Feng Jingxuan felt a violent twitch beneath his eye.
Indeed, among the adult and unmarried princes of the Great Zhou at present, he, the Third Prince Feng Jingxuan, held the most noble status.
Although the position of the main consort of the Fifth Prince Feng Jingyi was also vacant, his birth mother, Concubine Chen, came from a humble background and had always been out of favor.
Feng Jingyi himself was gentle in nature, mediocre in talent, without much ambition or extraordinary talent.
As a result, although they were both born of concubines, the Third Prince Feng Jingxuan already had the strength to compete with the Crown Prince Feng Jingye for the throne, while Feng Jingyi could only rely on the Crown Prince and live under his thumb.
Zhuo Lingxiao watched as Feng Jingxuan's complexion turned from green to purple and then from purple to black. He couldn't help but let out a cold laugh and said, "Come to think of it, Your Highness the Third Prince is quite self - aware. After all, with the status of our princess, a legitimate princess of the Great Liang royal family, marrying Your Highness the Third Prince, who is born of a concubine, would be no different from a condescending marriage. I hope Your Highness the Third Prince will always remember what he said today and treat our princess well in the future!"
The words sounded more and more wrong.
Feng Linche was so angry at Zhuo Lingxiao's arrogant attitude that his face turned ashen.
The Western Liang was rich and powerful, on par with the Great Zhou in strength. In recent months, the Great Zhou had suffered successive natural disasters, severely depleting its national strength.
Moreover, the decline of the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion had also caused the Great Zhou to lose its most powerful support.
As a result, in recent years, in order to maintain the superficial peace with the Western Liang, the Great Zhou had made many concessions and sacrifices.
For the first time in his life, Feng Linche faintly regretted his decision back then.
His gaze involuntarily glanced at Feng Linyuan beside him.
The young man who had once been as arrogant as Zhuo Lingxiao had now completely changed his appearance.
Although Zhuo Lingxiao's actions today were no different from slapping the face of the Great Zhou, Feng Linyuan, the Marquis of Dingyuan of the Great Zhou, remained completely unmoved.
He lowered his eyes and composed himself, as if everything that was happening here had nothing to do with him at all.
Feng Linche narrowed his eyes slightly, and the hand hidden in his sleeve tightened more and more.
The hall fell into an awkward silence for a moment.
"Does Young Master Zhuo really want the princess to condescend to marry me?" In the silent room, Feng Jingxuan spoke up and asked.
"What does Your Highness the Third Prince mean? Don't you want to take responsibility for our princess?" Zhuo Lingxiao raised his voice.
Feng Jingxuan shook his head and explained, "The princess was just momentarily shocked and said that she wanted to condescend to marry me. But you, Young Master Zhuo, are different. You've seen the world and have always been calm - minded. If you think calmly, it's not difficult to find that such an impulsive decision today will ruin the princess's happiness for a lifetime."
Princess Yunxi buried her head low. Hearing this, her body trembled slightly.
It was this slight tremor that suddenly gave Feng Jingxuan the confidence to continue.
He said in a deep voice, "After all, the princess is of noble status, different from ordinary noble ladies. Even if she remarries, she can marry very well. Not to mention that she has just lost her virginity?
I admit that today I was the one who did something wrong to the princess first, and I deserve ten thousand deaths.
But the princess doesn't have to bear too much psychological burden for this and sacrifice her happiness for a lifetime to marry me.
I heard that the princess has someone she loves in her heart..."
Saying this, Feng Jingxuan gave Feng Linyuan a meaningful glance, and then continued to persuade Princess Yunxi earnestly, "With the princess's status and the love of the Emperor of the Western Liang, the princess can completely forget about today's incident, continue to pursue her own happiness, and marry the person she truly loves.
In the future, when the princess gets married, I will surely present a generous gift as part of the princess's dowry to atone for today's incident.
What do you think, princess?"
After Feng Jingxuan finished speaking, he looked at Princess Yunxi with a sincere face.
A glint of playfulness flashed in Bai Zheng's eyes for a moment, and she glanced coolly at Feng Linyuan.
Feng Linyuan felt a chill down his back. Immediately following, he said, "Judging from what Your Highness the Third Prince said, it seems that Young Master Zhuo is so angry today just to extort some gold and silver from Your Highness the Third Prince?"
A hint of cruelty flashed in Feng Jingxuan's eyes: "Could it be that the marquis thinks the princess should sacrifice her whole life for this?"
Feng Linyuan let out a soft laugh, but there was no trace of smile in his eyes. Instead, they were as black as night, with a chilling coldness: "Your Highness the Third Prince is of the royal family, so you should know that for those of the royal family, they have no say in their marriage. As a legitimate princess, Princess Yunxi should shoulder the responsibility of a country. How can her marriage be a trifle?
This marquis just thinks that Your Highness the Third Prince doesn't need to encourage the princess to pursue love blindly today.
After all, only when the two parties are well - matched can their relationship last long."
"Well - matched?" Feng Jingxuan sneered as if he had heard something funny, "If someone else said this, it might be a bit credible, but coming from the Marquis of Dingyuan, don't you think it's ridiculous?"
He half - squinted his narrow eyes, and his gaze swept back and forth between Feng Linyuan and Bai Zheng. The expression on his face seemed to say, "I'm afraid there's no one more mismatched than the two of you here."
"Yes, this marquis is a man who is half - buried in the soil. If it weren't for the title of marquis, how could I have gotten such a good marriage with Zheng'er?" Feng Linyuan casually stroked his sleeve, his tone calm.
Feng Jingxuan was momentarily at a loss for words.
After all, Feng Linyuan and Bai Zheng had received the imperial edict of marriage from Feng Linche. Naturally, he didn't dare to say anything about the mismatched marriage and offend Feng Linche. For a moment, he didn't dare to continue on this topic.
This moment of awkwardness gave Zhuo Lingxiao an opportunity to respond, "The Marquis of Dingyuan is right! Love is just a passing thing, and only a well - matched marriage can last. Although Your Highness the Third Prince's status is a bit marginal, in your Eastern Zhou, there is no one more suitable for the princess than Your Highness the Third Prince. If this young master reports this marriage to the Emperor of our Great Liang, His Majesty will surely be very satisfied and recognize Your Highness the Third Prince as his son - in - law."
"Really?" Feng Linche, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke in a deep voice.
It was just a simple two - word question, but because of the power that came from years of sitting on the throne, everyone present couldn't help but tremble.
Even the arrogant Zhuo Lingxiao was a bit slow to react for a moment. He stared blankly at Feng Linche.
Feng Linche looked at Zhuo Lingxiao with a cold and gloomy gaze, his eyes suppressing countless amounts of anger: "Young Master really has a lot of nerve! You keep talking about the princess of the Great Liang and the Emperor of the Great Liang. Does this young master think that I, the Emperor of the Great Zhou, am dead? Hmph! Back then, even your father was polite in front of me. How dare you be so arrogant!"
Zhuo Lingxiao was so choked by these words that his face turned red. His expression changed several times, and finally he lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. Lingxiao was just so angry to see Princess Yunxi suffer such a great humiliation that I spoke rudely.
Princess Yunxi is the apple of our Emperor's eye.
Before coming to the Great Zhou on this trip, His Majesty entrusted the princess to Lingxiao for protection. Now that something has happened to the princess, Lingxiao is extremely self - reproachful and doesn't know how to explain it to His Majesty when I go back. That's why I lost my composure.
Please punish me, Your Majesty!"