"Your Majesty, this is what they presented today." Eunuch Xu handed over a few pieces of paper, which were filled with what Pei Che and Jiang Miao had done that day.
Emperor Liang Ping took the paper and held it up to his eyes. On the paper was written:
"At the beginning of the morning hour, Prince Pei left the Duke's Mansion and took a carriage to Tianshui Alley on Yifeng Street at the West City Gate. He stayed there for half an hour, then took Jiang Miao with him to Meiyuan to have a small gathering with Young Marquis Su, the second son of Minister of Revenue Han He, and the eldest son of Imperial Censor He Xu. The content of their conversation is unknown. At the beginning of the afternoon, they had lunch at Lanyue Tower. Afterwards, Prince Pei and Jiang Miao took a carriage alone to the West City Gate. On the way, the two got off the car and walked into the long alley. Their intentions were unclear..."
Since the day the imperial edict was issued, Emperor Liang Ping had ordered his subordinates to monitor their every move. From the intelligence presented by his subordinates, it can be seen that there seems to be a real affection between the two.
Emperor Liang Ping put down the paper in his hand and picked up another one. On this paper were other people's opinions on the marriage contract that the servants in various mansions had found out. Seeing Pei Che caught in the public opinion, Emperor Liang Ping was full of joy.
"Xu Hai, has Master Feng responded?" Emperor Liang Ping asked. He had only thought that Pei Che was Pei Shijie's son, but forgot that he was also Feng Jianshan's grandson. However, this matter was requested by Pei Che himself, so even if there was any blame, it could not be put on him.
Eunuch Xu replied, "Your Majesty, since Mr. Feng went to the Duke Zhong's mansion to find out what happened last time, there has been no further movement. I think Prince Pei has already convinced him."
"Master Feng has always been a man who doesn't tolerate any injustice. I don't think he would easily accept a man being with Pei Che. Also, is there any news from Pei Che's grandmother?"
"I heard that in the past few days, the old lady has been calling the Duke's wife over every day to set rules. If she is not satisfied, she will scold her. If she does not obey, she will use filial piety to suppress her and force her to submit."
Emperor Liang Ping smiled with satisfaction. The more chaotic the Duke Zhongguo's mansion was, the happier he was.
"That's not enough. Send someone to the Imperial Observatory and ask Li Dian to ask Pei Che to get the birth dates of the two men and help them choose an auspicious date. It's a rare opportunity for me to be a matchmaker, so I have to be thoughtful." Emperor Liang Ping decided to add fuel to the fire and make the scene in the Duke's Mansion even more chaotic.
"I'm sure that Prince Pei would be very grateful if he knew about this." Xu Hai laughed.
After receiving the imperial decree, Li Dian, the director of the Imperial Observatory, did not delay and went to the Duke Zhong's mansion early in the morning. The mansion had never had much contact with him, so naturally they did not know his purpose. After Pei Shiyuan received him, he found out that he was looking for Pei Che, so he had to swallow his anger and ask someone to invite Pei Che over.
Ever since Pei Che was named the crown prince, Pei Shiyuan had always felt a lump in his chest, making him unable to sleep or eat. This feeling was most intense every time he went out.
Back then, he inherited the title of the Duke's Mansion as a bastard. Although those people looked down on him, they dared not say anything to his face, and only said some sarcastic words behind his back. Unexpectedly, as soon as the imperial edict was issued, those people became unscrupulous, and repeatedly praised him in front of him in a sarcastic way for keeping his promise and being willing to give up such a huge family business.
He was so angry that he had to go back to his mansion. But he didn't expect that he would be angry again when he returned. His wife was wronged by the old lady, and when she came back, she cursed him and blamed him for his bad idea. Not only did his plan fail, but he also made the ladies in the palace suffer the consequences and said that they would no longer care about the family affairs of the Duke's Mansion.
These days, he has been thinking about how the situation turned out like this and why it is completely different from what he had imagined.
Just as Pei Shiyuan was trying to find out what Li Dian was up to, a servant reported that the prince had arrived. Pei Che bowed as he entered the room, then quietly waited for Pei Shiyuan to introduce him to the stranger inside.
