Chapter 372: Pa'—a strike on the old lady's face!

Request, edict, bestow, marriage!?

The Old Lady of the Hou Fu and the Zhuang family's third son, upon hearing these four words, were instantly as if struck by five thunderbolts.

Old Lady of the Hou Fu: "How is this possible!?"

"His Majesty is still ill, and for several days he has not attended to court affairs."

"We came today to propose marriage, keeping a low profile and daring not to make a fuss—how could Prince Su, disregarding His Majesty's illness, go to the palace to request an edict for marriage?"

"Moreover, how could Prince Su take Li Qingluo, a woman without family background or status, as a concubine?"

"No, she would only be a concubine, and even as a concubine she would be given full respect."

"You know Prince Su has never been close to women, keeping himself pure, yet he would actually take a fancy to Li Qingluo, a country girl?"

"Li Qingluo, what on earth..."

Pei Lao Furen: "Enough! Qian Jin'an!"

"You still know His Majesty's health is poor!?"

"And yet you came to my Xiuli Jiangjun Fu to propose marriage—what good intention could that possibly be?"

"You think I, Pei Xiuzhen, now know nothing about the court, so you want to take advantage of us grandparents?"

"If you refuse, no one will know, your Hou Fu won't lose face, and we can pretend this never happened."

"If you agree, your Hou Fu can also use this to justify things, letting us not announce the joyous news loudly; that way, even if you speak of this marriage of our Xiuli Jiangjun Fu, we won't lose face."

"What a fine scheme you have in mind!"

"Well done, Qian Jin'an—I had wanted to give you some face, yet you scheme against me like this."

"You still look down on my Luo'er from the bottom of your heart."

"My Luo'er is the finest young lady in Jinling City; whether she becomes a concubine or a wife of any family, it has nothing to do with your Zhongyi Hou Fu!"

"Now, Qian Jin'an, and your good grandson, get out at once!"

Zhuang Wei: "Old Lady, there must be a misunderstanding. I and my grandmother certainly did not mean this!"

"Actually, I have long admired Miss Li, which is why I pestered my grandmother to help me propose to Miss Li."

"I was in a hurry, which is why I didn't consider things fully."

"We truly wish to marry Miss Li as my principal wife; we have no intention of treating her as inferior or looking down on her."

"Miss Li, you won't be like Liu Qingzhu, willingly becoming a concubine, right?"

"I, Zhuang Wei, offer you the position of principal wife of the third son of the eldest line of the Zhongyi Hou Fu—are you willing..."

Li Qingluo: "Unwilling."

She coldly interrupted Zhuang Wei's words.

Without regard for Zhuang Wei's face turning pale instantly, she said word by word: "On what grounds do you think that because you are willing, I must be willing?"

"Zhuang San, if you still want to retain some dignity, please leave at once."

The Old Lady of the Hou Fu, face full of anguish: "San Lang, you're muddle-headed!"

"Don't you still not see clearly?"

"She, Li Qingluo, looks down on us!"

"She has already climbed onto Prince Su's high branch!"

"What difference is there between her and Liu Qingzhu?"

"She would rather be a concubine in a prince's mansion, and she looks down on our Hou Fu's principal wife."

"Their aspirations are high; they all want to become those lofty 'nobles', looking down on our family... San Lang, you should also give up hope!"

Zhuang Wei: "No, that's not right. Miss Li is certainly not such a person."

"Miss Li, is it that Prince Su himself, one-sidedly wishful, has coerced you..."

Li Qingluo had not yet spoken.

Pei Lao Furen then pointed at Zhuang Wei: "Hurry up and take him down!"

"Full of nonsense—you wanted to propose marriage but failed, and now you harbor a vicious intent to ruin my family Luo'er's reputation!"

"Come, take these two grandparents and quickly drive them out for me!"

"From now on, I do not wish to see any members of your Zhongyi Hou Fu appear again!"

A group of grannies, no longer polite, rolled up their sleeves and surged forward, roughly grabbing Zhuang Wei and the Old Lady of the Hou Fu.

Old Lady of the Hou Fu: "Pei Xiuzhen, you old thing, shameless!"

"You dare say your granddaughter is pure and innocent, with no early involvement with Prince Su—"

"'Pa'—a crisp sound."

Before Li Qingluo could rush out, Wu Gonggong's whisk had already lashed across the Old Lady of the Hou Fu's face.

He wore an angry face: "Even if our household has offended your Zhongyi Hou Fu today, we must lash your mouth!"

"You old immortal, splashing dirty water—you're quite vicious!"

"Is it that your mouth is originally full of feces, causing you to spew so terribly and so stinkily?"

"You dare to slander our Prince Su; I see you are tired of living!"

"Do you really think you're just an Old Lady of the Hou Fu, as insignificant as a scallion?"

"I tell you, our Prince Su's mansion fears you not!"

"And you haven't bothered to find out which old thing our Highness has ever been polite to?"

"Anyone who dares to provoke and offend our Highness hasn't yet lived an extra day!"

"Are you also wanting to try it?"

Zhuang Wei, seeing his grandmother humiliated, struggled fiercely: "Well done, you eunuch dog! You actually dared to humiliate my grandmother—I will have you die—"

Wu Gonggong: "Come on then. Our household is waiting for you!"

If you have the ability, go to the Ministry of Justice and sue us; we are not afraid of you.

But please also don't forget to tell the officials of the Ministry of Justice that it was you who first spoke offensively against our Your Highness.

