Do you know: I am Qi Heng

"How old is Shou-ge'er? Heng-ge'er is telling him all this, without even hiding it from Eunuch Zhu. It's obvious he wants to tell me." The Emperor laughed.

Empress Cao suddenly realized, "I remember that Heng-ge'er was studying at the Sheng family. Pingning mentioned before that there were several other girls in the Sheng family who were studying with Heng-ge'er and the others."

In retrospect, it seems they developed feelings for each other over time. However, the Sheng family's social standing was too low; not to mention a concubine's daughter, even a legitimate daughter couldn't be considered worthy of the Qi family.

This is outrageous! They're actually plotting against His Majesty just because of a woman!

"It is a bit ridiculous, but I had a bit of a headache before. Since he likes it, what's wrong with me bestowing a marriage upon him?" the Emperor said nonchalantly.

If Qi Heng only spoke to Zhao Shou alone, he would definitely get angry.

But Qi Heng was clever; he knew to leave Zhu, the eunuch, aside, and acted very frankly.

Therefore, he couldn't say he was angry. Moreover, he was not satisfied with the marriage arranged by the late Empress Dowager, but he had no choice but to go through with it.

He eventually deposed her and married Empress Cao.

Qi Heng's actions touched him somewhat, and coupled with Empress Cao's previous persuasion, he readily agreed to bestow a marriage upon Qi Heng.

"What would Pingning think if we betrothed him to a concubine's daughter? What would the court officials think?"

Empress Cao said, "I originally intended to select a suitable girl from the Li family."

The Emperor was somewhat tempted by this, but after thinking it over carefully, he waved his hand and said, "Forget it. There's already a messy situation with the Li family. I acted on impulse back then. Since Heng-ge has someone he likes, let's grant his wish."

The Li family mentioned by Empress Cao was his maternal clan.

The Emperor's birth mother was someone else, but the late Empress Dowager had no children and was deeply favored by the late Emperor.

After the Emperor was born, the Empress Dowager registered him under her name and kept the news a secret.

Although many people in the palace and the court knew about it, everyone kept quiet and no one dared to mention it.

The Emperor believed from childhood that the late Empress Dowager was his birth mother, even though he always felt that she hadn't been very good to him and was reluctant to relinquish power to him even after he came of age.

However, in order to ascend to the throne, Wu Zetian deposed several of her own sons.

Therefore, the officials didn't think much of it.

It wasn't until after the Empress Dowager passed away that the Emperor learned from the Prince of Yong's father that his birth mother was actually someone else.

However, his birth mother had already passed away by then, just a few months before the late Empress Dowager.

The Emperor was furious, not only at the late Empress Dowager but also at all the officials in the court.

Because they all knew, but none of them told him.

Even after the late Empress Dowager passed away, no one told him.

It was precisely because of this resentment that the emperor later disregarded the objections of his ministers and married his daughter to the son of his birth mother's younger brother.

According to etiquette, the Emperor was registered under the name of the late Empress Dowager, and his maternal clan was the same as the late Empress Dowager's family, and had no relation to the Li family, to which his birth mother belonged.

But in terms of blood relations, he is his maternal uncle's son, which is his cousin, and there is a generational difference between them.

However, the emperor was furious that his ministers hadn't told him, and also wanted to compensate the Li family, so he insisted on doing it anyway.

Later, after calming down, the officials regretted their actions and realized there were many ways to compensate the Li family; there was really no need to do this.

Choosing a woman from the Li family to marry Qi Heng would indeed bring many benefits to the Li family.

However, this would easily bring the Li family back into the spotlight, which is not what the government wants.

"As for your concerns, it's simple. Find an opportunity to adopt her as your goddaughter, and then no one will gossip."

The emperor said, "Tell Pingning the truth later, and she won't complain."

Empress Cao pondered for a moment, then praised, "Your Majesty is wise!"

She finally understood the Emperor's meaning: it was definitely not acceptable to bestow a marriage upon Qi Heng from a family of too low social standing.

The best choice is naturally one that is arranged by the emperor to marry into a family that appears to be of high social standing but has little real power.

But Qi Heng also wanted to marry a concubine's daughter from the Sheng family.

The Sheng family's social standing is low, which meets the requirements, but being of such low social standing and still being an illegitimate daughter will definitely cause Princess Pingning resentment.

Let her adopt the illegitimate daughter of the Sheng family as her goddaughter, thus elevating her status and saving face.

Then tell Princess Pingning the truth, and the substance will be there too.

As for Qi Heng, he was able to marry the woman he loved, and even if Princess Pingning had to say a few words to him, he could accept it.

For the royal family, Qi Heng's marriage to a concubine's daughter from the Sheng family meant that the family's social status was low enough. Even if Zhao Shou trusted and heavily relied on Qi Heng in the future, there was no need to worry that Qi Heng would be ambitious and could use Zhao Shou's trust to control the government.

It can be described as a win-win-win situation.

The only problem here is taking in the illegitimate daughter of the Sheng family as her goddaughter.

However, if it is only nominal and not recorded in the royal family genealogy, the title of princess will not be granted.

While there are some practical benefits, they are limited.

At most, after the two people get married, they will be granted an imperial title.

Anyway, Qi Heng's wife will definitely be granted an imperial title in the future; it's just a matter of sooner rather than later.

"Haha, the Empress can arrange it as she sees fit," the Emperor laughed.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will think of a way later." Empress Cao nodded slightly.

If she wanted to see a concubine's daughter from the Sheng family, she needed to find a suitable reason; she couldn't very well just summon her directly to the palace.

This matter needs to be carefully considered.

.........

After entering the palace, Qi Heng felt uneasy as there was still no news.

Logically speaking, Princess Pingning asked Empress Cao for a marriage alliance, but she did not specify which family she wanted to marry into. The Emperor could easily understand her meaning.

Then, through Zhao Shou's words, let the Emperor know that he wants to marry a concubine's daughter from the Sheng family. Given the Emperor's nature, he should be willing to grant the wish.

Qi Heng's confidence stemmed entirely from the nature of the officials.

But there was still no news, and he couldn't help but wonder if he had made the wrong bet.

"Never mind, even if I can't marry Minglan, the person the Emperor bestows upon me shouldn't be too bad." Qi Heng shook his head.

He wanted to marry Minglan, partly because he liked her personality, but more so because he was considering the long-term future.

It's not to say that the girls from other powerful families in Bianjing were not capable of being compared to Minglan.

However, compared to the unknown, he prefers everything to be within a controllable range.

However, other outcomes are not unacceptable either.

"Yuan Ruo!"

Early that morning, Qi Heng and Sheng Changbai were reading in the school when Sheng Changfeng arrived, excitedly asking, "Are you going to the polo match in a few days?"

"Um?"

Qi Heng shook his head and said, "Next year is the imperial examination, and I have no interest in it."

Upon hearing this, Sheng Changbai said with a regretful expression, "Yesterday, Madam Wu from the Yongchang Earl's Mansion came to visit and sent an invitation. I thought Yuan Ruo would go too."

"You mean Madam Wu personally delivered the invitation?" Qi Heng asked in surprise.

He remembered very clearly that the first time Sanlan went to the polo club, it was Hualan who used an invitation from the Earl of Zhongqin's mansion to take Madam Wang and the others there.

At the polo match, Minglan played a game to help Yu Yanran win back her mother's keepsake.

It was only after Madam Wu took a liking to the Sheng family that the polo club sent them an invitation.

But so far, Sanlan has never been to a polo club. This is the first time. Why would Madam Wu come all the way to deliver an invitation to Madam Wang?