Empress Chen didn't tell Emperor Chong Zhen before she left the palace.

Since she had found out that Zhao Jie didn't succeed when he came here to propose last time, she kept thinking about this matter and planned to personally come here. Today, she finally had the opportunity to leave the palace while dressed in ordinary clothing and come with Zhao Jie to visit Duke Ying's residence.

Everyone was overwhelmed that the Empress had personally come to this residence. While the servants girls and the other servants had their heads lowered, they would quietly look up to carefully observe Empress Chen. Their eyes were full of revere.

Duke Ying's expression was solemn. He could vaguely guess the reason why Empress Chen had come here. If her visit were for Wei Luo and Zhao Jie's marriage, then he would be forced to agree even if he didn't want to agree.

Empress Chen raised her hand to indicate that everyone could stand up. She smiled and asked, "Duke Ying, you didn't leave your residence today? I heard that last time you weren't home."

Duke Ying was usually neither servile nor overbearing in front of other people. Even when facing the Emperor, he still dared to speak his mind. Now that the Empress was deliberately making fun of him, his reaction could be considered unperturbed. He cupped hand in obeisance as he said, "Last time, this subject didn't know that His Highness Prince Jing would be visiting. I was visiting a colleague's home. When I came back, His Highness had already left. If his reception wasn't satisfactory, I hope that Your Majesty and His Highness will generously forgive me."

Empress Chen felt that his methodical reply was really boring. Fortunately, the reason that she came here today wasn't to see him. It was for something much more important. She looked around and didn't see Wei Luo, so she said, "This empress left the palace at Liuli's request to see Fourth Miss Wei Luo. Where is she right now?"

She said it was because of Zhao Liuli's request, but Duke Ying was aware of her actual reason. With Prince Jing right behind her, her intention couldn't be more obvious.

For her to personally visit this place to see Wei Luo, it was clear that Empress Chen placed a high importance on Wei Luo. Duke Ying wasn't the only one surprised. Everyone else's shock also wasn't small. It could even be said that some people were envious, but happy and there were also people that were jealous.

Duke Ying straightforwardly said, "My granddaughter, Ah Luo, is probably in Pine Courtyard. If Your Majesty wants to see her, this subject will have people call her over here."

Hearing his words, Empress Chen seemed to be considering something.

Duke Ying thought she was going to drop the subject. Unexpectedly, she suddenly said, "No need. This empress will go over there to look for her."

Duke Ying's old face froze. His expression wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. Fortunately, this only lasted for a moment. His expression quickly returned to normal. After he thought it through that it was fine if the empress wanted to see his granddaughter, he properly walked to the front to led the way and said, "Your Majesty, please follow this old subject."

And so, the group of people changed directions and walked towards Pine Courtyard.

Zhao Jie was wearing a sapphire blue robe with a persimmon stem pattern. His tall body was like a pine tree to begin with. But wearing this robe, he seemed even more heroic and his bearing was extraordinary.

Duke Ying led Empress Chen to Pine Courtyard. It was inappropriate for the other madams to follow inside, so they could only curb their curiosity and watch as the Empress entered Song Courtyard. They didn't leave until Empress Chen entered Pine Courtyard. Among the madams, Third Madam Liu-shi's expression was the most interesting. She was in low spirits from envy and jealousy. All sorts of complicated wrong expressions appeared on her face. It made people's eyes feel confused. Other than her, First Madam, Second Madam, and Fourth Madam were all sincerely happy for Wei Luo.

Fourth Madam Qin-shi was especially happy. Since Wei Luo's engagement with Count Zhong Yi's family was canceled, she had been worrying about Wei Luo's marriage. When she talked about marriage with Wei Luo and Wei Luo hadn't seemed enthusiastic, she felt even more anxious. But, now everything was good. Prince Jing wanted to marry Wei Luo. There was no longer anything for her to worry about. She couldn't be any happier for Wei Luo.

Prince Jing's future wife would be from Duke Ying's family. It really was an extremely happy event.

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Duke Ying, Wei Kun, Empress Chen, and Zhao Jie entered a room. Jin Lu was currently wiping a glazed white vase that had a red hornless dragon. The vase was on a long narrow table. When Jin Lu turned her head, she was so scared that she jumped. She hurriedly put down the towel and saluted, "Greeting Your Majesty. May you have never-ending peace."

Jin Lu had followed Wei Luo into the palace several times. During these visits, she had the fortune to see Empress Chen a few times, so she immediately recognized her.

Empress Chen gestured for her to stand, then she looked around the room and asked, "Where's Ah Luo?"

Jin Lu replied, "To respond to Your Majesty, Miss is currently resting in her room."

Duke Ying invited Empress Chen and Zhao Jie to sit down in the highest seats and ordered Jin Lu, "Go and bring Ah Luo here."

Jin Lu nodded. Just as Jin Lu was about to leave to bring Wei Luo here, Empress Chen had a sudden thought and said, "Wait. Ah Luo is a girl. It's not good for her to appear in front of other people. This empress will come with you instead. Besides, I just want to say a few words with her. It won't take too long."

