Chapter 159 - Marriage with the Sweetheart Secured

The remaining contestants were overjoyed for a moment. Fortunately, they didn’t step forward. Otherwise, they would probably end up the same as those contestants who were knocked unconscious.

Chu Junyi’s expression was exceptionally calm and natural. He did not feel embarrassed for being thick-skinned at all. He who acted first would excel, and he who acted later would suffer. He didn’t go too far. Since those guys dared to covet his beautiful sweetheart, he had to show them some color. He had shown mercy to them by refraining from kicking them as hard as would make them lie in bed for two or three years.

“Your Majesty, I am only a grade-four official. My status is much lower that of Prefectural Princess Zhaohua, but a pure and devoted heart is priceless. I have literary talent and can write the most beautiful poems to praise Prefectural Princess Zhaohua. I am also good at martial arts and can protect Prefectural Princess Zhaohua from any harm and shelter her from wind and rain.”

Baili Qingcang looked at him quietly. “The title I gave is: Conquer the enemy with a brush to show your literary talent and exercise leadership at a distance to prove your skills in martial arts. No matter how eloquent you are, your performance doesn’t conform to the requirements.”

Chu Junyi did not waver in the slightest. The look in his eyes was still as firm as iron. “Your Majesty, the purpose of this contest is to choose spouses for the two princesses and prefectural princess. No matter how outstanding a contestant’s literary talent is, or how excellent his martial arts skills are, if he does not like the prefectural princess, how would he treat her well and take care of her for her entire life? Therefore, I have prepared two articles.”

Baili Qingcang raised his eyebrows. “You have another article?”

“That’s right. I wrote this article first after I returned home. I was worried that Your Majesty would question my ability, so I wrote an article on military issues in case Your Majesty would like to read it.” After saying those words, he asked a eunuch to present his article to Baili Qingcang.

Baili Qingcang didn’t take it seriously in the beginning. However, after reading the first few sentences, he unconsciously opened his eyes wide and read carefully. After reading the entire article, he still felt that he hadn’t read it carefully. Therefore, he read the article again sentence by sentence. After quite a while, he pounded on the table and praised loudly, “Good! Good! Indeed, you have outstanding literary talent!”

Baili Qingcang seemed to have taken a cardiac stimulant all of a sudden. He looked much more motivated. He stood up and walked back and forth behind the imperial writing desk before sitting down and saying, “My dear associate Chu, you are really a rare talent.”

Chu Junyi raised his eyes to look at Shen Ninghua with a deep smile. Seeing that she was looking over, he purposely raised his eyebrows.

Shen Ninghua blinked and slowly drooped her eyes. A bright smile flashed across her eyes.

Baili Qingcang turned to look at Shen Ninghua and said, “Ninghua, Chu Junyi’s literary talent and martial skills are extremely outstanding. He is a rare and talented man. I will immediately grant a marriage for the two of you. How do you like it?”

Shen Ninghua stood up and walked to the middle of the main hall. She stood beside Chu Junyi. The two of them knelt down at the same time and kowtowed. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“Alright, you two must support each other in the future and remain a devoted couple to the end of your lives. Junyi, if you didn’t treat Ninghua well, I won’t spare you.”

Looking at Shen Ninghua who was so close, Chu Junyi’s heart couldn’t help but beat violently. After endless endeavor, he finally won the chance to marry his beautiful sweetheart! He would definitely do his best to shelter her from the wind and the rain and cherish this beautiful angel.

Shen Ninghua exchanged glances with him and walked back to her seat. However, her heart was surging with emotions. She wasn’t as calm as she looked on the surface at all. She was going to spend the rest of her life with another person…Well, she would like to give it a try…

Baili Qingcang’s mood improve a lot, and he even didn’t pursue Chu Junyi’s previous actions of knocking out several other contestants. Instead, he made a signal for Chu Junyi to take a seat at the side.

