Eight Treasures Trousseau

108

Chapter One Hundred and Eight: Epilogue

The spring of the third year of Shengkun was a good season when the flowers bloomed. Empress Hua invited the women of the Imperial Family and the first-rank titled ladies to the imperial gardens. Those who received an invitation were overjoyed and treated it seriously.

After the new emperor had ascended the throne, he suddenly changed from his previous gentle personality. He reorganized the court in a storm. If the new emperor's foundations had been weak after his ascension, he might have been wary, but there were many supporters of the new emperor who had controlled the entire court. So in less than two years, those who needed to be sorted out were sorted out. The entire court revered and feared the new emperor even more.

Other than Emperor Shengkun being praised by the people for his governance, his love life was also something that everyone was extremely interested in. Why?

Because the new emperor had been on the throne for three years, but other than Empress Hua, he really did not have any other woman. He didn't even have a female official whom he slept with. It really was rare to have this kind of man.

Many men in the world, after they came to power, would be greedy for women. While Empress Hua was beautiful, one would get tired after seeing her for a long time. Could the Emperor control his lower half?

No one had reached a conclusion before Empress Hua decided to hold a banquet. Everyone in Jing knew that Empress Hua had a lazy personality, and did not like to worry about other matters. This was something that the officials were very satisfied with. The Emperor favored Empress Hua so much—if Empress Hua meddled in the government, then it would be a great calamity.

But this was a lazy person, so everyone was happy. Empress Hua was favored, and the status of her paternal family also rose. Yi'an Marquis was ennobled as a country duke, his eldest son the heir to the dukedom, his second son a marquis. However, this duke was a perceptive person. After helping the new emperor control the court, he retired from his position at court and did not change his mind no matter how the new emperor tried to persuade him. In the end, he went back to his home to relax, with the titles of duke and Grand Tutor of the crown prince.

Both of his sons were still young, and their positions in court were not low or high. They were also loyal to the Emperor and humble in conduct, so no one could say that the Empress' paternal family bullied people using their power. Compared to the paternal family of the previous emperor's demoted empress, they were infinitely better.

When people thought about it this way, they did not find it strange that the Emperor favored the Empress so. Everything in this world has its reason.

The imperial garden was filled with fragrant clothing and the shadows of hair. Taijian and palace maids passed through the figures with jars and cups. It was very busy.

"Princess, we have arrived."

Hearing the soft reminder of her personal servant girl, Princess Rui He suddenly refocused. She saw that there were already many women in the imperial garden. She silently picked a spot where to sit and did not try to converse with anyone else.

Last winter, foreigners had tried to invade. Some officials had suggested a marriage alliance, intending for her, the princess, to marry the king of the foreigners, a man almost seventy years old. She had hidden in fear in her princess fu. However, she had been flamboyant in her actions in the past, and no one was close to her. With her father and brother both gone, and her maternal family members demoted to commoners, she could not even find one person to stand and speak on her behalf.

She liked handsome men, but she also loved her children. If she married into a foreign country, her two children would stay in Jing, but what days would they have?