When it was the day for the official marriage documents to be sent out, there were a few families who did not receive a reply. After waiting for a long time without any news, they thought that the government needed to be bribed and deliberately delayed it. So they thought of ways to send gifts to the Princess Fu where Jing Chen was.
Something happened to the chief and assistant of Kun Ling Bureau. Everyone went straight to Jing Chen and intentionally or unintentionally ignored Yu Shu.
There was nothing wrong with what they did. Even the chief had relented, so how could the adjutants stop them? The idea was not bad, but they had underestimated one thing. Jing Chen, the Right Commander of the Celestial Commissioner, was a hands-off shopkeeper who did not care about anything.
The person that Kun Ling Bureau was in charge of was actually Yu Shu.
Jing Chen stayed in the palace for two days and was released by Emperor Zhao Qing. Returning to the Princess Fu, the steward eunuch dutifully presented the list of gifts that the fu had received in recent days in front of him.
Jing Chen asked him with confusion, "What festivals are being celebrated recently?"
The Mid-Autumn Festival had long passed. There shouldn't be any happy events in September.
The steward eunuch reported in full detail, "Your servant found out that these people are here to urge for letters. It seems that their fu did not receive the official marriage documents from Kun Ling Bureau, so they came to beg you, master."
Jing Chen nodded to indicate that he understood and then had him return the list of gifts. He said disapprovingly, "If they did not send it, then let them wait. Why are they begging me? This matter is not under my control. They sent the gifts to the wrong person."
The steward eunuch, "…" Aren't you the Right Commander of the Celestial Commissioner? Shouldn't Kun Ling Bureau be under your control?
Although he said so, the next day when Jing Chen went to Kun Ling Bureau, he remembered to ask her when Yu Shu reported to him as usual.
"How many families did not send the marriage documents? They've sent gifts to my residence. "
Yu Shu's expression didn't change as she asked him, "Which families?"
Jing Chen was silent for a moment and said, "I did not notice." He paused and said, "Never mind, do as you see fit. I have returned the gifts."
"If there's nothing else, I'll go downstairs." Yu Shu's expression was calm, but she was laughing in her heart. Those people actually thought of asking Jing Chen to open the back door. They were simply flirting with the blind.
"Go ahead." Jing Chen knew that she didn't want to be in the same room with him, so he didn't force her. After all, he should be satisfied that she was talking to him so nicely.
.....
This month, there was more than one family that did not receive the official marriage documents. However, there were two families that received the Eight Character Stickers that were approved to be returned.
In the evening, Xue Lingnan sat under the locust tree in the front courtyard, carefully reading the annotations on the yellow paper. It said that his granddaughter, Xue Jin, was seeking her life to soar to the stars. If she were to marry a man born to Xiao Zhu Yinyue, her life would be in danger. Therefore, her marriage with the Zhou family's youngest son, Zhou Nie, was too inauspicious and unsuitable. Therefore, this request was rejected.
After Xue Lingnan finished reading it twice, he said to the housekeeper, Xu Li, who was waiting on him, "Go find Xue Rui."
Xu Li left to carry out the order. Not long after, he returned with Xue Rui, who had returned home. When Xue Lingnan saw him, he didn't get angry at first. Instead, he handed the Eight Character Sticker to him.
"What's going on? Tell me."
Xue Rui already knew that there would be such a thing, so he didn't panic. He looked at the document with the same expression. Only when he glanced at the small red seal that said "Lotus Room", he was slightly stunned. He immediately recovered and said,
"Grandfather, what do you want me to say?"
Xue Lingnan said, "This inscription is Master Yi's private letter. Whose name is Lotus Room? How dare a mere Kunling Bureau's Empress have such courage. Tell me, who gave her the courage to obstruct the marriage between Jin Xun and the Zhou family. "
It was clear that he had guessed the reason and deliberately brought Xue Rui here to question him.
"Grandfather, do you think that I ordered it?" Xue Rui said bluntly.
Xue Lingnan's face turned cold, "You don't need to think about quibbling. Since I called you here, I naturally have a plan. You don't like Zhou Nie and don't want Jin Xun to marry into the Zhou family, so you acted on your own and let your sworn sister abuse her power. Have you thought about it? If you ruin this marriage and delay Jin Xun's marriage, who will bear the sin if she can't get married in the future? "
Others couldn't understand what he was implying, but Xue Rui understood the meaning behind Xue Lingnan's words. Xue Lingnan was saying that if she missed out on the marriage with the Zhou family, if she couldn't find a suitable family in the future, then he wouldn't let Jin Xun get married. Even if she was over the age, he would still keep her in the residence.
Xue Rui's heart was half cold, and he almost couldn't hide the disappointment in his eyes. Grandfather was harsh and unreasonable to him because he wasn't the flesh and blood of the Xue family. But to be so cruel to Jin Xun, his own granddaughter, was really disappointing.
"Grandfather, I have nothing to say. I don't think that Jin Xun will marry Zhou Nie, but that's because I only have this one sister. Others can disregard her, but I can't."
This kind of forceful talk was not like Xue Rui's usual style. Xue Lingnan's expression became even worse, and he almost couldn't help but reprimand this unfilial son of his. He took a few breaths before he calmed down, but still said sternly,
"This time, I'll take it as you being rash and not argue with you. If there's a next time, don't even think about the official career that your sworn sister has obtained with great difficulty."
It wasn't that he didn't want to pursue the matter, but since things had come to this, there was no point in pursuing it. The Zhou family received the Eight Word Calligraphy that was also doomed, and would definitely not marry Jin Xun. Even if he forced the Kun Ling Bureau to change the document, the result would still be the same. He understood Zhou Yede's character.
