Volume 1 Chapter 33
At this moment, everyone present is having a fierce ideological struggle in their hearts. Should they agree to this marriage? So many good things, how can people bear to give them up?
At this time, the wife of the Duke of Lu, who had been sitting in her seat and thinking about something, was the first to speak. Her eyes rolled around and she said, "Your Majesty, although both of my legitimate daughters are already engaged, I still have a concubine-born daughter who is also of suitable age and extremely beautiful. Although she is a concubine-born daughter, she has been by my side since childhood and is very much loved by me, and I have always treated her as if she were a legitimate daughter. In terms of etiquette and rules, there is not the slightest difference, and she would be well-matched with the Crown Prince of Jing. I am also willing to let her marry the Crown Prince."
Her eyes remained still, staring straight at the jewelry in the box, thinking that she could soon hold these things in her arms and take them away directly, feeling so beautiful that she was about to burst.
The queen, although not showing it on her face, was already furious in her heart. This Madame of the State of Lu really had a big nerve, daring to use a concubine's daughter to exchange for her precious betrothal gifts worth 248 taels, and even dared to mention the word "matching", when Jiner is a legitimate son and her own nephew, how could he be matched with such an insignificant concubine's daughter.
But she's just a country noblewoman, how dare she deceive her like this, what favorite concubine-born daughter, treating her as if she were the legitimate daughter. Who would believe such nonsense, does she think she's an idiot or something?
Speaking like this is simply not putting her as the empress in one's eyes. It seems that the Lu State Duke Manor absolutely cannot be stayed in anymore.
The rest of the noble ladies also looked at Madame Rukuo with disdain after hearing this, and it was embarrassing for her to say such a thing. Which noble lady in Kyoto didn't know that Madame Rukuo was born with a jealous nature and couldn't tolerate those concubines and maids? How could she possibly bring up the daughter of a concubine by her side and personally raise her? She would do anything to get these betrothal gifts, and yet she dared to tell such blatant lies in front of everyone.
Besides, if you really liked her, why didn't you take her in as a concubine and instead let her continue to bear the status of a concubine's daughter? You can't even talk properly, thinking that others are as foolish as you.
The ladies present all snickered and looked at Madame Rukuo with disdain and disgust.
It's worth considering, if they can really marry off the concubine's daughter, then their own legitimate daughters won't have to suffer in the future and they'll also get a lot of betrothal gifts. This isn't a bad idea at all. But would the Empress agree? Everyone was secretly thinking about this matter in their hearts.
The lady of the state of Lu couldn't care less about what others thought, her mind and eyes were now completely occupied by the huge pile of rare treasures in front of her. The mere thought of being able to take them all back home made her heart start racing with excitement, leaving no spare energy to worry about how others viewed her.
It turned out that Queen An heard the words of Madame Lu, and her eyes lit up immediately. Ah, although she was reluctant to marry her eldest daughter to the prince of Jing, it didn't mean she couldn't marry a younger daughter. There were several younger daughters in the palace who had reached marriageable age, so why not just marry one off?
Moreover, Princess An raised her head and glanced at the wife of the Duke of Lu, who was drooling over the jewelry, and couldn't help but feel contemptuous. Moreover, even as a concubine's daughter in the An Prince's mansion, she was far more valuable than a concubine's daughter from the Duke of Lu's mansion.
Which would allow this vulgar woman in front of her to take advantage, thinking of this, Queen An hastily raised her head and said "Your Majesty the Empress, there are also several suitable-aged daughters in the Wang Mansion who have not yet been betrothed, matching them with the Prince of Jing is a perfect match, why don't I send their birth charts over tomorrow?"
These 248 gifts she couldn't bear to give up to anyone else, those rare and precious treasures except for the empress only this noble princess consort had the qualifications to use, which was something a small Ruo Guo public wife could hardly aspire to.
All the noble ladies heard that Princess Lian An also said so, and immediately they all burst into laughter, following suit and saying that they could marry their own daughters to the Jing Wang Fu.
Who among those present is a fool, now there's another great opportunity to get these valuable betrothal gifts without having to marry off his own daughter, who would be foolish enough to let it slip away.
