Since the Emperor had ascended to the throne, he had appointed an Empress but she had died a sudden death before their marriage took place. Many years had passed, and the position of Empress was left empty. His Majesty did not seem eager to marry an Empress and even his imperial harem only had a few concubines. It was all just for show.
Moreover, His Majesty appointed his elder brother’s son as the Heir Apparent. The people could not help but wonder if His Majesty had virility issues, which was why he had never produced a child all these years and was left with no choice but to cast his brother’s son as the Heir Apparent.
As everyone watched this situation unfold and were quite certain the above was the case, His Majesty unexpectedly decided on a new Empress.
If His Majesty had begun taking in a huge bevy of beauties, no one would be surprised about it. However, His Majesty was marrying an Empress and this prompted people to pry deeper into the situation.
Moreover, the woman he was marrying was a daughter of the Grand Duke Family.
Some only looked at the surface-level situation, while others dove further into it.
The Grand Duke Family had never involved themselves in the fight for power within the imperial court. They had never taken a side and would never unite with the imperial family through marriage.
However, the Grand Duke Family now had two daughters married into the imperial family, one after the other. This had gotten everyone speculating.
What was His Majesty thinking?
He had to know that the Crown Princess, Lu Yunshuang, was the daughter of the Grand Duke, while Lu Liangwei had once been obsessively infatuated with the Crown Prince herself. This situation would surely bother His Majesty if he was marrying Lu Liangwei, right?
Although, it would undoubtedly be interesting to see the Crown Prince and Crown Princess’s reaction to this.
Some considered that His Majesty might not like the Crown Prince he had chosen, so he was marrying Lu Liangwei to annoy the Crown Prince.
To think about it, how terrible would it be to have a woman he discarded now become his aunt overnight, who he was now required to greet politely daily?
Regardless of everyone’s opinions on the matter, Lu Liangwei becoming the Empress of the Great Shang Kingdom remained a fact.
A woman who had been despised by everyone was set to become the most noble woman in the world. This was something that bothered everyone quite a bit.
However, no matter how dissatisfied they were about it, there was nothing much to do. They could only prepare their gifts in a quietly unhappy manner as they made plans to get into the future Empress’ good graces.
The next day, two unwelcome visitors came knocking on the doors of the Grand Duke Mansion.
Zhu Yu was heading out to purchase some things and had just walked out the gates.
A sarcastic smile appeared on her lips when she saw the people coming down from the horse carriage.
Did they rush here to curry favor with Miss now that they had found out that the Emperor was marrying and appointing her as an Empress?
Zhu Yu thought about this with contempt but remembered what Miss had instructed her. Her expression must never reveal her thoughts.
She stepped forward to greet the new arrivals with a friendly charm.
“Zhu Yu greets the Crown Prince and Crown Princess!”
Long Chi, Lu Yunshuang, and even Hong Xiu possessed a complicated expression when they saw her.
“You may rise.” Long Chi took quite a while to react.
He had over-exhausted himself the night before in bed and was now sporting a dark shadow beneath his eyes. Even his legs seemed to have an unstable step.
Zhu Yu secretly sized him up with a glance. She used to think the Crown Prince was quite good-looking, but now as she was seeing him again she wondered why her Miss had such bad taste before.
His Majesty was the better man.
Noble and dignified, mature and generous.
The Crown Prince looked petty and unseemly. Would he be fit to take over after inheriting the Great Shang Kingdom?
Long Chi darted his eyes to her. He looked like he wanted to ask her something, but did not say a word as Lu Yunshuang was present.
A smile suddenly appeared on Lu Yunshuang’s face. “Zhu Yu, are you heading out right now? Is Second Miss around?”
Zhu Yu nodded with a wide smile on her face. “Yes, she is. She’s chatting with the Dowager Duchess. Do you want to come in?”
However, she was criticizing Lu Yunshuang in her head. Lu Yunshuang prided herself as being an extraordinary person, acting as if she was the Empress before even ascending to the throne. It was a wonderful feeling to think about how she was now forcefully demoted a rank lower and would never have the chance to act arrogantly again when facing her Miss.