Early the next morning, when the sky was just brightening with the first glimmer of light, a betrothal edict was issued to the Qiao Estate, and it instantly shocked the entire family, as well as everyone in the capital, into passing out!

  The entire Qiao Family, from the elderly lady to the servants, all kneeled in the main hall to receive the edict.

  When they heard the edict state, “The Qiao Estate’s Eldest Miss is refined, graceful, virtuous, dignified, and gentle in nature, and is especially ordained as Crown Prince Consort,” some of the servants who hadn’t seen a certain child before didn’t have much to say and were only dumbfounded.

  But the elderly lady couldn’t resist twitching her lips uncontrollably.

  This description? Who was it talking about exactly? Could Qiao Mu that lass measure up to those eight words? Gentle in nature and whatnot, don’t kid me, alright?

  The end of the royal edict also mentioned Qiao Zhongbang and Wei Ziqin. The king commended the couple for being meritorious in raising the crown prince consort. Thus, he especially promoted Qiao Zhongbang to be the Marquis of Jiayuan[1], and conferred his Madam née Wei with a third-rank imperial mandate. He bestowed them with a marquis’s estate, jewelry and precious stones, brocade and grains, etc., etc.

  The couple exchanged glances in bewilderment and were at a total loss.

  It was rather Second Uncle Qiao who immediately jabbed his eldest brother and sent him a look to quickly receive the edict.

  The Qiao Family’s eldest couple hastily kowtowed in thanks for the king’s favor and respectfully received the royal edict. Second Uncle Qiao also smilingly handed the edict-issuing eunuch five feet of cloth, which was a very generous gift.

  Presently, gifting cloth and grains was more fitting than gifting precious metals and stones.

  As ramie fiber was almost out of production at present, cloth prices spiked up by the day.

  The Mo Kingdom capital was still considered alright, as its stock was still copious. Inside some other fortifications, though, commoners basically hadn’t replaced their clothing in these few years. After all, they could last two years more after some patching and mending.

  This piece of five-foot cloth that Second Uncle Qiao gave could be exchanged for three liters of rice, which was enough to feed a normal family sparingly for half a month.

  Hence, this was considered a generous gift, so the edict-issuing eunuch was all smiles while accepting it. His attitude towards the Qiao Family improved greatly, and he praised them again and again.

  The crown prince had gifted this residence when the Qiao family first entered the capital. However, the crown prince had never revealed his identity when he was chumming up to his parents-in-law, so the couple was still in the dark at this time.

  After receiving the edict, the entire Qiao Estate hurriedly packed up and moved the whole family to the Marquis of Jiayuan’s Estate.

  The Marquis of Jiayuan’s Estate was located on Minshun Boulevard. Its scale was extremely grand, and there were a great many courtyards inside. Just the gardens themselves were split into five and six of various sizes, complete with gazebos, pavilions, and creeks. The scenery was exceptional.

  Everyone naturally kept the largest Nanzhu Garden for the crown prince consort, while the others picked the court that they liked.

  The Qiao Family was small, so more than half of the entire marquis’s estate was still empty after they moved in.

  The elderly lady was getting on in years and was not as vigorous as she used to be, so she hastily went to rest after moving into Longevity Court. The remaining arrangements for the family and servants, including inventorying the royally-bestowed gifts, fell upon Wei Ziqin.

  After an hour, the news of the crown prince consort’s betrothal edict had already circulated throughout the entire capital.

  When Queen Zhao heard that the king had ordained this unheard-of family as her treasured son’s in-laws, how could she sit still? She immediately brought her personal nanny to the king’s royal study in haste.

  The entire Mo Kingdom capital had already exploded into a stew.

  Everyone, from the nobles to even a trash-picking commoner, would ask, “Did you hear? The king issued a betrothal edict for His Highness the Crown Prince.”


  [0] The full idiom: When a man achieves the Dao, even his pets will ascend to Heaven.

  [1] Jiayuan = admirable distance