Chapter 291 – Only She Wasn’T Disliked By The Heir-Apparent
“Third Princess, she is the only woman who has come into contact with the Heir-apparent of Yan and is not disliked by him!” Jing Wenyan smiled and said meaningfully. Her eyes fell on the woman who was held by Yan Huaijing in the courtyard downstairs. A trace of jealousy flashed in her eyes.
Even with her outstanding talent and beauty, she was not able to arouse Yan Huaijing’s pity. What virtue and ability did this woman have to be able to make Yan Huaijing cherish and protect her like this? Moreover, he also clearly told others that she was his woman.
“But if…” The Third Princess wasn’t silly. After thinking about it, she understood the meaning of Jing Wenyan’s words. However, she was unwilling to accept the suggestion, especially when she recalled Wei Yuewu’s extremely beautiful face. Although she was still young, people could easily imagine what a stunning beauty she would become in the future. With such a beauty by her side, she might have to face a powerful opponent in the future.
“Your Highness, you don’t have to worry. If you really think Sixth Miss Wei is of use to you, you only need to use some medicine on her. As long as she has no children of her own, what kind of threat would she pose to you even if the heir-apparent dotes on her? However, if you don’t choose a woman whom the heir-apparent likes, then the young lady down there will be exclusively doted on by the heir-apparent. By then, even if you get what you want, you probably will be left alone to lament in the cold palace!”
When Jing Wenyan saw the Third Princess’ expression, she knew what she was worried about. With such a beauty like Wei Yuewu as the dowry maid, anyone would feel threatened. Therefore, she smiled and pointed out the key issue to consider for the Third Princess.
These words were exactly what the Third Princess wanted to hear. Looking at Yan Huaijing below, she gritted her teeth and nodded forcefully.
She wanted to marry Yan Huaijing. It was not only because Yan Huaijing was incomparably handsome, but also because the power of the State of Yan was increasing day by day. Her mother had told her that if she married Yan Huaijing and became his main wife, she had the prospect of becoming as powerful as the Empress, or even more powerful, in the future.
Thinking of this, the Third Princess nodded and accepted Jing Wenyan’s suggestion. Whether it was before or after marriage, her status was unique and no one could pose a threat to her.
“However, her identity…” Wei Yuewu’s status was not low. Even if the Third Princess wanted, it was not easy for her to make Wei Yuewu her dowry maid.
“Third Princess, don’t worry. We will consider this matter carefully!” Jing Wenyan smiled and said meaningfully.
“Let’s go back!” The Third Princess did not want to look at the scene downstairs anymore. She stood up and walked out.
“Yes, Your Highness!” Jing Wenyan stood up and glanced down to hide the jealousy in her eyes. Then, she followed the Third Princess downstairs and left.
In the courtyard downstairs, Wei Yuewu was still in Yan Huaijing’s arms. She felt Yan Huaijing’s hand gently brushing against her hair. She wanted to take his hand off directly. But just as she was about to reach out her hand, she was paralyzed by Yan Huaijing’s words!
“Marquis Hua Yang…”
“What happened to Marquis Hua Yang?” After hearing Yan Huaijing inexplicably mention Marquis Hua Yang, Master Fenghe asked in a low voice.
“Nothing. I just met Marquis Hua Yang on the way and said a few words with him!” Yan Huaijing laughed. Wei Yuewu, however, knew he had said those words on purpose. She gritted her teeth in his arms.
“Heir-apparent of Yan really doesn’t want to compete?” Lu Yeli looked at the woman in Yan Huaijing’s arms and secretly guessed the identity of this mysterious woman.
Yan Huaijing’s expression was rather cynical. With a quick drift of his handsome eyes, he said “I am quitting. You guys win. Let’s wait and see what the princess thinks next!” His words did not have the slightest bit of sincerity and the other three heirs-apparent immediately had a long face.
Although they wanted to win, they didn’t expect to win with Yan Huaijing giving up like this.
They were all powerful and proud heirs-apparent, and none of them was able to condescend to the others!
When Yan Huaijing said those words, the other three felt like they were punching cotton.
The purpose of their competition this time was to pick out the most outstanding women and present them to the two princesses so as to please them.
Speaking of which, they had been in the capital for some days, but the royal family did not have a clear attitude yet. They were still unclear whom the two princesses were interested in. However, everyone felt that Yan Huaijing was definitely one of the lucky guys. The only question was whether Yan Huaijing married the Third Princess or the Fourth Princess.
But the others had been unable to figure out whom the royal family would choose.
When Yan Huaijing proposed to pick a few beautiful women with excellent singing and dancing skills and send them into the Palace to please the princesses, since they had nothing to do, they readily agreed.
Who would have thought that Yan Huaijing actually gave up at the last moment? Qi Yunhao couldn’t stand being fooled like this. He looked at Yan Huaijing with a gloomy face and said, “Heir-apparent of Yan, we all agreed on the competition that day, why are you going back on your word now? Maybe the two princesses are watching the competition not far away.”
“So what?” Yan Huaijing replied unhurriedly. He picked up the teacup on the table with one hand and took a sip. He then said indifferently, “The status of this aristocratic young lady is incomparably noble. How can she be casually profaned! If you had brought aristocratic young ladies with you today, I might consider taking part in the competition!”
In short, he didn’t let Wei Yuewu perform because the statuses of the women chosen by Qi Yunhao and the other two were too low, and they were not worthy of competing with Wei Yuewu!
