Chapter 1430
Imperial Marriage
Chapter 1430 Imperial Marriage
"Baoquan, Liu Baoquan, Liu Baoquan, hurry, hurry, the young master is back! Are the dishes ready?" Butler Su Shen shouted loudly.
However, Su Shen's words startled Li Wei, who then realized that she had made a mistake.
So he looked at the steamed pumpkin and egg that she had eaten, quickly cut the remaining pumpkin into small pieces, arranged them on a plate, and then took it to the windowsill, covered the plate with the lid, and hid in the corner under the kitchen window.
At this moment, Su Shen opened the food serving window, muttering to himself, "What time is it? They didn't even say anything when the food was served. Why are they making this sense of ceremony for me?"
"Hurry up with the dishes!" Su Shen complained, then carried the dishes away.
A short while later, Su Shen slowly walked in carrying a tray of food to Lin Hao's place.
"Here it comes, steamed pumpkin with egg, young master, warm your stomach first!" Su Shen said as he opened the lid of the plate.
The next second, he was dumbfounded, because there was only pumpkin, no steamed egg.
Lin Hao glanced at him expressionlessly and asked, "Steamed pumpkin with egg, where's the egg?"
"They must have made a mistake, young master, please wait a moment!" Su Shen quickly explained.
A few minutes later, Su Shen brought over another plate.
"Young Master, Osmanthus cake!" Su Shen said as he opened the lid of the plate.
Then what came into view was an osmanthus cake that couldn't even be filled with a single bite, decorated with carrot slices, looking like a crane.
Lin Hao removed the carrot slices, then flipped the osmanthus cake over, only to find it was still empty inside.
Lin Hao slammed down his chopsticks and looked at Su Shen expressionlessly. In fact, he knew what was going on, but wasn't it more fun this way?
Su Shen smiled awkwardly, picked up the plate and left. Two minutes later, he returned.
Boiled broccoli!
"Broad beans and lilies!"
"Boiled bamboo shoots!"
I opened the treasure chests three more times, but each time I was disappointed. The dishes were alright, though.
The problem is that the portion is only a bite or two, and due to palace rules, the lid cannot be opened to see when the dish is served.
Otherwise, if something goes wrong with the dish, it would be difficult to explain the situation.
"Boiled pork ribs!"
After putting down the plate, Su Shen stood motionless, making no unnecessary movements, because he knew the outcome without even looking, so his heart was already dead.
Lin Hao gestured with his eyes, indicating that he should open it.
"I must have opened it wrong before. Please do it yourself this time!" Su Shen was unwilling to open the plate lid again.
Upon hearing this, Lin Hao personally opened the lid of the plate—no, the treasure chest.
Because this time there are four pieces of pork ribs, enough for him to eat several bites!
Moreover, there was a jade pendant inside, which represented his marriage.
Su Shen naturally saw the situation on the plate as well. He picked up the jade token, glanced at it, and immediately said excitedly:
"This is the jade pendant of the contestant, how did it end up here?"
"Alright, never mind that, I'll go take a look!" Lin Hao snatched the jade pendant belonging to Li Wei from Su Shen's hand and then walked towards the kitchen.
When Lin Hao arrived in the kitchen, Li Wei was eating with her back to him, fiddling with her plate while holding chopsticks in her left hand.
"It looks much better this way!" Li Wei said as she fiddled with it, completely unaware that Lin Hao had already come up behind her.
"It still seems crooked!" Lin Hao said softly.
"Oh dear, you don't understand!" Li Wei replied instinctively.
The next second, her eyes widened, and she slowly turned around, only to be stunned.
"Oh no, this person is dressed in fine clothes and is in the young master's villa, so he is probably a young master himself!" Li Wei's mind worked quickly, and she made a judgment in her mind in an instant.
He immediately became stiff and stopped what he was doing.
"What do you do?" Lin Hao asked knowingly.
Upon hearing this, Li Wei's eyes darted around for a moment, then she turned her gaze and said:
"Oh, I am the poison tester here. The young masters' meals must be tasted by me before they can be served!"
"These dishes are all fine, I'll be going now!" she said, turning to leave.
Lin Hao grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, saying, "This is the first time I've ever seen someone personally test poison with their mouth. Whose yard are you from?"
Li Wei rolled her eyes upwards, remembering what Hao Jia had told her:
"I've heard that this Sixth Young Master is frail and sickly, and unlikely to achieve great things. So the new Lord of Chuan doesn't care much about him. In the palace, people are always looking out for someone, so naturally, he doesn't pay much attention to the Sixth Young Master."
