If I were born again, I would marry a strong but short-lived husband.

Mr. Lu, who had no say in his son's marriage, frowned.

He knew that his father had always hoped that the Lu family could achieve greater success. Now he was only an assistant minister in the Ministry of War, and the emperor did not value him. This was the end of his future in this life.

So the Duke placed his hopes on Lu Heng.

The current emperor does not want the Lu family to lead the army anymore, and he eliminated the military power in the hands of Duke Lu a few years ago.

Therefore, if the Lu family wants to regain the emperor's favor, they can only take the path of civil servants.

Lu Heng was the top scholar at a young age, and was also the attendant to the emperor.

They all seemed to see hope.

But how did he become a royal consort?

"Father, Heng'er's wedding will be held in the princess's mansion. Does that mean... does that mean Heng'er will have to live in the princess's mansion in the future?" Uncle Lu finally asked his doubts.

Everyone else looked at Duke Lu.

“If Princess Guangning is willing to live in the Duke’s Mansion…” Duke Lu clenched his hands.

Being a princess consort sounds glamorous, how is it different from marrying into the wife's family?

Madam Lu whimpered, "What's the point of being a consort?"

"It doesn't matter. This is a marriage granted by the Emperor." Lord Lu said coldly, "If you have any more dissatisfaction, you should swallow it back."

Mrs. Lu whispered, "If I had known this would happen, I would have married Shen Sui'an earlier."

Shen Suian looked gentle and obedient, and was easy to talk to. If Lu Heng had not insisted on getting involved with the bartender, there would have been no such thing as Princess Guangning.

"Don't mention it again." Uncle Lu said in a deep voice.

"If the princess heard about this, she would think we were dissatisfied with her."

Even if you are dissatisfied, you can only keep it to yourself.

"It would be good for Heng'er to live in the princess's mansion for a while. You two brothers are getting married at the same time. It would be awkward if Princess Guangning and Shen Suian met at home." Duke Lu said.

Given Princess Guangning's domineering personality, she might make things difficult for Shen Sui'an.

"Okay, let's all go." Lord Lu waved his hand, "Boss, Brother Heng, come with me to the study."

Looking at the depressed Lu Heng, Duke Lu sighed heavily in his heart.

"We are going to be Princess Guangning's family soon. Do you know what that means?" Duke Lu looked at his son and grandson and talked about the real problems they were going to face.

Mr. Lu nodded gently, "Father has always advocated the establishment of the heir as the crown prince, but now we are tied to the Second Prince. Father, are you going to support the Second Prince instead?"

Lord Lu looked at Lu Heng with complicated eyes, "What do you think?"

"Grandfather, the emperor is still in his prime, and there is no rush to appoint a crown prince. It is best for our Lu family to remain neutral and not have any more opinions." Lu Heng said in a low voice.

As the Minister of the Interior, he understood the emperor's thoughts better than anyone else in the Lu family.

The emperor had no intention of making the fifth prince the crown prince, so there was no need for the Lu family to go against the emperor at this time.

Granting him Princess Guangning in marriage was also a warning to the Lu family.

Lord Lu frowned and thought for a moment: "Then let's not talk about this for now."

But the Lu family is deeply involved with the Queen's lineage, and it is not something that can be easily eliminated.

"You guys go do your own things."

Lu Heng returned to his Zhiyuan Hall, and a servant came up to him carrying a food box.

"Second Young Master, this was sent by Chun Buwan. Miss Song said it was the best chrysanthemum wine." The servant Liu Mo said in a low voice.

"Send it back." Lu Heng replied expressionlessly.

"From now on, you are not allowed to accept anything Chun Buwan sends you. Go there in person and tell her not to send any more."

There was a flash of surprise in Liu Mo's eyes. Is the Second Young Master planning to break up with Miss Song?

He had clearly seen the Second Young Master being quite considerate of women last time, how could he have changed so suddenly?

"What are you still standing there for? Go quickly." Lu Heng said with a slightly annoyed tone.

"Yes, yes, I'll go right away." Liu Mo quickly agreed.

When Song Xiuzhi received the chrysanthemum wine sent by Liu Mo, she stood there in confusion.

What does Mr. Lu mean?

Do you want to... cut off ties with her?

She just wanted to repay him and didn't dare to have any other extravagant requests.

Crystal clear, cold tears fell down her cheeks.

"Miss Song, please be more positive. Our second young master will be a royal consort soon." Liu Mo advised reluctantly.

"If that Miss Shen hadn't caused such a commotion, you wouldn't have been like this."

Song Xiuzhi sniffed and choked up, "I understand. Please tell the second young master to take care of himself. In the future... we should work hard on the right path, and the same wind will blow us even if we are thousands of miles apart."

……

……

The rising sun is shining with golden light.

Mrs. Lu brought the matchmaker to the Shen family.

Because Jiang still needed to stay in bed to protect the fetus, Old Madam Shen met with Mrs. Lu in the upper room.

"Madam, you also know that the Lu family is going to hold two weddings at once, and Princess Guangning cannot afford to neglect anything. My eldest brother and sister-in-law want to take care of Lu Heng's wedding, so they asked me to come to the Shen family to propose marriage."

Madam Shen nodded calmly: "If your Lu family is short of manpower, then Sui Sui's wedding is not urgent."

"Originally, we also thought that the marriage of Lu Yuan and Miss Shen should be arranged first according to the order of seniority, but there was an order from the palace that both weddings should be held on the same day, so we have no choice." Mrs. Lu smiled apologetically.

"Madam, so we can only keep it as simple as possible, for fear of making mistakes in a hurry."

Madam Shen did not respond to this. "How does your Lu family plan to simplify things?"

"Although Lu Yuan and Miss Shen's marriage was granted by the Emperor, we still need to go through the formalities of proposing, offering betrothal gifts, and asking for the name of the bride." Mrs. Lu said, "But... we can be flexible in reducing the time."

Mrs. Lu gestured to the matchmaker beside her.

The matchmaker took out the betrothal gift letter from the brocade box with a smile, "Mrs. Shen, this is the betrothal gift from the Lu family to Miss Shen. Please take a look."

The maid stepped forward, took the betrothal gift list, and handed it to Old Madam Shen for review.

"Is this the betrothal gift you gave?" Old Madam Shen took one look and became furious.

The Lu family is really going too far.

"Your Lu family is a stately Duke's Mansion. Do you dare to show this betrothal gift list to everyone?"

Mrs. Lu sighed in embarrassment, "Old Madam, I know that I have wronged Miss Shen, but... Lu Yuan is just a bastard, and I have already given the highest betrothal gift according to the rules of the Lu family."

"Besides, our Heng'er is going to marry Princess Guangning, so it's normal for Miss Shen to be a head shorter, Madam, don't you think so?"

"We can't let a bastard marry before Princess Guangning."

Every word Mrs. Lu said touched the borderline of Madam Shen's anger.

"If your Lu family wants to humiliate the Shen family with such a betrothal gift, then let Duke Lu explain it himself."

"The girls of our Shen family are not something you can bully just because you want to!"

She hasn't even married into the Lu family yet, but she's already humiliated Sui Sui.

After I enter the door, I don’t know how to negotiate.

"Oh, old lady, aren't you deliberately making things difficult for our Lu family?" Mrs. Lu raised the corners of her mouth.

When she received the betrothal gift list from the old lady today, she knew that the Shen family would have such a reaction.

"Someone, show the guests away!" Old Madam Shen shouted angrily.

"Madam, madam, old Prince Jingzhao is here, and... and Commander Lu." The maid came in hurriedly to report.