Heavenly Divine Doctor: Abandoned Concubine - Chapter 560

Chapter 560 – Invitation

Ye Zhen was really annoyed by the endless stream of invitations that were pouring in. As such she asked Pei Shi to not bring those annoying things* to her. She couldn’t go to the banquet anyway. Besides, she didn’t want to deal with those noble ladies from aristocratic families nor be the subject of their severe critique. Why should she go and suffer such a plight**?

[*invitations, **attention]

It was all Mo Rongzhan’s fault! If it weren’t for his inexplicable decree, would the entire capital be paying attention to her?

“Yaoyao, will nothing convince you to go?” Pei Shi picked up one of the vetted invitations and continued, “These families aren’t bad, in my opinion. Ah, if only at the beginning…” She trailed off, interrupting herself. “Tang Zhen is so good, let’s not speak of it again.”

Ye Zhen could tell that Pei Shi was worried about her. What mother would not be worried about her daughter’s marriage, after all? If only Mo Rongzhan had not interfered, she might have been engaged to Tang Zhen. Now that the emperor wanted to bestow her a marriage, and Tang Zhen had not taken the initiative to propose marriage, the Lu family could not gather the courage and reintroduce this matter. She could see that the matriarch and Third Madam* were worried over her these past couple of days.

[*Pei Shi]

In fact, she really wanted to comfort them. No matter how many invitations there were, her marriage was still in Mo Rongzhan’s hands.

“Mother, these people used to disdain our family dealings, they are obviously those who trample the weak and worship the mighty. Why bother.”

“We usually don’t pay much attention to these people, but these families are all on good terms with our Lu family,” Madam Lu said. “Yaoyao, it would be good if you could have a look*.”

[*She is saying- you should at least go have a look/spare them some consideration”, but she’s not telling her she strongly suggests favouring any of them.]

Ye Zhen took the invitations in her hand and cast a cursory glance at them, they were all from the prestigious families of the capital. She sighed in her heart. “Grandmother, Mother, if you think I should go to the banquet, then I will go with you.”

Anyway, it was just a social gathering; if she didn’t go today, she would still have to go in the future*.

[*she couldn’t avoid it forever]

“Then, let’s go to the Wu family first,” Old Madam Lu said. “They are strict, and yet Second Young Master Wu still achieved second place this year’s examination*. They don’t seem all that bad, it is okay to take a look.”

[*Han lin examination: Examination for scholars to be court officials.]

Madam Lu smiled and turned to Aunt Chen. “Send word to the Wu family, we will be attending their banquet tomorrow.”

Aunt Chen replied in the affirmative.

Old Madam Lu had spent the last couple of days in contemplation. She had already lost a granddaughter in the palace*. So what if Yaoyao managed to enter the palace, so what if she became the empress? All her glory and doting were subject to the emperor’s whims and fancies. Should a more beautiful woman appear, would she end up with same the fate as Lu Wushuang?

[*died because she had entered the palace]

Ordinariness was also a blessing. The Lu family was now a marquis family and worthy of their ancestors. So, it was fine to not enter the palace. Finding a young talent, and living a life of harmony and beauty, wasn’t bad, right?

Having figured it all out, the matriarch was even keener to find a good match for her granddaughter.

However, Lu Lingzhi immediately objected to Ye Zhen attending the Wu banquet.

Old Madam Lu looked at him in surprise. “You praised the second young master of the Wu family before, but now that the Wu family has this intention… Let’s take a look and explore our options.”

But that was exactly the bone of his contention. I do not want Yaoyao to have too many choices, I don’t want people to see what she looks like!

“Grandmother, is this matter too urgent? His Majesty’s intentions are yet to be made clear. What if the empress dowager and the emperor have candidates?” he persisted.

“Lingzhi, your worries are unfounded. It’s not like we’re immediately settling Yaoyao’s marriage, she’s just going to the Wu residence for a banquet.” Old Madam Lu smiled as she continued, “Besides, it’s good to let everyone in the capital know that our Lu family has produced a good lady like Yaoyao. This will shut those people who have been spreading rumours that Yaoyao is ugly.”

