Capítulo 15: The Consort makes her match

*Royal palace*

The young general had chosen his fastest horse and rode to the palace, without first sending a letter beforehand to see the imperial consort.

Under normal circumstances, it would have been a punishable offense, and moreso as a result of how fond the emperor was of said consort.

But in the case of Wang Tengfei, he had beforehand knowledge of the consort's weakness and knew all too well how to exploit it.

"Are you busy courting death young general? I didn't shield you from your imposing father all these years just so you could throw away your life." The voice that scolded the young general belonged to none other than the imperial consort.

Consort Xīnyí.

"Forgive my rudeness." He told her, clasping his hands as a form of apology.

"Alright, it isn't everyday I get to lay eyes on my favorite eligible general. Here, drink this." She said, pressing him a cup of liquor.

Aside her closest handmaids, only the two of them sat across one another in her pantry, drinking together on a cool summer evening.

"I did not come here to exchange greetings, there is something I'd like to ask of you." Tengfei immediately chimed into the conversation, getting straight to the point.

The imperial consort raised a brow at him, curious as to what the straightforward man had to ask of her. As far as she could remember, he had fancied the idea of asking favors.

"You have my attention, what is it you want from me?" Consort Xīnyí asked, bringing her cup of liquor to her lips.

The young general relaxed his shoulders then lowered his head, stretching forth his clasped hands to her.

"A decree stating that young miss Yu should marry me within two days time." He declared in a firm tone, not mincing his words.

The consort couldn't believe her ears and ended up choking on the liquor that didn't go down her throat! Her handmaids swiftly rushed to get water and administer the basic first aid.

Wang Tengfei sat still and kept a straight face on the entire time, "if it is possible, I would like the letter sent to the Yu residence before tomorrow morning." He went on to say, speaking with so much confidence, it could burn one's eyes.

"Marriage you say? Are you finally interested in settling down?" Consort Xīnyí retorted in wide eyed shock.

"You unfilal child! You're doing this to mess with me, even after I handpicked so many women for you, you rejected them all. Now you want me to make a match under such short notice?" She angrily said, pointing her finger at him.

Memories of all the countless court ladies the young general had rejected without batting an eye, replayed in the woman's head. She had tried her hardest to pair him up but he was far too obstinate and infatuated with warring around.

"But" The woman suddenly said folding her arms across her chest, a suspicious look drawn across her round face.

"Why would you want to get married so suddenly? It was just up until recently that you were bestowed with your title. Just what are you trying to do Wang Tengfei?"

It wasn't a lie that the imperial consort was a clever woman, whom despite not having a regal bloodline was able to win the emperor's favor and climb to the top of the imperial harem. Rumour also had it, that the Emperor would have married her instead of the current empress, if only her birth was of higher status. And, if she was able to conceive children without having a miscarriage.

"It's good to find a wife and have a child before I dedicate my life to fighting for the Emperor." He answered her, pulling out an empty scroll from his right sleeve.

He pushed it to the consort and signalled for someone to get a brush and ink.

"Yes, I agree with that, but still, if that was just the matter then why rely on a decree from me? As far as looks go, you are unrivaled, not only that you're young and full of talents. Surely you shouldn't find it hard to get a wife, or..." The woman took a pause and brought the empty scroll to her line of sight.

"Did the proud peacock get his feathers plucked?" She gushed, fishing for gossip from him.

Wang Tengfei, felt the mocking tone in her voice and decided to pull out his trunk card, which was his last resort against the roundabout woman.

He let out a suppressed sigh then abruptly stood on his feet, closing his eyes to mentally prepare himself for what he was about to do.

"What are you..." Her voice was suddenly drowned out by the young general's sudden next line of action.

Wang Tengfei marched up to the handmaid in a yellow hanfu, with white flowers woven into her braids. He hissed underneath his breath, then grabbed her by the wrist.

The young general then did the unimaginable, by lifting up the petite girl and carrying her in his arms bridal style. He then stared directly into her eyes, and lowered his head to meet hers.

"I don't want the ground to touch your precious feet, just stay in my arms like this for eternity." Tengfei softly spoke in a forced voice to the perplexed woman in his arms.

"Eeeeeei!" Squealed the consort, who couldn't contain the bolt of excitement she was feeling from seeing a scene from something she read being acted out.

Tengfei who had somewhat succeeded in his mission let go of the girl then rested his hands behind his back. The only thing he was thankful for, was the fact that his men were waiting outside for him.

If anyone of them had witnessed this, the young general wouldn't have been able to crawl out of his hole of embarrassment.

"Wasn't it to Yu residence? Rest assured, this decree will be the first thing they receive when they wake up!" The overly excited consort announced, signing her name on the scroll.

Tengfei who had lost the will to speak simply clasped his hands in appreciation, then turned to take his leave.

"Isn't young miss Yu the daughter of the late minister Yu? If I'm not mistaken, that sly fox died buried in debt." She observed, staring curiously at her brush.

"Won't it be bothersome marrying into that family?" The consort pried, failing to see how the alliance would benefit her favored general.

"The Wang family and the Yu's have some close bonds, not to forget that late minister Yu has a good number of off record businesses. If weighed properly, the loss isn't too much." On that note, he turned and took his leave.

**********

Mei Deng who barely slept peacefully the previous night, suddenly had the urge to sleep in the next morning.

He had half a mind to skip school and meet with the families with the means to stage the protest against them. But, with the long list of creditors, he could only do so much.

"Young master Yu! Young master Yu!" Chunhua cried from outside in a panicked voice, calling Mei Deng's attention.

He wasted no time to spring out of bed, messily stepping on his hair while he struggled to find his white shoes.

"This is just horrible! How could this have happened?"

"What am I to do now?"

The sound of his mother and sister joined in the mix of the panicked voices, heightening his anxiety.

'Aish. What could have happened in such a short span of time?' he asked as he approached the three women, standing at the gate to the pavilion.

"What's wrong?" His gaze was directed at his mother, who had in her hand a scroll with a purple seal on it.

"Read it for yourself." The woman snapped at him, practically tossing the scroll into his hands. Yu Daiyu, had her face buried in her mother's shoulders, miserably crying her eyes out.

Mei Deng swiftly brought the scroll to his eyes and digested it's contents forgetting to even breathe. It was only after he finished reading, that one of his brows twitched in rage.

"The imperial consort has matched Daiyu with that Wang general? What bullshit!" Mei Deng cursed, clearly pissed off by the sudden turn of events.

"What do we do? We cannot go against her decree!" Yu Daiyu sobbed, "isn't it better to just take my own life?" She went on to say, genuinely meaning it.

"I see what is going on, that bastard Wang Tengfei must have sent those angry protesters to look good. And when that failed, he decided to suck up to his connections. What a fucking leech!" Mei Deng said in realisation, crumpling the decree in his hands.

"Huahua, send word to the imperial college that I'll be absent today." He brashly announced, messily pushing his hair back with his fingers.

"What is young master planning to do?" She fearfully asked, avoiding his angry eyes.

"To teach that bastard a lesson." He replied curling his fingers into an angry fist.

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