"Daughter, my daughter!"
At the Minister of Rites' residence, Yan Zhen strode into the courtyard, its gates standing wide open.
Yan Ruxue, who had been reading in the courtyard, lifted her lovely face and smiled. "Father, did something happen today to put you in such a good mood?"
"Hahaha, today is certainly worth celebrating!"
Yan Zhen sat on a stone stool and poured himself a cup of tea.
"Daughter, you have no idea. The Ministry of Rites has been working itself ragged these past few days over His Majesty's wedding ceremony. Your father pored over all kinds of ancient texts until his head was spinning. Fortunately, it's finally finished today, and His Majesty had no objections. Your father can finally breathe easy."
Yan Zhen said with a smile.
"But the thing I least expected was still our His Majesty."
"Oh? What about His Majesty?" Yan Ruxue asked curiously, sitting on a stone stool nearby.
"How should I put it?"
Yan Zhen rubbed his chin.
"Well, everything His Majesty says and does carries an air of calm composure, and he has the refined bearing of a scholar.
"But when your father meets His Majesty's eyes, I still feel a strange tension in my heart.
"That imperial majesty gives me a shiver even now, just thinking about it.
"Yet going by his bearing, His Majesty is nothing like the 'ignorant' and 'incompetent fool' the court rumors describe. He really does seem to have the makings of a wise ruler.
"Even on the way here, your father was thinking: if His Majesty could take power, would our Great Zhou..."
As he spoke, Yan Zhen realized he had misspoken and hurriedly waved his hands. "That's enough, that's enough. Daughter, don't take any of that to heart. Just pretend you didn't hear it."
"Don't worry,