Chapter 66: Pre-determined

That afternoon, Liang Mancang finished a simple meal and came to his family's backyard. At this time, the backyard was already much more desolate, lacking the prosperity and bustle of the past.

Even the flowers and plants in the garden were drooping their heads, looking utterly dejected.

Liang Mancang felt a sense of emptiness he had never experienced before; for a moment, he even regretted letting his son participate in the selection for Imperial Son-in-law.

But he was not the type of person to fear wolves in front and tigers behind. With the arrow already on the string, he could only brace himself and push through.

Walking along a wide bluestone path, Liang Mancang arrived at the inner residence of his home.

Looking inside, he saw his wife resting with their sickly son in a small pavilion in the southeast corner of the courtyard.

Liang Mancang straightened his clothes and stepped forward.

Seeing him, Liang Bangrui made a gesture to pay his respects, but just then his throat tickled, and he was choked into a fit of violent coughing: "Cough, cough, cough."

His pale face was flushed as bright red as a chili pepper.

"Rui'er, Rui'er." The couple hurriedly supported Liang Bangrui, gently waving their hands to pat his back.

Liang Bangrui waved his hand, squeezed a smile onto his flushed face, and replied to his parents: "I—I'm fine, Father, don't worry. I—I will definitely be chosen as the Imperial Son-in-law and bring glory to you both, cough, cough, cough."

Before he could finish, another bout of violent coughing followed.

Lady Liang was heartbroken; she caught the blood with a handkerchief, and in a short while, it was covered in bloodstains.

"Rui'er!" Lady Liang's voice choked with sobs. She stared at her son, two hot tears swirling in her eyes. Liang Bangrui wanted to comfort her, but before the words could leave his mouth, he was immediately drowned out by coughing.

"You will be fine, you will be fine. Zhao Zhenren said that as long as you are chosen as the Imperial Son-in-law, the imperial physicians and the Princess can save your life." Lady Liang hugged her son and forced a smile.

Liang Mancang also had tears streaming down his face as he added: "That's right, in at most another month, our family will be relatives of the Emperor. We have already taken care of things with Zhangin, so the position of Imperial Son-in-law belongs to no one but Rui'er."

Having said this, the three of them hugged together.

After lingering in this warmth for a while, Liang Bangrui broke free from his parents' embrace. He looked at his father and asked: "Father, did our family spend a lot of money to bribe Zhangin?"

"Not much, not much. Our family has nothing else, but we have plenty of money. You just rest assured." Liang Mancang shook his head.

"You're lying." Liang Bangrui's face darkened as he pointed at his parents and said, "You used to drink two bowls of bird's nest every night before sleeping, but now the evening bird's nest is gone, and the jewelry on Mother is also gone."

"That's because Father didn't want to drink it anymore."

"And Mother felt that the jewelry didn't look good." The couple looked at each other and defended themselves in unison.

Liang Bangrui was full of pain. He covered his face with both hands and mocked himself: "I—I am just a useless person. Not only can I not bring glory to my parents or pass on the family business for my ancestors, but now I am even dragging you two old folks down, exhausting the family fortune for me."

"I—I might as well be dead."

"Rui'er!" Liang Mancang barked with a flushed face, grabbed his son's hands, stared into his eyes, and said, "You are Father's son. Father's things are your things. If you are gone, what use is there for Father to keep these things?"

"Besides, as long as you become the Imperial Son-in-law, our family will be relatives of the Emperor. In the future, who would dare say you are useless?"

Lady Liang nodded as well, and a flash of determination crossed Liang Bangrui's face, which counted as his agreement.

The family of three stayed in the small pavilion until the sun sank in the west before dispersing.

Seven days later.

In the main hall of the Ministry of Rites office located on Wealthy Street, more than ten young men stood in neat rows.

They were all winners of the second round of selection; after the third round of selection, only three would remain.

These three would then be narrowed down to one by Zhang Jing, to be reported to the Emperor. In other words, the Princess would not see her husband before the wedding. It was just like opening a blind box; whoever you get is who you get.

Today, Liang Bangrui had some rouge on his face and had taken some cough medicine; plus, his original appearance was quite decent.

Standing there, he actually had a bit of the aura of an Imperial Son-in-law.

The other candidates were also rubbing their palms, wearing red, and perfuming themselves.

Before coming, they had specifically wiped their backsides several times more, fearing that there might be something left unclean that would offend the great figures.

"Zhangin arrives!" Suddenly, a sharp roar swept across the hall like a sudden clap of thunder, startling everyone in the hall into a shiver. They straightened their backs and looked toward the entrance on the left side of the hall.

Then they saw Zhang Jing walk in, wearing a bean-green small python robe and a sky-facing gown. Beside him followed a Ministry of Rites official in a scarlet official robe.

That was the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Qian Pu.

Behind the two were some Ministry of Rites secretaries and directors.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Zhang Jing swayed as he walked in front of the many candidates. Not daring to be negligent, everyone hurriedly bowed and saluted: "Greetings to Zhangin, greetings to Vice Minister Qian, greetings to all the great lords."

Zhang Jing glanced at Liang Bangrui in the crowd and, seeing that his complexion was good today, felt pleased.

Nodding, Zhang Jing gave Qian Pu a look.

Qian Pu glanced back, and a director squeezed out of the crowd, scanned everyone in the hall, and said: "This is the second round of the selection for the husband of Princess Yongning, eighteen into three. If you are not selected, there is no need to be dejected."

After speaking, the secretaries stepped forward and took these eighteen people to small rooms on both sides of the hall to conduct assessments and inquiries one by one, deciding on the three.

Because Zhang Jing had greeted them in advance, Liang Bangrui was sure to be selected, so he was not in a hurry.

As the representative of the Ministry of Rites, Qian Pu had naturally received benefits from Zhang Jing. He pulled Zhang Jing to a side office to sit down and lowered his voice: "Zhangin, besides Liang Bangrui, there are two others for whom people have also put in a word."

"One is Li Cheng, the eighteen-year-old son of the Embroidered Uniform Guard Thousand-Household Li Gan."

"There is also Wang Yong, the son of the Ministry of Revenue granary official Wang Song, who is dignified in appearance and has a clean family background."

Zhang Jing sipped his tea and said with a grin: "Heh, then what is there to select? Just have them brought up. I want to select that Liang Bangrui early so I can go back and finish the job."

"The superficial formalities still need to be done," Qian Pu replied with a wave of his hand.

"Hmm, but let's be clear," Zhang Jing nodded, then said coldly, "I must select that Liang Bangrui. Don't you go throwing a wrench in my works, otherwise I will definitely not be polite!"

"Oh my, Zhangin, what are you saying? How would I dare throw a wrench in your works?" Qian Pu shook his head and smiled ingratiatingly, "Who doesn't know how powerful you are, Zhangin? I think when Eunuch Feng retires, the position of Seal-Holding Eunuch will be yours sooner or later."

Zhang Jing was noncommittal and just squinted his eyes with a smile.

Seeing that he was not interested, Qian Pu stopped trying to curry favor and closed his eyes, quietly waiting for the results of the selection.

Time soon reached the afternoon, and the three were finally decided.

"First is Li Cheng, second is Wang Yong, and third is Liang Bangrui."

Having obtained the list, Zhang Jing pretended to be conflicted between the three for a while, and finally gritted his teeth and selected Liang Bangrui.

Afterward, he and Qian Pu wrote a memorial and submitted it to the Emperor.

Everything depends on today. Keep reading.

(End of this chapter)