Chapter 1319: Chapter 1297: Greedy for Money
Even if it’s a princess or a county princess, discussing marriage must still take the opinions of the man’s family into account. Only after both parties agree can the marriage be ordained, otherwise, if a marriage is arbitrarily decreed and one side harbors dissatisfaction, it will only lead to resentment. What meaning would there be in such a union?
The Empress Dowager nodded and said, “Their family has agreed.”
Upon hearing this, the Emperor didn’t raise any objections and asked with a smile, “Is Mother intending for your son to issue the marriage decree, or do you wish to issue it yourself?”
“You issue it.” This itself was a kind of gesture, to ease the Sun Family’s mind. But the main purpose for the Empress Dowager to seek the Emperor this time wasn’t actually about the marriage decree, but rather…
She looked up at the Emperor, her expression kind and gentle, “Emperor, Yunfeng marrying into Weizhou is already a step down. I’ve looked into it, and the Sun Family’s main family currently has no one holding official rank in the court. Regardless of what Wulang has done, Yunfeng is still a royal granddaughter. This alone already puts her in a disadvantaged position, so the dowry should not be too meager.”
Emperor: …
Asking money from the national treasury was impossible. Even when his daughters got married, the dowries he listed that were slightly more generous were criticized heavily by the court officials. In the end, if he wanted the dowries to be somewhat lavish, he would have to draw from his private treasury.
Initially, if the Prince of Yizhou hadn’t stirred up trouble, when Li Yunfeng married, the Emperor could have bestowed some of the dowry, and the national treasury might have covered it. But as things stand now…
The Ministry of Revenue would certainly not approve funding for it, and the Empress Dowager obviously understood this, so she directly sought the Emperor for the funds.
Naturally, the Emperor wouldn’t waste effort trying to persuade the Ministry, so in the end, it had to come from his private treasury.
He felt that today’s dinner had been thoroughly unpleasant; in hindsight, he might have been better off dining with the Empress than dealing with this.
Although both were fixated on his private treasury, the feeling was just different.
The Emperor felt mentally drained but outwardly maintained a cheerful façade, nodding and saying, “Once Mother has finalized the arrangements, your son will have Internal Affairs prepare a generous dowry for Yunfeng.”
The Empress Dowager smiled, turning to one of the palace maids beside her, who promptly handed her a folder.
She accepted it and passed it to the Emperor, smiling as she said, “This is the preliminary draft of the dowry I’ve outlined. Take a look first, and later if you find anything missing, you can add to it.”
The Emperor hadn’t anticipated that the Empress Dowager had already prepared this. When he unfolded it, his mood darkened like a storm. Skimming through the contents quickly, he couldn’t help but furrow his brows, “Mother, isn’t this dowry excessively generous?”
The Empress Dowager sighed, “It wouldn’t need to be so generous if she were marrying someone from families like the Wang Family, Cui Family, or Wei Family. A modest dowry would suffice. But now that she’s being sent to a remote place like Weizhou, where the Sun Family holds no titles of merit, if we don’t provide her with ample belongings, I’ll feel uneasy in my heart.”
The Empress Dowager pressed lightly at the corner of her eye, her tone tinged with sorrow, “Your brother has only this son and daughter left now. I only hope they can live peaceful and prosperous lives.”
The Emperor fell silent.
Seeing his lack of response, the Empress Dowager took his hand and said, “My dear Cat Slave, do you still remember when you were young? The four of you brothers played together; Sanlang and Wulang were mischievous, your eldest brother was strict and tried to discipline them, and you were the one who led them to evade your eldest brother. Whenever trouble arose, you would always bear the brunt for them. Back then your bond as siblings was so strong.”
“When you made a mistake and your father caught you, you bravely patted your chest and promised to protect Sanlang and Wulang. And your eldest brother, though stern, still shielded you afterward. In the end, it was your eldest brother who ended up getting flogged by your father instead…”
The Emperor’s expression softened a little, his lips thinning in thought before he finally spoke, “Mother, rest assured. I won’t be stingy with Yunfeng’s dowry. Hand me the draft; I’ll take it back and have the Empress manage the arrangements.”
The Empress Dowager finally felt satisfied and, smiling, nudged the soup bowl toward him. “This is old duck soup I had the small kitchen prepare. The weather is cold; have some to keep warm.”
The Emperor smiled but inwardly felt as though this bowl of soup was made of gold.
