An old maid with no virtues or looks that was still unmarried at twenty years old? This Zongzheng Wuyou's mouth sure is poisonous! In comparison, Ninth Prince was still considered polite. Man Yao smiled coldly inside, her face still as calm as before. When everyone thought she would speak up, she actually lowered her hand and silently stood there, not speaking nor doing anything. As if she was just an outsider, coldly looking from the side, she was calm and at ease. All of this was within her expectations, but it wasn't time for her to speak up yet. Even though she doesn't know why the Emperor of Lintian tolerates Zongzheng Wuyou to such an extent, but from the rumors as well as seeing the Emperor of Lintian's face earlier, one thing was certain, Zongzheng Wuyou was a special ent.i.ty to the Emperor of Lintian.

The Emperor of Lintian scrunched his eyebrows and scolded, “Wuyou, you cannot be impolite! Princess Rong Le is the harbringer of peace between our two countries. With your marriage, Lintian and Qiyun can have centuries of peace, it is not a game. I have already ordered people to prepare marriage robe, hurry and change your clothes. We'll have the marriage ceremony in this great hall today.”

Zongzheng Wuyou narrowed his eyes at him, his black and deep eyes not carrying any feelings, and continued on with his lazy drawl, “When did I say I wanted to marry? Don't use the peace of the two countries to pressure me. From the very beginning you guys acted on your own, thinking that as long as the people were present, the marriage would happen, and I had no choice at all?” Raising his chin, he lifted the corners of his lips, within that evil beauty was a cold stubbornnes, clearly saying: If he doesn't want to, no one can make him change his mind!

The Emperor of Lintian had a heavy expression with anger in his eyes and with a heavy voice, “Wuyou, don't think that just because I dote on you, you can do whatever you want. When it comes to state matters, I will definitely not tolerate you. This marriage has already been settled, no matter whether you agree or not, it must happen! Someone come, take Prince Li down to change his clothes!” Even though conducting the ceremony like this was a little sloppy, but with Wuyou's personality, it was impossible to conduct the ceremony the usual way.

Seeing the guards that were walking towards him, Zongzheng Wuyou gave a cold smile, “Your Majesty is trying to force me? Even if you can force me to marry this girl, then what about the bedchamber? Are you also going to watch with a group of people, or are you going to just use a subst.i.tute?”

“Scoundrel!” The Emperor of Lintian was thoroughly angered, his voice furious.

“Your Majesty!” When Man Yao stepped forward, everyone's eyes focused on her, yet as if she didn't notice, her eyes were clear and she gave a smile as she calmly but firmly said, “Your Majesty please quell your anger! There's a phrase that describes this well, a melon forcefully picked is not sweet, since His Highness Prince Li has no intention of marrying me, then how could I force him? Even though I am twenty and still have yet to marry, it has not come to the point where I need to use my ident.i.ty to force someone to marry me.”

Even though she was not the realy Princess Rong Le, but her pride and dignity cannot just be stepped on by anyone. She had no desire to marry Prince Li either, she just wanted to live a peaceful and free life. In this era where the throne was everything and lives were treated like weeds, if she wanted to survive, she had to learn how to view the bigger picture and grasp the prime opportunity and use the cards in her hands to obtain the things she wanted. For example, freedom, even if it's only temporary! If someone of her status was destined to marry a husband, then it should be one of her own discretion.

Zongzheng Wuyou narrowed his eyes as he observed her. This woman not only dared to look at him, she could also be this firm when he insulted her, and although her voice did not carry any traces of anger, there was strength in her gentleness, not humble nor arrogant. Clearly, she was a prideful person, yet she hid her true words deep down in her heart, not letting even a trace of it show on the surface. This is definitely not how a pampered Princess who was troublesome and willful should act! He suddenly had the urge to remove the pearl curtain covering her face, wanting to see if the face was also completely different from what the rumors said. But just as he was about to raise his hands, he lowered them again, whether her face was what the rumors said or not, what did it have to do with him?

Zongzheng Wuyou lifted the corner of his lips, “That's the best then! Please select someone else to be Princess Rong Le's husband, Your Majesty, while I cannot say anything else about our Lintian, but in terms of princes…we have plenty.” A sneer slowly formed on his lips, growing all the way to his cold and dead eyes.

Hearing his last sentence, the Emperor of Lintian's face changed and lightly coughed, “If the princess agrees, then I will immediately come up with a list of all of the unmarried princes for Princess to pick.” Now that things have gotten to this point, as long as Princess Rong Le agrees, then this matter could be considered to be resolved.

Man Yao did not immediately answer and opted to look over everyone present first. When her gaze landed on the Ninth Prince, the color drained from his face, and he was scared out of his wits as if the most terrifying thing in his life would be to be chosen by her. She couldn't help but laugh a little and looked at Zongzheng Wuyou who had an expression on his face saying that this matter had nothing to do with him and he was relieved of a burden. Raising her eyebrows, she turned back to the Emperor of Lintian, “Your Majesty, taking into consideration of the peace between the two countries, this is not an impossible matter, however, heaven's decree has already announced that I am to wed Prince Li as his Consort, and Prince Li was selected by my Imperial Brother. Now I have arrived in your country, and I was abandoned before I was even married. I am just a woman, it's nothing even if I am treated like a matter that people discuss after eating and drinking tea, but I'm worried that when this matter spreads amongst the people, will my Qiyun have any face left? Where will the respect of my Imperial Brother be? I'm afraid that after today Qiyun will become the joke of everyone under the heavens because of me. When that happens, I won't be able to compensate that even if I pay with my life!”

Her speech was powerful, each word resonating, clearly she was asking questions, yet to the people listening, each sentence was logical without any gaps. Zongzheng Wuyou sat up and stared at her. His forceful gaze seemed as if it wanted to go through that pearl curtain and clearly see her face. Opening his mouth, his disdainful voice sounded, “That means Princes…is set on me?”

Man Yao raised her head and smiled, “Not exactly!”

Zongzheng Wuyou widened his eyes and coldly smirked, “Then what do you want to do?”

Man Yao lifted the corner of her lips and slowly stepped towards him…