Chapter 155: Sweetheart, Marry Me!

“Hmm? What do you want?” After reacquainting himself with Chu Junyi’s strength, Baili Qingcang appreciated him very much, and his attitude was much more lenient.

Chu Junyi slowly walked to the center of the hall. His black brocade cloud-patterned robe made him look cold and imposing. He respectfully knelt on the ground and bowed to Baili Qingcang three times before raising his head and looking firmly at him. “Your Majesty, please grant a marriage for me and Prefectural Princess Zhaohua!”

Shen Ninghua suddenly widened her eyes. A ripple flashed in her watery eyes. He…

Chu Junyi’s expression was exceptionally firm. There were many ways to make the emperor grant them a marriage. However, he chose the most formal and traditional way to propose, so that Shen Ninghua would not suffer the slightest grievance.

Baili Qingcang frowned slightly. Just as he was about to say something, he saw the Second Prince Baili Jinchuan suddenly standing up. “Your Majesty, I also want to marry Ninghua.”

What? The officials started to be excited one after another. It was easy for them to understand why Chu Junyi wanted to marry Shen Ninghua. After all, there had been rumors for a long time that he had a deep affection for Prefectural Princess Zhaohua. Up until now, many young ladies of aristocratic families still envied their romance very much. But what about the Second Prince? His wife had passed away for no more than half a year and he wanted to marry again? Although the Zhou family was no longer as powerful as before, this was not a decent act.

Baili Qingcang’s expression also turned cold. “You two both want to marry Ninghua?”

“Yes!” The two of them knelt in the main hall at the same time with the same firm expression and extraordinary bearing. Each of them was an outstanding figure that would attract thousands of women, but now they were asking to marry one girl at the same time.

Empress Zhao Huiying glanced at Baili Jinchuan and Chu Junyi with a cold look in her eyes. “Ninghua, I was wondering why you didn’t want to marry the Sixth Prince of the Great Yue Kingdom. It turned out you have already had someone of your heart.”

Shen Ninghua turned her head. The empress was implying that she had pledged to marry a man on her own. “Your Majesty, you misunderstood me. Although I wasn’t raised by my own mother, I know ethics and morality. I wouldn’t do such a thing as pledging to marry others on my own. However, every girl has a man she admires. I do prefer to marry Young Master Chu, but I didn’t do any indecent thing that violates etiquette.”

Zhao Huiying paused and her expression turned completely cold. “Ninghua, you are the foster daughter of His Majesty. Although you are not a real princess and have not been properly educated, there are some basic things that you should be clear about. Marriage is a matter of extreme importance that must be arranged by parents and matchmakers. Even if you admire someone in your heart, you shouldn’t openly say it out loud.”

Shen Ninghua opened her eyes wide and said in an extremely innocent tone, “If I don’t say it out loud, then you want me to lie to His Majesty? I know that saying this may attract criticism, but even if it hurts my own reputation, I’m not willing to deceive His Majesty with words that aren’t sincere. What’s wrong with me doing this?”

Zhao Huiying had a smile on her lips, but her gaze was as cold as ice. “Your really have a shrewd tongue.”

“Your Majesty, you overpraised me. I just spoke my mind.”

Baili Qingcang glared at Shen Ninghua and a helpless smile flashed across his eyes. “You naughty girl, I see that your real aim isn’t to show your respect to me. You just want to choose an ideal husband, right?”

Shen Ninghua lowered her head and laughed. Her face was flushed red. “Your Majesty, Her Majesty just criticized me, so don’t tease me in front of the officials. Otherwise, I really will be drowned in a pig cage as a punishment.”

Baili Qingcang’s eyes widened, and his brows were filled with a stern expression. “Who dares to do that to you? You are my favorite prefectural princess, and you can do anything you want, let alone picking a husband on your own.”

With these words, whoever dared to criticize Shen Ninghua for her previous statement would be declared guilty and pulled down. The emperor had already said that she could feel free to choose her husband. Who else dared to challenge the emperor?

“Your Majesty!”

Baili Qingcang glanced at her. A smile finally appeared on his face. ‘”I know what you’re thinking. However, I just said that you are my favorite prefectural princess, so I can’t let you marry just anyone. Proper measures must be taken to select a husband for you. Not only you, but Anning and Anqing are also due to get married. I will choose my sons-in-law together. It’s also a good chance to bring some liveliness to the imperial city.”

Baili Anqing was stunned, and her face immediately blushed. She lowered her head and did not dare to look at the faces of the surrounding people.

Zhao Huiying’s heart trembled. Son-in-law! Only a princess’ husband could be called the emperor’s son-in-law. The emperor had said that he would make Shen Ninghua a princess. She had thought that it was just a joke, but now it seemed that he was determined to give Shen Ninghua this honor! Well, were all the beauties in the harem actually inferior to Xia Jingyan, who had been dead for so many years? Or was the rumor true that Shen Ninghua was the emperor’s illegitimate daughter?

Thinking of this possibility, Zhao Huiying’s palms turned cold and she asked, “Your Majesty, what do you plan to do?”

“My daughters are naturally worthy of the best men in the world with both outstanding literary talent and martial arts skills. Well, here is the topic for the contestants: Conquer the enemy with a brush to show your literary talent and exercise leadership at a distance to prove your skills in martial arts. Those who are willing to participate in the contest will have seven days to prepare, and I will supervise the contest outside Chengqian Palace then.”

