Chapter 286 - 255: Imperial Marriage Decree (Part 3)
Chapter 286: Chapter 255: Imperial Marriage Decree (Part 3)
The Emperor took the item and upon seeing it, found it to be a thick book, involving the development and significant roles of scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants across various industries, as well as the recent activities and plans of neighboring countries...
From this book, it was clear that a lot of time was spent preparing it, otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so comprehensive, including all the issues of various industries.
"Good, very good," the Emperor applauded, slapping the table. "You, young man, have something here. At first, I thought you were a capable talent after seeing that one document; now, seeing yours, I find you to be a genius."
"Your Majesty, don’t praise him too much, or he might become arrogant," Su Rende said.
"You sly old fox, just be secretly happy! In those years of memory loss, I wanted to bestow a marriage upon you, but you wouldn’t have it. You said you always felt there was a beloved in your lost memories and couldn’t muddle into marriage before figuring it out. Earlier, I thought of you as foolish, but now it seems you are the wisest. Now that your wife has returned, and you have such an outstanding daughter and son-in-law, your whole family is harmonious and happy."
"I am just a coarse man, unworthy of the noble daughters in the Capital City. I’m fine the way I am now, please, Your Majesty, don’t bring it up again, or else my jealous wife will cause trouble."
"Useless."
"Your Majesty, between these two national policies, which one do you think is better?"
"Need you ask? Of course, your son-in-law’s is better. In tomorrow’s court assembly, I will announce this matter and have each department draft a three-year plan based on this national policy," the Emperor said, then turned to Zhou Wangshu, "Your talent is wasted just being a Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Tomorrow, I shall promote you to Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and you can start attending the morning court assemblies."
"Thank you for your great favor, Your Majesty."
"Enough of that, I summoned you for a game of chess. Your father-in-law here is a hopeless chess player, he learned his skills from me, but even my five-year-old son plays better than him."
Zhou Wangshu came to understand the favor his father-in-law enjoyed from the Emperor.
Typically, a military general with too many military achievements might make the Emperor wary, fearing that he might one day rely on his own troops. However, judging by the Emperor’s intimacy towards the father-in-law, an outsider might think they were brothers.
The father-in-law and son-in-law duo played a few games with the Emperor, followed by joining him in the Empress’s palace to dine with the women of both families. After the meal, the family returned to the General Mansion in grandeur, laden with lavishly bestowed gifts from the palace.
The items gifted from the palace were not hidden at all, they were encased in extravagant gold-threaded nanmu wood.
Meanwhile, the Emperor issued a marriage decree, which had already been sent to the residence where Xiao Yanci currently lived.
The house Xiao Yanci rented wasn’t large, and it was located in a busy area, where he had to endure the disturbances of many civilians daily. There were even some presumptuous village girls who would make eyes at him, as if their charms alone could let them capture this newly appointed third place examinee.
After all, in the plays, this new examinee even took in a widow, indicating that while he might be good-looking, he was undiscerning, willing to take any woman as long as she was a woman at all.
Upon the issuing of the decree, the nearby civilians received the news and dared not disturb Xiao Yanci any longer.
"This one has truly climbed up to Prime Minister Wang."
"A marriage decreed by the Emperor, showing the importance placed on this union. Could it be that the stories in those plays were fabricated, and this person was actually framed?"
Listening to the discussions in the crowd, an odd light flickered in Xiao Yanci’s eyes.
Relying on his memories from a past life, he wrote a national policy. The policies in that national policy had all happened in the past life, though they were supposed to occur three years later. Writing down the events of that past life now turned him into someone who had rendered great service, allowing them to enjoy those benefits three years early.
As for the fifty thousand taels of silver extorted by that troupe manager, he got it from Jiang Yihuan. After all, among the people he knew now, only this woman had such financial power.
That woman indeed had a way of charming men, she made Marquis Jing’an dance to her tune, even entrusting the entire household to her. If Marquis Jing’an knew that the woman used his money to support an old lover and had intimate meetings with him at the theater, who knows what he’d think.
Xiao Yanci thought he detested Jiang Yihuan, but when Jiang Yihuan was no longer his wife in name but someone else’s woman, he suddenly discovered the pleasure of playing with another man’s wife.
The person who read the imperial decree had just left when the steward of Prime Minister Wang’s Mansion arrived.
"Lord Xiao, the Prime Minister invites you to the mansion to discuss the marriage," the steward said. "Since you are to be a son-in-law living with them, there’s no need to stay here anymore. The servants will immediately pack your things and move them to the Prime Minister’s Mansion."