Bai Zheng raised her eyes and met Feng Jingyi's gaze.
Her long lashes fluttered slightly, and her clear black-and-white eyes were as calm as a still lake, devoid of any trace of emotion. There was no surprise as Feng Jingyi had expected, nor the shyness that an ordinary girl would show upon hearing about marriage.
Bai Zheng said indifferently, "I'm afraid, Your Majesty, that you just want Uncle Bai to fight for the country whole - heartedly in the Liyang Battle."
Bai Yihuan, the general guarding Liyang, was clearly closely related to Bai Yinan just by his name. He was none other than Bai Yinan's younger cousin and Bai Qiying's nephew.
His father had passed away early, and since childhood, he had fought on the battlefield with Bai Qiying. In fact, he was more like Bai Qiying's own son than Bai Yinan.
At this moment, the war with the Southern Shu was at a stalemate. So Feng Linche decided to use Bai Zheng's marriage as a reassurance for the soldiers on the border, making them know that the Emperor of the Great Zhou would always remember those who had fought for the country.
He would be their strong backing and would never allow anyone to bully their relatives.
Bai Zheng sneered coldly. It seemed that her marriage would be quite a spectacle.
"Has Your Majesty already chosen a candidate?"
Feng Jingyi shook his head. "The Crown Prince immediately recommended the young master of the Duke of Chen's Mansion. While Father was still deliberating, the Third Prince quickly recommended Liu Zhixuan, the eldest son of the Censor's Mansion. And Liu Yunyu also asked Father for Bai Zheng's hand on behalf of his son."
It was indeed a grand show!
Bai Zheng curled her lips. The Duke of Chen was the Crown Princess's family. Now that Feng Jingye's own maternal family was not suitable to ask for marriage, he had resorted to the Duke of Chen's Mansion, his daughter - in - law's family. He really thought highly of her.
As for the relationship between the Censor - in - Chief and Feng Jingxuan, there was no need to elaborate.
"All those who can stand in the court are shrewd people. As soon as they saw the stances of the Second and Third Princes, they rushed to ask for your hand on behalf of their sons. There was even one so absurd that his only son was only eight years old!"
Feng Jingyi couldn't help taking a deep breath as he recalled. At that time, not to mention Bai Yinan and Bai Yizhang, even he, an outsider, was extremely troubled by the situation.
"One even hugged Lord Bai's leg and cried, saying that his son had fallen in love with the Third Miss Bai at first sight. Unfortunately, the Third Miss already had a marriage contract. After learning this, his son had lost his appetite and become thinner day by day. Now that the Third Miss had broken off the engagement, he must give his son a chance no matter what."
"Pfft~" Bai Zheng finally couldn't help laughing.
Who would have thought that the protagonist of such a bizarre marriage - proposal scene would be the Third Miss Bai, who was once despised by everyone?
"Miss Bai can still laugh? I think Lord Bai was about to cry at that time," Feng Jingyi said in disbelief, looking at Bai Zheng, who was almost doubling over with laughter.
"So many people have taken a fancy to me. Your Majesty will surely pick a good family for me. Then Father won't have to worry about my marriage because of the Prime Minister's Mansion anymore. Are you sure Father wasn't overjoyed to tears?"
Bai Zheng's eyes curved into a crescent, looking like she had just watched a wonderful show.
Feng Jingyi twitched the corner of his mouth. "I'm afraid Lord Bai was on the verge of crying in helplessness."
"Has Your Majesty made a decision?" Bai Zheng ignored his teasing and asked calmly.
"Father didn't expect such a situation. In the end, whenever Father slightly praised a young master, several ministers would jump out and insist on comparing their sons with him."
"So this hot potato?" Bai Zheng could almost guess the answer.
Feng Jingyi nodded. "So Father said that he had already made a hasty match once and couldn't make the same mistake again. After all, it was Miss Bai's own lifelong event, so he would leave it all to Miss Bai to decide."
Hearing this, Bai Zheng suddenly looked at Feng Jingyi with a very strange look.
