Early the next morning, the birds were singing and the sun was shining brightly.
The guards downstairs in Mingyue Courtyard had been replaced with a new shift.
The newly - assigned guards were carrying the morning meal for Princess Yuanyang and chatting about what they had heard outside.
Guard A: "Have you heard? At today's morning court, His Majesty, to reward Lord Chu for his meritorious service in suppressing the bandits, specially bestowed a marriage with the Fourteenth Princess on him and promoted him one rank."
"Lord Chu is really lucky. He's only been an official for a few days, and he's getting a promotion and a royal marriage. He'll probably have a smooth and promising official career in the future."
"If I'd known that studying could change one's fate, I wouldn't have learned martial arts back then. Studying the classics would have been so much better."
Guard B: "Come on. The imperial examination was only established this year. Before that, our Great Yan always valued martial arts over literature. Learning martial arts could earn one a living, while learning literature was useless."
Guard A: "That's true."
"I won't talk to you anymore. I have to deliver the meal to the princess. I'll talk to you when I come back."
Li Xinyue was woken up by the voices. By the time she woke up, she could already hear the approaching footsteps of the person delivering the meal. According to the rules, when the meal was delivered to the door, there would be three soft knocks, and then the person would leave on their own. She would go and carry the meal in herself.
But today, she suddenly threw on a robe and got out of bed. When the imperial guard knocked on the door, she had already opened it.
When the imperial guard saw Li Xinyue, he was stunned by her delicate and natural face. Realizing his rudeness, he quickly lowered his head and bowed, presenting the meal.
Li Xinyue didn't rush to take it. Instead, she looked at the top of his head and asked, "Is this true?"
The imperial guard paused for a moment. After a while, he realized that the princess was probably asking about the imperial edict of bestowing the marriage. "It's absolutely true. The imperial edict of bestowing the marriage has been announced to the whole country. Everyone in the capital knows that the new champion is going to marry a princess.
Because of this, there's a beautiful story going around the streets about 'winning the championship and marrying a princess'."
"Got it." Li Xinyue took the meal from the imperial guard's hand and turned around to close the door.
Looking at the lonely back of the princess, the imperial guard, for some reason, felt a bit sad.
Inside the room, Li Xinyue leaned against the door frame, her hands stiffly holding the tray. She hung her head and fell into deep thought.
Sigh!
As early as when the emperor intended to combine the Qionglin Banquet and the Flower Banquet, she had guessed such an outcome.
The Lin family behind Li Xinrong was the most powerful aristocratic family. By having a marriage alliance with the Lin family, the emperor could separate the Lin family from other aristocratic families. And with the power of the Lin family, he could ensure Lord Chu's safety in the court.
Since she had seen it clearly from the beginning, she wasn't surprised to hear the news of the imperial edict of bestowing the marriage.
She just remembered that they had been so affectionate last night, pouring out their hearts to each other. She also remembered how hard he had tried to get closer to her. Only then did she feel a bit reluctant.
It was as if someone was going to snatch the most precious thing from her hands.
She didn't want that.
But the imperial edict had already been issued. What could she change? Her glory, dignity, and arrogance all came from the emperor's favor. Without this favor, she would be nothing.
She couldn't even control her own life, let alone change anything.
Everything seemed to have returned to the starting point, back to the Qionglin Banquet, when she had desperately tried to arrange a marriage to change her fate.
Li Xinyue sighed. She suddenly felt that life seemed to have lost its meaning again.
The surprises and joys he had brought her were, at this moment, awakened by reality with a single slap.
She felt sour and swollen in her heart, but there was nowhere to vent. She could only stop thinking about it, lest she couldn't bear it.
In the imperial study, Father Wang bowed his head and presented a stack of memorials with bated breath.
The air seemed to have solidified. The young eunuchs serving there didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
Coincidentally, just this morning, His Majesty had just issued the imperial edict of bestowing the marriage between the Fourteenth Princess and Lord Chu. And news came from the Western Jin Dynasty asking for an imperial edict of bestowing a marriage. They wanted to marry a princess of Great Yan to form an alliance.
Just right, Princess Yuanyang had been surrounded by rumors recently, which had become an indelible stain in the hearts of the subjects of Great Yan. So the court officials proposed to send Princess Yuanyang to the Western Jin Dynasty for a marriage alliance, which could also contribute to the friendly relations between the two countries.
But those who knew understood. The Western Jin Dynasty was such a cold and desolate place. How could a princess of Great Yan bear it? Going there would be like going to her death.
Moreover, it was said that the emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty was extremely cruel and unpredictable. He had already had three dead queens, not to mention the countless concubines.
A princess of Great Yan sent there wouldn't even be enough for him to execute.
Thinking of this, Father Wang couldn't help shivering. He silently mourned for Princess Yuanyang in his heart. Then he carefully presented the memorials and stepped back.
Emperor Mingde looked up from his deep thought. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the memorials beside him. When he opened one, it was another memorial persuading him to marry off a princess. He threw the whole tray out and ordered the young eunuchs to burn them all.
By this time, the public opinion about the Western Jin Dynasty's request to marry a princess had spread like wildfire in the streets and alleys, even surpassing the public opinion about the champion marrying a princess.
Because compared to a poor scholar marrying a princess, the story of a prince and a princess getting married was, of course, more talked about.
The news reached the princess mansion. Li Xinyue was so angry that she smashed the bowls and chopsticks. She hugged her head with both hands and scratched her scalp restlessly, messing up her hair.
She knew it would be like this!
So she had started planning for her own marriage early in the morning!
It was just that the appearance of Chu Junyi had disrupted her plan, making her almost forget the desperate situation she was in. Now she felt like she had just woken up from a dream.
Thinking of Chu Junyi, she remembered the words he had said last night, as well as every word he had said in many days and nights before last night.
She believed that Chu Junyi should be wracking his brains to find a way to solve the problem of the imperial edict of bestowing the marriage.
But the imperial edict had already been issued. There was simply no way to reverse it.
Thinking carefully, marrying Li Xinrong might not be a bad thing.
At least from now on, there would not only be the Lin family behind him, but also the Crown Prince to support him.
It was better than being a secret lover with her.
Sigh! Princess Yuanyang couldn't protect Lord Chu anymore. She herself was in great danger. As long as Lord Chu was protected by the Crown Prince, she would be at ease.
She took a deep breath. After calming down, she raised her eyes and made a decision. She would follow her original plan. First, she would ask the emperor to bestow a marriage on her. No matter whom she married, she had to settle her unstable fate first.
The only trouble was that originally the emperor doted on her. As long as she asked, the emperor would agree to any condition.
Now, the emperor was angry. As long as she asked, he wouldn't agree to any condition.
So she could only use someone else's mouth.
It seemed that Murong Jia still had a grace that hadn't been used.
Back then, when the emperor asked her what she wanted, she said she hadn't thought it through yet and would ask for the reward later when she had.
Now it depended on whether Murong Jia was willing to help with this.
"Please, please. Just let me in. I'm just here to bring some delicious food to our princess. I won't make things difficult for you. Please."
Lian'er's voice came from downstairs. Li Xinyue came back to her senses. Thinking of something, her eyes lit up. Then she stood up from the carpet and opened the door.
The wind blew her sideburns gently. The fresh fragrance of the trees and the flowers refreshed her spirit.
Li Xinyue walked to the railing on the outer corridor.