Chapter 412
Outside the Jiang manor, a massive crowd had gathered.
Curious onlookers, thrill-seekers, and the matchmakers who had previously been chased out by Jiang Buyi packed the area so tightly that not even a drop of water could slip through.
Leading the crowd was Chu Jing, the wife of Senior Grand Secretary Cao and the aunt of the current Empress. After Jiang Buyi bowed in greeting, she smiled and said, "Lord Jiang, please rise. I have come today specifically to act as a matchmaker for your younger sister."
What? A matchmaker?
And the guarantor was a first-rank titled lady?
The commoners craned their necks, eager to hear which prominent family the proposal was for.
Jiang Buyi thought to himself that given Senior Grand Secretary Cao's character, they probably weren't here to kick him while he was down. He cupped his hands and said, "First Madam Cao, please come inside."
After all the recent turmoil, he was truly exhausted and terrified of causing any more public controversies.
Unexpectedly, a matchmaker who had previously come to propose marriage shouted, "What's there to hide? Can't you say it right here in front of everyone?"
Her words immediately drew agreement from the crowd. "Yes, we also want to hear which family it is!"
"It would be nice to share in Miss Jiang's joy, wouldn't it?"
Jiang Buyi clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked. If it weren't for his rule against hitting women, he would have dragged all these matchmakers out and beaten them.
Chu Jing, however, smiled faintly and turned around, pressing her hands down gently to quiet the crowd.
The area instantly fell silent. All eyes, filled with excitement, curiosity, and schadenfreude, turned toward her.
Chu Jing said, "It is nothing shameful to begin with. The match I am securing for Miss Jiang today is for the only son of the Mei family, Young General Mei, Mei Hexuan."
"Oh! So it's Mei Hexuan—wait, what? Mei Hexuan?"
The matchmaker who had been clamoring earlier instantly widened her eyes.
Who was Mei Hexuan? He was the man who had fought his way into the capital alongside the current Emperor, possessing the merit of supporting the dragon—the hottest new noble in the imperial court! Let alone him, the people who had visited his home in recent days just to propose to his older sisters had practically trampled his threshold.
She had previously tried to inquire on behalf of the Pei family, but was turned away before she could even enter the gates.
And now, he was taking the initiative to propose, and to Jiang Yi, a woman who had lost her purity?
An uproar swept through the crowd. Someone could not help but ask, "Is there a mistake?"
Chu Jing slightly furrowed her brows and was about to speak when a deep, resolute voice rang out. "There is no mistake. I have admired the daughter of the Jiang family for a long time. I specifically asked the elders of my family to step forward and entrusted the Senior Grand Secretary's wife to propose on my behalf!"
The crowd involuntarily parted to make way. They saw Mei Hexuan arriving on horseback, clad in silver armor and looking awe-inspiring.
He rode up to the steps of the Jiang residence, dismounted, and cupped his fists in one fluid motion. "Lord Jiang, I, Mei Hexuan, Commander of the Patrol Camp, come with the three letters and six etiquettes, the four betrothal gifts and five golds, to ask for your sister's hand in marriage!"
In the imperial harem, at the lake pavilion.
Chu Ruoyan was leaning against the railing feeding the fish when she heard a flurry of footsteps. Yulu ran in, her face beaming with joy. "Your Majesty, it is a success!"
She raised an eyebrow. "They agreed?"
"How could they not? Young General Mei brought the matchmaker and all his elders. Not only did he bring betrothal gifts, but he also brought his birth date characters and a fortune teller. He wanted to perform the betrothal rites and exchange the marriage certificates right then and there! You didn't see it, but Miss Jiang cried like a river, constantly saying she wasn't good enough for him. But Young General Mei insisted that he was the one taking advantage of her vulnerability and that he was the one unworthy of her..."
Yulu finished in one breath, took the tea Nanny Zhou handed her, drank it, and continued. "Anyway, they finally agreed and exchanged the marriage certificates. I heard even the wedding date has been set for two months from now!"
Chu Ruoyan breathed a sigh of relief. Nanny Zhou smiled and said, "This is what they call a twist of fate, finding a way out of a dead end."
Chu Ruoyan nodded, then remembered something and asked, "Where is the Emperor? Didn't he say he was coming to tour the lake?"