Jin Lu became even more nervous. She instinctively looked towards Duke Ying. Seeing that Duke Ying didn't react and seem to be tactility agreeing, she could only bow and say, "Your Highness, please follow this servant."

After they arrived in front of Wei Luo's room, Jin Lu pushed open the door and entered the room. Behind the divider screen that was made of twelve red sandalwood pieces and decorated with joyful magpies, there was a small figure partially lying down. Behind her back, her dark, thick, and long hair seemed like silky and lustrous flowing seaweed. A few strands of her hair slipped down to her cheeks and blocked her soft, cherry lips. She didn't seem to peacefully sleeping. Her long eyelashes were trembling. But, she hadn't woken up yet.

Wei Luo had taken a bath in the morning. Before her hair had dried, she had started to write. She fell asleep while writing.

On the qiao tou an table, there were tools for writing: ink, brush, writing paper, and blotting paper. There was a piece of paper below Wei Luo's hand. Empress Chen walked forward to look. These words were the start of "Fa Yan Yi Shu". Empress Chen couldn't help being surprised. Most girls didn't read this type of book and only studied the Four Books and Five Classics. She hadn't expected that Wei Luo would also study philosophy. It really made her have a whole new level of respect for Wei Luo.

(T/N: "Fa Yan Yi Shu" is a philosophical book about Confucian doctrine. Four Books and Five Classics is a collection of books that illustrate the core values and belief systems in Confucianism.)

Seeing that Wei Luo wasn't waking up, Jin Lu felt anxious and called out, "Miss."

Wei Luo started to slowly open her eyes and sit up. Her long hair flowed down from her shoulders and made her small, white face seem even more delicate. She lowered her head, rubbed her eyes, and murmured, "En. What happened... " Just after she said these words, she looked up and saw Empress Chen. She froze for a moment, then she said, "Your Majesty?"

Empress Chen faintly smiled without saying a word.

Her surprise wasn't small. Why was Her Majesty in her room? She didn't have time to think. She hurriedly stood up and saluted. "This subject greets Your Majesty."

Empress Chen helped her up and joked, "Why are you taking a nap so early in the day? Did you not sleep well last night?"

~

Wei Luo was very embarrassed. When she had copied half of the homework that was assigned by Mister Xue, she fell asleep. If other people heard this, they would laugh at her. "The content of this book is too complicated... It was too difficult to read. I was originally planning on taking a break and resting for a while. I didn't expect to fall asleep. Your Majesty, you must find me laughable."

(T/N: Just to be clear, Wei Luo's homework is copying that book as a way to memorize it. She's not copying someone else's answers.)

Empress Chen didn't mind. Conversely, she felt that Wei Luo was very hard working and studious. "As a girl, it must be hard for you to study this... Not just you, even I'm not willing to study this type of book. Only Chang Sheng liked to read this type of books as a child."

Until now, Wei Luo felt the name "Chang Sheng" was very strange. It took her a while to remember that this was Zhao Jie's childhood name. She slightly stagnated before asking, "Your Majesty, is there a reason why you came to my home?"

Empress Chen faintly smiled and said, "This empress has something I want to discuss with your father."

Wei Luo, "..."

As for what Empress Chen wanted to discuss, Wei Luo didn't even have to guess to know. Zhao Liuli and Zhao Jie were the people that Empress Chen cared about the most. These were the only two people that she would leave the palace for. Recently, Zhao Liuli was very content and there were no troubles in her life. Then the only possibility was... Zhao Jie.

Wei Luo gathered the hair around her shoulders and blushed as she said, "Empress Chen, could you wait for a bit... I'll talk with you after I finish combing my hair."

Empress Chen sat down on a couch. While looking at her, she smiled and said, "Go ahead with freshening yourself up. This empress will leave in a moment."

After the words had been said to this point, Wei Luo couldn't force the empress to leave. She could only sit in front of a mirror with a grape pattern and have Jin Lu brush her hair. Jin Lu picked up a fine-toothed comb and prepared to arrange Wei Luo's hair into a yuanbao hairstyle.

Wei Luo couldn't just ignore Her Majesty while she sat over there. Just as Wei Luo was preparing to think of something to say, Empress Chen went straight to the point and asked, "Ah Luo, what do you think of Chang Sheng?"

Wei Luo looked at the girl that was blushing in the mirror. After considering for a moment, she properly replied, "Prince Jing is calm, mature, and meticulous. He's a good prince that rarely exists.

After Wei Luo said these words, the person behind her didn't respond for a while.

Did she say the wrong words?

Wei Luo couldn't help turning her head to look. Empress Chen looked like she was trying to stop herself from laughing. Slightly embarrassed and not understanding, Wei Luo asked, "Your Majesty, did I say something wrong?"

Empress Chen smiled. "You haven't. Your words were very good."

