CH 51

The gathering of the four countries that had been planned for so long had many things to do. There were not only civil and military competitions but also various exchanges and performances. Not to mention the palace, the common folk also had a lot of fun in the recent days. Many caravans came with the envoys and set up small stalls in the market, selling all kinds of exotic things.

Fu Zhiyu heard that the storyteller was telling a new story in the restaurant today. After the storyteller was tired, it was not the erhu player who replaced him this time. Instead, two girls came on stage, wearing Western costumes, with light gauze covering their faces, very stylish, and began to dance to the sound of drums.

There was a plate of sweets in front of Fu Zhiyu that he had just bought. It tasted fruity and stuck to his teeth. He just bought it to try it, but it was a little too sweet. After a few bites, he stopped eating it.

Fu Zhiyu had turned down all the invitations, big and small, but King Xidan personally came to his residence to see him after the banquet that night. Fu Zhiyu pretended to be unwell and put off the meeting. King Xidan persisted for two days. On the third day, both of his eyes were bruised. King Xidan said he hit himself by accident, but it looked like he was beaten by someone.

But King Xidan didn’t seem to be in a bad mood, and even with his eyes bruised he looked very happy and amiable.

No one really thought he was an amiable person, though. A few days later, the martial arts competition was of archery skills from a hundred paces. Although it was under the name of friendly sparring, on such occasions, the best people from each country participated, very motivated in their hearts, and several generals from Jilin took part in it, as well as the Crown Prince Fu Lingxiao.

He was not just a fancy archer. Apart from the almighty Xie Ke, there were not many people in the army who were better than him. He also showed good results in the competition. Three arrows were fired in a row, all of them hitting the bullseye. Without the unexpected King Xidan, Fu Lingxiao would have been the first in archery.

King Xidan also fired three arrows and hit the bullseye. The result seemed to be not much better than Fu Lingxiao’s, but there was only one difference. King Xidan was blindfolded when he shot the arrows.

After this, the difference was clear.

The barbarians were a race of horse riders, and archery was their natural skill. Fu Lingxiao was originally sure of himself, but after this event, his face turned black.

Except for archery, Jilin still had the advantage in the other fields, losing less and winning more in the next few days.

In the literary competition, Jilin’s success was no less. Shen Yang was an indisputable leader. He seemed to be omnipotent and able to do anything. More importantly, his current aura as the head of the Ministry of Justice was overwhelming. Against him, the other participants of the discussion lost half of their power even before they spoke.

Fu Yanran and Fu Yanxi, who were carefully cultivated by Emperor Qingyuan, also participated. Fu Yanxi’s late grandfather, the previous Grand Master, was famous for his calligraphy. Fu Yanxi had studied since he was a child and had a bit of style. At his young age, he took the lead in the calligraphy competition. Moreover, this child read a lot and was nothing short of a bookworm. He quoted classics freely, and his results in the discussion were also good.

Although Fu Yanran didn’t receive such systematic training from the early age as Fu Yanxi, his training direction was a bit similar to Shen Yang’s. He dabbled in everything. It seemed that his performance in every competition wasn’t top-notch and could only be regarded as moderate, but he showed up seven or eight times in the literary and martial arts competitions. He didn’t attract much attention, but interested people who knew about his experience understood that being able to practise like this in such a short period of time completely from scratch was not easy.

Given time, it was not impossible for him to surpass the princes born before him.

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Fu Rongye’s chess skills were good; he won by a small margin and took first place. Even Fu Rongli had his own achievements, unlocking the nine exquisite locks sent by the ancient countries of the Western Regions.

As the host country, Jilin was naturally prepared in all aspects. Now with these results, Emperor Qingyuan looked increasingly happy.

A few of these competitions were really fun, and some of them were even open to spectators, under the banner of bringing joy to the people. It was very lively, and there was much discussion about it among the townsfolk.

King Xidan also liked to wander around the city recently. Many people already knew him; some were curious and some were afraid. After observing for several days, he had already gotten to the bottom of some things he wanted to know, but only one person was beyond his expectation.

—Fu Zhiyu, Wang Zhao.

King Xidan was a little absent-minded during the literary competition. First, he didn’t understand it. Second, the culture of the Central Plains had a long history. Since the barbarians couldn’t compare with Jilin in such things as qin, chess, calligraphy and painting, there was no suspense.

But he also saw that the scholars on the stage were talented and knowledgeable, and the princes of Jilin were not bad either, but after walking around the market a few times, he heard different voices.

“If Wang Zhao were here, it would be much more beautiful than this.”

“These people, there are really few who can compare to how amazing Wang Zhao used to be.”

“Oh, Heaven is jealous of talents…”

King Xidan originally thought that Fu Zhiyu was just a beauty of noble birth. If there was anything special about him, it was probably that he was very good-looking. But no wonder that the person Xie Ke liked so much was not just about looks.

What he didn’t expect was that this person wasn’t only famous, but there also were many stories about him, as if he was the white moonlight in the hearts of all Jilin’s scholars.

