A'Da is an elite assassin, the most formidable assassin in the Xie family.
In the literary world of the South, there is nowhere he didn't want to go, and nowhere he couldn't enter.
Although it was his first time accompanying his master to the capital, he firmly believed that there was nothing he couldn't accomplish!
But soon he realized that he might not fit in well in the capital.
Whenever he ate a bowl of noodles at a small stall in the evening, someone would say to him, "Young man, it's your first time in the capital, right? Finish your meal quickly and go back. The curfew in the capital is strictly enforced."
He couldn't understand why he was recognized as a non-local just because he hadn't said a word.
"It's already this late. Who from the capital would come out to eat?" The stall owner seemed to know what he was puzzled about and explained while closing up shop, "The list for the Palace Examination will be released tomorrow. Who wouldn't gossip about it a bit during their meal?"
The cold and merciless assassin, A'Da: "..."
He felt that the people in the capital were crazy and seriously ill in their minds.
"I've noticed that many people have been guessing who will become the top scholar these past few days," a curious out-of-town customer next to him said, "I heard that General Hua's son is also participating in the examination?"
"That's right," the owner of the noodle stall said, "The owner of a shop on West Street said that if anyone can guess the top scholar, they will select one person from those who guessed correctly and give them five rolls of fine cloth."
"Five rolls?" The customer was amazed, "That's enough for several outfits."
"If you're interested, you can join in the fun."
"Of course, I will go," the customer said with a smile, "I support General Hua's son. It doesn't matter if he becomes the top scholar or not, what's important is not to let General Hua's son lose face."
"Then your chances of winning are slim."
"Why? Isn't General Hua's son talented?"
"That's not it. It's just that there are too many people supporting Third Young Master Hua. I'm afraid even if Third Young Master Hua becomes the top scholar, you won't be chosen."
A'Da thought coldly, in four of the last five imperial examinations, the top scholar came from the south. These people simply and crudely supported the Hua family's son because of Hua Yingting's military achievements. They were truly mindless and vulgar.
Moreover, the Hua family had been a family of military commanders for generations. What dream were they having, wanting to raise a son who would become the top scholar?
He placed a copper coin on the table and left. As an elite assassin, he didn't need to say another word.
"That person seems a bit off," the stall owner put the coin in his money pouch, waited until all the customers had finished eating, closed up the stall, then turned and ran to the Prefect of Jingzhou to report this to a yamen constable.
It was a special time recently. After they release the list for the Palace Examination and hold the Qionglin Feast, there would be the Hundred Nations Banquet, for which they had been preparing for several months. For this Hundred Nations Banquet, every department had spared no effort, as they did not want any accidents to occur.
After receiving the report from the stall owner, the yamen constable at Prefect of Jingzhou recorded the suspicious person's height and appearance and sent a copy to the Ministry of Justice.
In the thick darkness of the night, A'Da circled around the Ministry of Justice three times, but couldn't think of a way to enter.
Helpless, he decided to follow a prison guard home, threaten his family, and ask him to help kill Miss Xie. But soon he discovered that, to ensure no accidents happened, these prison guards at the Ministry of Justice had been staying at the Ministry of Justice and didn't go home after their shifts.
After observing for two days, he found out that the relatives of the prisoners were allowed to visit the Ministry of Justice. He obtained a list of prisoners at the Ministry of Justice and finally chose Yunhan, a qin player. He would claim to be his brother who had been wandering outside for many years. He had finally learned about his brother's whereabouts, but his brother had been locked up in the Ministry of Justice. As the eldest brother, he had spent all his family wealth just to see his brother.
The simpler the relationship with the prisoner, the better for impersonation.
Using this excuse, he finally infiltrated the Ministry of Justice. With the guidance of the prison guards, he saw Yunhan. After a brilliant performance, he barely memorized the layout of the prison cells in the Ministry of Justice.
It was said that the female cells and male cells were built the same. Tonight, he could take advantage of the inattentiveness of the prison guards and sneak into the female cell.
In this world, there was nothing that an elite assassin couldn't do.
Yunhan watched in confusion as the man who claimed to be his brother left: "..."
Where did this eldest brother come from when had no father or mother?
