After a few moments of silence, he took a deep breath and said, "I'm in love with someone else who I cannot marry. However, I also can't say no to my father, who requested something from me after a long time. I don't want to disappoint him."
"Huh?"
It was the lady's turn to be taken aback, "Who is it that you cannot marry?" Letting out a gasp, she said while trying her best not to smile, "Don't tell me it is Princess Shen Ling. You absolutely can't pursue her. Everyone here knows that she will be betrothed to Lord Lu. You will die if he knows about..."
"Sss..." Shang Bo finally turned around while hissing out in frustration, "Why do you even assume that it is her?"
"Eh? But, you are the one who said you loved someone you cannot marry. Isn't it just someone who was betrothed to someone else?" The girl surnamed Ci made an innocent face as if she was asking whether she was assuming wrong. Suddenly, she covered her mouth and gasped once again, "It's not Lady Song, is it?"
"I told you before. I'm a prince and I cannot take a commoner as my first wife and I never intend to marry more than..." Shang Bo suddenly realized that she was trying to make fun of him and he stomped on the floor in frustration, "Arghhh... I'm leaving. I will come back tomorrow." He rushed outside, leaving the girl to play with her hair and breaking into a beautiful smile, "He is cute, sometimes."
Two days later;
In one of the private chambers, Shang Bo was walking back and forth while mumbling something.
"Remember. All you have to say is that you love Ci Rong and request her not to accept this proposal from her side."
"But, what if she accepts? Isn't Shen Ling marrying Lu Zhen despite knowing that he loves Sister Yue? Or maybe, he doesn't love as much as Sister Yue loves him. Anyway, forget about him and focus on yourself."
"Okay, if she doesn't accept my request, then, let's insert a needle inside her head and control her until she goes and tells her uncle"
"No" "NO" "No" "You are thinking too violently. They told me that she was suffering from a curse and that Lu Zhen would help her lift it, as long as this marriage was settled. How about I give her an offer that she has to reject this proposal and I will promise to take Lu Zhen's help in lifting her curse?"
With Shang Fu's return and followed by the announcement of the wedding, the mood of the empire's citizens elevated quite a bit.
Because time was limited, Mark lent a hand in the construction of the grand wedding venue with the support of his robotic army while Shang Zexi took the duty of procuring the materials required for it. The royal family of Shen took the duty of cooking for the guests.
It goes without saying that Lan Jingyi was happy to see that her son was willingly participating in his brother's wedding.
She didn't pester him at all by displaying her indications of getting back together as a family as she was already satisfied by staying with her son under one roof and how her son showed full hospitality to her and her husband while putting their past differences aside.
Meanwhile, the invitations were sent to all empires that were within reach. The Dragon Empire didn't get such an invitation as the marriage will long be over by the time the official invitation even reaches its shores.
The massacre of the imperial Phoenix city has already been etched into the history books. Everyone knows of it and each empire has a different reaction to it. Some of them didn't care; some sent a letter to Shang Fu, extending their condolences; some of them, like the Kun Empire and the Leon Empires, offered help in rebuilding their imperial city.
The response to the wedding invitation is also very similar.
The empires that didn't care about the massacre didn't send any envoys too. The ones that sent condolences have sent their official envoys. The ones that offered help sent their imperial princes. Ouyang Zen, the King of Eastern Sun personally made the trip. The Leon Empire sent their top general.
From Western Yan, Prince Feng Wu made his visit in person, leaving his nephew, the King with the gold dragon back at home.
As for the Kun Empire, there was even more drama happening there.
To build a close relationship with Mark, the Kun Empire's leading princes, aka the Crown Prince and the fourth prince, fought in the court to represent the throne, and in the end, the position was given to the Fourth Prince.
The Crown Prince, who was acquainted with Mark, didn't give up and journeyed to the south as the friend of Lu Zhen instead of an envoy of Kun Empire.
Eventually, the big day arrived and the Grand venue saw atleast more than ten thousand citizens in attendance, alongside 285 royal guests who received invitations from the Shang family and the Shen family.