northernbook Chapter 1261 Are these people targeting me?
Chapter 1261 Are these people targeting me?
"Minghe, I've got you! Haha!" Su Yueyao laughed and jumped into Xu Minghe's arms, saying happily.
"My lady, you're amazing! You caught me!"
When Su Yueyao heard Xu Minghe praise her, she immediately raised her head proudly.
Looking at Su Yueyao's state, Xu Minghe affectionately reached out and gently ruffled her hair, saying with a smile, "The Lord summoned us over. Yan Xi and I were playing around with my wife and were about to get scolded by the Lord."
Upon hearing Xu Minghe's words, Su Yueyao turned to look at Yang Qianxun, who was walking over from a distance. He was holding a booklet, and the others were standing behind him, smiling at them.
Huan Yanxi, who had just been playing around, walked to her side and said with a smile, "My wife has invited almost all the prominent families in Fengdu to her full moon banquet tomorrow. My wife probably knows which families have sent people today, so you don't need to worry about the others."
"I see."
"But if you tell me now, I probably won't remember."
After Su Yueyao finished speaking, Xu Minghe, who was holding her hand, burst out laughing.
“My lady, you don’t need to remember. I have a general idea. Tomorrow, the lord and the prince will be welcoming guests in the front courtyard. You will only appear around lunchtime. We will only introduce important families to you.”
Hearing what Xu Minghe said, Su Yueyao nodded, quickly walked up to Yang Qianxun, and took the booklet from his hand.
"Qianqian, do you remember all the people inside?"
“My lady, these are things that our Fengdu family scions learned first. We all remember them, and even Yiyang, who spends every day in the Imperial Guard camp, knows them,” Huan Yanxi said with a smile.
"I understand. Then tell me which aristocratic families I need to speak to tomorrow," Su Yueyao said helplessly, looking at the densely packed names on the booklet.
With so many names, it might take her a day or two to memorize them, not to mention the power and influence of their families.
Suddenly, she almost didn't want to hold the full moon celebration tomorrow...
"My lady, I'm not asking you to remember it, just to have a slight impression. Besides, at least half of those coming tomorrow will be unmarried men," the First Prince said with a smile, looking at Su Yueyao's helpless expression.
"what!"
"Are these people targeting me?"
"Not really. Tomorrow, the ladies of each family will also come to see the children and share in the joy. So, if young men and women meet at the banquet and take a liking to each other, they can simply have their families visit them when they get home."
Upon hearing this, Su Yueyao immediately understood: "A blind date is good, as long as they don't keep an eye on me."
Everyone laughed when they saw Su Yueyao looking scared.
"Ah Yao, I forgot to tell you, Feng Qi secretly left the manor yesterday and went to the backyard of Xuanming Temple. We'll go there in a couple of days."
"There will be many people coming tomorrow, so it will be inconvenient for him to stay in the mansion. It would also be troublesome if he were seen. After the banquet tomorrow, shall we set off for Xuanming Temple the day after tomorrow?"
“That’s right. After we stay at Xuanming Temple for two days, Ayao will also have to start attending court.”
"What? So soon? I wanted to rest for a few more days."
Su Yueyao's expression of utter despair immediately made everyone laugh.
"My lady, have you forgotten something? After the New Year, the Empress Mother specially postponed the morning court session by an hour. You only need to get up at 5:00 AM, and the morning court session will begin at 7:00 AM," the eldest prince said with a smile.
"Really? Pu'an, Gongyang, you didn't even tell me when you went to court."
“After the New Year, I told my wife once, but she was pregnant at the time and didn’t pay attention, saying that going to court was still a long way off,” Pu An said.
Everyone else laughed when they heard this. The wife was indeed lazy and didn't want to get up early, but she was unwilling to lie in bed all day.
"Going to court is a matter for a couple of days. Let's finish the full moon banquet first. Ah Yao, take a look at this list. Most of the people coming tomorrow are our people. Some of the others will keep their distance from us."