Originally, he thought that someone from the Master's side had come in to inquire about some information. Now it seemed that it wasn't the case?
Thinking of this, he secretly glanced at the strategist in the cell opposite him, who was looking at him with icy eyes, and quickly lowered his head.
The plan of using the beauty trap had failed, but he couldn't blame himself. How could he have known that the Crown Prince would be so good-looking?
Moreover, now that both of them had been captured and couldn't escape or send messages, what other choices did they have besides desperately competing with other prisoners for food and trying to move stones?
"Royal Princess Leyang's Fuma arrived in the capital?" Emperor Changlong opened the plea letter in his hand after lighting a few more candles in the palace, "This plea letter is written with true feelings."
Those assassins who tried to assassinate the Crown Prince had formidable martial arts skills and were ruthless. They didn't seem like small-time assassins who did things for money in the Jianghu. How could Xie Yao, a young girl in her teens, find these assassins to do her bidding?
"What plea letter?" The Crown Prince casually entered the inner hall and saluted Emperor Changlong, "Why is Father Emperor still awake at this hour? "
"Yes, why is Zhen still handling memorial petitions at this late hour?" Emperor Changlong threw the plea letter to the Crown Prince, "Tomorrow, Zhen will send someone to help you with your marriage proposal, so you won't have to go to the Hua family every day. As the Crown Prince of a country, what kind of attitude is it to idle away your time every day?"
"Father Emperor, Erchen believes in mixing work and pleasure," The Crown Prince opened the plea letter, "Erchen doesn't spend less than an hour every day assisting Father Emperor with the memorial petitions, right?"
"In a day of twelve hours, do you spend more than one hour assisting me?" Emperor Changlong took a sip of tea and reminded himself countless times in his heart to stay calm. The child was his own, no matter how much he scolded him.
The Crown Prince silently read through the plea letter. Xie Fuma had excellent literary talent, the letter was filled with sincere feelings. Almost every sentence was suffused with his guilt, making people unable to help but feel pity.
The poor Xie Fuma, his eldest daughter was killed by his second daughter, who also plotted to assassinate the Crown Prince behind their backs. He failed to educate his children properly and deserved punishment, but their youngest son was innocent. He hoped the Emperor could spare his youngest son and so on.
"The words written by someone with good literary talent are indeed so different, truly moving and touching," The Crown Prince smiled lightly, closing the plea letter, "Father Emperor, Erchen is moved by him."
"You..." Emperor Changlong frowned.
"Since Xie Fuma says they are innocent, then we will believe that they are innocent," The Crown Prince put the plea letter back on the imperial desk, "We not only have to believe in them but also sympathize with them and let them stay in the capital for a while longer."
When pulling out a radish, what's the point of just breaking off a few radish leaves?
Naturally, the radish should be pulled out with the mud attached to it.
"If he is unwilling to reveal his true colors..."
"Then Erchen will force him to reveal his true colors," The Crown Prince chuckled lightly, "Father Emperor, when it comes to infuriating people, how many people in the capital can surpass Erchen?"
"Heh," Emperor Changlong had a face that revealed the world-weary understanding of life, "Zhen actually thinks that each and every one of Zhen's sons is quite adept at infuriating people."
"Erchen thanks Father Emperor for the praise on behalf of my brothers."
"Get out!"
On the day the Palace Examination results were announced, the merchants in the capital were more excited than the scholars who took the examination. They had prepared various items such as "top scholar wine", "top scholar brush", and statues of the Wenqu Star. This was a wonderful opportunity for them to make more business.
The capital was densely populated, with many wealthy individuals and many people hoping for their children to achieve success. Therefore, after each major examination, items related to academic achievements sold particularly well.
"The top scholar is Hua Changkong!"
"General Hua's son!"
"No wonder he's General Hua's son!"
"Like father, like son!"
The candidates who participated in the Palace Examination had already entered the palace to listen to the proclamation before dawn. The official who announced the rankings was one of the examiners for this examination. After delivering a speech about diligent governance and love for the people to the examinees, the chief examiner began to announce the rankings.
The rankings were read from the bottom to the top, and the further down the rankings, the more nervous the candidates became.
