Chapter 936: The Fourth Princess Consort
....
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
It seemed that as soon as the reward from the palace was sent to Little Yao’er, it had already spread throughout the capital.
Things like conferring t.i.tles and rewards had never been hidden. Otherwise, how could the royal family express to the world that the Imperial Court rewarded and punished clearly, intimidating everyone?
However, the Empress’s extraordinary rewards and generous gifts were intriguing.
Even he could sense the deeper meaning behind this.
How could others not notice?
She was afraid that after this reward was received, Little Yao’er and the Empress would be connected.
However, on the surface, the Empress Dowager was on the same side as the Empress, but there was also the Fourth Prince involved. Now that the compet.i.tion for the position of heir was becoming more and more intense, it was definitely impossible for the Fourth Prince to only think of himself. Was it easy to deal with this?
Old Master Xie was worried.
Yu Youyao’s heart skipped a beat. She said calmly, “Since the Empress has rewarded me, I’ll accept it. In any case, she can’t surpa.s.s the Empress Dowager. She’s the Empress, and the Yi Kun Palace has opened its doors. As the mother of a country, it’s only right for her to reward her contributing relatives.’
Yu Youyao had been given t.i.tles several times. However, the Empress sealed the palace and never expressed anything. Now that the gates of the Yi Kun Palace had opened, the Empress would definitely express twice as much to show her motherly demeanor.
The Empress was a model woman of the world. She ruled over both internal and external mingfu with virtue. She rewarded meritorious family members to show her motherly etiquette.
It was only right to reward her handsomely.
That made sense, However, Old Master Xie shook his head. “In the eyes of others, such a heavy reward is still a little too out of line. There are also certain rules for the palace to reward the family members. Since the Empress is the mother of the country, she won’t expose the reward. It’ll make others think that she’s overstepping the rules. After all, the reward should come from the palace’s inner vault.”
The inner treasury was equivalent to the government. It had to follow the old rules.
No matter how slow Yu Youyao was, she still sensed that something was amiss.
“The Empress wouldn’t break the rules knowingly. Clearly, such a heavy reward doesn’t come from the inner vault, but from the Empress’s private vault. It belongs to the Empress herself. However, they’re unrelated. Why would the Empress reward you generously with the things in her personal vault? What will others think?”
Moreover, the rewards were very expensive.
This clearly did not make sense.
Old Madam Xie held her breath and almost knocked over her teacup. Clearly, she had already understood something.
Yu Youyao looked at her grandmother in surprise, confused. “Didn’t you just say that the Empress’s intention to rope me in was obvious?”
Indeed, she also felt that the Empress’s attempt to rope her in was a little too shallow, so she couldn’t help but feel strange.
However, after thinking about it carefully, she did not feel that there was a problem.
The Yu Clan and the Empress belonged to the royal faction. It made sense for the Empress to want to rope her in further on this basis.
Yu Youyao did not have any room to refuse the reward sent by the palace. It was not wrong, but whether she would accept the Empress’s attempt in “further” roping her in was not something the Empress could control.
She was far away in Liaodong and was not under the Empress’s control. As long as she remained respectful to the Empress, the Empress could not do anything to her.
To put it bluntly, this “shallow” attempt to “further” rope Yu Youyao in did not affect her much.
Therefore, Yu Youyao did not care too much.
“You…” Seeing her confused expression, Old Master Xie hesitated and looked helpless. He could only glance at Old Madam Xie.
She did not even think about it. If it was just to rope her in, the Empress would definitely not bypa.s.s the Yu Clan. In the face of the clan’s interests, it was not up to Little Yao’er to decide who she would join.
Everyone knew that this “shallown method of “further” roping Yu Youyao in would not affect Yu Youyao much. How could the Empress not know?
It was a thankless task. Could it be that she was doing this just to give Princess Shaoyi benefits for free?
How could there be such a good thing in the world?
Old Madam Xie sighed softly. “Little Yao’er, you’re already 14 years old. It’s the age to talk about marriage. It’s because you’re mourning, so it’s not appropriate for others to visit, let alone mention it. However, with your current reputation and talent, I think there must be many people eyeing you. Since ancient times, almost all the daughters of foreign ministers and women who were conferred the t.i.tle of imperial family member have married into the imperial family.”
It was said that the Empress and the Fourth Prince were as close as mother and son. It couldn’t be wrong.
The Fourth Prince in the palace was already 18 years old, and he had just reached the age to talk about marriage. After Little Yao’er’s mourning period pa.s.sed, one of them would just reach adulthood, and the other would just reach the age of maturity. It was time to get married.
Yu Youyao’s eyes widened in shock.
In a flash, she suddenly remembered that she had been in the capital a long time ago. After she was conferred the t.i.tle of County Head, she had gone to pay her respects to her foster father in the clan. She had happened to hear a rumor that the Empress Dowager had wanted to make her the Fourth Prince’s princess consort a long time ago. Later, it had been disrupted by the Duke Rongs Residence. That was why the palace was so angry and severely punished the Duke Rongs Residence.
At that time, she did not take it seriously and thought to herself, “The emperor severely punished Duke Rongs Residence. Isn’t he thinking about how the Duke Rongs Residence has been managed for many years and is rich?”
The Fourth Prince was the son of a concubine and didn’t have any power in the palace. She also knew that with her status at that time, she was still a little lacking as the princess consort.
After all, Yu Zongzhengs official position and skills were not prominent. Although the Yu Clan was placed in an important position, they had still been in dire straits for many years. Their reputation was still a little lacking.
Although Yu Youyao was the eldest daughter of the first wife, her status was not as high as Yu Shuangbai’s. It made sense if it was Yu Shuangbai.
Even so, princes and princess consorts were usually chosen from those old n.o.bles with deep foundations.
This was so that it would not insult the bloodline of the royal family.
But now, after hearing her grandmother’s words, she suddenly realized that this was very likely not groundless. “The Empress suddenly took things from her own private vault and rewarded me without any reason. This is clearly unreasonable. If she’s interested in the Fourth Prince’s marriage, then everything will…” Everything would make sense!
It was the Empress who had taken a fancy to her, so it was like a mother who was in charge of her “marriage” for her “son.” For the sake of the Fourth
Prince, she wanted to reward Yu Youyao generously and express her att.i.tude. Everything was reasonable and smooth.
Every move, word, and action of a superior carried a deeper meaning and purpose.
As long as others thought about it for a moment, it was very easy to guess what the Empress meant behind the “heavy reward.”
In addition, early on, there were rumors in the imperial family that the
Empress Dowager wanted to make her the Fourth Prince’s princess consort. Today was different from before. With her current status, she complemented the Fourth Prince even more, so everything made sense.
The Empress had used this method to forcefully rope her in.
Seeing that she had understood, Old Madam Xie heaved a sigh of relief. “Think about it carefully.. When Eunuch Li read the reward list just now, what was the first thing the Empress gave you?”