"To marry a princess, one must at least be a second - rank official with outstanding merits. Or come from a scholarly family with a century - long noble heritage. Or receive a special edict from the emperor. Or... that's all." There was also the option of a political marriage.
Li Xinyue closed her eyes, suppressing the displeasure of being offended. Knowing that the other party was humiliating her, she still pretended to be oblivious and then seriously told him how one could... marry her.
This was definitely the greatest humiliation she had ever endured since birth. It was more nauseating than swallowing a hundred flies!
Chu Junyi felt the same way.
Watching helplessly as the bright moon he had been chasing was so humiliated and smeared, he really wanted to punch the offender, tear out his tongue, break his arms and legs, bury him in the soil and stomp on him until he turned into minced meat!
Chu Junyi was sitting restlessly, feeling extremely uncomfortable all over. His throat was burning and itchy. He felt that he could hardly sit still.
The bandit leader had originally just been making small talk during the waiting time for the release of the hostages.
After all, a bandit like him had hardly ever seen an official in his life, let alone a princess of the royal family.
So when he saw the princess, he was full of curiosity and asked a few more questions. Unexpectedly, Her Highness the Princess was kind enough to answer him.
So, what was originally just a curious question now really made him start to think about marrying the princess.
They were being recruited into the imperial army now, right?
According to the exact words of the imperial envoy, "It's not that you win and I lose, but that we're in a draw, with victory and defeat each accounting for half. That's why we're here to negotiate and for the recruitment."
Since that was the case, he didn't want the official position, nor the rewards. He just wanted the princess.
The bandit leader thought so and asked, "You said, if I were to ask the emperor for the hand of the princess, would the emperor agree?"
Li Xinyue opened her eyes angrily, completely stunned.
She never expected things could turn out like this!
Chu Junyi jumped to his feet and slapped the long table.
There was a crisp sound. The table cracked in several places and then, in front of many witnesses, shattered into pieces.
The little minions were so scared that they drew their swords.
The bandit leader also put away his casual attitude and immediately jumped behind Li Xinyue, grabbing her throat.
"Your Highness the Princess, I'm sorry for my offense."
Li Xinyue shot him a sideways glance, thinking that he had offended her enough!
It seemed that he had used up a whole year's worth of offenses on her!
However, for the safety of the hostages, she endured it again.
For the first time in her life, she understood what it meant to swallow one's pride.
Chu Junyi was so heart - broken that he was on the verge of collapse. He would rather it was him who was being humiliated than Yue'er.
But his impulsive action just now had almost ruined all their efforts. Now he could only calm down and endure it again and again.
"Big Boss!" A little minion came in from outside.
Chu Junyi and Li Xinyue looked up, and all the bandits in the stronghold also looked over in unison.
The little minion couldn't hide the joy on his face. "Big Boss, all the hostages have gone down the mountain, and the gold, silver and jewels have been carried up. The recruitment is for real!"
Li Xinyue let out a sigh of relief...
At the same time, she tensed up again. Next, it was their turn to go down the mountain with this bandit leader. As long as they got down the mountain, everything would be all right.
Finally, they had reached the last step. She hoped that there would be no more mishaps.
Li Xinyue's heart was in her throat. Her blood seemed to be freezing. Her breathing became difficult, and she could only inhale and exhale slowly and carefully.
Finally, she heard the bandit leader say, "Okay, then Princess Highness, Lord Chu, let's go."
"Okay." Li Xinyue stood up and glanced at Chu Junyi.
Chu Junyi also stood up and exchanged a look with her.
After leaving the main hall of the stronghold, Chu Junyi quietly squeezed past the bandit leader, protecting Li Xinyue in front of him and blocking the bandit leader behind him.
Li Xinyue thought of his kindness to her and the danger of this trip. She let out a sigh with mixed feelings.
She didn't know what to say to him anymore.
The sun was shining brightly on the earth, and the heat waves were rolling up layer by layer. Under the heat waves, Li Xinyue and Chu Junyi walked in front.
The bandit leader, Bai Hong and others walked behind.
The group walked down the mountain in a grand manner, stepping on the steaming heat.
The stronghold was built on a relatively high place. After passing the drill ground in front, they had to go down several steps to get out of the main gate of the stronghold.
Li Xinyue was eager to get away at this time and always worried that something might go wrong. So these long steps really annoyed her.
The bandit leader and the treacherous merchant behind were chatting and laughing, really thinking that they were going to receive their official titles.
Although Bai Hong had been a little worried before, after seeing the real gold, silver, jewels and the imperial edict, his doubts were gradually dispelled. Now he started to talk to the bandit leader about marrying the princess and came up with a bunch of bad ideas. Li Xinyue's eyebrow twitched. She wished she could rush up and strangle them.
Chu Junyi even wanted to die with them.
Finally, after walking down the many steps, Li Xinyue's hanging heart gradually relaxed. But then she heard someone shout, "No good! Fu Chengyuan has led his troops to attack. We've been deceived!"
Li Xinyue and Chu Junyi's eyebrows twitched. They exchanged a look and ran!
The bandit leader was furious. Without thinking, he chased after them while ordering, "Close the stronghold gate!"
The little minion guarding the gate immediately sealed it.
Li Xinyue and Chu Junyi's minds were working fast. They exchanged another look and then turned around at the same time and attacked!
The bandit leader also attacked at the same time, trying to capture Li Xinyue and take her as a hostage. Li Xinyue dodged to the side and grabbed his right shoulder.
Chu Junyi attacked at the same time and grabbed his left shoulder. They both exerted force and immediately reversed the situation, taking the bandit leader as their hostage.
"Don't come any closer! If you do, I'll break his arm!" Li Xinyue's long - endured grievances and humiliation erupted at this moment. She pinched his arm with all her strength.
"Then I'll break his other arm!" Chu Junyi stood beside her, sharing the same hatred.
All the bandits picked up their weapons and surrounded them layer by layer.
At this time, there was a deafening sound all around. Gunpowder exploded not far away. The mountain shook, and tiles fell from the stronghold.
Everyone was so scared that their faces turned pale. They all realized that they had been deceived and that they were doomed to die today.
Chu Junyi never expected that Fu Chengyuan would not even care about the princess's life in order to kill him!
He was so angry that he wanted to curse. "Fu Chengyuan must be crazy. The Princess Yuanyang, whom he has been eager to curry favor with, is in the bandit's den. Instead of helping to gain some favor, he's adding insult to injury."
Li Xinyue sighed. "He's been deceived so many times that he thought I was impersonating the princess. Moreover, half of his unburned family property is on the mountain. Do you think he can not hate me?"
Chu Junyi, "..."
Boom -
Several more gunpowder explosions occurred. More roof tiles fell, and the ground shook more and more violently.
The deceived bandits gradually became angry, collapsed and lost their senses.
At this time, they didn't care about the bandit leader anymore. They just rushed forward. Anyway, they were going to die, so they might as well get their money's worth.
Bai Hong was also so angry that he wanted to kill Chu Junyi and Li Xinyue.
All his family members were on the mountain. This time, his Bai family was going to be extinct!
Yiyi, you must avenge your parents and your uncle's family!