Shocked

Xiao Lingyan and stepped forward to bow to Kang Shilin, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, Uncle. From now on, I will treat Miss Zhiwei well and will also join her in being filial to you."

Kang Shilin glared at him. "If I don't agree to the marriage, will you be disrespectful to your old man?"

Xiao Lingyan suppressed a laugh and quickly bowed, saying, "Little Five wouldn't dare."

Xiao Ge knew Kang Shilin was just teasing the child, so he laughed heartily and said, "Then I'll have to draft the decree."

He raised his hand and said to the official in charge of drafting the decree who was standing beside him, "Draft the decree."

Unless the emperor is sleeping or gives a special order, the Hanlin Academy Academy's staff will usually take turns serving him. In addition to drafting and transmitting imperial edicts when he gives the order, they will also record the emperor's daily life and the emperor's visits to the palace concubines.

Therefore, he didn't need to waste any words; he only needed to give an order, and the official in charge of the imperial edict would prepare it according to the format. After he reviewed it once, he could then issue it with the seal of the imperial seal.

In the past, when he gave the order, the official in charge would respond and write it down. But this time, after he gave the order, he did not hear the official in charge respond.

He turned his head in surprise and looked over there, only to see Duan Chen was on duty today, kneeling there blankly, seemingly lost in thought.

Kang Shilin and Xiao Lingyan turned their heads in the direction of his gaze and saw Duan Chen. They both understood what was going on.

Seeing Duan Chen daze, the young eunuch broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly ran over and shoved Duan Chen, scolding, "What are you standing there for? His Majesty has ordered you to draft the imperial decree for the marriage of Prince of Qi and Miss Zhao Miss Zhiwei."

There was no competition among the eunuchs and their attendants, and they could help each other when things happened, so his words were full of advice.

Duan Chen snapped out of his daze, quickly rose from his seat, and knelt on the ground. "Your Majesty, please forgive me."

Xiao Ge also knew that Duan Chen was interested in Zhao Zhiwei and had rejected Princess Xiangyang.

Thinking that Zhao Zhiwei, like his own Little Five, had also been carefully chosen and hadn't gotten engaged yet, but the two of them had fallen for each other, Xiao Ge felt more and more that their marriage was predestined. The little bit of anger in his heart disappeared.

"It's alright, just don't repeat this mistake." He said calmly, "Draft the decree."

"Yes." Duan Chen dared not look up at the emperor's face from beginning to end. After bowing, he lowered his head and returned to his seat, where he picked up his pen and drafted an imperial edict bestowing marriage upon the emperor.

After he finished drafting it, Xiao Ge glanced at it and, finding no errors, stamped it with his imperial seal and handed the edict to the messenger eunuch. "Go and read it aloud to the Imperial Concubine, then make a trip to Nanyang and Gusu tomorrow."

He then looked at Xiao Lingyan: "You'll go with her to your mother's place later."

"Yes," Xiao Lingyan happily agreed.

The matter was settled. After returning home from the palace, Kang Shilin had his servants summon Wu Huaisi and Gong Cheng and told them about the incident.

Wu Huaisi and Gong Cheng were both taken aback.

However, they were only surprised at first, and quickly accepted the news after the initial shock.

They knew their junior sister's excellence better than anyone else. This excellence was not only reflected in her academic achievements, but also in her proper conduct and strong work ability.

Such an outstanding junior sister seems destined to marry a prince. No one else is good enough for her.

Seeing that his two apprentices showed only surprise and no dissatisfaction, Kang Shilin nodded to himself in satisfaction.

He felt it would be unfair to Zhao Ruxi not to ask the two of them first before going to the palace.

Why should Zhao Ruxi need her senior brother's consent or have to give way to his political stance if she wants to get married? He started to consider the issue of political stance, not for the sake of his three male disciples, but more for Zhao Ruxi.

"After the imperial decree of marriage is issued, will Junior Sister return to the capital or continue to stay in Nanyang?" Wu Huaisi asked. "I'd like to send her a few guards."

Kang Shilin smiled and said, "I discussed this with the Emperor and Prince of Qi. Prince of Qi said that Zhiwei finally passed the imperial examination and became an official. It would be unfair to make her return after less than two months in office. In any case, the engagement ceremony will take at least half a year, so let her stay in Nanyang and do what she likes. Therefore, I specifically pleaded with the Emperor to allow Zhiwei to stay in Nanyang."

"I left the main hall with Prince of Qi. On the way, Prince of Qi told me that it would be safer for Zhiwei to stay in Nanyang. That place is small, and it would be easy for a stranger to be discovered. On the other hand, it would be easy for people to take advantage of the situation in the capital. Nanyang is not as safe as it is."

Seeing the puzzled looks on his two apprentices' faces, Kang Shilin explained, "His Majesty intends to send imperial Imperial Guards to Nanyang to protect Zhiwei. With the Imperial Guards there, Zhiwei will indeed be safer in Nanyang, just as Prince of Qi said."

Wu Huaisi and Gong Cheng were finally relieved.

Compared to Wu Huaisi and Gong Cheng's calm demeanor upon hearing the news, the reactions of other people in the capital were much stronger.

Because the imperial edict was read aloud by the eunuch in Noble Consort Cen's palace, the people in the inner palace learned of the news around the same time as Wu Huaisi and Gong Cheng.

Princess Xiangyang was shocked and furious, and almost dropped her teacup, but was stopped in time by a palace maid sent by Consort Jin to her side.

"Princess, if word of this reaches the Emperor's ears, will he believe you fell unintentionally?" the palace maid asked.

"Why? What right does she have to be my sister-in-law? She spends all her time with a bunch of men, I don't know..." Princess Xiangyang's remaining words were immediately covered by a palace maid.

"Princess, the imperial decree has been issued, and the matter is settled. There are some things that absolutely cannot be said," the palace maid earnestly advised.

"I..." Princess Xiangyang, filled with grievance, burst into tears, ran into the bedroom, threw herself onto the bed, and pounded the mattress. "Why can she marry a prince, while I can only marry a nobody peasant? Waaaaah..."

The thought that the woman she once looked down upon and treated like dirt had become her sister-in-law, and that she would even have the right to scold her in the future, made her feel like she was living a life worse than death.

Princess Xiangyang had originally planned to take revenge on Zhao Zhiwei after her father's anger subsided. Now that her father had actually sent Imperial Guards to watch over her, her plans were completely ruined.

Seeing this, the palace maid couldn't help but sigh.

Princess Xiangyang has been engaged for over two months, but she still doesn't like her fiancé. She has even argued with Consort Jin several times, but Consort Jin always reprimands her.

The imperial decree of marriage has been issued; how can it be taken lightly? If it were before, even if she didn't want to marry, Consort Jin could have pleaded with the Emperor and there might have been room for negotiation. But now the Emperor rarely visits Consort Jin. If Consort Jin were to bring it up, she would only be met with a scolding and even deeper disgust.

Consort Jin remained calm upon hearing the news.

She and her daughter had suffered many losses at Zhao Ruxi's hands, so she knew this woman was no ordinary person. She wasn't surprised at all that she had married a prince.

"Go check on Xiangyang, and have someone keep a close eye on her to prevent her from doing anything foolish again," she instructed.