bullyxtreme Chapter 131 The Rival Arrives
Chapter 131 The Rival Arrives
The old eunuch Xiao had served the old emperor with both merit and hard work, and his death amplified all his virtues.
The old emperor both heavily relied on and guarded against the two brothers, and was happy to see them at odds, but he would not tolerate either of them being unfilial to Lao Xiao.
When Xiao Ling saw the Emperor's displeasure, he quickly knelt down and begged for forgiveness.
"It's not that this old servant doesn't want to find a respectable family for my sister so she can enjoy family life."
It was actually Qinglan herself who had taken a liking to Xiao Yuan.
Besides, that girl is already twenty-three, and I don't know if she can still have children. If she really marries into another family, I'm afraid she'll be mistreated.
Xiao Yuan, fearing the old emperor might be swayed, quickly retorted.
"How many men would a young girl have seen since she was a child in the palace?"
Those of imperial lineage who dared not even dream of such things could only set their sights on the eunuchs.
"What's with all this talk about liking or disliking her? She's ungrateful, why are you getting involved?"
After Xiao Yuan finished speaking, he kowtowed to the old emperor again.
"This servant dares not presume to ask for a reward, but now I muster the courage to ask the Emperor for a favor on behalf of my sister."
23 years old isn't old. If she could leave the palace now, she might find a good family.
Besides, she has two older brothers, the servant and Xiao Ling, so she certainly won't let anyone wrong her.
"It would be such a disgrace to give such a fine young lady to a eunuch as a concubine; even I fear my adoptive father would be uneasy in the afterlife."
These words struck a chord with the old emperor. He didn't care whether Xiao Yuan had one more wife or one less concubine, but he valued whether his servants were loyal and righteous.
In addition, he looked down on eunuchs from the bottom of his heart, and he did not think that it was a good way out for a woman to marry a eunuch.
Xiao Ling wanted to say a few more words while thinking about Qinglan's instructions, but when he caught a glimpse of Xiao Yuan's hateful gaze, his heart skipped a beat and he swallowed his words back.
Xiao Yuan didn't want to marry Qinglan back then, and he had previously approved of it, since marrying a eunuch was indeed not a good outcome.
But Qinglan is so stubborn. She's already this old, and it seems like marrying Xiao Yuan wouldn't be a bad idea.
But he didn't understand why Xiao Yuan was so resistant. Could it be that he really cared about his new wife?
Even so, what difference would it make if there were one more woman? Why risk being disliked by the emperor and arguing with him?
Xiao Ling had anticipated Xiao Yuan's displeasure, but he hadn't expected him to resist to such an extent. He thought he could go along with it, but things turned out differently.
Xiao Yuan's gaze was truly unfriendly, making him regret not having informed Xiao Yuan beforehand.
The old emperor was persuaded by Xiao Yuan not to act as a matchmaker, and instead rewarded Xiao Yuan with some jewelry and issued an imperial edict allowing Xu Qinglan to leave the palace.
After saying that, he glared at Xiao Ling with amusement.
"Let the young people figure things out themselves; who knows, they might hit it off someday."
You, you've done a terrible job, acting like a petty person.
Xiao Ling repeatedly said that this matter was over, but afterwards Xiao Yuan secretly confronted him and gave him a severe dressing down.
Even after receiving the reward, Xiao Yuan still had a bad feeling, thinking that Xu Qinglan's return would cause him trouble.
But after all, she was the little sister he had watched grow up, and Xiao Yuan still had feelings for Xu Qinglan.
The reason he didn't agree when someone tried to match him with Xu Qinglan was that he never intended to get married.
Some also hoped that Xu Qinglan would live a happy life as a normal man with many children and grandchildren.
Although Xu Qinglan was saddened by Xiao Yuan's rejection, she didn't take it too seriously.
At that time, Xiao Yuan often entered the palace, and they could often eat and chat together. Apart from sleeping, it wasn't much different from a regular couple.
Xiao Yuan was naturally indifferent and showed no courtesy to any of the palace maids. Xu Qinglan felt that he was special, so she did not insist on finalizing the relationship.
But no one expected that the emperor would suddenly act as matchmaker and arrange a marriage for Xiao Yuan.
Xu Qinglan panicked immediately, but since she was far away at Nanshan Temple and could not return to the capital, she could only try to get information through Ye Xiao's connections in the Governor's Mansion.
