Hearing Murong Fu laugh loudly, Duan Yu asked, "Young Master Murong, why are you laughing?"
Murong Fu said, "Xu Zhu knew that Alliance Leader Li's answer did not meet Her Highness's expectations, yet he still imitated Alliance Leader Li's answer. Isn't this tantamount to cutting off his own path to survival?"
Duan Yu said, "Even if Xu Zhu was defeated, Young Master Murong also failed to win. What is there for you to be happy about?"
Murong Fu said, "According to the bet, since neither Xu Zhu nor I became the consort of Xixia, it's a draw. I don't need to buy five thousand boxed lunches!"
Li Huan said, "Young Master Murong, what's the rush? Xu Zhu hasn't answered the second question yet!"
Murong Fu said sarcastically, "Is there any need to answer the second question?"
Li Huan asked, "Xu Zhu, what is the name of the woman you loved most in your life?"
Xu Zhu replied, "Actually, I don't know her name..."
"Ridiculous! He's just mimicking Leader Li's previous answer again!"
"Xu Zhu, as the master of Lingjiu Palace, has absolutely no manners!"
"That's incredibly stupid! Stop answering!"
...
A chorus of mocking laughter filled the hall.
Xu Zhu quickly replied, "I am not imitating my second brother's answer! Everything I said is true!"
Li Huan then asked, "What does the woman you love look like?"
"How could Xu Zhu possibly see her face clearly in the dark ice cave!"
Murong Fu, in a sarcastic tone, preemptively answered, mocking Xu Zhu.
“That’s right!” Xu Zhu said, “It was dark and gloomy in the ice cave, so I really couldn’t see her face clearly…”
“No! No!” Bao Butong said, “Although we can’t see, we can reach out and touch, and that gives us a general idea of what the other person looks like.”
Xu Zhu said, "I did touch her. She was slender... had a high nose... and smooth skin..."
"Hahaha... You're really thorough with your touch! Besides the smooth skin, what else did you feel? Hehehe..."
The person making the joke was Prince Zongzan, and his tone was full of malice.
Xu Zhu said, "Why should I tell you in detail what I touched? That's my secret!"
Li Huan said, "You don't know the name of the person you love, nor do you know what she looks like. How do you address her when you're with her?"
Xu Zhu said, "At that time, I was in a daze, still dreaming, so I called her... Meng Gu!"
"Ah!" Li Qinglu exclaimed, "My dream lover!"
Upon hearing the voice, Xu Zhu felt it was familiar.
"Did I hear that right? That was definitely Meng Gu's voice just now! Meng Gu! Meng Gu!"
In the darkness, a hand pressed down on Xu Zhu's shoulder.
"Third brother, congratulations! You've finally met Meng Gu!"
Li Huan put his arm around Xu Zhu's shoulder and led him out of the main hall and into the inner room.
Li Qinglu stood in the hall, her eyes filled with tears of emotion.
"You...you are Menglang? I am Menggu..."
Xu Zhu was overjoyed and stepped forward to tightly grasp Li Qinglu's hand: "Meng Gu! I've been thinking of you day and night, and I've finally found you!"
Li Huan said, "Princess, are you sure that Xu Zhu is your dream lover?"
Li Qinglu nodded: "Absolutely true."
Li Huan said, "Please announce first that you are appointing Xu Zhu as your son-in-law, and then you can catch up with Xu Zhu."
Li Qinglu quickly instructed the palace maids to make the announcement to the public.
Everyone was extremely shocked to learn that Xu Zhu had become the prince consort.
The scene was completely silent, then erupted into a frenzy, like a pot boiling over!
"Absolutely impossible! How could Xu Zhu become the prince consort?!"
"Her Highness must be playing a trick on us, a joke!"
"If Xuzhu can become the prince consort, why can't I?"
"I don't believe it! Xu Zhu won't become the prince consort! Please, Princess, come out and meet everyone!"
...
Prince Zongzan shouted the loudest and was the most furious.
He spent a lot of money and manpower, and put in a lot of effort, but in the end, it was all for nothing!
No matter what, it's unacceptable!
"Princess, please show yourself! Give me an explanation as to why you chose Xu Zhu as your consort!"
Prince Zongzan roared wildly, his voice rough and forceful.
Suddenly, four palace maids lit the lights in the hall.
Li Huan strode over and said with a smile, "The princess and Xu Zhu already know each other. Choosing Xu Zhu as her consort is perfectly reasonable. Everyone, stop complaining. Take down the paintings and calligraphy from the wall and leave quickly!"
"So the princess knew Xu Zhu! No wonder she chose him!"
"Alas, if I had known this would happen, why would I have bothered to come to the palace to apply for the position of imperial son-in-law?"
"This isn't fair! Isn't this just playing us for fools?"
"It's not exactly a joke; the princess gifted us valuable calligraphy and paintings, which could fetch a good price!"
...
The crowd discussed amongst themselves, reached down the paintings and calligraphy on the wall, and left the hall on their own.
They left in a hurry, and no one noticed the martial arts diagrams carved on the wall.
Prince Zongzan, furious and with nowhere to vent his anger, tore down a painting and calligraphy work, tore it to pieces, cursed a few times, and then stormed away.
Murong Fu stood there blankly, his expression wooden.
Wang Yuyan, on the other hand, had a big smile on her face.
With her cousin failing to become the prince consort of Western Xia, Wang Yuyan finally felt relieved.
Bao Butong comforted him, saying, "Young master, victory and defeat are common occurrences in war. Even if you don't become the son-in-law of Western Xia today, you can become the monarch of Western Xia one day."
Good heavens, if the Emperor of Western Xia heard this, he would surely order the experts of Yipintang to surround and attack Murong Fu and his four retainers and eliminate them!
Feng Bo'e said, "The Western Xia princess has terrible taste. She actually likes a simple-minded boy. How can Xu Zhu compare to our young master?"
Deng Baichuan said, "It's better not to marry a princess like that, so as not to jeopardize your bright future!"
Gongzhigan also advised, "A good man should have ambitions in all directions and not hang himself on one tree. You may not become the son-in-law of the Western Xia today, but you may become the son-in-law of the Tibetan Kingdom or even the Song Dynasty in the future!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Yuyan frowned slightly.
Murong Fu let out a long sigh of relief and smiled.
"So be it, so be it. I, Murong Fu, have lofty ambitions. How could I care about a mere princess of the Western Xia Kingdom?"
Bao Butong reminded him: "Young master, now that Xuzhu has become the prince consort, you must buy five thousand boxed meals."
Murong Fu hummed in agreement, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Li Huan, and said, "Alliance Leader Li, I am honored to accept this bet. I will present you with jewelry worth 500,000 taels of silver later. Please accept it with pleasure!"
Li Huan said, "Okay, just send someone to deliver the jewelry to my room!"
Murong Fu disdained to remove the paintings and calligraphy from the wall and turned to leave.
Duan Yu stared blankly at Wang Yuyan's retreating figure.
Xiao Feng hurriedly said, "Second brother, the Tibetan prince hasn't paid for the ten thousand boxes of food he bought yet!"
Li Huan laughed and said, "He can't renege on this debt!"
Subsequently, Li Huan, Xiao Feng, Duan Yu, and others also left the study and hall and returned to the hotel.
Li Huan went straight to Prince Zongzan's room and saw him issuing orders, commanding the Tibetan warriors to find the Grand Preceptor Kumārajīva!
After giving his instructions, Prince Zongzan looked at Li Huan and asked, "Alliance Leader Li, what brings you here?"
Li Huan said, "What the hell are you pretending to be stupid for? Where's the money for the lunchbox?"
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