Duke Xu’s estate.
An old man with graying hair sat in a wheelchair, watching the dust-covered Xu Zhaoxing return with gentle kindness.
The old man was Xu Bainian, one of Tianchen’s seven dukes and the marshal of the Flying Flower Army.
Beside Xu Bainian stood a strikingly beautiful woman with cool, elegant features and peerless looks. In appearance, she resembled Xu Zhaoxing by at least sixty percent, or rather, she looked like an older version of Xu Zhaoxing by a few years.
This woman was Xu Zhaoyue, Xu Zhaoxing’s biological elder sister.
Xu Bainian had three sons. Although the second and third were somewhat ordinary, the eldest, Xu Zhan, possessed extraordinary military talent. He entered the army at the age of ten and followed Xu Bainian on campaigns year after year, repeatedly earning great merit. Before he was even thirty, he was hailed as the foremost among Tianchen’s young renowned generals, dazzling beyond measure.
At that time, the Xu family sat firmly at the top of Tianchen Dynasty’s hierarchy of nobles and dignitaries.
But heaven is unpredictable. Eight years ago, the eight clans of the wasteland invaded the border, and the Flying Flower Army was dispatched to the Northern Plains for support. There, the Flying Flower Army fell into an ambush set by the Longevity Sect and the eight clans. Xu Zhan died at the hands of a Longevity Sect expert, and Xu Bainian was also severely wounded in that battle, with both legs severed by a Longevity Sect expert.
The Flying Flower Army, famous throughout the land, was trapped deep in enemy territory and was in danger of total destruction!
At that time, the Northern Plains army was being held in place by the five hundred thousand troops gathered by the eight clans and could not come to their aid.
As for the dynasty’s side, the nearest reinforcements would still need seven days to arrive.
Seven days would have been enough for the soldiers of the Flying Flower Army to be slaughtered again and again.
When the news reached the imperial city, almost everyone believed that both the Xu family and the Flying Flower Army would become history and cease to exist.
No one expected a miracle to happen.
In that battle, besides Xu Bainian and Xu Zhan personally taking the field, Xu Bainian also brought along his eldest granddaughter, who had shown unmatched military talent since childhood, to accompany the army and broaden her horizons. She was assigned to the rear to oversee the grain and supplies.
After receiving news that the army had been surrounded, Xu Zhaoyue immediately abandoned all the supplies and, relying only on the Flying Flower Army’s remaining three thousand supply troops, launched a surprise assault on the enemy’s weakest defense, carving out a path of survival for the main force of the Flying Flower Army and carrying Xu Bainian out of the pile of corpses.
Afterward, Xu Zhaoyue was given emergency command and took the position of the Flying Flower Army’s Young Commander, leading the army in resistance against the wasteland. After half a year of grueling battle, they won a great victory!
This battle established Xu Zhaoyue’s prestige within the Flying Flower Army. From then on, she commanded the army for eight years, fighting dozens of battles of all sizes against foreign enemies, killing hundreds of thousands, and earning the title of Goddess of Death.
Yet the common people never regarded her as a female hero defending the nation. Instead, rumors spread far and wide, painting Xu Zhaoyue as nine feet tall, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, with a face like a washbasin, and claiming that her hobbies included eating fresh human livers and drinking wine from human heads.
As a result, the name Xu Zhaoyue could once make children stop crying at night in the imperial city.
Only Old Duke Xu, who had weathered half a lifetime of storms and was now nearing the end of his life, understood Xu Zhaoyue’s hardship. If the Xu family still had even one man who could stabilize the situation, they would never have let Zhaoyue, a woman, don armor and mount a horse.
“Tell me how the Ninth Prince knocked out the Imperial Grandson.”
Xu Bainian asked slowly.
“It went like this…”
Xu Zhaoxing recounted exactly what had happened at the city gate, then added her own opinion. “Chen Chu is way too bold. Does he really think he can fool His Majesty with a few petty tricks?”
Xu Bainian gave no response, instead turning to Xu Zhaoyue. “Zhaoyue, what do you think of the Ninth Prince, Chen Chu?”
Xu Zhaoyue brushed aside a strand of loose hair and said slowly, “The Ninth Prince never expected His Majesty to believe his frame-up, and he doesn’t care either. He deliberately fabricated the appearance of the Imperial Grandson bullying his woman and then striking in anger, all just to disgust the Imperial Grandson.”
“It can be judged that he is extremely arrogant, and also utterly fearless.”
Hearing this, Xu Bainian nodded in approval. “The Ninth Prince was personally nurtured by our Tianchen Dynasty’s Ancestor. He has the capital to be arrogant.”
