Simultaneous travel: City, infinite evolution

Chapter 247 The Lü Clan's Relatives
"what!"

The butler stood up abruptly, his heart skipping a beat.

"Explain clearly, what do you mean by 'Prince Fusu has come to propose marriage'?"

"It was Prince Fusu who came to propose marriage to some kind of gentleman."

"Come with me, we're going to see Lord Lü right away."

"Here."

The steward and his servants rushed off to see Lord Lü.

Lu Gongzheng was holding a bamboo slip and reading a book.

"Lord Lü, Lord Lü, something terrible has happened."

"What's the panic? You're an elder in the family. You should have the composure to remain calm even if Mount Tai collapses in front of you."

The housekeeper composed himself and tried to calm his breathing, which had become disordered from running.

"Lord Lü, Prince Fusu has come to propose marriage on behalf of a gentleman."

"what!"

Lu Gong jumped up from his seat with a whoosh, not at all like an old man.

"Who are you talking about?"

"Fusu!"

"It is the current prince, Fusu."

Lu Gong finally confirmed that he was not hard of hearing, but he was still very puzzled.

"its not right."

“My family has no connection with Prince Fusu, we are worlds apart, how could we rashly come to propose marriage?”

The person who could persuade Prince Fusu to come to my aid could not possibly know my family.

Could it be that Lü Zhi and Lü Su caught the eye of some noble young master during their trip to Xianyang that day?

"It's over, it's over, Chen Hong and I have already made a marriage agreement."

What are we going to do when this rich young master suddenly appears out of nowhere?

The Lü family cannot afford to offend someone who can persuade Fusu to come.

If we refuse him outright, wouldn't that offend Prince Fusu of the court?
"How could we possibly manage that?"

Just as Lü Gongcheng was filled with trepidation and worry.

Just then, the two sisters who had come to see Master Lü heard the commotion and quickly came in.

"What happened?"

"Father, what's wrong with you?"

Lü Zhi and Lü Su quickly supported Lü Gong, who was on the verge of fainting, on either side.

"Oh dear, this is terrible, this is terrible."

"What's wrong?" The two sisters looked puzzled and asked each other blankly.

"Oh dear, you all don't know, but the young master Fusu of the current dynasty has actually come to propose marriage to some kind of gentleman."

"what?"

The two sisters were so shocked that their eyes widened and their pupils contracted.

"How can this be?"

"Father, are you sure you heard me right?"

The butler quickly stepped forward and replied, "Ladies, it is indeed true."

"Right now, Prince Fusu is waiting at the gate."

“I asked, and it was a three-horse carriage that came, accompanied by soldiers.”

Although it was somewhat shabby for the emperor's son, it was indeed a system reserved for the nobility.

I have heard that the current prince, Fusu, is a refined and gentle man, simple in nature, and dislikes extravagance.

That's... pretty much it.

Even if it weren't for Prince Fusu, they're still not someone our family can afford to offend.

Empress Lü Zhi and Empress Lü Su were struck dumb, and stood there stunned for a moment.

"Zhi'er, Susu, what's wrong with you? Don't frighten your father."

Lu Gong shook the two sisters to bring them back to their senses.

Empress Lü immediately spoke up angrily: "Father, I implore you to reject this marriage proposal."

The child will marry no one but Honglang in this life, and will never marry some nobleman she doesn't even know.

If the father is under pressure, the child will take matters into his own hands.

Even if it offends powerful figures, I will use any means necessary to end this marriage.

Lu Su's eyes were resolute, and she simply said one sentence:

"I will marry no one but Honglang in this life."

If Father is forcing me, please forgive my filial impiety.

"I lack my sister's abilities; I can only prove my loyalty with my death."

"You... you..."

Lu Gong looked at his two daughters with a tender yet complicated gaze.

There's a bittersweet feeling of having your precious daughter, whom you've raised for over a decade, snatched away, and a sense of relief at seeing your daughter grow up and become independent.

"Why are you doing this to yourselves? Sigh..."

"Please grant my request, Father."

"Enough, enough. I never intended to marry you two off to that powerful and wealthy man I've never met."

"After I, your father, have refused Prince Fusu's request."

"Young Master Fusu is kind and gentle, and I'm sure he won't hold my Lü family accountable."

"As for being resented by that nobleman, at worst, my Lü family will withdraw from Xianyang and return to our hometown."

"I refuse to believe that they can really control everything."

"Although my Lü family is engaged in commerce, we are also descendants of nobles, and all the members of our family are brave and skilled warriors."

Furthermore, Hong'er is a celestial being reincarnated, and has no fear of those powerful and influential people.

"Father!..."

The two women looked at their elderly father, who seemed to be fighting desperately, with emotion.

"Good daughter, good daughter..."

Lu Gong held his two daughters with comfort, his eyes moist.

Chen Hong, who was wandering in the courtyard, saw through the walls and witnessed the whole process, and also heard their conversation. He chuckled.

"They're quite sensible; they do have some composure and insight."

With Chen Hong's discerning eye, he could certainly see that the old fox Lü Gong was both acting and gambling.

But the world is bustling, all for profit; the world is in turmoil, all for gain.

Faced with an unknown and powerful blow, being able to hold on, believe in Chen Hong, and withstand the pressure is already quite remarkable.

"Fine, I'll give your Lü family some benefits."

"Consider it a return on your investment." Recalling the Lü family's investment in Liu Bang in history, the family produced many talented individuals, and many members of the Lü family were no less capable in battle than the elite troops of Pei County.

Even the Han dynasty's rule was originally half won by the Lü family.

Or rather, half of the original shares belonged to the Lü family.

This is also the source of Lü Zhi's confidence in being so assertive towards Liu Bang.

