"Girl, you want to see Mr. Lu? I'm afraid this is a bit against the rules."
Lu Hanjiang shook his head, and then asked in surprise: "Is this what the Chen family master meant?"
If all this is Chen Zihua's plan, then everything seems to make sense. But if this is really the case, then Lu Hanjiang is really surprised. After all, judging from the information he received, Chen Zihua is a stereotype.
A well-behaved person.
But in fact, the truth was not as interesting as he thought. Miss Chen came here out of her own considerations, not Chen Zihua's arrangement.
It was very unreasonable for a girl he had never met to meet his master. It was reasonable for Lu Hanjiang to refuse, but Miss Chen was a little bit different in her persistence.
"What is the matter that the girl has that you can't wait for your father to discuss with Mr. Lu in detail in a few days? It is really inappropriate for a daughter of yours to make such a public appearance, and to meet Mr. Lu in private, I'm afraid it will also damage the girl's reputation."
Lu Hanjiang was persuaded by these words, so with no choice, Miss Chen could only confess: "Young master, do you know that my father intends to marry Mr. Lu as his son and daughter?"
This statement really surprised Lu Hanjiang and the three of them. They had not expected that Chen Zihua would have such an idea. Apart from anything else, the princess' side was a big problem.
Mr. Lu is the husband-in-law of a princess, that is, the consort of the imperial court. This status destined him to not be able to live a life of three wives and four concubines like others.
The original intention of the Chen family's move is easy to understand, which is to bring the two families into a closer alliance, but this move will undoubtedly hurt Princess Yongle and the Meng family.
Even if we don't talk about these, there is another thing that Lu Hanjiang is also very curious about. He looked at Miss Chen in front of him with a very rude look, and asked: "I heard that the head of the Chen family has a son and two daughters, but I have never asked the girl.
.....?"
Miss Chen replied: "The little girl is older."
Lu Hanjiang was really surprised now: "Mr. Chen actually wants to marry you, girl, to Mr. Lu as his side wife?"
Not only him, but also Lao Qian and A Yuan were shocked. Chen Zihua was the head of the Chen family in Yunzhong. Everyone knew about his family's situation. He had a son and two daughters, and the eldest son and eldest daughter were all direct descendants.
Only the second daughter was a concubine.
The Miss Chen in front of me said that she was older, which meant that she was the legitimate daughter of Chen Zihua. The legitimate daughter of the Chen family married someone as a concubine. This is such a ridiculous thing.
"What nonsense are you talking about! What kind of identity is my young lady! She will not be a concubine for others!" Before the blushing Miss Chen could say anything, the girl beside her couldn't help but glare at the three of them.
"No rudeness!"
Miss Chen finally managed to stop the shame on her face. She scolded the maid next to her, and then explained: "Young master has misunderstood. My father plans to marry my sister to Mr. Lu."
When Miss Chen spoke like that just now, Lu Hanjiang and the others naturally thought that she was the one the Chen family was going to marry, so they were so shocked. Now that they heard that it was the second girl of the Chen family who was marrying, it was not surprising.
Aristocratic families have always had a clear distinction between legitimate concubine and concubine. No matter what the family background is, marrying a legitimate daughter as a concubine is an insult to the family. According to the rules, the family will be exterminated directly to avoid the shame of keeping it.
But the concubine is different. Although they are both girls from the Chen family, it is impossible to marry someone as a concubine easily, but it depends on the situation. If she marries Lu Hanjiang, who is powerful in the government and is also born in the Lu family, it will be barely possible.
acceptable.
So Lu Hanjiang said with a smile: "Next time, girl, remember to finish it in one breath. I thought that because she is so unconventional, I plan to decide on my own marriage."
Miss Chen's face turned red again. Even though she knew that the other party had misunderstood, this statement still made her so embarrassed that she planned to find a hole in the ground to hide.
But she didn't forget her sister's pleading to her before going out, so she said again: "This matter concerns the Lu and Chen families. I would like to ask the young master to do it for your convenience and let me see Mr. Lu."
Lu Hanjiang said curiously: "I don't know the purpose of the girl's coming, but no matter how much you care about brotherhood, Mr. Lu is the consort of the court after all. When you are talking about marriage here, do you take the court and His Majesty seriously?
?”
If Chen Zihua intends to send a daughter to form an alliance, the biggest obstacle is definitely not Lu Hanjiang, but Princess Yongle and the imperial concubine.
Although the imperial law did not expressly stipulate that a prince-in-law could not take concubines, there had been no precedent for this since the beginning of the dynasty, because no matter the respect for the princess's own status or the respect for the royal family, it was impossible for a prince-son-in-law to have three wives and four concubines.
"How could the little girl not know about this?" Miss Chen sighed and said with some sadness: "What the little girl is worried about is that if this matter fails, if the news spreads, my sister may never be able to live a good life again in the future."
The girl who was rushing to be a concubine was from a noble family. It would indeed be difficult to marry her in the future. This was the truth. But just saying this made Lu Hanjiang a little unhappy.
Lu Hanjiang clicked his tongue and said in an unkind tone: "Mr. Lu is also the commander of the Royal Guards. Miss Chen, do you think he would do this?"
Miss Chen explained in a panic: "The little girl is not doubting Mr. Lu's character. This matter... well - to be honest, the person the little girl is worried about in this matter is actually my father."
It's even a bit hard to talk about it, but Miss Chen knows very well that her father, Chen Zihua, never does anything he's not sure about. Now that there are signs of this matter, there must be a result.
Even if Princess Yongle refused to give in, even if Mr. Lu chose to refuse, Chen Zihua would probably take the initiative to spread the word.
Although Miss Chen didn't understand the meaning of this approach of damaging oneself eight hundred before hurting the enemy, Chen Zihua might do this.
The reputation of a concubine was not taken seriously by him, so I'm afraid he had a bigger plan in mind. That was why Miss Chen was in great pain. She didn't want to watch her sister being sacrificed like this.
"This is strange," Lu Hanjiang said with great interest: "The head of the Chen family does not take his daughter's reputation seriously. Since the girl has grievances, she can go to your father and tell her why she came to Mr. Lu?"
"Little girl...little girl just wants to see Mr. Lu. There may be room for change in this matter." Miss Chen said with evasive eyes.
Lu Hanjiang could tell at a glance that the other party was lying, but he did not expose the other party. Instead, he said bluntly: "This invitation is too embarrassing for me. I can't handle it, so I'll take my leave."
After that, Lu Hanjiang took Lao Qian and A Yuan and walked around Miss Chen. The latter looked anxious. She wanted to stop her and say something else, but she didn't know how to speak.
After being in a dilemma, she finally gave up, but in the end she chased Lu Hanjiang and boldly said, "Master, can you leave your name?"
Lu Hanjiang raised his eyebrows, then smiled and bowed slightly: "I'm here, Lu Shiqi."
After leaving their names, the three of them left. Only Miss Chen stared at their backs with a rather resentful look, kicked the floor with her legs, and muttered: "What Lu Shiqi, it's a lie the first time you hear it.