"But there are also families that we haven't dealt with before, such as the Qi family, the Yuan family, and the Fu family. These families are relatively low-key, and they also have some nephews or relatives in the court, so they keep a low profile."
"Tomorrow, our biggest concern is the Li family; both the eldest and second branches of the direct line will be coming."
“We have a conflict with the Li family, so why would we need their help?”
“My lady, the Li family has been a prominent family for over a hundred years. Several of the teachers at the Li Academy are from the Li family, not to mention some officials in the prefectures and counties below.”
"This doesn't even include the collateral branches. The Queen comes from the eldest son's lineage, and we've already fallen out with her. So, we're now trying to push someone from the second son's lineage into power."
"Qianqian, if you put it that way, would the second branch of the family be willing to form an alliance with us? Aren't large families supposed to share both prosperity and adversity? Would they really form an alliance with us?" Su Yueyao asked curiously.
"Don't worry, my lady. We've already been working on it behind the scenes. The first and second branches of the Li family clashed a few days ago. We've been fanning the flames, and their conflicts will only intensify."
“They’ll be too busy dealing with us to pay attention to us,” the eldest prince said with a smile.
“My lady, we were the ones pulling the strings behind the scenes, but someone else stepped in to help us. Can you guess who it was?” Pei Yuqi asked.
"I can't guess. You Fengdu people know these families very well. I haven't even memorized all the names yet, so how could I possibly guess? But I can be sure that the person who made the move definitely doesn't want the eldest and second branches of the Li family to be at peace."
“What my wife says makes sense, but…we feel that this person is helping us behind the scenes with ulterior motives, and that person is Minister Wenren.” Pei Yuqi said with a smile and glanced at Su Yueyao.
It's true that the Wen family wants to form a marriage alliance with the second branch of the family, and it's right for them to stand with the second branch, but they don't have to make a move! Both the first and second branches have people serving as officials in the imperial court, and their official positions are similar. The only thing they need to fight for is the power to manage the family.
However, the second wife's family members tend to be more refined and cultured, and they are never eager for quick success or instant benefits, unlike the first wife's family who are scheming and unscrupulous.
Over the decades, they have had almost no major conflicts, and the second wife has not been very concerned about the right to be in charge.
Therefore, with this move by Vice Minister Wenren, it was decided that the second branch of the family would take the position of head of the household.
Upon hearing this, Su Yueyao asked in disbelief, "Him? Yuqi said that his ulterior motive was to tell me that he helped me behind the scenes? But after Minghe was released from prison, I already made things clear to him, and he doesn't seem like the kind of person who would pester me relentlessly."
Hearing Su Yueyao's high praise for Minister Wenren, the crowd was at a loss for words. Could they just say it directly: the way Minister Wenren looked at them clearly indicated that he had no intention of giving up easily?
Like them, they are capable, shrewd, and from good families. The moment they take a liking to the female lead, they will do everything they can to stay by her side. Even if they have to go through all kinds of difficulties, they will not give up easily.
This is the temperament and ability of a young master from a prestigious family, just like Yang Qianxun back then. His reputation was ruined by the Zheng family and his engagement was broken off by the Xie family. Yang Qianxun and his sister tried every means to leave Fengdu and refused to marry the Zheng family's daughter.
But no one ever imagined that Yang Qianxun was just an illegitimate son. Even with his sister's protection, how did he manage to avoid the Yang family and the Zheng family, successfully leave Fengdu, and even meet and marry his wife?
It's impossible that they didn't plan things out.
At that time, the ruler was still a son of a concubine with limited abilities, but what about Wenren Shilang? He was almost 100% certain that he would be the next head of the Wenren family, and he also had a younger brother and sister who were his own flesh and blood.
The fact that the Wenren family did not pass the position of head of the family to Wenren Xiaonüjun speaks volumes about Wenren Shilang's abilities.