"This is Lord Li, the director of the Imperial Observatory. He is here to discuss something with you on the orders of the Emperor." In front of outsiders, Pei Shiyuan looked at Pei Che with a smile, acting like a good uncle.
"I wonder what Lord Li wants to talk to me about?" Someone from the Imperial Observatory wants to talk to him? Pei Che had some bad thoughts in his mind.
Li Dian smiled and said, "First of all, congratulations to the prince for meeting his beloved. With the emperor's blessing, the two of you will surely have a happy marriage. I came here today because the emperor has issued an order, ordering me to compare your birth dates and calculate an auspicious date for you two, so that you can be a couple."
Pei Che felt mixed emotions when hearing these auspicious words. He forced a smile and said, "My birth date and horoscope are easy to find, but I'm afraid I can't get the other person's today. How about this, you go back first, and I'll have someone deliver it to your door after I get the horoscope?"
Li Dian was a little embarrassed: "But the emperor wants me to calculate it as soon as possible. How about this, please give me your own horoscope first, and send someone to the Imperial Observatory tomorrow to get the other one?"
"In that case, please wait a moment, Lord Li. I will send someone to get it." Pei Che called a servant and asked him to go to Minghua Courtyard to find Chan Yi, and asked Chan Yi to go to his grandmother and get his birth date and horoscope.
Not long after, Chan Yi came hurriedly with a box. Pei Che took the box and handed it to Li Dian. After a few words of greeting, Li Dian took his people away.
"Prince, the old lady wants you to come over." Chan Yi said in a low voice.
"Grandmother called me for something. Second uncle, I'll take my leave now." Pei Che didn't wait for Pei Shiyuan to speak, and left with Chan Yi, not caring at all that he was looking at them angrily from behind.
"Che'er, why do the people from the Imperial Observatory want your birth date and eight characters?" asked Grandmother Pei. However, how could someone of her status not know the meaning of this? She just didn't want to believe it and asked even though she knew the answer.
"The emperor ordered him to compare my horoscope with Jiang Miao's... and by the way, calculate an auspicious date." Pei Che originally thought that the emperor was just angry for a while, and when he calmed down and was busy with state affairs, he would definitely forget about it. But today's incident told him that his previous belief that someone was behind this was true, and the emperor really sent someone to keep an eye on them.
Grandmother Pei's lips trembled twice, and her face turned pale. She asked, "Che'er, do you really want to marry that man?"
"Grandmother, now that things have come to this, is there any other choice?" Pei Che was also helpless, "But I don't understand why the emperor cares so much about this matter?" He was not the only one who rejected the princess's kindness, but he was the only one who was forced into such a situation.
Pei Che didn't understand. His parents had passed away for a long time, so how could they be involved in this matter
"Your mother is from the Feng family. No matter her family background, appearance, temperament or talent, she is better than any other woman in Liangjing. Such a person will naturally attract many men in Liangjing."
"You mean, the emperor once..." Pei Che couldn't speculate further when it came to the love, hatred and vengeance of his elders.
Grandmother Pei nodded. "That's right. Unfortunately, the Feng family has strict rules. One of them is that no Feng family girl can be a concubine. Even if he is a prince, it is no exception. After your father married your mother, the Third Prince deliberately made things difficult for her many times. Fortunately, the Fourth Prince stepped in to help. Over time, your father became good friends with him. The two of them had similar interests, so they interacted more often."
Pei Che thought thoughtfully: "Back then, the late emperor did not appoint a crown prince. Both the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince had the opportunity to ascend to the supreme throne. Dad is on good terms with the Fourth Prince. I'm afraid that in the eyes of the Third Prince, both of them are rivals."
"That's right. Your father is the eldest son of the Duke of Zhongguo Mansion and the son-in-law of your grandfather. The Third Prince has always been quite wary of him, fearing that your father would join the Fourth Prince's camp. But I know that your father has never done anything. I'm sure the Third Prince himself knows this. Later, when your parents and your grandfather passed away... he took advantage of the chaos and ascended to the highest position in one fell swoop. After so many years, I thought his hatred had faded, but I didn't expect him to suddenly take action and grant such an imperial decree."
