Raising a wife? The mistress of the Hou family divorced and remarried her younger uncle

Chapter 234 Marriage
Su Qingwan frowned slightly, a trace of reminiscence flashed in her eyes, and she said slowly: "So he is the son of Mr. Zhang!"

The reason why she was so impressed by Mr. Zhang was that her sister escaped thanks to the secret protection of the Zhang family.

First, the Zhang family took the risk to hide my sister, and then sent her to Jiangnan.

Mr. Zhang was upright and honest, and was the first minister of the Huainan Palace. After the Huainan family was wiped out, the court intended to take back the power of the Huainan fiefdom. Mr. Zhang resolutely wrote a letter to the emperor, bluntly criticizing the emperor's tyranny and denouncing his cruelty to loyal officials. As a result, his entire family was executed. Although his nine clans were not implicated, the disaster seriously damaged the vitality of the Zhang family in Huainan and made it difficult for them to recover. Most of the clansmen had no choice but to move out of Huainan, and the family was torn apart from then on.

When she first met Zhang San, Su Qingwan felt that there was a sense of elegance in his words and actions, and he did not seem like an ordinary bandit.

Su Qingwan asked again: "Are you ranked third?"

Zhang San nodded and said, "Yes."

Su Qingwan was speechless when she heard this and fell into deep thought. She suddenly remembered an old story. As the first vassal of the King of Huainan, the Su and Zhang families had always intended to form a marriage.

By her generation, her father had also thought about an alliance.

Her half-sisters were all married, and to show her respect for her, her father would have to let his legitimate daughter marry into the Zhang family according to custom.

She and her elder sister were still young, and when they were playing nearby, they overheard their father and mother talking about this marriage.

The most suitable young man in the Zhang family is the third child, a few years older than them, and the youngest legitimate son.

In this way, one of her and her sister would most likely marry the young master of the Zhang family. As the eldest daughter, her sister had been brought up according to the standards of the clan's wife since she was young, and she would definitely marry into another family as the eldest daughter-in-law in the future.

By this calculation, the marriage with the Zhang family will most likely fall on her.

If it weren't for that incident, this Zhang San in front of her might have really become her fiancé.

But they were too young at the time, and although their father and mother had this plan, they never mentioned it to them, and it was not known whether they had mentioned it to the Zhang family.

According to past practice, if the King of Huainan wanted to marry his legitimate daughter, he would make a verbal agreement with the man early on to restrict his words and actions.

Zhang San said slowly, "If it weren't for that incident, the princess and I might have already been a perfect couple!"

Hearing this, Luzhu frowned, her face full of displeasure, and she scolded Zhang San, "Miss, what nonsense is this man talking about here? Our princess is still young, and the marriage has not been finalized. Are you daydreaming and talking nonsense?"

General Xiao Ning was also standing by, and could not help but gasp in amazement, secretly complaining in his heart: This mountain bandit is really a fantasy! The princess is so beautiful and intelligent, she is more than qualified to be the queen. How dare a mere mountain bandit be so shameless and make such an outrageous request?
Zhang San, however, looked calm, with a faint smile on his face, and explained, "That's true. The princess was still young at the time, and the two families didn't exchange the engagement documents. It was just a joke mentioned by the elders during casual chat, so it shouldn't be taken seriously. If the princess doesn't acknowledge it, I have nothing to say. But now we are talking about the big matter of the bandits' surrender. In my opinion, my marriage to the princess is the most effective way. Those people who hate the bandits will definitely be cautious because of the princess. In this way, it will not cause large-scale unrest, and the princess will no longer need to spend the government's financial and human resources to maintain stability. Isn't it killing two birds with one stone?"

Su Qingwan's lips slightly raised, revealing a light smile, and slowly said: "If the palace and the Zhang family really decided on the marriage, and exchanged the engagement documents and tokens, I might still consider this marriage. But now it seems that this marriage is difficult to achieve. First, if I marry you, it will only completely anger the people in the city. At that time, rumors will fly everywhere, and the people's awe of me will certainly be greatly reduced, which is extremely unfavorable for me to manage Huainan. Second, as the princess of the southwest, my marriage with the regent this time in Beijing was granted by the late emperor. This marriage is already tricky, with many variables. In the next one or two years, I will not consider other marriages at all. However, the marriage you mentioned is worth considering!"

"Marriage? With whom?" Zhang San raised his eyebrows and asked in confusion.

Su Qingwan turned her gaze to General Xiaoning beside her and said, "General Xiaoning in my mansion has not yet married. He is 21 years old this year and is already a fifth-rank general. He has a promising future and will definitely be a general in Huainan in the future. If you have a sister, you can consider marrying General Xiaoning!"

When General Xiao Ning heard this, his eyes widened and he cried out in his heart: "My Lady, what are you talking about? I make a living by my martial arts, not by selling my body!"

Zhang San followed Su Qingwan's gaze and looked at General Xiao Ning. He saw that General Xiao Ning exuded a strong murderous aura, but he was also handsome.

He was able to climb up from a small soldier to his current position step by step, all thanks to his solid military achievements. In the future, he will definitely follow Su Qingwan or the future King of Huainan. His future is bright. He is one of the best husbands in Huainan.

Zhang San secretly thought that if his sister could marry him, it would be considered a marriage between the Huainan Palace and the bandits.

The counselor standing by was overjoyed when he heard this.