The ministers of the Six Ministries and some dignitaries were also present, waiting for the top three candidates to emerge from this palace examination.
"Lin Sen, fourth rank."
Upon hearing this ranking, Lin Zhou turned his head to look at his son, who bowed respectfully from a distance. It was difficult to tell whether he was happy or disappointed.
"Congratulations, Lin Daren," a fellow official next to Lin Zhou whispered, "Your son achieved an excellent fourth place."
"Thank you," Lin Zhou expressed his gratitude to his colleague, a slight smile appearing on his face.
"Yao Songbai, third rank."
The Yao family had a marital relationship with the imperial family, so another round of congratulations echoed among the officials.
The second rank was given to a student from the south, surnamed Xie. It was said that he was a distant relative of the Xie family. However, due to Xie Yao's attempt to assassinate the Crown Prince, the Xie family's position in the court was somewhat delicate. Aside from a few officials with connections to the Xie family who displayed some smiles, the other officials showed little expression.
The second-rank scholar surnamed Xie seemed somewhat dissatisfied with his ranking; he had a hint of disappointment on his face.
Only the list of the top scholar remained to be read, but all the candidates present knew who the top scholar was.
"Hua Changkong, top rank," The chief examiner closed the list and smiled warmly at Hua Changkong, who stood in the first row, "Congratulations, Top Scholar Hua."
"Thank you, Teacher," Hua Changkong bowed to the chief examiner in gratitude.
There was some commotion among the court officials. It was unexpected that this time, the top scholar was neither a southern student nor Lin Daren's son, but rather a child from a military family.
This left them with no face to mock military families for their lack of literary talent. If someone lacked literary talent, how could they produce a top scholar of a son?
Many officials congratulated Hua Yingting. Even the military officers were also delighted. From now on, if any civil official dared to criticize them, they could retort by asking, "Did you become the top scholar? Did your son become the top scholar?"
Oh, you didn't make it? That's okay. The son of the Grand General did!
Hahaha.
Lin Zhou also wanted to step forward to express his gratitude to Hua Yingting, but he couldn't face him due to the words his daughter had spoken. So he simply stood quietly to the side.
In a daze, he saw the Crown Prince stride up to Hua Yingting and have a conversation with him. Their interaction appeared quite intimate.
It was said that recently the Crown Prince had become close to the Hua family, not only frequently seeking conversations with General Hua and General Wei on his own initiative, but also dining with the Hua family several times. Such obvious attempts to win their favor could potentially arouse suspicion from His Majesty. What would be the outcome of that?
"Uncle," the Fourth Prince approached Lin Zhou with a stern face, "Congratulations."
"Thank you, Your Highness," Lin Zhou quickly bowed, not daring to step out of line.
The Fourth Prince didn't say anything further, seemingly as if saying those four words was a task he had to complete and then could ignore everything else.
Lin Zhou secretly glanced at the Crown Prince and Hua Yingting. The atmosphere between himself and the Fourth Prince, as uncle and nephew, seemed a lot more distant than that between the Crown Prince and Hua Yingting.
Unfortunately, the Fourth Prince couldn't sense Lin Zhou's awkwardness at all. He stood with a cold expression in front of Lin Zhou, successfully causing the court officials around them to keep their distance.
"My most loyal subject, General Hua," Emperor Changlong smiled as he looked at Hua Yingting, "Your son achieving the top scholar position is a great joyous occasion. Today is a good day. Zhen wants to make you even happier and make it double happiness."
The court officials looked curiously at Emperor Changlong. What did he mean by making it double happiness?
Was he planning to bestow another noble title on the Hua family?
"Zhen became acquainted with you, my most loyal subject, when we were young. Now, in the blink of an eye, our children have grown up," Emperor Changlong laughed, "We, as parents, raise our children and still have to worry about their marriages, don't you think?"
Hua Yingting quickly replied, "Your Majesty's princes and princesses are outstanding individuals. This humble general is incompetent and cannot compare to Your Majesty."
The court officials thought to themselves, could it be that His Majesty wants to marry his daughter off to the third son of the Hua family?
