I’ll Manage Your Dowry (Part Five)
In the imperial garden, there was a stream that ran through the middle, and the seating was arranged along this stream. From top to bottom, it was beautifully chaotic and quite entertaining.
It was just that the seating arrangement was a little odd.
In the past, the imperial harem would be seated below Emperor Ning, the princes and princess would be seated below the imperial harem, and below them would be the top civil and military officers- Gu HuaiJiang and Yin Yan.
This time, however, with just the addition of Xun Chi, the arrangement was drastically different.
Below the Emperor was the imperial harem, but below the imperial harem was Xun Chi alone. Below him, Gu HuaiJiang and Gu JiuGe were seated together, Yin Shuo and Yin JiYao were seated together, and Gu ShuBai and Yu Fu were seated together. It was only then that we reached the eldest prince and the second prince.
Princess DanYang was seated below the two princes. When she looked up at Emperor Ning, she would always see Yu Fu seated with Gu ShuBai.
She was a princess not of the imperial bloodline, so why was she seated so much higher than her?
Emperor Ning assigning Xun Chi to sit above them was one thing, but why have Gu HuaiJiang’s group and Yin Shuo’s group seated above the princes?
The eldest prince and the second prince were the ones who felt this change in seating the most.
Emperor Ning no longer wanted to be close to them. On the other hand, he was much closer with Gu HuaiJiang. It was probably the case that he found it hard to elevate him alone above the princes, thus he also brought Yin Shuo up to the front.
But Gu HuaiJiang’s position was still higher than Yin Shuo’s. It was clear just how much more he valued him than Yin Shuo.
Moreover, even Gu ShuBai, the heir to the family, was able to occupy a higher seat than the princes. It could be seen just how much Emperor Ning valued Marquis Gu’s Manor.
With this arrangement, the eldest prince was seated just below Yu Fu. He decided to chat with Yu Fu.
“Sister Yu Fu.”
Yu Fu heard his voice and turned her head. It turned out to be the eldest prince, “Brother YiZhao.”
The eldest prince nodded with a smile, “It’s rare for the Deity of Medicine to visit Eastern Ling, so you must have been busy with taking care of him these past few days, right? I heard that the imperial physicians have been visiting Marquis Gu’s Manor and causing you trouble. It’s to the point that it’s made me embarrassed to go and look for you.”
Yu Fu smiled and said: “There’s no harm done. His Majesty told them to not visit Marquis Gu’s Manor to look for me too often. As for master, senior disciple is taking care of him, so I’m not busy.”
Seeing that Yu Fu’s attitude was the same as usual, the eldest prince was finally convinced that his poisoning of the emperor had not been discovered.
After a pause, he asked: “The fiefdom that father Emperor conferred to you, do you know where it is?”
Yu Fu said: “I heard that it’s in ZhenJiang, but I don’t know what sort of place ZhenJiang is.”
The eldest prince knew that she was not from Eastern Ling thus explained to her in detail, “ZhenJiang is to the north and is near Northern Li. Although it’s near the border, it’s very fertile. The people of Northern Li are unlike the people of Western Kun. They would never head south to invade. At a certain day every year, the local official will send the taxes and offerings to the capital, and all of that revenue belongs to you.”
“Huh? So a conferred fiefdom has these benefits. I thought that it was just a title and not like a granting of territory to have princes and princesses go and govern them.”
Yu Fu had never concerned herself with these sorts of things. This was the first time that she had ever heard someone talk about what it meant to be conferred a fief.
The eldest prince said: “Although there’s no right to govern, nor is there any need to leave the capital to personally guard it, all of the benefits that should exist are present. You are not yet an adult, so have you thought about who you will have manage it?”
Yu Fu turned her head. Gu Shubai was currently talking with Gu HuaiJiang and was not paying attention to the situation on her side.
She tugged on the corner of Gu ShuBai’s clothes.
“Eldest brother, brother YiZhao said that the fief that I was conferred will have offerings and taxes given to me. Did you know this?”
