After the Qiao family’s banquet, the entire family began to discuss this matter.
Fu Lu said, “My cousin King Lu has been lacking a brain since he was young. Before His Majesty ascended the throne, he loved to go against his majesty.
“At this moment, he must be afraid that His Majesty will take revenge on him. If he marries the Qiao family’s daughter, His Majesty will not take revenge on his cousin King Lu for the sake of the Empress.”
Fu Lu took a sip of water and said, “I don’t agree with this marriage. Royal Consort Jian is not an ordinary person. Otherwise, how could she still hold the position of royal consort after the Jian Family’s accident?
“The six palaces have not been favored for many years. The empress dowager is supporting the virtuous consort, while royal consort Jian is not weak in the palace. With such a mother-in-law, it may not be easy for her to marry him. Moreover, my cousin King Lu already has illegitimate children…”
Old Madam Qiao called Qiao ruoyi into the room and said, “Ruoyi, what do you think of this marriage? This may be the best marriage you can find in Chang ‘an.
“There is a difference between the legitimate and the illegitimate. If you are like your third sister, ruoyin, who is willing to marry far away, you can also marry a legitimate son of the provincial governor or the son of a jiedushi.
“But if you stay in Chang ‘an, you can only marry a legitimate son in a low marriage. It is the best marriage for a family of equal status with the Qiao family.”
Qiao ruoyi said, “I don’t want to marry King Lu.”
“Why?”Old Madam Qiao asked, “With your talent, it would be a pity if you only marry the legitimate son of a low-level official. But the illegitimate son of a high-level official might not be good. Those nobles who don’t care about your daughter’s background are all good-for-nothings.
“King Lu is still a prince. Your children and grandchildren will be princes in the future…”
Qiao ruoyi said, “Then let’s marry low.”
“Why can’t It Be King Lu?”
Qiao ruoyi lowered her eyes and said, “Grandmother, I’m the same as sister. Sister was deeply harmed by Aunt Qian, and so am I. I only wish for husband’s backyard to be clean. How can the backyard of the imperial residence be clean?”
The fight for the backyard of the imperial residence was extremely cruel. She had finally become a female official with great difficulty, and she did not want to be stuck in a narrow space.
Old madam Qiao said, “That’s fine too. After that, I’ll ask your mother to find a man from a low-class family to discuss marriage for you. Although those who are waiting to come to propose marriage are all from families of equal status, those men are all difficult to explain in a word.”
“Thank you, Grandmother.”
With the current power and influence of Marquis an Yuan’s estate, it was not a big deal to reject the marriage proposal from the imperial residence of King Lu.
Zheng Xiao had received old madam Qiao’s order to find a marriage for ruoyi from a low-class family. No matter how he looked, he felt that the family background was not good enough for ruoyi. Moreover, it was not easy for him to find an outstanding unmarried man.
However, he did not expect that the son of a low-ranking official in the Imperial Academy would look down on the daughter of the Qiao family’s concubine.
Zheng Xiao was so angry that he wished that Marquis an Yuan could take revenge on her personally.
This was the first time Zheng Xiao experienced the hardships of being a concubine’s daughter. It was also her fault that she had not paid attention to Qiao Ruoyi’s situation before.
..
It was the dragon boat festival, the birthday of the young miss of Marquis an Yuan’s residence.
Qiao Jinniang had sent quite a number of birthday gifts to this tiny little sister. Her birthday was not coincidentally coinciding with the dragon boat festival, so she did not hold a big ceremony. However, there were quite a number of guests who came.
Many of them wanted to settle their marriage before they could even speak fluently.
In Qiao Ruoyi’s courtyard, she looked at the dying orchid in front of her and felt quite regretful. It was another pot of suan that had been raised to death by her.
“Fifth young Miss…”
Qiao ruoyi looked at the servant girl and asked, “What’s Wrong?”
“Fifth young miss, those distinguished people are really going too far. When it comes to you, they’re just pushing away the fact that the marriage has already been settled. When it comes to the young miss, even the first-born grandson has come to settle the marriage.”