The more information she gathered, the colder her heart grew, and the panic in her heart became uncontrollable.
Although he couldn't find out what was going on in the inner courtyard, Xiao Yuan's daily return to the mansion showed that he cared a lot about his wife.
Xu Qinglan least wanted to see Xiao Yuan having someone else in his heart.
No matter how much Ye Xiao tried to comfort her, she wouldn't listen.
Xu Qinglan also arrived at the wrong time.
If she had been in the palace when the Emperor bestowed the marriage upon her, she could have simply told Xiao Ling that there was no such thing as Li Mingyue, let alone Jiang Xinyu's substitute marriage.
Unfortunately, she wasn't there, and both Xiao Ling and Xiao Yuan assumed she would marry a normal man in the future and didn't think of using her as a substitute.
One wrong step leads to another; it can only be said that she and Xiao Yuan were destined to be apart.
After returning to the manor, Xiao Yuan did not mention Xu Qinglan's matter. He firmly believed that he could handle it and felt there was no need to mention it and make his wife worry.
He always treated Qinglan like a younger sister. Besides, Qinglan might not even still care about him. Saying it out loud would only make things harder for the madam and Qinglan to get along.
This is Xiao Ling's fault.
To protect Xu Qinglan's reputation, he took the blame upon himself, saying that he was worried that Qinglan would have nowhere to go after the Empress Dowager died, so he thought of making this arrangement.
He didn't mention a word about Xu Qinglan writing to him asking him to matchmake.
Trusting his brother, Xiao Yuan didn't delve into the matter further, only saying that he and his wife had a very good relationship and didn't need anyone else to interfere, and that Xiao Ling should refrain from making decisions on his own in the future.
Xiao Ling verbally agreed, but secretly felt sorry for Qinglan, hoping that his younger sister wouldn't be too persistent and hurt their relationship.
Unfortunately, Xu Qinglan was not someone who gave up so easily. After receiving Xiao Ling's letter, she locked herself in her room for half a day. A few days later, she packed her bags and followed the procession back to the palace into the capital.
With the Emperor's decree, she no longer needed to enter the palace as a maid. At Ye Xiao's enthusiastic invitation, she directly brought her luggage to the Governor's Mansion.
Ye Xiao has a courtyard in the Governor's Mansion, and Xiao Yuan values him highly, so everyone in the mansion calls him Young Master.
In Ye Xiao's view, Sister Lan's relationship with his godfather for more than ten years meant that the governor's mansion was also her home.
It's not like we're visiting someone's home. Let's just arrange for us to stay first. It doesn't really matter whether my godfather is here or not.
As for the Jiang family girl who married his godfather by mistake, he didn't even take her seriously.
It's just for show; does she really think she's the mistress of the governor's mansion?
The old steward was immediately at a loss when he saw the situation. He secretly sent someone to inform the supervisor while trying to comfort Ye Xiao with difficulty.
It wasn't that he didn't want to arrange a courtyard immediately; it was that he knew how much the Grand Eunuch cherished his wife, and he dared not agree to let a woman suddenly come and want to stay permanently.
If it were just a guest courtyard, that would be fine, but the young master also said he wanted it arranged next to the chief eunuch's courtyard.
That's ridiculous. The Grand Eunuch doesn't even have a courtyard anymore.
Their lady was incredibly resourceful; she turned one training room on the left and a laboratory on the right, practically ruining the entire courtyard.
The eunuch slept with his wife. Apart from a study, he also had a separate washroom in the morning so as not to disturb his wife's sleep, which was considered his exclusive territory.
The young master insisted on arranging for this Qinglan girl to be placed next to the Grand Eunuch's courtyard.
How can we arrange things? The Grand Eunuch doesn't even have a courtyard anymore, so how can he arrange things?
Ye Xiao, unaware of the inside story, became furious when the butler made excuses.
One side says the lady has taken over one courtyard, the other side says the lady has taken over another courtyard. How many heads does this lady have to live in so many courtyards?
Xu Qinglan gave a dejected, bitter smile. "I think I'll go stay at an inn. I guess Brother Yuan won't welcome me here."
Ye Xiao, young and hot-blooded, couldn't contain his anger upon hearing this. He glared fiercely at the butler and turned to leave.
Since you say you're a servant and can't manage the household, then find someone who can.
He wanted to see just who this lady his godfather had married was.