Zhou Yun Sheng observed her behavior and guessed that she knew about Qi Jin Yu and Zhao Bi Xuan's adultery, otherwise, she wouldn't be so doting on the Second Prince. Before Zhou Yun Sheng arrived, Qi Yi Ning already had a son, 5 years old this year, cute and sensible, but the Empress Dowager always put on a sour face when she looked at him.
[Su Jie Yu- The First Prince's concubine mother.]
Whenever Su Jie Yu brought over the First Prince to pay respects, she pushed them away, claiming a headache, letting the two kneel outside the palace hall for a while before leaving. She couldn't truly accept Qi Yi Ning's heir, because she'd always felt that Qi Yi Ning had taken away the throne that should've belonged to her son.
She also didn't like Zhao Bi Xuan this Jezebel, but Zhao Bi Xuan could bewitch Qi Yi Ning, making him indulge in passion while neglecting politics. For that purpose, her value was quite high, so the Empress Dowager reluctantly accepted her presence. Qi Jin Yu no doubt loved Zhao Bi Xuan, forget about a wife and concubines, he didn't even keep a house girl, so the eager for grandchildren Empress Dowager felt very frustrated. Because of this, although the Second Prince's birth was a point on contention, she wasn't willing to quietly deal with him, contrarily, she always brought him to her side to personally feed him.
"Your Majesty has not visited for a long time, please sit down."
"This son wanted to ask something of Mother Empress. Do you have a candidate in mind for my sixth brother's marriage?"
"What are the Emperor's plans?" Under Zhao Bi Xuan's bewitchment, Qi Yi Ning's control over imperial court politics became increasingly loose, giving Qi Jin Yu many opportunities. But in recent months, something seemed to have awakened him, and he suddenly started governing properly, nearly clearing out all the connections Qi Jin Yu had set up in the imperial court. The Empress Dowager didn't know exactly how much he'd noticed, so her response was particularly guarded, she didn't dare reveal her true feelings.
"I've chosen these candidates, what does Mother Empress think?" Zhou Yun Sheng handed over the long ago picked out list of noble women, among these was former Qi Jin Yu's previous wife, the second branch of the Jing Guo Duchy's eldest daughter, Luo Lan.
The Empress Dowager glanced over the list and immediately noticed her grandnephew's daughter's name, then she held the list up, pretending to ponder.
Even without Qi Yi Ning's suppression, the Jing Guo Duchy would sooner or later decline, because the main branch raised a bunch of prodigals that only knew how to eat and drink. However, the second branch's Luo Zhen was a special case, he passed the imperial examinations at 16, and began an official's career at 18, now he was 40 years old, but he was already ranked 2nd in the Ministry of Appointments. His connections in the imperial court went very deep, and his reputation was quite clean, so it was better to go to him than a grand house with a title but no real power. In fact, although the past Qi Yi Ning held a grudge against Jing Guo Duchy, Lou Zhen's career was unaffected, this showed that his talent and capability was very high.
The Empress Dowager's heart had already settled on Luo Lan. Because she'd granted the marriage in the last life, she succeeded in raising up her maternal home, and also helped her son find a great ally in Lou Zhen.
Luo Zhen was a genius, he advised Qi Jin Yu and followed him everywhere, and in only 7 years, he helped him win over most of the imperial court officials. Without him, Qi Jin Yu's throne stealing wouldn't have been as easy. Luo Zhen worked so hard, one, because he was increasingly disappointed in Qi Yi Ning's muddle-headedness, and two, his daughter was joined by marriage to the Jing Guo Duchy.
