The Empire and the Kingdom

Before Xue Ying could finish her dream, she was shattered by Pan's words.

"Why doesn't father agree? Does father also think that his daughter is not qualified to marry into the royal family?" Xue Ying's face changed. This is the glory within her reach, but Xue Xiang refused!

"Ying'er, don't get excited, your father is doing it for your own good." Mrs. Pan learned Xiang Xue's words.

Xue Ying completely disagreed. "Why do you always talk about the third sister? I have said it many times. The third sister is the third sister and I am me. The third sister has become a widow herself. It is her fate and she has no one to blame. Do I also Will it be like this? Could it be that accidents will happen to all the princes? Mother, father is getting older and less courageous. He has been hurting the third sister recently. If his daughter marries the seventh prince, the third sister must be unhappy. Father will not allow it because of this. I'm married." She said with tears in her eyes, "Mother always said that my daughter is grown up, but now she has a good marriage and refuses to agree, so why don't you let her never get married?"

When Pan saw Xue Ying crying, she came over and hugged her daughter, "Ying'er, your father is thinking of you. Your father said that he will find you a good marriage among Jinshi in Jinke."

It’s okay if I don’t say this, Xue Ying quit immediately after she said it, and she broke away from Pan’s embrace, “I knew that father would not allow me to marry into the royal family, and he wanted to find me a poor scholar. My high marriage hinders Sanmei's eyes. Father only has Sanmei in his heart now, so I am nothing but Sanmei's foil!"

Even Mrs. Pan couldn't listen to Xue Ying's words, "Ying'er, what are you talking about? You are the eldest daughter of the family, and you have been picking all the good things these years. They are the only ones here? Although your father is serious, he didn't criticize you at all. How could you say such hurtful things now? Your parents didn't let you marry the Seventh Prince for your own good. Could it be that your parents would harm you? You can't do it?"

In so many years, it was the first time that Mrs. Pan spoke seriously to Xue Ying, and Xue Ying was a little stunned.Seeing Xue Ying's frightened expression, Pan's heart softened.When she came over and wanted to hug her daughter, Xue Ying said, "Third sister is also the daughter of my parents. Didn't you marry her into the royal family? She can marry, but I can't marry you. You are partial!"

Pan Shi was furious, and she slapped Xue Ying directly with her outstretched hand.

After the fight, both mother and daughter were stunned. "Ying'er, I..." Looking at the bright red finger marks on Xue Ying's cheeks, Pan blamed herself immensely.

Xue Ying covered her face, "Mother, you actually hit me! Now you don't even love me!" She covered her face and supported herself on the bed, crying loudly.

Pan's coaxing became more and more serious, and in the end, Xie's mother persuaded Pan to go back first and let Xue Ying calm down.

When Pan came back to her room, she was restless. This was her baby whom she had been hurting for 18 years. She was usually reluctant to say harsh words, but today she beat her with her own hands. She blamed herself.

After waiting for half an hour, Pan couldn't sit still, so he went to Weiying Pavilion again.Rumei came out and said that Xue Ying stopped crying just now, washed her face, and now she has fallen asleep.

Pan came in lightly, seeing that Xue Ying was indeed asleep, she helped Xue Ying cover the quilt before leaving.

Xue Ying didn't sleep at all, she just didn't want to see Mrs. Pan at this time.She always thought that Pan Shi would stand by her no matter what happened, but this time, Pan Shi not only did not stand by her side, but even beat her because she said that Pan Shi was partial to Xue Ai. Could it be true? Have you been hit by yourself?

Humans are like this, once their minds fall into a magic barrier, it will be difficult to redeem.Thinking along the line of Pan's partiality to Xue Ai, why did Xue Ai be the prince's side concubine in the first place?Is it really because she feels that the status of the side concubine is too low and she has been wronged?Or did the parents originally want to give Xue Ai this good marriage?Thinking of Xue Ai's friendship with Princess Yunyi because of the relationship with the crown prince's side concubine, and being valued by Princess Mingqi, even the eldest lady of the Feng family who has always been close to strangers has become friends with Xue Ai.Xue Ying thought that if she married the Seventh Prince, wouldn't all of this become her own?But parents just don't allow it.

Early the next morning, Rumei saw Xue Ying's dark circles and said distressedly: "Miss, you didn't sleep well last night."

Xue Ying, who had been thinking about it all night, felt that her parents were unreliable, and that this marriage could only be achieved by herself.She also saw herself in the mirror and frowned, which was not attractive at all. "I'm fine."

Xue Ying's honesty reassured Pan, who was so worried that she didn't sleep well all night.After breakfast, she held Xue Ying's hand and talked a lot, and then asked Mama Xie to go to the warehouse to get some of the best jewelry for Xue Ying.

Xue Ying said with a smile: "Mother, I don't like these jewelry, I like the pair of white jade beads that Third Sister always wears." This is deliberately embarrassing Pan.

