Chapter 444: Chapter 431: Marriage Contract

“The eldest granddaughter of Minister Qian of the Ministry of Rites, the young daughter of Mr. Zhao from the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, the daughter of the Ge family from the Hanlin Academy… In my opinion, they are all virtuous, decent, and good-looking young ladies.”

“Grandmother Empress…” Chu Yunzhao started to speak, trying to dissuade her once more.

The Empress sharply retorted, “What’s the matter with you, child? I am arranging this for Jinnian, not for you. You are putting up so much resistance, could it be that you don’t want Jinnian to get married?”

She was right; he really didn’t want Chu Jinnian to get married.

At least, not recently.

But the Empress’s tone clearly carried a hint of anger. Chu Yunzhao didn’t dare to intervene further and could only shrink back, looking anxiously at Chu Jinnian.

My dear brother, you must remember our agreement and withstand the pressure.

“Grandmother Empress.”

Under Chu Yunzhao’s earnest stare, Chu Jinnian finally spoke, “I understand Grandmother Empress’s good intentions and am very grateful for her concern and arrangement.”

“Are you agreeing?” The Empress was overjoyed, “Previously, you showed no interest in these matters. I thought you had no interest in marriage at all, which made me hesitant to even bring it up…”

“Oh, never mind. Since you are willing, then I will…”

This Chu Jinnian, why is he acting different from what we agreed on?

Chu Yunzhao glanced at Chu Jinnian. He wished he could stab Chu Jinnian with a knife out of anger.

“Grandmother Empress,” said Chu Jinnian, “I appreciate Grandmother Empress’s effort in arranging this, but please forgive me. I cannot follow Grandmother Empress’s arrangement regarding the marriage.”

“Oh?” The Empress was rather surprised.

After a moment of thought, she said, “I don’t think you are someone who doesn’t want to get married. Tell me, why can’t you follow my arrangement? Are you afraid I will arrange it arbitrarily, not considering your wishes?”

“Rest assured, as I said earlier, if you don’t agree, I won’t force you.”

“In reply to Grandmother Empress, I wasn’t worried about this. It’s just that…”

Chu Jinnian looked up, his eyes clear as day, “It’s just that I am already engaged, and therefore cannot follow Grandmother Empress’s arrangement.”

Engaged?

The Empress was stunned for a moment. After a while, she regained her composure and asked, “When did this happen? How come I wasn’t aware of it?”

“It’s rather embarrassing to say, I only recently found out about this.” answered Chu Jinnian, “The marriage was arranged by my mother when I was young. A token of commitment was even given. However, due to various household affairs, my mother never mentioned this to Grandmother Empress or others, so almost no one else knew.”

“So that’s it,” The Empress nodded slowly.

Back then, when the King of Qi favored Mrs. Ruo, Mrs. Xiao Qiao was upset and took Chu Jinnian back to Yangzhou. For the next few years, there was a standoff between them and the King of Qi.

Given Mrs. Xiao Qiao’s character, not only did she hate the King of Qi, she also detested the entire royal family. It wouldn’t be out of character for her to have arranged an early marriage for Chu Jinnian, keeping it out of the royal family’s reach. It did sound like something she would do.

It didn’t matter much though, as her primary intent was to find a suitably satisfying marriage for Chu Jinnian, encouraging him to marry early. If Chu Jinnian was already betrothed, it could actually hasten his matrimonial matters.

“So, which family’s girl did your mother pick for you? What’s her background, character, and looks like?” The Empress inquired.

“In response to Grandmother Empress, I’m not clear about who my mother has chosen. I just found out about this recently and haven’t had a chance to find out more. I only know that she’s not from the capital city.”

Chu Jinnian smiled, “I was thinking that when I have some time in the next few days, I’ll find her following the address my mother left behind. I want to see what the girl is like and how her character is.”

“If she’s not bad…”

“I think it would be good to move forward with the marriage sooner rather than later.”

“Hmm.” The Empress nodded her head, “Marriage depends on the arrangement of parents and matchmakers. Since your mother arranged your marriage early, if you ignore it now, it would be both unfilial and dishonest of our royal family.”

“You go take a look. If she’s good, bring her back early for me to meet and start arranging the wedding.”

If she’s not good…

The Empress didn’t think that was likely.

Although Mrs. Xiao Qiao was willful, she had her pride as the legitimate daughter of the Qiao family from Yangzhou. She loved Chu Jinnian very much.

To prevent others in the family from forcing a random marriage onto Chu Jinnian in the future that would ruin his marital fate, she must have carefully considered all possibilities and made preparations early. She would definitely not settle for a random match for Chu Jinnian.

Furthermore, even if the girl turned out to be undesirable, they had plenty of ways to smooth things over.

At the very least, in the extreme case, out of filial duty, they could marry her, treat her well at home, and allow Chu Jinnian to take a few more concubines that he liked.

Chu Jinnian was the crown prince and would inherit the title. He was the future King of Qi. For such a person, having three wives and four concubines was quite normal.

To put it bluntly, Chu Jinnian, being of an exalted status and having grown up amidst great love and wealth, had developed rather high standards. He looked down on ordinary ladies, let alone undesirable ones.

So, after mulling over it, the Empress thought it best to let Chu Jinnian take a look. It was the best way to handle this matter.

At best, it could push Chu Jinnian to marry early. At worst, it could settle this matter quietly, preserving the royal family’s dignity.

“Yes, I understand.” Chu Jinnian nodded.

“But before this matter is settled, I hope that only Grandmother Empress knows about it and no one else.”

The Empress nodded, “I understand. You can rest assured.”

The fewer people who knew, the easier it would be to handle in case the engagement didn’t work out.

It seemed that, as always, Chu Jinnian acted cautiously and adequately.

The Empress was increasingly satisfied with Chu Jinnian and smiled, “Just remember what I said. If the girl is good, arrange for the marriage as soon as possible.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Chu Jinnian responded with a smile.

“Your aunt arranged a marriage for you? How come I’ve never heard of this?” After they left the Empress, Chu Yunzhao caught up with Chu Jinnian and questioned him.

“Does everything have to be known to you?” Chu Jinnian curled his lip, glancing at him.

“Whether I know or not isn’t important. Whether you were previously engaged by your aunt isn’t important either. What’s important is, you have to remember, you promised me before…”