Chapter 21 - Princess Zhaoyang
The weak Crown Prince was supported by someone and sat below His Majesty at the royal court. His face was deathly pale, and the corners of his mouth were raised as he gazed at the great hall.
He was the son of his father. Even if his cultivation was crippled, even if he had some special killing habits, because his father was Li Huanjun, he could still be the most respected person in the country.
He could still sit here and look down on the officials.
“Family affairs are state affairs. These are the candidates for the Princess Consort. The Crown Prince is honorable and can marry one princess consort, two side consorts, and three concubines at once…”
The name list was handed over. The Crown Prince casually scanned the list and found that it was the same as the information he had received. The candidates for the princess consort on the list were all daughters of aristocratic families in the Northern Kingdom. Not only were they beautiful and talented, they had extraordinary family backgrounds.
For example, the father of the princess consort candidate was an eighth-grade martial artist and held a huge military force. Her brothers all had military power and one of them was a seventh-grade garrison general in the Wilderness.
The side consort’s maternal family was also the head of the civil officials and had the strength of a peak eighth-grade. Their disciples were spread all over the court, and they were not to be underestimated.
What he wanted to do was to marry these women and tie their families to his war chariot. Even if he had no cultivation and became a cripple, as long as he knew how to weigh the pros and cons and control a few women, he could use them to control the power behind them.
His father had made a good move.
“Your Majesty, this is the candidate for the prince consort. Among them, there is an older ninth-grade martial artist who is the most outstanding!”
Someone had presented the candidate for the prince consort.. The person who was at the top of the list was a martial artist in his sixties, a ninth-grade martial artist. Such an old martial artist clearly showed that it would be difficult for him to advance to the Martial Saint realm in this lifetime. He might as well enjoy the prosperity and wealth of the world. It was naturally good to be able to marry such a delicate wife like the princess.
“Bring it up!”
When Li Huanjun declared the imperial decree, he had already expected this result. Since Zhaoyang was the princess, she naturally had to be used for marriage.
Back then, the female Martial Saint had come in a strange manner and left suddenly. Li Huanjun had an uncontrollable feeling in his heart. If he could not use such a Martial Saint, then he would use the princess to marry a ninth-grade martial artist.
A Martial Saint and a few ninth-grade martial artists were enough to deter many thieves.
As a princess, Zhaoyang had to have the awareness of being a princess and properly assist her elder brother. Letting her husband be used by the Crown Prince and the Northern Kingdom was the right path.
“Princess Zhaoyang has arrived!” A duck-like shout startled everyone in the court.
Wasn’t Princess Zhaoyang grounded? Wasn’t she not allowed to leave the princess’s residence until the prince consort was chosen? Why did she come out? Wasn’t the leader of the guards guarding the princess a seventh-grade martial artist? He even had an imperial edict in his hands. Why couldn’t he stop the princess?
The Crown Prince snorted coldly, feeling extremely displeased in his heart. He thought that he would not be able to use this seventh-grade martial artist in the future. He was probably already subdued by the princess’ beauty and had been taken in as a servant under her skirt.
The Princess, who was dressed in a purple robe with golden threads embedded on it, walked towards the palace with an unparalleled aura. Her face, which should have belonged to her young age, appeared abnormally calm in front of all the officials.
She looked at the sickly Fourth Prince, who was sitting on the Crown Prince’s seat and was about to lie down, and once again steeled her resolve.
After saluting His Majesty, she stood up and walked towards the seat opposite the Crown Prince. At this moment, the hall was dead silent.
Because when Princess Zhaoyang came in, everyone saw the veiled Hu Jiujiu.
The originally charming Hu Jiujiu made Li Huanjun, who was sitting at the highest seat, unable to sit still any longer. He hurriedly led the Crown Prince and his subjects down to kowtow. “The Emperor of the Northern Kingdom, Li Huanjun, greets you, Supreme Martial Artist. May I know why you are here?”
Li Huanjun started to panic. The Martial Saint should not have suddenly appeared in front of everyone. She should be in the dark. It would be best if he acted on her behalf. Otherwise, if everyone only had the Martial Saint in their eyes, how could anyone truly respect him, the Emperor?
Hu Jiujiu didn’t say anything. She only glanced at Li Huanjun and then at the ministers in the court. Most of them were seventh-grade, and only one peak ninth-grade eunuch was bowing to her.
As for the others, they were all kneeling on the ground. Only Princess Zhaoyang and Li Huanjun were standing there. There was also a Crown Prince who was supported by someone and was also bowing to her.
Hu Jiujiu didn’t say anything, but her aura was rising steadily. The old eunuch who was bending over felt like his spine was about to break. He really couldn’t take it anymore and knelt on the ground with a plop.
Although the difference between the peak of the ninth-grade and the Martial Saint was only one level, it was like an insurmountable chasm. The difference was too great!
Li Huanjun panicked even more when the old eunuch knelt down. He also knelt down in a hurry. Whether the Northern Kingdom could stabilize or not depended on the protection of the Martial Saint. He did not know the background of this Martial Saint. It was best to be respectful and not anger her!
In the entire hall, everyone knelt down except for Princess Zhaoyang. However, the Crown Prince was still being supported by someone. He wanted to kneel but hesitated. In the next moment, he felt his entire body being lifted up. Then, from the Crown Prince’s seat, he was thrown into the main hall like trash. Everyone kneeling was stunned.
Some people peeked at Princess Zhaoyang and remembered that the Martial Saint had followed the Princess in. They didn’t know if this was the Princess’s idea or the Martial Saint’s.
Princess Zhaoyang didn’t say anything and acted as if she didn’t see anything. Under everyone’s gaze, she walked to the Crown Prince’s seat and sat down before waving at Hu Jiujiu.
“Come here and go to the back. That’s my Fourth Brother. Don’t kill him!”
Princess Zhaoyang’s words as if she was ordering a servant made Li Huanjun furious. Just when he was about to reprimand Zhaoyang for not being rude, he saw that the female Martial Saint had actually walked behind Zhaoyang without saying anything.
Everyone in the court was petrified and stunned.
God, what did they see?
Behind Princess Zhaoyang stood this female Martial Saint. They thought back to the situation back then. Wasn’t Princess Zhaoyang’s residence where this Martial Saint knelt?
For a moment, the atmosphere in the hall became very strange.
At this time, Princess Zhaoyang saw the two memorials on the table. One of them was the prince consort chosen for her. She sneered and directly tore the memorial into pieces under everyone’s gaze.
“Father, I feel that the marriage of the Crown Princess should be more cautious. Therefore, it’s better for me to decide who to marry in the future…”
She had brought Hu Jiujiu to stand behind her. She did not believe that her father would dare to go against her wishes.
Didn’t her father always sacrifice her for the sake of the country? She wanted to see how her father would choose now that the Martial Saint was standing behind her.