Thinking that the Sixth Young Master had no presence, Li Wei spoke up: "Sixth Young Master!"
Lin Hao smiled and, suppressing a laugh, said, "Hehe, Sixth Young Master? Then tell me, what does this Sixth Young Master look like?"
"Uh, um, um~!" Li Wei hummed for a long time, unable to recall any impression of the Sixth Young Master. Remembering Hao Jia's description, she finally mustered the courage to speak:
"He, he, he's a rather enigmatic person!"
"Tell me more!" Lin Hao pressed.
"He has a very low profile; you'd hardly notice him in a crowd!"
"Oh? Anything else?"
Li Wei thought for a moment and said, "Even if he stood right in front of you, you might not recognize him. He's practically invisible in the palace!"
"Haha, your description is quite accurate. I'll have him treat you to something when I see him another day!" Lin Hao said with a smile.
"Ah, no need for that. I'm just a humble poison tester. Well, everything's fine here, I'll be going now!" Li Wei said, and then ran off.
Watching her departing figure, Lin Hao chuckled softly, "Hehe, the female lead, she's quite an interesting little girl."
Li Wei escaped from the young master's villa and arrived at a pavilion in the palace, where the selected women were anxiously awaiting the results.
Some hoped to be selected, while others did not, such as Li Wei.
Li Wei was hesitantly telling Hao Jia about what had just happened at the Sixth Young Master's villa, and Hao Jia was comforting her.
Just then, a nanny came over.
"Miss Li, your sedan chair is already waiting at the door!"
"They're here already?"
Li Wei smiled happily, thinking that she could finally leave Xinchuan and go back to her hometown. She would no longer have to live in fear and suffer in Xinchuan.
"I can't believe it actually came! That's wonderful!" Hao Jia was also happy for her best friend.
"Okay!" Li Wei replied happily, then suddenly looked at Hao Jia with a touch of sadness and said:
"This new Chuan Palace is deep and difficult to navigate. You'll be all alone from now on, so be careful!" Afterward, the two sisters hugged each other, and then Li Wei followed the nanny to the door.
But when Li Wei saw the sedan chair, she was stunned, because it was a big red sedan chair.
"Why is this sedan chair red?"
"Of course it's red! You're the first person to receive a marriage decree from the Sichuan Emperor!"
"A marriage decree?" Li Wei exclaimed, her eyes wide.
"Oh my, I knew from the start that you, Sixth Concubine, had a limitless future!"
"Sixth Concubine?" Li Wei asked incredulously, grabbing the sedan chair as if she didn't want to get in.
"Yes, the Sixth Young Master's concubine is none other than the Sixth Young Master!" Then the old woman forcibly pulled the unwilling Li Wei into the sedan chair.
After all, this young lady was not well-liked and no one thought highly of her. She also looked poor and shabby. However, Jichuan only sent one young lady. If she were returned without reason, wouldn't that be a disservice to Jichuan?
Therefore, since it was not easy for a young master to accept her, he naturally rushed to send her over to resolve this trouble and avoid any unnecessary complications. Naturally, Li Wei had no choice but to do so whether she wanted to or not.
So, Li Wei reluctantly changed into her wedding dress, went to the ancestral hall to kneel and worship the ancestors of Xin Chuan, and was then sent to Lin Hao's villa.
After she came in, she sat there blankly, unable to move, trying to remember what had happened.
"Concubine!" the maid Yuzhan called out, but there was no response.
Li Wei, still in a daze, was wondering why she had been betrothed to the Sixth Young Master!
Seeing that her future mistress remained silent, Yu Zhan exchanged a glance with another maid, Yu Ping, and together they shouted, "Greetings to the concubine!"
"Me?" Li Wei glanced at the two women, pointed to herself and asked, seemingly still in a daze. The two maids quickly nodded.
"Get up and speak!" Li Wei said, and after the two maids stood up, she asked impatiently:
"I'd like to ask, why was I betrothed to the Sixth Young Master? Does the new Lord Chuan dislike this son?"
Upon hearing this, Yuzhan immediately replied, "I heard that it was the Sixth Young Master who personally proposed to you!"
"what?"
On the other side, Lin Hao was lying on the bed comfortably reading a book when Su Shen suddenly walked over with a small bowl in his hand.
"Young Master, it's time for your medicinal soup again. Come, come!"
Just then, Su Shen noticed that the water in the copper basin beside the bed was completely red, and knew that the young master had poured out the medicine, so he couldn't help but speak up:
"Why did you throw away the water chestnut soup again? It's good for warming the stomach!"