After Xidan inquired about the various things that happened to Fu Zhiyu, his interest became stronger, especially since he had been to the residence of Wang Zhao a few times and didn’t even see Fu Zhiyu’s face, but was beaten by Xie Ke instead. Rumours clearly said that there were numerous beautiful concubines in Wang Zhao’s residence and that he raised a beautiful boy since the child was little, treating him like a treasure. How Xie Ke could endure it was another mystery.

Perhaps it was because the eyes of a bystander were clear, King Xidan didn’t think Fu Zhiyu was really stupid. Wang Zhao had bright eyes and should be the kind of person who knew exactly what he was doing.

Xidan also knew that Fu Zhiyu had come of age, and Emperor Qingyuan wanted to use this gathering to find him a suitable consort.

King Xidan brought his own sister over. However, he still had a little brotherly love and didn’t let his sister poke Xie Ke’s reverse scale. Anyway, what Emperor Qingyuan wanted most was the eldest daughter of the Lord of Jing. She was fifteen years old this year, was pretty and had a good character.

Sooner or later, Jing would be in Jilin’s pocket. Fu Zhiyu would never be able to take the throne, so it was nothing to marry him to a foreign princess as a consort, just to bring the countries closer.

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Fu Zhiyu also knew what the emperor thought. He was arranged by Emperor Qingyuan to reluctantly meet the girl. The girl was a good girl, but she was a bit of a face-con. After meeting him, no matter how absent-minded Fu Zhiyu deliberately behaved in front of her, and regardless of how bad Wang Zhao was now in the rumours, she immediately told the Lord of Jing that she agreed to the marriage.

Fu Zhiyu: “…Think twice, ah, Princess.”

How could the Lord of Jing be unwilling? After the Qianyuan Battle, Jing was a vassal state. Fu Zhiyu was favoured by the emperor. The Lord of Jing could see at a glance that although it was unlikely for him to inherit the throne, he was already the best choice. It happened that his daughter liked the man too, so it was a done deal.

Fu Zhiyu felt a bit of a headache. There, they talked among themselves and settled the matter easily. Fortunately, Emperor Qingyuan still had some sense of propriety and didn’t immediately issue a decree; anyway, the gathering of the four countries was still going on, and he could continue to observe if this marriage was suitable or not.

But he began to do everything he could to find opportunities for the two of them to spend time together. Fu Zhiyu tried to escape several times, but he couldn’t get away forever.

The princess’s name was Lin Miaotang. She was the Lord of Jing’s daughter from the main wife. She had been pampered since childhood. She was really a good girl who didn’t mind Fu Zhiyu’s deliberate coldness towards her and just took it upon herself to be nice to him.

Fu Zhiyu couldn’t bear to hurt her. She always reminded him of Qiu Rong and also reminded him of himself who used to be full of enthusiasm in his previous life.

Xie Ke also received a warning from Fu Zhiyu when he climbed over the wall of the residence: “No hurting her, an innocent person, neither directly nor indirectly.”

“Okay,” Xie Ke smiled. His heart was sour but his face was still full of tenderness and he agreed instantly, “Don’t worry, you have asked, how can I go against your wish?”

Fu Zhiyu looked at him suspiciously for a long time, not saying anything else.

Xie Ke had pestered him enough, and when going back, he saw Yuan Mingdao again.

“Zhiyu is going to marry the princess, aren’t you worried?” Xie Ke asked as he turned sideways, blocking the attacking scimitar. 

“Why should I worry? Only a selfish person like you cares about it,” Yuan Mingdao quickly pulled the scimitar back and sneered, “Master can do whatever he wants, as long as he is happy.

Besides, it has nothing to do with you anyway. I persuaded him to marry a consort in my previous life. I just hope he doesn’t care about you. The princess is at least 10,000 times better than you, a psychopath.”

Xie Ke sighed and said nothing more. He took a step back, having no intention of fighting Yuan Mingdao again. He quickly returned to his residence across the road. It was late now, and there was someone waiting for him in the mansion.

Seeing him coming in, Shen Yang narrowed his eyes and said, “Why did you go to disturb Zhiyu again?”

“You are jealous,” Xie Ke glanced at him, “If it weren’t for you not being able to get in, you wouldn’t be much better than me, right? Don’t worry, I won’t let you in.”

Shen Yang didn’t comment. He now brought his own tea to General Zhenyuan’s residence. After all, Xie Ke would only give him the tea dregs.

“We also need to speed up,” he took a sip of tea slowly and began to talk about his plans, “The daughter of the Lord of Jing, he can’t think of her.”

Shen Yang also seemed to be very dissatisfied with this marriage. After a while, he frowned and complained: “Even if Zhiyu had not married in his previous life, who would he have married? If the accident hadn’t happened, who would have been able to compete with him for the position of the future emperor now? The princess of Jing can be a concubine, but she is not a consort. Is Fu Qingyan crazy? How can he trample on his own son like that?”

Shen Yang was different from Yuan Mingdao. He lived to be in his sixties in his previous life. He was an old man in his heart. He didn’t have Yuan Mingdao’s youthful mentality. After being reborn, his guilt for Fu Zhiyu gradually transformed into another kind of feeling.

Although this metaphor was not appropriate, he was probably like an old father who doted on his son and felt that no one was good enough for his brilliant child.