After the Emperor and Empress arrived, everyone had been waiting at Xuantian Gate for a long time, and all the participants had arrived, except for one person, Zhu Lin.
At the eldest prince's prompting, the third prince stood up and stirred up trouble. He bowed to the emperor and empress and then denounced them, saying, "...It is clear that Zhu Lin does not respect the emperor and empress at all, nor does he value the eldest princess. He puts on airs so much that anyone who doesn't know the situation would think he is the most honorable person in the Great Jin Dynasty, and that the emperor and empress have to wait for him. This person is ignorant and foolish, does not understand etiquette, and is not qualified to be a consort at all."
At this moment, no one in the audience dared to utter a sound. The world seemed to stand still. Everyone was wondering who this Zhu Lin was, why they had never heard of him before, or whether he was a newly emerging powerful family in some prefecture.
The Emperor and Empress, however, turned their gazes toward the eldest princess, their meaning clearly saying, "Look at this fine young man you've chosen. He even dares to be late for the marriage contest, he doesn't care about you at all."
Before Xingxing could say anything, a clear and melodious young voice came from the rooftop, "Who said I didn't come? I have been waiting here for a long time."
The crowd looked up in the direction of the voice and saw seven people in white standing in a row on the roof. The one in the middle was the boy who had spoken, and the other four men and two women appeared to be his attendants.
When these seven people came into view, words like "ethereal and otherworldly," "astoundingly beautiful," "elegant and graceful," "aloof and otherworldly," and "transcendent and refined" immediately came to mind.
These people were clearly not simple, but no matter how beautiful or refined they were, someone still managed to say against their will, "Your Majesty, today is the auspicious day of the eldest princess's marriage selection. Everyone is dressed in fine clothes and jade crowns, but these people are dressed in white, which looks extremely unlucky. They are deliberately trying to embarrass the royal family. Your Majesty, I implore you to arrest these people, imprison them, and hand them over to the Dali Temple for punishment."
The minister's subtext was that Zhu Lin and the others were dressed like they were attending a funeral, deliberately showing negligence, and their intentions were despicable. They should be immediately sent to prison. These people looked like martial arts masters, and I'm afraid no one could beat them in the arena.
Disqualify them first, that way we'll have one less competitor.
The emperor glanced at the white-clad youth on the roof and looked at him with disdain. Why did he insist on standing on the roof when there was such a wide open space? What kind of behavior was that?
The minister's words gave the emperor a reason to make things difficult, so he went along with it and said, "Lord Zhong is very polite. Wearing white on such a joyous day is indeed inappropriate. Young Master Zhu would be better off going back and changing into something more festive. Otherwise, you will be disqualified from the competition."
Xingxing glared at the emperor angrily, then stood up abruptly. She wanted Zhu Lin to find a set of clothes from any of the princes in the palace so she wouldn't have to leave, otherwise it would take up a lot of time going back and forth.
But before Xingxing could speak, the young man chuckled and said, "It's just a set of clothes, changing the color won't hurt."
As soon as he finished speaking, the young man raised his wide sleeves to block in front of him. In just a few breaths, he flicked his other sleeve. Before anyone could even blink, they still couldn't see how the young man did it. As if by magic, with a wave of his sleeve, the white robe on the young man's body was transformed into a light blue robe.
He still possessed that refined and elegant appearance, tall and graceful, with unparalleled good looks. Such a perfect young man would make anyone feel inferior upon just one glance.
The young masters of the noble families all thought to themselves that things were not good. This person was definitely a powerful opponent and would probably be difficult to deal with. Unfortunately, the other party came prepared and seemed to be very strong. It would not be easy to take him down.
One of the marquises suddenly had a flash of inspiration, stood up, cupped his hands towards the emperor and empress, and said, "Your Majesty and Empress, which noble family does this person belong to as the eldest son or grandson? How come we have never heard of a noble family with the surname Zhu in our Great Jin?"
The meaning is quite clear: if your status is too low, no matter how beautiful you are, you are not qualified to participate.
"We are from Immortal Mist Island, and this is the young master of our sect," Zhu Qiuyu introduced himself calmly.
Fairy Mist Island?
Everyone was completely baffled, saying they had never heard of it before and guessed it was some small, insignificant family that dared to participate in the competition.
The emperor originally didn't want to say anything in defense of Zhu Lin, but Xingxing glared at him angrily with her big eyes, so the emperor had no choice but to speak up: "Four years ago, Prince Gong's faction accidentally discovered a silver mine in Quanshui Prefecture and wanted to seize it for themselves..."
Everyone probably understands what the consequences would be if Prince Gong really got his hands on the silver mine. Prince Gong had many skilled men under his command, and ordinary people couldn't handle them. At that time, Prince Gong and his men even took villagers from a village near the silver mine hostage, making the situation extremely difficult.
Later, it was the people of Xianwu Island who drove away Prince Gong and his entourage. They also reported the silver mine matter to the local governor, who then reported it to the imperial court. Even the eldest princess was brought back to the capital by the people of Xianwu Island.
so what?
The people of Xianwu Island are so powerful, and they have done favors for the Emperor and the Grand Princess. Could this competition be just a formality, with the purpose of making this young master Zhu famous and letting everyone in the Great Jin know that he exists?
The Emperor and Princess had long intended to make him their son-in-law. Was this all the grand gesture to prevent him from becoming unknown? Wouldn't all these noble families and officials then become mere supporting characters?
Tsk, the noble families felt inexplicably displeased. They were all shrewd and quickly figured out the reason. At this moment, their faces looked as if they had swallowed a fly.
But this was the Emperor's will, and no one dared to make a fuss, no matter how uncomfortable they felt.
The emperor glanced at the crowd and said in a calm voice, "My dear ministers, do not overthink it. This marriage contest is based on strength. Whoever is the strongest and wins in the end will be the son-in-law. The loser will not be able to become my son-in-law."
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately understood. It seemed that the Emperor was not entirely satisfied with Young Master Zhu, which was why he had organized such a public marriage contest. Otherwise, wouldn't it have been easier to simply issue an imperial decree to decide the marriage?
After figuring it out, everyone perked up again. The competition hadn't even started yet, so they couldn't boost the morale of others while diminishing their own. Young Master Zhu's aura was indeed quite intimidating, but what if it was just a show?
The eldest sons and grandsons of noble families are all meticulously cultivated from a young age, excelling in every aspect. Although some are more inclined towards literature and others towards martial arts, there are also those who are proficient in both. It remains to be seen who will have the last laugh.
The literary and martial arts competition to find a husband lasted for four days. The first two days were for literary contests, and the last two days were for martial arts contests. Whether it was the literary contest or the martial arts contest, Zhu Lin won easily.
In fact, his kung fu skills are extraordinary, but in terms of literature, he relied on inheritance in his previous life. Although he can read and write in this life, he is not good at composing poems and articles.
He had never learned this before, but in the past few months, four senior students took turns teaching him, and he crammed for it before he finally learned it.
His advantage lay in having memories of two lifetimes, as well as exceptional memory and comprehension. With his photographic memory, he managed to defeat Wen Sai.
No one knew that his mind was racing so hard to write a stunning poem and an article; all people saw was his calm and nonchalant expression throughout.
But no one knows how much pressure he was under.
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