The emperor roared with laughter. "Beautifully done, Martial Champion! You secured trading rights for our Great Zhou without shedding a drop of blood. I must reward you. Tell me, what would you like?"
"As one of the people of Great Zhou, I merely did my duty. I would not dare covet a reward."
"One matter is one matter, and another is another. You still deserve a reward. Speak freely."
"Then..."
Jiang Chen stole a glance at Lin Shuangshuang and bowed. "I am already married, so continuing to live at my maternal grandfather's home hardly seems proper. But I have yet to take up my post, and I have no residence of my own. I would like... a home of my own, for convenience."
"Quite right. Then I shall grant you a residence and bestow upon Lady Lin a Third-Rank Noblewoman's Title!"
The Lin couple were too stunned to know what to say.
Lin Shuangshuang was even more at a loss for how to react.
She had only just married, and her husband had only been appointed to a Fifth-Rank Deputy post, with a monthly salary of barely ten or twenty taels of silver. How had she suddenly become a third-rank titled noblewoman?
Even her mother had no noblewoman's title. How had she become a titled lady?
The Empress laughed. "Look at this child, she's gone silly! What are you standing there for? Hurry and thank His Majesty!"
Her friends hastily nudged Lin Shuangshuang. She sprang to her feet, went over to Jiang Chen, and knelt beside him. "This subject's wife thanks Your Majesty for your boundless grace!"
"Good, good, good. For now, I won't assign him any overly demanding duties. You two should attend to that great matter of life first, lest you complain later that I lack human feeling."