His Majesty only had two daughters. The eldest daughter was already married, and now only the Second Princess remained in the palace, unmarried still. Could she be the one to be married off?
It made sense. Throughout history, many renowned generals had married princesses into their estates. However, this didn't necessarily imply His Majesty's trust; it was more like letting the famous generals think that His Majesty trusted them.
Anyway, the final outcome... wouldn't be too favorable.
"Fushou Junzhu is intelligent and brave. She almost lost her life while protecting the Crown Prince. Zhen believes that your esteemed daughter and the Crown Prince are well-matched. What if we become in-laws?" In order to ensure his son's happiness, Emperor Changlong chose the most shameless way and proposed the idea of a marriage alliance between the two families in front of the court officials.
The Court Officials: Oh, so the Crown Prince is going to be married into the Hua family...
Wait!
The crowd was so shocked that they couldn't come back to their senses. His Majesty actually wanted to make the sickly and frail daughter of the Hua family the Crown Princess?!
Hua Yingting looked at Emperor Changlong with a complex expression and then glanced at the Crown Prince standing beside him. As a loyal general, he had tried his best to prevent this tragedy from happening, but he never expected that His Majesty would be so determined to make his own daughter the Crown Princess. And he brought up this matter in front of so many court officials.
When a marriage proposal is made on such a grand scale, it won't be easy to withdraw it later.
"General Hua, what do you think?" Emperor Changlong noticed Hua Yingting's silence and guessed that the esteemed general might not agree. But as fathers, they had to be selfish for the sake of their children's happiness, "If you have no objections, Zhen will have Kang Wang visit your residence to propose the marriage on Zhen's behalf."
"This humble general thanks Your Majesty for your grace."
Your Majesty, this is a choice you personally made. Don't blame me later.
I won't be taking responsibility for any disaster that may incur.
As Emperor Changlong watched Hua Yingting bow his head, his conscience twinged with pain. But for the sake of his most beloved son, he could let go of that conscience.
Krish728
Author's Note:
Hua Yingting: Your Majesty, I've tried my best, really. I've truly done my best, but you insist on courting disaster, and I can't stop it.
A'Da is an elite assassin, the most formidable assassin in the Xie family.
In the literary world of the South, there is nowhere he didn't want to go, and nowhere he couldn't enter.
Although it was his first time accompanying his master to the capital, he firmly believed that there was nothing he couldn't accomplish!
But soon he realized that he might not fit in well in the capital.
Whenever he ate a bowl of noodles at a small stall in the evening, someone would say to him, "Young man, it's your first time in the capital, right? Finish your meal quickly and go back. The curfew in the capital is strictly enforced."
He couldn't understand why he was recognized as a non-local just because he hadn't said a word.
"It's already this late. Who from the capital would come out to eat?" The stall owner seemed to know what he was puzzled about and explained while closing up shop, "The list for the Palace Examination will be released tomorrow. Who wouldn't gossip about it a bit during their meal?"
The cold and merciless assassin, A'Da: "..."
He felt that the people in the capital were crazy and seriously ill in their minds.
"I've noticed that many people have been guessing who will become the top scholar these past few days," a curious out-of-town customer next to him said, "I heard that General Hua's son is also participating in the examination?"
"That's right," the owner of the noodle stall said, "The owner of a shop on West Street said that if anyone can guess the top scholar, they will select one person from those who guessed correctly and give them five rolls of fine cloth."
"Five rolls?" The customer was amazed, "That's enough for several outfits."
"If you're interested, you can join in the fun."
"Of course, I will go," the customer said with a smile, "I support General Hua's son. It doesn't matter if he becomes the top scholar or not, what's important is not to let General Hua's son lose face."
"Then your chances of winning are slim."
"Why? Isn't General Hua's son talented?"
"That's not it. It's just that there are too many people supporting Third Young Master Hua. I'm afraid even if Third Young Master Hua becomes the top scholar, you won't be chosen."
A'Da thought coldly, in four of the last five imperial examinations, the top scholar came from the south. These people simply and crudely supported the Hua family's son because of Hua Yingting's military achievements. They were truly mindless and vulgar.
Moreover, the Hua family had been a family of military commanders for generations. What dream were they having, wanting to raise a son who would become the top scholar?
