He saw that Heir Songs expression was a little strange. He was afraid that there was something difficult to say, but Heir Song did not say it explicitly, so he naturally could not probe.
However, not investigating did not mean that there were no clues.
Yu Youyao also said, “The Northern Barbarians have invaded on a large scale. Many immortal masters with brilliant medical skills have come to Liaodong. I have the business cards of a few immortal masters in my hand. Brother, take one and pass it to Heir Song another day. It’s good for both families.”
The Song and Yu families were family friends. Yu Youyao’s many schemes in
Liaodong also had the support of the Zhenguo Marquis Residence. The Zhenguo Marquis Residence was quite prestigious among the generals. The war in Liaodong was not done yet, and the Zhenguo Marquis Residence’s support for the border war also affected the support of the court officials for this battle to a certain extent.
Naturally, she couldn’t stand by and do nothing.
Yu Shande nodded. “That’s good.” At this point, his eyes flashed, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated. In the end, he let out a long sigh. “Previously, the Empress Dowager wanted to bestow a marriage for King Yue Fei. She wanted to hold King Yue Fei’s marriage while the Empress Dowager’s funeral was delayed. Otherwise, she wouldn’t know how to delay it in the future.’
Yu Youyao smiled, but her smile did not reach her eyes.
Yin Huaixi was a general. In the past two years, the war in the North had been tense, and the Imperial Court had given him many special privileges. In addition, Yin Huaixi was too famous, so it was inevitable that the Imperial Court would be a little worried. If they chose a good match in the form of a noble lady from the Imperial Court, they could naturally restrain him.
Yu Shande naturally understood this too, but he did not mention it. “Eunuch Zhu used all the documents that the Empress Dowager had bestowed back then to implicate your marriage with King Yue Fei. Our Third Grandmother’s mourning period is almost complete, and your marriage with King Yue Fei has also been raised in the royal court. The family is worried and asked me to come over and ask about the situation.’
Song Mingzhao didn’t seem to know that Sister Yao’er’s marriage had been decided. There was a lot of probing in his words. He seemed to be very concerned about Yao’er.
Thinking of Song Mingzhao’s actions after he became the top scholar, it was not difficult to guess what he was thinking.
In the end, he had made a mistake.
To put it simply, back then, when the Empress Dowager had bestowed their marriage, she had not said a word about the privilege proof.
After talking about serious matters, Yu Youyao asked Yu Shande about his future plans.
Knowing that Yu Shande had no intention of returning to the capital for the time being, Yu Youyao wrote a recommendation letter and recommended him to enter the Wu Mountain Academy to further his studies.
A few days later, there was news from Xiangping that Mr. Hu Shan was overjoyed to see talent and accepted Yu Shande as his last disciple.
It was also because of this that the Clan Chief’s wife became closer to Yu Youyao. She did not hide anything in her letter and mentioned, “Your father has left the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs and returned to the Imperial Court to fill the position of the Left Deputy Imperial Censor.”
The Clan Chief’s wife was too embarrassed to say it directly. The title of third-grade Imperial Censor was given to him because he had given birth to a good daughter. Furthermore, he was over 50 years old. Although he was far from the age of retirement, he was already old. The Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs persuaded the original Left Deputy Imperial Censor to leave, so they gave him the position. Otherwise, he would have been openly demoted.
The Left Deputy Imperial Censor and the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs were of the same rank. It seemed that they were equals, but in fact, he had been secretly demoted. The Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs was the head of the six ministries, and the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs was an important official. The status of the Deputy Imperial Censor was clearly inferior. In addition, the emperor was seriously ill, and the eunuchs controlled internal affairs. The authority of the Imperial Court was greatly eroded.
Not only had he been beaten back to his original state, but he was also inferior to his previous title. However, this was only the beginning.
Yu Youyao had already foreseen Yu Zongzheng’s outcome, so she did not care.
