By a twist of fate, the illegitimate son of the Marquis's family marries the county princess.

April of the eighteenth year of Da Shun

Rui Ge'er was born on April 28th of the seventeenth year of Shun'an, and will soon be one year old.

Starting this month, the county magistrate's mansion has been preparing for Rui Ge'er's first birthday celebration.

The eldest princess took it very seriously and came frequently these past few days to check on the preparations for the first birthday banquet at the mansion.

Seeing that Pei Rujing was completely shirking her responsibilities and leaving everything to Granny Feng, the Princess frowned: "Why are you so indifferent to Rui'er's first birthday celebration?"

Pei Rujing looked completely innocent: "I'm very concerned about it. The manor has been preparing for this matter recently."

"That's all under Granny Feng's control. What did you do?"

"The nanny always informs me before doing anything. Everything that's being arranged in the mansion right now was approved by me."

The Eldest Princess: "...You know how to claim credit. What about Zongji? Did he say how he would live off the credit?"

Pei Rujing said, "He's not as concerned as I am. My husband doesn't think the first birthday celebration is that important, or that it has to be a big banquet. He's more worried about who to invite than about the arrangements for the celebration."

The eldest princess was speechless, and hugged Rui-ge'er with heartache: "Poor Rui-ge'er, he has such a pair of parents."

Ruige didn't understand what the princess said. He just leaned against her and played with his fingers intently.

Pei Rujing smiled and said, "Mother, Rui-ge doesn't care about these things."

"Didn't your uncle say he was going to add something to Rui's first birthday celebration gift?"

Pei Rujing nodded: "It's inconvenient for my uncle to leave the palace, but he will send a gift when the time comes."

Emperor Shun'an was, after all, an emperor, and his frequent departures from the palace would have too much of an impact.

"However, although my uncle will not be coming, the Crown Prince and Changning will."

Emperor Shun'an himself cannot go, but he will send the Crown Prince and Princess Changning to give Pei Rujing face.

The eldest princess nodded: "In that case, we should indeed be careful about who we invite."

Pei Rujing said, "Actually, my husband plans not to invite too many people. It's just a gathering of our own people. After all, the Crown Prince will be coming, and if too many people come, the chances of something unexpected happening are greater."

The safety of the crown prince is of paramount importance.

The eldest princess frowned.

She naturally wanted to throw a big celebration for Rui Ge'er's first birthday, but Pei Rujing's words also made sense.

"You can decide for yourselves."

The eldest princess quickly decided not to trouble herself and left the decision to Wen Zongji and Pei Rujing, after all, they were Rui Ge'er's parents.

After saying that, the princess helped Ruige'er start walking.

As Ruige grows up, his legs become stronger and stronger, and he can walk for quite a while with someone's help.

Moreover, he seemed to enjoy walking, and he was especially happy when someone helped him walk. Therefore, when the maids played with Rui-ge'er, they had to help him walk.

With repeated practice, Rui Ge'er's walking became more and more steady, and it probably won't be long before he can walk independently without the help of others.

However, when it comes to helping Rui Ge walk, only Rui Ge himself enjoys it. The person helping him walk is actually very uncomfortable because they have to bend over for a long time.

The eldest princess only persisted for a short while before picking up Rui Ge'er again and sitting him down. Rui Ge'er acted as if nothing had happened, waving his arms as if he wanted to continue, saying, "Grandmother is really tired, let's do it again in a while."

Seeing Pei Rujing leisurely eating fruit, the Princess asked, "Zongji's younger sister is engaged?"

The news has already spread among the powerful and influential.

After all, she was marrying the newly appointed third-ranked scholar, and many people had been watching Jiao Yansong's marriage beforehand. The moment they got engaged, others already knew about it.

Pei Rujing nodded: "My husband personally chose her; she's this year's third-ranked scholar."

"To catch Zongji's eye, he must be a good person."

Pei Rujing said, "Apart from their family background being a bit lacking, everything else is indeed quite good."

The eldest princess sighed, "One's character is the most important thing; family background is secondary."

This was the Princess's biggest nod after seeing Pei Rujing's current life.

"If we had chosen a husband for you based on your family background, you and Zongji would have had absolutely no chance."

Pei Rujing said matter-of-factly, "My husband and I are a match made in heaven, unlike others... Zuo San and Fang Sichu are a perfect match, with similar family backgrounds, aren't they very happy?"

The eldest princess thought to herself, "Each has its own merits. Everyone has to live their own life. Whether they can live well depends on whether the husband and wife are of one mind. In the blink of an eye, you have all grown up. The Empress is choosing a Crown Prince's consort. She had initially taken a liking to several girls, but after checking them over, she felt that she was not satisfied."

The Empress has only one son, the Crown Prince, and the Crown Princess will be the future Empress, a very important position. It's not simply a matter of noble character.

She must possess the ability and temperament to be a model of virtue for the nation, and in the future, she must also be able to manage the harem well so that the emperor has no worries about the future.

"Did the Crown Prince say anything?"

The eldest princess shook her head: "The crown prince has no objection, he just said he trusts the empress's judgment."

Pei Rujing was not surprised to hear this: "He has always been mature beyond his years and has always stayed in the palace. He has not had much contact with women and does not have anyone he likes, so naturally he is fine with anything."

When the eldest princess arranged a marriage for Pei Rujing, she felt that anything was fine, since the eldest princess would take care of everything for her.

The eldest princess said, "That's better. The crown prince is the heir apparent and the future emperor. It's best not to have any favorites. It's more conducive to the succession of the dynasty if the emperor's favor is distributed evenly."

If a member of the royal family is a romantic, or if the emperor is a romantic, it is a huge blow to the country.

There are historical precedents for this.

A lifelong, devoted couple should never be in the palace!

Pei Rujing asked, "Like my uncle?"

Even Consort An, who was known as a favored concubine, did not actually receive much special favor.

In the imperial harem, the Empress was always the most respected, and Emperor Shun'an would never do anything to undermine her dignity.

The eldest princess nodded: "Respecting the principal wife and not favoring concubines over the principal wife is the key to maintaining stability in the inner quarters."

Rui Ge'er sat in the princess's lap, his big eyes looking at this person and that person from time to time, as if he was listening to them very attentively.

Pei Rujing noticed this scene, leaned over and pinched his cheek: "Did you hear what your maternal grandmother said? From now on, you must respect your legal wife and not do things like favoring a concubine over your wife, or I'll have your father spank you."

Rui didn't understand the first part of what was said, but he understood that it meant spanking, because Pei Rujing had been threatening him with it lately.

Rui-ge'er instinctively stretched his little hands behind him to protect his bottom, and said in a childish voice, "Mommy~ Good boy—"

This means, "Mom, I'll be good, please don't spank me."

The eldest princess chuckled: "Don't be afraid, Rui-ge'er. Your maternal grandmother will protect you. No one will dare to spank you."

As she spoke, she pulled Rui Ge'er into her arms.

"He's not even a year old yet, can't you be a little more mature?"

Pei Rujing replied, "I'm not even twenty yet, why be so mature?"

The eldest princess was speechless: "...Your birthday is next month."

She'll be twenty in just a few days, and she still has the nerve to bring up her age.

"It's not there yet."

"Alright, I won't say anything more about you."

After the marriage, the eldest princess felt that Pei Rujing's biggest change was that she had become more talkative, sometimes even able to shut people up.