Astute Princess: Married to be the Empress Novel - Chapter 18

Chapter 18 Delaying The Wedding
“You’re really fast. Let’s go out and take a look. I hope Second Brother can come back in time. Don’t miss an hour. After all, the imperial edict cannot be violated.” Ying Ran stood up and was about to leave.

“Imperial Daughter, let this old servant help you change into your wedding clothes before leaving.” Seeing that Ying Ran was about to leave, Xi Po said, “Princess, you have to be beautiful today. This woman is the only one in her life. Don’t treat her unfairly. Just let the wedding guests wait.”

What a joke. If she were to leave like this, how would they explain to Prince Jing? Prince Jing had said that they should take good care of the imperial daughter’s makeup.

“There’s no need to change. Let’s just do this. Even if it’s a big wedding, you don’t have to wear a wedding dress. Besides, this imperial daughter is just a flat wife, so she doesn’t pay much attention to things. Let’s go and take a look in front of her.”

“But imperial daughter, this is probably inappropriate …”

“What’s wrong? This imperial daughter feels that this is very good. Let’s go.”

Ying Ran no longer looked at the two happy ladies and walked out of Orchid Garden. “Mammy, stay here and guard the Orchid Garden. Don’t let anyone mess up my courtyard. I’ll be back in a few days.”

Ying Ran would not let Nanny Yang follow her to Prince Jing’s Mansion because she could not bear to suffer with her. Besides, she did not plan to stay in Prince Jing’s Mansion for long, so it was better to bring her to Princess’ Mansion in a few days.

Nanny Yan was also unwilling to go to Prince Jing’s Mansion, so she replied, “Alright, Princess, this old servant will definitely help Princess defend Orchid Garden.” In those few years in the Heavenly Villa, she had witnessed Prince Jing and the Princess grow up together and saw that they were happy. But now Prince Jing had changed his mind and married someone else. Nanny Yang was also dissatisfied with Prince Jing and did not want to see him anymore.

“Mm, thank you, Nanny.” After Ying Ran finished her explanation, she turned around and left Orchid Garden. She picked up the imperial daughter’s dignity and went to the front hall. She also had the imposing aura. It just depended on who she was facing. Facing the people around her, she had always been approachable and would never put on the airs of an imperial daughter.

She, Fu Yingran, was going to be the imperial daughter of the Great Wei Empire today. She wanted to let those people see if she, Fu Yingran, could be manipulated at will.

The masters and servants came to the front hall. There was no one inside, Ying Ran looked at the bustling wedding procession at the entrance. The red sedan chair carried by the eight of them looked like Prince Jing was paying more attention to her. However, this did not change anything. Ying Ran withdrew his gaze and directly instructed, “Jin’er, go find some people and ask them to bring out the dowry at the entrance. When Second Brother arrives, follow us to Prince Jing’s Mansion.”

“Yes, Imperial Daughter.” Jin’er turned around and went to find someone.

Then, he instructed Cui’er, “Go and instruct the servants to set up a car. This imperial daughter is going to Prince Jing’s Mansion today.” She did not intend to get into the sedan chair of his Jing Palace.

As long as he returned the betrothal gift, didn’t wear the wedding dress, and didn’t get on the sedan chair, then this marriage was nothing. The imperial edict only said that she was allowed to enter Prince Jing’s Mansion after noon today. As long as she went to Prince Jing’s Mansion after noon today, she would not be considered to have resisted the edict.

Father had said that she was a princess conferred by the former Emperor. The former Emperor had said that she could use the princess’ ritual. In the past, because she was too young, she had never used it before. Today, she would use it in a high-profile manner to remind those people of Fu Yingran’s ident. I.ty.

Cui Er was also smart and didn’t waste time. She hurriedly went down to find someone to prepare for the ceremony.

Not long after, Jin’er brought a lot of people over. They demolished their tents and carried out the betrothal gifts. They lined up and prepared to set off at any time. Cui’er also instructed the servants to prepare their ceremonies and be ready to set off at any time.

Since Fu Tianchen hadn’t arrived yet, Ying Ran waved everyone back and said that he would wait. However, he didn’t see Fu Tianchen come back until dinner time. Fu Ying Ran wasn’t annoyed and said to Jin’er, “Tell the kitchen to prepare the food. You can’t let everyone starve.”

The people welcoming the Prince Jing Mansion were still waiting at the entrance. They couldn’t let anyone starve. After all, they weren’t wrong.

Hearing Ying Ran’s instructions to prepare dinner, the two happy women were not calm anymore. They quickly said, “Princess, it’s getting late. It’s time for us to set off. The Jing Palace has already prepared a feast. Let’s go to the Jing Palace for dinner.” Granny Xi was about to cry, Prince Jing’s side must be waiting anxiously.

“I’m not busy. Since the Empress Dowager has already issued a decree asking Second Brother to come back and send me off, then just wait. When my Second Brother arrives, he will go to Prince Jing’s Manor. Otherwise, he will also resist the decree and kill his head.” Fu Yingran said unhurriedly, thinking that it had been more than ten days since the decree was issued.