As her pregnancy advanced, she had become increasingly reluctant to move around. Yan Zheng, unable to stand seeing her cooped up, frequently invited her out.
Nanny Zhou and Yulu exchanged glances and shook their heads. Just then, Yin Shun's godson, Yin Li, scurried over. "Your Majesty! The Emperor has been delayed by urgent matters and asks that you return to your palace first."
"Urgent matters?"
Everyone in the harem knew there were no secrets between the Emperor and Empress, so Yin Li smiled and explained, "Ritual Master Guo from the outer court has returned. He had previously ignored summons to return, but upon hearing that the Emperor placed righteousness above family by punishing his own cousin for the Jiang family's sake, he voluntarily came back to serve!"
Ritual Master Guo of the Imperial College was a heavyweight figure in literary circles.
He was indeed worthy of Yan Zheng granting him a private audience.
Chu Ruoyan raised her hand. "Let us return to the palace, then."
Yulu and Nanny Zhou hurried to help her up. Because she was carrying twins, her belly was exceptionally large at six months, making walking quite strenuous.
As the group passed by Huagai Hall, they heard discussions coming from inside.
"Did you hear? Young General Mei is going to marry Lord Jiang's sister. What a wonderful match!"
"What wonderful match? Don't you know whose idea this really was?"
Chu Ruoyan paused her steps. Nanny Zhou was about to call out but was stopped by her.
They only heard the first young eunuch ask, "Whose idea? Wasn't it Young General Mei's idea?"
"Who said that! With so many women in the world, why would he marry a woman who has lost her purity? This was all the Empress's idea! Because the Empress is good friends with Miss Jiang, she specially asked Young General Mei to help her out of this predicament!"
"How is that possible?"
"How is it not possible! Haven't you heard that the one who acted as the matchmaker was First Madam Cao? That is the Empress's biological aunt. If she hadn't received instructions from Her Majesty, how could she have done such a thing?"
The young eunuch seemed stunned, unable to refute it. The other voice continued, "Hey, let me tell you, we have to be careful in the palace from now on. This Empress is no ordinary person. Not only does she have the royal bloodline of the previous dynasty, but her adoptive father is Duke Chu, and her uncle-in-law is Senior Grand Secretary Cao. Now everyone outside is saying that her family holds overwhelming power, and in the future, they might become consort kin interfering in..."
Before the word politics could be uttered, there was a loud bang.
The door was kicked open. Nanny Zhou pointed at the two and scolded furiously, "How audacious! Where did you ignorant wretches come from, daring to gossip about Her Majesty the Empress!"
The two young eunuchs were scared out of their wits. They hastily knelt on the ground and kowtowed. "Spare our lives, Your Majesty! Have mercy!"
Supported by Yulu's hand, Chu Ruoyan walked in. Her gaze swept over them and landed on the young eunuch who had just spoken about her family interfering in politics. "Who taught you to say those words just now?"
The young eunuch mustered his courage and said, "Answering Your Majesty, n-no one taught us..."
"Yin Li."
At that soft call, Yin Li immediately stepped forward. "Yes, Your Majesty. Men, drag these two gossiping wretches out and behead them."
Scared half to death, the young eunuch hurriedly cried out, "I will confess! I will confess! Truly, no one taught me. This servant only heard it from my godfather in the neighboring palace!"
Chu Ruoyan gave a meaningful look, and Yin Li immediately went to investigate the godfather he mentioned.
As a result, pulling up the radish brought out the mud. The investigation implicated several palaces in succession, and ultimately, it actually traced back to Guard Meng Yang!
"You are saying the one who spread this rumor was Guard Meng? How is that possible?" Nanny Zhou found it absurd. Yin Li bowed repeatedly. "Your Majesty, this servant does not know either. The one who testified against Guard Meng is an old eunuch from the Internal Affairs Department. He swore solemnly that he heard the words come straight from Guard Meng's mouth, so this servant returned to report to you first!"
Chu Ruoyan's gaze sharpened. "Where is that old eunuch?"
Yin Li immediately went to fetch the man. Yulu, however, turned pale and said in a trembling voice, "Y-Your Majesty... if it really was Guard Meng who said it, then wouldn't that mean the E-Emperor..."