Luo Cuiwei rolled her eyes helplessly, turned her blushing face aside, and let him be.
So the wedding date was officially set for June 27th.
****
After the auspicious day was chosen, the two were supposed to go to the palace to pay their respects first.
However, Yun Lie immediately sent a memorial to the inner city through the Shao Fu, requesting Emperor Xianlong's permission for him to first pay respects to Luo Cuiwei's parents.
Emperor Xianlong was reasonable in this matter. He knew that the Luo family's daughter had been wronged from beginning to end. Moreover, Yun Lie had just won a great victory in Linchuan, and he had to reward him both publicly and privately. So he immediately approved the request and gave the Luo family face.
The memorial with imperial approval was personally delivered to Prince Zhao's residence by Du Fushan, a close eunuch of Emperor Xianlong, which shows that it was a very solemn matter.
Coincidentally, Xiahou Ling arrived right after Du Fushan left.
"Grandma Xu's birthday?!"
Yun Lie had been sitting lazily to the side, but after hearing Xiahou Ling say that Luo Huai had asked Luo Cuiwei to attend the Xu family's old lady's birthday celebration on his behalf the next day, he immediately perked up.
The Xu family in the north of the city. Xu Yan... oh no, Yan.
If he hadn't been worried about losing five cartloads of grain, he probably would have already carried Luo Cuiwei back to her bedchamber and hidden her away.
Noticing his wary and uneasy look, Luo Cuiwei quickly smiled and explained, "Luo Fengming usually goes, but he hasn't come back yet, so I'm the only one who can fill in."
If Xiahou Ling hadn't come today, she wouldn't have remembered that tomorrow is the old lady of the Xu family's birthday.
Yun Lie was still somewhat unhappy, but in front of Xiahou Ling, he didn't want to say anything more, so he pursed his lips into a straight line.
"The head of the family knows that you don't like to associate with the Xu family. He only told you to go tomorrow to deliver a birthday gift and show your face to show that our Luo family's goodwill has been conveyed," Xiahou Ling said to Luo Cuiwei. "The head of the family also said that Your Highness does not need to go with us."
Luo Cuiwei nodded. "Then go back and tell my father that I will go home with His Highness this afternoon to formally pay my respects to my father and mother."
As soon as Xiahou Ling left, Yun Lie could no longer contain himself and made his demands.
"I want to go with you tomorrow morning."
"Father specifically told you not to go with him, because he didn't want to give the Xu family such a big face for no reason. Don't cause trouble."
Luo Cuiwei was unaware that he was wary of Xu Yan; she simply thought he wanted to cling to her, so she patiently explained the hidden secrets to him.
Although Luo Huai had a personal relationship with the Xu family, he was never a fool.
For many years, the Xu family has rarely been involved in business matters that overlap with the Luo family. This is not because of their close personal relationship and humility, but simply because they are wary of the Luo family's reputation as the "richest family in the capital" and do not want to have a direct conflict of interest with the Luo family.
Businessmen are masters of leveraging external forces and climbing the ladder of success. If news of "His Highness Prince Zhao personally visiting the Xu family to offer birthday greetings" were to spread, it would undoubtedly propel the Xu family's reputation to new heights in a short period of time.
At this time, the Luo family still has many problems to solve. It is a critical juncture where they must either advance or retreat. If the Xu family's prestige rises sharply, it will definitely be a matter of "one gaining at the expense of the other" for the Luo family.
Once the Xu family gains momentum, it's hard to say whether they will continue to adhere to their bottom line of "not directly clashing with the Luo family in business."
The Huang family was already eyeing them covetously; if the Xu family were added to the mix, the Luo family might truly be unable to catch their breath.
If it had been a few days later, after Luo Cuiwei was officially named Princess Zhao, Luo Huai would never have let her take the place, no matter how hard he tried to find a suitable candidate.
After Luo Cuiwei explained the ins and outs, Yun Lie could only nod reluctantly.
Seeing that he was still somewhat unhappy, Luo Cuiwei walked over with a smile, shook his hand, and comforted him in a soft voice, "I'll be back soon after delivering the birthday gift and exchanging a few pleasantries."
Yun Lie remained silent for a while, then looked down at her hand holding his, and took her slender fingers in his palm. "You started this again. Ten cartloads of grain, thank you."
"You bandit!" Luo Cuiwei looked up at him incredulously.
He returned her a roguish smile, just as the occasion called, and then suddenly leaned down and kissed her.
Luo Cuiwei laughed irritably, "If you kiss me like this, you'll be docked five cartloads of grain."
“You touched me first, so you owe me ten cartloads of grain,” Yun Lie said smugly, raising their intertwined hands and waving them provocatively in front of her. “If I kiss you, I’ll deduct five cartloads, and I’ll still have five cartloads left over.”
Luo Cuiwei was dumbfounded.
This move was too cunning; she was caught completely off guard.
“Oh, I’ve thought about it again. I’ll skip the five cartloads today,” Yun Lie said, taking advantage of her momentary daze. He suddenly grabbed her waist and said with no small amount of bravado, “Give me another kiss, and we’ll settle the score!”
Today's battle between "No business is without cunning" and "All warfare is based on deception": Deception prevails.
47. Chapter Forty-Seven
Although the Xu family in the north of the city could not compare to the Luo family in the west of the capital, they still enjoyed considerable prestige and influence among merchants in the capital. With the Xu family matriarch's birthday approaching, quite a few people took the opportunity to visit.
Not wanting to unnecessarily enhance the Xu family's reputation, Luo Cuiwei deliberately downplayed her status as the "mistress of the Zhao Prince's Mansion," and simply came as the "eldest daughter of the Luo family."
The Luo family had sent Xiahou Ling with birthday gifts to wait outside the Xu residence. When Luo Cuiwei arrived, a young lady from the Xu family, who was in charge of welcoming guests, invited the two of them inside.
After presenting a congratulatory gift to the matriarch of the Xu family and exchanging a few words, Luo Cuiwei, accompanied by Xiahou Ling, went to greet the head of the Xu family. This was considered to be the fulfillment of the Luo family's courtesy.
The head of the Xu family knew that Luo Cuiwei was not the same as before, so he did not dare to tease her about the incident between her and Xu Yan when they were young. In addition, the Xu family was hosting guests today and there were many trivial matters to attend to, so a few polite greetings were enough.
Luo Cuiwei winked at Xiahou Ling, and was about to take the opportunity to leave when the Xu family matriarch sent someone to say that she hadn't seen Luo Cuiwei for many years and wanted to invite her over for a private talk.
Since the other party was an elderly person in their eighties and also the birthday celebrant of the host family today, Luo Cuiwei couldn't bear to refuse. After exchanging a few words with Xiahou Ling, she returned to the old lady's courtyard.
It seemed that the old lady really wanted to speak with Luo Cuiwei alone, so she ordered people to wait outside the courtyard. Any guests who came to offer birthday wishes were first led to meet with the head of the Xu family. It was as if the place had been cleared out, and they were waiting for Luo Cuiwei alone.