At this moment, Su Wanqing, eager to prove herself to her master, desperately wanted to stay by Liang Xiao's side. She immediately looked at Hong Jie with pleading eyes, "Is it possible..."
Hong Jie also felt a bit annoyed and gave a wry smile, "There's no need for the brother-sister pretense. Let's just say that we few are old acquaintances of Miss Su, and she's come to visit us. How about that?"
Liang Xiao nodded in satisfaction, "That works too! Miss Su, you can stay with Yun Xiu and Lin'er until I return to Jiangnan."
Su Wanqing was surprised and delighted, and immediately introduced herself to Hong Jie and the other three.
"Lin'er, please take good care of me in the future~" Su Wanqing said softly.
"Mm-hmm~ Wanqing elder sister, please take good care of me too..." Zuo Jing replied obediently, then looked at Liang Xiao with a hint of resentment.
You wait for me, I'll definitely teach you a good lesson sooner or later, and no one can stop me!
The hint of good feelings Zuo Jing had developed for Liang Xiao due to his concern vanished, replaced by a desire to beat Liang Xiao up at the first opportunity.
Su Wanqing was led by Liang Xiao to see her new room. Only then did Hong Jie turn to Liang Xiao, his face displeased, "Liang Xiao, we had an agreement..."
Liang Xiao then whispered, "Her zither music has the power to disturb the mind, comparable to the music of a fallen kingdom. It's not good to have her out in the open. However, recently, people from the Huichun Sect have been targeting Christa, and I cannot let her get close to Christa, nor can I let her disturb people's minds. I can only ask for your assistance in observing her for a while."
"You want me to keep an eye on her?" Hong Jie finally understood.
Liang Xiao smiled and nodded, his mind made up.
Judging by the reactions of Yun Xiu and the other three, they genuinely didn't know Su Wanqing?
Since this matter seemed trivial on the surface, and Hong Jie had already pledged his allegiance to Liang Xiao, there was no reason to object. He could only agree.
After bathing, Su Wanqing sat with Hong Jie and the other three in the courtyard and voluntarily offered to play a piece for them as a thank you.
After listening to the music, Hong Jie and Zuo Jing couldn't help but feel a jolt.
They didn't understand much about the zither, but they could vaguely sense the despondency in the music.
Hong Qu and Shangguan Jiusi were martial arts fanatics. Playing for them was like playing the lute to a cow. Hong Jie wasn't worried about them being influenced by Su Wanqing.
After Su Wanqing returned to her room, Hong Jie frowned, "This woman, which fool arranged for her to be brought in..."
Even Hong Jie was angry this time.
They had finally managed to infiltrate Liang Xiao's inner circle, and now another inexplicable person like Su Wanqing appeared, potentially ruining everything at any moment!
"This kind of decadent music, could it be that the Huichun Sect has changed their tactics, resorting to soft methods when the hard ones fail?" Zuo Jing said coldly.
Hong Jie pondered this.
In her room, a maid was massaging Su Wanqing's shoulders.
Su Wanqing chuckled softly, "I easily achieved what that so-called senior sister couldn't. Master should contact me soon, right?"
The news that the eldest daughter of the Su family, an old acquaintance of Liang Xiao's strategist, was a guest by Liang Xiao's side quickly spread throughout Qiantang and even towards Suzhou.
The next day, Su Wanqing was shocked and angry in her room, "What did you say? My master was targeted by Liang Xiao and left Qiantang long ago?!"
The maid replied in a low voice, "Yes, Miss. The person responsible for contacting us also received a message and evacuated, only telling us to leave Liang Xiao as soon as possible!"
Su Wanqing felt her vision go black, almost fainting!
The maid looked distressed, "Miss, you should just play your zither well for now and don't expose yourself. At worst, you can find an excuse to go home!"
Su Wanqing felt her scalp tingle, "Even my master is afraid of Liang Xiao, then aren't I walking into a trap myself?..."
She had begged tearfully to stay by Liang Xiao's side. If she ran now, it would only make Liang Xiao suspicious, which would then affect her elder brother, Su Wencheng!
And that Yun Xiu Zhaizhu was clearly an extremely intelligent person. She had to be careful about her every word and action in front of her, let alone Liang Xiao!
Walking into a tiger's den!
For the next few days, Liang Xiao regularly sent Heavenly Mountain knights to inquire about Su Wanqing and understand the situation.
The response he received was always "very well-behaved."
Liang Xiao finally felt relieved.
