The Imperial Capital Rhapsody 3: The Aunt Has Arrived

  My aunt has arrived.

  "Miss, Mrs. Xu has arrived."

  Ye Li raised her head and saw her second aunt coming in from outside. She quickly stood up to greet her, "Second Aunt."

  Mrs. Xu is only thirty-six or seven years old this year, and her well-maintained appearance can only be described as delicate, but the natural temperament that flows from her whole body reveals her upbringing in a prestigious family.

  Furrowing her brow, she scanned Ye Li's room and couldn't help but poke at her forehead, saying: "Your aunt and uncle have long told you to move into your uncle's house, but you refused to listen. Now look at the state of your living arrangements...look at your marriage situation...are you intentionally trying to make your mother worry?" Ye Li rubbed her forehead, pulling Xu Furen down to sit, saying: "Uncle has had a hard time these past few years, and with Grandmother and Father around, how could a daughter's family move into Uncle's house? It would be laughable if Mother didn't teach her daughters properly." Since the current Emperor ascended to the throne, he has been suppressing the old ministers from the previous Emperor's reign. Ye Li's grandfather, eldest uncle, and other members of the Xu clan have all retired from official positions, leaving only Second Uncle still serving as a Hanlin Academician in the Imperial Academy. In the eyes of outsiders, the once-great Xu clan had long since declined.

  Here is the translation:

  When Ye Li said this, Mrs. Xue couldn't help but sigh and say: "It's just that seeing you humiliate yourself like this, your grandfather would be heartbroken if he knew." The Xu family had been a family of many sons and few daughters for generations, and by the time of Old Master Xu, there was only Ye Li's mother, who was the only daughter. Naturally, she was doted on. If they knew that their only granddaughter was living such a humiliating life, with Old Master Xu's temper, he would probably rush to the capital and scold his son-in-law severely. Ye Li smiled and said: "There's no humiliation, I won't let myself be taken advantage of." Mrs. Xue looked at her worriedly and said: "Nowadays, your marriage...the King of Ding is really not a good match for you. Your sister is also unbearable, stealing her own sister's husband, this is something that a young lady from a noble family can do?" Ye Li's eyes sparkled, and she didn't have the weak and timid demeanor she usually had in the manor. She smiled lightly and said: "The King of Ding has his own advantages. Aunt and uncle don't need to worry about me." The Ding Guo Wang Fu was a superior family in Da Chu, unless the King of Ding rebelled against the emperor, otherwise even the emperor wouldn't dare to easily shake the status of the Ding Guo Wang Fu. And now, because of his physical condition, the King of Ding was completely detached from politics. Marrying him would naturally not require worrying about those annoying things. For Ye Li, it was just a matter of moving from the Ye manor to the Ding Guo Wang Fu. In her past life, she had been too tired, and in this life, as long as she could live a peaceful life and eat and wait for death, that would be enough.

  Not bad, just muddle along and wait for death, this is the goal Ye Li has set for herself in this life. In her previous life, she was a soldier, a member of a special forces unit. She had risked her life for the country and ultimately died for it, which was a worthy way to die. She didn't have any deep-seated resentment or earth-shattering ambitions; she felt that she had done enough for the country, and the country hadn't let her down either. Dying in battle was a soldier's duty and responsibility, but after ten years of bloodshed and carnage, she had experienced too much and was simply tired. So, this life, as long as it's peaceful and uneventful, that's good enough.

  Looking at her calm demeanor, Mrs. Xue felt both relieved and worried, but ultimately could only let out a sigh of resignation. What's the use of being dissatisfied? Who can defy the Emperor's personal decree to grant marriage?

  "This was given to me and your uncle by your grandfather before he left Beijing, it's the dowry that your grandfather prepared for you. We can't just give it to you openly, so we changed it all into silver notes and hid them in a trunk." Mrs. Xu handed over a stack of silver notes and put them in Ye Lian's hands. Ye Lian unfolded them and saw that there was one gold note worth 1,000 taels, ten silver notes worth 500 taels each, as well as several smaller gold and silver notes, adding up to a total of 20,000 taels of silver. Mrs. Xu didn't let her speak and continued: "I heard that the Ye family's madam wants to withhold the dowry left to you by your mother? Don't worry about this, I will definitely help you take care of it. Hmph, which daughter of the Xu family doesn't marry off with dignity? Even if we've fallen on hard times, we wouldn't do something as shameful as using the original wife's dowry to bribe a concubine. Haven't your mother's dowry been squandered by them enough over the years? Those few estates and shops will definitely be taken back for you by me." Ye Lian furrowed her brow: "I can handle this myself, aunt, please don't..."

