The Emperor and Empress both showed surprised delight; their son actually didn't refuse this time!
"Are you serious?"
Pei Che felt a little uncomfortable.
Because of his physical condition, ever since he was seven, all his attendants had been men. If a woman came within three feet of him, he would become nauseous, vomit, and lose consciousness, let alone engage in intimacy.
Today, he had fallen ill precisely because a woman had inadvertently gotten too close to him.
However, today, when he rode in the same carriage as that young lady, they were never more than two feet apart, yet his body didn't feel the slightest discomfort. He thought that young lady might be an exception.
Suddenly, he felt somewhat fortunate that the hidden guards and imperial attendants he had taken with him on this trip had split into two groups to draw away the pursuers. Only Liu Huai, a highly skilled but not very familiar guard, remained with him. The other party didn't know about his physical problem and confidently left him in the carriage.
Pei Che hesitated for a moment but still nodded.
"Which family's young lady is she? How old is she? Does Father want to issue an imperial decree for you now?"
Pei Che's mind spun, and he shook his head as if troubled: "Your son only met that woman once and doesn't even know her name. However, I think her family background might not be very good..."
"Who cares about her family background? Quickly send someone to find her!
Your mother doesn't wish for anything else. As long as you can touch her, even if she's a married woman, I'll help you snatch her back!"
The Empress's words truly resonated with the Emperor; any female would do!
No matter how difficult, they had to help the Crown Prince get his hands on her!
Pei Che felt relieved. His words had only been a test, and fortunately, the result was not bad.
"Then your son will take his leave now. I will send people to search for her immediately upon my return."
The Emperor waved his hand, dismissing him and urging him to go quickly.
Over the next two days, Changning Commandery Princess still hadn't been found, but the city couldn't remain sealed indefinitely. Three days was Prince Jin's limit, so all the guards at the city gates were withdrawn, and the city's curfew was lifted.
But Song Rui had not visited Ning Yan's courtyard again.
This day, someone arrived from the front courtyard.
Dingguo Duke and his wife went to meet the guest, but upon seeing the visitor, he was a little stunned.
"Steward Su? Does His Majesty have any instructions?"
Su Fu was now the Emperor's most trusted person, the Head Eunuch. His presence represented the Emperor.
"Indeed, there is something, and it's a great joyous occasion!
Congratulations, National Duke, you have raised a fine son. The Heir Apparent is skilled in both civil and military arts, a paragon among the young people of this generation. His Majesty greatly admires him and believes he is very well-matched with Eldest Princess. Therefore, he wishes to bestow a marriage upon them. What are your thoughts, National Duke?"
Dingguo Duke's wife's expression turned somewhat displeased upon hearing this. She disliked Ning Yan, but she certainly didn't want her son to marry a princess!
With their Song family's status, marrying any noble lady would be suitable, but marrying a princess would not only prevent her son from having any further development in court, but also, could she even act as a mother-in-law?
"Steward Su, my Rui'er already has..."
Dingguo Duke knew what his wife was about to say and shot her a fierce, cold glare, stopping her foolish remark. "To be able to marry a royal princess is my Rui'er's good fortune. My wife and I are naturally delighted. Thank you, Steward Su, for making this trip."
Su Fu was pleased. It was enough that Dingguo Duke understood the meaning. Under imperial power, what was needed were such discerning people.
When the Emperor sent him, did he not know that the Dingguo Duke's Heir Apparent already had a betrothal?
If he hadn't been betrothed, an imperial decree for marriage would have been issued directly!
"Good, then I shall report back to His Majesty. The imperial decree of marriage will be sent within three days. Dingguo Duke, you must act quickly."
Dingguo Duke frowned slightly. This meant he had to resolve Rui'er's engagement within three days. So urgent?
But he still nodded in agreement.
Su Fu quickly left after delivering the Emperor's oral decree.
After he left, Dingguo Duke's wife began to argue with Dingguo Duke.
"How could Rui'er suddenly be favored by Eldest Princess? And Rui'er already has an engagement, yet you didn't even mention it..." She hadn't set her sights on this one!
Dingguo Duke: "Ignorant fool!"
"I'm ignorant? How am I ignorant?"
"Doesn't this just suit your intentions? You think Yan'er is just an orphaned girl, unworthy of your good son. Is this status noble enough for you?"
"It's all your fault! When that girl first arrived, you and Mother immediately betrothed the two children.
I disagreed, but neither you nor Mother listened to me. Otherwise, my son would have married the Prime Minister's legitimate daughter long ago, and we wouldn't have this situation today!"
Dingguo Duke roared, "Shut up! Do you want to defy an imperial decree? If you dare to utter another word of nonsense, I will directly give you a letter of divorce, to spare the entire Song family from being dragged down by you!"
Dingguo Duke's wife hadn't expected her husband to even speak of divorce and was so enraged that she ran off.
Dingguo Duke was too lazy to coax her and simply went to the back courtyard to report the matter to the Old Lady.
"How could His Majesty suddenly issue such an imperial decree?"
Dingguo Duke: "His Majesty said that Grand Princess took a liking to Rui'er, but your son doesn't think so."
Grand Princess had seen Rui'er before, but never once had she shown any fondness for Song Rui.
"If it's not Rui'er, then there's a problem with Yanyan's side."
The Old Madam finished speaking and then thought of something. Crown Prince had not yet married, and for the Emperor to make such a fuss, it could only be the Crown Prince. It couldn't be that the Emperor had taken a liking to Yan'er, could it?
Mother and son exchanged glances, both having reached the same conclusion.
Then don't delay, otherwise, a good thing might turn bad.
"Go, retrieve the betrothal token for Rui'er. Qiu'er, go invite Yanyan."
The two hadn't held an engagement ceremony, only exchanged tokens and birth characters. Returning them would suffice.
However, their granddaughter would need to be comforted.
For Ning Yan, nothing could have made her happier. After receiving her birth characters back, she returned to her courtyard without even asking for the reason.
She had just mentioned to her grandmother that she wanted to live outside, but the Old Lady didn't agree. It would be strange if she did!
She genuinely doted on her biological granddaughter. Even if her guess was wrong, she still needed to find a suitable family to marry her granddaughter into before she could rest assured. How could she let an orphaned girl live outside?
If anything happened, where would she find a cure for her regrets?
The engagement here was broken, and the next day, the imperial decree of marriage was issued.
Song Rui numbly accepted the imperial decree, his heart filled with desolation, yet he feigned happiness as he slipped a red envelope to the eunuch who delivered the decree. He wanted to resist, but he couldn't bear the lives of over three hundred people in Duke Dingguo's Mansion!
...
Through the unremitting efforts of Prince Jin's Residence over these past days, Changning Commandery Princess's body was finally found in that abandoned house!
Even though the temperature wasn't very high, Changning Commandery Princess's body had already begun to decompose due to the long time since her death.
The coroner examined the body and concluded that the Commandery Princess had been raped and then had her throat slit with a sword.
Prince Jin's Consort fainted on the spot, and Prince Jin ordered that the killer must be caught and dismembered.
Prince Jin set a trap for Su Qi: ten thousand taels of gold to kill Prince Jin. When Su Qi arrived, what awaited him was a large net descending from above and a large bag of anesthetic. No matter how skilled one's martial arts, one fears a butcher's knife. Su Qi was hacked to death by the guards, piece by piece.