After the Ministry of Rites official left, the atmosphere in the Ming family became extremely heavy.

Ming Jingzhou lifted the imperial edict, his hands trembling slightly, as if this was not an imperial edict embroidered with golden dragons and clouds, but a thousand-pound hammer.

"Third uncle." Ming Cunfu was worried that Ming Jingzhou would faint from frustration, so he quickly stood up to help him up.

It was originally a good thing for his cousin to marry into the royal family, but just thinking about the person that Jiuzhou would marry, that "congratulations" could not be expressed in words.

In the capital, everyone knew that His Majesty favored Imperial Noble Consort Su to the heavens, and even more so, doted on the son born to Imperial Noble Consort Su - the Divine King.

When the Divine King was not yet fifteen, he was crowned king at the same time as the First Prince, who was five years older than him.

Now he is twenty, the palace outside the palace is extremely splendid, painted red and gilded, and His Majesty often allows him to sleep in the palace, the other princes and princesses also have to be somewhat wary of him.

There are rumors in the court that the Divine King is the hidden Crown Prince, if Imperial Concubine Su did not have a lowly origin, and if the Divine King was neither the legitimate son nor the eldest son, His Majesty would have appointed him as Crown Prince long ago.

But other than the outstanding face bestowed by Imperial Concubine Su, there is nothing else worthy of praise for this Divine King.

Many ministers in the court did not want this person to inherit the throne.

Jiu Zhou knelt on the ground, looking at her father's sorrowful expression, then looked at her cousin who was also heartbroken, she lifted her skirt and stood up, cautiously walked to Ming Jing Zhou's side, picked up the imperial edict and read it.

"The imperial edict says, the Divine King is a naturally beautiful and handsome man, diligent and hardworking, it is clearly a compliment." She rolled up the imperial edict and stuffed it into Ming Jing Zhou's hand, Jiu Zhou gently patted his hand, "Father, you don't need to be so sad."

Looking at her daughter's innocent and lovely face, Ming Jing Zhou said in a trembling voice, "Even Mrs. Wang who sells melons in the Western Market knows how to praise herself, let alone..."

Let alone His Majesty is marrying a wife for his son.

Ming Cunfu coughed slightly, reminding his third uncle not to offend the royal family, "Little sister, it's only because third uncle and I can't bear to let you marry."

In the past, their branch family had lost power in the imperial court and was exiled to a poor land. In order to protect his newly born cousin, third uncle sent her to be raised by an elder of the same clan.

Later, when the current emperor ascended the throne, his father, second uncle, and third uncle were cleared of their names and were allowed to return to the capital to take up their posts.

Officials in the capital were not allowed to leave the capital without an edict, but third uncle still sent people to Lingzhou to pick up his cousin many times.

At first, the group of elders in the clan used the excuse that his cousin's health was weak and could not endure the long journey, and did not allow them to pick her up.

But the third uncle and third aunt missed their daughter so much that they waited for their cousin to recuperate for a year before spending a large sum of money to invite a physician to accompany them and bring their six-year-old cousin home.

As soon as the "little cousin" was brought back to the mansion, the third aunt felt that something was wrong. Although her face vaguely resembled hers and her third uncle's, she suspected that this child was not her flesh and blood.

Only after investigating did she learn that not long after their three brothers were exiled, the clan members were afraid of offending the powerful minister, so they did not dare to raise her and abandoned her in a remote place.

The name "Cuu Chau" implied that her parents treated her like a pearl.

But those cruel and heartless people dared to abandon their precious pearl.

After learning the truth, the third uncle and third aunt were heartbroken, immediately sent the fake cousin back to Lingzhou, and erased her name from the ancestral temple, separated from the family, and established their own sect.

His father, second uncle, and third uncle were blood-related, and since they were exiled to a poor place, the three of them had always helped each other, sharing the same hardships.

Therefore, they could not bear their anger, and divided the family tree with the third uncle's family.

From then on, the three families and the Ming clan in Lingzhou officially ended their relationship.

A few months ago, he led his servants to look for her, and finally found her in a small, old, and dilapidated Taoist temple in Lingzhou.

The walls were mottled, the tiles were broken, and the windows were torn, looking so poor that even rats would not bother to come near.

The sixteen-year-old younger sister held a large steamed bun, eating with apparent satisfaction.

