lcionline Chapter 3 Don't try to take advantage of the royal family!
Chapter 3 Don't try to take advantage of the royal family!
"Keep your voice down! Are you afraid others won't hear you?"
"Is this a question of whether you can hear me or not?" Lin Shiming's face was still filled with horror. "Why are you making me marry the Crown Prince? I'm a man! A genuine man! The Crown Prince's family has a throne to inherit!"
This is really bad luck! Just a few days ago I was watching the drama unfold, and today I've become the drama queen myself!
“He didn’t say you weren’t a man, and His Majesty knows the succession to the throne.” Lin Shihe’s expression also looked quite helpless. “He plans to entrust the posthumous child of the former crown prince to you two to raise.”
"What nonsense are you spouting? You're already talking like 'husband and wife'? Take it back!"
Lin Shihe politely cooperated, "Okay, he plans to entrust the former crown prince's posthumous child to you and the crown prince for upbringing."
"That's more like it!" Lin Shiming nodded in satisfaction, then carefully considered his brother's words before realizing something was amiss. "You mean the former crown prince's posthumous child?"
"Yes." Crown Prince Lu Yuxi and former Crown Prince Lu Yuxu were born of the same mother, Empress Bai Qiongzhu.
"So what does Your Majesty mean by this?" Lin Shiming also realized that things were not simple. Such thorough consideration? "Even having offspring prepared?"
"Well, if you have no objections, send someone to the palace tomorrow to give a reply, and the imperial edict will be issued the day after tomorrow."
Oh, that was fast, but unfortunately, "I have a problem with that."
Nonsense, isn't it? Why would I give up a life of wealth, power, and freedom to become someone's wife? Not only would I lose my freedom, but I'd also be responsible for managing the household, the son, and even sleeping with someone. Only a madman would do that!
Seeing Lin Shiming jump up and resolutely refuse, Lin Shihe remained unmoved. He took another sip of hot tea. "Keep your opinions to yourself; no one will listen. The imperial edict I told you about was announced to the public and widely publicized. The specific details of the edict were already in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion and enshrined in the ancestral hall half a month ago."
I'm just waiting to trick you into coming back so we can get married!
"...Then why are you even asking me?"
"Just go through the motions."
"..."
There was no way to talk to him that day. Lin Shiming sat back down dejectedly, snatched a piece of cloud cake from his brother's hand, stuffed it into his mouth, and swallowed it hastily in a few bites.
Lin Shihe sighed helplessly, picked up a towel from the side and wiped his hands, then pushed the plate of pastries toward his younger brother, saying, "Why are you arguing with me? It wasn't my order."
He also didn't want his younger brother to get involved in royal affairs; the constant scheming and infighting could drive anyone mad. But he had no choice; the emperor was the ruler, and they were the subjects.
Lin Shiming also knew that this wasn't something his elder brother could decide. The current emperor had been on the throne for a long time; while not a great emperor of all time, he was certainly a wise ruler, a rare sight indeed. Imperial power was centralized, the government was efficient, and the country was strong, but his word was law.
Normally, Lin Shiming thought that it was a great blessing for the country to have such a powerful, capable, and trustworthy monarch. But now that this power had fallen on his own shoulders, Lin Shiming truly realized that he had entered a feudal dynasty and understood what it meant for monarchical power to be inviolable.
Looking back on his carefree and unrestrained seventeen years, he could easily understand how much effort his parents and brother had put in behind the scenes. Now that this had happened, he didn't want to put his parents and brother in a difficult position.
But the thought of having to live such a rigid and conventional life from now on still made Lin Shiming unhappy. He angrily stuffed a few more pieces of cloud cake into his mouth, and then successfully choked himself.
"Waaaaah!" Help me, help me!
"Eat slowly, I'm not going to take it from you!" Seeing this, Lin Shihe quickly poured him another cup of tea, used his internal energy to cool it down, and then handed it to his younger brother. "How old are you? Why are you taking your temper out on food!"
