found someone he liked. But I was worried that he was not good at speaking and had a lot on his mind, so I was afraid he didn't know how to get along with her. Later, I learned that Your Majesty was planning a trip to Cangshan, and I guessed that the young lady might go with him, so I asked He Jin to come. In addition to delivering the letter of apology on my behalf, I also wanted him to keep an eye on my nephew's behavior so that I could be prepared. I never thought that the young lady's status was so unattainable. After learning that the princess had returned to the court, I had completely given up the idea, but after thinking about it over and over again, I still couldn't let it go."
"Marriage is the most important human relationship. He is the only one left among the sons and nephews of my Pei family, and he is obsessed with the princess. If I don't think about him, who will? If I don't do my best for him, how can I face his parents in the afterlife when I die?"