Chapter 191: No Need To Rush, Heir; Miss Lin Can’t Escape
Mo Ziyuan rushed all the way into the Imperial Palace and found the New Emperor, who was bonding with his son in the Imperial Study.
“Your Majesty! The Heir of Dingguo Duke requests an audience.” Eunuch An walked over and said softly.
“Zi Yuan?” Chu Qingye raised an eyebrow, “Let him in.”
“Yes.”
“Your Majesty, your humble subject has a request for Your Majesty!” Mo Ziyuan said directly as soon as he entered the door, without even performing the formal bow to the Emperor.
“A request for me?” Chu Qingye smiled, and even Chu Mingchen poked his little head over to look, “Tell me, what do you want?”
Mo Ziyuan quickly knelt on the ground, “Your humble subject wishes to request that Your Majesty grant marriage between your humble subject and Miss Lin.”
“Grant marriage? So urgently? What’s this? Miss Lin refuses to marry you, so you’ve turned your thoughts to me?” Chu Qingye teased him.
“Sigh! If only that were the case.” Mo Ziyuan cooperatively made a bitter face.
“Oh? Could there be something else going on?” Chu Qingye asked with interest.
“Exactly!” Mo Ziyuan had no intention of hiding it, so he told about Fu Qing and the Heir of Marquis Zhaoyang earlier, then also mentioned how Fu Jing had been beaten bloody and gone to Meng Yixuan’s place to hide and recover, conveniently sending him a tip-off.
“Hmph! That son of Marquis Zhaoyang is spoiled rotten, yet he protects him like the apple of his eye. He’s bound to cause trouble sooner or later.” Chu Qingye clearly had no good impression of the Heir of Marquis Zhaoyang.
“Your Majesty, his matters have nothing to do with your humble subject. What we’re discussing now is the matter of granting marriage.” Mo Ziyuan was anxious in his heart! He was afraid that his stepmother, who always aimed to make him unhappy, would team up with Fu Jing’s mother to sabotage him. At that moment, he couldn’t even care about the distinction between ruler and subject.
“What are you so anxious about!” Chu Qingye glared at him irritably.
“I can’t not be anxious. If Madam Fu and the Dingguo Duke’s Wife team up, it’s over. Isn’t your humble subject just trying to get ahead of them by coming to Your Majesty first!”
“Miss Lin isn’t an ordinary young lady. Did she agree to you coming to me?”
“I only came after asking her.”
“Heh, you sure think things through!”
“Father, is Uncle Mo going to marry Auntie?” Chu Mingchen, who had been listening for a while from the side, tugged at Chu Qingye’s sleeve and asked.
“Yes!”
“Ah! Then Nan Nan won’t have anyone to play with anymore. Father, can I let him come into the palace to accompany me?” Chu Mingchen’s eyes sparkled brightly.
“Of course! Chen’er does need a Reading Companion.” Chu Qingye said thoughtfully.
“By the way, Your Majesty, your humble subject forgot to mention one more thing just now.” Seeing Chu Qingye’s attention shift back to his son, Mo Ziyuan, who hadn’t finished speaking, had to interrupt his train of thought again.
“What else?”
“That… Didn’t Your Majesty confer the title of County Princess on Xin’er? Could Your Majesty grant me in marriage to County Princess Chenxi as the County Prince Consort?”
“Nonsense. If you become the County Prince Consort, what about the Dingguo Duke’s Mansion? Do you intend to give your noble title to your half-brother?”
“Of course not. After my father passes away in a hundred years, Your Majesty can reclaim the noble title! Right now, I only want to be the County Prince Consort, not the Duke.”
Looking at him like that, Chu Qingye felt his soles itch terribly, wanting very much to rub them on his face.
“You can forget about that. I understand your meaning, but don’t you want to see your sweet-mouthed, bitter-hearted stepmother suffer a setback?” Chu Qingye’s words were like a bitter melon coated in honey, full of temptation on the surface.
“Your Majesty’s meaning is…”
“From what I know, Miss Lin is someone who can’t tolerate a grain of sand in her eyes. The Dingguo Duke’s Wife’s tricks definitely won’t work on her. At that time, she will surely turn around and deal with her. Don’t you want to see such a scene?”
Mo Ziyuan shook his head like a rattle drum, “No. Once Xin’er enters the Duke’s Mansion, the Duke’s Wife will be her mother-in-law. Whatever she does to torment Xin’er will be justified. If Xin’er resists, she’ll be labeled unfilial. I’ve already wronged Xin’er enough; I don’t want her to suffer these things anymore.”
“You! You’re different from your father after all, quite the devoted seed!” Chu Qingye listened for a while without speaking, finally saying this.
“I just don’t want Xin’er buried in that one-third of an acre in the back yard. She has ability and insight; she should have a broader living space, not be tied down all day by those trivial matters of chicken feathers and garlic skins.” Mo Ziyuan said earnestly.
“Alright, you’ve convinced me. I’ll draft the decree right now, and have Eunuch An go to the Dingguo Duke’s Mansion to proclaim it later.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!” Mo Ziyuan knelt properly on the ground and kowtowed to Chu Qingye.
“Forget it! If you knock your forehead swollen now, Miss Lin will think I made you do it later, and she might end up resenting me.” Chu Qingye waved his hand irritably.
Eunuch An held the two Imperial Decrees in his arms and rode in a horse carriage toward the Dingguo Duke’s Mansion. It was the first time he had seen Mo Ziyuan like this; the soft cushions in the carriage felt like they had unremoved needles, making him unable to sit still, constantly lifting the carriage window to check how far they had gone.
“Young Master needn’t worry; Miss Lin won’t run away.” As he opened the carriage window to look out again, Eunuch An couldn’t help but comfort him.
“Xin’er naturally won’t run; what I’m afraid of is…” Mo Ziyuan suddenly stopped, his face turning extremely ugly in an instant.
Out of curiosity, Eunuch An also lifted the carriage window a crack to look out, and saw not far ahead at the entrance of the Dingguo Duke’s Mansion, a horse carriage parked, with two middle-aged women chatting enthusiastically beside it, both wearing satisfied smiles on their faces—it was the Dingguo Duke’s Wife and Madam Fu.
“The Young Master guessed right after all!”
“Hmph! Trying to shove that woman at me without considering if she’s worthy!” Mo Ziyuan said hatefully, his white teeth nearly grinding to pieces.
“Young Master, calm down. With His Majesty’s Imperial Decree, no matter how many conspiracies and tricks they have, they won’t succeed.”
“I understand, Eunuch. Let’s go proclaim the decree right now!” As he spoke, the carriage had already arrived at the mansion gate, pulling up right beside the Fu family’s horse carriage. A cold glint flashed in Mo Ziyuan’s eyes; he hooked his right thumb and middle finger together and flicked, a black light flashed by, and the horse of the Fu family’s carriage let out a neigh to the sky before going mad, jumping nonstop in place, causing the carriage to bounce up and down wildly, nearly falling apart.
“Ah~” Qi Shi and Madam Fu were both badly frightened and screamed in unison.
Mo Ziyuan jumped down from the horse carriage, then turned and extended his hand, letting Eunuch An hold his wrist to alight from the carriage.
“Eunuch An!” Qi Shi and Madam Fu exchanged a glance, then looked at Mo Ziyuan’s face full of mocking intent, and a bad premonition rose in their hearts.
“Imperial Decree arrives; Heir of Dingguo Duke, receive the decree!” Eunuch An took out the Imperial Decree granting marriage to Mo Ziyuan and announced.
Mo Qilan, who had already received the news, hurriedly arranged for servants to set up the altar table and then rushed over.