Feng Jingyi felt uncomfortable under her gaze and couldn't help shivering. He asked, "What's wrong?"
"Your Highness came here today and brought so much gold. Could it be that..." Bai Zheng dragged out her words, looking meaningful.
Feng Jingyi asked in confusion, "Could it be what?"
Bai Zheng said playfully with a smile, "Could it be that Your Highness is here to ask for special treatment and wants me to choose you?"
Feng Jingyi was stunned for a moment and didn't react at first. He just stared blankly at Bai Zheng. As he stared, his face gradually became as red as if on fire.
"Miss Bai, don't talk nonsense!"
He finally understood what Bai Zheng meant. But he didn't have such feelings for Bai Zheng!
Seeing Feng Jingyi's reaction, Bai Zheng inexplicably let out a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to say something, she saw Bai Fu running into the main hall in a hurry.
"Miss, there are a lot of people outside with gifts. They say they want to see Master and Madam..."
Bai Yinan had gone to the morning court and hadn't returned to the mansion yet. And Mrs. Lin was always indecisive about such things. So when faced with a problem, the first person Bai Fu thought of was Bai Zheng.
Bai Zheng suddenly stood up. She quickly glanced at Feng Jingyi and sneered, "Even if His Highness the Fifth Prince didn't mean it, he will be thought to have that intention."
Feng Jingyi immediately understood. Although he hadn't joined the chaos of proposing marriage to Bai Zheng during the morning court, he had rushed to the Bai Mansion first thing after the court to send the gold. In the eyes of outsiders, wasn't this the most obvious signal?
Feng Jingyi, the Fifth Prince, had sent a large box of betrothal gifts to the Bai Mansion in order to propose marriage to Bai Zheng.
Three princes of Feng Linche were vying to marry Bai Zheng!
Now, the whole Yongding would be completely in an uproar.
"Uncle Fu, tell the people outside that Father hasn't returned since he went to the morning court. Maybe he is in the General's Mansion. If they want to find Father, they can go there."
Bai Fu steadied his mind and quickly did as Bai Zheng had told him.
Hearing the faint sounds of people and horses coming from the direction of the gate, Bai Zheng let out a soft sigh.
From now on, the threshold of the Bai Mansion was probably going to be worn out.
In the Minister's Mansion, the maid Yunzhu came in with tea. She saw her young lady, Su Muxiao, sitting in front of a bronze mirror carved with the four seasons' famous flowers. Wearing a dark - yellow brocade silk dress, she was staring at the mirror with a gloomy face.
Yunzhu's heart skipped a beat. She said softly, "Miss, the 20,000 taels of silver we sent to the Fifth Prince yesterday were carried to the Bai Mansion by the Fifth Prince again."
"Sure enough, it's her! That bitch!" There was no third person in the room. Su Muxiao gritted her teeth and said.
"Rumors are spreading outside that after the Third Miss Bai broke off her engagement with the Prime Minister's Mansion, she has become the target of all the powerful and noble families in Yongding to propose marriage to. Those people have almost worn out the threshold of the Bai Mansion. Some who couldn't squeeze into the Bai Mansion even went to the General's Mansion to plead..."
As Yunzhu was talking, seeing Su Muxiao's face becoming even gloomier, she was so scared that she swallowed the rest of her words.
Because of the auction at the Jizhen Tower last time, Su Muxiao had lost 20,000 taels. Su Zheng, who was almost driven crazy with anger, had almost sent her to the family temple. If it weren't for her mother, Mrs. Bai, crying and kneeling down to plead, Su Muxiao might even have been beaten with a board.
In the past few days, Su Muxiao had been confined to her room by Su Zheng to reflect. She could only eat plain porridge and pickled cabbage every day, and her monthly allowance had been reduced to one - third of the original amount.
And today, the news that Bai Zheng was being vied for in marriage came...
Su Muxiao felt a rush of blood to her head. She suddenly stood up and crazily swept the bronze mirror and porcelain bottles on the table to the ground. "Bitch! It's all this bitch!"