Upon hearing this, Emperor Xingchang was overjoyed.
Bai Yuanshan was also overjoyed.
Immediately afterwards, Li Chang'an spoke calmly, "Your subject now only wishes to lead the soldiers well, quell the war, and defend the country."
Li Chang'an's answer was exactly what they wanted to hear.
Immediately afterwards, Emperor Xingchang couldn't help but cast a meaningful glance at Bai Yuanshan, his eyes filled with undisguised smugness.
Bai Yuanshan immediately understood and then nodded slightly to Emperor Xingchang without making a sound.
As expected of a cunning old fox who has been navigating the imperial court for many years!
It turns out that Bai Yuanshan had anticipated this outcome long ago, which is why he deliberately handed over the final decision-making power to Li Chang'an.
After all, who in the capital city doesn't know that the dignified Regent Prince Feng Beichuan is constantly pestering their eldest princess of the Sheng Nan Kingdom?
Moreover, Bai Yuanshan had also heard about Feng Beichuan's request to Emperor Xingchang to grant him and Li Chang'an a marriage.
However, the matter eventually came to nothing, and the imperial decree for the marriage was returned by Li Chang'an.
Not only that, Bai Yuanshan also heard some rumors that Feng Beichuan had personally gone to the military camp with a generous dowry to propose marriage, but was beaten up and thrown out by Li Chang'an.
Although it's unclear whether these rumors are true or false, at least one thing is certain: Feng Beichuan did indeed propose to Li Chang'an, and Li Chang'an did indeed refuse him.
That imperial edict was indeed returned intact in the end.
That's why Bai Yuanshan was so confident, certain that Li Chang'an would never agree to the arranged marriage this time.
After all, if she really wanted to marry Feng Beichuan, she wouldn't have had to wait until today.
Although Bai Yuanshan did gamble a bit when he posed the question to Li Chang'an, he still believed he had a high chance of winning.
And as it turns out, he has indeed won his gamble.
Old ginger is indeed spicier!
At this moment, a triumphant smile appeared on Bai Yuanshan's face, his heart filled with mockery towards Feng Beichuan.
Feng Beichuan, oh Feng Beichuan.
You probably never dreamed that things would turn out this way and you'd be contradicting yourself, right?
No matter how much you plan and how hard you try to resist, you still fall short in the end. You didn't expect that while you wanted to ask for her hand in marriage, she didn't want to marry you at all.
Bai Yuanshan laughed wildly to himself, eagerly anticipating how this matter would unfold and how it would end.
Aside from him, the other ministers present were all watching with a "the more the merrier" mentality, their eyes glued to the screen, ready to see how their regent, who was second only to the emperor, would handle the situation after being rejected in public.
Although Emperor Xingchang was extremely pleased with himself, he tried his best to calm his emotions and instead put on a regretful expression, saying, "Since that's the case, then this matter can only be left as it is. It's truly a pity. I originally thought that today could bring about a beautiful story, but I never expected my son to have such a righteous spirit. He truly deserves to be the pillar of my Christmas Kingdom!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the military officers below stepped forward to echo his words.
But for some reason, despite the surrounding praise, Li Chang'an felt no joy at all.
She lowered her eyes with a solemn expression, as if she was pondering something. After a moment, she couldn't help but let out a deep sigh, as if trying to release her emotions.
At this moment, she seemed unable to hear even the sounds around her.
"Cough cough cough..."
Just as the court was filled with enthusiastic praise, Emperor Xingchang suddenly raised his hand to cover his face, then coughed lightly twice as if to remind someone of something.
As a result, the ministers who had been chattering away fell silent in twos and threes.
Then, Emperor Xingchang spoke again in a deep voice: "Since Chang'an is unwilling to grant the marriage, then let's leave it at that! Regent, do you have anything else to say?"
Emperor Xingchang's tone carried a hint of displeasure, which was not surprising, since he had only intended to be polite in praising Li Chang'an, but unexpectedly it had drawn so much attention.
He had already suspected that Li Chang'an was too powerful and overshadowed the emperor. Now that this man had caused such a stir in the court with just a few words, it would naturally make Emperor Xingchang, who was already very suspicious, even more unhappy.
At this moment, the topic returned to Feng Beichuan, and everyone's eyes involuntarily turned to him.
But Feng Beichuan's face had turned ashen, the veins on his forehead were bulging, and even the muscles around his eyes seemed to be twitching.
After a moment, he looked up but did not answer Emperor Xingchang's question. Instead, he turned to look at Li Chang'an.
"Why?"
Feng Beichuan gritted his teeth and spat out those three words.
Upon hearing this, Li Chang'an frowned slightly and looked up at the other person. At this moment, she felt as if the man's gaze could burn her.
What kind of eyes were those?
Those eyes held a gloomy blackness, like a bottomless black hole, as if one had fallen into the abyss of hell.
Li Chang'an pursed her lips, feeling an unbearable dryness in her throat. She wanted to speak, but ultimately couldn't think of anything to say.
So she simply turned her gaze away and stopped looking at the man.
A strange, hidden pain suddenly arose in my heart.
The feeling wasn't intense, but it was so unbearable it felt like suffocation.
Seeing the other party's attitude, Feng Beichuan felt increasingly furious.
He immediately strode up to Li Chang'an and said in a deep voice again, "Answer me, why?"
But Li Chang'an kept his eyes down the whole time, not saying a word, and didn't even want to look at the other person directly.
At this moment, Li Chang'an felt as if she had a fishbone stuck in her throat, not because she was unwilling to face Feng Beichuan, but because she simply couldn't find the courage to confront him.
The next second, Feng Beichuan suddenly raised his hand and grabbed Li Chang'an's shoulder tightly, so tightly that his fingertips trembled slightly.
Those jet-black eyes stared directly at the other person, and then he spoke, word by word: "Li Chang'an, I want to ask you, what is your heart made of? If you want to wait until the three-year widowhood period is over, I can wait for you. If you want to protect our country, I can stand with you! But why won't you give me a response? Are you really so indifferent?"
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