Emperor Yongjia had a slightly darker complexion and a square appearance. He could not be considered as heroic as King Xingyang, nor as suave as the Marquis of Guangping. Even the Marquis of Puyang was much more handsome than Emperor Yongjia.

   However, Emperor Yongjia was tall and held the supreme imperial power.

   At this time, Emperor Yongjia had a gentle face and a smile on his face.

   Empress Qiao’s heart was slightly warm, and she smiled softly: “The concubine has invited the Emperor to discuss Ah Jing’s marriage.”

  Hearing the mention of the Second Prince, Emperor Yongjia’s brows moved, and his smile subconsciously faded a bit: “Oh? I don’t know which family’s girl the Queen is attracted to?”

   Empress Qiao’s heart sank slightly.

  Emperor Yongjia was known to be partial to the Eldest Prince. The Second Prince was obviously the direct prince, but he was not favored by Emperor Yongjia. This matter was also tacitly understood by everyone.

   What was worrying was that the Second Prince had spoken and acted very differently since returning to the Capital. It also made Emperor Yongjia unhappy everywhere. The relationship between father and son had become increasingly estranged and stiff…

   Empress Qiao suppressed her heavy heart and said softly, “Don’t dare to hide from the Emperor, the one whom the concubine is looking at is the daughter of King Xingyang, the fourth young lady of the Lu family.”

  Emperor Yongjia: “…”

  Emperor Yongjia instantly frowned and glanced at Queen Qiao: “You prefer a dignified and elegant girl who is full of poetry and books, and there is absolutely no chance of you falling in love with Lu Lin’s daughter.”

“Last time Second Prince came and begged me to grant a marriage but failed. So he is now asking you to persuade me.”

     “I might as well tell you the truth today. I have asked King Xingyang. King Xingyang doesn’t want his daughter to marry into the Royal family as a daughter-in-law. He wants to recruit a son-in-law for his daughter.”

   “My old face is almost swollen. He still has the face to marry Lu Mingyu, hum!”

  The more Emperor Yongjia thought about it, the angrier he became, and the more he spoke angrily about it.

  Empress Qiao groaned in her heart and hurriedly opened her mouth to explain: “The Emperor please calm down, please listen to the concubine. The concubine also persuaded him several times, but he still is determined to marry the girl of the Lu family, the concubine can’t hold him back.”

   “More than a month ago, the concubine asked Fourth Miss Lu to enter the palace. Ah Jing met with Fourth Miss Lu then. Also, later, Ah Jing went to Huangzhuang Courtyard and met Fourth Miss Lu again.”

   “Fourth Miss Lu was moved by his sincerity and has changed her mind.”

   “Otherwise, the concubine won’t have the face to open her mouth today.”

What?

  Emperor Yongjia’s anger floated in the air, condensed on his face, and there was a look of astonishment in his eyes: “Is this true?”

   Empress Qiao secretly let out a sigh of relief and replied firmly: “Of course it’s true. Otherwise, how could the concubine have the face to say this to the Emperor.”

  Emperor Yongjia did not speak.

   He paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. A full dozen back and forth.

   Queen Qiao did not make a sound, waiting quietly for Emperor Yongjia to calm down.

Emperor Yongjia finally stopped and looked at Empress Qiao: “I have to ask King Xingyang personally about this matter. If King Xingyang nods his head, I will order the marriage. If King Xingyang is unwilling, I will never do things like forcing the courtiers to marry their daughters.”

  Emperor Yongjis was about to embark on his journey of conquering the world and he cherished the famous generals more eagerly than anyone else. Privately, he and King Xingyang were also very compatible.

  There were differences between rulers and ministers, and it was impossible to disregard their status and communicate like friends. However, King Xingyang held a lot of weight in his heart and was by no means weaker than the Marquis of Puyang, or the Marquis of Guangping.

  The boulder in Empress Qiao’s heart fell to the ground, and she replied with a smile: “Of course. This is a marriage, not an enmity. If people really don’t want it, we will never marry a daughter-in-law by force.”

