Chapter 153 - What's Your Use If I Was Forced to Marry?

Zhao Huiying’s expression turned cold. Her fingers with exquisite sapphire blue armor gently brushed past the azaleas used to decorate the table. The finger armor pierced through the petals, leaving behind traces of red marks that looked exceptionally dazzling.

“Ninghua, I know that it’s a little rash for you to make such a decision. However, there are two benefits: first, to maintain the friendship between the two countries, and second, to protect your younger sister’s reputation. Are you still unwilling?”

Shen Ninghua raised her eyes and her carefully drawn eyebrows carried a trace of fierce aura. “I cannot agree with Your Majesty. You seem to forget that His Majesty has given an order earlier. I now have no relationship with the Shen family anymore. The reason I brought Shen Linghan to my mansion is because of her wretched situation. Since I have no relationship with her, she’s not my younger sister.”

As soon as she said this, an official below immediately retorted, “Your Highness, what you said is wrong. Although His Majesty’s decree severed your relationship with the Shen family, blood is thicker than water, and family ties cannot be cut off. Moreover, Her Majesty has just said that this matter concerns the friendship between Da’an and Great Yue. How can you ignore the overall situation for your self-interest?

Shen Ninghua looked coldly at the official below. “This is Lord Zhang from the Ministry of Rites, right? Did you mean that His Majesty’s decree is useless?”

“No, I just made an analogy. How can you misinterpret the meaning of my words like this?” The official who spoke frowned and shouted coldly. He looked completely upright.

Shen Ninghua sneered. “If you want to convince me, you should come up with something that is real and convincing. Don’t just pile up some useless bullshit! His Majesty has raised you officials of the Ministry of Rites to serve the royal family, teach etiquette, inspire respect of rites and rules, and influence the people as well, rather than letting you talk nonsense!”

“Your Highness, what do you mean? You are framing me!”

“If you act righteously, I won’t have a chance to frame you! Let me emphasize once again that His Majesty’s dignity is not to be challenged. Since he has ordered to sever my relationship with the Shen family, Shen Linghan and I are no longer sisters. There is no discussing about this!”

The official below trembled with anger. “Alright…Alright, let’s not talk about this. But don’t you care about the friendship between the two countries?”

Shen Ninghua laughed coldly, and her eyes became more and more mocking. “As an official, how did you have the nerve to say this? Is Da’an inferior to the Great Yue, or are the officials of Da’an too incompetent? You actually need a woman to maintain the friendship between the two countries! Besides, Da’an and Great Yue have a deep friendship and have enjoyed peaceful exchanges for so many years. Do you think that Great Yue Emperor will get angry just because I am not willing to marry his son? ”

As Shen Ninghua spoke, she stood up. Her red dress fluttered as she stood high on the stairs like a cluster of bright red flames, making people feel boiling hot and dazzling at a glance. Chu Junyi looked at her and felt his heart slowly being filled with pride. His beautiful sweetheart was truly formidable! It seemed that he had to act as soon as possible, or else he would appear to be too incompetent.

The face of the official who spoke below had already turned purple. However much he wanted to force Shen Ninghua to marry into the Great Yue Kingdom, he couldn’t admit it. Immediately, he couldn’t breathe and almost choked to death.

“Well spoken!” Baili Qingcang suddenly said and his face shone with appreciation. “Ninghua, if you were a man, I would definitely let you be my Prime Minister.” It was a pity that she was a girl. If she were a man, she would definitely become a high-ranking official and bring benefit to the people…

Shen Ninghua turned her head and saw Baili Qingcang’s joyful face. Her heart suddenly relaxed. If the empress hadn’t forced her step by step, she wouldn’t need to appear so aggressively. However, there wouldn’t be any harm for her. What she did today would stop those people from treating her like a soft persimmon that everyone could come up and pinch her.

Zhao Huiying sat there like an ice sculpture, emitting an icy chill. Shen Ninghua was truly Xia Jingyan’s daughter and had a formidable mouth! After she said those words, whoever asked her to marry Bu Jinglan would be accused of being afraid of the Great Yue Kingdom. Whoever said that she ignored the friendship between the two countries would be suspected of implying that the Great Yue Emperor was narrow-minded.

Bu Jinglan sat in his seat and his eyes flashed with gloom. The gold wine cup in his hand had already changed shape due to his pinching. What was wrong with marrying him? How come this Shen Ninghua was so unwilling to be a princess!

Baili Qingcang was now in a good mood. “Sixth Prince, you also said that you can decide the marriage by yourself. I think even if you cancel the marriage, your father won’t have a problem. Speaking of which, Shen Linghan is disabled and it is indeed inappropriate for her to be your wife. I now admit the decision was made without proper consideration. Since that is the case, let her be your Second Consort as the empress has said. This will not prevent you from marrying someone else in the future. Do you have any objection?”

Now that the emperor had made a concession, it would be inappropriate for him to refuse. Bu Jinglan could only grit his teeth and agree. “I have no objection.”

“Mm, that’s good. However, General Xiao inadvertently made an incorrect judgment concerning the hunting party in the suburbs. I will send someone else to investigate the incident thoroughly. I will definitely give you an explanation.” Just as Baili Qingcang finished speaking, a eunuch suddenly ran in from the door.