When she saw him, the little girl quickly hid the steamed bun behind her back, and quickly opened her mouth, "May I ask if young master wants to offer incense or have his fortune told? The gods in our Taoist temple are very effective."

Minh Ton Phu looked at the statue of the god on the altar covered with a thick layer of dust, and couldn't really see any effectiveness.

But then he hoped that the Taoist temple would be effective, because after all, the two female Taoist priests there had said that he had the protection of the Van Khuc star, so that in the future he could have his name on a golden plaque, be protected by nobles, and have a smooth official career.

Who among the scholars doesn't like to have their name on the golden board?

So they must be agile!

"Sixth Brother's Mansion." Jiu Zhou tugged on Ming Cun Fu's sleeve, "What are you thinking about?"

Ming Cun Fu regained her senses, before she could open her mouth, she heard hurried footsteps coming from the outer courtyard.

"Mother is back?" Jiu Zhou quickly walked out the door, just in time to see Shen Shi walking this way.

Shen Shi was originally worried, but when she saw Jiu Zhou standing in front of the door, her expression suddenly became gentle, "Why are you standing in front of the door like this, Jiu Zhou? The wind is cold in late autumn, don't catch a cold."

Jiu Zhou smelled the scent of incense and candles on Shen Shi's body, she reached out to help Shen Shi into the room, "Mother, don't worry, my skin is thick, it's fine."

Although the mother and daughter had only been together for a short time, they were very close, perhaps this was the invisible fate between mother and daughter.

Shen shi sat down, immediately ordered the servant to bring nutritious soup to Jiu Zhou, looking at her daughter's small face, her eyes were filled with heartache.

There is a type of thinness called "mother sees her child thin".

In her mind, Jiu Zhou had gone through so many hardships in the past ten years, to the point that every time she saw the miserable people in the opera, she would start to think, what if her daughter was also miserable like that?

So ever since the fair and fresh Jiu Zhou stood before her, she began to have the habit of feeding her daughter.

It was as if she was breaking down the warm maternal love of the past fifteen years, grinding it into the finest powder, gently wrapping her daughter, letting her understand that she had always loved her, cared for her, and had never abandoned her.

Luckily, Shen shi liked to feed her, and Jiu Zhou also liked to eat, the dishes filled with motherly love went straight to Jiu Zhou's stomach.

"Just now the gatekeeper reported, someone from the Ministry of Rites came to deliver an imperial edict." Shen shi gently stroked the bag inside her sleeve, inside was a talisman she had just prayed for her daughter, "What's the matter?"

"The Ministry of Rites just delivered an imperial edict, His Majesty is acting as matchmaker on behalf of the Divine King, wanting to marry Jiu Zhou as the Divine King's consort."

"What king?"

"God...! King."

"What concubine?"

"God's concubine."

Minh Ton Phu was afraid that the third aunt's anger would affect her health, so she quickly added, "She's the main concubine."

The room suddenly became quiet.

A moment later, the amulet that Tham Thi had pulled out halfway was forcefully shoved back in.

What kind of immortal, she couldn't even protect her own daughter, what use was there in praying back and forth!

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got, and she stood up to leave.

"Madam, calm down, calm down!" Ming Jingzhou immediately stood up and held her clothes tightly, "If you have something to say, let's close the door and talk slowly."

Don't barge into the palace gate, your head will fall off!

Jiuzhou looked at his parents pulling me, propped his chin up and asked, "What's wrong with being a Divine King?"

Ming Jingzhou and Shen shi both turned their heads to look at their daughter, their eyes filled with pain and anger at the precious treasure being taken away by bandits.

"Everyone sit down and talk slowly." The Lingzhou people spoke softly and softly, Jiuzhou grew up in a Taoist temple in Lingzhou, and had little contact with outsiders, so he was even more naive.

Her words sounded like she was acting spoiled, the couple's hearts melted as they listened.

"This Divine King..." Ming Jingzhou kept mumbling, opening and closing his mouth, after a while he let out a long sigh, "Let me go to the palace to ask His Majesty to withdraw the imperial edict."

"Is he really ugly?" Seeing that his father didn't even bother to mention it, Jiu Zhou's mind suddenly flashed with the image of a wolf with bear arms and a green face, with a yellowish grin.

Lowering his head to touch his fair wrist, Jiu Zhou suddenly felt that the bowl of nutritious soup that the maid had brought over was no longer fragrant.

"He's not ugly, but this Divine King..." Ming Jingzhou was silent for a while, "It's hard to describe it in a few words."

