“Ha, that’s right. Later, I’ll go urge my father to hurry up and propose the marriage!” Du Xiaoli clapped her hands together and decided she would talk with Du Yunhan the next time she saw him. “Who won first place for that competition?”
“First place was Mo Yang. Second place was Northern Yuan’s Wen Ze. Third place was Eastern Li’s Shen Yizhi. Fourth place was Northern Yuan’s Man Baichuan. Fifth place was your older brother. Sixth place was Northern Qi’s Beiling Fu. Seventh place was Shui Xiefan,” Han Mingxiang listed all the people who ranked in the top 7. Then she sighed emotionally, “You didn't get to see them, but today's finals were really exciting! Every participant was exceptional, and there was only a slight gap in skill level between each ranking. However, it was fortunate that this year’s scores involved your method of adding a decimal point after the score. There were two or three people whose scores differed by that extra little bit after the decimal point!”
Du Xiaoli took the chance to say, “Those who are able to represent their country in a competition are certainly their country’s most incredible!”
“If Beiling Yicheng could have participated in the competition, the ranking would definitely be different!” Han Mingxiang said with a sigh.
“Since all of them are so exceptional, I wonder if our Princess Changle’s heart was moved by any of those elegant gentlemen?” Du Xiaoli teased.
“What are you talking about? How could I fall for any of them?!” Han Mingxiang denied it adamantly.
“I know, Princess. You definitely haven’t fallen for any of them. You, Princess, don’t like delicate men of this sort. Our dear princess likes the kind of man who is valiant, amazing at martial arts, and can defend the country. For example, someone like Liufeng-gege, right?” Du Xiaoli moved till her head was right in front of Han Mingxiang and gazed at the latter with wide-open eyes.
Du Xiaoli’s sudden mention of Ji Liufeng made Han Mingxiang blank out for a moment. Then when she saw Du Xiaoli’s teasing eyes, Han Mingxiang used the handkerchief in her hands to cover Du Xiaoli’s face before saying, “What nonsense are you talking about?!”
“Did I speak of any nonsense?” Du Xiaoli said as she took down Han Mingxiang’s handkerchief and returned it to her. “Princess, Liufeng-gege is pretty good. Although he may seem a bit fickle, he’s actually very devoted when it comes to love. He’s similar to General Ji in this aspect.”
Ji Lun was a noble and important general who held a governmental post of the highest rank. Despite his great prospects, he never actually remarried after his wife—the mother of Ji Liuxia and the others—passed away. So he could be considered as being affectionate to only one person.
“How did you end up talking about him?” Han Mingxiang shot a glare at Du Xiaoli.
“I’m just praising Liufeng-gege!” Du Xiaoli said with a grin. “Princess, this is the scent of someone who is revealing what she intends to hide
?”
“What ‘revealing what she intends to hide’?!”
“I saw it that day,” Du Xiaoli said while winking. “Princess, you like Liufeng-gege, don’t you?”
Han Mingxiang was silent for several seconds before finally letting out a sigh. She said, “Liuxia and the others all haven’t figured it out. I didn’t expect that I would actually be seen through by you.”
“That’s because Liuxia-jiejie’s personality is too carefree. She simply wouldn’t notice this. If it were Jiangzhuo-jiejie and Yalan-jie, they would definitely have figured it out long ago,” Du Xiaoli said with a pout. “From what I saw that day, it doesn’t seem like Liufeng-gege is uninterested in you, Princess. So why don’t you ask His Majesty to request a marriage for you?”
Han Mingxiang smiled bitterly for a moment before saying somewhat mournfully, “Liufeng and I… It’s impossible for us to be together.”
“Why?” Du Xiaoli didn’t understand.
“It’s because I have been burdened with the fate of getting married for an alliance,” Han Mingxiang said helplessly.
Thinking of how Meng Jiangzhuo had once mentioned about a marriage alliance, Du Xiaoli asked, “Didn’t you say previously that there were no further developments regarding this? Why do you still need to get married for an alliance?”
“Previously, the matter of a marriage alliance did indeed quieten down, so I too thought that I would no longer need to get married for an alliance. However, a month ago, Elder Brother received documents from Northern Yuan, and an intent for a marriage alliance was mentioned inside them. No envoy was sent over here for negotiations, but from what Elder Brother said, he seems willing to use the marriage alliance in exchange for peace. After all, Feng Ming has already experienced so much war. If a marriage alliance can be used to exchange for peace, then it is something everyone will be willing to see happen.”
“But you’re not willing to do so, are you?”
“As the only princess of the royal family who is of appropriate age to get married, what right do I have to disagree?” Han Mingxiang said in a pained tone.
“Then what about Liufeng-gege?”
Thinking of Ji Liufeng, the emotions in Han Mingxiang’s gaze became somewhat blurred, filled with sadness as well as love. “Liufeng—he too knows it’s impossible for the two of us. Back then, I was still young, and he said he wanted to lay down an achievement first. Now, he has succeeded, but I am no longer that young girl from back then!”
Reaching out to hold Han Mingxiang’s hands, Du Xiaoli said encouragingly, “But the marriage has yet to be set. Isn’t that so? If you still have a chance to fight for it, you should do so. After all, this is a matter that affects the rest of your life.”
“Mm, I will.” Han Mingxiang nodded. “Okay, okay. Let’s not talk about me anymore. You should hurry up and grow older. Then when you marry into my family, I can be like my 6th elder brother and call you my little sister-in-law!”
Hearing the words ‘little sister-in-law’, Du Xiaoli felt a drop of cold sweat run down her face. It seemed that this Han Mingyuan had already been calling her that since a long time ago.
At this moment, Xia Yuan walked in and said the bathwater was ready.
“You should go have a bath first. I’m sure you haven’t had a good rest these past three days, so rest well after your bath. I’ve already asked His Majesty to let me help you manage this competition, and he has agreed to it. So I’ll be staying here for this period of time. I just hope you won’t say that I’m annoying.”
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