Chapter 97.4: Le Cheng Emperors Seizure, Gift

For now, leaving aside how after these seriously abnormal couple of days, Le Cheng Emperor nearly ripped out his beard and hair, even going as far as to actually let someone invite Li Hong Yuan into the palace in secret. Thats right, invite, but that b.a.s.t.a.r.d didnt give any face in the slightest.

In the end, it was still Cabinet Minister Ruan that was sensible, stating that the imperial order cannot be disobeyed, and the heavenly prestige cannot be lost. The Emperor was the Emperor, for the subjects, thunder and rain were all a rulers grace. To be able to bestow a marriage for his daughter was his daughters good fortune.

Le Cheng Emperors heart felt refreshed like having just downed a bowl of iced heat-dispelling soup during the scorching hot summertime. This kind of good official, reward, must be rewarded, and further stated that the day Ruan Fang Fei enters the Jin Qinw.a.n.g Manor, aside from not wearing red, everything else will be the same treatment as a w.a.n.gfei marrying into a w.a.n.gs manor.

At the same time giving Ruan Fang Fei a raise in status, how was this not also slapping the Ding Duke Manors face.

Naturally a few families rejoiced, and a few families worried.

As for Ruan Rui Zhong, that old thing, not having the slightest complaint towards this matter, Li Hong Yuan didnt believe. The reason why he was able accept this matter in the end and not be in a bad mood, aside from being loyal to the Emperor, was most likely due to Ruan Fang Fei convincing him. The reason was nothing more than just those. In addition to Ruan Rui Zhong earnestly cheris.h.i.+ng Ruan Fang Fei, and knowing her thoughts towards Li Hong Yuan, plus with the matter having already reached this point, he could only grant her wish.

(T/N: Theres something ironic about Ruan Rui Zhong genuinely loving his daughter, but his daughter is Ruan Fang Fei, and he has no idea how dark she is on the inside. Its also funny how much Ruan Rui Zhong is compared and contrasted with the Ding Duke in this novel.)

Moreover, he was very clear, if he really were to hold an unyielding att.i.tude, and oppose this marriage, the one to compromise in the end definitely wont be Le Cheng Emperor. If he really were to offend Le Cheng Emperor, then he certainly will suffer the consequences. As an official in the imperial court, regardless of what position you climb to, unless your influence can hollow out the Emperor, or even undermine the entire dynasty, otherwise, you must forever keep in mind one thing: The ruler is forever the ruler, and the subject is forever the subject! If you really dare to entirely accept the benefits given by your ruler, and grow arrogant from favor, then you are not far from death.

For Ruan Rui Zhong to be able to climb todays position, and maintain himself in this treacherous vortex of the fight for the throne, was it really just based on his exceedingly strong abilities and skills, and not lacking any intentions of flattery and currying to favor?

As for the essay Sun Yi Lin submitted, Le Cheng Emperor apparently suppressed it down directly, neither criticizing Sun Yi Lin harshly, nor regarding him any higher. How it was before was how they remained, just like as if this matter had never happened before.

Because in his past life, there wasnt this course of events, Li Hong Yuan didnt know whether or not there will be a follow-up either. However, regardless of which, it was all unrelated to him. If it were to involve Chen Zheng Min and in turn involve Wan Wan, he naturally will think of a way to clean it up. Thus, for the time being, there was no need to worry about this matter, one just needs to calmly wait.

The Grand Elder Princess was Le Cheng Emperors full-blooded younger sister of the same mother, and her relations.h.i.+p with Le Cheng Emperor was very good. After Le Cheng Emperor ascended the throne, he had her conferred as the Grand Elder Princess

[1]

. What was rare was that her birth was incomparably honorable, yet her temperament was quite good. In addition, her husband was a descendant of a prestigious family, his appearance, talent, and temperament all outstanding. Compared to others, he was further fond of beautiful mountains and rivers, truly carefree and unrestrained. Moreover, it was he that sought to marry Grand Elder Princess of his own accord. After the two married, they had deep affections like biyi birds

[2]

, singing in perfect harmony like the qin and se

[3]

. The only thing unpleasant was probably the fuma

[4]

having a childhood sweetheart younger cousin, who lost her parents at a young age. Encountering this kind of situation, one didnt even need to think to know what the outcome was. If she didnt want to be at odds with her fuma, then even if she was a princess, she still needed to show herself as virtuous and magnanimous.

Such a person, even if she didnt hold power, the amount of people that wanted to rope her in werent in the minorities. Unfortunately, all these years, the Grand Elder Princess Manor has always maintained a neutral stance, not leaning to help any one side, and leisurely living out her own simple days.

Because the fuma didnt like it, they very rarely openly invited guests for a banquet on their residence. The ones they interacted with normally, majority were all relatives of the imperial household, as well as the relatives from the fumas side of the family. The Grand Elder Princesss birthday, such a hard to come by chance to win her favor, rarely would there be people that would miss this opportunity. Even if you were someone who didnt have the intentions to curry favor with her, you would still, because of his Majesty, not be absent without reason. After all, as long as one was a guest at Grand Elder Princesss birthday banquet, Le Cheng Emperor would undoubtedly bestow a reward.

The Emperors face, who would dare to not give?

Thus, this banquet was definitely one of the most lively banquets of the capital.

It will gather people of the various factions, including the people of the neutral faction.

And that period of time before the start of the main banquet naturally belonged to the standard Flower Admiring Feast, for the n.o.ble young ladies to compete in talent and beauty, each displaying what they excelled in; for those n.o.ble young masters to compete in literature and martial arts, regardless whether it was for attracting the young ladies attention, or for arousing certain officials high opinion; for those old madams and madams to pull in higher connections with one another, and if they had children of suitable age in their family, they can also look for matches; and for those officials to suppress their opponents and rope in allies.