Gu ShuBai nodded, “Naturally, I knew.”
“Then why did you never mention it to me?”
Gu ShuBai looked at the eldest prince and smiled, saying: “Naturally, I will help you take care of it. If you want to take a look, I’ll let you take a look at the register in the warehouse. Either way, it will be part of your dowry. Are you afraid that I’ll take it?”
After saying this, he turned back and continued talking with Gu HuaiJiang.
Yu Fu’s face became a little redder.
The engagement had not yet been announced, yet he was so quick to bring up a dowry.
Even in front of the eldest prince, he did not avoid talking about it.
The eldest prince saw this and lowered his head with a faint smile then sneakily looked behind him.
He saw that the second prince had been paying attention to his conversation with Yu Fu. Princess DanYang was also quietly watching, her eyes darting between Yu Fu and Gu ShuBai.
He deliberately raised his voice by just a little, “ShuBai has never been blindly confident. It seems that he will be my future brother-in-law and husband to the daughter of my Eastern Ling’s emperor.”
Not only did the second prince and princess DanYang hear these words, but there were also quite a few officials nearby who heard them. They all looked over in shock.
Emperor Ning seemed to notice that something had happened and lifted his cup with a smile.
“We decided to host a spring banquet in the same way that the noble daughters do. The first reason is that We have recovered from illness and are in a great mood, but more importantly, it’s to thank Deity of Medicine for treating Us. Although Deity of Medicine is unwilling to accept an official position, in Our heart, he is someone who has made great contributions to my Eastern Ling. We will honor him as an elder!”
After saying this, he raised his cup to Xun Chi. In front of all of these officials, Xun Chi gave him face and returned the gesture.
Following this, everyone else raised their cups, gave their thanks to Xun Chi, and congratulated Emperor Ning on his recovery.
It had already been many days, yet they had not heard anything about Emperor Ning’s illness.
Imperial Consort Xian sat below Emperor Ning and looked at the joyous expressions of the various officials. The weight on her heart had also been pushed away.
I’ll Manage Your Dowry (Part Five)
In the imperial garden, there was a stream that ran through the middle, and the seating was arranged along this stream. From top to bottom, it was beautifully chaotic and quite entertaining.
It was just that the seating arrangement was a little odd.
In the past, the imperial harem would be seated below Emperor Ning, the princes and princess would be seated below the imperial harem, and below them would be the top civil and military officers- Gu HuaiJiang and Yin Yan.
This time, however, with just the addition of Xun Chi, the arrangement was drastically different.
Below the Emperor was the imperial harem, but below the imperial harem was Xun Chi alone. Below him, Gu HuaiJiang and Gu JiuGe were seated together, Yin Shuo and Yin JiYao were seated together, and Gu ShuBai and Yu Fu were seated together. It was only then that we reached the eldest prince and the second prince.
Princess DanYang was seated below the two princes. When she looked up at Emperor Ning, she would always see Yu Fu seated with Gu ShuBai.
She was a princess not of the imperial bloodline, so why was she seated so much higher than her?
Emperor Ning assigning Xun Chi to sit above them was one thing, but why have Gu HuaiJiang’s group and Yin Shuo’s group seated above the princes?
The eldest prince and the second prince were the ones who felt this change in seating the most.
Emperor Ning no longer wanted to be close to them. On the other hand, he was much closer with Gu HuaiJiang. It was probably the case that he found it hard to elevate him alone above the princes, thus he also brought Yin Shuo up to the front.
But Gu HuaiJiang’s position was still higher than Yin Shuo’s. It was clear just how much more he valued him than Yin Shuo.
Moreover, even Gu ShuBai, the heir to the family, was able to occupy a higher seat than the princes. It could be seen just how much Emperor Ning valued Marquis Gu’s Manor.
With this arrangement, the eldest prince was seated just below Yu Fu. He decided to chat with Yu Fu.
“Sister Yu Fu.”
Yu Fu heard his voice and turned her head. It turned out to be the eldest prince, “Brother YiZhao.”
