Chapter 313 – When Are You Setting Off?
Chapter 313 When Are You Setting Off?
Putting down the chess piece in his hand, the emperor asked with a darkened face, “You want to marry Qu Mansion’s lady as your Princess Consort?”
Li Quan carefully lowered his head, not daring to look at the emperor’s angry face.
Pei Yuanjun stretched out his hand and said indifferently, “Your Majesty, I don’t like any other women. How am I supposed to marry them?”
Li Quan stole a glance at him, speechless. Only Lord Yun dared to speak to the emperor like this. The others, including the Crown Prince, did not even dare to breathe heavily when the emperor was angry.
“That won’t do. Your Princess Consort must have a noble status.” The emperor didn’t agree.
Pei Yuanjun also put down the chess piece in his hand, gracefully picked up the tea beside him, took a sip, and asked with a calm smile, “But how can I find a woman of noble status that I like? If I can’t meet such a woman, I won’t have a Princess Consort all my life, right?”
The emperor looked at his face carefully and found that he was indifferent. He calmed down and said, “You don’t need to rush regarding your Princess Consort, but you have to choose carefully. The Crown Prince is going to choose his Princess Consort soon. When the time comes, I will ask the empress to choose a Princess Consort for you. You should have a Princess Consort, but she can’t be blind. She could only be your Side Princess.”
The emperor’s words carried a bit of disdain. Even if Qu Moying was good in every aspect, he would not let her be Pei Yuanjun’s Princess Consort. He agreed to let a blind like her enter Lord Yun Mansion with the position of Side Princess because it was the first time Pei Yuanjun wanted to marry someone in so many years. He was somewhat grateful to her because she made Pei Yuanjun finally want to get married.
Even if her eye disease could be cured, she was still inferior to normal people.
On that day, the emperor saw Pei Yuanjun admire the flowers with Qu Moying. He had accepted Qu Moying in his heart. Qu Moying looked delicate, timid, and pitiful. He heard that she had a miserable past. Moreover, Qu Zhizhen was nice to his concubine but bad to his legitimate wife, and he treated Qu Moying, who was born by his legitimate wife, casually.
Since Pei Yuanjun wanted to marry Qu Moying, he accepted her.
However, he thought Qu Moying could at most be Pei Yuanjun’s Side Princess.
Pei Yuanjun did not insist and said lazily, “I will listen to you, Your Majesty. But if I don’t like the woman chosen for me, I won’t marry her.”
The emperor said confidently, “That’s for sure. You should marry someone you like. I believe I can find you a noble lady who can make you fall in love with.”
Li Quan looked at them speechlessly. Pei Yuanjun was so bold, and the emperor was actually easily persuaded. If it was another prince, there would be no room for negotiation. The ex-Crown Princess was chosen by the emperor, and the Crown Prince could only accept the arrangement with gratitude.
“Your Majesty, how is the matter with Duke Yu? It’s time to reappoint him, right?” Pei Yuanjun smiled and changed the topic. It could be seen that he really did not care about the matter of getting married. He did not care about Qu Moying as much as the emperor had imagined.
Maybe he just thought she was a good girl, or he pitied her.
The emperor nodded in satisfaction. Although he didn’t think Pei Yuanjun was likely to pity a woman, it might be the case right now. It seemed that Pei Yuanjun liked this kind of delicate beauty. He had sent women to Lord Yun Mansion, but they were the coquettish type. It turned out that he sent the wrong kind of women.
He decided to let the empress carefully pick a gentle noble lady. It would be better if the lady was fragile and weak. He took a look at Qu Moying from afar that day. Although he couldn’t see her clearly, he could tell that she was a gorgeous beauty who was particularly weak.
The emperor thought he knew what kind of women Pei Yuanjun liked, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that Pei Yuanjun wouldn’t want to get married. Pei Yuanjun should have gotten married long ago. If he still didn’t get married, he would have no descendants. The emperor was unwilling to see this happen.
“Yes. It’s about time. One general is not enough.” The emperor relieved his worries and nodded. He placed a chess piece on the chessboard and said meaningfully, “It’s about time.”
Pei Yuanjun raised his head and said seriously, “I still need to make a trip back to the North.”
The emperor pressed his hand on the chess piece and looked at Pei Yuanjun with displeasure. “What are you going back for?”
“When I came back to the capital, I was in a hurry. There were some things that haven’t been completely handled, so I have to go back and deal with them. The North is not stable, so I have to set up a backup plan. Someone from the North will also come over.”
Pei Yuanjun said lazily and gracefully placed a chess piece in his hand on the chessboard, which destroyed the emperor’s game design. The emperor nearly won the game, but Pei Yuanjun’s move easily ruined his meticulous deployment.
The emperor’s face immediately darkened. He glared at Pei Yuanjun and threw away the chess piece in his hand, messing up the chessboard. “That’s it. I am tired. If you want to deal with the North’s matter, hurry up. Don’t delay it.”
Pei Yuanjun stood up, bowed to the emperor, and said meaningfully, “Don’t worry, Your Majesty. Everything will be done.”
The emperor said worriedly, “Be careful. I will send another team of secret guards to you.”
