“Marriage Grant: Duke Xu’s eldest legitimate granddaughter, Xu Zhaoyue, shall be married to the Ninth Prince, Chen Chu, as his wife. So decreed~”
As Yu Chenghua finished speaking while holding the imperial decree, the grandfather and the two granddaughters looked at one another in bewilderment. They were completely stunned by this decree and did not even immediately kneel to accept it and thank His Majesty.
His Majesty’s heart is fickle!
Before Chen Chu’s return, Chen Qing himself had visited the Xu residence and asked Xu Bainian to arrange for one granddaughter to accompany Yu Fengcheng to the Imperial Mausoleum to bring him back. At the time, Xu Bainian had asked which granddaughter His Majesty wanted him to send, and Chen Qing’s meaning was that Xu Bainian should decide for himself.
Xu Bainian naturally understood the deeper meaning and chose Xu Zhaoxing.
Now things were worse: the Ninth Prince had been brought back, he had already told Zhaoxing about the marriage, and the usually hard-to-negotiate Zhaoxing had even agreed. Yet with a single decree, Your Majesty had changed the grant-marriage target to Zhaoyue.
If You truly intended to grant Zhaoyue a marriage, You should have said so clearly from the start and had Zhaoyue go to bring the Ninth Prince back. Why all these twists and turns?
This was truly maddening!
“Ah, I truly don’t know whether the Ninth Prince is the Xu family’s savior or its bane.”
Xu Bainian sighed inwardly and could only accept it.
When His Majesty is willing to discuss something with you, it can be talked over. When he is unwilling, there is no room for refusal.
Just as Xu Bainian was about to receive the decree, Xu Zhaoxing suddenly lifted her head. Tears shimmered in her eyes as she gathered her courage and asked, “Eunuch Yu, did His Majesty’s imperial decree get written wrong? The grant-marriage decree isn’t for sister…”
To question an imperial decree was incredibly bold.
But Yu Chenghua showed no sign of blame. He was not that petty a person, and he also understood the Xu family’s place in His Majesty’s heart.
He only explained, “His Majesty’s decree can never be wrong. His Majesty is indeed granting a marriage between Young Commander Xu and His Highness the Ninth Prince. Duke Xu, please receive the decree.”
“Very well!”
Xu Bainian accepted the decree, wanting to speak but stopping himself.
Yu Chenghua could guess his confusion and reminded him, “This decree from His Majesty proves one thing: the Ninth Prince’s position in His Majesty’s heart is only higher than Old Duke Xu imagined, never lower.”
“His Majesty has already chosen an auspicious date. The first day of next month is a good day, and the wedding will be held then. There is also something Duke Xu only needs to know: His Majesty also plans to officially enfeoff the Ninth Prince as king on the wedding day and announce it to the world.”
“When Young Commander Xu has nothing to do, she may spend more time with the Ninth Prince and deepen their feelings.”
“I take my leave.”
After Yu Chenghua left, Xu Zhaoxing stood there dejectedly, as if her soul had been drained away.
At first, when Grandfather had brought up the marriage, she even felt that agreeing to it was letting Chen Chu off too easily. But now, with one imperial decree from His Majesty changing sister’s grant marriage to Chen Chu, it was as if sister had snatched something extremely important from her life in that instant.
Only then did Xu Zhaoxing realize that through their journey together, Chen Chu had already occupied an extremely important place in her heart.
Even if Chen Chu’s grant-marriage partner had been someone else instead of sister, the blow she felt would not have been nearly this great.
“Grandfather, I-I’m going back to my room to rest.”
Xu Zhaoxing left in low spirits.
Xu Zhaoyue looked at her younger sister’s departing back, her eyes full of distress, and could not help asking, “Grandfather, is there really no room left to turn this marriage around?”
Her mother had died not long after giving birth to her younger sister, and her father had later died in battle in the wasteland.
Since then, the only people in this world Xu Zhaoyue cared about were her grandfather and her younger sister.
She had never looked forward to her own marriage, because she knew very well that as the eldest legitimate granddaughter of the Xu family, and with the Xu family now in such a precarious state, her marriage could never be decided by herself.
As long as it benefited the Xu family, she could marry anyone.
Marrying a true son of destiny, an ideal husband, was not something she dared to hope for.
What Xu Zhaoyue wanted most was for her younger sister to be happy. As long as her younger sister was happy, she would do anything.