Second brother should have arrived long ago, Perhaps someone was secretly obstructing him, Not letting him return to the capital on time, After all, resisting the decree was a great sin. As long as she grasped this point, she could take care of her second brother and Duanwang Manor. Fortunately, Fu Yingran was only a flat wife today, and there was no auspicious time in the imperial decree. Otherwise, she would not be able to extend the time without limit. She only hoped that her second brother would return before midnight tonight. Otherwise, the two siblings would resist the decree at the same time.

Fu Yingran’s side was wasted just like that, while Prince Jing’s Mansion was blown up. Prince Jing had already sent people to carry Prince Duan’s Mansion several times, but every time they came back, they would say, “Princess Jingxian can’t get married before the Guardian General returns.”

Everyone knew that this was Prince Duan’s Mansion competing with the Emperor. Everyone knew that Fu Tianchen was being held back by the Emperor’s men. The purpose was to prevent Fu Tianchen from entering the capital on time, so that he could be charged with resisting the decree and disrespecting the emperor, so that he could regain the military power in his hands.

Prince Duan also saw through the Emperor’s intentions. Yesterday, he had a compromise. He said that on the day of the imperial daughter’s wedding, he had brought Duanqin Princess to visit Duanqin Princess’ mother in Lian City.

This was a waste of time with the Emperor. Earlier, the Emperor granted Prince Duan a month’s holiday. He originally thought that it would start on that day, but Prince Duan said that he wanted to wait for the imperial daughter’s wedding before taking a vacation. This was deliberately making things difficult for the Emperor.

In a few days, Crown Prince Yelan will arrive. He will call for Prince Duan to receive him personally. There is no need to talk about anyone else, but Prince Duan has left the capital today. This is deliberately not attending Prince Jing’s wedding ceremony, deliberately making things difficult for the Emperor, and once again expressing his dissatisfaction with the Emperor and Prince Jing.

When King Jing heard this, he understood in his heart. Then, he sent a handkerchief to the palace and asked the Emperor to send someone to escort Fu Tianchen into the capital. Otherwise, he would have sent troops to look for him. King Jing was a soldier brought out by Prince Duan, and now he was related by marriage. The Emperor’s actions also made him dissatisfied. He would not be ignorant of the so-called cold lips and cold teeth.

The emperor held Prince Jing’s folds in his hand and was furious in his heart, “Good, Prince Duan. Good, good, you Fu Yingran. Are you forcing me to do this? Very good, you guys are ruthless. Tell us to withdraw our people and let Fu Tianchen marry us in the capital.” The Emperor was furious and fell to the Shuyi Palace.

It was all Concubine Shu’s idea. If she hadn’t let him get married, how could he have been forced to such a state by a dignified emperor? The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. His footsteps became more and more urgent. Soon, he arrived at Shuyi Palace. When the eunuch at the door saw that it was the Emperor, he turned around and wanted to report it to the Emperor.

However, the Emperor immediately stopped him. He raised his foot and went straight to the main hall. The main hall’s gate was tightly closed. Just as the Emperor was about to push the door open, he heard the voice of a man inside.

Thus, the Emperor withdrew his hand and listened expressionlessly.

“What? Fu Yingran hasn’t gone out yet and is still in Duanwang Mansion?” This was Imperial Concubine Shu’s voice, and the Emperor would not be unable to recognize it.

“Yes, Fu Yingran said that he wanted to wait for Fu Tianchen to return and send her off, and Fu Tianchen was dragged by the emperor’s men. He is still wasting his time outside the city.” This voice was very unfamiliar, and the emperor could not tell who it was.

“This won’t do. Fu Yingran must marry Prince Jing. We have to think of a way to let Fu Tianchen enter the capital. Otherwise, our plan will fail.”

“Shuyi, will Fu Yingran really follow our plan? I always feel that she won’t be easy to control. After she marries Prince Jing, will she really support us with Prince Jing?”

“The woman regards her husband as the heavens. She will be willing. Besides, Shu Yuan also promised me that she would try her best to please Fu Yingran and Prince Jing. She will respect Fu Yingran everywhere. At that time, she will definitely be grateful to Shu Yuan and ask Prince Duan’s Manor to support Prince Jing. If Shu Yuan comes forward and asks Prince Jing to make Tao’er the Crown Prince, then she will be justified.” Imperial Concubine Shu’s son was the youngest son of the Emperor. His name was Fu Zitao, and he was only one year old now.

“If you want Tao’er to become the Crown Prince, you must first think of a way to cripple the Crown Prince and then cripple the Empress. You must think of a way for the Emperor to make you the Emperor’s son. Only then will things be logical. Otherwise, it will be very difficult for the Emperor to succeed. After all, the Emperor has other princes.”

“That’s why I asked the emperor to marry me, “If Shu Yuan marries Prince Jing as her main wife, then the Jing Palace will definitely be used by our Sun Clan. If Fu Yingran marries Prince Jing as his main wife and Prince Duan’s palace will be used by Prince Jing. Prince Duan and his son have a total of 300,000 troops, and Prince Jing also has a total of 150,000. There’s no need to worry about anything big.”