“You… This is outrageous! Don’t you have the royal family in your eyes?” Lu Yeli was so angry that he wanted to vomit blood. It was clearly Yan Huaijing’s fault, but now he was blaming them!
They had come to the capital with the purpose of marrying the princess. Who would bring a beautiful aristocratic young lady with them?
In order to show their sincerity, they brought only a few maidservants with them. Even if there were a few junior concubines, they were all carefully disguised as maidservants, lest they would be found out by the royal family, consequently affecting their plan to marry the princess!
“Heir-apparent of Lu, you think I’ve gone too far? Then you can invite aristocratic young ladies from the State of Lu to come over and compete.” Yan Huaijing’s eyes darkened, and his expression turned sharp. He opened his thin lips and spoke with an extremely cold tone, “If the three of you feel that my deeds are disrespectful to the royal family, you can report to His Majesty. We will have a candid discussion!”
None of these heirs-apparent could afford to lose face by making a fuss out of a trivial matter and reporting it to the Emperor. Moreover, what Yan Huaijing said was somewhat reasonable. Besides, the Emperor was currently most concerned about the selection of his sons-in-law. No one wanted to make a fool of himself in the Emperor’s eyes.
Lu Yeli’s face alternated between green and red, and he was unable to mouth back.
No matter what he did, he would appear pretentious.
He was furious to the extreme. He clenched his fists tightly and glared at Yan Huaijing with a cold look in his eyes. However, he knew that he could not do anything to him. Chu Fangnan and Qi Yunhao also sat up straight, looking quite upset.
The atmosphere on the spot became inexplicably serious.
Although Wei Yuewu’s head was on Yan Huaijing’s chest, she could hear their words clearly. She secretly curled her lips. As expected, Yan Huaijing was really scheming and knew how to keep the other three heirs-apparent at bay. Since they had all come to the capital with the aim of marrying the princess, how could they make a fuss out of such a matter in front of the Emperor?
Moreover, this kind of thing was originally just a joke among the four of them, but if it was really reported to the Emperor, it would no longer be a small matter. If it went overboard, it would be taken as a dispute between the various dukedoms. Originally, the royal family had carefully maintained a balance between the dukedoms. If something really went out of control, chaos may ensue…
Therefore, no one dared to say anything. Even though they knew that Yan Huaijing was intentionally acting in a rude and unreasonable manner, they could not do anything to him. As for Wei Yuewu, she once again witnessed how shameless and unscrupulous Yan Huaijing could be!
Sure enough, despite his handsome face that made him look like a banished immortal, he was black-hearted and evil-minded…
“Your Heirs-apparent, please sit down.” In this strange and tense atmosphere, Master Fenghe smiled and gently said, “It was just a joke among you. Don’t take it seriously! Heir-apparent of Lu, please sit down. I have something to ask the four of you!”
His words eased the tense atmosphere. Lu Yeli’s eyes flashed fiercely, but in the end, he clenched his fists and sat down. He knew how powerful the State of Yan was. Although the State of Lu was not weak, he did not dare to really provoke Yan Huaijing!
“Master, please go ahead!” Lu Yeli said to Master Fenghe stiffly who helped him out of the predicament.
“Actually, I have asked the four of you to come here today not because I was interested in the joke among you. You all know that the nation-wide selection of the Crown Princess is under way. I want to know if aristocratic young ladies of your states were sent to the capital to take part in the selection?” Master Fenghe smiled kindly.
It was a good thing for an aristocratic young lady to enter the Crown Prince Mansion and become the Crown Princess. However, the problem was that everyone knew the Crown Princess, or even a high-ranking concubine couldn’t be selected out of candidates from any of the vassal states. Therefore, no aristocratic families from the four dukedoms were willing to send their daughters to the capital.
Moreover, there was a possibility that after entering the Crown Prince Mansion, the aristocratic young lady might persuade her own family to swear allegiance to the Crown Prince. For the dukedom, this was equivalent to placing a sharp knife in its own heart, which was a situation no one wanted to see.
“I have to ask for my father’s opinion about this!” Chu Fangnan looked at the people around him and said hesitantly. He had a blank expression as if he really didn’t know what to do.
“Indeed, I can’t make the decision on this matter. I will immediately write to my father after I return!” Qi Yunhao replied with a smile.
Of course, Master Fenghe knew that they would not agree so easily. Fortunately, he was not in a hurry. He knew the Emperor’s goal was not the aristocratic young ladies from all over the country, so he turned to Lu Yeli and asked, “Your Heir-apparent, how about you?”
“I will come to a conclusion after reporting to my father!” Lu Yeli said coldly, his face still pale.
However, his expression had always been like this. No one cared about his expression. Moreover, all the heirs-apparent were on the same boat this time. If Lu Yeli agreed, the others would have to agree as well.
“Heir-apparent of Yan, what do you think?” Master Fenghe turned to look at Yan Huaijing, and the smile on his face became more and more peaceful. The target of the Emperor was actually Yan Huaijing. As long as Yan Huaijing agreed, the other three heirs-apparent would not be a problem.
Although the strengths of the other three dukedoms were not weak, they were much weaker than the State of Yan!
Master Fenghe sighed in his heart. If the royal family weren’t weak, how would he, a monk, interfere in the mundane affairs of this mortal world? However, what else could he do if he didn’t interfere…
The obsession in his heart was the hurdle that he could never cross. Even if he was cast to hell for this, he had no choice but to do so…
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