The eldest prince nodded with a smile, “It’s rare for the Deity of Medicine to visit Eastern Ling, so you must have been busy with taking care of him these past few days, right? I heard that the imperial physicians have been visiting Marquis Gu’s Manor and causing you trouble. It’s to the point that it’s made me embarrassed to go and look for you.”
Yu Fu smiled and said: “There’s no harm done. His Majesty told them to not visit Marquis Gu’s Manor to look for me too often. As for master, senior disciple is taking care of him, so I’m not busy.”
Seeing that Yu Fu’s attitude was the same as usual, the eldest prince was finally convinced that his poisoning of the emperor had not been discovered.
After a pause, he asked: “The fiefdom that father Emperor conferred to you, do you know where it is?”
Yu Fu said: “I heard that it’s in ZhenJiang, but I don’t know what sort of place ZhenJiang is.”
The eldest prince knew that she was not from Eastern Ling thus explained to her in detail, “ZhenJiang is to the north and is near Northern Li. Although it’s near the border, it’s very fertile. The people of Northern Li are unlike the people of Western Kun. They would never head south to invade. At a certain day every year, the local official will send the taxes and offerings to the capital, and all of that revenue belongs to you.”
“Huh? So a conferred fiefdom has these benefits. I thought that it was just a title and not like a granting of territory to have princes and princesses go and govern them.”
Yu Fu had never concerned herself with these sorts of things. This was the first time that she had ever heard someone talk about what it meant to be conferred a fief.
The eldest prince said: “Although there’s no right to govern, nor is there any need to leave the capital to personally guard it, all of the benefits that should exist are present. You are not yet an adult, so have you thought about who you will have manage it?”
Yu Fu turned her head. Gu Shubai was currently talking with Gu HuaiJiang and was not paying attention to the situation on her side.
She tugged on the corner of Gu ShuBai’s clothes.
“Eldest brother, brother YiZhao said that the fief that I was conferred will have offerings and taxes given to me. Did you know this?”
Gu ShuBai nodded, “Naturally, I knew.”
“Then why did you never mention it to me?”
Gu ShuBai looked at the eldest prince and smiled, saying: “Naturally, I will help you take care of it. If you want to take a look, I’ll let you take a look at the register in the warehouse. Either way, it will be part of your dowry. Are you afraid that I’ll take it?”
After saying this, he turned back and continued talking with Gu HuaiJiang.
Yu Fu’s face became a little redder.
The engagement had not yet been announced, yet he was so quick to bring up a dowry.
Even in front of the eldest prince, he did not avoid talking about it.
The eldest prince saw this and lowered his head with a faint smile then sneakily looked behind him.
He saw that the second prince had been paying attention to his conversation with Yu Fu. Princess DanYang was also quietly watching, her eyes darting between Yu Fu and Gu ShuBai.
He deliberately raised his voice by just a little, “ShuBai has never been blindly confident. It seems that he will be my future brother-in-law and husband to the daughter of my Eastern Ling’s emperor.”
Not only did the second prince and princess DanYang hear these words, but there were also quite a few officials nearby who heard them. They all looked over in shock.
Emperor Ning seemed to notice that something had happened and lifted his cup with a smile.
“We decided to host a spring banquet in the same way that the noble daughters do. The first reason is that We have recovered from illness and are in a great mood, but more importantly, it’s to thank Deity of Medicine for treating Us. Although Deity of Medicine is unwilling to accept an official position, in Our heart, he is someone who has made great contributions to my Eastern Ling. We will honor him as an elder!”
After saying this, he raised his cup to Xun Chi. In front of all of these officials, Xun Chi gave him face and returned the gesture.
Following this, everyone else raised their cups, gave their thanks to Xun Chi, and congratulated Emperor Ning on his recovery.
It had already been many days, yet they had not heard anything about Emperor Ning’s illness.
Imperial Consort Xian sat below Emperor Ning and looked at the joyous expressions of the various officials. The weight on her heart had also been pushed away.
