The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 467

"The Queen Mother has arrived."

Before anyone could react, another eunuch shouted, and then the imperial carriage of Empress Dowager Jiang, the birth mother of Emperor Jiajing, stopped at the entrance of the Lu residence.

When the Emperor and Empress Dowager arrived, everyone hurriedly stood up, including Yang Yiqing and others in the inner hall, as well as the princes and princesses, who all came to the Lu family courtyard and stood respectfully.

The kneeling and bowing system in the Ming Dynasty was very complicated. For example, when a subordinate official met a superior official, he had to kneel and bow.

But the Ming Dynasty was also quite peculiar; many things that were officially stipulated were no longer generally followed by people at that time.

For example, the etiquette of kneeling and bowing is rarely practiced by subordinates when they meet superiors, unless they are offending officials or have something to ask of their superiors.

During court assemblies, civil and military officials would generally only bow, not kneel.

Lu Song and his wife, Lu Bing, Zhou Chu, and Lu Wei and his wife all came before the Emperor and Empress Dowager, about to perform the kowtow, but Jiajing waved his hand to stop them.

"No need for formalities. Today is a joyous occasion, and my mother and I have come to join in the celebration."

Jiajing laughed.

Upon hearing this, Lu Song and his wife, Lu Bing, and Zhou Chu ceased their kneeling ceremony.

"Today, His Majesty and the Empress Dowager have graced us with their presence, and it is also the joyous occasion of their wedding. Naturally, the young couple should kneel and pay homage to their sovereign and father."

As Lu Song spoke, he reached out and pressed Lu Wei's neck. Upon hearing this, Lu Wei and Yang Ran solemnly knelt down and kowtowed to Jiajing and Empress Dowager Jiang.

Neither Jiajing nor Jiang Shi refused the kneeling ceremony offered by Lu Wei and the other man, accepting it with smiles.

In most families, the wedding ceremony typically involves bowing to heaven and earth, bowing to the parents, and finally bowing to each other.

But the Lu family was clearly no ordinary family. With the emperor and empress dowager present, they naturally had to pay homage to their sovereign father.

"What a perfect couple! I am delighted to see them. I embroidered these mandarin ducks when I had some free time the other day. I'm giving them to you as a gift, wishing you a long and happy marriage."

Jiang took Yang Ran's hand and placed the pair of mandarin duck purses that she had embroidered into Yang Ran's hands.

When Yang Ran's hand was grabbed by Madam Jiang, she stiffened and became extremely nervous. After all, the person in front of her was the Empress Dowager, whose status was so noble that no one in the entire Ming Dynasty could surpass her.

"Don't be nervous. I even held Wenxin when he was born. If we're really talking about it, Wenxin and the Emperor could be considered as brothers."

Jiang naturally understood why Yang Ran was so nervous, patted Yang Ran's hand, and smiled.

Initially, Lady Jiang feared that Zhu Houcong's relationship with Lady Yang would become too close, thus alienating him from his birth mother. Therefore, she arranged for Prince Xing to find a job for Lu Song in the capital, while Lu Bing inherited Lu Song's original job.

This was originally a good thing for the Lu family. The Lu family originally only had one hereditary position in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but now there are two. Naturally, Lu Song and his wife were extremely happy about this.

Jiang had no ill feelings towards Yang; in fact, the two had a good relationship. For more than a year, Jiang often invited Yang to the palace to keep her company and talk to her to relieve her distress.

In addition, the Lu family's current power and their assistance to the emperor, especially Zhou Chu, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, have always been aware of the help they have given to her son.

There was absolutely no need for Empress Dowager Jiang to attend Lu Wei's wedding. Even Emperor Zhu Houcong's presence would have been an excessive honor for the Lu family. However, both Zhu Houcong and Jiang knew that no amount of praise was too much for the Lu family.

To elevate the Lu family is to elevate Zhou Chu.

Now that Zhou Chu has reached his current position, for them to further elevate him would be tantamount to flattering him to death, which would be detrimental to Zhou Chu, the emperor, and even the court.

These problems would not exist if the Lu family were elevated.

Jiang realized that Zhou Chu, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, had not mentioned marriage at this age, nor had he ever mentioned having a woman he liked. He was most likely going to be with the youngest daughter of the Lu family.