newbobooks Chapter 235 Treating the Emperor as a Matchmaker
Chapter 235 Treating the Emperor as a Matchmaker
Upon hearing this, Marquis Wuning chuckled, "Your Majesty, I feel that I am the most suitable person to handle this matter. You also know that our Marquis Wuning Mansion has always been guarding the west, and we have fought against the Wu Kingdom for hundreds of years. It was only after I resigned that the defense was replaced by someone else. In terms of understanding the Wu Kingdom, no one else knows as well as I do.
If the people who go to negotiate are civil officials, they lack momentum and are easily frightened and manipulated by the Wu people; if they are military generals, they are simple-minded and easily angered, which may ruin good things.
I am different. I am a military commander who has fought on the battlefield. Am I not afraid of threats or intimidation from anyone? However, I have also been in the civil service circle for more than ten years. I have learned all their tricks and will not be easily deceived. Most importantly, I have a caravan. I can quietly go to Wu Kingdom with them, and no one will suspect anything.
The emperor looked at the somewhat flattering smile of Wuning Hou and suddenly remembered that he had just slapped himself in the face by wanting to become a relative of the Xu family at the banquet, and his anger rose again.
He snorted coldly and said in a sarcastic tone, "Isn't there a wedding coming up in your family? You should focus on arranging your son's wedding and stop worrying about other things."
Marquis Wuning curled his lips in disdain: "It's not the eldest son's marriage, it's just the second son marrying a farmer's daughter. What's there to worry about? Madam will worry about it. I'd better share the worries with the emperor."
The emperor saw the obvious look of disgust on Marquis Wuning's face and thought to himself that as expected, they looked down on the Xu family's daughter.
He asked coldly, "You look down on the girl from the Xu family and yet you ask me to grant you a marriage?"
Marquis Wuning said embarrassedly, "I do look down on the Xu family's background. I would like to marry my son to a noble lady, but you also know what my second son is like. He is always slacking off and has no serious look. If he were the eldest son and inherited the title, there might be a girl from a noble family who would marry him for the sake of the title.
But he had no title, no official position, and was just the second son. When the eldest son inherited the title and divided the family property, what future could he have? No noble lady would look down on a man like him.
He also loved to play and looked down on those old-fashioned noble ladies. He happened to meet the girl from the Xu family. The girl was very cute and had not seen much of the world. Everything she saw was new to her. She believed everything my son said and had no rules. She could play together with my son. My son thought such a girl was novel, so he asked me to propose to her.
I thought that although the Xu family's origins were not good, they were also clean. Moreover, Xu Chunshan was a legitimate imperial examination candidate and held a high official position. The legitimate daughter of such an official would not look down on my second son. Moreover, because of her poor origins, she would be easy to manipulate. In the future, my son would not be controlled by others. This would be a good marriage, so I came to propose marriage."
Marquis Wuning spoke sincerely, and the emperor could not tell whether what he said was true or false. However, what he said made sense. Qi Lusheng's situation was neither high nor low, so marrying someone of lower status was a good choice.
If it weren't for the mineral issue, the emperor would definitely be particularly concerned about them competing with him for women, but when he thought about the endless supply of people and money he would have in the future, he was no longer angry. He didn't even look down on a country girl, and he could have any woman he wanted in the future.
The emperor gave a few symbolic reprimands: "Although the Xu family's origin is not good, now you are an official in the same court, you still have to consider Xu Chunshan's face. Besides, I have already granted the marriage, so you should at least take it seriously."
Marquis Wuning said with a face full of instruction: "Your Majesty, rest assured. My two sons are already quite old. My wife and I have been worrying about their marriages. We have already prepared all the betrothal gifts and other necessary items. We will not let the young lady of the Xu family down."
The emperor nodded in satisfaction, then thought of Qi Jingde: "Your second son is getting married soon, has your eldest son's marriage been arranged?"
Mentioning Qi Jingde Wuning Hou, his face was even more worried: "Your Majesty, no, he is even more difficult. A few years ago, his mother wanted him to get married, but he insisted on running around, saying that he wanted to travel, which delayed the marriage. This time, where can we find a suitable candidate for him?
He is the eldest son and will inherit the title in the future. If he is not as good as the second son, he can just marry a woman of lower status.
His wife must be well-educated, come from a prominent family, and be worthy of the reputation of the Marquis's mansion. Such women are rare, and even if there are any, they are all engaged early. How can there be a suitable one left for him?"
The more Wu Ninghou spoke, the more his face wrinkled, as if Qi Jingde could no longer find a wife.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he looked at the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, since you have already arranged a marriage for my son, why don't you go the extra mile and find a marriage for my eldest son?"
The emperor rolled his eyes at him and said, "Are you treating me like a matchmaker? If you can't find a suitable family, how can I find one for you?"
Marquis Wuning said with a smile: "Your Majesty, you are the Son of Heaven and the parent of all the people in the world. Naturally, you must worry about the marriages of your people. There are so many meritorious families among them, and there must be women who are suitable for Jingde. I don't have enough face, so if I come to ask for marriage, I will definitely be rejected. But if you issue an order, who would dare to refuse?"
The emperor laughed in anger: "You are simply being a scoundrel. Your son is older than me, and you want me to worry about his marriage? Besides, you want me to arrange a marriage, aren't you afraid that it won't suit your wishes?"
Marquis Wuning immediately stated: "How could the marriage granted by the Emperor not be in line with my wishes? You know, my family is loyal to the Emperor. My eldest son leads the army for you, and my second son does business for you. We are all yours. The family you are granting the marriage to must have considered us and is suitable for our mansion."
The emperor looked at Marquis Wuning's face, which was full of sincerity and did not look like he was being hypocritical at all. He felt better.
It seems that the engagement between Marquis Wuning and the Xu family was not made because of what Zhao Liangchen said and the girl from the Xu family did not want to enter the palace, so the engagement was made in a hurry. It must be that Qi Lusheng really fell in love with the girl from the Xu family, and Marquis Wuning thought it was a good idea to marry the daughter of an official with no background, so the engagement was made.
The emperor felt that if Marquis Wuning really wanted to go against him, he would not want him to arrange a marriage for his eldest son, which would be equivalent to handing the entire marquisate into his hands.
After all, if the emperor grants a marriage to Qi Jingde, he will definitely grant the marriage to his own people, ensuring that the Marquisate is in his hands. The wife of the Marquis's son will be the future wife of the Marquis, and the real person in charge of the Marquisate is equivalent to the emperor being the person in charge of the Marquisate.
The Emperor's expression softened slightly as he thought of this. "Okay, I promise you, I'll keep an eye out for the Crown Prince and see if there's a suitable candidate. As for the matter of the Wu Kingdom's ore, I'll think about it carefully. There's no rush. If you want to focus on your son's marriage, wait until I come up with a plan."
Marquis Wuning replied, "Yes."
After leaving the emperor, Marquis Wuning breathed a sigh of relief. He came to talk to the emperor about the ore because Su Qin asked him to come.
He asked someone to test the ores and found that they were indeed iron ore and copper ore.
We have the ore, but it would be difficult to secretly find someone to send it to Ukraine for iron smelting.
He told Su Qin that he always felt that someone was following him secretly recently, so he was very inconvenient to act and did not dare to act rashly. Taking two stones to ask someone to check was not a big deal, but secretly asking someone to refine the ore was tantamount to rebellion.