In her letter, the Clan Chief’s wife had mentioned that Yu Shuangbai was learning the rules from the nannies in the palace. She had become much calmer and only said few words, but it was not difficult to guess that Yu Shuangbai was not having a good time.
She had asked the clan to take care of Yu Lianyu and Yu Fangfei’s marriage in her letter earlier.
The clan was not careless either. Under the interference of the Clan Chief’s wife, Yu Lianyu was married to a poor but humble scholar with the surname Yang. He had just become a High Scholar and had a bright future.
Meanwhile, Yu Fangfei was married to the second son of Madam Jiangs brother, so they could be considered to be closer.
Both marriages were not bad.
The surname Yang had been arranged by the clan. To be chosen by the clan, it seemed that not only was her family background and character good, but her talent was also not bad. In the future, with the clan’s support and Yu Lianyu’s personality, her life would not be bad.
Madam Jiang was smart and sensible. The Jiang family was not bad either. Although they wanted to seek favor, they did not have any ulterior motives. In addition, the Jiang family was a farming and academic family, and Father Jiang was from the same family. Their family background was not bad.
With Yu Zongshen’s status, Yu Lianyu and Yu Fangfei could still have better marriages. However, this would inevitably implicate some family interests, which was not a good thing for Yu Lianyu and Yu Fangfei.
Now, one of their husbands had become a High Scholar at such a young age and probably had a bright future.
The other husband had a good family background and could live a comfortable life.
This could be considered one of her worries.
As for Yu Shanyan and Yu Shanxin, because of their status as the daughters of Yu Shuang and Bai Fengming, their marriages were not very smooth. They had yet to be arranged.
Madam Yao was anxious, but Yu Zongshen was not worried. He said directly, “A man’s ambition lies in the world. It doesn’t matter if he’s a few years late.”
He had the intention to wait until Yu Shanyan and Yu Shanxin became capable before getting engaged.
Yu Youyao agreed deeply. Now that the Great Zhou Dynasty was in chaos, men were not like women, so it was naturally better to wait a few years.
After that, the Clan Chief’s wife even mentioned that Old Madam Yu t s three-year mourning period was almost over. The clan planned to invite the master of the Precious Peace Temple to perform a ritual for Old Madam Yu. In addition, she also mentioned some trivial matters of the three-year mourning It was obvious that the clan was very concerned about her grandmother’s three-year mourning period and wanted to do their best. Yu Youyao was also very relieved.
As Yu Youyao couldn’t come back, the Clan Chief’s wife had also instructed her on some things that needed to be paid attention to other than the clothes.
Yu Youyao read it word for word and was a little stunned.
In the blink of an eye, she had left the capital for three years.
In the past three years, she had been eating vegetarian food and mourning for her grandmother. She was wearing plain clothes and the belongings of her grandmother when she was alive. Now that her mourning period was about to end, she couldn’t help but feel a surge of sorrow.
Everything that had happened with her grandmother couldn’t help but appear in her mind.
Yu Youyao sighed softly and wrote a reply to the Clan Chief’s wife. Then, she instructed Yin Shi to make a trip to Xiangping and asked Auntie Xu to organize it. The Buddhist scriptures she had copied for her grandmother for the past three years would be sent back to the Yu Clan along with this letter.
After everything was over, Yu Youyao began to prepare to remove her mourning clothes.
This concerned filial piety, so she couldn’t be careless. Although Yu Youyao couldn’t return to the capital, she couldn’t be careless with her etiquette. In the next few days, Yu Youyao changed into a plain dress and closed herself in to copy Buddhist scriptures.
Auntie Xu, who was far away in Xiangping, took Yu Youyao’s removal of her mourning clothes very seriously and rushed to Jinzhou on the tenth of August.
After not seeing Auntie Xu for a long time, Yu Youyao was overjoyed. She threw herself into Auntie Xu’s arms and wheedled. Auntie Xu’s heart ached.