Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 793 - 791

Chapter 793: Chapter 791

The Emperor was very pleased with Jingrui and summoned Shangguan Xuanyi, Xiao’er, and the Fifth Princess to the Imperial study room.

Without beating around the bush, the Emperor said, "Xiao’er, your elder brother from your maternal family is extremely knowledgeable and talented. I quite like him. How do you find his temperament?"

Xiao’er replied with a smile, "I thank Father Emperor for praising my brother on his behalf. His temperament is quite good, he hasn’t expressed anger at anyone all these years."

Upon hearing that, Shangguan Xuanyi couldn’t help voicing his inner criticism: Indeed, he hasn’t shown any anger, he just always wore a stern face before his own marriage!

"Fifth Princess, have you met your sixth sister-in-law’s elder brother?" S satisfied with this response, the Emperor asked his daughter.

"I have seen him, only a few times," said the Fifth Princess.

"What do you think of him?" The Emperor watched her, not missing any changes in her expressions.

The three in the room felt their hearts skip a beat. Could it be what they thought? The Fifth Princess was almost ten years older than Jingrui!

Could the Emperor even dare to think of this?!

"Nothing in particular."

"I am considering bestowing him upon you as your husband, what do you think?" The Emperor glanced at the three of them.

The Fifth Princess frowned upon hearing this, "Father, it seems Young Master Shen is only eighteen years old! And it’s almost my thirtieth birthday. Are you expecting me to go after younger men?"

"What do you mean by going after younger men! It would be more like a young bull grazing on old grass. Age isn’t an issue, it’s beneficial for women to marry men slightly younger! As long as you both like each other, I will give my blessings. Xiao’er, could you go find out how your brother feels about this?"

A young bull grazing on old grass? All three of them were stunned.

"I don’t want to! I could be his mother!"

Xiao’er quickly replied, "Father Emperor, my brother is already engaged."

"He’s already engaged!" The Emperor looked disappointed.

He gave the Fifth Princess a disapproving glare, "Look, all the good men are already taken. I wonder who you’ll end up marrying in the end!"

"I’m not marrying anyone! If there’s nothing else, your daughter will leave now." The Fifth Princess gave a quick curtsy and proceeded to leave.

The Emperor was quite frustrated but he couldn’t do anything about it. Mainly because he didn’t want to upset his only daughter.

The Emperor turned to Xiao’er, "Xiao’er, when possible, advise the princess not to continue being so headstrong."

Of course, Xiao’er agreed.

The Emperor then discussed with them some matters about their upcoming journey to their fief and then dismissed them.

Upon leaving the study, Xiao’er said to Shangguan Xuanyi, "Father Emperor really caught me by surprise just then. Looks like I need to remind my brother to get married soon. As they say, the more famous you are, the more trouble you find."

"Don’t worry, Father Emperor is not the kind of person who will push things onto others," Shangguan Xuanyi comforted her.

"Father isn’t but what if the Empress Dowager gets a strange idea? An edict from her would be hard to ignore."

The Empress Dowager? Sometimes she really is quite unreasonable! Hearing this, Shangguan Xuanyi said, "It’s better to marry sooner."

"I don’t know what kind of man the Fifth Princess is looking for." She’s simply impervious!

"Perhaps she’s hung up on someone from her past."

"Was the Crown Prince of Duke Zhen really that good?" intrigued, Xiao’er couldn’t help but ask.

"Young hero, renowned and talented, a pity heaven envy’s the gifted," Shangguan Xuanyi sighed.

"Indeed a pity," echoing Shangguan Xuanyi’s tone, Xiao’er sighed and then said, "Let’s take the Fifth Princess with us when we leave the Imperial Capital! The world is vast and full of possibilities, perhaps some travelling will help her find her match."

Shangguan Xuanyi nodded, "Alright, but I doubt she will want to go."

"I’ll go talk to her." After saying so, Xiao’er left to find the princess while Shangguan Xuanyi waited for her in the Imperial Garden.

When Xiao’er found The Fifth Princess, she was holding a string of beads, seemingly lost in thought.

The beads were obviously old, the color had faded to white.

"Fifth Princess," Xiao’er initiated the conversation.

The Fifth Princess hurriedly tucked the string of beads into her clothes, "Sixth sister-in-law. "

"Xuanyi and I will be leaving for our fief soon. We plan to make a leisurely journey out of it. Would you like to come with us?"

"I won’t go." Recently, she had been having dreams about Brother Jiang returning. She felt he would be back and thus, she must stay in the Imperial City to wait for him.

"Or perhaps you could look around in the area where Young Master Jiang disappeared; you might find him." Since the Fifth Princess believed Jiang Yuheng wasn’t dead, Xiao’er could only coax her like this.

Moved by her words, the Fifth Princess thought about it but then remembered her recurring dream. She shook her head, "No, if he comes back and I’m not in the Imperial City, won’t we just have to wait longer to meet again."

Xiao’er, "..."

"Sixth sister-in-law, I understand your concern, but regardless of what you say, I will not leave," she asserted firmly.

Alright then! Dejected, Xiao’er left.

After leaving the Imperial Palace, Xiao’er returned to her maternal home.

Xiao’er did not mention the Emperor’s consideration of making Jingrui the Fifth Princess’s husband to her family.

She just reminded Mrs. Liu that now that Jingrui had topped the examinations, it was about time they began planning his marriage.

Mrs. Liu did want to welcome a daughter-in-law into the family, but Jingrui mentioned that the Imperial Court would assign duties to him, and he didn’t know when he would start his post. He would need some time to adjust to his job, so they couldn’t set an early date for the marriage, he couldn’t just request a long leave as soon as he took up his post.

Feeling that there was some truth to this, Mrs. Liu proposed a few dates in the coming year. After some family discussion, they decided on a date soon after the autumn harvest and sent a letter to the Zhu family to ask their opinion.

In the Zhu residence in Shengping County, hearing that Jinghao had topped the examination, everyone was overjoyed. Zhu Yan too was delighted. After the happiness passed, however, Mrs. Zhu began to worry if the Marquis Shengping’s house would call off the betrothal.

"Yan’er, Jingrui is now the top scorer. Do you think the Marquis Shengping might call off the betrothal?"

Zhu Yan, who was looking at account books, looked up at her mother and said, "Mother, you’re worrying too much. The Marquis Mansion has always been very wealthy. Furthermore, Shen’s son is the heir. His success in the examination is just an embellishment. If they didn’t look down on our family and break off the betrothal before, they’re not likely to now."

Feeling somewhat relieved, Mrs. Zhu said, "Shall we send a letter asking when the wedding will be? Your father’s health is much better now, and your elder brother has passed the Imperial examination, you don’t need to worry about the family matters anymore."

Zhu Yan frowned and said, "Mother, it’s the man’s family who chooses the date, there’s no need to be impatient. We had agreed to wait till Shen Jingrui finished his exams to marry, I think we should be hearing from the Capital soon."

A person’s character is built on trust, Zhu Yan believed Shen Jingrui wasn’t that sort of person, nor was the Shen family that kind of family.

Indeed, two days later, Mrs. Zhu received a letter from the Marquis Shengping’s Mansion. Reading the content, she beamed with joy, "Marquis Shengping’s Mansion says that they have set the wedding date for after the autumn harvest next year. What do you think?"

The autumn harvest next year, that would give them over a year, Zhu Yan thought it was just perfect, "This timing is good."

With her approval, Mrs. Zhu said, "Very well. Write them back quickly then, we should also start preparing the dowry."

"Alright."