Warm sunlight shone on the courtyard.

The snow on the rooftop had all melted, with snowmelt dripping steadily.

The weather was still very cold. Yun Chu sat in the warm pavilion looking at account books, occasionally raising her head to watch the two children chasing each other in the courtyard.

“Miss, an imperial decree has arrived from the palace!”

Tingfeng came rushing in hurriedly from the front courtyard.

On the other side of the gate passage, Steward Cheng ran over and said: “Miss Yun, someone from the palace has come to announce a decree to the Prince. This old servant will take the two young masters to the front courtyard to receive the decree.”

Yun Chu had already guessed what the decree was about.

She quickly changed into proper attire and followed the maid to the front courtyard.

The one announcing the decree was Eunuch Gao from beside the Emperor.

“Miss Yun, please receive the decree.”

Yun Chu knelt down in the front courtyard.

“By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: It is heard that Yun Chu, daughter of Grand General Zhuguo and Grand Marshal, possesses serene grace and gentle softness, unfailingly observant and harmoniously benevolent. She and Prince Pingxi are a Heaven-made match. To fulfill this Heaven-bestowed union, Yun Chu of the Yun Family is hereby enfeoffed as Princess Consort of Prince Pingxi. The new National Preceptor has divined that the twenty-eighth day of the second month is an auspicious date. The wedding shall be completed on this auspicious occasion, the twenty-eighth day of the second month. By this decree!”

“Let the titled lady receive the decree!”

Yun Chu raised both hands above her head and received the imperial decree.

On the other side of a wall, Chu Yi also received the imperial decree.

The one who came to announce the decree to him was Minister Qiu from the Ministry of Rites. Minister Qiu’s eyebrows were furrowed so tightly they could crush a fly: “It’s only mid-first month now, yet the grand wedding is set for late second month. Only one month’s time—it’s truly too hasty. If the Ministry of Rites has any oversights or fails to attend to anything, please forgive us, Prince!”

Chu Yi felt it was still too slow.

If it weren’t for the fact that the first month truly had no auspicious dates, he would wish to marry Yun Chu tomorrow.

These days, one after another, were too difficult to endure.

He opened his mouth to inquire: “May I ask Minister Qiu, after the marriage is bestowed, what do I need to do next?”

Minister Qiu stroked his beard: “When children of the imperial family marry, that is the Ministry of Rites’ business. All matters are handled by the Ministry of Rites. The Prince only needs to handle official business in advance and wait until that day to go to the Yun residence to welcome the bride.”

Chu Yi changed his approach to ask: “When nobles of the capital marry noble ladies, generally speaking, what is the process?”

“That would at minimum be three matchmakers and six rites.” Minister Qiu spoke knowledgeably. “One must invite three matchmakers—one from the groom’s side, one from the bride’s side, and one responsible for bridging and connecting. The six rites refer to: initial presentation of gifts, requesting the name, divination for approval, presenting betrothal gifts, requesting the wedding date, and personally welcoming the bride. Each process has rules passed down since ancient times… By the way, why is the Prince asking about this?”

When members of the imperial family took wives, a single imperial decree bestowing marriage was sufficient. There was fundamentally no need for three matchmakers and six rites.

Chu Yi had someone bring out writing materials and place them on the table: “Then please have Minister Qiu write out these processes clearly.”

Minister Qiu was somewhat incredulous.

Could it be that Prince Pingxi intended to welcome Miss Yun with the rites of three matchmakers and six ceremonies?

Chu Yi indeed planned exactly this.

Taking the process written by Minister Qiu, he commanded Steward Cheng at his side: “Immediately go invite the best matchmaker in the entire capital.”

Before the Yun Family could react, the matchmaker Chu Yi had invited arrived at their door. The matchmaker’s first visit was actually to ask the woman’s side about their intentions. Since the imperial decree had already been issued, what other intentions could there be? It was just going through the motions, expressing the man’s side’s regard.

The next day, the matchmaker came again. This was the second step—requesting the name, obtaining Yun Chu’s eight characters, and then proceeding to divination for approval, which meant asking the newly appointed National Preceptor to re-match the eight characters before the ancestral tablets of the imperial family’s forebears.

Generally speaking, the eight characters of both the man and woman had to be offered in the ancestral hall for three days. If nothing happened during these three days, it would be greatly auspicious.

After these three days passed, it came to presenting betrothal gifts, commonly known as the engagement.

For the convenience of the marriage arrangements, Yun Chu was ordered by Lin Shi to move back to the Yun residence, because where she had been living, in Lin Shi’s view, was no different from living together with Chu Yi.

