Second Marriage

Xiao Youning was happy for a long time because of news of her father and brother’s return to the capital. After waiting for a month, her family was returning home.

Once news spread that Marquis Ningyuan had arrived at the city gates, thousands of people in the capital flocked to the road he needed to traverse to enter the palace. They were looking forward to seeing the prestigious general who had accomplished brilliant military success.

The Emperor sent the Minister of Rites and 100 officials to make a grand welcome for him.

The streets were full of people. Xiao Youning, the general’s daughter, could only put up with it and tiptoe in the crowd.

Yuan Guo and the guards helped her make her way through the people.

When the sound of the horses was heard, the people began to cheer and waved their arms, which blocked her view even more. She was so anxious that she wanted to jump.

Powerful arms suddenly held her waist, and she was lifted up.

She was surprised and looked back to see the handsome Ye Shen.

He was still dressed in his robe. He raised an eyebrow to tell her to look ahead.

There was a lot of cheering, and the sound of horses were getting closer and closer. She quickly looked back at the street.

Her father and brother were dressed in silver armor, and the scarlet cloak behind them was blowing gently in the wind.

When a man in military uniform served his country, he was not afraid of life and death, and would draw his sword against the enemy. He would not retreat, but move forward with the thousands of soldiers. Her eyes became watery. The thousands of troops she had seen on the mountain that day seemed to be in front of her.

She was held higher than everyone else. The father and son on the military horses immediately saw her. They were surprised for a moment, but then saw Ye Shen behind her, and immediately turned cold again.

The people who were around Xiao Youning didn’t know why the father and son were looking at them, and started screaming one after another. Xiao Youning saw her father and brother maintain a straight face, while her eyes curved from smiling. She mischievously took off her sachet and threw it into the arms of her older brother.

This was a personal item from Xiao Qiye’s sister thrown at him. He wanted to catch it and couldn’t miss.

And once he came into contact with it, the hornet’s nest was stirred.

The unmarried young ladies giggled, and those who were bold began to follow suit. They threw things into his arms one after another, and some that could not find a suitable item took off their hairpins to throw.

Xiao Qiye faced the hairpins flying at him, and wondered if there was an assassin in the crowd. He avoided the hairpins awkwardly. As he acted like this, he clung to the sachet his sister threw him and looked back at her with a warning.

Xiao Youning leaned back and laughed as Ye Shen put her down. She laughed for a long time as she leaned on his shoulder.

“Maybe I’ll have a sister-in-law soon.” She was extremely delighted when she thought of her brother’s frustrated face.

Ye Shen looked at her helplessly. “Your brother is probably going to hold this against me.”

She raised an eyebrow and declared, “He will not! I will protect you!”

They both smiled at each other, and then she remembered something and asked him, “Why are you here? Don’t you have tasks to do for His Majesty? Didn’t you go back to living in the palace recently?”

“Mhm, I’ll be leaving soon. I need to get back to the palace.” Ye Shen patted her head.

Jian Yin looked at his master who fell in love and thought that love could really make icebergs melt.

As he was thinking, he glimpsed at Yuan Guo, who was laughing with her mouth covered to the side.

Well, it takes a sensible and considerate girl like Young Miss Xiao to melt the ice. With that tough and fierce girl, the iceberg will only turn into a volcano.

Jian Yin did not realize why he was making a comparison with Yuan Guo, and when Yuan Guo happened to come over, he expressed a look of disgust. It made Yuan Guo so annoyed that she stomped on his foot hard, and then they quarreled a few more times. It attracted the sideglances of Xiao Youning and Ye Shen.

——

Marquis Ningyuan also arrived with some diplomats. The Emperor stood in front of the palace gate and personally helped Marquis Ningyuan get off the war horse. Without giving a second glance at the Wala diplomats, he took Marquis Ningyuan’s arm and walked right in the middle of the road.

Marquis Ningyuan tried to step back several times, but the Emperor continued to pull him.

The Minister of Rites understood that the Emperor was deliberately reducing the Wala’s boldness. They were defeated by his general, and were no longer worthy of being afraid of. Thus, he spoke with insincerity with the Wala Princes who came.

The two princes of Wala were secretly annoyed, but they could not show even one bit of it on their faces. They were taken to Sifang Pavilion by the officials under the Ministry of Rites to rest and waited for the Emperor’s summons.

Between the two Princes of Wala, one was Prince Ah Mo, the son of the Queen, and the other was Prince Ji Han, the son of the Wala King’s beloved concubine.

Prince Ah Mo was the second son of the Queen. His older brother died of a serious illness. He was sixteen this year and did not have a wife. The Queen did help him investigate a tribal princess for him, but she had not made a final decision yet.

Prince Ji Han was one year older than Prince Ah Mo this year and was not engaged.

In addition to the peace discussions, they actually had a task.

The Wala King had issued a secret order. If one of the Emperor’s princesses could be married, then peace could be guaranteed for a period of time.

Without a doubt, this had another meaning.