bookrebus Chapter 405
Chapter 405
"Mother, the Prince An Estate already has Qingshi, and Zhiwei is the only child of the Li family," Xu Heming hurriedly explained, seeing The Old Princess's angry expression."You are foolish! Such a major matter, why didn't you come back and discuss it with me?" The Old Princess looked at her son with a disappointed and frustrated expression.
"Did the Li family threaten you with something?" As soon as The Old Princess said this, she felt she had asked a silly question. In this capital, other than the Emperor, no one could threaten her son.
However, regarding this imperial decree, if her son hadn't agreed, the Emperor wouldn't have issued it.
The Old Princess looked at her son with a face full of suspicion.
That Li Zhiwei was nothing but a merchant's daughter. Just what methods did she use to completely captivate her son's heart?
The Old Princess looked at the imperial decree in her hand and thought to herself that her son was just short of saying he was going to marry into the Li family as a live-in son-in-law.
Thinking of this, The Old Princess only felt a massive headache.
But now that the imperial decree had been issued, even if she objected, it would be useless.
She couldn't possibly defy an imperial decree, could she?
Thinking of this, The Old Princess sighed.
"Mother, this matter was completely voluntary on my part," Xu Heming explained with a serious face.
"Forget it, this is your own choice." After The Old Princess finished speaking, she waved her hand, not wanting to look at her worthless son.
Seeing him only made her angry. She thought to herself that fortunately she still had her grandson, Xu Qingshi; otherwise, she truly feared her late husband would roll over in his grave.
The Li Family
Li Zhiwei widened her eyes, staring at the imperial decree her father had brought back.
"Father, is this really from the Emperor?" Li Zhiwei simply couldn't believe it. How could the Emperor possibly give their family such an imperial decree?
This was simply an insult to Xu Heming's prestige!
Wasn't Xu Heming the Emperor's trusted confidant?
How could he bear to issue such a decree!
"Daughter, it has the Emperor's jade seal on it, it can't be fake!" Li Tianyou said with a smug look on his face.
"Father, the Emperor didn't say anything, did he?" Li Zhiwei asked, feeling quite uneasy.
"He didn't say anything. Daughter, rest assured. In the future, if you are unhappy staying in the Prince An Estate, you just come back. Our Li family can afford to support you. As for the children, don't worry, your father can afford to raise them too," Li Tianyou said proudly.
"Father, wouldn't this be inappropriate?" Li Zhiwei asked with some concern.
"What's inappropriate about it? The Emperor's decree is right here, who would dare to have an opinion?" Li Tianyou, however, had the posture of someone who felt invincible with an imperial decree in hand.
Li Zhiwei shook her head, thinking that without the Emperor's consent, no one would dare to produce such an imperial decree, so it must be genuine.
However, she didn't understand—was the Emperor really this considerate?
"Daughter, your father is right. In the future, if the Prince An Estate makes you suffer any grievances, you just come back." Lady Yao hesitated for a moment before saying to Li Zhiwei.
She didn't care whether it was reasonable or not; she only hoped her daughter would live happily.
She also no longer had to worry that her daughter would suffer grievances because the Li family's social standing was lower than that of the Prince An Estate.
Li Zhiwei looked at the imperial decree. Now, it wasn't up to her to agree or disagree, was it?
Suddenly, Li Zhiwei felt that her path to marriage was quite bumpy.
However, since things had come to this, Li Zhiwei felt it wasn't bad. At least, this was a layer of protection.
In the future, if Xu Heming truly let her down, she would still have the confidence to return to her own home.
"Father, Mother, thank you!" Li Zhiwei sincerely looked at the parents in front of her, whose hearts and eyes were completely filled with love for her.
"Although this marriage is being managed by the Ministry of Rites, we still need to prepare what we ought to prepare," Li Tianyou looked at Lady Yao and whispered.
"Previously, we made a big show of preparing a dowry for Weiwei. Now, in the eyes of the public, those things belong to the national treasury." Thinking of this, Lady Yao also frowned.
Hearing his wife's words, Li Tianyou was also calculating in his heart what kind of dowry he should give his daughter this time.
"Father, Mother, let's keep everything simple this time." Li Zhiwei sighed. Last time, they had actually discussed this matter too.
It was just that when the time actually came, her parents seemed unwilling to keep it simple again.
Compared to last time's dowry of over a thousand chests, if the Li family really brought out that much this time, she feared even the Emperor would suspect the true extent of the Li family's wealth.
Even if the national treasury was currently full, Li Zhiwei didn't want to let her parents take risks again.
"Weiwei, your father and I only have you as our child. We can wrong anyone, but we cannot wrong you!" Lady Yao patted her daughter's hand and said earnestly.
"Mother, I know, but it's better for us to keep a low profile. Besides, Father, won't all these things be left for my children in the future? Why bother moving them back and forth?" Li Zhiwei hurriedly said, afraid that Li Tianyou and Lady Yao would make up the quota according to the previous amount.
"Then we will wait for the betrothal gifts from the Prince An Estate to arrive, and we will double them for you to take back," Li Tianyou thought for a moment and said.
Li Zhiwei thought about it; Xu Heming probably wouldn't give too many betrothal gifts. After all, she logically shouldn't exceed the quota set by his previous princess consort. Otherwise, she feared she would become a subject of gossip in the capital in the future.
Afterwards, Li Zhiwei sent a letter to Xu Heming, asking him to send someone to Qujing to bring her uncle's family into the capital.
Although The Old Princess was dissatisfied with her son signing that unequal treaty with the Li family, she figured that, at the very least, the estate was going to host a joyous occasion.
So she specially invited the Princess Consort Rong to act as the Matron of All Blessings, to present the betrothal gifts to Li Zhiwei, counting as a formal proposal.
When the Princess Consort Rong arrived at their home, Lady Yao was accompanied by Madam Cheng, née Qiu.
This was because Li Zhiwei had specifically invited Madam Cheng, née Qiu and Lady Du to come and help.
After all, although Lady Yao's current status was the wife of the Vice Minister of Revenue, she used to be just an ordinary merchant's wife, and she truly didn't understand some of the rules in the capital.
"Thank you, Madam Cheng and Madam Wang, for coming to help today," Li Zhiwei hurriedly bowed deeply to Madam Cheng, née Qiu and Lady Du.
"Child, what are you saying? I am more than happy that you let me come help," Madam Cheng, née Qiu said with a smile.
"Exactly, this is a great thing. We are overjoyed that you could invite us over," Lady Du also quickly added.
She and Lady Yao hit it off well; otherwise, if it were anyone else, she really wouldn't be willing to come.
"Sister Qiu, thankfully you and Sister Du are here today. Otherwise, I would be completely flustered," Lady Yao said with some embarrassment.
"Sister Yao, you are too polite. We are thrilled that you invited us to share in the joy," Madam Cheng quickly said.
Lady Yao was originally quite panicked when she heard that the Prince An Estate had invited Princess Consort Rong over, terrified that she might do something wrong and ruin her daughter's future reputation in her marital home.
However, now that Madam Cheng and Madam Wang were here, Lady Yao truly felt like she had a backbone to rely on.
The ladies all laughed upon hearing this.