Yu Mingyue, holding her handkerchief, was quite philosophical. "The Sage merely spoke casually, he didn't issue a decree, so it might not be binding. Besides, you said I'm still young. Does he expect the Seventh Prince to wait until I come of age?"
"But..." Gu Youyou, though outspoken, knew what she could and couldn't say.
The reason so many scholars from aristocratic families were participating in this year's Spring Imperial Examination was precisely because Yu Mingyue was to be the future Seventh Prince Consort.
Her father had said that the number of jinshi selected in this year's Spring Imperial Examination would be several times that of previous years, and even the Lu clan had sent direct descendants to participate.
"Everything will be decided by the Sage. Anyway, I'm young, and I'm not afraid of not finding good men in the capital!"
"If not, why don't you marry my brother? My brother will definitely wait for you to come of age, and our family doesn't take concubines. We could play together every day." Gu Youyou did not forget to play matchmaker for her brother.
Gu Youyou's paternal grandmother was from the Zheng clan, one of the Five Great Clans, and her mother, the Yang clan, though not one of the Five Great Clans, was a prominent family in the region.
In fact, one of the most important reasons why these aristocratic families could last for centuries was that their male descendants were forbidden to take concubines.
This prevented disputes between legitimate and illegitimate offspring, which could damage the family's foundation, and promoted harmonious marital relationships.
The manor mostly had singing girls to entertain guests. To preserve the purity of the family bloodline, even if they were occasionally favored, they would not cause trouble.
When Madam Zheng married into the Gu family, she was also a noble lady from a prominent family, and this rule was passed down in the Gu family.
Compared to the old Madam Yu, Madam Zheng was understanding and reasonable. She did not use her son's refusal to take concubines to belittle her daughter-in-law. Instead, she was very considerate of her daughter-in-law's hardships, and their mother-in-law-daughter-in-law relationship was excellent, becoming a beautiful story in the capital.
Therefore, Gu Youyou dared to guarantee this for her brother with such confidence.
In fact, the Gu family was truly excellent.
Because of intermarriage among the Five Great Clans, the Cui clan had to call Madam Zheng "Maternal Aunt." With this relationship, the younger generations of both families also got along well.
Brother Tingyun was indeed a suitable candidate for a husband, but she had always treated Gu Tingyun as an elder brother since childhood, and the idea of him as a husband felt awkward.
"My brother is really very good." Gu Youyou was afraid that Yu Mingyue would not agree.
"I didn't say Brother Tingyun isn't good, but I can't decide on this matter. Besides, if I marry into your family, you will have already married by then, and we still won't be able to play together."
Gu Youyou puffed out her cheeks. "Yes, it's a bit troublesome."
"Yes, very troublesome," Yu Mingyue also puffed out her cheeks, wondering when the Sage would issue a decree to cancel the verbal engagement.
Yu Mingyue knew that the Grand Princess would do her utmost to facilitate this marriage to ease the relationship between Youzhou and the imperial court, but she did not expect it to happen so quickly.
The Khitans had gathered a hundred thousand troops and were pressing down on Youzhou. The general leading the army was once the renowned general of Great Wei, Fan Qi.
The Sage hated the scourge of aristocratic families, but what he hated even more was the traitorous general Fan Qi.
Years ago, Fan Qi had defected, and fifty thousand Great Wei soldiers were killed by the Tubo people. Yumenguan fell, and Tubo almost broke through Chang'an.
It was because of this disaster that the Grand Princess married into the Luo family of Youzhou, and it was the Luo family's troops that stopped this chaos.
The late emperor was also weakened by this catastrophe and died not long after.
For many years, Fan Qi had disappeared without a trace, but unexpectedly, he had fled to Khitan.
Most importantly, if the Luo family were to achieve military merit again this time, the imperial court would be completely unable to suppress them, nor would they be able to reclaim the military power of Youzhou.
"Father, your son is willing to lead the Northern Army to campaign." Xiao Che said.
If this military merit could not be given to the Luo family, then it had to be him.
The Sage narrowed his eyes as he looked at his son, who was kneeling and requesting the decree. Of course, he knew that his son was the most suitable. Firstly, he could establish prestige in the army, and secondly, Che'er was indeed at an age where he should gain experience.
However, if the Luo family harbored ill intentions, and the battlefield was unpredictable, Che'er's trip to Youzhou would be life-threatening.
Although this method was good, it was extremely dangerous.
Unless...