Chapter 1066

　　I Will Marry

　　Xuan Tiange told Feng Yuheng: “Actually I did not guess it on my own, it was because this morning, that person sent a lot of large cases to Wen Xuan Palace. Those cases were filled with rare jewels and it was addressed specifically to me. When my Father King said this presentation felt like a dowry, and after I heard your conversation, I suddenly thought of it. That person definitely will not rescue Uncle Emperor for nothing, the condition he proposed, could it be…… for me to marry to Gu Shu?”

　　She sounded calm when she said this, but her face was tense, feeling like she had guessed correctly, yet hoping she got it wrong, contradicting each other.

　　Feng Yuheng saw the anxiousness in her heart, yet she still sighed softly and nodded, “I won’t hide this from you, there is such a condition. Earlier, Yu Palace received a family letter from my eldest cousin sent from the southern border, there was a secret letter on it which mentioned this. Your Ninth Brother did not respond immediately and did not dare mention it to you first because we were afraid that you will agree to it rashly to save the Emperor. Therefore we proposed to have him come to the capital personally, firstly because we also have to understand if he really has the ability to save Father Emperor, secondly, we wanted to see if we can change that condition. Gu Shu is far away from Da Shun after all and is even further from the capital. For you to marry over there, it would still be alright if it was for love, but if it was because of this kind of reason, our hearts cannot accept it.”

　　She was speaking the truth, though Xuan Tiange was two years older than her, in the end it was just her physical age which was young, in reality, she was already a mature soul at thirty years old. To her, Xuan Tiange was a young girl, and she was truly feeling pained for this young girl. Thinking about how she had to go far away from her hometown for the sake of her country’s safety, Feng Yuheng felt really bad about it.

　　The women living in the political center really had to bear with too much, a marriage agreement, describing it plainly, wasn’t it simply marrying to a person they did not love for the sake of the country’s stability and political motives? It was no different from selling their own life, but when asked if one person’s happiness was more important or if the stability of the country was more important, when hearing that, they would still choose the stability of the country. People were like that, once they had responsibilities, once there was a trade-off, many things could not be decided by them. It was like this in ancient times and was actually like in the future era as well.

　　“If we can truly save Uncle Emperor, and let Uncle Emperor revert to how he was before, then…… I will marry.” Xuan Tiange was silent for a while, then she said determinedly: “I am the only female in this generation of the Xuan family, this is my fate, and also my responsibility and duty. I have to give my all for the sake of Da Shun and no one can change this fate. Ah-Heng, you do not need to be sad, seeing how no one was discussing about my marriage though I have passed the adult ceremony long ago, I already knew this. Even if that Gu Shu ruler did not exist, there are still others, I will never be able to follow my own desires in this life to marry a commoner man.” As she spoke, she thought of that Gu Shu ruler whom she still had some encounters with and could not help but smile, “This is good as well, in the end, the person I am marrying is someone I have seen before and interacted with, it is still better than being sent to a foreign country without knowing anything, then getting married to a person whom I have not even seen before, that is more tragic.” She looked at Feng Yuheng, forcefully showed a smiling expression, saying: “That person is actually not bad, right? At least his appearance is good and is a good match for me. And…… he only has three beautiful women in the harem, it’s not considered a lot.”

　　She said it in a relaxed manner, but Feng Yuheng could see that her eyes were misty. Marrying far away from her home, no woman would be willing, right? Even if it was done out of love, having to marry to such a faraway place, far away from her homeland, far away from her parents, it was not an easy decision. But Xuan Tiange nodded and agreed just like this, just for the sake of Da Shun’s stability and the Emperor’s health.

　　She suddenly felt that there was nothing good about being a princess, it was better being a commoner, whether they were poor or rich, at least they could marry someone whom they knew everything about. Even though they had met the Gu Shu ruler before and interacted with him, how was his character? What was the situation within Gu Shu’s imperial palace? All these were unknown. She held Xuan Tiange’s hand, speaking to her seriously: “Although I am younger than you, I am still your Ninth Sister-in-law, regardless of whether we are relatives or sisters, there are some things I need to explain to you clearly. Tiange, the benefits to Da Shun are important, but personally, I would rather see you obtain happiness. This is not the only way to remove the Gu poison from Father Emperor, rather than using your happiness as an exchange, I would rather look for another method. I am not the only one who thinks this way, your Ninth Brother is the same, we do not wish to see you marry far away to Gu Shu for this matter. That place…… is too far, if something really happens, even if we want to help you, we might not make it in time!”

　　After she said this, Xuan Tiange’s tears flowed out all at once, she could not control her emotions any longer, hugging Feng Yuheng and wailing.

　　However, after crying, she still said determinedly: “I will marry!”

　　When Xuan Tiange returned to the palace, her eyes were still a little red, but her emotions had already adjusted. It was just that the palace maid Huan-er was unable to adjust her emotions so quickly, and she was still sniffing. Huan-er had always stayed at her side and knew everything which happened in Yu Palace. Returning to the palace now and facing those cases which had not been stored and were placed in the corner of the courtyard, her emotions were very complex.