This is why Grandmother Pei has not taken any action yet. If she is deliberately seeking revenge, how can she listen to others' advice? Even if she moves more people out, it will probably be useless.
"I see. No wonder the emperor has been paying attention to this matter and even couldn't wait to ask the Imperial Astronomical Observatory to calculate an auspicious date." Pei Che finally understood why the emperor was so happy when he heard that he had chosen the second imperial edict.
"He wants you to marry a man because he holds a grudge against you for what happened back then. He wants to cut off your father's family line!" Grandmother Pei was both angry and helpless.
"Grandma, Mu'er is also our father and mother's child." Pei Che reminded her.
Grandmother Pei's face froze, and she spoke somewhat unnaturally: "If his illness can't be cured, everything is in vain."
"I believe that Mu'er will get better!" Pei Che said firmly, "My grandson still needs to get his birth date and horoscope, so I'll take my leave now."
He walked out of the door and went straight to Pei Mu's yard. In the yard, a few little girls were talking together. When they saw Pei Che suddenly coming over, they were so scared that their souls almost flew away, and they hurriedly greeted him.
Pei Che asked them to stand up and walked into the house. The house was quiet, as if no one was there. Pei Che found Pei Mu, took his hand, and said, "Mu'er, brother will take you out to play today, how about it?"
Pei Mu did not respond. Pei Che had long been accustomed to this and led him outside. The two of them sat in a carriage and came to Tianshui Alley. Pei Che led Pei Mu out of the carriage and walked towards the side door.
Jiang Miao, who was in the house, heard a knock on the door outside and hurried to the yard to open the side door.
"Why are you here?" He was mixing the stuffing. The fried bun business had been very good in the past two days. The bucket of stuffing in the morning would not be sold out until the evening. Jiang Miao was free today, so he planned to make more and send it to Daniu later, asking him to make more.
"I'm here to get your birth date and time. By the way, bring Mu'er out to relax."
"Oh, so it happens that Xiao Shitou has a day off today, so I'll let Xiao Shitou take him out to play later. When I'm done with my work, I'll make them something delicious." Jiang Miao leaned over and greeted Pei Mu, but didn't mind not getting a response.
Jiang Miao led the two of them inside. When Little Stone saw Pei Che, he immediately called him "Brother-in-law". He had called Master Pei his sister-in-law yesterday, but Master Pei told him that two men cannot call each other sister-in-law, but should call him brother-in-law. Although his brother told him after returning home that they were not married yet and should not call each other casually, his brother also said that only children with sweet words are likable. After he called Master Pei his brother-in-law yesterday, Master Pei was very happy! Little Stone was so happy that he didn't notice that his brother was holding his forehead and sighing.
Pei Che responded with a smile, beckoned Little Stone to him, took out a flawless jade gourd from his arms and handed it over. There was a red string hanging on it, which looked very beautiful. "I came in a hurry yesterday, so I'll make up for it today."
Little Shitou didn't dare to take it. He turned his head and looked at Jiang Miao, ready to do what his brother said.
"Ache, this thing is too valuable. It would be shameful if it were damaged. You should take it back!" Even though Jiang Miao had no knowledge of jade, he could tell that this piece of jade was not cheap.
"It's okay. I ordered someone to make this jade, and I'm giving it to this younger generation. The gourd represents fortune and luck, and it's a token of my love. I hope you won't refuse it."
Pei Che spoke very sincerely, and kept his hand outstretched, with no intention of retracting it.
Jiang Miao couldn't beat him, so he took the jade gourd from his hand, tied it carefully around Xiao Shitou's neck, and said to Xiao Shitou: "What do you want to say?"
Little Stone immediately understood: "Thank you, Gefu, for giving me the little gourd. I will take good care of it!" He held the little gourd and looked at it, the joy in his eyes almost overflowing.
Pei Mu stood aside, playing with his jade fish, and had no reaction to what was happening before his eyes.
(End of this chapter)