He placed a copper coin on the table and left. As an elite assassin, he didn't need to say another word.
"That person seems a bit off," the stall owner put the coin in his money pouch, waited until all the customers had finished eating, closed up the stall, then turned and ran to the Prefect of Jingzhou to report this to a yamen constable.
It was a special time recently. After they release the list for the Palace Examination and hold the Qionglin Feast, there would be the Hundred Nations Banquet, for which they had been preparing for several months. For this Hundred Nations Banquet, every department had spared no effort, as they did not want any accidents to occur.
After receiving the report from the stall owner, the yamen constable at Prefect of Jingzhou recorded the suspicious person's height and appearance and sent a copy to the Ministry of Justice.
In the thick darkness of the night, A'Da circled around the Ministry of Justice three times, but couldn't think of a way to enter.
Helpless, he decided to follow a prison guard home, threaten his family, and ask him to help kill Miss Xie. But soon he discovered that, to ensure no accidents happened, these prison guards at the Ministry of Justice had been staying at the Ministry of Justice and didn't go home after their shifts.
After observing for two days, he found out that the relatives of the prisoners were allowed to visit the Ministry of Justice. He obtained a list of prisoners at the Ministry of Justice and finally chose Yunhan, a qin player. He would claim to be his brother who had been wandering outside for many years. He had finally learned about his brother's whereabouts, but his brother had been locked up in the Ministry of Justice. As the eldest brother, he had spent all his family wealth just to see his brother.
The simpler the relationship with the prisoner, the better for impersonation.
Using this excuse, he finally infiltrated the Ministry of Justice. With the guidance of the prison guards, he saw Yunhan. After a brilliant performance, he barely memorized the layout of the prison cells in the Ministry of Justice.
It was said that the female cells and male cells were built the same. Tonight, he could take advantage of the inattentiveness of the prison guards and sneak into the female cell.
In this world, there was nothing that an elite assassin couldn't do.
Yunhan watched in confusion as the man who claimed to be his brother left: "..."
Where did this eldest brother come from when had no father or mother?
Originally, he thought that someone from the Master's side had come in to inquire about some information. Now it seemed that it wasn't the case?
Thinking of this, he secretly glanced at the strategist in the cell opposite him, who was looking at him with icy eyes, and quickly lowered his head.
The plan of using the beauty trap had failed, but he couldn't blame himself. How could he have known that the Crown Prince would be so good-looking?
Moreover, now that both of them had been captured and couldn't escape or send messages, what other choices did they have besides desperately competing with other prisoners for food and trying to move stones?
"Royal Princess Leyang's Fuma arrived in the capital?" Emperor Changlong opened the plea letter in his hand after lighting a few more candles in the palace, "This plea letter is written with true feelings."
Those assassins who tried to assassinate the Crown Prince had formidable martial arts skills and were ruthless. They didn't seem like small-time assassins who did things for money in the Jianghu. How could Xie Yao, a young girl in her teens, find these assassins to do her bidding?
"What plea letter?" The Crown Prince casually entered the inner hall and saluted Emperor Changlong, "Why is Father Emperor still awake at this hour? "
"Yes, why is Zhen still handling memorial petitions at this late hour?" Emperor Changlong threw the plea letter to the Crown Prince, "Tomorrow, Zhen will send someone to help you with your marriage proposal, so you won't have to go to the Hua family every day. As the Crown Prince of a country, what kind of attitude is it to idle away your time every day?"
"Father Emperor, Erchen believes in mixing work and pleasure," The Crown Prince opened the plea letter, "Erchen doesn't spend less than an hour every day assisting Father Emperor with the memorial petitions, right?"
"In a day of twelve hours, do you spend more than one hour assisting me?" Emperor Changlong took a sip of tea and reminded himself countless times in his heart to stay calm. The child was his own, no matter how much he scolded him.
The Crown Prince silently read through the plea letter. Xie Fuma had excellent literary talent, the letter was filled with sincere feelings. Almost every sentence was suffused with his guilt, making people unable to help but feel pity.
