Chapter 789: Chapter 787 Strategy

The conferment of a princess by the Royal Family is not just a matter of issuing an imperial edict. It requires rituals, reporting to heaven and earth, informing the ancestors, and listening to admonishments in the palace.

The Royal Family has many rules. Even if these steps are simplified, they cannot be omitted.

The Empress, having lost her beloved daughter, was bedridden and unable to admonish Su Jin. Although the other concubines in the harem were in good spirits, they lacked the proper status.

Having Su Jin kneel before them to listen to their admonishments was something they were not entitled to do.

And then—

Su Jin became the first princess in the Daqi Dynasty to listen to the Emperor’s admonishment.

Su Jin just looked at the Emperor, and he didn’t know how to admonish her.

This task was something he seized under the guise of showing sympathy to the Empress—

The task was easy to take on but difficult to execute.

Such an obedient, understanding, and dignified daughter—what was there to admonish?

This is a model princess.

If the princesses in the harem were half as good as Su Jin, the Emperor would wake up laughing from his dreams.

In the end, Su Jin enjoyed an Imperial Banquet with the Emperor and returned to the Prince Mansion with a thick book of palace rules…

After returning from the palace, Su Jin lay directly on the Imperial Concubine’s Couch.

Xie Jingchen said with concern, “Were you admonished severely?”

“I’m overstuffed,” Su Jin replied.

“…”

To prepare for the rituals, she ate vegetarian for three days.

Her mouth was bland to the point of tasting like nothing, and the Emperor had the Imperial Kitchen prepare a pile of delicious food.

Unable to control herself, she ate much more than usual.

Sitting and eating all the time, she didn’t feel stuffed.

After standing up and walking for a bit, she nearly burst from being too full.

Sitting in the carriage for the journey, she felt she hadn’t digested at all.

Tired and overstuffed, Su Jin didn’t want to move.

She just wanted to lie there quietly until tomorrow.

Thinking about tomorrow, with no need to entertain guests and no officials from the Ministry of Rites coming to talk about etiquette, Su Jin felt life was beautiful.

She lay on the bed and asked Bi Zhu to massage her back.

In the Imperial Study.

The Emperor was in a good mood.

Since Marquis Dongxiang requested the Emperor to confer Su Jin as a princess, the Emperor had been in good spirits.

The only regret was that Su Jin married early and couldn’t spend more days with him, her father, in the palace.

This was the only regret in the Emperor’s heart.

The Emperor sipped his tea lightly.

A little eunuch came in and said, “Emperor, Mr. Liu, who is in charge of building the Princess Mansion, requests an audience.”

“Let him in,” the Emperor said.

The little eunuch left, and soon Mr. Liu entered the palace.

Mr. Liu was somewhat apprehensive.

The Emperor had just recognized the princess and was in a high mood, entrusting him with the lucrative task of building the Princess Mansion, but he didn’t handle it well and couldn’t help but be anxious.

Mr. Liu stepped forward, saluted the Emperor, and said, “Emperor, according to your instructions, I am building the Princess Mansion near the Prince Zhenbei Mansion, but the Li Family, which is right next to the Prince Zhenbei Mansion, refuses to sell their property…”

A princess, upon marrying, would have a Princess Mansion.

This is a symbol of the princess’s noble status.

Even the Eldest Princess Duanhui, who moved to her fiefdom shortly after marrying, still had her Princess Mansion, and it was right next to her in-laws.

Generally, the Princess Mansion is separated from the in-law’s family by only a wall.

The two mansions are separate, with a door in the dividing wall, making it easy to come and go.

Su Jin, having been conferred as a princess, married early, but the Emperor didn’t want her to feel wronged.

The Princess Mansion built for Su Jin was to be grand and magnificent.

However, the first step was already at a standstill.

The households next to the Prince Zhenbei Mansion knew it was to build a Princess Mansion and understood they couldn’t go against the court; they took the money and moved readily.

But that space was simply not enough to build a Princess Mansion.

To meet the Emperor’s requirements for a large and grand Princess Mansion, the Li Family’s property had to be purchased.

That property was the ancestral home of the Li Family. Mr. Li was an official dispatched elsewhere, with only his elderly mother and wife and children at home.

Old Madam Li firmly refused to move.

Despite Mr. Liu’s threats and incentives, Old Madam Li didn’t take them to heart at all.

Mr. Li was a confidant of Duke Chong, assigned to a prosperous place, holding real power. Mr. Liu, who only managed building residences, really couldn’t offend him.

With no other choice, Mr. Liu had to seek help from the Emperor.

Seeing the Emperor frowning with displeasure, Mr. Liu said tremblingly, “Old Madam Li said she consulted a fortune teller, who said that moving the Li Mansion would result in unfilial descendants, family ruin, and death, and asked the court to understand the Li Family…”

Mr. Liu was exhausted.