“Your Majesty, bad news. Prefectural Princess Zhaohua’s Mansion caught fire!”

Shen Ninghua stood up abruptly. Why would her mansion suddenly catch fire for no reason? Xuanlin, Bai Ruo, and the other maids were still in the mansion! She couldn’t help but look in Chu Junyi’s direction, and met his gentle and comforting gaze. She gradually calmed down as if she found someone to rely on. Shen Ninghua clenched her fists and waited for the results of Baili Qingcang’s investigation.

After about an hour, the guards who were dispatched out finally ran back in a sorry state. “Your Majesty, the places where the fire broke out were Prefectural Princess Zhaohua’s courtyard and study. The rest of the mansion was intact. People in the mansion escaped in time and no one was hurt. But when we checked the conditions of the site, we found some black-clothed men who had fainted from the smoke in the study. We detained them and found two medical books and Her Highness’ manuscripts on them. ”

It was good that no one was injured. Hearing this, Shen Ninghua’s heart immediately calmed down and she quickly thought about the cause and effect of the matter.

After hearing the report, Baili Qingcang’s good mood instantly dissipated. Ever since Ninghua was granted the title of Prefectural Princess, people started framing her and splashing dirty water over her head. Even the empress forced her to marry Bu Jinglan. Why wouldn’t these people bear to see a child he liked by his side?

“Bring those black-clothed men over.”

The guards hurriedly brought the black-clothed men into the main hall. Just as they were about to use cold water to wake them up, Chu Junyi suddenly spoke from the side.

“Your Majesty, judging from their clothes, these people are definitely not ordinary thieves. It’s better to check them first just in case.”

“Yes, you are right.” He was too angry and neglected this.

Chu Junyi stepped forward and squatted in front of the three black-clothed men. He raised his hand and pinched their chins to lift their faces. First, he opened their mouths and pulled out the poisonous sacs. Then, he found dozens of hidden weapons of different sizes from their hair, nails, clothes, and soles.

In the beginning, everyone felt interesting. When they saw Chu Junyi pulling out dozens of steel needles from the flesh of a black-clothed man’s arm, their expressions instantly became serious. Who exactly were these people that were armed from head to toe? They had every reason to believe that if these people had one single breath, they would use their last bit of strength to accomplish their goal. As they thought about it, a chill rose from their back.

Baili Qingcang watched Chu Junyi’s actions with a serious expression, and a dangerous light flashed in his eyes.

Chu Junyi ignored the discussions in the surroundings and cleaned up all the hidden weapons on the black-clothed men. He stood up and said to the guard leader beside him, “You can wake them up now.”

The guard leader had felt his legs weak just by watching from the side. Fortunately, these killers had fainted from the smoke. Otherwise, ten times of him would not be their match.

After a basin of cold water was spilled onto their faces, the three men instantly woke up. The moment they saw the surroundings, they immediately clenched their teeth but then felt their mouths empty. The poisonous sacs were gone, and even their teeth that contained the poisonous sacs had been pulled out. Their faces immediately became gloomy.

Baili Qingcang looked at them coldly. “Who are you? Why did you appear in Prefectural Princess Zhaohua’s study?”

The three black-clothed men exchanged glances with each other and waved their hands towards their companions’ throats. The guards who had restrained them were caught off guard and let them break away.

Chu Junyi keenly detected their movements. He raised his foot and kicked the first person out. Then, he kicked up the two lancets that had just been found from the ground and abruptly nailed the other two black-clothed men onto the ground by inserting the lancets into their wrists. He then said coldly, “His Majesty asked a question and you should answer him faithfully. Don’t do anything else.”

The guards hurriedly grabbed the black-clothed man who had been kicked out by Chu Junyi. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that his arm had actually been broken. No wonder they heard a cracking sound.

Seeing Chu Junyi’s actions, many people were on guard, especially Baili Jinchuan. Ever since the hunting incident in the suburbs, he had always been fearful of and on guard against Chu Junyi. He even made a lot of effort to secretly investigate Chu Junyi but found nothing. This person had a clean background, and he didn’t even have a single stain in nearly 20 years, which shocked him even more.

Baili Qingcang was also surprised by Chu Junyi’s fierce actions. However, it was more important to figure out the identities of these people first. “Do they have any mark that could be used to prove their identities?”

“Your Majesty, we didn’t find any mark.”

“What do you think?” Baili Qingcang looked at the officials sitting beside him and asked.

The civil and military officials exchanged glances and fell silent. They could tell at a glance that these three persons were men of sacrifice. If it wasn’t for Chu Junyi’s quick movements, these people would have already committed suicide. It was impossible to get any answer from such persons.

Baili Qingcang’s expression turned cold. “So many officials are present here, and yet none of you has the ability to interrogate three thieves?”

Everyone immediately lowered their heads even more. If these were ordinary people, they dared to have a try. But these people were men of sacrifice.

Suddenly, Shen Ninghua’s cold voice was heard in the silent hall. “Your Majesty, may I have a try?”