When he left Suzhou, he had already written a letter and sent someone to urgently deliver it to Heavenly Mountain, requesting Gongsun Jing to dispatch the most upright and outstanding zither masters from Heavenly Mountain to Suzhou to understand the situation of the zither circles in Suzhou, with the aim of weakening Su Wanqing's influence on others.
Su Wanqing's arrival in Qiantang was exactly what he wanted. This gave the Heavenly Mountain zither masters enough time to cultivate everyone's character with righteous zither music and strive for a return to normalcy.
Bookstores in Qiantang were also printing books in large quantities, forcing the Ouyang family to acquire them.
In just two months, bookstores in various parts of the country opened one after another. Liang Xiao estimated the progress and realized he had at least swindled over five million taels from the Ouyang family. After deducting costs, he had made a net profit of at least two and a half million taels!
Ding WuYi's reply finally reached the capital after an urgent delivery.
Xiao Qing looked at the names of the girls Liang Xiao had written and then put away her jealousy, "Stinky brother is quite honest, lucky you~~"
She had already prepared herself for Liang Xiao to include Lin'er, Zhuo Yun, and even Ye Qingyi in the list.
Prime Minister Wang Canghai glanced at it and also breathed a sigh of relief, "It's acceptable..."
If Liang Xiao had written a large number of women's names, then in the eyes of the common people, having "Princess Ningshuang" and a bunch of women sharing Liang Xiao would be somewhat undignified.
Given Liang Xiao's contributions to the common people, as long as His Majesty handled it well, it would be enough to silence public criticism.
Seeing that Wang Canghai did not object, Xiao Qing took a deep breath, retrieved the imperial seal, and drafted the imperial decree.
"By the grace of heaven, the Emperor decrees: Heaven has bestowed upon our Great Qian a sage, the Marquis of An Guo, Liang Xiao, currently the Minister of Personnel, Vice Minister of Works, and General Zhen Dong. His merits cover the universe, and he is blessed by the divine General Tian Wei, a sage decreed by heaven! I, the Emperor, remember the ancestral teachings, rise early and sleep late, diligently managing state affairs day and night, only seeking peace and prosperity for the nation!"
"My dear minister Liang is an esteemed advisor bestowed upon me by the late emperor in a dream, and has won the heart of Princess Ningshuang. I hereby proclaim to the world that Liang Xiao will be married to Princess Ningshuang. Upon his return to the capital, a wedding will be arranged! The royal family urgently needs to continue its lineage, and the offspring born to them should bear the surname 'Liang'. I have also been instructed by the late emperor in a dream that the Liang family must not be without heirs, and he is permitted to marry wives and take concubines, but he must consider the dignity of the royal family."
"Among my dear minister Liang's several confidantes, besides Princess Christa of the Western Regions who is already betrothed, there are also Jian Qin Wan, Luo Qing Xue, Yue Lian, and Zhuo Xun. All of them are of unparalleled beauty, virtuous and dignified, possessing the qualifications to be the wife of the Marquis of An Guo! Jian Qin Wan will be conferred the title of Princess Wan Feng, Zhuo Xun will be conferred the title of Princess Wan Hua, Luo Qing Xue will be conferred the title of Princess Qing Xue, and Yue Lian will be conferred the title of Princess Xi Yue."
"The four princesses, Feng Hua Xue Yue, will all be betrothed to my dear minister Liang, and along with Princess Ningshuang and Princess Christa, they will be considered Liang Xiao's 'legitimate wives'. After Liang Xiao marries Princess Ningshuang, he will choose an auspicious day to marry the other princesses! This matter was personally instructed by the late emperor in a dream. Any slander against the current sage is strictly forbidden. Violators will be punished by law! Thus decreed."
The imperial decree was read aloud for the first time in the imperial court in the presence of all civil and military officials, and the officials were shocked!
Dugu Qun and others vehemently opposed it, but facing Xiao Qing's thunderous wrath and the signboard of Emperor Wen, the late emperor, they could only concede and offer their insincere congratulations to Liang Xiao before Xiao Qing.
Subsequently, imperial edicts were posted, and the entire populace seemed to have experienced an unprecedented earthquake!
Historically, there have been instances of princes and ministers having "joint legitimate wives," meaning several wives held equal status, with no distinction between wife and concubine; they were all legitimate wives. Wealthy and powerful officials and commoners could also have joint legitimate wives.
Generally, an individual could have at most three joint legitimate wives.
Liang Xiao, however, had six joint legitimate wives at once, bestowed by the Son of Heaven himself!