Not only was he not ugly, he also had a face that made many girls fall head over heels in love.

But as a man, a prince, what good was it to have only a good appearance?

Kicking the image of a green face and yellow fangs out of his mind, Jiu Zhou looked at Ming Jing Zhou with sparkling eyes, "Then let's take it slow and think about it, father."

"The birth mother of the Divine King is Consort Su, the son of a merchant.

As soon as he entered the palace, he monopolized His Majesty's favor for many years.

In the past years, because of Consort Su, His Majesty abused his power to bestow a kingship on him, even his title surpassed the other princes."

"Divine", extremely extremely, implied the place where heaven and earth intersected, carrying a special meaning, which emperor would give this kind of title to his young son.

"There is no empress in the palace, what's wrong with His Majesty liking that concubine, what do those two things have to do with each other?" Jiu Zhou didn't see anything difficult to say about this.

"I don't understand." As one of the civil servants, the grudges and enmity between the mother and son of the Divine King and the civil servants were enough to write ten books, and each book would sell out all over town.

Minh Kinh Chau straightened his official uniform, "Let your mother and brother talk to you, I will go to the palace to meet His Majesty."

It was so hard to find his innocent and lovely daughter, how could he marry her to someone like the Divine King!

"Father..." Cuu Chau raised her hand to stop him, but her father's back was too decisive, she only had time to touch the hem of his clothes.

"Don't stop him." Shen shi stopped her, "Let him try it once, at least..."

At least he would feel better.

"Let's eat the soup." She remembered that her daughter hadn't finished the bowl of soup that the maid had brought, Shen shi forced a smile, holding the bowl of soup and bringing it in front of her.

No matter how many men or women there were, they couldn't stop her from wanting to raise her daughter.

"Madam." The servant quickly ran in to deliver the message, "Someone from Ming Yue Palace came to deliver a message, saying that Imperial Noble Consort Su has a famous calligraphy painting, and wants to invite the young lady to the palace to enjoy it."

Since when did things like appreciating paintings involve Imperial Noble Consort Su?

Shen shi calmly held the bowl of soup and smiled as she said to Jiu Zhou, "Take your time eating, don't be in a hurry.

After you're done eating, let the servant take you to wash your face and comb your hair."

After a few sips, the bowl of soup was finished. When Jiu Zhou stood up and walked to the back yard, she vaguely saw the house steward leading a middle-aged woman in a purple dress from the other side.

"That person must be the noble lady of the mansion." The female official of Ming Yue Palace stopped, looked at the back in the distance, then smiled and nodded to Lu mama, "Although I can't see her face clearly, but just by looking at her, I can tell that the noble lady is a peerless beauty."

"Haha, auntie flatters you too much."

The steward thought to herself, forget it, being able to tell from that distance whether it was a man or a woman was truly amazing.

She had seen many cases where before getting married, the husband's family would praise the girl's family to the skies, but after getting married, they would find fault with the girl's family.

Was this female official really praising her young lady?

She was just being considerate of her status as the daughter of a civil servant!

The hearts of the people in the palace were not clean.

"Xuan Fen, this phoenix-tailed hairpin is really heavy." Jiu Zhou touched the hairpin on her sideburns, afraid that it would fall.

This hairpin was made of pure gold, it looked very expensive.

The pearl hanging down from her sideburns swayed slightly, highlighting her small face, making it even more heart-warming.

Being looked at by those teary eyes that sparkled like a newborn puppy, Xuan Fen's heart felt both soft and itchy, she quickly moved her gaze away, "Miss has entered the palace to meet the Imperial Noble Consort, so she must dress beautifully."

Putting down the jade comb in her hand, she carelessly placed it on the edge of the dressing table, seeing that it was about to fall, Xuan Fen had not yet had time to say anything when she saw the young lady grab the jade comb, placing it back on the table.

"Miss." The maid outside softly reminded, "The palace carriage has arrived."

Jiu Zhou confidently stepped onto the carriage. Back at the Taoist temple, she often painted, but because her two masters were too poor, she had to save on pens, ink, and paper.

The two masters had also praised her for her talent in painting, so how could these things like admiring paintings be difficult for her?

"Madam." The trusted maid supported Shen Shi, and seeing her serious expression, she comforted her, "Miss is the bloodline of you and the lord, she must also have a talent for painting."

Shen Shi, "...".