What could her father do? This was an imperial edict! How could she let her father take the risk of defying it for her sake? That was a crime that would cost the whole family their heads! What on earth was that damned emperor up to? He had to issue this so - called imperial edict of betrothal on the day of her "coming - of - age ceremony", and the wedding date was set for the tenth day of next month! It meant that in less than a month, she would transform from a girl into a woman!
And this transformation was all thanks to that idle emperor who randomly matched people up! Moreover, he even had that annoying look as if he had bestowed a great favor on others!
She really needed to think carefully about how to handle this matter. A single wrong step might push her family into an abyss of no return.
"Mother, when did the emperor take a fancy to Xue'er? Why didn't we know anything about it? All of a sudden, he betrothed Xue'er to the Sixth Prince as his principal wife. Although she managed to avoid the imperial selection that happens every three years, but marrying the Sixth Prince..." Mei Haoxuan was also anxious. Looking at Lord Mei, who had been silent, he stepped forward and whispered.
"The emperor's decision is indeed too sudden. He didn't give any hint before. This came as a shock to all of us in the family. I never intended to marry Mei Qingxue into the royal family before. But now, the emperor has issued the edict out of the blue..."
"Father, can we plead with the emperor again? See if there's any way to reverse this?"
"Yes, my lord. How can our Xue'er marry into the family and be a widow?"
"Stop talking nonsense! Don't say such things in the future!" Lord Mei quickly scolded Lady Mei. Such words couldn't be spoken casually.
"Yes, it's just that I'm too worried and confused."
Lord Mei let out a sigh. Xue'er was their precious daughter. He was also anxious, but being anxious wasn't going to solve the problem. He had to come up with a solution.
"Alright, Xue'er has been tired for quite a while today. Ask the servants to send lunch to the Pure - Heart Courtyard. Xue'er, go back and rest first." He, as the head of the family, needed to think about how to handle this properly.
"Father, if there's really no other way, don't force it. Daughter won't feel wronged." Mei Qingxue, who had regained her senses, felt really bad seeing the worried looks on her parents' and brother's faces. In fact, it wasn't a big deal. All she had to do was marry a sickly man.
Lord Mei looked at his daughter, who had grown up to be as beautiful as his wife, or even more so. Hearing her sensible words, he felt a warm current in his heart.
"Xue'er, don't worry. Father won't let you be wronged. Haoxuan, go back too."
"Father..." Mei Haoxuan wanted to say something else, but Lord Mei waved him off.
"Yes, Father. Xue'er will take her leave first." Mei Qingxue obediently went back to her courtyard.
"My lord, now that we've accepted the imperial edict, it won't be easy to get the emperor to take it back." After all, the emperor was the king of the country. Only he could say no. No one had ever defied him. It would be very difficult to cancel this marriage.
"Don't worry, my lady. Let me think. We also need to ask Xue'er what she thinks. Actually, the Sixth Prince is a very amiable person. If he didn't have this illness, it would be a perfect match for Xue'er to marry him. But the problem is that the Sixth Prince has been ill for a long time, and that rumor from two years ago has been spread until now... I'm just worried that Xue'er will get hurt if she marries into the family..."
"Yes, whenever people talk about the Sixth Prince, they always think of that bad rumor..." Lady Mei frowned slightly. Thinking about her daughter's possibly not - so - bright future, she felt heart - broken.
"However, this is just a rumor. It may not be true..."
"What do you mean, my lord?"
Lord Mei helped Lady Mei sit down on the chair. He patted her hand comfortingly and said, "I've had several contacts with the Sixth Prince before. I found that he's not as weak as he seems on the surface."
"Oh? Do you mean that the Sixth Prince may not be as weak as people think?" Lady Mei was a smart woman. Hearing Lord Mei's words, she immediately sensed the possible meaning.
Lord Mei nodded in agreement. "I don't remember clearly about what happened back then. I vaguely remember that Concubine Qin was seriously ill when she was pregnant with the Sixth Prince... But I'm not sure if this is true... The power struggles in the harem happen every day. But Concubine Qin was a gentle person. Even if Xue'er marries the Sixth Prince, she won't be bullied."
"Do you mean that you agree to this marriage, my lord?" Lady Mei was shocked. They had only talked for a few minutes, and her husband had already made up his mind?
Lord Mei let out a soft sigh, shook his head, and then said, "Just now, we were all shocked by this news. Now that we've calmed down and thought about it, it's impossible for us to cancel this marriage."
"How do you know it won't work if you haven't even tried, my lord?"
