Rejected Beauty Practices the Villain Play
Chapter 216: Bestowing a Marriage

Chapter 216: Chapter 216: Bestowing a Marriage

She looked at Fengyu, her eyes filled with malice, and lowered her voice, "If you defy the imperial decree, your entire family will be executed."

Feng Changqing and Su Yuejiao’s faces turned ashen. Since when did the Princess and Fengyu become enemies, enough to call for Fengyu’s life? Feng Changqing was anxious, "Your Majesty, my daughter is already engaged; how can one woman marry twice!"

Fengyu was startled, hastily tugging at Feng Changqing’s hem, "Father..."

Deceiving the emperor is also a crime punishable by death. In such haste, where could they find someone for the marriage alliance? Her parents were willing to defy the decree and deceive the emperor to protect her.

"Father, I am willing to enter the marriage alliance. Please don’t defy the imperial decree for my sake!" Fengyu had a plan; she was not one to sit and wait for death. "Please trust your daughter!"

The Crown Prince asked with a smile, "I recall Miss Fengyu just broke off her previous engagement, and now she’s engaged again so soon? Which family is it with?"

In such haste, Feng Changqing and Su Yuejiao had no candidates ready. Almost all of his trusted generals were already engaged; there were no unmarried candidates. Feng Changqing sifted through potential military candidates in his mind, who was still unmarried?

Princess Huazhen coldly watched the family of four, feeling delighted.

"Fengyu, if I can’t have him, you won’t either!" Hatred filled Princess Huazhen’s eyes. Why should she alone be married off to Beiman?

Xie Xun, I will drag your beloved down with me to Beiman, ensuring you’ll never meet her again in this life.

Lin Xiao heard Feng Changqing’s words. He didn’t want Fengyu to be married off to Beiman and endure endless hardships. Even if his father and elder brother were to kill him, he would resist this marriage arrangement.

He wanted to marry Fengyu!

As he moved, Lin Cheng grabbed his wrist, his voice cold and harsh, "Do you have a death wish?"

"Brother!" Lin Xiao struggled, but couldn’t break free from Lin Cheng’s hold, "I beg you, let me."

"Foolish dreams!" Lin Cheng lowered his voice, "Dare to agree to the marriage, just try it."

"It’s I!" Xie Xun set down his wine cup heavily, his voice cutting through the night, silencing all the whispers.

The place fell silent!

Xie Xun stood and walked to Fengyu, who looked at him, shocked, gently shaking her head. She bent down to kowtow, just about to accept the marriage alliance, when Xie Xun knelt beside her, clasping her hand. His clear, well-defined hand radiated immense strength. Xie Xun said, "Your Majesty, Miss Fengyu and I are mutually in love. Our parents have long exchanged tokens and formed an engagement alliance."

Everyone, "..."

"Zhixu, what nonsense are you saying!" Lin Hongyuan chided, hurriedly looking at Marquis Zhenbei, who remained calm, gazing into his wine cup.

When children grow up, they act on their own.

Each one more troublesome than the last. He did not approve of Xie Xun marrying Fengyu, but what could he do? The entire court was against his son. He was Xie Xun’s father, his support.

If his son acted foolishly, then it was up to him to clean up the mess.

The civil and military officials wore complex expressions. The generals were fine, but couldn’t believe that the willful little Marquis would be fond of a delicate girl like Fengyu.

The civil officials thought differently. Two daughters of the Feng Family marrying into Xie Zhang’s family—Xie Xun, this was suicidal! The rumors that the Jiangnan Su Family was practically the Marquis Zhenbei Mansion’s treasury would become confirmed. Fengyu couldn’t marry into the Marquis Mansion regardless of whom she married.

"Xie Xun!" Fengyu anxiously tried to wrench her hand free, but Xie Xun held it firmly, his eyes filled with an arrogant determination. Gazing into Fengyu’s misty eyes, boundless desires arose within him.

She was his!

This life, he would marry none but her; how could he let her be wed to Beiman?

Fengyu said, "I can resolve this."

"Behave!" Xie Xun’s voice was a little hoarse, like the most pleasant flute sound. His calloused thumb gently rubbed her soft white skin, soothing her agitation, "Ayu, be good."

Fengyu, "..."

Emperor Jianming was furious. The Crown Prince had calculated every possibility except Fengyu and Xie Xun secretly being engaged and publicly announcing it during the night banquet, catching everyone unprepared.

Feng Changqing and Su Yuejiao were also left baffled.

Ayu and the little Marquis?