The poor Xie Fuma, his eldest daughter was killed by his second daughter, who also plotted to assassinate the Crown Prince behind their backs. He failed to educate his children properly and deserved punishment, but their youngest son was innocent. He hoped the Emperor could spare his youngest son and so on.
"The words written by someone with good literary talent are indeed so different, truly moving and touching," The Crown Prince smiled lightly, closing the plea letter, "Father Emperor, Erchen is moved by him."
"You..." Emperor Changlong frowned.
"Since Xie Fuma says they are innocent, then we will believe that they are innocent," The Crown Prince put the plea letter back on the imperial desk, "We not only have to believe in them but also sympathize with them and let them stay in the capital for a while longer."
When pulling out a radish, what's the point of just breaking off a few radish leaves?
Naturally, the radish should be pulled out with the mud attached to it.
"If he is unwilling to reveal his true colors..."
"Then Erchen will force him to reveal his true colors," The Crown Prince chuckled lightly, "Father Emperor, when it comes to infuriating people, how many people in the capital can surpass Erchen?"
"Heh," Emperor Changlong had a face that revealed the world-weary understanding of life, "Zhen actually thinks that each and every one of Zhen's sons is quite adept at infuriating people."
"Erchen thanks Father Emperor for the praise on behalf of my brothers."
"Get out!"
On the day the Palace Examination results were announced, the merchants in the capital were more excited than the scholars who took the examination. They had prepared various items such as "top scholar wine", "top scholar brush", and statues of the Wenqu Star. This was a wonderful opportunity for them to make more business.
The capital was densely populated, with many wealthy individuals and many people hoping for their children to achieve success. Therefore, after each major examination, items related to academic achievements sold particularly well.
"The top scholar is Hua Changkong!"
"General Hua's son!"
"No wonder he's General Hua's son!"
"Like father, like son!"
The candidates who participated in the Palace Examination had already entered the palace to listen to the proclamation before dawn. The official who announced the rankings was one of the examiners for this examination. After delivering a speech about diligent governance and love for the people to the examinees, the chief examiner began to announce the rankings.
The rankings were read from the bottom to the top, and the further down the rankings, the more nervous the candidates became.
The ministers of the Six Ministries and some dignitaries were also present, waiting for the top three candidates to emerge from this palace examination.
"Lin Sen, fourth rank."
Upon hearing this ranking, Lin Zhou turned his head to look at his son, who bowed respectfully from a distance. It was difficult to tell whether he was happy or disappointed.
"Congratulations, Lin Daren," a fellow official next to Lin Zhou whispered, "Your son achieved an excellent fourth place."
"Thank you," Lin Zhou expressed his gratitude to his colleague, a slight smile appearing on his face.
"Yao Songbai, third rank."
The Yao family had a marital relationship with the imperial family, so another round of congratulations echoed among the officials.
The second rank was given to a student from the south, surnamed Xie. It was said that he was a distant relative of the Xie family. However, due to Xie Yao's attempt to assassinate the Crown Prince, the Xie family's position in the court was somewhat delicate. Aside from a few officials with connections to the Xie family who displayed some smiles, the other officials showed little expression.
The second-rank scholar surnamed Xie seemed somewhat dissatisfied with his ranking; he had a hint of disappointment on his face.
Only the list of the top scholar remained to be read, but all the candidates present knew who the top scholar was.
"Hua Changkong, top rank," The chief examiner closed the list and smiled warmly at Hua Changkong, who stood in the first row, "Congratulations, Top Scholar Hua."
"Thank you, Teacher," Hua Changkong bowed to the chief examiner in gratitude.
There was some commotion among the court officials. It was unexpected that this time, the top scholar was neither a southern student nor Lin Daren's son, but rather a child from a military family.
This left them with no face to mock military families for their lack of literary talent. If someone lacked literary talent, how could they produce a top scholar of a son?
Many officials congratulated Hua Yingting. Even the military officers were also delighted. From now on, if any civil official dared to criticize them, they could retort by asking, "Did you become the top scholar? Did your son become the top scholar?"
Oh, you didn't make it? That's okay. The son of the Grand General did!
Hahaha.