On weekdays, Mrs. Pan might still refuse, but she just beat Xue Ying yesterday, and she already felt pretty good that Xue Ying didn't make a fuss, and Xue Ai is not in the mansion now, so she asked Rumei to arrest Xue Ai. Bring the pair of white jade beads to Xue Ying.

"Ru Mei, bring all the dowry of Third Sister, I like several of them." Xue Ying said quickly.

Rumei didn't dare to neglect, and hurried to Pingle Pavilion to fetch Xue Ai's dowry.Meng'an and Yuyan from Pingle Pavilion followed Xue Ai out, and the remaining little maids didn't dare to stop them, they just watched.

Now Xue Ai's dowry is full of exquisite jewelry.Some were given by Princess Ming Qi, and more were given by Feng Jingsu.Xue Ai is beautiful, and she looks good with any jewelry she wears.But she doesn't care about dressing up, so she only wears a few things on weekdays.The pair of white jade beads that Feng Jingsu gave her first was her favorite, and she wore them five or six out of ten days.This time when she went to Li Kingdom, she was afraid of revealing her identity, and she left home in the name of going to Mingxin Nunnery for meditation, so she didn't bring any expensive jewelry, and put them all in the dowry.

Xue Ying has seen a lot of good things, but she has never seen a lot of jewelry that Feng Jingsu gave later, and she has never seen Xue Ai wear them. When the dowry was opened, her eyes were a little straight. "Mother, where did Sanmei get these jewelry?" Subconsciously, she thought that Pan or Xue Xiang secretly gave them to Xue Ai.

Pan shook her head, "These are all styles in the palace, but not in our family."

Xue Ying took out a few items and looked at them. Indeed, although the things at home are good, they are not as good as the ones here. "I like all of these." She said this to Mrs. Pan.

Pan had no choice but to say, "Ying'er, you can't finish wearing so many, at least leave a few for Ai'er."

"She's a widow, is it appropriate to wear these beautiful and expensive jewelry?" She picked up a golden phoenix hairpin inlaid with silk and gemstones, looked at it and put it on her head, "Mother, do I look good in it? "

"It's beautiful." Pan didn't dare to say too much about Xue Ying, for fear that the relationship between mother and daughter would really be divided.Thinking that Xue Ai didn't know when she would be able to come back, perhaps by then, Xue Ying would not like these jewelry as soon as her freshness had worn off, and she would return it to Xue Ai at that time, so she didn't say anything.

After Mrs. Pan left, Xue Ying fiddled with Xue Ai's jewelry, and suddenly frowned, looking at Xue Ai's dowry, "Ru Mei, put these jewelry into my dowry."

"Yes." Rumei brought Xue Ying's dowry over, and her dowry was already full. "Miss, I'm afraid I can't pretend."

Xue Ying came over and picked out all the jewelry that she didn't like and looked outdated, "Okay, put these in her dowry and send them back."

Rumei put all of Xue Ai's jewelry into Xue Ying's dowry, and put the unwanted jewelry that Xue Ying picked out back into Xue Ai's dowry, and then asked the little maid to send Xue Ai's dowry back to Pingle Pavilion.

With these precious jewelry, Xue Ying dressed up and went to Sun Yihan, who was reading a book at home.She was naturally happy to see her here. When she looked up, she saw Xue Ying wearing a golden phoenix hairpin inlaid with silk and gemstones, and pearl earrings on her ears. "Sister Ying, your hairpin is so beautiful? Where did you buy it?"

Xue Ying sat with her, raised her hand to touch the golden phoenix hairpin on her head, and said with a smile, "Where did you buy it? It belongs to my third sister."

Sun Yihan frowned, "Didn't your third sister go out of the city to a nunnery to meditate?"

"So I gave all these jewelry to me. She also knew that she had no chance to wear them, so she just gave them all to me." Xue Ying looked at Sun Yihan's envious eyes, and took a pearl walker from Rumei's hand, "Don't Say I don't love you, and I'll give you this walkie."

"Thank you, sister Ying." Sun Yihan took it with a smile, "Sister Ying, if you give away your third sister's jewelry like this, will she be unhappy?"

Xue Ying smiled contemptuously, "I'm the eldest lady of the Xiangfu, how can Gao Buku get her turn?"

"Yes." Sun Yihan nodded.

The two talked for a while, Xue Ying hooked her hands at Sun Yihan, "I'll tell you a secret, Mrs. Cheng came to my house to propose marriage."

Sun Yihan's eyes widened, "For you?"

Xue Ying blushed and nodded, "It's for the Seventh Prince."

Sun Yihan covered her mouth, "Sister Ying, so you are going to be a princess!"

Xue Ying just blushed and didn't speak, looking shy and timid.

Sun Yihan took her hand, "The seventh prince is the eldest son. My father said that he will be established as the prince in the future. Then you will be the crown prince, and then you will be the queen!" Girls always love to imagine, and Sun Yihan talked more and more. Excited, she kept shaking Xue Ying's shoulders.