Because she was a partner in Liu Bang's company, not Liu Bang's vassal.

Liu Bang's rise to power was largely due to his early dependence on women.

However, after Liu Bang gained control of the country, he wanted to kick the Lü family out of the game and let the Liu family secure the throne and pass it down from generation to generation.

Therefore, he frequently considered deposing Crown Prince Liu Ying and installing his favorite Liu Ruyi as the new crown prince.

The essence of their goal was to eliminate the influence of the Lü family.

Because Crown Prince Liu Ying was Empress Lü's eldest son, he had half of the Lü family bloodline.

When he became emperor, his descendants all carried the bloodline of the Lü family, and the Lü family was always related to the emperor through marriage.

This threat is far too great for the Liu family.

Unfortunately, Empress Lü was too shrewd and won the hearts of the entrepreneurial team and meritorious marquises in Pei County. The Lü family was also very powerful, and establishing the eldest son as heir was the popular trend since the Zhou Dynasty.

Even Liu Bang, in the end, could not go against the will of the people and the general trend, and could not depose the crown prince.

Empress Lü won; she outlived Liu Bang.

In terms of lifespan, they achieved victory.

Crown Prince Liu Ying ascended the throne, and Empress Lü assumed regency.

If Empress Lü hadn't become confused in her old age and made a large number of her relatives into kings and marquises, offending both the Liu clan and the meritorious officials, she would have been different.

Before his death, he handed over military power to the Lü family, which was tantamount to taking away the livelihood of the meritorious officials, and thoroughly angered them.

The meritorious officials united, along with the Liu clan who had long wanted to eliminate the Lü family, and a wave of "Lü Rebellion" wiped out the entire Lü clan.

Otherwise, given the power and special status of the Lü family, they might indeed have remained in-laws for generations, making them difficult to eliminate.

They were similar to the powerful clans of the Jin Dynasty; even after the Jin Dynasty fell, they didn't all die out.

Since the Lü family disaster, the Han Dynasty has suffered from "relatives of the empress dowager stress syndrome".

From then on, whenever the power of the maternal relatives became too great, they would be feared and purged by the emperor, without exception.

However, the emperor also needs the assistance of his maternal relatives to maintain power and balance the power in the court.

Thus, a vicious cycle of rising maternal relatives—the maternal relatives becoming too powerful—the maternal relatives being destroyed—and the rise of new maternal relatives was created.

After all, for the emperor, no matter how bad the maternal relatives were, they were still better than outsiders like powerful clans and local magnates.

The threat posed by powerful clans and local magnates undermining a family's power is far greater than that of the arrogance and domineering behavior of the emperor's relatives.

But if the maternal relatives want to seize imperial power, it's like striking right into the heart of the matter, requiring a heavy blow.

That being said, since Chen Hong's family had no throne to inherit, he didn't care about the issue of maternal relatives.

He was fairly satisfied with the Lü family's performance, so he considered them to have passed the test.

Chen Hong walked to the main hall and met everyone.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Lord Lü, what has happened?"

"Zhi'er, Susu, why are you crying?"

Chen Hong looked completely bewildered and confused.

“Oh dear, Hong’er, you don’t know,” Lu Gong quickly got up and complained.

"Young Master Fusu has actually come to the Lü residence in person to propose marriage for a gentleman. He is already outside the door."

"Look, what should we do about this?"

Lu Gong looked at Chen Hong with expectant eyes, hoping that this mysterious and unpredictable future son-in-law would solve this problem himself.

"Son!"

The two women disregarded etiquette and, in their anxiety, quickly hugged Chen Hong, making a firm statement.

"My sister and I will not marry anyone but you, and we will never agree to that marriage."

What about Prince Fusu?
If you force us, we will prove our loyalty with our lives!

Chen Hong was somewhat touched and patted the two women's heads.

"Why so?"

"You have misunderstood."

"A misunderstanding?"

Everyone stared at Chen Hong, somewhat bewildered.

“That young master Fusu is the matchmaker I invited.”

"what???"

Everyone was stunned, their mouths agape.

"Young Master Fusu, was he invited by you?"

"That's right." Chen Hong nodded affirmatively.

"Young master, you actually have such influence that you invited the emperor's son?"

Lü Zhi and Lü Su looked up at Chen Hong in surprise from within his arms.

Lu Gong slapped his thigh and cried out in despair:
"Oh dear, Hong'er, look at how you've handled this! Why didn't you give us a heads-up beforehand? It's made us all misunderstand."

"Hurry up!"

"Steward, hurry and go to answer Prince Fusu according to etiquette."

"Don't keep Prince Fusu waiting any longer."

"Zhi'er, Susu, you two go back inside quickly and don't see any guests."

"And you, Hong'er, you'd better hide quickly."

According to etiquette, you shouldn't show up; you'll make a fool of yourself.

"Let's go!"

With a flick of his sleeve, Lü Gong displayed the vigor and decisiveness characteristic of an old man.

Chen Hong had no choice but to take Lü Zhi and Lü Su back to the backyard.

He didn't even mention it to his future bride, but he's already living in the same house with her.

Only Chen Hong could come up with such a bizarre scene.

If it were anyone else, they would be torn apart by the common people. Not observing such etiquette would become a topic of conversation, something to gossip about and criticize during leisure time. Even nobles would laugh at a poor family that doesn't know etiquette.

The butler rushed to the back of the gate.

I tidied myself up, calmed my breathing, opened the door, and acted as the usher.

When Fusu saw the gate open and someone come out, he was about to pay his respects according to etiquette.

Suddenly I realized that I didn't even know the gentleman's name.

So he quickly opened the letter of appointment to check the name.

Unexpectedly, what I found was quite shocking.

(End of this chapter)