Qiao ruoyi smiled and said, “This is a good thing. It means that the birth of the Dragon Boat Festival did not hinder my little sister in any way.”
The servant girl said unjustly on behalf of Qiao ruoyi, “But you…”
Qiao ruoyi said, “Alright, go and throw away the orchid. Why Can’t I raise the orchid? Sigh!”
When the servant girl heard this, she took out the orchid and threw it away. Then, she heard Madam Hong’s voice, “You don’t know, Qiao Ruoyi is quite capable. She seduced my son and wanted to enter our Hong family to be my long-er’s wife. TSK TSK, she really dares to think about it.”
Madam Lin Xiang said, “Now that Miss Qifeng is highly regarded by his majesty, it’s reasonable for the Qiao family to want to marry the Hong family. However, the daughter of a concubine might not be ignorant.”
The servant girl was so angry that she wanted to go up and argue, but was stopped by Qiao ruoyi.
“Miss, fortunately, those people are all first-class wives. How can they say that about you!”
Qiao ruoyi said, “Is what they said wrong? What’s the use of you going out to argue?”?
“I am a concubine. If I don’t leave Chang ‘an, I can either marry a good-for-nothing son of the first-class or a son of the first-class who can’t inherit the title of nobility, or I can settle down and marry a concubine son.” “Or I will find a son of a concubine with a low status.”
“But the Hong family is considered low status in front of the Qiao family.”Qiao Ruoyi’s maid felt sorry for her young miss.
Qiao ruoyi said lightly, “Not low enough.”
How could the imperial tutor’s family be considered low status? The real low status was that they couldn’t even enter the Qiao family’s banquet.
Just as he was about to leave, he heard Fu Lu’s voice:
“Each and every one of you is a first-class official. How can your mouth be so broken?
Your Hong Yinglong only treats you as a treasure. Previously, you followed behind Tong Yingying’s Butt!
After Tong Yingying died, she followed behind Qin Miaomiao’s butt during the Lantern Festival.
Your Hong family’s son isn’t even worthy of carrying my sister’s shoes!”
“And you, Madam Lin Xiang, aren’t you tired of crying, bawling, and pretending to be sick every day so that Lin Mo can go back from the Fuma’s residence to see you? Do you know your limits?”
“If I become so talkative when I get older in the future, I’d rather not get old!”
Qin Miao Miao smiled and said, “You’re also quite talkative now!”
Fu Lu said, “If it weren’t for the fact that I’m pregnant and can’t whip, all of you, including you, Qin Miao, would have left the an Yuan Marquis’residence.”
Qin Miaomiao smiled and supported Fu Lu. “Don’t be angry. Be careful not to anger my godson into coming out.”
The few madams were red in the face from Princess Fu Lu’s scolding. However, not only was she the daughter-in-law of the An Yuan Marquis Mansion, she was also the princess. They could only endure the scolding.
Qiao ruoyi came out and said, “Sister-in-law, why are you angry over some irrelevant people?”
Madam Hong saw Qiao ruoyi and said, “Isn’t this the fifth Miss Qiao? Tell Princess Fu Lu, did you tell my son that you like my son and seduced him?”
Qiao ruoyi said, “There are many people that I like. Not only Hong Yinglong, but also Lin Molin, the right minister, the heir of the Marquis of Wu an, the heir of Uncle Le Ling…”
When those ladies heard Qiao ruoyi, they all frowned. They wanted to scold her for being shameless, but Fu Lu still couldn’t say it out loud, so they had to leave quickly.
Qiao ruoyi and the other two laughed when they saw the ladies leave.
Fu Lu said to Qiao ruoyi, “What did you endure just now? You Are My Fu Lu’s sister. If they scold you, it’s the same as scolding me. But you are the same. If you can’t get married, then you can’t get married. Your brother and I can support you for the rest of our lives. Why do we need to find a son like Hong Yinglong?”
Qiao ruoyi said, “Brother and sister-in-law and mother are both very nice, but I don’t want to stay in the Hou mansion anymore.”
“Are you still angry that we didn’t ask you to give your aunt a title?”Fu Lu asked, “But you wouldn’t marry yourself into a family like the Hong family.”
