Second Marriage

Eldest Madam Ye glanced at him after he spoke. “In other words, you men, ah, are always focused on those things in the Imperial Court, and don’t know how to focus on other places for a bit. Fifth Younger Brother’s marriage is close, but he has left here. I believe that since you are the eldest brother, you should talk to your mother and ask her to set things straight at home. Then, as soon as Marquis Ningyaun returns, you can visit with some generous gifts prepared. After that, I will have a reason to invite the Xiao Family’s Young Miss to the residence for a visit.”

Eldest Master Ye became even more baffled upon hearing this. “Why are you calling her Young Miss? Oh, that’s right. We should invite her over, and try to find out how she feels before we give an explanation. If the little girl wasn’t offended, then it would be easier to deal with Marquis Ningyuan. We can also take the other sisters to visit her. I’m not sure if there’s anything else we can do to alleviate the situation with the Xiao Family.”

“You are so! A blockhead!” Eldest Madam Ye really felt that her man was hopeless. She threw aside the embroidery frame and ordered the servants to prepare the meal.

She really thought that Fifth Brother-In-Law liked the Xiao Family’s Young Miss. The last time her sister-in-law caused trouble and came back, she asked why Fifth Brother-In-Law had a connection with the Xiao Family’s Young Miss. Her mother-in-law didn’t say a word about that girl. She was probably waiting for Marquis Ningyuan’s return before she said something.

In order to continue the good relationship between the Eldest Branch and the Fifth Branch, she had to find a way to help her Fifth Brother-In-Law’s marriage go smoothly.

In the future, it would be fine if her brother-in-law remembered the Eldest Branch’s good intentions. She didn’t quite understand everything, but she was afraid that her husband would expose this to his mother, which would defeat the purpose of performing this kind of flattery and make things uncomfortable.

While Eldest Madam Ye was secretly creating these plans in her mind, Ye Shen had settled down and received the news that Maquis Ningyuan had come back with the Wala’s surrender and was entering the palace.

The Wala had lost the war this time and greatly suffered. After the defeat, several princes began to fight against each other.

As Marquis Ningyuan had the army advance day by day, the Wala King could no longer endure it and asked for peace. The letter said that he would send two princes with the envoys to meet the Emperor as a show of good faith.

One of the princes was Prince Ah Mo, who now had the largest support in Wala. He was born from the Queen and was the second son among the brothers.

The Emperor was in possession of that item, and now he wanted to focus on finding the so-called treasure. When he heard the request for peace, he naturally agreed. He immediately sent someone to send a letter to Marquis Ningyuan. Thus, the Marquis was to consider the situation and find a suitable opportunity to tell Wala that the Emperor was willing to let their princes and envoys enter the capital.

As long as it was settled, it would be the day Marquis Ninyuan returned to the Imperial Court.

Ye Shen calmly listened to how the Emperor arranged everything and was thinking about how  he and Xiao Youning would be married in three or four months at the most.

There were just a few auspicious days left before the year ended, and Marquis Ningyuan should be willing to agree to the marriage.

The Emperor had the servants withdraw. He looked up and suddenly questioned him, “I heard you took your mother to that mansion?”

The Emperor’s people had been taking care of the mansion, so it was expected that he would know about it.

He collected his thoughts and replied, “This official wants to get married there.”

The emperor glanced at him teasingly and said with a smile, “Then, are you prepared to recognize your ancestors? What did your mother say? Did she agree?”

Ye Shen said, “Replying to Your Majesty, this official’s mother has always wanted this official to leave the Ye Family. She didn’t think she would be staying in the Ye Family for so long. It was because this official wanted to take things step by step and didn’t want this official’s mother to suffer too much.”

The Emperor sighed at his words. “Zhen knows how you feel, and it has been really difficult for your mother these past few years. Now that you’ve made up your mind, you can take this item back to your mother.”

The Emperor asked the palace servants to find a red-lacquered box and gave it to Ye Shen.

Ye Shen took it, and the Emperor signaled for him to open it first. Inside was a piece of bright yellow silk. It’s edges were uneven, like it had been torn off.  Stained with blood, it also held a blood written note.

He was slightly surprised and looked up at the Emperor, who lifted his hand to have him see it. “Read it first, and then your problem will be solved.”

Ye Shen put the box down on a seat. He took out the silk cloth and recognized each word. He finally closed his eyes. The piece of silk cloth became heavy because of what it had done for him. His heart felt even more indescribable, as if he was going through all the familial affection that no one could make up for from the past.

He put it away, and knelt down to the emperor to give a big bow. “This official thanks Your Majesty.”

“It’s time to change your life in the next few days. You will be busy. When you are done, come to the palace to see zhen and play chess.”

The Emperor smiled with affection. Ye Shen kowtowed again and left with the red-lacquered box.

Ye Shen had a positive vision for the future. His steps out of the palace were light. He and Xiao Youning only had to wait for an auspicious day to come, but Huijing and the Eldest Princess were still unspeakably upset.

Huijing rushed to return to the Li Family and discovered that her mother-in-law was not there. Li Qingzhi did not want to see her, so she went to her father-in-law under the pretext of paying her respects to find out what was going on. In the end, her father-in-law maintained an icy look and only said that she should return to her room and rest.

She didn’t find out anything, and became even more nervous as she wondered whether Xiao Youning was going to return to the Li Family or not. She couldn’t sleep well all night.

The next day, she still felt hazy. Then, she heard that her father-in-law had given the Emperor a report and requested to resign from his official position. He had also written that he wanted Li Qingzhi to leave her. Since he was only a son of the Li Family, he could not get angry at her and should not let his dignity as a man be ruined by her. Her father-in-law wrote a few pages in detail about how she and her mother had summoned performers into the residence to play around with on the third day after their wedding, and the complaints went on.

Thus, the Emperor summoned her mother into the palace.