　　But Xuan Tiange’s attitude had already changed from when she saw those things in the morning, she instructed the servants keeping watch over the items: “Accept those things, move them into the storeroom, and record them under the accounts of Wen Xuan Palace.”

　　One of the servants was stunned and could not help but ask: “Master said not to keep them first and it is best to have that person who sent the things to take them back, what Princess means is……”

　　“Keep them.” She said coldly: “The things were sent to This Princess, so I can make the decision. Since I asked you to keep them, then do so. I will explain to Father King later.”

　　Since she said this, the servants did not say any more and quickly moved those cases into the storeroom at the backyard. Going back to her own courtyard with Huan-er, she did not leave the whole day.

　　The movements in the front courtyard could not be hidden from the other two Masters living in the palace, King Wen Xuan and King Wen Xuan’s consort. Especially King Wen Xuan’s consort, once she heard that Xuan Tiange accepted those gifts, her heart chilled and immediately understood what was going on. She did not say anything much about it and only asked the servants to cook some of Xuan Tiange’s favourite dishes and send them over, then asked the housekeeper to notify all the servants in the palace. From now on, regardless of what Princess Wuyang requested for, no one is allowed to ask for the reason and had to follow the orders. Although the people in the palace were already very compliant towards Xuan Tiange, from today onwards, they had to be more compliant, and no rebuttals were allowed.

　　The servants did not understand what was going on, but the husband and wife knew too well, King Wen Xuan sighed deeply, “I’m afraid we will not be able to keep this daughter for much longer.” After saying that, he rubbed his face with his hand, speaking once more: “We just don’t know if the result is good or bed in the end. Lan-er, I really wished I am just a normal man, then at least my daughter’s marriage would not have to consider so many things, I can allow her to choose on her own, marrying whoever she likes without considering influence and politics as well as wealth.”

　　King Wen Xuan’s consort wiped away her tears after hearing this, asking continuously: “Marquis, who do you think that person is? Why did Tiange agree after going out and returning? I keep having the feeling that something else is involved, but who can I ask?”

　　King Wenxuan said: “She went to Yu Palace today and probably discussed it with Old Ninth’s wife. That is a child with very strong opinions, if she is unable to advise Tiange out of it, then Tiange has a reason she must marry. And with our daughter being a princess, which person can force her to worry. Beloved concubine, think about this, someone is coming to Da Shun soon, right!”

　　With the brains of King Wen Xuan and King Wen Xuan’s consort, it was not difficult to guess who was the sender of the gifts, at least it represented which faction they were from. But they were unwilling to believe it, after all, that place was too far away……

　　That night, Xuan Tianming went to Wen Xuan Palace, speaking with King Wen Xuan through the night. The night three days after, Fan Tianli entered Yu Palace again, and in front of Xuan Tianming, Xuan Tianhua, Feng Yuheng and Xuan Tiange, he took out a vivid red scorpion from his mouth……

　　“On the day a person in a Gu clan is born, the elder of the clan will choose a poisonous being as his life Gu.” Fan Tianli looked at those few people and seriously explained to them about this Gu duel, he said: “The strength of the life Gu is not completely decided over time, it also differs based on the choice on that initial day. For someone with a sturdy fate, the Gu bug they are given would be more poisonous, on the contrary, if it’s just of normal quality, and the Gu clan never had an outstanding Gu Master, then he will only be given a very normal Gu bug, thus not having much ability.”

　　As he spoke, he held up that red scorpion in his hand as if he was looking at a precious thing, also treating it like his own child, even reaching out a hand to stroke the back of that red scorpion a few times. That red scorpion reacted immediately, showing its tongue and playing, looking happy.

　　But Xuan Tiange almost threw up seeing it, especially when Fan Tianli took the scorpion out from his mouth, she did observe closely, it was clearly ejected from his stomach. Once she thought about how that person was actually rearing a scorpion in his stomach, she could not help but shiver, feeling more afraid the more she thought about it.

　　Feng Yuheng kept holding her hand to give her comfort, reminding her softly at the same time: “There is still time for you to change your mind if you are regretting it.”

　　But Xuan Tiange shook her head determinedly, she said: “I’m not regretting. I am Da Shun’s princess, once I declare it, it will not be withdrawn.”

　　Fan Tianli seemed to have heard what she said and immediately looked over, a warm smile now gracing his originally serious expression. That smile did not match with the image of him holding the scorpion in his hand, it was like two worlds, one filled with darkness and the other with light, causing Xuan Tiange to feel dazed for a moment.

　　Fan Tianli continued to speak, saying: “Not every Gu Shu citizen can use Gu, in fact, right now, there are very very few people who can truly use Gu techniques, there are only a few clans which are not large in number who still hold the secrets of the Gu technique. As the source of Gu techniques, the Fan family of Gu Shu royalty are naturally the most powerful Gu Masters, and practically every imperial family member has inherited this kind of skill. At the same time, they have a thorough understanding of the movements of all the current Gu clans in the country. That is the reason why we know about the close relations between a Gu person and Da Shun’s Liu family……”