The Prince Zhenbei Mansion was in a prime location, close to the Imperial Palace.

Other officials had to leave early to attend court meetings, while the Prince could still nap on the bed.

The properties on this street, if sold, would be fought over.

The left side is close to Agarwood Pavilion, and though Mr. Liu’s official rank was not high, it was still possible to buy it.

The right side is the Duke Wei Mansion. Asking a Duke Mansion to make space for a Princess Mansion was a request Mr. Liu dared not make.

He initially thought it was a good task, with the potential to gain favor with Princess Jin Ning and the Emperor.

But upon taking it on, he realized it was a difficult task. No wonder nobody fought for it, and it fell to him.

In a place where land is as precious as gold, squeezing in a large and grand Princess Mansion was no easy task.

Mr. Liu felt that unless an edict was issued, there was no way the land could be vacated.

But such an imperial edict was hard to issue; it was unreasonable for the Emperor to make the Li Family move just for the sake of his daughter.

The Emperor’s face was gloomy.

Why was it so difficult for him to build a Princess Mansion for his daughter?

As Marquis Dongxiang stepped into the Imperial Study, he saw the Emperor’s stern face.

“What’s the matter here?” asked Marquis Dongxiang.

The Emperor didn’t speak.

Eunuch Fu explained the situation to Marquis Dongxiang.

Eunuch Fu hoped that Marquis Dongxiang would come up with a solution.

He was usually the one with the most ideas.

After listening, Marquis Dongxiang turned to the Emperor and said, “Is there money in the National Treasury?”

The Emperor, “…”

Eunuch Fu, “…”

It was like a dagger thrust into the Emperor’s heart.

The already frustrated Emperor felt even more disheartened.

How could he not distinguish friend from foe?

The Princess Mansion was being built for Jinjim, yet the first thing he asked was whether there was money in the National Treasury.

Marquis Dongxiang looked at the Emperor and said, “The National Treasury is empty. The pay silver for the soldiers is delayed again and again. A war is imminent, which requires a big expenditure, and the money in the treasury is simply not enough. Yet the Emperor still wants to take a sum for building the Princess Mansion.”

“Jinjim is living well at the Prince Zhenbei Mansion, why the need for a Princess Mansion?”

“When the Heir of Prince Zhenbei inherits the title of Prince Zhenbei, she will be the Princess Zhenbei. The Princess Mansion will eventually be merged with the Prince Zhenbei Mansion.”

“Such a large Prince Mansion stands in the Capital, and many are coveting it.”

Marquis Dongxiang came uninvited.

But he was invited by the Prince to act as a mediator.

Also for the matter of building the Princess Mansion.

The Prince didn’t want the Emperor to build a separate Princess Mansion for Su Jin. It wasn’t just about wasting labor and resources; it could also be a curse for future generations.

However, the Emperor was determined to give his daughter the best, and it wasn’t appropriate for the Prince to bring it up.

He did want Su Jin to talk to the Emperor, but once Su Jin said something, there would be no room for regret in the future.

Having Marquis Dongxiang intervene meant that if Su Jin later found the Prince Mansion unsatisfying to live in, she could still ask the Emperor to build her a Princess Mansion.

The Emperor frowned, “But a princess getting married without a Princess Mansion, what kind of propriety is that?”

“Deadly pride,” Marquis Dongxiang said disdainfully.

“…”

The Emperor glared at him.

Marquis Dongxiang said, “Allow me to propose a win-win strategy for the Emperor.”

“What strategy?” asked the Emperor.

“With the National Treasury empty, Jinjim voluntarily relinquishes the building of the Princess Mansion and donates a hundred thousand taels to the court. The Emperor, moved by her filial piety, rewards her with a Red Book Iron Certificate.”

“…”

Eunuch Fu’s eyes widened.

The Emperor frowned deeply.

Red Book Iron Certificates are not easily granted.

It must be something all officials can accept.

Could it really be that his daughter had to fork out a hundred thousand taels?

Marquis Dongxiang took out a hundred thousand taels of silver notes from his robe and placed them on the Emperor’s Dragon Desk.

“A few days ago, Yangyang went to the Prince Zhenbei Mansion to offer congratulations and casually mentioned that I wanted to buy horses but wasn’t getting any money from the court. Jinjim then had the Heir of Prince Zhenbei send me a hundred thousand taels,” Marquis Dongxiang said.

“Keep this hundred thousand taels here with the Emperor. I’ll come to get it after court tomorrow.”

The Emperor, “…”

Eunuch Fu, “…”

Eunuch Fu was stunned.

Marquis Dongxiang had the silver note revolve around the Emperor’s hands once before taking away the Red Book Iron Certificate.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep