Chapter 3: Choosing a Husband

“I want all four!”

If she doesn’t choose Pei Wenxuan as her husband, then what were her options?

A fool, a madman, or a wastrel. Compared to them, even if Pei Wenxuan had fed her a poisonous bowl of Fragrant Beauty, she actually felt…it was not that difficult to accept?

After all, Pei Wenxuan had a fatal advantage: he looked good.

A good-looking person, whether male or female, will be pleasing to the eye. No matter what they did, she would be willing to forgive them.

However, living with Pei Wenxuan in the previous life, there was no need to talk about the countless frustrations, but there was not much happiness in it either, constantly fighting and scheming against each other. She felt tired just thinking about it. Besides, it seemed a bit boring to live an entire lifetime only to decide to live according to the previous life.

She never looked into the other three in detail. How about this time…why not see them in person?

Li Rong pondered over this as she walked into Taiqing Hall. At this time, Li Ming was already seated and had soon changed into his usual clothes. He had just washed his hands and was drying them with a handkerchief as he chatted with Chief Eunuch De Song.

Li Ming was almost forty years old this year. He was in the prime of his years and looked quite vigorous. He possessed charisma that older people would not have and yet the composure that young men would not have. It was the most beautiful time in a man’s lifetime.

He was born handsome, so in order to add to his dignified appearance, he deliberately grew a beard to gain the composed aura of an elder. Li Rong walked into the room and glanced at Li Ming. While her face did not betray any emotion, she was a little nervous inside.

After all, she had not seen Li Ming in almost 30 years, and no matter what happened in the previous life, she couldn’t help but feel a little emotional when she suddenly saw her own father again.

She recalled how she often acted when she was young and respectfully saluted. Li Ming smiled and had her to sit next to him. Li Rong picked up her chopsticks, coquettishly blinked and said: “How come Father Emperor is in a good mood to call me here for a meal today?”

Li Ming heard his daughter’s spoiled voice and softened his tone, even if he was about to discuss important matters. He watched as an eunuch tested the food for poison first and slowly said: “The matter of your marriage was brought up in the imperial court today. Zhen1 realized you are no longer young and called you over to talk.”

“Marriage?”

Li Rong pretended to be surprised, then she lowered her head, seemingly embarrassed and said: “Shouldn’t this matter be discussed with Mother Empress?”

“You are Zhen’s daughter,” Li Ming was dissatisfied, but there was some appreciation for her obedient words in his eyes. “Of course you should be the one to decide your marriage. You just need to pick someone you like.”

After saying that, Li Ming turned his head and told De Song: “Bring the portraits over.”

[1] Zhen —majestic imperial pronoun an Emperor uses to refer to himself. It is a plural form of “we.”

De Song heeded his order and ordered someone to bring four portraits over, then opened the portrait scrolls one by one, revealing the faces of four men.

Li Rong subconsciously glanced over, then she felt that something was wrong here. She was now an eighteen year old girl who had not left her boudoir yet. When she sees a portrait of a man, she should turn her eyes away, so she tried to look shy and turned her head as she lightly coughed: “These four are…”

“These are the men that Father Emperor has chosen for you. Take a look and choose one.”

“Yes.”

Li Rong replied in a low voice. Then, she turned around and looked at the four paintings.

She didn’t actually remember what these candidates looked like back then because it happened so long ago. She just remembered that Pei Wenxuan was the most strikingly handsome one. Back then, she was too embarrassed to take a closer look, so she only gave Pei Wenxuan a quick glance, and that was it. Now, she didn’t feel shy anymore. She stared at the four portraits and seriously assessed them.

She had to admit her Father Emperor wasn’t entirely cruel to her. Although these four individuals here for her to choose from consisted of a fool, madman, wastrel and a fallen aristocrat, they all had handsome faces. Perhaps Li Ming had considered the issue of appearances in the beginning and feared that she would make a fuss if they were too ugly. Although these four gongzi had slight differences in their appearance, they all had their own merits.

The heir of the Marquis of Ning, Lu Yu, had a gentle and clean appearance. He seemed to be the boy next door type, innocent and lively.

Marshal Yang’s second son, Yang Quan, had sword-like brows and eyes bright as stars, bearing traces of the wind and frost from the battlefield. If you ignore the fact that he was a bloodthirsty maniac, his face was also worthy of being called handsome.

The newly crowned champion of the palace examinations, Cui Yulang, had a face like a peach blossom and a smile like a spring breeze. You could tell with just one look that he was the typical romantic young master that many women were drawn to.

As for Pei Wenxuan, it was difficult for the portrait to reflect even one-tenth of his appearance. With phoenix eyes and thin lips, he was as handsome as an Immortal. Although in the painting, his eyes were finely painted, if you could see them in real life, they would even be more breathtaking. That is why it is difficult for any ordinary person to tear their eyes away from his Immortal-like appearance.

It would be great if he was really an Immortal, but it was a pity that beneath the surface was the heart of jackals, wolves, tigers and leopards,2 so that artistic beauty partially lost its meaning.

She lazily observed the four of them, holding her chin in thought for a while. Li Ming saw her eying them like that and fiddled with the tea cup. He couldn’t help but smile and ask: “Why have you been looking at them for so long? Have you not found someone you are satisfied with? Zhen has already helped you examine the background of these gongzi. You just need to choose the person who looks best, and Zhen will take care of the rest for you.”

“It’s not that there’s no one satisfactory,” Li Rong lazily straightened up and seemed a bit conflicted, “Rong’er just thinks that they all look good and wants all of them.”

Upon hearing her words, Li Ming choked on the tea that he was drinking. Li Rong quickly got up to pat Li Ming’s back and hurriedly said: “Erchen3 knows her wrongs, erchen is just joking!”

[2] Jackals, wolves, tigers, leopards – idiom to describe a fierce, cruel and dangerous person

[3] erchen — “this subject, your child,” pronoun princes and princesses use when speaking to their parents

Li Ming’s breathing slowly returned to normal. He calmed down a bit when he heard Li Rong say that it was just a joke. He shook his head helplessly and said with a smile: “You must be really bored to even scare your Emperor Father like that.”

“The important thing is that I really don’t know who to choose because they all look good,” Li Rong said. After thinking about it, she leaned forward and rubbed Li Ming’s shoulders as she talked to him, “Father Emperor, how about giving me a chance to meet them?”

Li Ming heard her, and his eyes slightly darkened. On the surface, Li Rong pretended to know nothing about it as if she was really innocent and just casually said that.

The words that she had just spoken were a bit dangerous.

Her marriage was just a test from Li Ming. He wanted to see if his daughter, who he had trained, would become what he wanted her to be.

She didn’t have any doubts back then, facing her father without the slightest suspicion. Li Ming was completely assured, or in other words, he softened his heart.

Between the Imperial family, there were not only games of schemes but also emotional confrontations. After all, people were neither trees nor grass. There is a bit of compassion and sincerity hidden behind the power struggle. That was also the reason why her Mother Empress taught her how to be clever and flexible when handling the situation back then but never mentioned her own disputes with the Emperor in court.

As long as she remains an innocent and lively princess, her Father Emperor will have a bit of affection for her, just like when she married Pei Wenxuan back then. Based on Pei Wenxuan’s circumstances, he had no chance of marrying a princess and no promising future either, yet they still lived peacefully, so all was well.

Now that she didn’t choose anyone and even put forward a suggestion, Li Ming would naturally be suspicious, but if she had to go ahead and marry Pei Wenxuan, she would still have some regrets in her heart.

After all, they were such handsome young men. If she was to look into a bit, who knows if a miracle appears?

Rumors are just rumors, so what if the rumors were false?

Li Rong observed Li Ming’s expressions as she rubbed his shoulders, pleading: “Erchen has been waiting for so many years. The most important thing in marriage is not appearance but character. Erchen feels that it is better for erchen to pretend to be an ordinary girl and be introduced to them. Meet them in person, talk and cultivate feelings first, and it’s best if they take erchen out of the Palace to play. Erchen heard that the roasted duck in Linglong Pavilion is the best, and the peach blossoms at Huguo Temple are also beautiful, and…”

“Stop, stop,” Li Ming couldn’t help but laugh at her antics, “Are you going to see your future husband, or do you just want to go out of the Palace?”

“Of course, I am also very serious in meeting my future husband,” Li Rong blinked, reaching out to grab Li Ming’s arm and childishly swinging his arm back and forth, saying, “Father Emperor, please Father Emperor, I’m your favorite daughter. You should love me most.”4

[4] erchen is the formal form of address; Li Rong is acting spoiled here by using ‘I’ instead.

“Alright, alright.”

With Li Rong acting cute and shaking his arm, Li Ming could only helplessly laugh and said, “Go and meet them then. It’s almost time for a spring banquet. Didn’t Zhen give you a mansion in the outskirts of the city?”

Li Rong blinked, and after a few moments, she pretended to react in surprise and said in amazement, “Father Emperor is letting me host a spring banquet?”

“Your aunt hosts banquets in the Imperial Garden every year. You are also a princess, so how about hosting a spring banquet?” Li Ming smiled. He patted Li Rong’s hand and said, “Father Emperor will send people to help you. The four of them will be invited to the spring banquet. At that time, lower the curtain and talk to each person individually, but remember,” Li Ming suddenly became serious. He sternly told her, “Be reserved and don’t make the Imperial family lose face.”

“I know!” Li Rong was a little excited and hurriedly said, “I know that Father Emperor is the best to me! Erchen loves Father Emperor the most!”

“Then what about your Mother Empress?” Li Ming appeared to smile. Li Rong said in all seriousness, “Of course, when I see Mother Empress, I have to say that she’s the best, but Mother Empress is too fierce. How could it compare to the way Father Emperor treats me?”

Li Ming suddenly laughed after hearing such words. He gently pinched Li Rong’s nose and told her off: “Little flatterer.”

The meal proceeded in a smooth and pleasant manner. When she left, Li Rong also had the four portraits to be taken away and leisurely walked out, looking like a proud little peacock.

As soon as she got onto the palanquin, Li Rong suddenly lost her smile and collapsed.

After all, she wasn’t really 18 years old. She could pretend to be cute and lovable, but she remained very mindful in fear of accidentally overdoing it and making Li Ming suspicious.

There were more than just vicious motives of the Imperial family between her and Li Ming. She was his first child and a daughter, so his love for her was not fake. It was just that in the midst of this power struggle, her maternal clan was too strong, and as Li Ming got older, the stronger his desire to seize power became.

There was also the fact that her younger brother, the Crown Prince, Li Chuan was now sixteen years old.

Li Ming was a harsh and belligerent ruler while Li Chuan advocated to rule the country with benevolence and virtue, receiving many supporters in the current dynasty. A son who had a reputation and was capable, yet opposed his own political views and approaching his coming of age ceremony, along with a maternal clan that held military power against a paranoid and controlling ruler was enough to destroy the trust in the Imperial Palace.

And she was stuck in the middle of it, but in the past, she had no idea until she woke up to reality at the age of eighteen. For that reason, that year when she turned eighteen became the most difficult year in her life.

It was quite a difficult situation for Li Rong of the past, but for Li Rong of the present, it was no longer a major concern. She stabilized her emotions and called out in a low voice: “Jing Lan.”

Jing Lan approached the palanquin and quietly responded: “Princess.”

“His Majesty will send the people who will be responsible for hosting the spring banquet over in a bit, and you will receive them.”

Jing Lan was stunned but quickly recovered and whispered: “Understood.”

This so-called notion of sending people to help was actually to send people to keep an eye on her. If Li Ming sent them to keep an eye on her, then she would send Jing Lan to keep an eye on those people.

She knew Jing Lan was smart, so she didn’t need to make it known.

After some thought, Li Rong used her golden fan to lift up the curtain and beckoned to Jing Lan.

Jing Lan brought her head closer and suspiciously asked: “Princess?”

“Find a few people,” Li Rong lowered her voice and continued, “Go to these people’s homes and keep an eye on them. All of their actions will be reported back to me.” After saying that, Li Rong paused and further instructed, “Especially Pei Wenxuan.”

The author has something to say:

【Mini Theater 1】

Li Rong: “From the looks of things, my four potential husbands gathered here today are First Love Lu Yu, Valiant Sister Yang Quan, Mature Woman Cui Yulang, and the Fairy Sister Pei Wenxuan. I think there can be a reasonable arrangement here.”

Pei Wenxuan with a banner announcement: “I would like to emphasize that I also have another nickname, “fiercely chaste man”, only 1V1 pairing is allowed. Moreover, there will be no descriptions of content below the neck allowed, nor will content above the neck be allowed to be described in detail, whether it is physical or psychological. I am a very generous person. I have never spoken out in jealousy, nor have I ever been jealous. That “vinegar king”5 title has nothing to do with me. If you have any questions, please contact the author’s government,6 thank you.”

Li Rong: “I think you’re just afraid, you’re a rotten evil old man!!”

Admin: “Lock this chapter immediately.”

[5] vinegar king – king of jealousy

[6] reference to content censorship

【Mini Theater 2】

Pei Wenxuan: “Didn’t you say that you didn’t want to live with me? Didn’t care about me? Didn’t want me anymore? Hehe, what a hypocritical woman, I really am different from those three scumbags.”

Li Rong: “Do you feel a sense of superiority for being chosen for your handsome looks among those scumbags? The emphasis on keeping an eye on you is because you are such an exceptional scumbag out of the four scumbags, I’m afraid that you’ll have wicked ideas!”

Pei Wenxuan: “You’re going to marry me anyways. Don’t waste your time.”

Li Rong: “Why do I have to marry you?”

Pei Wenxuan: “Let me ask you, is there anyone around you like me who does everything they are ordered to do?”

Li Rong: “Indeed. Good dog!”

Pei Wenxuan: “…”