"Warms the stomach?" Lin Hao smiled and said, "Water chestnuts are cooling in nature, are you sure they can warm the stomach?"
Su Shen naturally knew that Lin Hao's stomach ailment had long since healed, so he smiled and said, "Even if it can't warm the stomach, it's still good as a way to cool off in the summer!"
Lin Hao glanced at the blood-red water chestnut soup, shook his head and said, "Alright, I don't like drinking this anymore. Take it away!"
"My young master, even if you don't drink, just pretending will do!" So Su Shen quickly persuaded him.
Previously, the master and servant had been cautiously trying to survive, fearing they would die young like the eighth prince. They planned to establish their own government and military headquarters so that they could live a carefree life and have a chance to become the ruler of the region.
Su Shen meant that he was afraid that Lin Hao would have to remain patient for a while longer, since the establishment of the government was imminent.
Lin Hao originally didn't want to hold back, after all, with his abilities, there was no need for him to pretend to have a stomach ailment by drinking water chestnut soup.
But the thought of Li Wei treating his exam time as if he were about to die makes me laugh.
It was precisely for this reason that Li Wei went to great lengths to please him during this period, so she simply continued to pretend to be sick.
"Okay, then put it aside for now, drink it after you finish reading this chapter!" Lin Hao shook his head and said helplessly.
"Alright, this old servant will leave it here. You must drink it!"
"Fine, fine, you can go now!"
"Yes, this old servant will take his leave. I will have the imperial physician reassess your condition in a little while. Please be sure to take good care of yourself!"
"Okay, okay, I got it, stop nagging!" Seeing Su Shen leave, Lin Hao couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief; he was too long-winded.
This old guy does care about the original owner quite a bit, but the other party doesn't know that his sixth young master has already been replaced.
In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Su Shen led the imperial physician over.
"Imperial Physician Zhang, the young master is dying! Please take a look at him, what's wrong with him!"
"Old Su, how is Lao Liu?" Lao Wu, Yin Qi, rushed over and asked with concern.
Hearing Su Shen's voice, Li Wei, who was looking utterly hopeless and despondent, suddenly perked up and secretly peeked through the door.
"The imperial physician said it's even worse than expected!" Su Shen said anxiously.
"You say the Sixth Young Master's life is too miserable. He's been sickly since childhood, and now he's getting worse and worse!"
"What are we going to do? There were only two weeks left to go, and why was he running around everywhere? How did his condition get worse?"
After listening to the conversation between Su Shen and the Fifth Young Master Yin Qi, Li Wei's eyes lit up, and she murmured to herself:
"Only half a month left!"
Hearing this, Li Wei was overjoyed and quickly ran into the house, then asked in a low voice:
"Do you all know that the Sixth Young Master is dying and only has half a month left?!"
"Hey~, Concubine, don't talk nonsense!" Yuzhan quickly covered her mouth, and Yuping also hurriedly reminded her:
"That's right, if anyone heard this, they'd be beheaded. In the palace, the health of the master and the young master is absolutely forbidden to be discussed!"
"Yes!" Yuzhan nodded in agreement.
"Although everyone knows that the Sixth Young Master has a stomach ailment, no one except his personal attendants can speak of it. Madam, please do not utter such alarming words again."
Upon hearing this, Li Wei was overjoyed, but quickly suppressed her relief and said with a look of sudden realization:
"I understand now. No wonder no one else wanted me, but the Sixth Young Master specifically chose me. It turns out it was to bring good luck."
"Master!" the two maids reminded him again in unison.
"Alright, I understand!" Li Wei glanced at the two maids before solemnly saying, "This matter must not be spread. You may leave now!"
After the maid left, Li Wei took out the calendar, turned to the eighth day of the sixth month, and wrote the three characters "Widow's Day" next to it.
Then he flipped to June 24 and wrote the words "funeral day" on the side.
"Well, there's only one month left until I return home in glory!" Thinking about going home soon, Li Wei happily took out a pen and paper and wrote:
"Father, Mother, my husband is dying. The flowers are blooming on the roadside. I can return home quickly. Remember to prepare wine and dishes, and don't forget the braised beef!"
After finishing the letter, Li Wei blew the ink dry and carefully placed it inside. Then she thought of the soon-to-be-deceased Sixth Young Master and couldn't help but feel pity for him, thinking that he was also a pitiful person.
"Alas, it's such a pity you died so young!" Li Wei then sighed, closed her eyes, clasped her hands together, and murmured:
"May God bless the Sixth Young Master with good health and longevity in his next life, and may he live to be a hundred years old. I will take good care of him for the rest of his days and accompany him on the last journey of his life!"