"You lie!" Princess Huazhen lost her composure, her eyes burning with hatred as if she’d tear Fengyu and Xie Xun apart, "Xie Xun, for her, you dare... you are deceiving the emperor!"

Feng Changqing looked at Marquis Zhenbei, who nonchalantly nodded. Feng Changqing said, "Your Majesty, when my eldest daughter set the marriage date with Xie Zhang, it was indeed also promised that Fengyu and Xie Xun would marry. It was brokered by a matchmaker and sanctioned by parents. It was kept secret only because my youngest daughter had just come of age, and I wished to keep her by my side for a few more years."

"You lie!" Princess Huazhen seemed struck by lightning, glaring at Fengyu, "Fengyu, you tricked me!"

All this talk of recruitment for marriage turns out to be deceitful!

Fengyu remained calm toward Princess Huazhen. She had a clear conscience, but Huazhen hated her to the core.

Dugu Jing was happy to watch the drama unfold. The Yanyang Dynasty’s Marquis Mansion and the royal family could put on smiles while harboring ill will internally. Recalling the Crown Prince’s plotting brought a hint of amusement to Dugu Jing’s eyes.

How fascinating!

Internal strife within Yanyang only led to mutual weakening, an unequivocal benefit for Beiman.

"Is this matter true?" Emperor Jianming felt flustered and uneasy. When Huazhen requested Fengyu as part of the dowry, Emperor Jianming merely sought to fulfill her wish. After all, Fengyu wasn’t Fang Lingjun, just the daughter of a military general. The National General was a new noble, with his eldest daughter already married to the Marquis Mansion and the younger made a Commandery Princess—joining Huazhen in the marriage alliance could also be seen as an honor.

Who could have foreseen it revealing an engagement between Fengyu and Xie Xun?

"Yes!" Marquis Zhenbei concluded definitively, acknowledging the marriage.

No matter how willful Princess Huazhen was, she couldn’t forcibly seize the Marquis Mansion’s daughter-in-law as a concubine. Xie Xun, leaving no room for negotiation, grasped Fengyu’s hand, asking Emperor Jianming to sanction the marriage. Fengyu’s palm was sweaty, never imagining Xie Xun being so bold and reckless.

Fengyu only felt thrilled yet absurd. What was initially an impossible marriage had been facilitated so effortlessly, even receiving Emperor Jianming’s blessing.

Princess Huazhen collapsed nearby, her nails digging into her palms, tearfully looking at the Crown Prince. After her forced marriage to Beiman, she resented it to her bones, though she had received reassurance from the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince promised her that in just one or two years, he would ensure her safe return from Beiman. He and Dugu Jing had an agreement, just treating her time in Beiman as a period for playing and exploration.

Princess Huazhen was favored, the Crown Prince several years her senior, always protective of his younger sister, naturally not allowing her to suffer grievances. Princess Huazhen always held deep respect for the Crown Prince, trusting his words.

The Crown Prince hinted at her selecting a concubine for the dowry, and Princess Huazhen immediately thought of Fengyu. She resented Xie Xun. The goddess longed for Xiang Wang, but he never dreamed of her. Years of love had turned futile, and Xie Xun wouldn’t even consider her while choosing a sickly Fengyu. How could Princess Huazhen not hate this? Under the Crown Prince’s directive, she deliberately demanded Fengyu as the concubine in public.

Who knew the plan would come to naught? Xie Xun protected her at all costs.

Merely a concubine for the dowry, even the Crown Prince miscalculated. Will she truly go to Beiman as a pleasant exploration as promised by the Crown Prince? Princess Huazhen felt immense dread for her future.

Fengyu and Xie Xun’s marriage, apart from the Feng and Xie families, no one was optimistic. Lin Hongyuan and Lin Hongcheng flushed with anger, feeling that Xie Xun was reckless and indifferent to the bigger picture.

Marquis An Yuan, watching the couple leave, felt overwhelmed. He had considered proposing Fengyu as a daughter-in-law, only to be beaten by Marquis Zhenbei. Yet, no matter how one looked, this marriage seemed inappropriate.

Marquis An Yuan asked, "This doesn’t seem like your style. Why agree?"

Having been friends with Marquis Zhenbei for years, he could see Xie Xun acting on his own, and Marquis Zhenbei replied, "Ting Feng lost his sight; I don’t want Zhixu to lose his love. As a father, one must fulfill his children’s wishes."

If the sky falls, no matter, he will endure it!

Marquis An Yuan sighed, "You’re being foolish. Just watch; they won’t spare you."

Marquis Zhenbei remained silent, this court’s political landscape ever-changing, each step fraught with danger, even more draining than battle itself.