Conquer the enemy with a brush to show one’s literary talent and exercise leadership at a distance to prove one’s skills in martial arts? Wasn’t this the other way around? Many people lowered their heads and began to ponder.

Flames flashed in Chu Junyi’s eyes. He already knew that it was not easy to marry his beautiful sweetheart and he was not surprised that there would be competition. He would not lose to anyone.

The smell of blood in the hall gradually dissipated, but the faces of the women present were still pale. They were all extremely scared. Some people even regretted their disrespectful words to Shen Ninghua, afraid that she would think back and take revenge on them.

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Shen Ninghua, however, didn’t care about what was on their mind. She thought about Baili Qingcang’s next move. By now, the emperor should know the connection between the three assassins and the Coiling Dragon Villa. If he followed this clue, he would be able to find out Baili Jinze’s scheme.

Hmph, Baili Jinze could only blame himself for being too greedy. If he hadn’t wanted to steal her medical books, he wouldn’t have to risk letting his men of sacrifice sneak into her mansion, and the subsequent thing wouldn’t happen.

Baili Qingcang said, “Today is really an eventful day. I’m tired, so I’ll go back first. You guys continue eating. There are still two hours before the banquet ends. Don’t waste the food.”

“See you, Your Majesties”

Shen Ninghua stood up and did not continue to sit on the stairs. Instead, she went down and took a seat next to Baili Anning.

Just as she sat down, Baili Anning hurriedly leaned over and said, “Ninghua, you almost scared me to death.”

Shen Ninghua took a bowl of stewed pear with honey sauce and took a bite with her spoon. She narrowed her eyes slightly and asked, “What’s there to be afraid of?”

Baili Anning winked at her to let her look around.

“So those ladies and mistresses stayed away from me. What’s there to be worried about? I like quietness. It’s good that no one is disturbing me now.”

Baili Anning opened her apricot-shaped eyes wide and glared at her. “That’s not what I mean. The way you dealt with the assassins is really…” As she said that, she saw Shen Ninghua biting a cherry. Her lips were stained with a trace of red fluid like a pair of small hands on the petal-like lips, making people’s mouth dry upon seeing them.

“Really what? Why did you stop?” Shen Ninghua stuck out the tip of her pink tongue and licked the cherry juice into her mouth, wondering why she paused. “The cherries in this Palace are really delicious. The ones planted in my greenhouse are very sour at the moment.”

Baili Anning looked at her curved eyes. She mechanically picked up a cherry and stuffed it into her mouth. “Nothing, I forgot.”

“Tsk,” Shen Ninghua chuckled. “I know what you’re thinking, but it’s very effective, isn’t it?” Her fierce gaze swept past an official who was sizing her up, and her eyes that were filled with killing intent instantly shocked the official, who immediately lowered his head and dodged her eyesight.

Seeing this scene, Baili Anning couldn’t help but laugh, “Haha, that makes sense. Even the officials feel frightened when seeing you, let alone those weak ladies and mistresses. They are like mice seeing a cat.”

Shen Ninghua drank a cup of green plum wine handed over by a maidservant and smiled lightly and casually. “This is the best result. It saves me the trouble of speaking with them.”

“By the way, you mentioned medical books. Did you really obtain a unique medical book and offered it to His Majesty?”

“Mm, right. I offered it when I was studying the plague prescription. Otherwise, do you really think the Imperial Health Institute would be able to work out the plague prescription so quickly?”

“But why didn’t His Majesty say anything?”

During the decline of the previous dynasty, there was a big book burning event. The royal family burned all the books they had collected together. Countless precious ancient books were burned to ashes. Even now, many people felt extremely painful when speaking of it. As a result, many famous books and ancient books that survived were all deemed as unique copies. Although she did not know what the medical book Ninghua had offered was like, it was definitely priceless because it could help develop a plague prescription.

“His Majesty must have his particular consideration. This is not something we can know.” After eating a piece of dessert, Shen Ninghua felt that the nausea in her stomach was finally suppressed. Facing such a bloody scene, although she was not afraid, she still felt uncomfortable.

Baili Anning stopped talking about the medical book. She pulled Shen Ninghua’s sleeve and asked, “When Young Master Chu asked to marry you, what did you say? You admire him?”

Shen Ninghua turned to glance at her. She picked up a snack and stuffed it into Baili Anning’s mouth. “If you have the time to ask me this, why don’t you think about whether you have someone to admire? If you go and explain it to His Majesty, he might take special care of you. If you don’t say it and he chooses one that you’re dissatisfied with, don’t cry at that time.”

Baili Anning’s face immediately turned red. “Ninghua, you brazen girl. Hmph, I’ll tell His Majesty that I want my husband to be like you.”

Shen Ninghua deliberately made an expression of sudden enlightenment. “Oh, so you like the brazen type.”

“You…”

Looking at Baili Anning’s embarrassed and awkward appearance, Shen Ninghua smiled brilliantly. Her gorgeous smile carried charming light and was coupled with her peerless bearing, which made her look wantonly beautiful. Many young men forgot her bloody methods and dreamed of marrying her.

Chu Junyi pinched the wine glass in his hand and sensed the eagerness of many people around him. His heart was filled with helplessness and indulgence. So Ninghua deliberately made herself so attractive, right? It seemed that he had annoyed her when he rashly proposed. However, he had to use some unusual methods in order to get this beautiful sweetheart.

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