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Chapter 97.4: Le Cheng Emperor’s Seizure, Gift

For now, leaving aside how after these seriously abnormal couple of days, Le Cheng Emperor nearly ripped out his beard and hair, even going as far as to actually let someone invite Li Hong Yuan into the palace in secret. That’s right, ‘invite’, but that bastard didn’t give any face in the slightest.

In the end, it was still Cabinet Minister Ruan that was sensible, stating that the imperial order cannot be disobeyed, and the heavenly prestige cannot be lost. The Emperor was the Emperor, for the subjects, thunder and rain were all a ruler’s grace. To be able to bestow a marriage for his daughter was his daughter’s good fortune.

Le Cheng Emperor’s heart felt refreshed like having just downed a bowl of iced heat-dispelling soup during the scorching hot summertime. This kind of good official, reward, must be rewarded, and further stated that the day Ruan Fang Fei enters the Jin Qinwang Manor, aside from not wearing red, everything else will be the same treatment as a wangfei marrying into a wang’s manor.

At the same time giving Ruan Fang Fei a raise in status, how was this not also slapping the Ding Duke Manor’s face.

Naturally a few families rejoiced, and a few families worried.

As for Ruan Rui Zhong, that old thing, not having the slightest complaint towards this matter, Li Hong Yuan didn’t believe. The reason why he was able accept this matter in the end and not be in a bad mood, aside from being loyal to the Emperor, was most likely due to Ruan Fang Fei convincing him. The reason was nothing more than just those. In addition to Ruan Rui Zhong earnestly cherishing Ruan Fang Fei, and knowing her thoughts towards Li Hong Yuan, plus with the matter having already reached this point, he could only grant her wish.

(T/N: There’s something ironic about Ruan Rui Zhong genuinely loving his daughter, but his daughter is Ruan Fang Fei, and he has no idea how dark she is on the inside. It’s also funny how much Ruan Rui Zhong is compared and contrasted with the Ding Duke in this novel.)

Moreover, he was very clear, if he really were to hold an unyielding attitude, and oppose this marriage, the one to compromise in the end definitely won’t be Le Cheng Emperor. If he really were to offend Le Cheng Emperor, then he certainly will suffer the consequences. As an official in the imperial court, regardless of what position you climb to, unless your influence can hollow out the Emperor, or even undermine the entire dynasty, otherwise, you must forever keep in mind one thing: ‘The ruler is forever the ruler, and the subject is forever the subject!’ If you really dare to entirely accept the benefits given by your ruler, and grow arrogant from favor, then you are not far from death.

For Ruan Rui Zhong to be able to climb today’s position, and maintain himself in this treacherous vortex of the fight for the throne, was it really just based on his exceedingly strong abilities and skills, and not lacking any intentions of ‘flattery’ and ‘currying to favor’?

As for the essay Sun Yi Lin submitted, Le Cheng Emperor apparently suppressed it down directly, neither criticizing Sun Yi Lin harshly, nor regarding him any higher. How it was before was how they remained, just like as if this matter had never happened before.

Because in his past life, there wasn’t this course of events, Li Hong Yuan didn’t know whether or not there will be a follow-up either. However, regardless of which, it was all unrelated to him. If it were to involve Chen Zheng Min and in turn involve Wan Wan, he naturally will think of a way to clean it up. Thus, for the time being, there was no need to worry about this matter, one just needs to calmly wait.

The Grand Elder Princess was Le Cheng Emperor’s full-blooded younger sister of the same mother, and her relationship with Le Cheng Emperor was very good. After Le Cheng Emperor ascended the throne, he had her conferred as the Grand Elder Princess^[1]. What was rare was that her birth was incomparably honorable, yet her temperament was quite good. In addition, her husband was a descendant of a prestigious family, his appearance, talent, and temperament all outstanding. Compared to others, he was further fond of beautiful mountains and rivers, truly carefree and unrestrained. Moreover, it was he that sought to marry Grand Elder Princess of his own accord. After the two married, they had deep affections like biyi birds^[2], singing in perfect harmony like the qin and se^[3]. The only thing unpleasant was probably the fuma^[4] having a childhood sweetheart younger cousin, who lost her parents at a young age. Encountering this kind of situation, one didn’t even need to think to know what the outcome was. If she didn’t want to be at odds with her fuma, then even if she was a princess, she still needed to show herself as virtuous and magnanimous.

Such a person, even if she didn’t hold power, the amount of people that wanted to rope her in weren’t in the minorities. Unfortunately, all these years, the Grand Elder Princess Manor has always maintained a neutral stance, not leaning to help any one side, and leisurely living out her own simple days.

Because the fuma didn’t like it, they very rarely openly invited guests for a banquet on their residence. The ones they interacted with normally, majority were all relatives of the imperial household, as well as the relatives from the fuma’s side of the family. The Grand Elder Princess’s birthday, such a hard to come by chance to win her favor, rarely would there be people that would miss this opportunity. Even if you were someone who didn’t have the intentions to curry favor with her, you would still, because of his Majesty, not be absent without reason. After all, as long as one was a guest at Grand Elder Princess’s birthday banquet, Le Cheng Emperor would undoubtedly bestow a reward.

The Emperor’s face, who would dare to not give?

Thus, this banquet was definitely one of the most lively banquets of the capital.

It will gather people of the various factions, including the people of the neutral faction.

And that period of time before the start of the main banquet naturally belonged to the standard ‘Flower Admiring Feast’, for the noble young ladies to compete in talent and beauty, each displaying what they excelled in; for those noble young masters to compete in literature and martial arts, regardless whether it was for attracting the young ladies’ attention, or for arousing certain officials’ high opinion; for those old madams and madams to pull in higher connections with one another, and if they had children of suitable age in their family, they can also look for matches; and for those officials to suppress their opponents and rope in allies.