When he first proposed the marriage, he didn't have much hope. After all, the princess was of noble status, so how could she marry a mountain bandit? But if his eldest daughter married General Xiao Ning, it would be a good marriage that he had been looking forward to.

General Xiao Ning looked at Zhang San with astonishment on his face and blurted out: "You really have a sister?"

Zhang San nodded and said, "I have three sisters!" Thinking of the experience of fleeing, Zhang San's eyes flashed with a complicated look, "When I fled, I took my clansmen and sisters with me. They were all my sisters from the same mother and raised by me for more than ten years. Now, one of my sisters has recently become a widow, and two of my sisters are still unmarried."

What this means is that there is a possibility of marriage among the three sisters.

When General Xiao Ning heard this, he was speechless.

Su Qingwan turned her head and looked at General Xiaoning with a questioning look in her eyes.

General Xiao Ning shook his head wildly in his heart, but he couldn't openly refute in front of Zhang San. He could only suppress his inner dissatisfaction and silently maintain Su Qingwan's authority.

Lu Zhu, who was standing aside, couldn't hold back any more and burst out laughing, "Hahahaha, General Xiao Ning is going to marry the bandit's sister!"

"Is it settled then?" Su Qingwan struck while the iron was hot and wanted to finalize the matter.

Zhang San frowned slightly, exchanged glances with the counselor, then nodded and said, "I want to know the princess's detailed plan for settling the bandits!"

Su Qingwan replied, "Okay, I'll send someone to invite the prefect to come and discuss with you. If you have any requests, you can tell the prefect!" After that, Su Qingwan immediately ordered the servants to invite the prefect. General Xiao Ning stood aside, hesitant to speak, and stamped his feet anxiously.

Zhang San and his advisers were waiting in the hall for the prefect to arrive, and Qingyun led them to the meeting place.

General Xiao Ning sat down on the chair, picked up the wine glass, took a gulp of wine, and said to Su Qingwan with a face full of grievance: "Princess, I really don't want to marry a bandit's sister! I heard that the bandits in the Eighteen Mountains of Huainan are all fierce and brutal, and the female bandits are even more fierce. Wouldn't it be troublesome for me to marry her home? This is simply a blind marriage. You can't sacrifice my happiness for the sake of the overall situation!"

Su Qingwan forced a smile and patiently advised: "Brother Xiaoning, it is a great thing to be able to subdue the bandits without bloodshed. You can't bear to watch the soldiers fighting with the bandits, and then blood will flow like a river and people will suffer, right? The Zhang family has three sisters, how about... let's meet them all and see each other?"

Luzhu stood aside, covering her mouth and laughing.

General Xiao Ning glared at her fiercely and said unhappily, "Humph, you might as well marry Lu Zhu!"

When Lu Zhu heard this, she immediately retorted: "I don't want to marry you!"

General Xiao Ning was so angry that he jumped up and down: "Why can't you marry if you don't want to, but I have to marry you even though I don't want to?" Lu Zhu patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "Because you are a powerful general in Huainan. I just want to stay by your side in this life, and I don't want to be a general. If you marry the girl from the Zhang family, she will naturally give you more military power, which is a huge benefit! Don't worry, I will help you find out which girl in the Zhang family is gentle and beautiful. Zhang San is good-looking, and his sister must not be much worse!"

General Xiao Ning was helpless when he heard this, and he cried out in his heart: This is not the point at all! He was crying and still making a final struggle: "Do I really have to marry her?"

Su Qingwan looked determined and said firmly: "I want to marry her!"

In her opinion, this is the fastest and most effective way to subdue the bandits and avoid the loss of lives, so why not do it?
The news of the impending marriage between Huainan and the bandits spread quickly throughout the capital as if it had wings.

When the civil and military officials in the Golden Palace heard this, they were all shocked and looked at each other in bewilderment.

Ning Yuanhou glanced at Lu Jing, whose face was so gloomy that water could drip out of it, and asked cautiously: "You said that Huainan and the mountain bandits are getting married? Who is getting married to whom? Is it the princess and the bandit leader?"

"That's right. The news in Huainan is quite accurate. The bandit leader said that the people hated the bandits. If the bandits surrendered to Huainan, it might lead to large-scale fighting among the people. So he hoped that the Huainan Palace would form an alliance with the bandits, and the princess actually agreed!"

When all the officials heard this, they were suddenly shocked and looked at each other, not knowing how to react.

All the civil and military officials in the capital were eagerly waiting to see how the drama between Huainan and the bandits would end. They were all wondering whether Huainan would send troops to wipe out the bandits or whether the bandits would surrender.

In Zhongzhou, people have been on high alert and ready to take action at any time.

Lu Jing originally planned that if the bandits were stubborn and refused to surrender, Zhongzhou would send troops to help Huainan suppress the bandits. After all, if Huainan wanted to open up the trade route, it had to eliminate the bandits, otherwise the trade route between Huainan and Xilin would never be at peace.

He originally wanted to help Su Qingwan quell the rebellion, but he never expected that she would use her marriage to exchange for peace!

Lu Jing was furious and thought to himself: How could this be possible! Did she forget that she still had a marriage granted by the emperor?
The eldest princess sat aside, propping her head with one hand, watching all this with great interest, with an expression of watching a good show on her face. It was the first time she saw Lu Jing, who usually did not show his emotions, showing such a wonderful expression at this moment, and she couldn't help but find it very interesting.