Lin Zhou also wanted to step forward to express his gratitude to Hua Yingting, but he couldn't face him due to the words his daughter had spoken. So he simply stood quietly to the side.
In a daze, he saw the Crown Prince stride up to Hua Yingting and have a conversation with him. Their interaction appeared quite intimate.
It was said that recently the Crown Prince had become close to the Hua family, not only frequently seeking conversations with General Hua and General Wei on his own initiative, but also dining with the Hua family several times. Such obvious attempts to win their favor could potentially arouse suspicion from His Majesty. What would be the outcome of that?
"Uncle," the Fourth Prince approached Lin Zhou with a stern face, "Congratulations."
"Thank you, Your Highness," Lin Zhou quickly bowed, not daring to step out of line.
The Fourth Prince didn't say anything further, seemingly as if saying those four words was a task he had to complete and then could ignore everything else.
Lin Zhou secretly glanced at the Crown Prince and Hua Yingting. The atmosphere between himself and the Fourth Prince, as uncle and nephew, seemed a lot more distant than that between the Crown Prince and Hua Yingting.
Unfortunately, the Fourth Prince couldn't sense Lin Zhou's awkwardness at all. He stood with a cold expression in front of Lin Zhou, successfully causing the court officials around them to keep their distance.
"My most loyal subject, General Hua," Emperor Changlong smiled as he looked at Hua Yingting, "Your son achieving the top scholar position is a great joyous occasion. Today is a good day. Zhen wants to make you even happier and make it double happiness."
The court officials looked curiously at Emperor Changlong. What did he mean by making it double happiness?
Was he planning to bestow another noble title on the Hua family?
"Zhen became acquainted with you, my most loyal subject, when we were young. Now, in the blink of an eye, our children have grown up," Emperor Changlong laughed, "We, as parents, raise our children and still have to worry about their marriages, don't you think?"
Hua Yingting quickly replied, "Your Majesty's princes and princesses are outstanding individuals. This humble general is incompetent and cannot compare to Your Majesty."
The court officials thought to themselves, could it be that His Majesty wants to marry his daughter off to the third son of the Hua family?
His Majesty only had two daughters. The eldest daughter was already married, and now only the Second Princess remained in the palace, unmarried still. Could she be the one to be married off?
It made sense. Throughout history, many renowned generals had married princesses into their estates. However, this didn't necessarily imply His Majesty's trust; it was more like letting the famous generals think that His Majesty trusted them.
Anyway, the final outcome... wouldn't be too favorable.
"Fushou Junzhu is intelligent and brave. She almost lost her life while protecting the Crown Prince. Zhen believes that your esteemed daughter and the Crown Prince are well-matched. What if we become in-laws?" In order to ensure his son's happiness, Emperor Changlong chose the most shameless way and proposed the idea of a marriage alliance between the two families in front of the court officials.
The Court Officials: Oh, so the Crown Prince is going to be married into the Hua family...
Wait!
The crowd was so shocked that they couldn't come back to their senses. His Majesty actually wanted to make the sickly and frail daughter of the Hua family the Crown Princess?!
Hua Yingting looked at Emperor Changlong with a complex expression and then glanced at the Crown Prince standing beside him. As a loyal general, he had tried his best to prevent this tragedy from happening, but he never expected that His Majesty would be so determined to make his own daughter the Crown Princess. And he brought up this matter in front of so many court officials.
When a marriage proposal is made on such a grand scale, it won't be easy to withdraw it later.
"General Hua, what do you think?" Emperor Changlong noticed Hua Yingting's silence and guessed that the esteemed general might not agree. But as fathers, they had to be selfish for the sake of their children's happiness, "If you have no objections, Zhen will have Kang Wang visit your residence to propose the marriage on Zhen's behalf."
"This humble general thanks Your Majesty for your grace."
Your Majesty, this is a choice you personally made. Don't blame me later.
I won't be taking responsibility for any disaster that may incur.
As Emperor Changlong watched Hua Yingting bow his head, his conscience twinged with pain. But for the sake of his most beloved son, he could let go of that conscience.
Krish728
Author's Note:
Hua Yingting: Your Majesty, I've tried my best, really. I've truly done my best, but you insist on courting disaster, and I can't stop it.