Zhou Yun Sheng died early, so he didn't know if Jing Guo Duchy sailed smoothly to the other side on this ship named Qi Jin Yu, but he'd seen the fate of his daughter Luo Lan, so he could only guess that their outcome was also a tragedy. Luo Lan was married to Qi Jin Yu for seven years, but she was unable to bear children, and she suddenly died of illness on the eve of the rebellion. Qi Jin Yu treated her very kindly, and even though she was unable to get pregnant, he never thought about accepting a concubine or a favorite servant girl, always assuring her that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. As a result, he gained a reputation as a faithful husband, and Luo Zhen was even more grateful to him, becoming loyal and devoted. Luo Zhen had five sons, but Luo Lan was his only daughter, she was naturally the apple of his eye.
However, this was all just a funny joke to Zhou Yun Sheng. Qi Jin Yu really did want to spend his life with one person, but that person was never Lou Lan. Why was she infertile? Why did she die on the eve of the rebellion? Expect for making room for Zhao Bi Xuan to occupy the position as the Gong Prince's wife, there was no other reason. All her value had been squeezed out, she obviously needed to be dismissed, but the poor thing, till the very end, she thought she was the luckiest woman in the world.
That Luo Zhen was so capable, Zhou Yun Sheng absolutely wouldn't just give him to Qi Jin Yu, therefore, Luo Lan would become his excellent pawn. When he saw the Empress Dowager pretending to hesitate, he pointed to Luo Lan's name and said, "In my opinion, marrying within the family is best. Mother Empress, what do you think?"
The Empress Dowager's pupils twinkled as she nodded in agreement. The two of them chatted about the marriage, the harmonious atmosphere unprecedented. Zhao Bi Xuan sat beside them, smiling obsequiously, but her heart was throbbing in pain, if the Second Prince's crying wasn't disturbing her mind, she feared that she would cause a scene.
———–
The news that Zhou Yun Sheng agreed to Zhao Bi Xuan's plan to marry her sister to Ji Guo Duchy spread.
Li-shi had been worried that Zhao Bi Xuan would give her daughter to a lousy home, she didn't expect the marriage candidate to be within the imperial household, Ji Guo Duchy. Immediately overjoyed, she knelt in front of the shrines and recited Amitabha. Old Marquess Wen Yuan was also very pleased, he immediately sent for his daughter to be brought back home.
Three days later, the mother and daughter met again and huddled together, weeping in joy.
"Everybody says that the Lady is always magnanimous, she would never scheme against you, now can you see? You've been granted a marriage decree, you should travel to the palace to thank the Lady for her kindness. If not for the Lady, our family would not be as well off as now." Old Marquess Wen Yuan cautiously advised.
"We know, I've already prepared gifts, Marquess, you should examine them." Li-shi took out a very generous gift list. Her husband was hopeless, so her children were her lifeblood, as long as Zhao Bi Xuan didn't hurt them, she was willing to submit to her.
Old Marquess Wen Yuan took a look, then gave her some gold tickets to purchase the gifts, but he also asked Fang-shi to pack up, so she could go along with them. Fang-shi already knew the mysterious intent behind the marriage proposal. Marriage was marriage, with such powerful in-laws like Yu Min Princess, Zhao Xin Ran could only swallow her misfortune and bear it. If she dared complain out loud, Yu Min Princess would make her life a living hell.
Fang-shi covered her smirk as she agreed, a touch of ridicule glinting in her eyes.
———-
"Milord, the Madam has asked you to return home, she said that the 2nd Miss has returned." An imperial guard stood outside the door and reported.
"Okay." Zhao Xuan absentmindedly replied, his hand wrapped around a very fine brush, illustrating last night's dream on paper in full detail. After finishing, he looked over the drawing for a long time, waiting for the ink to dry before carefully packing it up. His body felt perpetually hot, especially his stretched taut to bursting groin. Every day, he needed to repeatedly rinse in cold water before going to bed and after waking up just to feel slight relief. Especially during imperial court sessions, seeing that man's more and more handsome face, there were several times when he almost couldn't hold back his tsunami like, landslide of desire. He was starting to feel certain that the man had drugged him, or perhaps did some witchcraft on him, to make him completely lose his self-control.