After gulping down a mouthful of tea and swallowing the pastries, Lin Shiming finally caught his breath. What a close call! He, a top-notch martial arts master, had almost choked to death today.
But once he calmed down, Lin Shiming started to feel embarrassed again.
"I'm only seventeen, how can I be an adult?" In modern times, I'd still be a high school student!
Seventeen years old, already has a child, isn't that old enough? Lin Shihe thought to himself, but didn't dare say it aloud, "Okay, okay, you're still young!"
Lin Shiming had only said it casually to save face, but he didn't expect his brother to treat him like a child, which made him even angrier. However, he didn't want to cause any more trouble, so after thinking for a long time, he reluctantly brought up the topic of the arranged marriage again.
Although he was indeed willing to become that damn Crown Princess for the sake of his family, he still wanted to try. What if?
"Brother, our family is favored by the Emperor and is a royalist. Can't we really refuse this marriage? The imperial decree hasn't been issued yet, has it?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Shihe paused noticeably.
"What's wrong?" Lin Shiming asked, somewhat bewildered. "Given our family's relationship with the royal family and our family's contributions, we shouldn't be completely without any say, right?" That shouldn't be the case. He remembered that the current emperor was not afraid of his subjects and was very lenient towards officials who hadn't done anything wrong, let alone his own family.
"This is a long story," Lin Shihe said, awkwardly touching his nose as he recovered his composure. "Normally, people of our status and power should have a choice. But this isn't... this isn't..."
"Not what?"
Lin Shihe hesitated for a long time before speaking rather awkwardly, "...That day His Majesty summoned me for a private talk, saying that he wanted you to marry into the royal family to pay off a debt."
"??? Paying off debts?"
*
To be honest, the Lin family did owe the royal family a considerable debt, and this story dates back to the time of the first Duke of Zhenguo.
Everyone knows that when the Lu imperial family was just rising to power, the person who cooperated with Emperor Tai Shi Lu Wenyi to conquer the world was a Taoist priest named Lin You.
That's right, he was a Taoist priest. Moreover, this Taoist priest was not only proficient in Taoist magic and could predict the future, but he also had a plethora of ingenious ideas. Relying on his divination skills, this Taoist priest led a group of peasant rebels to victory against all odds, and this was the predecessor of the Tingyun Army.
After nearly a decade of war and bloodshed, Lin You and Lu Wenyi cooperated and finally conquered a vast empire. Lin You was a Taoist priest who rose up in rebellion simply to overthrow the cruel rule of the previous dynasty, give the common people a way to survive, and establish a new, politically just dynasty. So, without hesitation, he put Lu Wenyi on the throne, and incidentally, he also stole Lu Wenyi's beloved.
This refers to Xiao Yao, the first matriarch of the Lin family. She came from a family of doctors and was highly skilled in medicine. She served as a military doctor when Lin You and Lu Wenyi raised their army.
The official records of the royal family state that Lin You and Lu Wenyi had both long admired Xiao Yao, and Xiao Yao was also having difficulty making a decision. So they agreed to compete openly together to make a decision as soon as possible.
The three debated in the Imperial Study, which Lu Wenyi had just moved into. To ensure fairness, they even prepared a document in advance to record and prove their points.
Lu Wenyi: "Why would a Taoist priest like you marry a wife?"
Lin You: "I am a Taoist priest from Huoju."
Xiao Yao: "That makes sense."
Lu Wenyi: "I swear with all my heart that I will be with Ayao for life."
Lin You: "It's not like anyone can't do it!"
Xiao Yao: "That makes sense."
Lu Wenyi: "Marry me, and you will be the Empress, supported by the entire world!"
Lin You: "Pshaw, you're just bragging. That's all from the national treasury. You can't just spend it however you want. Look at me, my money is all mine that I can use at will."
Xiao Yao glanced at Lu Wenyi but didn't say anything.
