I have suffered enough in my previous life, my cousin will never marry me

Chapter 16 This marriage is really not possible
Ji Yuan entered the palace and rushed straight to the Yangxin Palace in a hurry.

She earnestly told the emperor about her distress for a long time, trying to beg him to cancel the Gu family's marriage, but the emperor remained indifferent.

Just when he was feeling exhausted, he suddenly saw a palace maid coming hurriedly to report.

"Your Majesty, the wife of Marquis Wuping has brought the two young masters of the Duke of Rongguo's mansion to the Cining Palace."

Ji Yuan was delighted and quickly added, "Your Majesty, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I only have this legitimate daughter. Your Majesty knows the Queen Mother's intentions very well. If you really push through this marriage, and the Gu family uses my daughter as a threat one day, how will I cope?"

"Mr. Ji, you are too kind," the emperor sneered.

He knew the Prime Minister's thoughts very well.

How much can one feel sorry for a daughter who has been raised outside and ignored for more than ten years? It's nothing more than profit.

But the throne of Daye was still in his hands after all, and it was not the Queen Mother's turn to make plans. Even if a crown prince was to be appointed, he, the emperor, would have the final say. How could he allow his relatives to interfere in politics?

Compared with the marriage between the Gu and Ji families, he would rather let the two major forces be incompatible, so as to balance the power of the court, so that he can enjoy a few more years of peace.

But in front of Ji Yuan, he couldn't reveal his thoughts nakedly.

"Ji Qing, you should know that although I was not born by the Queen Mother, it was she who helped me ascend to the throne. She and I have a deep mother-son relationship for so many years. How could I possibly go against her?"

It was a serious remark, but Ji Yuan almost burst out laughing.

Others may not know the relationship between mother and son, so how could he not know?
The emperor is just a puppet supported by the empress dowager. He has been held hostage by the empress dowager since he ascended the throne. If it were not for him planning for the emperor, I am afraid that the emperor would still be at the mercy of the Gu family in his sixties.

"Your Majesty, please forgive my daring."

Seeing that the emperor was deliberately teasing him, Ji Yuan bluntly said, "The Empress Dowager knew that Wanwan was my daughter, yet she deliberately bypassed me in arranging a marriage for my daughter. This is humiliating me and deliberately sowing discord between the emperor and his subjects. If I can't even decide on my daughter's marriage, how can I have the prestige to serve Your Majesty in the future?"

This was a wake-up call, and the emperor's calm heart was finally shaken and he began to feel anxious.

Ji Yuan was his most trusted minister and must not be manipulated by the Queen Mother.

Thinking of the humiliation he had suffered over the years, the emperor gradually strengthened his conviction.

"It seems like it's time to break up with the Queen Mother."

Hesitantly picking up a scroll of policy papers from his desk, the emperor slowly walked up to Ji Yuan and said with a faint smile, "Don't worry, Mr. Ji. I have an article here. Please take a look at it for me first."

Ji Yuan didn't understand what the emperor meant. He took it hesitantly, took a quick look at it, and immediately showed admiration: "Excellent article, the literary ideas flow like a river, every word is a pearl, every sentence is sonorous, it has the potential to be the top scholar."

"Ji Qing's vision is indeed so unique."

The emperor smiled with satisfaction, "This man is none other than the top-ranked candidate in the Spring Examination sent by the Ministry of Rites. His name is Ji Yunze, and I heard he's from the same hometown as Ji Qing."

Ji Yuan's face was slightly shocked. "I didn't expect that a small Tongyang would have such a great talent. I am really ignorant."

"Now is the time to use people, I want to make use of this person."

The emperor said decisively, "Ji Qing's second daughter has reached marriageable age. I intend to arrange a marriage for the two of them. What do you think, Ji Qing?"

Hearing that the emperor was trying to recruit helpers for him, Ji Yuan already had an idea in his mind: "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will inform my daughter of this matter when I return home today."

"Very good."

The emperor nodded in satisfaction, ordered his men to collect the test papers, and walked straight out of the Yangxin Palace. "Come on, follow me to the Cining Palace to see all the excitement in the Gu family."

