Chapter 398
"My eldest brother?" Wen Xiu originally felt indifferent about her own fate, but now that her brother was involved, she found it impossible to remain calm.
"Your brother is the General Who Pacifies the West, and he is not yet married. Currently, the Emperor has no princes of marriageable age. If a princess really cos for a marriage alliance, is it possible that your brother will have to marry her?" Li Zhiwei wondered what kind of temperant the alliance princess might have. Although marrying a princess in was not as passive as being married off to another country, it was still a concern.
However, if Wen Zhaonan truly married the alliance princess, his future political career would be severely hindered.
Furthermore, what if the alliance princess was difficult to get along with?
Moreover, Wen Xiu had no parents to rely on. Wouldn't she be the one to suffer the most?
"I... I didn't think of that." Wen Xiu was startled. Even though she was a noble lady from a prominent capital family, she lacked the guidance of elders and simply couldn't anticipate certain things.
Now that Li Zhiwei brought it up, she couldn't help but feel anxious.
"I heard that the young master of the Zhang family has been frequently bumping into you lately?" Li Zhiwei had already spotted Zhang Yanchu from next door loitering around the Wen residence several tis.
Li Zhiwei was actually quite curious. Was Zhang Yanchu trying to waylay Wen Xiu every other day?
She also wasn't sure what Wen Xiu's attitude was toward him.
"Him—" The mont Wen Xiu thought of Zhang Yanchu, the aversion on her face couldn't be more obvious.
She had no idea how she had caught the eye of Young Master Zhang, who was always finding excuses to get close to her.
She had tried her best to avoid him, but he always found various reasons to block her at her own front door.
"I heard that Young Master Zhang is quite a talent, having placed second in the imperial examination. Won't you consider him?" Li Zhiwei asked curiously.
"I don't know what kind of person Young Master Zhang is, but that Miss Zhang is completely shaless." Thinking of the Zhang siblings, Wen Xiu wanted absolutely nothing to do with them.
"True, Young Master Zhang's looks certainly aren't worthy of you." Li Zhiwei recalled Zhang Yanchu; he wasn't very tall and his appearance was quite average.
He really couldn't be called handso.
The only presentable thing about him was his academic talent as the second-place scholar.
"Zhiwei, tell , is there any way to make those two—" The delicate Wen Xiu wanted to say she wished Miss Zhang and Zhang Yanchu would stop bothering her, but once the words reached her lips, she didn't know how to phrase them.
"Do you have soone you like?" Instead of answering, Li Zhiwei asked if Wen Xiu had feelings for anyone.
"What if I do?" Wen Xiu felt a bit bitter at this point. She had no parents to arrange a marriage for her, and she was an orphan.
In the capital, it was hard enough to find a good family to marry into, let alone match with soone exceptional.
"If you really have soone you like, and he isn't engaged, we can help you think of a way." Li Zhiwei didn't want to see Wen Xiu sad.
She thought to herself that if Wen Xiu truly liked soone, she should be able to help her.
"Really?" Wen Xiu looked up joyfully, but then lowered her head in disappointnt.
"Forget it. I'm an unlucky person. If I am really chosen for the marriage alliance, it will be my fate. If my bad luck happens to curse so prince of the Qinling Kingdom to death, I suppose that counts as a great contribution to the Lannuo Kingdom," Wen Xiu said with self-deprecation.
"What nonsense are you talking about? If you were really the unlucky person you say you are, then the Emperor should just send you out for alliances. Today to the Qinling Kingdom, tomorrow to the Lanwan Kingdom, and the day after to the Lingxi Kingdom. We wouldn't even need your brother to go out to battle; you alone could make our Lannuo Kingdom dominate the world," Li Zhiwei said, exasperatedly poking Wen Xiu's forehead.
"If I were really that magical, I would go myself without the Emperor's orders. Whoever bullies our Lannuo Kingdom, I'll marry them," Wen Xiu said, showing a rare trace of girlish bashfulness.
"You wish!" Li Zhiwei said, and both of them burst into laughter.
"Is there really no man you like? If there is, I'll ask my mother to help arrange it for you," Li Zhiwei said sincerely, holding Wen Xiu's hands.
"Thank you, Zhiwei." Wen Xiu felt quite moved. After all, Li Zhiwei's words proved she was genuinely looking out for her.
When Xu Heming left the Prince Lanhuai Manor, an ambiguous smile played on his lips.
Prince Lanhuai thought he was difficult to control, but he failed to consider that soone highly regarded by the Emperor could never be that easy to manipulate.
"Your Highness, you're finally out," Qingsong hurried forward when he saw Xu Heming exit the Prince Lanhuai Manor.
"Let's return to the manor!" Xu Heming nodded and said.
"Your Highness, are we not going to Mount Wangxian?" Qingsong was puzzled. He had been waiting here precisely for his master to head to Mount Wangxian.
After all, there were still many matters there waiting for His Highness to handle.
"We are not going." Xu Heming felt a bit displeased. Since the Emperor wasn't playing fair, he didn't need to be so anxious on his behalf.
"Then are we returning to the manor now?" Qingsong asked carefully.
He could tell that his master seed sowhat unhappy.
"Let's go to the Li residence first." After so thought, Xu Heming decided to go find Li Tianyou to discuss the marriage.
Otherwise, his future father-in-law might mistakenly think this was his own idea.
Shangguan Mu set off for the Lannuo Kingdom with a highly reluctant Shangguan Yun.
"This ti, when you return after signing the century-long treaty, I will definitely crown you as the Crown Prince," Shangguan Lie said solemnly, patting Shangguan Mu on the shoulder.
"Imperial Father, I will definitely not fail my mission!" Shangguan Mu's eyes were filled with excitent; the position of Crown Prince rightfully belonged to him.
"Go!" Shangguan Lie said with a smile.
Although he didn't actually believe his son could successfully bring back the signed century-long treaty, what did it matter?
If he failed to sign it, he had more than one candidate for the Crown Prince position anyway.
Not far away, the First Prince, Shangguan Heng, and the Second Prince, Shangguan Chen, exchanged a glance upon hearing this.
They were long accustod to their Imperial Father's habit of making empty promises.
"Do you think Third Brother will succeed this ti?" Shangguan Chen asked the First Prince, who had always been his rival.
"If it were that easy, he wouldn't have been promised the position of Crown Prince," Shangguan Heng said coldly.
"But this ti, Third Brother also brought Ninth Sister. What if he succeeds?" Shangguan Chen rested his chin on his hand, wondering to himself: if Shangguan Mu actually pulled this off, would they truly be willing to submit to him?
"Then that is his capability," Shangguan Heng said, looking in the direction where Shangguan Mu and Shangguan Yun had left, saying no more.
"Tch, you say that nicely, but I don't believe for a second that you don't want that position, Eldest Brother," Shangguan Chen said dissatisfiedly, looking at Shangguan Heng's indifferent facade.
"If you have the capability, Second Brother, you can do it too, and I will fully support you," Shangguan Heng said, glancing at Shangguan Chen.
However, he added a sentence in his heart: the premise being that he could defeat him first.
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