After warning Xue Rui, Xue Lingnan sent him away. After he was far away, he ordered Xu Li, who was pretending to be deaf and mute,
"Quickly get someone to prepare a simple gift and follow me to the General's Residence."
Rather than being thick-skinned and waiting for people to break off the engagement, it was better for him to go first. In the future, when the two families met, it wouldn't be awkward.
Jing Chen had people return all the gifts. Thus, the next day, Yu Shu's residence was visited by people one after another. However, she left early and didn't meet any of them. When she returned home and heard about the matter, she saw the large pile of gift boxes in the doorway. Without a second word, she had people return the gifts unopened.
.....
Minister Yan of the Ministry of Revenue returned home from the yamen in the afternoon and heard another piece of bad news. The gifts sent to the residence of the Imperial Lady of the Kun Ling Bureau yesterday had been returned.
"What? The gifts were returned? "He asked Lady Yan with a frown.
"That's right," Lady Yan said with a frown, "They returned it early in the morning and didn't take anything. Master, tell me, who did we offend? The two officials of the Kun Ling Bureau returned our gifts together. Why didn't they send us the marriage certificate? Until now, they haven't given us an explanation. "
The second young master of the Yan Residence had been ill last year and his body had been weak. Taking medicine didn't help. Minister Yan specially invited a Great Yi Master to tell his fortune. He said that he needed a suitable marriage to offset the good fortune. After the marriage, he would naturally recover without medicine.
Lady Yan found many matchmakers and finally found a suitable candidate three months ago. Moreover, the bride's family background wasn't bad. Thus, she was anxious to arrange her second son's marriage. The date had already been decided and it would be the most auspicious to get engaged next month. Now, the only thing missing was the official marriage certificate from the Kun Ling Bureau. No one had expected this to happen.
The husband and wife looked at each other and thought hard. They couldn't understand why the Kun Ling Bureau was making things difficult for them.
"How about … tomorrow, I go to the assistant minister's residence to ask for a favor?" Lady Yan suddenly had an idea and suggested.
Minister Yan didn't understand. "Why go to his house?"
They both held positions in the Ministry of Revenue. Assistant Minister Yin was one rank higher than Minister Yan. The two families usually interacted frequently, but they weren't close enough to casually talk about their children's marriage.
Lady Yan explained, "Master, you don't know. There's another story here. The female imperial official of the Kun Ling Bureau was born to a servant girl of Lady Yin more than ten years ago. With this relationship, it wouldn't be difficult for us to ask her to speak for us."
Minister Yan frowned. He seemed to understand something, but he couldn't grasp the crux of it. He could only let her be.
He didn't know that at the same time, he wasn't the only one who had the same idea as his wife.
After seeing off the third guest of the day, Yin Deng put away her stiff smiling face and sat in the living room with a gloomy expression.
In the past two days, people had been coming to ask for her help as a middleman to urge the Kun Ling Bureau to send out the official marriage certificate. As people came and went, Yin Deng sensed something was wrong no matter how muddle-headed she was.
Why didn't these families receive the official marriage certificate on time? Why did they all happen to have some friendship with her?
In front of the visitors, Yin Deng could only put on a smiling face and agree. Because she knew that even if she refused, others would think that she didn't want to meddle in other people's business and wouldn't think that she was in a difficult position.
She held a banquet on her last birthday, invited Yu Shu's parents, and made everyone know that Aunt Cui used to be a servant in her family.
In fact, it was nonsense to ask her to go to Yu Shu to speak for them. Especially after she made a fool of Yu Shu, how could she ask for a favor?
Yin Deng even suspected that the whole thing was directed at her by Yu Shu. She deliberately delayed the marriage certificate to make things difficult for her.
Yin Deng didn't forget the harsh words that Yu Shu said before she left that day. She said that she wanted to become enemies with her.
But how could that girl be so daring?
For a moment, Yin Deng was angry and suspicious. She didn't know what to do. In the evening, when Yin Zhourong came back, she told him about it. He didn't tell her that he locked Yu Shu up and made her take off her clothes. He only said that she was drunk at the banquet and said something she shouldn't have said. She revealed that Yu Shu's family background was not good, which made the new imperial official lose face.
"Master, do you think it's possible that Yu Shu has a vile heart and is deliberately obstructing the marriage contracts of these families, waiting for me to bow my head and apologize to her?"
After hearing her words, Yin Zhourong was angry at this woman's shortsightedness and laughed first.
"Madam, you are so silly. Do you really think that she is a lowly person born by your maid? Not to mention that her mother used to be a maid of our family, she is now a proper official. The Celestial Commissioner is a fifth-rank official, which is the same rank as me. What's more, she has a title bestowed by the Emperor. She doesn't even need to bow to ordinary third-rank officials. Now she is in the limelight, but you dare to make her look shabby in public. It would be strange if she could bear it. "
Yin Deng was embarrassed by his reprimand, but she didn't take it seriously. No matter how powerful Yu Shu was, compared to the Yin Family, she was like heaven and earth.
Yin Zhourong, a son of a concubine, could win Prime Minister Yin's favor and give him an important position in the Ministry of Revenue. It could be seen that he was not a mediocre person. After understanding the situation, she ordered Yin Deng,
"Don't be unconvinced. Tomorrow, go to her and apologize. Everyone has children. We still have children who haven't married yet. Yu Shu will be in the Kunling Bureau for a long time. Don't be stubborn. If you really make enemies with her, you will hurt my children."
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