These things were openly and brazenly carried out just like that. And as the birthday star, the Grand Elder Princess happily received everyone’s congratulatory gift, listened to all kinds of free flattery, surveyed the beautifully dressed young ladies, and praised each family’s handsome young son. In any case, her family didn’t have children of suitable age, so she didn’t need to get involved in the slightest, nor need to worry in the least. Regardless whether he’s an immortal of the Ninth Heaven^[5], or a demon from the netherworld, if something happens, they all can’t come looking for her. The reason? There’s too many people today, and the Grand Elder Princess Manor doesn’t have enough manpower, so she simply just borrowed from Le Cheng Emperor the people of the Internal Affairs Court to help out. Her people, aside from greeting the guests, fetching things the guests need, and guiding the way, completely didn’t bother with the rest.

The young misses of the Luo family, as long as they were ten years or older, including Luo Jing Qiang, whose wedding day was approaching more and more, were all allowed by Luo Old Madam to come out and see the world. However, they were repeatedly warned, because there were numerous people and eyes, they must stay together in the same place as their sisters, and not allowed to walk around on their own. Luo Old Madam’s words, naturally no one objected.

The Grand Elder Princess Manor although gathered people from all sides, those whose status and position weren’t high enough didn’t even have the qualifications to pass through the doorsteps, so one’s own family’s descendants naturally needed a reliable elder to lead them. Truthfully speaking, prior to Luo Old Madam entering the capital, even Wang-shi didn’t have the qualifications to bring the younger generation to the Grand Elder Princess Manor. In past years, at most, it was just Luo Pei Shan bringing the sons and grandsons that were willing to come. The people of the rear manor could only ‘gaze at the ocean and lament one’s inadequacy’.

Thus, never mind Jing Wan, even for the other young misses, it was all their first time coming, with each and every one all appearing somewhat excited.

Luo Jing Qiang no longer dressed mature and old-fashion. Luo Jing Ying no longer dressed simple yet elegant. And even Luo Jing You, Jing Wan also gave her a beautiful and expensive full set of accessories, and after learning that she didn’t have clothes that matched the accessories, Jing Wan also gave her a few of her own clothes that she’s never worn before. Luo Jing You was only a year younger than Jing Wan after all. The clothes only needed to be slightly altered to fit her. As a matter of fact, after Ji yiniang personally altered them, the results were very good. Even the usually taciturn Luo Jing You felt like she was just quietly shy, remarkably like a little beauty. As for Jing Wan, needless to say, naturally never needed to worry in these aspects. How she should dress at certain settings, she was very clear inside. Also, there was the first branch’s sixth rank shu daughter, and the fourth branch’s seventh ranked di daughter. These two little girls were both ten years old. Unlike their older sisters, they both were still styled in buns, looking lovable and lively.

(T/N: Their ranking isn’t within their own branch but ranked out of all the young misses in the entire Lou family, basically ranked among their own generation. See the family tree if you’re confused about the relationships.)

Luo Old Madam was very pleased with these delicate and pretty granddaughters of hers, as she smiled from ear to ear.

When they reached the Grand Elder Princess Manor, because there were too many people, the ones welcoming the guests were also the people of the Internal Affairs Court.

After directly paying respect to the Grand Elder Princess, the male and female guests went separate ways. Because Luo Old Madam and the Grand Elder Princess didn’t have any connections, she naturally didn’t stay long either. After all, between the two of them exists quite an age gap.

Luo Old Madam sent away her granddaughters, letting them go play on their own, while she herself used this opportunity to build connections with those noble madams in the capital.

[1] I previously may have translated her title as eldest elder princess, but she may not be the eldest among the princesses of her generation, however she is given a title that elevates her status above all the other princesses of her generation. I’ve gone back and edited previous instances of it, gotta stay consistent.

[2] Biyi Bird – A mythical bird in Chinese mythology; the male only has a left wing and left eye, while the female only has a right wing and right eye. Only when the male and female combine is it able to fly. There’s a second part to this line that I didn’t translate, which is just comparing to flounders, because in ancient times they believed that two flounders stick together to make a whole one. It’s essentially the same concept as the biyi birds, except flounders actually exist. Though to be fair, biyi birds could be some extinct species that we never got to see.

[3] Qin and Se – Qin is the seven string zither, and se is a small standing harp; these two instruments are two string instruments that play in perfect harmony.

[4] Fuma – Similar to a Prince Consort(?), the husband of an imperial princess; the term translates more to imperial son-in-law.

[5] Ninth Heaven – Highest realm of heaven in Chinese mythology

T/N: A few things as a reminder——–In this setting, there’s a law that states that those who marry a princess can not participate in politics. That’s why those who have aspirations in officialdom will avoid marrying a princess, because it’s a literal career ender.

Also, I can’t remember if I’ve previously mentioned this or not, but there’s a distinction between a ‘prestigious or influential family’ and a ‘noble family’, tbh I may have mixed up the terms before in translating, but I will be more careful in the nuance from now on. However these two terms aren’t mutually exclusive.

A prestigious family is referring to an influential family that has a lot of power or influence for many generations. Jing Wan’s family can be considered an ‘influential’ family, because their family has a long history of scholars.

A noble family is suppose to refer to a family that holds a noble title (ie. Duke, Marquis, Count, Baron). Any family can technically hold a noble title without being an influential family, like the founding 3 duke and 5 marquis families that were from peasant background. But in most cases, families that hold a noble title were usually also an influential family for generations, like the Ding Duke’s Sun family.