Lu Wenyi: "... ..."
Lu Wenyi: "Ayao, we grew up together, and I will never betray you in my life." After saying that, he smiled smugly at Lin You, "What about you? We're childhood sweethearts, what kind of relationship do you have? How can you compare to me?"
Lin You chuckled softly and began to sob, "It's alright, Miss Xiao. If you really can't choose, I can be your concubine. I know you and Wenyi have a deep affection for each other, and I love you so much that I can endure anything for you! I only ask that you give me a proper status!"
Lu Wenyi and Xiao Yao were so shocked that they couldn't speak for a long time.
The later record states that a month later, Xiao Yao and Lin You got married. Lu Wenyi drowned his sorrows in alcohol for most of the night, and from then on sealed his heart and locked away his love, opening up his harem.
This really made Lin Shiming sigh. He couldn't help but suspect that his great-grandmother might have actually been seduced by his ancestor, that green tea bitch.
It's clear that regardless of gender, no one can resist a green tea girl who's all about you.
The matter was actually quite simple up to this point; it was just that Lu Wenyi had failed to win the battle for a wife. But what's interesting is that twenty years later, Lin You and Xiao Yao's son stole the crown princess that Lu Wenyi had chosen for his eldest son, who was just waiting for the imperial decree to be issued.
This caused quite a stir. It was that same clerk (who had been promoted to historian) who recorded that Lu Wenyi, a fifty-year-old man, was so enraged that he disregarded the emperor's dignity, stormed into the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, and fought with Lin You, cursing the Lin family father and son as shameless scoundrels who only knew how to steal their brother's sweetheart.
Lin You felt guilty and dared not fight back, so he was beaten up, which won him his son's sweetheart.
Having been robbed twice, Lu Wenyi learned his lesson. He took strict precautions and issued an imperial decree early on. Finally, after becoming the retired emperor, he arranged for his grandson, the new crown prince, to marry a crown princess who suited his taste perfectly, preventing Lin You's grandson from taking her away.
Then the retired emperor was satisfied and went to travel the world with Lin You and Xiao Yao, saying, "I'm going to stick between them and make that old bastard Lin You unhappy!"
At this point, it's still fair to say that nothing's wrong; who can predict marriage?
But something even more outrageous soon happened.
The protagonist of the story became Lin You's great-grandson and yet another prospective crown prince.
By this time, Lin You and the others had already passed away. Lu Wenyi had become quite lax because she had managed to find a wife for her grandson without being robbed. Before she died, she forgot to tell her grandson to be careful of the group of seductive male fox spirits in the Lin family. As a result, Lin You's great-grandson, Lin Shiming's great-uncle Lin Qingyuan, took advantage of the situation.
This time, instead of stealing his sweetheart, he snatched the crown prince instead.
Yes, this Lin Qingyuan is the "homosexual general" in the Tingyun Army History Museum.
The Lu royal family was furious.
The emperor at that time cried and cursed in front of the ancestral tablets, saying that he was incompetent and that the male vixen from the Lin family had seduced the crown prince he had raised for more than ten years, and that the prince would not be his husband, but his wife!
The entire Lu royal family wept bitterly and tried their best to persuade him to stay, but they could not stop the crown prince who had been bewitched by the male fox spirit. They could only watch helplessly as he happily took his belongings and married into the Lin family, going off to conquer the world with Lin Qingyuan.
Helpless, the emperor could only grit his teeth and send another large batch of gifts to the Lin family as "betrothal gifts" to save face, and then select a new crown prince.
Before his death, the emperor left a will, ordering the abolition of the Lu imperial family's rule of waiting until the princes grew up and got married to select and cultivate outstanding heirs, and solemnly declared that a crown prince should be established as soon as possible to avoid being deceived by others.
How tragic and lamentable! When Lin Shiming first learned the full story of these events, he sighed for a long time.
Don't try to take advantage of the royal family!