Chapter 130 She is my fiancée
As soon as he finished speaking, the entire tent fell silent.
Xiao Xuanyou's gaze suddenly turned cold, his phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, and his once gentle eyes now seemed to be churning a storm that threatened to devour everything around him.
Lu Yuan's hand, which was resting on the Embroidered Spring Blade, suddenly tightened, the veins on the back of his hand bulging, and he looked at Xiao Chengjin as if he were looking at a dead man.
Xiao Chengjin was completely oblivious to the murderous glares from the two men. Instead, he glanced triumphantly at Jiang Zhi, who was kneeling below him with a slightly changed expression.
He had thought it through. Even if he couldn't kill Jiang Zhi, torturing her in the Prince Su's mansion would be a brilliant plan.
A woman who considers her husband her heaven and earth, once she enters his courtyard, how can she possibly escape?
The more he thought about the plan, the more perfect it seemed, and he even felt a faint sense of excitement.
Emperor Xuanzhao did not agree immediately, but instead asked Jiang Zhi, "What does Princess Qinghe think?"
Jiang Zhi frowned, hesitating whether to reveal that she and Shen Ci were already engaged, when suddenly another voice rang out.
"Your Majesty, this marriage is absolutely unacceptable!"
Jiang Zhi looked up and saw Lady Wuyi, the wife of the Marquis of Wuyi, stepping out from the crowd with an indignant expression on her face.
Emperor Xuanzhao raised an eyebrow. "What do you, Lady Wuyi, find inappropriate?"
Xiao Chengjin felt that the Lady of Wuyi was really meddling in other people's business.
Neither of them has anything to do with her, so why would she need to object?
Lady Wuyi didn't even look at Xiao Chengjin, but bowed to Emperor Xuanzhao and said, "Your Majesty, please reconsider this matter. The case of the murder of Princess Qinghe County is still unresolved. If it is found that this matter is related to the Third Prince, and Your Majesty has already bestowed the marriage, how will Princess Qinghe County bear it?"
Lady Wuyi snorted inwardly.
Her son hasn't even asked for a marriage decree yet, how could Xiao Chengjin be the one to beat her to it?
"Does the Lady of Wuyi mean that she suspects I am involved in this case?" Xiao Chengjin said in a deep voice.
Lady Wuyi glanced at him indifferently, "Whether it's related or not is still unknown, why is Prince Su in such a hurry to distance himself?"
"you!"
Xiao Chengjin was too lazy to argue with her. Instead, he lifted his robe and knelt before Emperor Xuanzhao. "Father, I only feel sorry that Princess Qinghe lives alone outside the mansion with no one to help or care for her. Now that she has encountered such a thing, she must be feeling very anxious and worried. I couldn't bear it, so I thought of asking to marry her. But the Lady of Wuyi Marquis thinks that I have ulterior motives. I am really wronged!"
"Alright," Emperor Xuanzhao frowned, "Princess Qinghe, you still haven't told me your thoughts."
Jiang Zhi kowtowed deeply to Emperor Xuanzhao, "Your Majesty, this humble woman is unwilling."
"Oh? Prince Su is my third son, a man of great talent and martial prowess. To be his concubine would require an exceptional woman, one in a million. And you refuse?"
Xiao Xuanyou could no longer contain himself and stepped forward, saying, "Father, the Crown Princess and Princess Qinghe are both injured, so it is not the time to discuss marriage. Let's postpone everything."
“Your Majesty,” Lu Yuan, who had been silent all along, said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, “Yan Wenhong is still in the imperial prison and has not yet fully confessed his crimes.”
The ancestors of the Yan family had followed the Holy Ancestor in expanding the territory and had a certificate of merit bestowed by the Holy Ancestor. Therefore, even though the Earl of Zhongqin had committed such a serious crime, the Emperor did not exterminate them, but only exiled all the male members.
Lu Yuan's implication was that although Yan Wenhong had confessed to all the crimes, there were still many doubts, and Xiao Chengjin was not entirely innocent.
Emperor Xuanzhao frowned and pondered.