After finishing his meal, the Emperor stayed to chat with the Empress Dowager for a while before taking the draft and leaving.
Outside the hall, Gu Zhong noticed the Emperor standing still and cautiously stepped forward, asking nervously, “Your Majesty, are you planning to visit one of the concubines’ chambers?”
The Emperor shot him an annoyed look and said, “When did I say I was going to another palace? Back to Taiji Hall!”
Gu Zhong secretly remarked to himself, wasn’t it just earlier that His Majesty had mentioned strolling through the harem?
Gu Zhong dutifully escorted the Emperor back to Taiji Hall, where the Empress had already changed into her nightwear and was reclining on the bed, holding a memorial written by Manbao.
Other than palace affairs, the Empress had spent most of her day reading through this memorial. She hadn’t even finished reading it yet.
The Emperor’s sudden return surprised her, but she quickly stood up with the memorial in hand to greet him, bowing as she smiled and asked, “Why has Your Majesty returned?”
The Emperor shrugged off his outer robe and handed it to a palace maid, muttering unhappily, “It’s almost time to retire for the night, so naturally, I returned.”
His gaze landed on the memorial in the Empress’s hands, and he couldn’t help but sigh, calling out to Gu Zhong, “Bring the Empress Dowager’s draft here.”
The Emperor gestured for the Empress to look at it and said, “It’s far too lavish. We need to come up with a reason to decline some of it.”
Even though he was willing to provide Li Yunfeng with a generous dowry, it didn’t need to be that excessive. Negotiation was necessary.
However, the Empress Dowager had suddenly brought up their childhood memories, rendering him incapable of rejecting her outright at the time. Now, either the Empress would have to play the bad guy, or the overseer of Internal Affairs would have to.
After changing his attire, the Emperor sat cross-legged on the couch, visibly displeased. “Director Xiao said Mother is still recovering from a serious illness; her condition remains fragile, so she shouldn’t be burdened with undue stress.”
The Empress hadn’t finished reading the draft, but skimming through it quickly gave her a general sense of its contents. She asked, “When does the Empress Dowager plan to set the wedding date?”
“She hasn’t decided yet, but I estimate it’ll be next year or the year after.”
The Empress thought for a moment and said, “It’s likely to be next year.”
Seeing the Emperor’s distress, she smiled and seated herself across from him, “Did you know, Mother is somewhat displeased with Yunfeng meddling in palace affairs?”
The Emperor frowned, “What palace affairs has she been interfering with?”
“Oh, nothing major. It’s just that when Zhou Man treated Dalang’s illness earlier, Yunfeng intentionally had someone relay the news to Mother’s ears, which left her feeling quite unhappy.”
The Emperor’s gaze fell on the draft, “So this…”
“Most of this isn’t entirely for Yunfeng,” the Empress explained. “Back when Wei Zhi confiscated everything from the Prince of Yizhou’s estate, not even a single coin was left for them. When Xinqing goes to his fiefdom later, he’ll certainly need to bring some belongings with him.”
She added, “Dizhou is impoverished.”
This fiefdom was chosen by the Emperor, and he awkwardly cleared his throat in defense, “Actually, it’s not all that impoverished…”
The Empress chuckled, “I didn’t say the fiefdom was bad, though. But given Xinqing’s status, when he goes there, the Ministry of Revenue and Ministry of Public Works won’t provide him with much. From what I’ve seen, Mother has meticulously selected items from the draft that, while expensive, aren’t convenient to liquidate—they’re family heirlooms.”
The Emperor glared, “Are you suggesting I should agree to it?”
The Empress said, “It’s still better than her asking for money, provisions, and manpower directly from you, isn’t it?”
These porcelain pieces, paintings, furniture, and ornaments were suitable for maintaining appearances and daily life but difficult to convert into cash. Evidently, the Empress Dowager had carefully considered her choices to avoid triggering sensitivities among the court officials and the Emperor.
Unfortunately, she hadn’t realized the Emperor was stingy, unwilling to relinquish even these items.
Seeing his hesitant expression, the Empress frowned slightly and remarked, “If you consider it, most of these items were confiscated from the Prince of Yizhou’s estate. Because they were hard to liquidate, they ended up in your private treasury. So, what’s the problem—are they no longer there?”
The Emperor felt a small pang of guilt and softly muttered, “Well, isn’t it because Sanlang went to Luozhou? His estate there was entirely barren, so…”