To offend and slander a prince, charging you with a great impropriety, sentencing you to exile is too light!

Zhuang Wei: "Prince Su really has such imposing grandeur."

Where exactly did I speak wrongly, offending him?

Wu Gonggong: "Did I say it was you? Don't come here trying to stir up trouble."

This old thing has a foul mouth; I, this old man, will clean her up!

Our Prince merely wants to marry a lady of both talent and beauty, outstanding character, like Miss Li; yet in her mouth it is already an illicit affair.

Can it not be merely our Prince's sincere devotion alone?

You Zhuang family can obtain it, but our Prince Su's mansion cannot?

The saying goes, 'When a family has a daughter, a hundred families seek her.' It is clear that your Zhongyi Hou Fu obviously looks down on Miss Li's background and lineage, yet you still want to marry her into your home, intending to belittle her so you can control her.

If you cannot obtain it, you become angry out of shame, spew slander, and even dare to slander our Your Highness.

Madam Qian, our Your Highness is not someone just anyone can belittle.

After Wu Gonggong finished speaking, he flicked his duster and looked toward Pei Lao Furen with a hehe smile.

Old Lady, today we have been rude in your residence; it is we who have offended you.

Pei Lao Furen gave a dry laugh twice: "Sir, you are being polite; it is you who have backed me and Luo'er, venting our anger; we will not fail to appreciate kindness."

After saying that, Pei Lao Furen waved her hand, ordering people to quickly drive out the ashen-faced Old Lady of Zhongyi Hou Fu, Zhuang Wei, and the Zhuang family's servants.

Just before they were thoroughly thrown out, Wu Gonggong recalled something.

He then quickly reached out to stop them, saying: "Wait!"

Wu Gonggong deliberately raised his voice: "Our Prince has taken a liking to the young lady and seeks to marry her; naturally this is also to secure her the position of principal consort!"

Remember, Miss Li is a noble person whom your Zhongyi Hou Fu cannot aspire to.

Get out!

Li Qingluo secretly gave Wu Gonggong a wink.

Wu Gonggong thought hehe.

Now, his position in the young lady's heart should be secure, right?

Tsk, good thing Zhui Yu didn't come today; otherwise this guy would definitely steal his limelight.

Hehe…

The people have left.

Pei Lao Furen, feeling overwhelmed, looked at the courtyard piled full of boxes.

As the people from Prince Su's mansion opened the boxes one by one, she saw that inside, besides most of the gold and silver treasures, there were picture books and albums, various Western trinkets, night‑pearls larger than a fist, and corals that filled the boxes to overflowing…

There were even a few rare weapons.

Li Qingluo's eyes instantly shone like stars in the sky.

She almost drooled.

She quickly wiped her mouth, thinking: Duan Rongshi indeed knows what she likes best. These things are all her beloved treasures!

However, she still put on a composed appearance on the surface, merely supporting Pei Lao Furen as she looked toward Wu Gonggong.

"This… this, how dare we accept such a generous gift from Prince Su, Your Highness?"

"And what you just said, sir, about Your Highness going to the palace to request an imperial edict for marriage—could that really be true?"

"Your Highness actually… when did Your Highness take a liking to our Luo'er… Hmm, I am truly overwhelmed by the favor. But Your Highness didn't even give us prior notice…"

"This…"

Pei Lao Furen felt displeased in her heart.

These people each want to take her Luo'er away.

Yet none of them first came to her sincerely expressing their true intentions.

Pei Lao Furen felt quite uneasy.

She naturally wanted to keep Luo'er by her side, but she also understood that if Prince Su truly obtained the imperial edict for marriage, this could only bring honor to the entire household.

She could no longer make any decision or hesitate.

However, that imperial edict is not easily obtained.

After Luo'er followed her away from the Li family, although she avoided disaster, she also lost the esteemed lineage of a noble young lady from a prestigious family.

Now, as an old general from thirty years ago, I cannot bring her any benefit.

With such a family background, how could the present emperor agree to let her become his fifth son's wife?

Wu Gonggong just shouted that out; if at that time Luo'er fails to become Prince Su's principal consort, and the Zhongyi Hou Fu spreads the matter, would Luo'er not also become a laughingstock?

Prince Su's conduct is still overly arrogant.

He also does not care about Luo'er's reputation.

Although today we vented their grievances for the grandmother and granddaughter, it is indeed absurd.

Li Qingluo sensed her grandmother's disappointment.

She felt a pang of shame in her heart.

Originally, Duan Rongshi had said last night that he would come.

But he must have been held up by something, so he couldn't come to earlier express his feelings to the grandmother.

Moreover, she didn't expect that the Prince Su's mansion would come today with this tactic.

But since things have come to this, Li Qingluo can only comfort her grandmother to the fullest: "Grandmother, it's fine. Even if the imperial edict does not come, Luo'er is not afraid of being mocked by the world."

"Your Highness will also surely do his best."

Pei Lao Furen sighed, patted Li Qingluo's hand: "Grandmother knows."

Eunuch Wu only then remembered something, and hastily, respectfully, took out a letter from his bosom.

Old Lady, Your Highness originally planned to come visit you in person yesterday.

But he suddenly received an order from His Majesty and already left the city overnight.

So I had no choice but to have this servant come today to deliver this birthday gift for the young lady, and also a letter for you, Old Lady.

Your Highness said he will definitely return on the day of the young lady's birthday to personally celebrate her seventeenth birthday.