Seeing that the situation was not right, Consort Chen immediately knelt down in front of Emperor Xuanzhao as well. "Your Majesty, you personally chose the princess for Jin'er. Who could have predicted that the Earl of Zhongqin would do such a treasonous thing? Now that Jin'er has finally found someone he wants to marry, please grant him this favor."
Emperor Xuanzhao recalled that in order to win over the Zhongqin Earl's Mansion, he had issued an imperial edict forcing Prince Su to marry Yan Liqin.
The matter of the Earl of Zhongqin's mansion cannot be entirely blamed on Prince Su.
Emperor Xuanzhao was hesitating when a clear, melodious voice rang out from outside the tent: "Your Majesty, Princess Qinghe cannot marry Prince Su."
All eyes turned to the slender figure entering through the door.
He stood tall and straight like a bamboo stalk, his long robe brushing against the curtain, like a resilient blade of grass in the wind, his brows exuding a scholarly air.
It was Shen Ci'an.
After being brought back from the dense forest, the imperial physician had already treated Shen Ci'an's wounds. Although his face was still a little pale, there was a calm strength hidden in his eyes.
After bowing and paying his respects to Emperor Xuanzhao, he stood quietly beside Jiang Zhi and nodded slightly to her.
Xiao Chengjin felt even more agitated.
What's wrong with these people today? They're all coming to oppose him.
It's just marrying the daughter of a minister, why are so many people objecting?
Especially this Shen Ci'an, who, relying on his father's favor, has repeatedly rejected my advances and now dares to criticize my marriage.
This is utterly absurd!
"Lord Shen, this matter seems to have nothing to do with you, so what gives you the right to object?"
Shen Ci'an glanced at him with her clear, cold eyes, then said to Emperor Xuanzhao, "Your Majesty, please allow me to inform you that Princess Qinghe is my fiancée."
...
The news was like a thunderclap, and the expressions of everyone in the tent changed instantly, even more shocking than when Xiao Chengjin had asked to marry Jiang Zhi.
Xiao Xuanyou stared intently at Shen Ci'an with eyes like knives, his face ashen, using all the self-control he had ever had to restrain the urge to cut him down with a sword.
"Say it again?" he forced out through clenched teeth.
Lu Yuan already knew the news; his thin lips pressed into a cold, hard line, but he made no other move.
Even Li Jinyan was taken aback, her eyes widening immediately.
Isn't she His Highness the Crown Prince's sweetheart? How come she's engaged to Lord Shen?
Lady Wuyi couldn't help but ask, "Is this true?"
Shen Ci'an nodded calmly, "Your Majesty, I dare not deceive you."
"Could it be a lie she made up to avoid marrying me?" Xiao Chengjin suddenly sneered. "Lord Shen, this is a crime of deceiving the emperor."
Shen Ci stood still, his face expressionless. "I have already proposed marriage to the Jiang family, and Minister Jiang has agreed to betroth the Princess of Qinghe to me. The Shen and Jiang families have now exchanged betrothal gifts, and the wedding date has been set for early October."
With the wedding scheduled for October, doesn't that mean there's only a little over a month left?
Lady Wuyi was anxious.
The Jiang family is really something. How could they arrange a marriage with Shen Ci'an so quietly without letting a word out?
What will happen to that brat far away at the border? When he returns and finds that the woman he loves has married someone else, won't he cause a huge uproar!
Xiao Xuanyou stared intently at Jiang Zhi, trying to glean some clues from her face.
But she knelt there properly, showing no sign of arguing, clearly indicating her acquiescence to the matter.
Emperor Xuanzhao summoned Jiang Zhengting to confirm.
Jiang Zhengting, who was drinking with his colleagues, was unexpectedly summoned. He was trembling with fear, thinking something had happened. He breathed a sigh of relief when he learned that it was to ask about Jiang Zhi's marriage.
"Your Majesty is right. My daughter's marriage still requires Your Majesty's attention. I deserve to die for this."
"I don't believe it!" Consort Chen asked coldly from the side, "Since the marriage was arranged long ago, why did no one know about it and keep it a secret until today?"
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