After hearing the conversation between her grandfather and sister, Xu Zhaoxing finally understood. “So even without any reason at all, Chen Chu would still dare to beat the Imperial Grandson!”
Xu Zhaoyue thought to herself: I’m afraid he would not only dare to beat him, but also dare to kill him.
It was fortunate that Grandfather had sent Zhaoxing to accompany Yu Fengcheng to the Imperial Mausoleum to receive him. Only then could their family learn about the Ninth Prince, Chen Chu, at the first possible moment.
He was not only no mediocre talent, but also extremely remarkable, a figure very difficult to fathom.
By suppressing three thousand Northern Plains Iron Cavalry all by himself, Chen Chu had fully proven that he had entered the fourteenth rank.
The moment he entered the imperial city, he dared to kick Imperial Grandson Chen Fengyi until he vomited blood and passed out, clearly showing that he held no reverence for His Majesty.
A prince like this had appeared in the Tianchen Dynasty, but whether that was a blessing or a curse remained unknown.
At this point, Xu Bainian suddenly asked a rather indirect question. “Zhaoxing, what do you think of the Ninth Prince, Chen Chu, as a person?”
Xu Zhaoxing did not understand. Scratching her head, she thought for a moment and said, “He is very full of himself, self-righteous, and arrogant. He looks down on everyone just because he has a little bit of realm…”
Xu Zhaoyue’s pretty face twitched. So the fourteenth-rank Unfettered Realm was just “a little bit of realm”~
How many fourteenth-rank experts could the world produce?
Still, her younger sister had always been sharp-tongued, so it was understandable.
Xu Zhaoyue realized what her grandfather was thinking and reminded him, “Grandfather, should we wait and watch a little longer?”
Xu Bainian shook his head. “Adding flowers to brocade is not as precious as giving charcoal in the snow. If we don’t show goodwill now, it will be meaningless once the Ninth Prince rises.”
Then he looked seriously at Xu Zhaoxing. “Zhaoxing, Grandfather asks you this: if Grandfather wants you to marry the Ninth Prince, would you be willing?”
Marry?
The single word “marry” struck Xu Zhaoxing like thunder, leaving her completely flustered!
She had never even considered marriage.
“Grandfather, I…”
Xu Zhaoxing felt completely dizzy, unable to react at all.
“If you are unwilling, then forget it. I sent you to receive the Ninth Prince because the current situation in Tianchen is hard to predict, and His Majesty would not make an unnecessary decision. He wanted to bring the Ninth Prince back, so he must have had a purpose. The facts have also proven that the Ninth Prince is no ordinary fish in a pond. Even if His Majesty does not depose the Imperial Grandson and make him crown prince, he will certainly be given important responsibilities.”
“And I don’t have much time left. Both the Xu family and the Flying Flower Army need a pillar of stability.”
Xu Zhaoyue added, “The Imperial Grandson’s various actions have already proven that he is not a suitable backer. As for getting close to the other princes, leaving aside whether aligning with them is correct, at the very least His Majesty would be displeased. The only possible choice may be the Ninth Prince, who has just returned to the imperial city.”
“Little Sister, speak your mind. If you are unwilling, your elder sister can marry in your place.”
There was one crucial point that neither Xu Bainian nor Xu Zhaoyue mentioned: if Xu Zhaoxing married Chen Chu, it would draw the Xu family closer to the Ninth Prince. But if the Ninth Prince later lost power, even if he were expelled from the imperial city, the Xu family could still make another choice.
But if Xu Zhaoyue married him, it would bind the Xu family and the Ninth Prince together, sharing both glory and ruin.
That was also why, when His Majesty ordered Xu Bainian to send a granddaughter to escort the Ninth Prince back to the imperial city, Xu Bainian chose Xu Zhaoxing.
The Xu family knew too little about the Ninth Prince.
They could not rashly weld the Xu family and the Ninth Prince together.
“I, I didn’t say I was unwilling to marry. I just didn’t react in time. For the Xu family, I’ll reluctantly… marry him!”
After saying this in a disjointed rush, Xu Zhaoxing turned her flushed face aside. In her mind, scenes of her interactions with Chen Chu in the carriage surfaced one after another, making her cheeks even redder and hotter.
So embarrassing.
Seeing this, Xu Bainian and Xu Zhaoyue suddenly understood. Zhaoxing had not rejected the Ninth Prince; she was merely shy, as girls often are.
Right then, Yu Chenghua strode in laughing loudly, holding an imperial decree in one hand. “Old Duke Xu, wonderful news! His Majesty’s grant-marriage decree has arrived!!”