Yet now, it felt as though she had taken her younger sister’s beloved away.
She could not accept that.
“It is extremely difficult.”
Xu Bainian said with a sigh.
There was some resentment in his heart too. His Majesty’s move was clearly meant to leave him unable to rest in peace!
Everyone in the imperial city knew that the thing Xu Bainian cared about most in his life was these two granddaughters.
And now this marriage was treating him, an old man at death’s door, and his two granddaughters whom he held in the palm of his hand, like fools being spun around at will.
“Grandfather, I want to enter the palace and see His Majesty!”
It was indeed difficult to get His Majesty to withdraw the decree, but Xu Zhaoyue still wanted to try.
As long as there was even a sliver of hope, she would try to get His Majesty to withdraw the decree and fight for her younger sister.
“Forget it. Better let this old skeleton make the trip myself.”
How could Xu Bainian rest easy letting his eldest granddaughter enter the palace alone to see His Majesty and do something that was very likely to anger him?
Two hours later, Xu Bainian’s wheelchair rolled into the Imperial Garden.
By then, Chen Qing was sitting alone in a pavilion, fishing. He was not very surprised by Xu Bainian’s arrival and took the initiative to step out of the pavilion to greet him. To make it easier to talk to Xu Bainian, he even crouched down on purpose and asked in a very concerned tone, “Old Brother, why have you come?”
Everyone has a youth, and the ruler of the Tianchen Dynasty was no exception.
When he was young, he also had a circle of friends and brothers, such as Northern Plains Frontier Marshal Fang Dingzhi, the third-rank Grand Director Eunuch Yu Chenghua who had stayed by his side for decades, and Xu Bainian before him. They were all Chen Qing’s closest brothers from his youth.
These people had all risked their lives to follow Chen Qing during his struggle to seize the throne.
And Xu Bainian was the oldest among them, always regarded by Chen Qing as his big brother. As everyone grew older, Chen Qing added the word “Old” in front of “big brother.”
“This old subject pays respects to His Majesty.”
Xu Bainian cupped his hands in salute.
“Old Brother, I have said more than once that you do not need to bow to me.”
“As long as a person lives, propriety cannot be abandoned.”
“As you wish.”
Chen Qing did not insist. He straightened up, moved behind him, placed both hands on the wheelchair handles, and slowly began to push him forward. With some emotion, he said, “If not for this imperial decree, Old Brother would probably never enter my palace even in death. I don’t come to see you, and you never come to see me of your own accord. Even though both of us have little time left.”
Xu Bainian said with openness, “I am old and do not wish to trouble His Majesty. Besides, as long as this old subject is still alive, if His Majesty wants to see me, he will always be able to see me.”
For a moment, Chen Qing’s eyes reddened. “The two of us have paid too much for this empire.”
If they were carefree wandering heroes in the martial world, even living to a hundred would count as dying young.
Once one’s martial cultivation realm rises high enough, lifespan becomes astonishingly long.
Chen Qing took the throne at thirty and has ruled for twenty-eight years to this day. Xu Bainian is seventy-one this year; his true age is even younger than several of the dukes in the current Tianchen Dynasty, yet anyone who sees him must address him as Old Duke, his age showing all too clearly!
Now, both of them can already see the end of their lives at a glance.
They have done too much for Tianchen.
“Your Majesty, can this matter of the grant marriage be changed?”
But Xu Bainian did not want to dwell on the past; he cared about the matter at hand.
“Are you dissatisfied with Chen Chu, or do you want Zhaoyue to continue being the Imperial Grandson’s Consort?”
In front of Xu Bainian, Chen Qing did not hide anything. “Old Brother, there is no one else here, so I will tell you the truth. Fengyi cannot remain the Imperial Grandson for long. If the Xu family chooses Fengyi, it will only be a complete waste of effort.”
Xu Bainian shook his head and said, “This old subject never expected Zhaoyue to become Tianchen’s future Empress, and I know His Majesty has a clear plan in mind for her marriage. But Zhaoxing, this child… she likes the Ninth Prince!”
Chen Qing was stunned again and again. He truly had not expected Xu Bainian to personally hurry to the palace and beg him to withdraw the decree for this reason.
In Xu Bainian’s heart, his granddaughter’s romantic feelings were actually more important than the overall interests of the Xu family…
This old big brother of his did not understand Chen Chu well enough.
Otherwise, he would not have come to ask him to withdraw the decree.