The Duke of Zhenguo released his hand, which had been preventing "Prince An" from bowing. No wonder he felt there was something strange between Xiaoyun and Prince An.

His voice turned cold, and his good mood from having another son vanished instantly: "Your Highness, although you and my daughter have been getting close lately, I have always regarded you as a gentleman and have never doubted anything."

"But you two are already divorced, why do you still do such a scandalous thing! Although my daughter has many flaws, she is still my most beloved daughter. How can you treat her like this!"

Lu Xiaoyun bowed deeply to the Duke of Zhenguo again: "Therefore, I have come today to propose marriage to you, Your Excellency. I beg you to marry your daughter to me as my consort. From now on, I will treat her with all my heart, love her, cherish her, and dedicate my life to her alone."

The Duke of Zhenguo smiled faintly: "This old minister does not understand what Your Highness An means by this. If you truly love my daughter, why did you write that letter of divorce? And why did you allow her to suffer so much in the Prince An's mansion, almost dying there! Could it be that in just half a year, Your Highness has fallen so deeply in love with my daughter? Ha, Your Highness is taking marriage too lightly!"

The Duke of Zhenguo spoke very bluntly. He was grateful to Prince An for saving his eldest son and admired what he had done for the people and peace of the Great Zhou.

However, being the father of a daughter does not mean that one can forgive what he did to her back then, or that one can forgive him and be willing to marry his daughter to him again without holding a grudge.

"This is a misunderstanding, Your Excellency..."

Before Lu Xiaoyun could finish speaking, the Duke of Zhenguo raised his hand to stop her: "Your Highness Prince An, there's no need to say any more. This old minister will never marry Xiaoyun to you again. Moreover, the Emperor has also issued an edict that no member of the Zhu imperial family may marry within three years. Your Highness Prince An should know the weight of this imperial decree!"

"Father!" Zhu Yu pushed open the door and knelt down before the Duke of Zhenguo.

The Duke of Zhenguo immediately stepped forward to help him up: "The ground is cold. You've been in poor health since you were a child. Get up quickly."

However, Zhu Yu pushed away the Duke of Zhenguo's hand: "Father, please let your daughter finish speaking."

The Duke of Zhenguo glanced at Lu Xiaoyun, feeling a sense of helplessness, like his own good cabbage being eaten by a pig, and said, "Go ahead and say it."

“That divorce letter had nothing to do with His Highness Prince An. It was my daughter who forced her to write it. She couldn’t resist my daughter and had no choice but to write it. Every word of this is true. My daughter has not uttered a single falsehood.”

The Duke of Zhenguo asked in surprise, "What did you say! But why?"

Zhu Yu pointed to his two little fingers and muttered, "It's all because of Ren Yong'an, I was jealous."

Lu Xiaoyun tried hard to suppress the upturned corners of her mouth, looking at his girlish expression.

"Although Father doesn't return to the capital often, he must have heard about the matter between Prince An and Ren Yong'an. Since I married her, Ren Yong'an still often comes to Prince An's residence, so I'm not happy about it."

"Although Prince An later ordered Ren Yong'an not to set foot in Prince An's residence again, you know how temperamental my daughter is. I argued with Prince An and forced her to write that divorce letter."

As Zhu Yu spoke, he secretly observed the Duke of Zhenguo's expression.

"However, Your Highness was cautious. Although she did write the divorce papers under my coercion, she only showed them to me once and didn't give them to me. She tucked them inside the book, and there was no date on them."

Zhu Yu shifted his knees, feeling frustrated: "But who could have known that the first time you went to the Prince An's mansion, a strange wind blew up and, by sheer coincidence, the divorce papers ended up in your hands."

He gently tugged at the Duke of Zhenguo's sleeve, looking at him with pitiful eyes: "So, Father, this has nothing to do with the Prince. It was all my fault for being childish. You see, the Prince has never said a bad word about his daughter to you or my brother, which shows how much he dotes on me."

The Duke of Zhenguo didn't know what to say, and pointed at his forehead: "You, you, you've caused such a big mess, why didn't you tell your father sooner?"

"I was afraid you would punish me, wasn't I?" Zhu Yu looked up, blinking his innocent eyes and trying to please him.

Looking at his daughter like this, the Duke of Zhenguo wanted to be angry but couldn't, wanted to punish her but couldn't bear to, and could only sigh: "So be it, so be it. As long as the Emperor gives his approval, I will not object to your relationship."

Zhu Yu scrambled to his feet and grabbed the Duke of Zhenguo's arm, pouting, "Hehe, I knew it, Father loves me the most."

Lu Xiaoyun secretly gave Zhu Yu a thumbs up.

"Moreover," Zhu Yu looked pitifully at the Duke of Zhenguo, "you asked the Emperor to grant us a divorce, and the Prince went to the palace to beg the Emperor. She knelt in the Imperial Study for a long time, and the Emperor even smashed her hand with a teacup, causing her to bleed a lot."

Zhu Yu sighed dejectedly, "Alas, who knew that even after the prince pleaded so much, the emperor still issued an imperial decree ordering the two of us to divorce."

The Duke of Zhenguo remained silent; he knew better than anyone why the Emperor wouldn't agree to Prince An's request.

He was wary of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, and also of Prince An. Prince An marrying Xiaoyun would make the Emperor even more uneasy. But the Emperor insisted on pretending to be unwilling and forced him to agree to Cheng'er marrying the daughter of the Marquis of Nanyang's mansion.

Therefore, the emperor will definitely issue that imperial edict for divorce.

Fortunately, God has a way of seeing the good in people. Qi Wanting is a wonderful daughter-in-law, and the couple is now living in harmony and has a child.

It was a twist of fate.

"Father, I really like her, I really like her."

The Duke of Zhenguo glared helplessly at his beloved daughter: "Shameless!"

Zhu Yu chuckled.

When the Duke of Zhenguo looked at Lu Xiaoyun, his face turned cold: "It's understandable that you young people develop feelings for each other. But, but how dare you, how dare you have physical intimacy before you're even married? Xiaoyun, tell your father, was it Prince An who forced you?"

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