"Your Majesty, this is absolutely forbidden! There is no precedent in our dynasty for a princess to choose her own husband, and besides..."

The Minister of Rites glanced at Xiang Wan and Cheng Yuqing. He couldn't bring himself to say those words, but everyone else understood.

Grand Tutor Wen nodded approvingly to the Minister of Rites, who turned his head away and went to hide.

He's not one of Grand Tutor Wen's faction, so why would he nod at him for no reason? What if the Emperor misunderstands?

Grand Tutor Wen's face darkened, he snorted coldly, and gestured for another official to step forward.

The minister who was given the instruction was a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, who had a complicated marriage relationship with Grand Tutor Wen.

He knelt down on both knees, and said with great distress, "Your Majesty, this matter must not set a precedent. If a princess forcibly abducts a commoner in the street and is then granted a marriage decree by Your Majesty, the whole country might follow suit. All the young ladies in their chambers would be clamoring to choose their own husbands, wouldn't that create chaos? In the future, which young man would be willing to go out in the streets at will? I beg Your Majesty to think it over!"

"Lord Zhen's words are reasonable. Your Majesty, since the founding of our dynasty, countless valiant sons have sacrificed their lives to bring our Great Yun Dynasty to where it is today. Moreover, Cheng Yuqing is the only heir of the Cheng family, and she should continue the family line. If she marries the princess, and if she has no children, shouldn't we give the Cheng family an explanation? If the Cheng family is unwilling, and the princess insists on going her own way, it may cause the soldiers to become alienated from our court, which would be a loss for Your Majesty!"

Imperial Censor Wang knelt on the ground, speaking earnestly, but the emperor felt strangely uncomfortable listening to him.

If he heard correctly, this person was saying that his daughter was jealous and infertile? That's outrageous!

Before the emperor could even speak, a whole group of people suddenly knelt down, infuriating the emperor.

However, there were always one or two exceptions who were willing to appease the emperor.

"Lord Zhen, Lord Wang, you are mistaken." The one who spoke was Lord Han, the Commander of the Nine Gates. He rarely spoke, but when he did, he brooked no argument.

Therefore, the emperor was very much looking forward to what he would say next.

"Lord Zhen, there is still a daughter who is not yet married. Am I correct?" Han Shijie asked, turning to Imperial Censor Wang before waiting for an answer. "Lord Wang's son is already married, isn't he?"

Prince frowned, wondering why the Nine Gates Admiral was bringing up his son for no reason.

Han Shijie stroked his beard and smiled calmly, "I heard a rumor before that not long after the Emperor bestowed a marriage upon Lord Zhen's daughter, Xiu'er, the matter was settled, Lord Zhen's daughter had already secretly pledged her life to someone. However, Lord Zhen looked down on the man and was unwilling to go through with it. Not long after, the man actually got married, and it is said that he was very unhappy after the marriage. He broke up a perfect couple, and it was his own daughter. I wonder if Lord Zhen is happy when he goes home?"

"Could it be that Lord Zhen's daughter has taken a liking to Lord Wang's son?"

"It must be true. Lord Han never speaks nonsense."

"If you're unhappy with your own daughter, you want to break up other people's relationships. I really don't understand the logic behind that."

"It's true that Lord Wang is irresponsible. In order not to anger Lord Zhen, he just randomly assigned a wife to his son."

"Who can disagree? How could they even bring themselves to say something like that, breaking up a loving couple?"

The officials whispered amongst themselves, infuriating Zhen Desheng and Prince Wei. This was their home, and Han Shijie had to bring it up in court—did he really think this was their own backyard?

"Lord Han, this is a family matter for Zhen. Don't you think it's improper to discuss it in the imperial court?"

When Zhen Desheng got angry, he was seething with rage. He didn't care whether the person was a first-rank official or a second-rank official; as long as it wasn't the emperor, he dared to talk back.

Wang Ziwei remained silent. He dared not speak at this moment and risk offending Zhen Desheng, who might still be holding a grudge about his son flirting with his daughter. It was best to keep quiet.

Han Shijie didn't take it seriously and retorted, "Lord Zhen dares to mention the Emperor's family affairs in court, so why can't I mention yours? Does that mean your daughter is allowed to seduce men, but other people's daughters can't set an example?"

This flattery made the emperor feel extremely pleased; he had never looked at Han Shijie with such fondness as he did now.

But then I thought, this person was personally promoted by him, so I must have had good judgment. For no reason at all, I felt like I was truly a wise and powerful ruler, a sage king for all time!

"Lord Han, aren't you afraid of hurting your back by saying that?"

Grand Tutor Wen glanced at him sideways and said sarcastically.

Han Shijie narrowed his eyes and said with a faint smile, "Thank you for your concern, Grand Tutor Wen. I am in good health. But Grand Tutor Wen, I heard that you have been frequently summoning imperial physicians lately. Please take good care of yourself."

"snort!"

The commotion in the imperial court completely overshadowed Xiang Wan and Cheng Yuqing, the two parties involved.

"Uncles and elders, thank you all for your concern for Wan'er. However, I am unworthy of such praise as setting an example. I have only done what a princess should do, and I do not deserve such praise from Uncle Han."

Xiang Wan looked embarrassed, and Han Shijie almost couldn't stroke his beard.

He didn't see even the slightest bit of embarrassment from the princess. Besides, was he praising her? Don't be so shameless.

Before anyone could react, Xiang Wan said matter-of-factly, "Father, you saw it too. Lord Zhen's daughter is so pitiful, and Lord Wang's son is so aggrieved. It would have been better if you had asked me to match them up back then. Who knows, the children might be running away by now. I don't want to follow in their footsteps, so if Yuqing wants to offer himself to me, I won't refuse. After all, I'm a princess, and I have to set an example. I can't let him die young from lovesickness. That would be too unfair to General Xiancheng's loyalty to the court."

Honestly, Cheng Yuqing almost collapsed to the ground upon hearing this.

So what he saw wasn't the final version; that's the ultimate level of spouting nonsense.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!