The other contestants standing below couldn’t help but feel envious in their hearts. Indeed, the emperor’s son-in-law was entitled to a different treatment. They had just fought against the Dragon Scaled Army, and their entire bodies were in extreme pain. However, they still had to stand as mightily as possible. This was the gap between people.

A total of nine contestants were selected. Six of them were knocked unconscious by Chu Junyi. Of the remaining three, one was Baili Jinchuan, another was Qu Yi, and the last one was Yang Lin, the first son of the Yang Family.

Qu Yi stepped forward and knelt respectfully in front of Baili Qingcang. “Your Majesty, I don’t have an eminent background, and I am not good-looking either. I only know how to lead troops and fight in the war. But I will treat my wife well. If Your Majesty marries the princess to me, I swear I will never take a concubine. I will only stay with the princess for the rest of my life and live a peaceful but happy life with her!”

Shen Ninghua paused upon hearing these words. She turned around and saw Baili Anning’s eyes shining brightly. She secretly sighed in her heart. Although this Qu Yi did not know how to speak sweet words, he was better off being an honest man. Marrying such a person might not be romantic, but when in difficulty and there was only one last bite of food, he would leave it to you. Such a person was a suitable lifetime companion.

Baili Anning looked at his face that was filled with honesty, and her face blushed. Now she felt that this man’s rough appearance was somehow pleasing to the eye once observed carefully.

Baili Qingcang nodded in a good mood. “You’re honest.”

Qu Yi hurriedly raised his head. “Your Majesty, are you willing to marry Princess Anning to me?” After he finished speaking, he didn’t forget to look at Baili Anning with excitement. He had such a big smile that his white teeth were clearly visible.

Baili Anning glared at him fiercely and cursed in a low voice, “Reckless man!” Then, she nodded at Baili Qingcang.

“Haha, alright. Since that’s the case, you should also sit by the side. I will grant you a marriage later. There is only one person left. I remember that you are Yang Lin, Imperial Counselor Yang’s grandson, right?”

Yang Lin hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down. “Report to Your Majesty, I am.”

‘”Yes, you are young, but you are already an editor of the Imperial Academy. This proves that you have real talent. You deserve marriage with my daughter. Anqing is an honest child. Your Yang Family must treat her well.”

Yang Lin paused for a moment before realizing that the emperor had directly agree to marry Princess Anqing to him. The emperor said that he would listen to their opinions, but if he made a decision, there was no right for them to refuse. “Yes, thank you, Your Majesty.”

Baili Anqing lowered her head and sat beside Shen Ninghua. Her drooped eyes were filled with anger. Her fingers tightly twisted her handkerchief, and she clenched her knuckles with such force that they became pale.

Yang Lin’s appearance was outstanding, and his family background was also perfect. Imperial Counselor Yang was also a senior official who had served two dynasties. She did like Yang Lin, but she still fancied that he would be able to express his tenderness to her. However, the emperor did not even ask for her opinion, and he directly ordered Yang Lin to marry her. This showed that she didn’t have any status in his heart!

There were tears of resentment in her eyes. She gritted her teeth and tried her best not to let the tears fall. She hated Shen Ninghua and Baili Anning so much in her heart. Her heart was even filled with resentment towards Baili Qingcang. If it weren’t for them, she wouldn’t be so embarrassed!

Baili Qingcang announced that the selection was over and ordered Shen Ninghua and the others to return. But he ordered Chu Junyi alone to stay.

Shen Ninghua knew that the two of them would definitely talk for a long time, so she directly left the Palace.

Bai Ruo and the other three maids were anxiously waiting at the entrance of the Palace. Seeing Shen Ninghua come out, they hurriedly saluted, “Greetings, Miss.”

“Miss, you…”

Looking at the four maids who were hesitating in their speeches, Shen Ninghua suddenly smiled. “What’s wrong with you?”

