Chapter 470
He closed his eyes, feeling humiliated by the other party’s earlier submissive demeanor. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
Soon, six death warriors from the Crown Prince’s mansion silently slipped out, splitting into two groups: one heading to the Dong Mansion, the other to Liu Ruofu’s grandfather’s house.
·
King Liang paid a visit. No matter how displeased Dong Qingping was, he still had King Liang invited into the mansion.
After the king entered, he dismissed everyone and surprisingly knelt before Dong Qingping, who quickly knelt and kowtowed, not daring to lift his head.
“Lord Dong, I truly admire Tingzhen!” King Liang’s voice choked, almost breaking into tears. He repeated his tale about Dong Tingzhen to Dong Qingping, speaking pitifully, as if he couldn’t live without her.
Dong Qingping roughly guessed… the Emperor probably wouldn’t allow King Liang to marry Dong Tingzhen due to Second Brother Dong Qingyue. Hence, King Liang came to beg.
Dong Qingping pretended not to understand: “Your Highness, today His Majesty summoned me into the palace. I have conveyed to His Majesty that you should send a matchmaker to propose. Just don’t mention my daughter’s personal belongings! So why have you come to say this?”
King Liang’s lips quivered. He couldn’t tell Dong Qingping that the Emperor disapproved.
If the Emperor disapproved, how could a minister forcibly marry his daughter to King Liang? Which minister would dare to defy the Emperor?
“Please stand up, Your Highness!” Dong Qingping knelt forward, helped King Liang up, and said, “Your Highness, it’s already late. Return to rest. You admiring my daughter is her blessing. How could I disagree with such fate? Just send a matchmaker. I will have my wife refuse Minister Chen’s proposal tomorrow. Rest assured!”
“Lord Dong, I won’t hide it from you. Father… Father didn’t agree, so I came here!” King Liang said with reddened eyes.
Dong Qingping’s face stiffened slightly. “Why is that? Today when I entered the palace… wasn’t His Majesty discussing this matter with me? Was there a misunderstanding? What did His Majesty tell you?”
“Father wants me to marry Minister Chen’s granddaughter as my primary wife. But… I only want Tingzhen! Tingzhen can only be my primary wife, Lord Dong! I swear I will marry only Tingzhen in this life, and never take any concubines!” King Liang stated solemnly.
“You see, Your Highness, I am just a minor official. How could I dare defy His Majesty?” Dong Qingping said with difficulty.
King Liang wanted to say more, but Dong Qingping hurriedly added, “You must understand… I am very willing to marry my daughter to you, but the most important thing is His Majesty’s approval. After all, the command of parents and the words of the matchmaker are the proper way! Why don’t you ask His Majesty?”
King Liang hesitated, looking at Dong Qingping with wet, reddened eyes.
Dong Qingping was even more troubled, carefully saying, “You wouldn’t make me personally ask His Majesty? If Minister Chen knew, how would I face him?”
King Liang frowned. He came today mainly to win over Dong Qingping, letting both Dong Tingzhen and Dong Qingping know his determination to marry her. As long as Dong Qingping didn’t match her to others, he still had a chance.
As for Minister Chen’s granddaughter, the minister was also a heavy official with many students.
If absolutely necessary, even upon marrying her, King Liang could still find a way to bring Dong Tingzhen into his mansion willingly.
King Liang stood despondent for a moment before solemnly bowing to the ground: “Rest assured, Lord Dong, I will never give up on Tingzhen! Tomorrow morning, I will enter the palace to beg Father! And I won’t mention the personal token Tingzhen gave me to anyone! Father will likely soon let Eunuch Gao return it to you.”
Dong Qingping sighed in relief, thanking him before seeing King Liang to the door.
Watching King Liang get into the carriage, Dong Qingping turned back inside with a fallen face. The matter of Dong Tingzhen’s marriage had to be settled quickly.
Mrs. Song, knowing King Liang had come, arrived early and hid behind the main hall. When King Liang left, she emerged: “Husband, since the Emperor disapproves, we must settle Tingzhen’s marriage quickly. Chen Zhaolu from Minister Chen’s family is quite good!”
“The Chen family wants to arrange the marriage because they believe in our family education and see how the Bai Mansion handled their crisis without breaking under pressure. Without that… would Chen Zhaolu even consider our Tingzhen?” Dong Qingping’s mind was clear. “If King Liang, discontent, spreads news about Tingzhen’s personal token, the Chen family wouldn’t want her and would question our family’s virtues! Moreover… Tingzhen’s steadfastness regarding King Liang means the marriage with the Chen family will fail regardless!”
Mrs. Song was distressed, tears welling as she weakly sat down: “How… how did we end up with such a troublesome daughter!”
“Tomorrow, tell Madam Tan that Tingzhen’s personal token was stolen by her maid Haitang and somehow ended up with King Liang. Tingzhen, knowing this, got so upset she fell ill and isn’t fit to discuss marriage with the Chen family for now!”
Mrs. Song clutched her handkerchief and nodded: “Rest assured, Husband!”
·
Bai Qingyan dared to have Bai Jinzhi convey the news to the Crown Prince’s mansion, knowing Elder Fang was not one to be easily fooled.
She would return to Shuoyang with Bai Jinzhi the next day, planning to find a way to end the possibility of King Liang marrying Dong Tingzhen. Little did she expect events from the Crown Prince’s mansion and King Liang’s mansion to come so soon.
Bai Qingyan stood in Qinghui Courtyard under the bright moonlight, contemplating.
King Liang’s visit to the Dong Mansion wasn’t hard to guess. The Emperor didn’t grant King Liang’s wish of marriage, so he must have gone to beg his uncle to show his true feelings, also to show Tingzhen, the foolish girl.
The people the Crown Prince’s mansion sent earlier, who handed over Dong Tingzhen’s personal token to King Liang, had all been dealt with by Lu Ping’s men.
As for the six sent later, three headed to Princess of Nandu Liu Ruofu’s grandfather’s house and three to the Dong Mansion direction to stake out…
The wind rustled the towering trees along the west wall of Qinghui Courtyard, making a soft sound.
Bai Qingyan tightened her grip and raised her eyes, her mind suddenly clear.
The Emperor, a suspicious person regarding his sons, could forgive any injustices they committed, except associating too closely with powerful ministers holding military power.