In the eyes of other, Zhao Jie was a ruthless, tyrannical, and vicious prince. Even Zhao Liuli was slightly scared of him. However, this little girl had described him as "calm, mature, and meticulous". Unless there was something wrong with Wei Luo's eyes, then her son must really like this girl. In front of her, he must be a completely different person than when he was in front of other people.

Not much time later, Jin Lu finished arranging Wei Luo's hair into a yuanbao hairstyle. She also inserted a golden hairpin with tourmaline into her hair. Wei Luo stood up and prepared to walk outside with Empress Chen, but Empress Chen said, "You can stay here. You don't have to go to the central room. This empress will be leaving right after I say something to your father."

Wei Luo thought for a moment. Since Empress Chen had come here, Zhao Jie must have also come. It wouldn't be good for her to come out right now, so she didn't insist on going. After walking with Empress Chen to the door, she watched her leave.

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Inside the Pine Courtyard's central room, Empress Chen didn't speak in a roundabout way. She straightforwardly said to Duke Ying and Wei Kun, "This empress came here today for Jie-er and Ah Luo's marriage."

Duke Ying had already prepared himself, so at this moment, he could still be considered calm.

However, Wei Kun's heart stiffened. His grip on the white glazed teacup tightened.

Empress Chen continued, "If Duke Ying doesn't have an opinion, this empress will tell the emperor tomorrow and ask him to bestow a marriage for Jie-er and Ah Luo."

Duke Ying didn't say anything. Wei Kun hesitated for a moment and couldn't resist saying, "Ah Luo is young. She's also mischievous and stubborn. If she marries His Highness, I'm afraid that she'll trouble His Highness..."

Sitting below Empress Chen, Zhao Jie declared his position towards this issue, "After Ah Luo marries this prince, she'll be the Princess Consort Jing. It would only be right and proper for this prince to take care of her. How would she be considered troublesome?"

He hadn't even married her yet and he was already speaking if she belonged to him.

But, his reply was sincere. It dispelled all of the misgivings in Wei Kun's heart. Previously, Zhao Jie was an aloof, remote, solemn, and imposing person. For him to suddenly become his son-in-law, he couldn't easily accept this change. He didn't even know what type of attitude he should have when facing Zhao Jie.

He wasn't the only person. Duke Ying felt the same way.

During the previous times that Zhao Jie had come to Duke Ying's residence, his behavior had been proper and he had rarely seen Ah Luo, much less talked to her. When was it that he became interested in Ah Luo? Why weren't there any signs?

Although they felt doubtful, the situation had already reached this point. The empress had even personally come here. If they continued to refuse, then they couldn't tell good actions from bad ones.

Zhao Jie saw that their faces had softened. He stood up, cupped one hand in the other, and said, "Please agree to let Ah Luo marry this prince."

Wei Kun hesitated for a moment. In the end, he nodded and said, "It's only that Ah Luo hasn't had her hairpin ceremony yet. My father and I are both reluctant for Ah Luo to marry so young. Let's wait one more year. After her hairpin ceremony..."

Zhao Jie felt that this request was very reasonable. He smiled and said, "This is only right. This prince is willing to wait until after her hairpin ceremony to marry her."

Wei Kun sighed in relief. He could be considered relieved.

After matters related to the marriage was carefully discussed, Duke Ying wanted to properly entertain Empress Chen and Prince Jing. After he asked the two of them to stay for lunch, Empress Chen politely refuse, "This empress can't stay out for long, so I won't continue to disturb you. Duke Ying, enjoy your lunch with your family."

Duke Ying could only drop the subject. He and his family walked Empress Chen and Zhao Jie to the entrance to send them off. Everyone felt as if they had woken up from a dream after Empress Chen's imperial carriage with a green cover majestically left. They felt as if today didn't seem real.

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Before three days had passed, Emperor Chong Zhen's imperial edict came.

Duke Ying led everyone in the residence to kneel in the courtyard to receive the imperial edict.

Wearing a black hat outlined in gold and a bright red robe with peony flowers, the eunuch read out loud, "... to bestow Prince Jing a wife. The wedding will happen next year in September."

Duke Ying brushed off the dust on his sleeves, walked forward, and said, "This subject accepts."

Having reached this point, Wei Luo and Zhao Jie's marriage was finally settled.

Very soon, Duke Ying's residence would have a princess consort!

After sending the palace people away, the people from first branch, second branch, and fourth branch went forward to congratulate Wei Kun and Wei Luo.

Although Third Madam's heart felt sour, when she though about how Wei Luo would be the Princess Consort Jing in the future, she forced herself to smile. She pretended to congratulate her, "Ah Luo is truly a person that's blessed with good fortune."

Wei Luo was standing behind Wei Kun. Her hands were holding the imperial edict and she didn't care about Third Madam's words at all. She thought about Zhao Jie's previously anxious appearance and couldn't help smiling. He had finally achieved what he wished for. She was going to marry him. She wondered how happy he was feeling right now.

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The author has something to say:

Chang Hong to Zhao Jie: You're not allowed to see Ah Luo until the wedding.