This matter was naturally settled just like that. Ye Jingkuan personally went to inform Emperor Jianzhang of this news.
Emperor Jianzhang was somewhat surprised: “You need to ask me about matters of marriage?”
Princess Rongcheng was favored by Emperor Jianzhang, and by extension, Ye Jingkuan was also highly regarded by the emperor. He felt little fear in the emperor’s presence and spoke frankly: “Father Emperor also knows that our second son is a foolish boy without much guile. He’s stubborn—once he likes a girl, he won’t turn back until he hits a wall.”
Emperor Jianzhang dipped his brush in cinnabar to review memorials, asking seemingly carelessly yet with apparent deeper meaning: “Oh, is it not because of your mother empress and elder sister-in-law?”
“You see, that’s exactly what I was afraid everyone would think. Thinking that repeated rumors make the untrue seem true and accumulated slander destroys a person, I wanted to come report to Father Emperor.” Ye Jingkuan was frank and sincere. “We already have a princess… Father Emperor, do you think we are such short-sighted people?”
Princess Rongcheng was Empress Lu’s own daughter. If the Prince of Zhennan’s household wanted to curry favor with those in power, they would have already done so long ago. There was no need to accept Lu Chonghua to show loyalty to Empress Lu, and besides, the current Lu family was not worth it.
Emperor Jianzhang liked this forthright manner of Ye Jingkuan’s. Zhou Weizhao had already mentioned the matter of Lu Chonghua and Ye Jingchuan to him before, and Lai Chenglong had also reported how Ye Jingchuan and Lu Chonghua had become acquainted in Huizhou. He naturally hated Uncle Lu to the bone—even burning him to ashes in a fire would not satisfy his hatred—but for Lu Chonghua, who had been detested by Uncle Lu and whose life he had even sought, he truly bore no ill will. Moreover, the Prince of Zhennan was now in Xibei with his fate unknown. The Prince of Zhennan’s household making this request did not seem unreasonable to him.
He therefore laughed: “I already said that matters of marriage are for you to decide yourselves, yet you still have so much to say.”
His words had barely fallen when a scout rushed in carrying a document, gasping for breath, his voice raised several degrees: “Urgent report! Urgent report! Your Majesty, urgent report from Xibei!”
Emperor Jianzhang stood up with a whoosh and immediately summoned all the elders from the duty room to his side. He first took the battle report and glanced over it, then his face filled with joy as he exclaimed: “I knew it! I knew it!”
After saying this, he directly handed the battle report to Chief Minister Chang, his face full of delight as he had him read it aloud.
Chief Minister Chang’s eyes swept over it, first shocked then delighted. He read aloud the memorials from Hu Yingming and the Prince of Zhennan, and his eyes actually became moist: “Congratulations to Your Majesty! Felicitations to Your Majesty!”
The memorials from the Prince of Zhennan and Hu Yingming both described the battle situation in extreme detail—how they had defended Jinzhong, how they had waited for reinforcements from Marquis Dingyuan, and how they had taken Yangquan and forced Wu Qianli to retreat, yielding ground. The thrilling twists and turns were no different from watching a martial performance, making one’s blood boil.
Ye Jingkuan had not yet reacted, but when he did, he realized this was a battle report sent back by his own father. Even with his usual composure, he couldn’t help but redden his eyes. There had been no news whatsoever of the Prince of Zhennan for more than half a year, and news from Xibei was blocked. He had thought his father had already met with disaster, but unexpectedly, his father had held fast to Jinzhong and even achieved the first great victory since the battles of Wu’an and Suzhou. Excited, he immediately prostrated himself following Chief Minister Chang.
Emperor Jianzhang was beside himself with joy. This was the first great happy event he had received since dealing with Old Kong and his group, following the resolution of the Hubei disaster. Immediately, his recent gloom was swept away, and in high spirits he ordered rewards to be bestowed.
Song Jue was on his rest day today and was waiting outside with the steward for Song Chengru. When Song Chengru emerged, he thoughtfully handed over a hand warmer and entered his grandfather’s eight-man sedan chair together with him before asking: “Grandfather, I heard that an urgent report was sent back from Xibei and the entire capital is in an uproar. I wonder if it’s good news or…?”
“Good news.” Even Song Chengru smiled with his face full of joy. “Very good news—the Prince of Zhennan and Marquis Dingyuan are both alive.” He then recounted with some emotion how Marquis Dingyuan and the Prince of Zhennan had defeated Wu Qianli and held Jinzhong, adding: “In any case, they captured Baiguan’s men and made Wu Qianli suffer a great loss. At the very least, this should significantly reduce the pressure on Zijing Pass and Shaoting’s side.”
Song Jue also laughed: “This truly is good news. I hope from now on, all news from Xibei will be good news.”
At the same time the Song family received the news, Ye Jingkuan was also racing back to the Prince of Zhennan’s residence without stopping. The Princess Consort of Zhennan and Ye Jingchuan already knew that a battle report had been sent back from Xibei. How could they sit still? Anxious and restless, as soon as they caught sight of Ye Jingkuan, they stood up and stared fixedly at him.
Ye Jingkuan knew his mother could not withstand shocks, so he first said that Father was still alive, then recounted the achievements of his father and Marquis Dingyuan.
The Princess Consort of Zhennan’s heart, which had been suspended for more than half a year, only now truly settled back into her chest. She pressed her palms together and recited “Amitabha,” tears already pattering down.
Ye Jingkuan busily tried to console her: “This is good news. Why are you crying instead? Father has already passed through such a difficult trial, so naturally everything will be smooth sailing from now on.”
“Yes, yes, yes.” The Princess Consort of Zhennan was so overjoyed she didn’t know what to do at all. She felt her mind was in terrible confusion. Standing up, somewhat at a loss, after hesitating for a long while, she hurriedly led Ye Jingkuan and Ye Jingchuan to the ancestral hall to offer incense to their ancestors.
After offering the incense, her mind finally fully revived. Even the dark circles under her eyes could not conceal her radiant spirits: “Since your father’s situation is known, your matter can also be settled quickly. No need to marry yet—first complete the betrothal ceremony.” Her face was pale, but her expression was very joyful as she held Ye Jingchuan’s hand. “This way, your father will surely be happy.”
Along with the battle report, the Prince of Zhennan had also sent a family letter. Earlier, Emperor Jianzhang had been too preoccupied with his joy to notice these. When he did, he specially had a eunuch make a trip to deliver them. For Marquis Dingyuan’s household, he even specifically ordered Eunuch An to make the trip.
The Princess Consort of Zhennan received it like a precious treasure. She could no longer be bothered to continue talking with Ye Jingchuan and read it carefully over and over again before passing the letter to Ye Jingkuan.
In the letter, besides telling the Princess Consort not to worry, he also instructed Ye Jingkuan to be cautious in his duties and loyal to His Majesty. Finally, he mentioned Ye Jingchuan’s marriage, saying he might not be able to return alive and telling them not to wait for him—if there was a suitable girl, they should first settle Ye Jingchuan’s marriage.
The Princess Consort of Zhennan felt both distressed and frightened reading this. The heart she had just set down was suspended again, but she had always been most obedient to the Prince of Zhennan’s words. Since the Prince of Zhennan said to first settle Ye Jingchuan’s marriage, she was determined to do so. After inquiring and learning that letters could be sent to Xibei, she took up her brush to write a letter and prepared many things to have sent over.