Pei Yuanjun refused, “Thank you, Your Majesty. But there’s no need. I also have some secret guards to protect me.”
The emperor thought for a while and nodded. “You still have to be careful. If anything goes wrong, come back to the capital first.”
It was a matter of great importance, but he hadn’t considered it before. After hearing Pei Yuanjun mention it, he began to pay attention to it. He had been hesitant before and was unwilling to send Pei Yuanjun over, but he knew that Pei Yuanjun was the most suitable person to deal with this matter.
Pei Yuanjun said calmly, “Don’t worry, Your Majesty. I will be careful!”
The emperor was silent for a moment. His eyes fell on Pei Yuanjun with a bit of gloominess. After a while, he reached out and patted Pei Yuanjun’s shoulder, “Be careful!”
Pei Yuanjun bowed to him respectfully. “Yes!”
The emperor asked again, “When are you setting off?”
“After the Qixi Festival. I have never celebrated it before. I heard that the capital is quite lively on this festival, and many noble ladies will come out on that day. People can have a good time because the rules will not be so strict that day. I should be able to see different beauties!”
Pei Yuanjun laughed.
There was a touch of satisfaction on his handsome face, which was exactly what a young man should look like. The emperor had never seen him like this. For a moment, all sorts of feelings welled up in his heart. He nodded repeatedly. “Yes, you should go and have a look. If you meet a noble lady you like, come to the palace and tell me. I’ll send someone to propose a marriage for you.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!” Pei Yuanjun bowed and smiled. His pair of eyes were handsome.
With that, Pei Yuanjun left.
Seeing Pei Yuanjun leave, the emperor sighed heavily. He sat down powerlessly as if he had aged a lot all of a sudden.
Li Quan served the emperor a new cup of tea and comforted him in a low voice, “Your Majesty, Lord Yun is a capable person. He will be fine. Please don’t worry.”
The emperor sighed again and frowned. “I know he is capable, and I believe in him… However, he is so capable that I’m afraid the future emperor can’t tolerate him. The latter emperors had never spared the former emperors’ trusted confidants.”
“Your Majesty, you have always been thinking for Lord Yun. Since Lord Yun has real power, even if… it won’t be easy to deal with him.”
Li Quan said in a low voice. His words were a little outrageous, but he had to say them at this time.
“Even if he acts as a regent, he will not end up well. The future emperor will …” The emperor was distressed. There were some things that he could not handle properly. Although he did it for Pei Yuanjun’s good, would it really be good for him?
The emperor did not know whether what he did was right or wrong.
Li Quan did not dare to speak anymore. If he continued, and if others spread it out, he would surely die. Women in the harem were not allowed to interfere in politics, and even high-ranking eunuchs like him weren’t allowed, either.
The room quieted down, and only the emperor sighed heavily…
Qu Xuexin came to Qu Moying frequently these past few days. From time to time, she came to Qianyue House to do embroidery while Qu Moying accompanied her.
At first, Qu Moying embroidered quickly, but she was obviously much slower when it came to the difficult parts. Qu Xuexin gradually became faster, and her embroidery was also very outstanding.
When Qu Xuexin finished embroidering a sachet, Qu Moying had only finished half of her embroidery, far from completion.
Qu Moying was embarrassed. She said that her eyes were sore, and she could not calm down to make embroidery. Qu Xuexin comforted her, saying that her eye condition was more important than making a sachet. She even asked to help Qu Moying embroider the rest of the sachet, but Qu Moying refused. She said that she would embroider it slowly.
Qu Xuexin did not insist. She used Qu Moying’s brush and ink to draw a few paintings of butterflies and flowers that Qu Moying had drawn before. However, they were not similar to Qu Moying’s paintings. Qu Xuexin did not use any of them. She drew again, and she found that her last painting was quite similar to Qu Moying’s. She asked Qu Moying to comment on the painting. Qu Moying also thought it was similar to her previous paintings, and it matched the sachet. Only then did Qu Xuexin feel satisfied.
Sometimes, Qu Xuexin would invite Qu Moying to see Qu Mingcheng after coming to Qu Moying’s place. Qu Moying had never refused her, and she went with her every time.
However, she rarely met Qu Qiuyan. She heard from Qu Xuexin that Qu Qiuyan had been very obedient recently. She only went to greet the Old Lady and then took a look at Qu Mingcheng.
Qu Mansion seemed to be unprecedentedly peaceful.
Early in the morning, Qu Moying brought her maids out. Recently, Yue’s Clothing Pavilion’s matter had been settled. Qu Moying decided to start the business on the day before the Qixi Festival. The city would be especially lively on the Qixi Festival. All women, including noble ladies and ordinary women, would come out for fun. The business of the shop would be good.
If she started the business before the Qixi Festival, she could make a good start!
“Moying, where are you going?” A soft voice came from the side.
Qu Moying turned around and saw Qu Xuexin, who was out at least two hours earlier than usual. It seemed that she took Qu Moying’s casual words yesterday to heart.
“Eldest Sister, I am going to the shop.” Qu Moying said with a smile. She wore a light purple dress that made her skin look fair, and her lips look beautiful. Her long and light purple eye veil made her look even more beautiful, which could make people feel pity for her.
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