In Wei Ru Feng’s view, given Fu Yun Xi’s power and status, he couldn’t have only Han Yan as his sole companion for life. Neither the Emperor nor the Empress Dowager would agree to this. As a member of the royal family, producing heirs was a responsibility. Fu Yun Xi’s desire to marry Zhuang Han Yan seemed highly improbable.

Zhuang Shi Yang nervously glanced at Wei Jing. Being aligned with Prince Wei, he worried that Fu Yun Xi’s public marriage proposal in front of the entire court would put him at odds with Prince Wei. However, the Xuan Qing Prince was also someone he couldn’t afford to offend. He forced a laugh and said, “Your Highness’s status is too noble; my humble daughter wouldn’t dare aspire to such a match.”

The Seventh Prince observed the scene before the throne impassively. Seeing Fu Yun Xi’s prolonged silence, he smiled and said, “If Uncle Prince wishes to take a princess consort, you could have Father Emperor issue a decree to select a virtuous and talented lady of both beauty and capability as your princess consort… why must you…” His words trailed off, but their implications were clear.

Fu Yun Xi gave the Emperor an ambiguous smile: “Your Majesty has always been concerned about my marriage. I have now made up my mind, precisely to continue the family line.”

The Emperor immediately understood his meaning. Fu Yun Xi had mentioned he would join next year’s campaign against Xi Rong. This meant that if he couldn’t marry Zhuang Han Yan, he would have no attachments holding him back and would be even less likely to return to the capital. The Emperor shot him an annoyed glare.

Fu Yun Xi spoke quietly, “I will marry her and her alone. Today, before Your Majesty, I vow to marry only Fourth Lady Zhuang in this lifetime. I will not take any concubines, secondary wives, or chambermaids. My heart shall never waver.”

Wei Ru Feng hadn’t expected Fu Yun Xi to do this and stared at him in disbelief, wondering how such a man could exist. Then anger welled up inside him – had Han Yan dared to say she would only marry someone who would have her alone because she had anticipated Fu Yun Xi would do this? He felt deceived and grew furious, developing a deep hatred and contempt for both Fu Yun Xi and Han Yan.

The other court officials shook their heads and sighed upon hearing this. Fu Yun Xi’s excellence was truly one in ten thousand. Many had daughters of their own, and Fu Yun Xi would have been the ideal son-in-law. Now that he declared he would only marry Han Yan, their daughters would surely be heartbroken.

Fu Yun Xi stood tall, his slender figure like an unsheathed sword – straight and resolute. His black hair was simply tied up with a white jade hairpin, which only enhanced his elegance. His handsome features included slanted eyebrows extending to his temples and deep, bottomless dark phoenix eyes. His slightly upturned thin lips seemed to hold a mocking smile, ridiculing those who couldn’t believe his words. The silver-red official robe embroidered with white pythons suited him perfectly, and Fu Yun Xi’s entire being had shed its previous cool detachment, becoming remarkably sharp.

“This Prince offers the entire Xuan Qing Prince’s Manor as betrothal gifts to propose marriage to Fourth Lady Zhuang as my princess consort!” His cool words carried a slight chill, like a huge stone dropped into a calm pool – the entire court fell silent!

The Emperor narrowed his eyes: “Granted!”

At these words, everyone was dumbfounded. Never had there been such a thing – a subject proposing marriage in front of everyone in the Golden Hall, with the Emperor himself approving the match. But the deep brotherly bond between Xuan Qing Prince and the Emperor was an undisputed fact.

Fu Yun Xi lifted his official robe and knelt on one knee: “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

His gaze held a threat. The Emperor sighed inwardly: “Then let the engagement be settled. However, I hear Fourth Lady Zhuang has not yet come of age, so the wedding can only take place after she reaches maturity next year.” He paused, then continued, “I see that the eighth day of next month is auspicious. Let’s set the engagement for that day.”

Fu Yun Xi raised an eyebrow, his eyes flashing with amusement. It seemed the Emperor wasn’t entirely ignorant of this matter. He replied, “I defer to Your Majesty’s arrangements.”

Wei Ru Feng and Zhuang Shi Yang were furious. Zhuang Shi Yang was angry because his daughter’s marriage was completely out of his hands, decided in just a few words between the royal brothers – where was his face in this? Wei Ru Feng was resentful because the Emperor had already arranged his marriage to the Right Minister’s daughter, which he greatly disliked, and now Han Yan was being given to Fu Yun Xi – wasn’t this breaking up a pair of lovers? In his eyes, the respected and wise monarch had become a tyrant abusing his power, and committing unforgivable sins.

The Seventh Prince lowered his eyes, seemingly in thought. After a moment, he raised his sleeve and cupped his hands toward Fu Yun Xi: “Congratulations to Uncle Prince on obtaining an excellent princess consort.”

Other officials followed suit in congratulating Fu Yun Xi, while only Prince Wei’s father and son, along with Zhuang Shi Yang, wore extremely stiff expressions.

Meanwhile, Han Yan was embroidering in her room. Her needlework had been getting worse lately, and she had pricked her fingers several times. Her mind couldn’t find peace – if any family who took an interest in her saw her messy embroidery, they would probably call off the engagement without a second thought. As she thought about this, she smiled again. Never mind, with the vow she had made, getting married in this life wouldn’t be easy anyway, so the embroidery didn’t matter much.

Ji Lan hurried in: “Young Miss, the Xuan Qing Prince has asked for your hand in marriage in front of the entire court!”

“No!” The answer came firmly, without hesitation. Han Yan rolled her eyes and continued embroidering. Was Fu Yun Xi serious? This game had gone too far.

But Ji Lan shrank her neck: “But… but… the Emperor has already approved it.”

“Bang!” The embroidery hoop fell to the floor. Han Yan turned her head, forcing a smile: “What did you say?”

“The Emperor agreed to the Xuan Qing Prince’s request, saying that your engagement to the Prince will be settled on the eighth day of next month.”

It was true! Han Yan stood up, then immediately sat back down, feeling a buzzing in her head. She unconsciously pinched the back of her hand to confirm she wasn’t dreaming.

“How is this possible…” she muttered. Fu Yun Xi had moved too quickly, somehow getting the marriage arranged just like that. This forceful and domineering approach was quite inconsiderate. Most importantly, they hadn’t even reached the point of discussing marriage – at most, they were just friends. What was he thinking?

Ji Lan showed both joy and concern: “Young Miss, we saw that Xuan Qing Prince at the palace banquet last time. He’s so much better than that Wei heir, and he’s such an impressive prince. If you marry him, you won’t have to endure the cold shoulders of people in this household anymore. But…” She looked puzzled. “Young Miss, when did you become so close to the Xuan Qing Prince?”

Not only was Ji Lan confused, but Han Yan herself was also quite perplexed. Thinking back to her first meeting with Fu Yun Xi, except for his initial wariness, he had always been quite familiar with her, as if they had known each other for a long time. Yet he deliberately maintained a distance, never too warm. Whenever she found herself in an awkward situation, he would appear at the right moment to help. She had become accustomed to this neither-close nor-distant attitude, and now suddenly hearing that Fu Yun Xi wanted to make her his princess consort, Han Yan could hardly believe it.

When she had heard him say such things before, although surprised, she hadn’t taken it too seriously, thinking he was just teasing her. Now that she had made such a vow, with rumors spreading throughout the capital’s streets and alleys, he chose this moment to decide to marry her… This man was truly impossible to figure out.