Chapter 524: Marriage (Part One)
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An Xiaogu sighed, “My parents are not happy about this, but they know I’m coming here today, so they told me about it.”
They were forced to do this. Yuwen Bai couldn’t stand An Yandong accompanying Yuwen Fu to study, so he tortured and killed An Xiaogu’s siblings. The Great Empress Dowager forced Yue Guo Gong’s mansion to stand on the side of the Changxin Palace, but couldn’t provide security for the people of Yue Guo Gong’s mansion and was not considerate at all, making various demands. Yue Guo Gong’s mansion wanted to establish itself, to survive, so they had to find a backer for themselves. Therefore, turning to Ying Wang’s mansion was a natural choice.
Mingzhu promised without hesitation, “I’ll tell His Highness and we’ll definitely come.”
An Xiaogu bid her farewell, “Our family members don’t dare to stay outside for long now. I have to go back.”
Mingzhu also said, “Tomorrow is the day when Yuwen Xue is married off to the Wusun. My eldest brother is the official envoy for the marriage, and my second brother is also returning to his post in Ganzhou. Today, the family is seeing them off, so I have to go back too. Let’s go together.”
The two went back to the capital together and went their separate ways. Mingzhu changed her clothes when she returned to the mansion, and Yuwen Chu also returned. Mingzhu saw the joy on his face and couldn’t help but ask him in a low voice, “Did something good happen?”
Yuwen Chu leaned close to her ear and whispered softly, “Zhongshan Wang’s Shizi encountered bandits and went missing.”
There was no need to say more. It was definitely Fourth Brother and his men who did a good deed! Mingzhu asked in a low voice, “Then Fourth Brother is about to come back soon, right?”
Yuwen Chu shook his head, seriously saying, “Who said that? Fourth Brother-in-law was ordered to greet the Jiangbei County Prince. County Prince Jiangbei hasn’t arrived yet, how could he come back?”
Humph, two troublemakers. Mingzhu looked at Yuwen Chu with disdain. There was no need to ask. This County Prince Jiangbei must be on Yuwen Chu’s side. He just needed to find an excuse to send someone to pick him up, and then they could manage to send Fu Mingzheng to pick him up. With the cover of County Prince Jiangbei, he could directly go and pretend to be a bandit to kill Zhongshan Wang’s son, and then meet up with County Prince Jiangbei to return to the capital together, thus washing away the suspicion.
Yuwen Chu said with great concern, “I hope nothing major happens to Zhongshan Wang’s son. Otherwise, His Majesty will not have a formal heir, and his sons will all want to be Shizi. They may bite each other. I really worry for Royal Uncle.”
“Pretending to be righteous.” Mingzhu couldn’t stand him and lightly hit him, “Hurry up and change your clothes, the family is waiting.”
Yuwen Chu smiled and changed his clothes, then had someone bring the batch of crossbow arrows he had carefully crafted before, which he wanted to give to Fu Mingda for self-defense.
The husband and wife got on the carriage, and Mingzhu told him what An Xiaogu had said earlier. Yuwen Chu said, “It’s all thanks to you.” Yue Guo Gong and his eldest son were both outstanding generals with high prestige in the army. Moreover, Yue Guo Gong himself was the commander of one of the thirteen Divine Guards stationed in the capital. Being able to get close to them was naturally a great thing.
Mingzhu put her hand on her belly and smiled, “The baby also played a part.” Thanks to this obedient child lying securely in her belly, she had the ability and energy to take care of An Xiaogu. Otherwise, if something happened to An Xiaogu and the child started to fuss, she would be unable to help An Xiaogu despite her good intentions.
“Yes, both of you are heroes, very obedient.” Yuwen Chu reached out to touch Mingzhu’s belly, gently pressing it. Unexpectedly, there was a response from the other side, whether it was the baby’s hand or foot, gently pushing his hand away.
“Huh, this little guy is playing with me!” He exclaimed in surprise, then pushed again, but this time the baby ignored him and didn’t move.
Mingzhu was proud and gently waved his hand away, “Don’t disturb my child’s sleep.”
Yuwen Chu rubbed his hands happily, “This child…” He wanted to use the most appropriate word to describe the child, but felt it wasn’t enough. He thought for a while before saying, “This child is really good.”
Mingzhu clicked her tongue, “I thought you were going to use some amazing words to praise our child, but after thinking for so long, you just said ‘good’.”
Yuwen Chu explained to her, “You can’t praise an unborn child too much, or it may attract jealousy from spirits. The reason why people always give children derogatory names is for this reason. When I say he’s really good, he’s really good.”
Mingzhu chuckled, “I asked His Highness to inquire about the character of Qi Wang’s eldest son. Did His Highness inquire? My second brother is about to return to Ganzhou soon. Today is the best opportunity to mention this matter. Otherwise, when my second brother leaves, my sister-in-law will procrastinate again and be biased towards her maternal nephew. She is always reluctant to let go, and my father and Royal Mother are not good at forcing her too much.”
“I asked. Don’t worry, Ancheng is a good kid. He and Wenwen are quite compatible, both in appearance and temperament. It’s a good match.” Yuwen Chu smiled, “There’s something you don’t know yet. I deliberately inquired and found out that it wasn’t Qi Wang Wangfei who first noticed Wenwen, but Ancheng that child. When I was ill last time, wasn’t his father bringing him to visit me? It was Zhou Nushi who received them. You greeted them from afar with Wenwen. It was that glance that made Ancheng remember Wenwen, and he tried to persuade his family to propose marriage after returning.”
This made things even better. This marriage was almost halfway done. Mingzhu entrusted this important task to Yuwen Chu, “I’ve asked my sister-in-law, and she clearly told me that she wants to marry Wenwen to her maternal nephew. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to bring this up again. When you’re drinking tonight, talk privately with His Highness and my second brother. Remember to make it sound good.”
Yuwen Chu confidently said, “Don’t worry, this matter will definitely succeed.” Marrying Wenwen into the Qi Wang’s mansion was equivalent to giving the Fu family another good card, which could bring an extra layer of security to the family. Both Fu Cong and Fu Mingzhao would agree to it.
With Wenwen’s lifelong affair settled, Mingzhu was very happy, but suddenly remembered Fu Mingzheng and Li Shumei’s matter, “Didn’t His Highness want to inquire about Li Shumei and Fourth Brother’s matter earlier? Any news?”
Yuwen Chu said, “There have been too many things happening recently, and I forgot to tell you. It’s like this, Li Shumei has been different from ordinary secluded women since childhood, she likes to wear men’s clothing and wander around. A few years ago when Li Dazhong was serving in Pengcheng, she often disguised herself as her brother and followed Li Dazhong to do things. When Fourth Brother-in-law went to Pengcheng on official business, he was intercepted and hurt, and Li Shumei was also present at the time. During the days he was recuperating, Li Shumei took care of him. I don’t know if it’s because of this, but her fiancé, who was betrothed to her since childhood, broke off the engagement.”
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