Xia Chengjie and Murong Xiu. One was a noble from a wealthy family far from the court's strife, while the other was from a prestigious clan at the peak of power.
She, as a concubine - born princess, neither pleased the queen nor had the support of her maternal family.
If she wanted to avoid being controlled by the queen and Li Shenrong after the crown prince ascended the throne, she either had to marry into the northwest, far from the troubles, or marry the most powerful person and stand at the pinnacle of power.
So, considering family background and power risks, among the many noble families, only these two men met the criteria. But when it came to character and talent, it was undoubtedly Murong Xiu, the so - called Number One Young Master of the Great Yan Dynasty and the dream lover of countless young girls.
She wasn't blind. There was no reason for her to go against the aesthetic standards of countless young girls.
Of course, she wouldn't treat Chu Junyi badly either. She would surely choose a proper young lady from a noble family for him.
After making up her mind, she turned around and looked at Chu Junyi inquiringly.
Chu Junyi was in a very complicated mood. He didn't know who he was angry with, but in the end, he agreed.
"Well, then this banquet is really worth going to. After all, there are the most noble ladies at the banquet, and it's the best place to make a choice. Why don't we go and have a look before it ends?" Li Shenyue got excited.
Chu Junyi's Adam's apple rolled slightly. He wanted to find an excuse not to go but was afraid of being thought a coward. So he clenched his fists and went.
The moonlight was pale, and the tree shadows were slanting.
The lively atmosphere in the Duke's Mansion reached its peak with the arrival of Chu Junyi and Li Shenyue.
Li Shenyue unexpectedly found that she had just managed to gather the top three scholars in the imperial examination.
The second - place and third - place scholars were both from noble families and had connections with each other, so they were already there. It was just that Chu Junyi, the champion from a humble family, was harder to find.
But she had managed to gather them all.
The inexplicable sense of accomplishment made her extremely happy.
She decided to take this opportunity to let Chu Junyi shine and win the hearts of the noble ladies present.
So, she spoke up and politely invited the three of them to compose a poem on the theme of birthday wishes for the old lady.
Everyone became interested.
Chu Junyi didn't like to show off, and moreover, he could tell at a glance that Li Shenyue's intention was to use the other two as foils to highlight his literary talent.
He didn't want to do it.
But Li Shenyue and everyone else were very insistent. After a series of sweet talk and persuasion.
The three of them had no choice but to compose a poem.
When the poems were presented to everyone, they praised the three of them as great scholars, saying that their literary works were outstanding and each had its own merits. Any one of the poems was a masterpiece.
But Li Shenyue deliberately praised Chu Junyi to the skies. "Even masterpieces should have a ranking when put together. In my opinion, my teacher is still superior. What do you all think?"
Everyone looked at the sky, the ground, and the air.
Li Shenyue curled her lips. She glanced at everyone's expressions, gave Murong Xiu a naughty look, and then winked at Chu Junyi.
Chu Junyi looked at the ink on the table and really wanted to splash it on her face.
However, after the poetry - reciting session, Li Shenyue also made Chu Junyi participate in games like arrow - throwing, archery, cuju, and chess.
In short, she didn't allow him to miss any opportunity to show off his skills.
Then she would praise and extol him vigorously, so that everyone knew that the newly - crowned champion was both literary and martial, and excellent in all the six arts of a gentleman.
Then everyone understood!
Could it be that Princess Yuanyang, after being rejected by the young master of the Murong family, was deliberately using the champion to counter the young master?
Everyone then looked with great interest at Murong Xiu, who was sitting alone in the distance enjoying the cool.
He seemed so lonely.
Late at night, as the guests gradually left the banquet, Li Shenyue finally decided to let Chu Junyi off after having had enough fun.
Before leaving, she walked side by side with Chu Junyi and looked at him expectantly, "Well, am I being kind to you?
After tonight, Mr. Chu will be the white moonlight in the hearts of countless noble ladies. Your marriage will be settled.
Since I've helped you so much, you have to do your best for me too."
She had offended Murong Xiu in order to promote Chu Junyi.
So her future pursuit of her love would not be easy.
Everything depended on Chu Junyi.
"If you help me match - make successfully, I'll reward you with a big mansion." Thinking of the shabby place where Chu Junyi lived now and the big mansion she would give him, she covered her mouth and smiled. Her eyes shifted from Chu Junyi's profile, and unexpectedly, she saw the old duke walking over on his walking stick, supported by the old lady.
Immediately, she stopped.
Chu Junyi also stopped and turned to look.
The old duke came close. "Your humble servant pays respects to the princess." But Li Shenyue supported him before he could bow.
A man in his seventies. Even the emperor would exempt him from the salute when seeing him, let alone her.
"Teacher."
Chu Junyi stepped forward and bowed respectfully to the old duke and his wife.
Li Shenyue was completely stunned.
...
Early the next morning, Murong Jia saw Li Shenrong and asked how her leg was. Why was it just scratched?
Li Shenrong was speechless for a moment. She looked at Li Shenyue across the table with grievance and anger, gritted her teeth and said it was okay, then simply explained where she had been last night.
Li Shenyue wanted to laugh. She knew that Li Shenrong didn't dare to tell the real reason.
Moreover, from now on, Li Shenrong would never dare to use her studies as an excuse to go to the Murong Mansion again.
She raised her eyebrows happily and glanced at Li Shenrong.
Li Shenrong was so angry that she almost bit off her own tongue.
At this time, Eunuch Wang came in and conveyed the words of Emperor Mingde.
"His Majesty said that in the exam one month later, among all the young ladies, young masters, and princesses, whoever can rank first will be rewarded with a favor by His Majesty."
Hearing this, Li Shenrong was like a drowning man grabbing a life - saving straw. Just as she was about to excitedly ask a question.
Li Shenyue preempted her. "Any favor will do?"
Eunuch Wang was facing Li Shenyue. He paused for a moment and said, "In principle, yes. But Your Highness, don't make it too difficult. Requests like picking the stars and the moon are out of the question."
Li Shenyue nodded to indicate that she understood, and glanced at Li Shenrong from the corner of her eye.
Li Shenrong felt a sense of crisis.
The young marquis, who seemed to have nothing to do with this at first, also had his eyes on the favor.
Because his gambling problem had upset his grandfather. To avoid being beaten when he returned to the northwest, he had persuaded his grandfather to allow him to study in the palace.
If he made no progress after a month, he would surely be punished for all his mistakes when he went back.
This favor was both a life - saving talisman and an honor for him.
So everyone started to work hard for the favor.
But Li Shenyue felt that Chu Junyi was sent by God to oppose her.
He had been targeting her recently. Among the four students, why did he always call on her to answer questions? And he would even say sarcastically, "If your handwriting is ugly, you should read more books!"
Where was her handwriting ugly? Where!
Someone picked up a pen and wrote the same character next to hers, then gently tapped it with his fingertip.
Li Shenyue, "..."
"All of you, listen to the class carefully. I'll also grant a request to the one who makes the fastest progress. Any request will do."
Chu Junyi looked meaningfully at Li Shenyue.
The request she wanted, he could help her fulfill. But similarly, if she couldn't meet his requirements, then the previous request would no longer be mentioned.
This was a disguised rejection of yesterday's impulse.
Yes, he had changed his mind.