Everyone is eager to express their opinions and compete to marry off their own daughters to him.
The lady of the State of Lu saw that someone else had come to snatch away her good fortune, and she frowned with displeasure. She immediately turned to the Empress and said, "Your Majesty, this matter was first mentioned by me, so it is only proper that the young lady from our State of Lu's manor should be the one to marry him."
She had long since decided that half of the betrothal gifts would be used to add dowries for her two legitimate daughters, and the other half would be stored in the treasury, enough for her to live a life without worrying about food and clothing for generations. Now someone has come to grab it, she is determined not to let go. She hurriedly wanted to settle things with the empress.
The Empress Dowager coldly smiled and said, looking at the wife of the Duke of Lu: "This statement is not correct, the Empress has not agreed to it, how can you demand that he must marry a young lady from the Duke of Lu's mansion just because of your previous words? Besides, it's not like it's some kind of extremely noble identity, and yet you dare to be so presumptuous."
The lady of the Lu State's mansion stood up straight, her eyes wide with anger, and raised her voice, "What do you mean by not being a noble identity? The young ladies of our Lu State's mansion are no worse than anyone else. Marrying the prince is just right. What's wrong with my request?"
The lady of the state of Lu glared at Princess An with a pair of dead eyes, as if she wanted to bite her to death. She actually wanted to ruin her good deed? Don't even think about it, these betrothal gifts were hers for sure.
The queen's anger was also ignited, and she slammed her hand on the table, shouting "How dare you! You're just a country princess, how can you speak to me like that? Have you eaten the heart of a leopard? Can a humble daughter from the Lu Country Duke's Manor compare to the Anqin Wangfu? Don't be so shameless!"
A small country princess actually dares to defy her, this princess of a prince, is she tired of living?
The Madame of the State of Lu was so angry that her hands were shaking and her face turned pale. She had never been scolded like this before in her life. But the other party was a princess, and if she dared to retort, it would be considered as offending a superior, which could lead to punishment according to the law.
If she loses face in public like this, others will secretly laugh at her behind her back. How can she still have the face to go out and see the noble ladies of Kyoto in the future?
The queen looked at the scene in front of her, a group of noblewomen arguing and quarreling in front of her, wanting to marry their own daughters into the Jing Wang Fu, the whole scene was extremely lively, with all sorts of noises, it was like a marketplace.
This made her furious, feeling a fire burning in her chest, and her eyes scanned the wives of Lu Guo Gong and An Qin Wang coldly. These two foolish women were the ones who stirred up trouble. They didn't know any better, still fixated on the 248 sedan chairs of betrothal gifts she had promised.
It's not just that they're drooling over the betrothal gifts, but one or two of them even dare to want to exchange their own daughters for her. They even have the audacity to say in front of her that the daughters from their households are a perfect match for Rong'er, as if she, the Empress, is just a mere decoration. The daughters from their households aren't even worthy of being Rong'er's concubines, let alone his official wife.
The empress grew angrier by the minute, thinking that they were simply being dazzled by these treasures and doing nothing but self-degrading things. If so, then she would simply abolish their status altogether. Let's see if they still dared not to put this empress in their eyes.
Just as the queen was about to slap the table and scold these noblewomen who had lost their dignity.
Suddenly, a eunuch's sharp voice came from the doorway, "The Empress Dowager has arrived."
The grand hall in Fengqi Palace immediately fell silent. The noble ladies heard the eunuch's announcement and were all startled, instinctively closing their mouths. They hastily adjusted their clothes and hairdos, as they had been arguing fiercely just before, with many of them not looking very dignified.
After the maidservants around them had finished helping them adjust their attire, all the noble ladies turned to face the doorway.
Digression
Everyone, I'm so sorry to say that the update speed of "Cut Cut" is not fast enough. As a student, I don't have much time to write every day, and the update time will be slower than usual. I apologize for this, and I hope you can forgive me. Writing is my hobby, and I will definitely finish writing this book. As for the number of words in each chapter, sometimes it's more, sometimes it's less, depending on the plot. I don't like to pad the word count, that would be unfair to readers. For those who are not satisfied with the current update speed, please bear with me for now, and after entering V, I will update a lot!
