Chapter 322 – The Imperial Decree (2)
When Ye Zhen and Old Madam Lu returned to the Lu Mansion they spoke nothing about the news of her becoming (or about to become) a princess. After all, the imperial edict hadn’t been passed yet, it wouldn’t do good for them to get everybody’s hopes up for nothing should something untoward happen.
However, Ye Zhen still secretly told Pei Shi.
Pei Shi was happy and sad at the same time. She didn’t know whether or not this daughter that she had held so carefully in the palm of her hand from the time of her birth would drift away from her after becoming a princess. “Yaoyao, you are fortunate.”
Ye Zhen grabbed her arm and said, “Mother, no matter what I become in the future, you will always be my mother. ”
Pei Shi’s heart immediately melted into a puddle. “Don’t continue going to the academy after you become a princess.”
“I want to go. In two days, I also want to attend the examination,” Ye Zhen said cheerily. Unknowingly, she had already fallen in love with medicine. She thought that it was great that she could save people with her medical skills. Though she had become a princess, and her status was now different, but what difference did that make? It was just an imperial edict. There was a possibility that she might no longer be a princess one day.
She wanted to learn medicine and be as skilled as Mister Chen. Then, at that time, no matter what stood against her, she would have the confidence to face it.
Pei Shi furrowed her brows in distaste. “What, are there any princesses who have also become imperial physicians? ”
“But there have been empresses in the past dynasties that have left the comforts of the palace to cure people,” Ye Zhen countered.
“You…you… you.” Pei Shi looked at her daughter helplessly, “Since when did you get so many big ideas? It is fine, whatever you do as long as you get the empress dowager’s permission.”
Ye Zhen smiled and said, “The empress dowager says I’m free to do whatever I like.”
Since things had come to this, there was nothing Pei Shi could say. She didn’t even know why the empress dowager so treasured her daughter. She always felt all this was surreal.
The next morning, the said imperial edict arrived.
Ye Zhen was made Princess Furong, with Furong as her title. It was clear as day, the empress dowager’s love and respect for her. Apart from the small minority that had already known about this, the rest of the people were shocked.
Why was it so sudden? How has the Lu Family suddenly produced an incomparably noble princess?
The moment Liu Shi and Wang Shi heard the imperial decree, their faces instantly fell. With gloom, their gazes looked towards Ye Zhen more probingly.
“Yaoyao becoming a princess is a happy event. Give everyone in the family five taels of silver,” Old Madam Lu said with a smile. Only after getting the imperial edict could she rest her heart. That was the truth.
“Mother, do you want to have a banquet and invite all of our relatives and friends?” Lu Shixun asked with a smile, as he was naturally happy to see his niece becoming a princess. Now, there would be no more sisters turning their backs against each other. Also, Yaoyao could still be of help to his oldest niece, Lu Wushuang, in the future.
Lu Shiming frowned and said, “Don’t be too ostentatious about the banquet business for the time being. We are still in the midst of a battle with the western regions. The emperor has ordered the court to be frugal.”
“Then we will celebrate privately,” Old Madam Lu declared.
♚
Although the Lu Family deliberately kept a low profile, the news that Ye Zhen was bestowed the title of Princess quickly spread. The happiest of all was Lu Wushuang. When she got word, she suddenly felt that her cousin was a lot more likable than before. A lot!
As for the subject of the hot topic, Ye Zhen, she had no significant thoughts whatsoever. Upon visiting the palace to express her gratitude along with Old Madam Lu, she returned to school. Today, Huangfu Chen would start teaching at the School of Medicine. He had promised that he would teach her divination. She didn’t want to miss any of Mister Chen’s lessons.
It wasn’t just her. Word had spread like wildfire in the academy that Huangfu Chen would be teaching at the School of Medicine. The entire school was rife with excitement, after all, who was Huangfu Chen?
Though the erstwhile imperial family of Huangfu had long lost its reign upon the fall of their dynasty, the empresses Qi Yanling and Zhao Linxiu had created an unprecedented prosperous era. Who knew what kind of power they had left overseas or in other areas?