With two happy events happening in one day, Ji Yuan looked extremely happy. He followed the emperor out in a hurry.

At this time in the Cining Palace, Empress Dowager Gu and Gu An were already worried about the arranged marriage. When they heard that Gu Tingzhou and Gu Tingchen had led the people from the Wuping Marquis' Mansion into the palace, Empress Dowager Gu was so angry that she smashed the teacup in her hand to the ground.

"That bastard." Queen Mother Gu was seething with rage, cursing, "The Ye family at least knows me well. The eldest daughter of the Ye family did something righteous that impressed me. I wanted Tingzhou to marry Wanwan as a way to repay the Ye family's kindness. How could that evil creature be so ungrateful?"

Gu An frowned and said, "Your Majesty, please don't be angry. It's all my fault for not raising my son well. I will go and beat that rebellious son to death right now."

"If you were really willing to beat me to death, why would you have endured it until now?"

Queen Mother Gu called him back, pressing one hand heavily on the pearwood tea table. "Their brothers have called the woman from the Wuping Marquis family. If we don't handle this properly, do you want to watch your eldest brother-in-law march down the city?"

"He dares." Gu An said angrily, "Even if Xie Zhan had the guts to do this, he wouldn't dare to disobey the Queen Mother like this."

"What about the one in Yangxin Palace?"

Empress Dowager Gu reminded her, "Xie has been dead for so many years. If you injure the two evildoers, how confident are you that Xie Zhan will obey you?"

Gu An suddenly choked.

Xie Zhan already had resentment about his remarriage. If it weren't for the fact that his second wife loved his two sons, that guy would have come to the mansion to make trouble countless times.

"Bring the person in first." Empress Dowager Gu sighed and waved to Zhou Fuhai.

Soon, Chang led Gu Tingzhou, Gu Tingchen and Jiang Yueling into the Cining Palace.

The first time she saw Jiang Yueling, Empress Dowager Gu frowned deeply.

"A filthy bitch like you is allowed to enter my Cining Palace? You are totally disrespectful to the law."

Empress Dowager Gu said gloomily, "Come here, drag this shameless creature away and castrate him."

Jiang Yueling was so frightened that her legs went limp and she collapsed to the ground.

Gu Tingzhou quickly knelt down and begged for mercy: "Aunt, this matter has nothing to do with Yue Ling. It's all my fault. If you have any dissatisfaction, please direct it to me."

"How dare I?"

She was originally scolding Gu Tingzhou, but instead she glared at Chang and pounded the floor with her cane, "You're just one step away from forcing me to abdicate. If I torture you today, I'm afraid in a few days, you two brothers will have to take my own life."

Hearing the sound, Gu Tingchen and Chang knelt down one after another.

"Aunt, this matter is not my elder brother's fault, and even less so Yue Ling's."

Gu Tingchen said, "It's actually Ye Wanshu who has evil intentions and has teamed up with stepmother and Ji Yuan to plot against our Gu family."

"Plotting against the Gu family?" Queen Mother Gu glanced at Gu An in confusion: "What's going on?"

Before his father could speak, Gu Tingzhou interrupted him, "Aunt, Ji Yuan is in the palace right now. He must have known that my grandson wanted to break off the engagement, and he rushed to the palace to ask His Majesty and the Queen Mother for help."

Looking up at his great-aunt and father, seeing the suspicion on their faces, Gu Tingzhou continued, "Ji Yuan is cunning and treacherous. He has been letting Ye Wanshu get close to my grandson and Tingchen for years. I'm afraid this is his plan to undermine the relationship between the Rongguo Mansion and my great-aunt."

Hearing this, Queen Mother Gu took a deep breath.

She had already seen Ji Yuan's methods.

Over the years, he has been secretly winning over court officials for the emperor without realizing it. If he is allowed to collude with his nephew, the kingdom of Daye will be completely out of his control.

I'm afraid this marriage really can't happen.

Just at this moment, the young eunuch guarding the door suddenly walked in.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty and the Prime Minister are here to see you."

(End of this chapter)