  Mrs. Xü smiled and said, "Don't worry, your father's official position is indeed higher than your uncle's, but if the Emperor wants to save face, he won't make things difficult for your uncle again." The Xü family was originally a prominent family of national heroes and was considered the most prestigious in the land. Even if they were no longer in power, their influence was not something that the Ye or Wang families could compare to. After the Emperor ascended to the throne, he had openly and secretly pressured the Xü family to resign from office, which already looked very bad. If anything else happened to the master of the house without a very important reason, the public's scorn would be enough to drown the imperial family. Ye Lǐ thought for a moment, nodded in agreement, and thanked her aunt. Only then did Mrs. Xü smile contentedly and say, "In the future, your maternal family may not be able to stand up for you either. After getting married, come visit us often, so that your uncle and grandfather can rest assured."

  "Madam has arrived." A sound of footsteps came from outside the door, and Wang Shi led a servant girl to appear at the entrance, standing at the entrance looking at Mrs. Xu with raised eyebrows: "Mrs. Xu has arrived, why didn't you say anything, and no one had time to greet her?"

  "Mrs. Xü had always disliked the way Wang's family did things, and she hummed softly, saying: 'I'm just following my husband's orders to take a look at Li'er, how could the Ye family's noble status allow Mrs. Ye to come out and greet us?'"

  The Xus were a family of scholars and officials, and they had never done anything as shameful as promoting a concubine to the status of a legitimate wife. The Xu matriarch had always looked down on Wang's status, and now she was even more displeased because her younger sister-in-law had died in sorrow due to Wang's actions. How could she possibly show a good face? Wang resented the Xu matriarch for looking down on her, thinking that as a second-rank madam, she should be respected by this third-rank gentlewoman. Wang glanced disdainfully at Ye Li's room and walked over to sit down next to the Xu matriarch, saying: "We've already sent Ye Li's birth chart to the Dingguo Duke's residence, and it won't be long before her engagement is finalized. As her stepmother, I will naturally ensure that she has a grand wedding. You don't need to worry about it, Madam Xu." The Xu matriarch smiled calmly and sat down next to Wang, saying: "If it's truly going to be a grand wedding, then that would be good. Although Ye Li bears the Ye surname, she is also of our Xu family's bloodline. If any daughter of the Xu family were to marry in a way that brings shame, even our elderly patriarch wouldn't agree to it. By the way... isn't your son Rong still studying? I wonder if he'll take part in next year's imperial examination?"

  Mrs. Xue's few words made Wang's heart tighten. Her own son, Rong Ge, was currently studying at the clan's school, but she had forgotten that although the Xue family had declined, they still controlled one of the three best academies in the country, the Sui Shan Academy. It was also the best academy within the Great Chu borders, without exception. Rong Ge was planning to attend Sui Shan Academy this year and next year's imperial examination would be more promising. If she were to tamper with Ye Li's dowry, she feared... Thinking of this, she glared at Mrs. Xue, who smiled indifferently. Wang said coldly, "Our Rong Ge is still young, perhaps he needs to wait another two years. As the younger brother of the Empress, what difficulty could the imperial examination pose?" Mrs. Xue nodded in agreement and laughed, "It's best that Rong Ge has confidence. But as for the younger brother of Liu Guifei, who was first in the capital's examinations and yet traveled far to seek guidance from the old master at Sui Shan Academy, this is a bit too much. I suppose your son must be useless, and it's certain that he will win the top three honors to bring glory to the Empress."

  Upon hearing this, Wang's expression became even more unsightly. Liu Guifei was already known as the number one talented woman in the capital city while she was still in her boudoir, and after entering the palace, she continued to receive great favor. Furthermore, having given birth to two imperial princes and one princess, she was promoted to the position of Guifei, completely overshadowing Wang's own daughter. The young master of the Liu family also had a reputation for being talented, suppressing his own son to be unknown in the capital city. If next year the young master of the Liu family were to become the top scholar, Consort Shao would definitely be furious. In reality, Ye Rong was several years younger than the young master of the Liu family and couldn't compare with him at all. It's just that Ye Rong himself had average talent, and Wang looked down on the young master of the Liu family even more.

  Wang sighed softly, looked at Ye Li with a somewhat unwilling gaze, and said: "If we can get Mr. Xu's guidance, Brother Rong will naturally have more confidence." This sentence is considered to be conceding defeat. The Xu family did not respond, but only smiled and said: "I just said it casually. Madam Ye has a reputation far and wide, and she won't treat her own daughter unfairly. I'll ask our old master to send the dowry list of our eldest sister to the government office for re-filing, so as not to delay Li'er's marriage."

  Finally, Wang stormed off with a livid face, only to be met with a disdainful cold smile from Lady Xu.