   This was also the fault of the new Emperor of this new dynasty. From an aristocratic family’s head to becoming an Emperor, Emperor Yongjia was still adapting to the change of identity. He had not yet developed the temperament of an Emperor.

  Even when it came to marrying a daughter-in-law, it was a continuation of the old habit. Before proposing the marriage, you must first ask your future in-laws if they were willing.

  Otherwise, if Emperor Yongjia granted the marriage directly through imperial decree, how dare the Lu family resist the marriage?

  …

   After the business was finished, Empress Qiao was in a good mood and said with a smile: “The Emperor is busy with political affairs and has worked hard. The concubine will let the imperial kitchen prepare meals!”

  Emperor Yongjia coughed: “No, I still have something to do, so I won’t be eating at Jiaofang Hall tonight.”

   Empress Qiao paused with a slight smile, and quickly said with a soft laugh: “Then the concubine will send off the emperor.”

  Emperor Yongjia left soon.

   After Emperor Yongjia left, the smile on Empress Qiao’s face disappeared.

  Cailan quietly came to report: “Niangniang, after the emperor left Jiaofang Palace, he did not return to Wenhua Palace and went in the direction of Yanxi Palace.”

   Sure enough, he went to Yanxi Palace again.

   Concubine Meng Gui was the person at the apex of Emperor Yongjia’s heart, who had been favored over the years. She, the Empress, can do nothing about it.

   Empress Qiao pursed the corners of her mouth, swallowing all the sour jealousy in her heart, and said lightly: “I see. Ben Gong is a little hungry, ask them to serve dinner!”

   Back then, this marriage was personally decided by her father-in-law, who had been dead for many years. The marriage of the Li family and the Qiao family was beneficial to each other.

After marrying into the Li family, she realized that in her husband Li Yuan’s heart, there was already a girl he liked.

   The Meng family’s status was a little lower than the Li family’s and they were also generals. Miss Meng and Li Yuan were childhood sweethearts, and they had a very strong relationship. It was a pity that Li Yuan married the daughter of the Qiao family, so he could only say goodbye to his sweetheart.

   Never thought that Miss Meng Jiao was so infatuated with Li Yuan that she didn’t want to marry someone else at all. During a private meeting with Li Yuan, she “unfortunately” was discovered.

   The old general Meng was almost killed by the behavior of his daughter. He had to obey Miss Meng Jiao’s wishes. Soon, Li Yuan married Miss Meng as a concubine.

  Madam Ming gave birth to his eldest son, Li Yi, seven months after entering the door.

   If you know the inside story, you have to sigh. The dignified daughter of the Meng family actually did such a depraved thing.

  The Noble Concubine was also a concubine, and she should always bow her head to the wife. It can’t be turned over in this life.

  No one knew the pain in her heart as the main wife.

   Her husband was estranged and indifferent to her and had only Madam Meng in his eyes. After Meng’s entrance, her husband went to Meng’s yard almost every day and only came to the main courtyard on the 1st and 15th day of the month.

   After Meng gave birth to his eldest son, Li Yuan was ecstatic and cherished him like a treasure. She, the wife, gave birth to a son after two years. The husband’s love for his di son was far less than that of his shu eldest son.

  Her son was as handsome as jade, gentle and elegant, with one eye and ten lines, talented and intelligent, no one can match.

   But the eyes of her husband only saw the strong and lively eldest son, but he was lukewarm to his di son, who loved to read and was mediocre when it came to practicing martial arts.

   Later, Li Yuan raised his flag and established himself in troubled times, founding a new dynasty, and his territory became larger and larger. Today, Wei, Yan, and Chu stood in a three-legged standoff, and Wei was so powerful that Yan and Chu could barely resist even after joining forces.^[1]T/N the author does repeat same stuff again and again

  Wei’s famous ministers and good generals were ready, and the trend of unifying the world was unstoppable.

   As the patriarch of the Li family, Li Yuan would at best favor the eldest son, but would not pass on the family fortune to the shu eldest son.

  As the Emperor, if he was determined to make his favorite eldest son the Crown Prince, who could stop him?

   The Crown Prince had never been established because Emperor Yongjia had not made up his mind yet.