"Hush!" Xue Ying hurriedly silenced the excited Sun Yihan, "Keep your voice down, don't let others hear you."

"What are you afraid of? You are going to be a prince and concubine. Who dares to say anything?" Sun Yihan straightened his back, pretending to be a tiger.

"Yihan, don't talk nonsense about things that don't have a word in the horoscope." Xue Ying showed the stability of a lady.

Sun Yihan giggled, "Sister Ying, you are too cautious. You have come to propose marriage, and you still haven't said anything? I think the edict of marriage will come to your house tomorrow."

Xue Ying smiled, knowing in her heart that it was impossible, but she couldn't help thinking about it.

After the two played around for a while, Xue Ying said goodbye and left.Before leaving, he said, "Yihan, it's probably not convenient for me to go out recently, so I can't accompany you."

Sun Yihan nodded hurriedly, "I know, you want to embroider a dowry, oops, I have to choose a good gift to add makeup to you."

Xue Ying turned around shyly, her eyes full of bitterness.

The fact that Xue Ying was going to marry the Seventh Prince was quickly spread across the street, of course thanks to Sun Yihan's big mouth.This kind of thing was originally the favorite thing for ladies to talk about at parties. Sun Yihan relied on being Xue Ying's friend, and when someone asked about Xue Ying at the party, she announced the news.

Xue Xiang was very angry when he heard about this incident, and called Xue Ying to reprimand him.Xue Ying bowed her head and admitted her mistake, but the rumors outside became more and more fierce.

Of course, Mrs. Pan also heard the rumors. She was very worried about Xue Ying's reputation. If the rumors were so fierce, if Xue Ying didn't marry the Seventh Prince, how could she marry someone else in the future?She told Xiang Xue about her concerns, but Xiang Xue pointed at Mrs. Pan and didn't know what to say. He is a calm person, so he can speak calmly.

"Ma'am, do you know why the rumors are so fierce? This is all written by the queen. She just wants to use the rumors to force us to submit. Once we compromise, our Xue family will be bound by the queen to the seventh prince. Ying'er is my son-in-law. Eldest daughter, no one will believe me even if I don't help the Seventh Prince."

Pan didn't understand these schemes of the previous dynasty, she only cared about Xue Ying's lifelong happiness. "Master, but we can't ignore Ying'er! This kind of rumor is a matter of a bad girl's reputation. How will Yinger behave in the future?" Pan thought that Xue Ying might be like Xue Ai in the future, and she was so distressed that she burst into tears. down.

Of course, Xiang Xue wanted to preserve Xue Ying's reputation, but he would never compromise on this matter unless he really wanted to abandon Xue Ying. "For now, the only way is to marry Ying'er as soon as possible, and then the rumors will be self-defeating."

"But...but..." Pan felt guilty, "but Yinger said she would never marry a poor scholar."

Xue Xiang frowned, "She's too ignorant!" Angry, he still promised to find a noble family for Xue Ying as soon as possible.

However, Xiang Xue was negligent. Under the current circumstances, the empress made it clear that she wanted the Seventh Prince to marry Xue Ying, so which family would dare to come out and rob the Seventh Prince?Not to mention the honorable nobles, no one would dare to marry Xue Ying, even Jinshi Jinshi.

In Weiying Pavilion, Xue Ying played with a pair of jadeite bracelets, making a transparent and pleasant sound.This time, she blocked everything about herself. If she couldn't marry the Seventh Prince, then her reputation would be ruined.But she wasn't panicking, Xiang Xue only had two daughters-in-law, and Xue Ai had become a widow, could Xiang Xue still disregard her reputation and fight with the royal family?

Xue Xiang really can't, he is a father, and there are five daughters in his family. After one daughter has ruined her reputation, if the other one also ruins her reputation, and both of them are prostitute daughters, what about the remaining concubine daughters? ?In the mansion, not only Mrs. Pan begged him to agree to this marriage all day long, but now Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Jiang are also on Pan's side so that their daughter can marry a good family in the future.He didn't want to be tied up with the royal family, or even other dignitaries, but now, the disadvantages of his non-family background came out. Without the support of his family, he couldn't bear the pressure from inside and outside.

Xihai Juli, Xue Zhi was fiddling with embroidery thread, "Mother, can eldest sister really marry the Seventh Prince this time?"

Mrs. Wang is bowing her head to embroider a green bamboo pattern, which is an inner coat made for Xue Xiang. "This matter must be done. Only if the young lady marries well, you and Yi'er can marry well."

"That's why mother helped?" Xue Zhi was still a little unconvinced, "My daughter is no worse than eldest sister, she is married to the seventh prince."

Wang pursed her lips and smiled, "Don't be so impatient. It will be easier for your elder sister to marry into the royal family."