Since ancient times, there had been a rule that men and women must not meet before marriage.

After Yun Chu moved back to the Yun residence, she hadn’t seen Chu Yi for four or five days. Every day Lin Shi required her to sit in the room with the embroiderers working on her wedding dress.

She didn’t have the patience to embroider a wedding dress. Instead, she had someone make a trip to the south. When her father went to the south, he had stockpiled some grain that could just be used to relieve the disaster-stricken people… However, now that the Yun Family was in the limelight, it was unsuitable to donate grain alone. Rather, they should join with other ministers and, through the Ministry of Finance, contribute their share of goodwill.

Soon it was the day of the engagement, which was the day for the groom’s side to present betrothal gifts.

Prince Pingxi, bringing several hundred guards, went from Prince Pingxi’s residence to the gates of the Yun residence.

The people at the very front had already arrived, while the last person was still at the corner of East Street. The vast and mighty procession in bright red occupied the entire street, causing people to click their tongues in amazement.

“Heavens, how many betrothal gifts are there?”

“Didn’t Prince Pingxi not want to take a wife? How does it seem like he’s eagerly pursuing this?”

“Don’t you know? The new National Preceptor said that Prince Pingxi and Miss Yun are a Heaven-made match. If he doesn’t marry Miss Yun, he’ll be lonely and alone for the rest of his life.”

“Besides, the Yun Family is extraordinary now. Grand General Zhuguo, Grand Marshal—these two official positions are too impressive. Moreover, General Yun is still young and will probably remain in office for at least another twenty or thirty years. That means the Yun Family can remain illustrious for at least another thirty-plus years. For Prince Pingxi to marry a daughter of the Yun Family is not a loss.”

“But Miss Yun of the Yun Family has been married before. For an imperial prince to marry a remarried woman is still a bit disgraceful.”

“Look at these betrothal gifts—do you still think it’s disgraceful?”

“Exactly. This display surpasses even that of the Crown Princess back in the day. Who knows how much the dowry will be when the time comes…”

Betrothal gifts flowed like water into the Yun residence, making people extremely envious.

Lin Shi was also stunned.

These items were probably worth seventy or eighty thousand taels of silver. There wasn’t a second example in the entire capital.

Whether a person was sincere couldn’t be seen just by looking with the eyes, but could be felt through their actions.

Lin Shi truly believed in Prince Pingxi’s determination to seek her daughter’s hand in marriage.

Chu Yi hadn’t seen Yun Chu for many days. He coughed and said: “Madam Yun, may I see Miss Yun? I have additional betrothal gifts for her.”

Lin Shi simply couldn’t speak words of refusal and had the steward invite Yun Chu to come.

Yun Chu saw the courtyard filled with more than a hundred red chests. She couldn’t help but pinch the bridge of her nose. They had agreed to keep things low-key, so why was this man being so high-profile?

Chu Yi approached her and said in a low voice: “The entire capital says I’m only willing to marry you due to pressure from various quarters. I want to tell them that’s not the case.”

Now that the marriage was settled, he didn’t need to conceal his emotions anymore.

He wanted to make her a woman envied by everyone in the entire capital.

He wanted people to know that even though she was marrying for the second time, she was worthy of receiving the best sincerity in this world.

Chu Yi took a small box from the steward’s hands and handed it over: “Here are all my estates, properties, shops, as well as deposit receipts from banks, and also command tokens for household troops and hidden guards. These are all my betrothal gifts. Chu’er, keep them safe.”

Yun Chu was astonished.

Handing over estates, properties, and shops for her to manage—generally these were indeed given to the wife to manage.

But household troops and hidden guards were an imperial prince’s greatest trump cards, yet he had just handed them into her hands like this.

Wasn’t he afraid…

“Chu’er, you’re worth it.”

Yun Chu’s heart warmed.

She steadied her spirits, raised her head, and said: “Now with the earthquake in the south, yet you’re being so high-profile in presenting betrothal gifts, you’ll definitely be impeached by the Censorate. You…”

“Don’t worry.” Chu Yi grasped her hand. “Before presenting the betrothal gifts, I already donated ten thousand taels of silver to the south.”

“Cough, cough, cough, cough!” Hearing that Prince Pingxi had come to present betrothal gifts, Yun Silin immediately rushed back. As a result, upon returning, he saw Chu Yi holding his daughter’s small hand. He immediately walked over and squeezed between them. “Not even married yet, and already being all clingy…”