"My lady, think about it. Which prince's wedding for his principal wife is arranged so hastily? Usually, the weddings of royal family members need at least three months of preparation. But this time, the emperor only gave us less than a month. This means that this matter is a done deal. We can't change it. If we try to change it forcefully... we may have to pay a heavy price."
"But are you really willing to marry our Xue'er to that Sixth Prince? This is Xue'er's whole life's happiness. How can we..." Lady Mei's tears welled up as she spoke.
Lord Mei lovingly held his wife in his arms. He didn't want Xue'er to be unhappy either. But as the prime minister of the country, he was responsible not only for the lives of their family of four but also for the hundreds of people in the prime minister's mansion. There were some things he wanted to do, but...
"I'll try to find out the emperor's intention tomorrow."
Lady Mei understood her husband's difficulties. But thinking about Mei Qingxue, her tears just kept flowing and she couldn't stop them.
On the other side, Mei Qingxue and Mei Haoxuan left the main hall. At first, they were both silent on the way. When they were about to separate and go to their own courtyards, Mei Haoxuan finally made up his mind and looked at Mei Qingxue. "Xue'er, don't worry. If you don't want to, even if it means defying the imperial edict, I won't let you marry into the family."
Mei Qingxue knew that her brother loved her very much. But defying the imperial edict was no joke. She forced a smile on her face. "Brother, don't worry. We still have almost a month. Although it seems that this matter is already settled, we don't know what the final result will be. Maybe the Sixth Prince thinks that Xue'er is so bad that he doesn't want to marry Xue'er at all?" She really hoped that the moment the Sixth Prince saw her, he would feel nauseous and immediately cancel the engagement. That would be a happy ending for everyone.
Although this might damage her reputation greatly, it was still better than marrying a man she had never met...
"Xue'er, don't talk nonsense. There's no other girl in the world better than you." As a "sister - loving" brother, Mei Haoxuan couldn't stand anyone, even his sister herself, belittling his sister.
"Alright, brother. I'm the most precious in your heart, right? Brother, you still have something to do in the study. Go quickly. Xue'er is fine."
Mei Haoxuan originally wanted to accompany Mei Qingxue back to the Pure - Heart Courtyard, but under her repeated insistence, he finally went back to his own courtyard.
"Miss, are you going out today?" Yue Ru had been used to Mei Qingxue going out of the mansion from time to time in the past two years, so she asked this question.
"I won't go out today. I've been busy for a whole morning. I want to rest in the mansion." She had no mood to go and check on the store now. She felt that her mind was in a complete mess.
"Miss, do you want to have lunch first or...?"
"No. You can all leave first. I want to sleep for a while." Usually, she would be starving by now, but today she really had no appetite at all.
"Yes."
Mei Qingxue didn't lie on the bed as she said. Instead, she sat there in a daze on the soft couch, staring blankly into a certain direction. Her mind started to think about the man who was about to become her husband, the Sixth Prince of the Feng Kingdom, Du Gu Qing.
She remembered that two years ago, when she went to his wedding, she heard many people saying how sick he was. She even felt sorry for the woman who married him at that time. Now, time had passed, and the one who was about to be pitied had become herself.
Looking back on the years since she had time - traveled, she had been having a great time and completely forgotten about her in - born "bad luck". At that time, she even sighed that as long as God didn't let her die suddenly when she was doing good deeds, she would be satisfied. The three peaceful years made her think that God had finally opened his eyes and wouldn't let her have bad luck anymore. But now it seemed that she was too happy too soon, wasn't she?
The Sixth Prince, who was most favored by the emperor in the Feng Kingdom, was weak since childhood. On the night of his wedding two years ago, a shrill scream suddenly came from the bridal chamber. Since then, the originally gentle - tempered Sixth Prince had changed completely. He closed himself up in his mansion and never showed up again. That talented man was no longer seen. All the maids in the Sixth Prince's mansion were dismissed.
Because she was a bit curious about the gossip of the Sixth Prince Du Gu Qing at that time, she had once asked the people in the "Azure Sea Pavilion" to pay special attention to his movements. It was said that after the wedding, some officials wanted to curry favor with the Sixth Prince and secretly sent a woman to his mansion. But that woman disappeared without a trace, not even a single bone was left... Now, everyone in the Feng Kingdom knew that the Sixth Prince hated all women. As long as a woman got within three feet of him, she would surely die! Secretly, people all called him the "Ghost King"!
It was only at this moment that Mei Qingxue began to regret not learning martial arts from An Ying. It wasn't entirely her fault. Although she was the leader of the "Azure Sea Pavilion" and should be a highly skilled martial artist, she was a rather lazy person. Moreover, she had already passed the best age to learn martial arts. One wrong move could lead to serious injuries. She was afraid of pain, so she never took the first step to learn martial arts.