If he knew that things would become so unbearable, he would've taken him on the couch that day, then kidnap and imprison him in the Northwest, so only he could look at him, so only he could touch him, not Zhao Bi Xuan, not Meng Kang, and no demons and monsters could disturb them.
His mind whirling with all kinds of dark and outrageous ideas, Zhao Xuan washed the ink off his hands and left Yu Guo Duchy.
"Xuan-er, you finally came back. Xin Ran was standing in the doorway and looking out for so long, I fear that her neck has grown longer."
"Big Brother, Xin Ran missed you so much."
"Big Brother you came back! Can you take me out riding on the big pony?!"
Li-shi quickly walked over with her young daughter and son to greet her eldest son.
Zhao Xuan was indifferent, he just nodded slightly and walked into the back room, not even saying a greeting. But he'd always been reticent, so Li-shi was used to it. As soon as he sat down, Li-shi excitedly praised Zhao Bi Xuan's marriage arrangement with Duke Ji Guo's heir, saying that this was a good marriage, one in a million. Duke Ji Guo's eldest son got his looks from Yu Min Princess, in the capital, he was known as the Jade Prince, the dream husband of many young ladies.
"The Jade Prince?" Zhao Xuan raised an eyebrow, that title somehow reminded him of that man's jade white skin. Feeling his lower body waking up, he changed his posture and said in a heavy voice, "This marriage can't happen, I'll think of a way to reject it."
The warm atmosphere in the room instantly froze, Li-shi and her daughter stared at him in disbelief.
"Duke Ji Guo's eldest son is impotent." Although Zhao Xuan spent three years in the Northwest, he was well aware of everything that went on in the capital. As long as he was determined to find out, there was no secret this country could hide from him.
"Impossible!" Although Li-shi denied it out loud, her heart was already convinced. Her son would never joke about such a thing.
Zhao Xin Ran covered her face, on the verge of collapse, using her confused younger brother's arm for support, she cursed between gritted teeth, "I knew Zhao Bi Xuan would never let me go. An impotent, she even wants to marry me off to an impotent man, I'll have to live half-dead for the rest of my life! She wants to kill me, big brother you have to get revenge for me!" She knew that it was useless to ask Old Marquess Wen Yuan for help with such a thing, he not only wouldn't believe her, he'd definitely call her ungrateful.
Before Zhao Xuan could reply, Li-shi broke out in sobs, choking, "How can your brother get revenge for you? That slut is protected by the Emperor, no one can touch her. Don't make trouble Xin Ran, it's enough to let your brother quietly decline the marriage, there's no benefit to making a big scene. From now on, we'll stay far away from these people, we'll never provoke them." She was afraid, but her heart was also filling with resentment.
Zhao Xin Ran was helpless to vent her anger and hate, she flopped onto the couch and cried bitterly. The barely 6 years old, confused Zhao Xu also started crying, almost passing out from exhaustion.
Zhao Xuan's pupils darkened, leaving behind an 'I'll go talk to Ji Guo Duchy', he strode away. He and Duke Ji Guo talked for half an hour, the next day, Duke Ji Guo's eldest son suddenly fell seriously ill and was bed ridden. The invited senior monk looked over him and saw a shadow of approaching death, then urged for recuperation in the temple until the death shadow passed over. This could last three or five moons, or three or five years, they were unable to say, but passing through a death shadow really wasn't an easy matter, an unlucky man could die, and if that person was someone's betrothed, wouldn't that woman live a tragic life of early widowhood?
Fortunately, the marriage decree had not yet been passed down, there was still time to intercede. Yu Min Princess quickly visited the palace to explain the circumstances, persuading the Emperor to stop the marriage.
Zhao Bi Xuan seethed in anger when she heard the news, but when she later learned that Li-shi took her children and moved to Yu Guo Duchy, she felt a little better. With them gone, wasn't Wen Yuan March under her younger brother and mother's control?