Lu Lingzhi really wished the entire world would misunderstand his little girl, however, he couldn’t stop the matriarch from wanting to show off her granddaughter. If it were up to him, he would reveal the secrets behind Yaoyao’s birth immediately along with his wish to marry her (to his grandmother). But, he couldn’t… At least not until the emperor had made his intentions clear. Moreover, he was afraid that by revealing he would scare Yaoyao away.

“Grandmother…” Lu Lingzhi made to persuade her again.

Old Madam Lu simply waved her hand. “Don’t worry about Yaoyao. I heard that Liang Chun had a scandal outside recently, although Fang’er insisted on marrying him, she’s still your sister. Go to the Liang family, have them behave, and they ought not to make such a mess again.”

“Why did Mother find such a marriage for Fang’er?” Lu Lingzhi said with a frown.

Back then, he was being tormented by endless pain and didn’t care much about Lu Fang’s marriage. By the time he was able to recoup, the families had already settled the marriage. This was something he could not change and reckoned Liang Chun would take the Lu family into account and be more restrained. However, after Lu Wushuang’s matter, the Liang family didn’t seem to be taking the Lu family very seriously.

“Hmph, why did she(Liu Shi) want to find such a marriage for Fang’er? She originally wanted to marry Yaoyao to Liang Chun!” When it came to First Madam Lu*, Old Madam Lu couldn’t help her fury. “The entire capital knows what kind of virtues Liang Chun possesses. Since she could not reign over Yaoyao, she replace her with Fang’er. That girl is short-sighted, she was smitten by the idea of being a marquis’ wife and didn’t heed any advice no matter how we tried to dissuade her. Sigh, I am old… I can’t manage too many things for you young people, but Fang’er is your sister, after all… Your father is gone**, and you will have to stand up for her*** and make decisions when handling big events.”

[*First Madam Lu = Liu Shi, Lingzhi’s biological mother, ** dead, ***Fang’er]

Lu Lingzhi nodded. “I will visit the Liang Mansion today.”

Old Madam Lu said, “News about the incident where Liang Chun was fighting with someone over the opera singer has been spreading like wildfire. You should also lend a hand*.”

[*help spread the incident around]

“Grandmother, I know what to do,” he reassured her.

Lu Lingzhi was also a little helpless toward his mother. He understood her pain of being neglected by his father in those years, but she had brought it up on herself. Now she was avenging her grievances which would bode her no good whatsoever.

“I will go to pay my respects to Mother first.”

“Go.” Old Madam Lu waved her hand.

♚

At this moment, Mo Rongzhan was even more depressed. He had left the capital for over a month and had a lot of things piled up. He had just returned and could not wait to carry out the plan that he had brewed for a long time. However, he had somewhat underestimated his endurance.

He hadn’t expected that there would be so many people wishing to marry Yaoyao. It was only two days ago that he had issued the edict and was now flooded with the memorials and picture scrolls that the Ministry of Rites had sent him. He was hopping mad and wanted to ask Eunuch Fu to burn them all.

“Just these few, do as zhen had instructed you.” Mo Rongzhan took out a few memorials and gave them to Tang Zhen.

“Your Majesty, when will the matter about you…,” Tang Zhen said in a low voice, “…be spread out?”

“Have the Abbot of Hu Guo Temple spread the words today,” Mo Rongzhan said coldly.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Tang Zhen responded, “Your Majesty, the Empress dowager … do you want to apprise her first?”

Although Mo Rongzhan had spent a considerable amount of time formulating this plan, he had forgotten to talk to his mother about it. “Zhen will have someone explain to Imperial Mother, you can carry on without a worry.”

With that, Tang Zhen was reassured. He was afraid that the empress dowager would punish him for spreading rumors, but now his worries had been laid to rest.

♚♚♚