“I’m just warning you, aren’t I? If you dare think about taking a concubine, then we three—mother and children—will stay in Lin’an permanently, and you can live with your little concubine in the Capital. Don’t show up in front of us again. I’m afraid you might forget, so I’m reminding you.”
“I have enough with just you in this lifetime. No other woman can catch my eye. Rest assured.”
“Hmph, sweet talk,” Ye Yaming gave him a coquettish glance, her eyes full of charm.
Lu Guanyi’s gaze immediately became glued to her, unable to look away.
“However, considering your good behavior, we three—mother and children—have decided to go to the Capital with you, so you won’t be all alone in that big house during the New Year, which would be so pitiful.”
“Really?” Lu Guanyi was overjoyed, but then hesitated. “But the journey will be tiring, and the weather is getting cool…”
“It’s fine. The weather isn’t too cold yet. We’ll just dress the little ones warmly and travel slowly,” Ye Yaming said.
Marriage required nurturing and needed both people’s efforts. Long-term separation was detrimental to their relationship. Since Lu Guanyi had feelings for her and was good to the children, she naturally wanted to do her utmost to maintain their relationship.
Lu Guanyi was extremely happy. “Then bring Zhang Ning along.”
As he spoke, he put his son down. “I’ll go tell him first and ask the servants to pack. If you’re coming, we need to set off tomorrow or the day after.”
He had originally planned to ride a fast horse to the Capital the day before he had to report for duty, so he could spend one more day with his wife and children. Now that Ye Yaming was bringing the children to the Capital, there were many more things to prepare, and they would travel slowly, so they needed to depart early.
“Mm, go ahead.” Ye Yaming saw that her son was pouting and about to cry, so she called for the wet nurse to come in and feed him.
Ye Yaming’s decision to go to the Capital with Lu Guanyi naturally received one hundred percent approval from Ye Chongming, Old Lady Ye, and others.
Although Lu Guanyi was extremely good to Ye Yaming, that was because they had built an emotional foundation before marriage, had not been married long, and were still in the honeymoon phase. Previously, Lu Guanyi had been at the border and had no women to tempt him.
If Ye Yaming stayed in Lin’an while Lu Guanyi was alone in the Capital, given that he was young yet already held a third-rank position, and his father commanded military power, noble families would certainly be eager to offer their daughters as concubines. Once a man had tasted meat, would he be willing to go vegetarian again? The outcome was predictable.
The only difference would be whether he took a concubine soon or after half a year or even a year.
So even if Ye Yaming hadn’t brought up going to the Capital, Ye Chongming, Old Lady Ye, Madam Yin, and others would have urged her to follow Lu Guanyi to the Capital.
Old Lady Ye and Madam Yin had even privately advised her: “Now that those tea masters have learned your skills, you can completely entrust the tea-making business to them. You should focus on being the wife of the heir in the Capital and don’t need to keep coming back.”
Ye Yaming quite agreed with this advice.
As the head of a large enterprise, trying to personally handle everything would not only exhaust her but also destabilize the foundation of the business.
After all, one person’s energy is limited. Some matters, once neglected, would lead to mistakes; if her health deteriorated, the enterprise could collapse.
She could now let go of Longjing, black tea, and Tieguanyin. Business affairs were handled by Ye Hongrong, Ye Jiaxing, Xu Zan, Bai Rui, and managers in various locations on her behalf. She only needed to focus on new tea and decision-making.
She only needed to stay in Lin’an for half a year, or even just for spring, and could spend the rest of the time in the Capital.
Ye Yaming didn’t think she was greedy for wanting both a successful marriage and career. In her previous life, there were people in her circle who had happy marriages and successful careers. In this life, with Lu Guanyi and their two children, she also wanted to be one of those fortunate people.
Two days later, she took the children and went to the Capital with Lu Guanyi.
Looking at the Xuanwu Marquis Manor, which hadn’t changed much since she left, Ye Yaming asked Lu Guanyi: “Do we need to help with anything for Princess Yuan’s wedding? After she marries your father, will she live in the Princess Manor or the Xuanwu Marquis Manor?”
Hearing this question, Lu Guanyi frowned. “I went directly from the border to Lin’an, so I’m not clear about matters in the Capital.”
After thinking for a moment, he added, “Normally, princesses continue to live in their Princess Manors after marriage, rather than moving into their husband’s home. But the situation with my father and Princess Yu’an is difficult to say.”
The so-called Prince Consort, marrying a princess, was equivalent to marrying into the royal family. But Yu’an was a widow remarrying, and Lu Zhongyong was a first-rank general with military power and the Marquis of Xuanwu. If he were treated as an ordinary Prince Consort, made to move into the Princess Manor, and placed beneath Princess Yu’an, it would have a flavor of contempt and insult.
Because this was an imperial decree of marriage, Lu Zhongyong could not defy the emperor’s command, but he could treat the marriage coldly, staying at the border and not returning to the Capital, or even if he returned, only living in the Xuanwu Marquis Manor.
Wary of his military power, the emperor couldn’t do anything about it, and it would be the royal family that would lose face.
“I’ll inquire at the Ministry of Rites,” he added.
…
The Ministry of Rites was quite worried.
The wedding date was set for next March, and since Princess Yu’an was remarrying, there was no need to rebuild a Princess Manor. But as it was a Princess’s wedding, it couldn’t be too simple, so preparations needed to start now.
But where would the Princess live afterward? Should the royal family provide an additional dowry? How should this wedding be prepared? These questions were causing quite a headache.
Now, hearing that Lu Guanyi and Ye Yaming had returned to the Capital, the Ministry of Rites sent an official in charge of this matter to discuss it, without waiting for Lu Guanyi to visit them.
The official from the Ministry of Rites was surnamed Zhong, a middle-aged man in his forties who held a fifth-rank position.
“We’ve asked the Princess, and she said everything should be arranged by His Majesty. We don’t feel comfortable asking the Marquis directly, so we must trouble the Young Master to write and ask him what his thoughts are.”
If the Ministry of Rites asked Lu Zhongyong directly, they would basically have to accept whatever he said, or else it would be disrespectful, making everyone unhappy.
“Alright, I’ll write and ask him,” Lu Guanyi agreed promptly.
Where Lu Zhongyong and Princess Yu’an would live also affected the young couple, and he didn’t want the emperor, the Ministry of Rites, and Princess Yu’an to decide directly. It would be best if this matter were decided after comprehensive consideration by all parties.
After seeing off Official Zhong, he returned home and asked Ye Yaming, “It’s best if we have our plan first, so I can write to my father about it. What do you think?”
Ye Yaming said, “Let’s first analyze it from our perspective: If we live in the Marquis Manor, I’ll have a mother-in-law above me. Although Princess Yu’an isn’t difficult to get along with, that was when we weren’t living together; there might be incompatibilities once we live together.”
Not to mention other things, just the daily early morning greeting ritual would be very troublesome. It had been fine before when she could get up early herself. But now with two little ones, thinking about how they would have to get up before dawn every day to pay respects, she wasn’t happy about it.
Children less than a year old having to be like little workers, not even allowed to wake up naturally—how could that be acceptable? It would stunt their growth.