The empress is pregnant, and the emperor's incense continues

"It has been the plan of several generations of emperors to seize military power from our Chen family and keep us in the capital like a toothless tiger. If the prince of Jing is not a fool, he will not let us go back. He will only use our influence to place his own people in the border areas."

"besides!"

The Marquis of Zhenyuan pointed at Chen Dingbei and said, "Even if you want to curry favor with the new emperor, you don't have to go to Mingyuan. She is a young girl of her age. You are trying to please her so much. Have you ever thought about how you would deal with it if she liked you? Are you really going to marry her?"

Chen Dingbei was speechless when asked. He was hanging around Mingyuan just to find an opportunity to get close to Prince Jing.

But at that time, so many sons of noble families surrounded Mingyuan, and Mingyuan was like a proud peacock, looking down on everyone.

At some point, Chen Dingbei suddenly developed a competitive spirit in his heart. He really wanted to know if Mingyuan would be attracted by his charm if he tried to please him.

Now that he knew the result, he realized that it was not something he could bear.

Becoming a royal consort is impossible.

The Marquis's wife also knew that it was difficult to back down. Seeing her husband about to beat their son again, she hurriedly advised: "My Lord, although this gold hairpin has been given to the county lady, there is no law in this dynasty that a gold hairpin is considered an engagement. Even when the empress dowager was here, this was an unwritten rule. But now as long as we don't recognize this marriage, does the county lady have to take the initiative to ask our family to marry her?"

"Yes, let's just pretend that this incident never happened. Let's quickly go to the Meng Mansion to propose marriage, and then spread rumors outside that the hairpin was given away by Dingbei as a result of a bet, and was not given to the county lady because he loved her. The county lady will always feel embarrassed to rely on our family."

The more the Marquis's wife talked, the more she felt that this was feasible. But when she looked up and saw the Marquis of Zhenyuan looking at her like a fool, her heart suddenly sank.

"My Lord, this, is not possible?"

"Humph!"

Zhenyuan Hou sneered, not even bothering to call her a fool: "If Mingyuan really wants to marry Dingbei, you will completely offend the lineage of King Jing if you spread rumors like this. What, do you want King Jing to destroy our entire clan as soon as he ascends the throne?"

"What should we do, Marquis? Our family can't marry a princess!" The Marquis's wife was so anxious that she burst into tears.

"You don't have to say that!"

The Marquis of Zhenyuan was so angry that his heart ached. He pointed at Chen Dingbei and said, "Kneel down in the ancestral hall. You can't go anywhere without my order."

After Chen Dingbei left, Madam Hou asked cautiously, "Lord Hou, what should we do?"

Zhenyuan Hou raised his head to the sky and sighed: "We can only wait."

"I heard that there are a lot of people hanging around Mingyuan. It would be best if Mingyuan's mind is no longer on Dingbei after a few days, and we can get out of this unscathed."

"Also, marriage is a matter of our parents' decision, so we should just pretend we don't know and continue to interact with the Meng family and pretend we want to marry into the Meng family. If Mingyuan knew that we, as parents, are not keen on her marriage, she might not agree to it because she is too proud."

"When the time comes, we can get engaged with the Meng family while letting Dingbei apologize and coax Mingyuan. Mingyuan will then think that Dingbei likes her, but has to marry Meng Wenyao because of his parents' orders, and his resentment will be alleviated."

"Yes, yes, yes. I'll keep a close eye on Dingbei these few days. I won't let him go out or see Mingyuan. It would be best if Mingyuan doesn't care anymore. If Mingyuan gets angry, let Dingbei comfort him. We can play the good cop and the bad cop, and drag it out slowly. We can always find a way to ruin the marriage."

The more the Marquis's wife thought about it, the more she felt that this plan was feasible. It was not a problem for a man to delay his marriage for a few years, but it was different for a woman. There was an obvious difference between fifteen and eighteen years old. At worst, she could let Chen Dingbei go to the border for a few more years. She didn't believe that Mingyuan could wait.

"Then I will go to the Meng residence right now, apologize to Madam Meng, and then comfort Meng Wenyao?"

"I'll go and discuss the interests involved with Lord Meng."

In the Meng Mansion, Meng Wen Yao heard that Marquis Zhenyuan had come in person, and she begged Madam Meng for a long time before she disguised herself as a maid and secretly led her into Lord Meng's study.

As soon as Marquis Zhenyuan sat down, he started apologizing without even taking a sip of tea.

"Brother Meng, I am a bad parent. What I did today was really..."

According to etiquette, when the Marquis of Zhenyuan said this, Lord Meng should have said, "My dear brother, you are too kind. You are just a child. How can I care about you?"

But after a pause, Marquis Zhenyuan found that Lord Meng did not respond and even looked at him seriously. He asked in confusion: "Did your son fight with others again?"

"this!"

Marquis Zhenyuan cursed him in his heart as an old fox. Everyone at the palace banquet didn't know that Chen Dingbei gave the golden hairpin to Mingyuan. Now Lord Meng was just pretending not to know.

But he needed help, so he had to speak humbly.

"Dingbei is a child at heart. He made a bet with Lady Mingyuan and lost the hairpin. As a result, there was such a big misunderstanding. We can't publicize this matter, otherwise people will think that our mansion looks down on the Lady Mingyuan."

"But our two families have been friends for generations, and Dingbei and Wenyao have grown up together. They are the daughters-in-law that our Chen family has high hopes for. At this critical juncture, Dingbei will definitely not be indecisive. You and Madam must not become cold-hearted and alienated from us because of today's misunderstanding, otherwise the two children will miss out on their marriage and regret it for the rest of their lives!"

Before this, Lord Meng had already known from Madam Meng's words that Meng Wen Yao seemed to no longer want to marry Chen Dingbei, but he was not sure whether she really didn't want to or was just speaking in anger.

Therefore, he didn't want to make a final statement in front of Marquis Zhenyuan, lest Meng Wen Yao regret it in the future and have no room for maneuver.

"Brother, what are you talking about? We are just children. How can we talk about marriage? I still want to raise Yao'er for a few more years."

With the word "old brother", Marquis Zhenyuan felt relieved. When he heard that the other party did not reject the marriage proposal but just said that he wanted to stay for a few more years, it was obvious that there was still a lot of room for maneuver in this matter.

Marquis Zhenyuan immediately felt better. He picked up the teacup and drank it all, pretending to be angry and said, "I beat that kid Dingbei so hard, and now he's kneeling in the ancestral hall. Don't say that you don't want to marry your daughter off now. Even if you see how unruly our Dingbei is, I don't feel comfortable letting him marry now. It would harm the girl."

"But don't worry, my wife and I will discipline your child strictly in the future and will never let your daughter suffer any injustice."

Hearing the assurance of Marquis Zhenyuan, Lord Meng felt nothing in his heart. They were all thousand-year-old foxes, and everyone could make promises off the cuff. As for how things would turn out in the future, he would have to wait and see.

He did not respond, but picked up the teacup, looked around and said, "Brother, please have some tea."

After Zhenyuan Hou left, Meng Wenyao came out rather resentfully, complaining, "Father, why didn't you refuse? I will never marry someone who is unfaithful."