Seeing her smiling face, the four maids heavily heaved a sigh of relief in their hearts. “Miss, when will the decree to grant marriage be issued?”

“Let’s talk when we get back to the mansion.”

“Yes!” Well, Miss should be satisfied with the marriage, otherwise, her expression would not be so relaxed.

However, before Shen Ninghua’s carriage reached the Prefectural Princess Mansion, it was stopped by someone.

Hong Ling glared angrily at the guards blocking their way. “Who are you? How dare you openly obstruct Prefectural Princess Zhaohua from returning to her mansion?”

The guards standing in the way lowered their heads and their expressions were filled with deathly silence. One of them said, “Forgive us for being rude. Our master would like to see Prefectural Princess Zhaohua. Please come with us.”

Shen Ninghua lifted the carriage curtain and looked coldly at the several guards kneeling in front of the carriage. She knew who their master was without guessing. “Get out of the way!”

The guards were exceptionally stubborn. “Your Highness, please follow us to see our master.”

Shen Ninghua dropped the curtain and sat down in the carriage. She ordered coldly, “Qing Que, drive the carriage and charge forward. I don’t believe they dare to damage my carriage in public!”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Qing Que’s eyes turned cold. The horse whip heavily landed on the horse pulling the carriage. Two high-pitched hisses were immediately heard. The horse was so shocked that it ignored the guards blocking the way in front of it and directly strode forward.

The guards were dumbfounded. They tried to dodge in panic when the horse was already about to trample on them. Two of them were directly knocked to the ground.

Shen Ninghua didn’t even move her eyelids and directly let the Qing Que drive back to Prefectural Princess Mansion.

Bai Ruo was a little worried. “Miss, those guards…who are their master?”

“Other than Baili Jinchuan, who else could be their master?”

She thought of those words Baili Jinchuan had said to express his passion for her, and she sighed in her heart. Both she and Baili Jinchuan were too strong-willed. Neither of them would concede for the other. If the two of them got married, there would be no good results. Moreover, she could not forgive others for plotting against her.

Bai Ruo was a little puzzled. The Second Prince obviously could get whichever woman he wanted, but why did he insist on pestering the Shen Ninghua to no avail? “Why did the Second Prince do this?”

“Nothing. He’s just unwilling to accept the result.”

Upstairs in the Qingyang Building, Baili Jinchuan smashed the wine cup in his hand when he heard the report from the guards. “Shen Ninghua, you are actually ruthless to such an extent! What is it that makes you think I can’t compare to that Chu Junyi? Is he really so good that you love him wholeheartedly? Humph, love is just an illusion. Since you can’t see it clearly, I’ll help you see it. Although His Majesty has granted marriage to you, you still have to wait for a long time before getting married. What if a few beautiful women appear beside Chu Junyi during this period of time?”

Baili Jinchuan’s face turned cold as he picked up the wine jug on the table and poured wine directly into his mouth. Then, he abruptly threw the empty wine cup to the ground, and broken porcelain pieces scattered on the ground!

Chu Junyi didn’t appear in Prefectural Princess Mansion until Shen Ninghua had taken a bath, changed her clothes and had dinner.

As soon as he entered the door, he suddenly rushed over and picked up Shen Ninghua and quickly spun around twice. “Sweetheart, now you are my wife!”

Shen Ninghua cried out in alarm. Her eyes went black and she slapped him in the arm. “What are you doing? You scared me!” Wife? This person had gone wild with joy!

Chu Junyi hurriedly placed her on the bed and sat down beside her. The smile on his face was still resplendent and warm. “Ninghua, my wife!”

Shen Ninghua’s forehead twitched, and she resisted the impulse to slap him in the face. “Why did you come out of the Palace so quickly? I thought His Majesty would talk to you for the whole night.”

“No, it’s just an article. After I explained it in detail, there was nothing else. Besides, I’m only an insignificant grade-four official now. Important matters will be dealt with by those ministers and have nothing to do with me.”