These things were openly and brazenly carried out just like that. And as the birthday star, the Grand Elder Princess happily received everyones congratulatory gift, listened to all kinds of free flattery, surveyed the beautifully dressed young ladies, and praised each familys handsome young son. In any case, her family didnt have children of suitable age, so she didnt need to get involved in the slightest, nor need to worry in the least. Regardless whether hes an immortal of the Ninth Heaven

[5]

, or a demon from the netherworld, if something happens, they all cant come looking for her. The reason? Theres too many people today, and the Grand Elder Princess Manor doesnt have enough manpower, so she simply just borrowed from Le Cheng Emperor the people of the Internal Affairs Court to help out. Her people, aside from greeting the guests, fetching things the guests need, and guiding the way, completely didnt bother with the rest.

The young misses of the Luo family, as long as they were ten years or older, including Luo Jing Qiang, whose wedding day was approaching more and more, were all allowed by Luo Old Madam to come out and see the world. However, they were repeatedly warned, because there were numerous people and eyes, they must stay together in the same place as their sisters, and not allowed to walk around on their own. Luo Old Madams words, naturally no one objected.

The Grand Elder Princess Manor although gathered people from all sides, those whose status and position werent high enough didnt even have the qualifications to pa.s.s through the doorsteps, so ones own familys descendants naturally needed a reliable elder to lead them. Truthfully speaking, prior to Luo Old Madam entering the capital, even w.a.n.g-s.h.i.+ didnt have the qualifications to bring the younger generation to the Grand Elder Princess Manor. In past years, at most, it was just Luo Pei Shan bringing the sons and grandsons that were willing to come. The people of the rear manor could only gaze at the ocean and lament ones inadequacy.

Thus, never mind Jing Wan, even for the other young misses, it was all their first time coming, with each and every one all appearing somewhat excited.

Luo Jing Qiang no longer dressed mature and old-fas.h.i.+on. Luo Jing Ying no longer dressed simple yet elegant. And even Luo Jing You, Jing Wan also gave her a beautiful and expensive full set of accessories, and after learning that she didnt have clothes that matched the accessories, Jing Wan also gave her a few of her own clothes that shes never worn before. Luo Jing You was only a year younger than Jing Wan after all. The clothes only needed to be slightly altered to fit her. As a matter of fact, after Ji yiniang personally altered them, the results were very good. Even the usually taciturn Luo Jing You felt like she was just quietly shy, remarkably like a little beauty. As for Jing Wan, needless to say, naturally never needed to worry in these aspects. How she should dress at certain settings, she was very clear inside. Also, there was the first branchs sixth rank shu daughter, and the fourth branchs seventh ranked di daughter. These two little girls were both ten years old. Unlike their older sisters, they both were still styled in buns, looking lovable and lively.

(T/N: Their ranking isnt within their own branch but ranked out of all the young misses in the entire Lou family, basically ranked among their own generation. See the family tree if youre confused about the relations.h.i.+ps.)

Luo Old Madam was very pleased with these delicate and pretty granddaughters of hers, as she smiled from ear to ear.

When they reached the Grand Elder Princess Manor, because there were too many people, the ones welcoming the guests were also the people of the Internal Affairs Court.

After directly paying respect to the Grand Elder Princess, the male and female guests went separate ways. Because Luo Old Madam and the Grand Elder Princess didnt have any connections, she naturally didnt stay long either. After all, between the two of them exists quite an age gap.

Luo Old Madam sent away her granddaughters, letting them go play on their own, while she herself used this opportunity to build connections with those n.o.ble madams in the capital.

[1] I previously may have translated her t.i.tle as eldest elder princess, but she may not be the eldest among the princesses of her generation, however she is given a t.i.tle that elevates her status above all the other princesses of her generation. Ive gone back and edited previous instances of it, gotta stay consistent.

[2]

Biyi Bird

A mythical bird in Chinese mythology; the male only has a left wing and left eye, while the female only has a right wing and right eye. Only when the male and female combine is it able to fly. Theres a second part to this line that I didnt translate, which is just comparing to flounders, because in ancient times they believed that two flounders stick together to make a whole one. Its essentially the same concept as the biyi birds, except flounders actually exist. Though to be fair, biyi birds could be some extinct species that we never got to see.

[3]

Qin and Se

Qin is the seven string zither, and se is a small standing harp; these two instruments are two string instruments that play in perfect harmony.

[4]

Fuma

Similar to a Prince Consort(?), the husband of an imperial princess; the term translates more to imperial son-in-law.

[5]

Ninth Heaven

Highest realm of heaven in Chinese mythology

T/N: A few things as a reminderIn this setting, theres a law that states that those who marry a princess can not partic.i.p.ate in politics. Thats why those who have aspirations in officialdom will avoid marrying a princess, because its a literal career ender.

Also, I cant remember if Ive previously mentioned this or not, but theres a distinction between a prestigious or influential family and a n.o.ble family, tbh I may have mixed up the terms before in translating, but I will be more careful in the nuance from now on. However these two terms arent mutually exclusive.

A prestigious family is referring to an influential family that has a lot of power or influence for many generations. Jing Wans family can be considered an influential family, because their family has a long history of scholars.

A n.o.ble family is suppose to refer to a family that holds a n.o.ble t.i.tle (ie. Duke, Marquis, Count, Baron). Any family can technically hold a n.o.ble t.i.tle without being an influential family, like the founding 3 duke and 5 marquis families that were from peasant background. But in most cases, families that hold a n.o.ble t.i.tle were usually also an influential family for generations, like the Ding Dukes Sun family.