Chapter 942: I’ll Pick One Then
As soon as he said the words, he felt the temperature around him plummet to freezing point, and the coldness seeped into his bones. There was this one moment that his keen sixth sense almost made his legs go wobbly and give way, but that ice-cold aura vanished just as quickly as if it had never appeared before.
Ming Yao summoned his courage to cast a fleeting glance at Rong Xiu, only to see the latter’s cold and dark eyes. Unable to tell what was on the latter’s mind, he quickly retracted his gaze and looked down uneasily.
It was a well-known fact that Rong Xiu kept his distance from women, and it was widely discussed by many ever since he ascended the throne. Still, he would always firmly turn women away.
Once, a venerable secretly arranged for two women to wait on Rong Xiu. Although Rong Xiu wasn’t interested, it wasn’t polite to refuse the venerable right in his face, so he sent the two women to do miscellaneous ch.o.r.es instead.
Things could’ve ended just like that, but those two women felt indignant over the fact that they weren’t able to even enter his palace and thus plotted to drug his tea in hopes that they could go from rags to riches. Alas, they didn’t know that Rong Xiu was well-versed in medicine.
The cup of tea was smashed to pieces right there and then, while the two women were dragged out to be beaten to death in public. The point was that Rong Xiu even specially invited that venerable to watch the punishment.
Knowing that he was in the wrong, the venerable dared not say anything despite being tricked by Rong Xiu. After this incident, he went into seclusion right away.
This matter was then widely spread, and everyone began to behave themselves when they found out how ruthless Rong Xiu could be to women.
Rong Xiu thus had some peace and quiet for a long time after that. No matter how anxious the others were, they didn’t dare to step out of their boundaries again.
But as time pa.s.sed and the spot of Princess Consort was still empty despite it being a few years since Rong Xiu took the throne, the ma.s.ses started getting antsy again. This was only natural since everyone wanted the spot of Princess Consort for themselves. The entire clan would rise in status should a young lady from their clan get married to Rong Xiu and become Princess Consort. When the benefits of a certain matter became imaginably huge, the people’s courage and motivation became greater as well.
The reasons why Ming Yao dared to come forward with this proposal this time were that he had 36 Respected Elder Ming behind him and that he believed the Princess Consort issue was a valid reason n.o.body would oppose.
They dared not do anything about it in the past since the reason that Rong Xiu refused to marry might be that he had just a.s.sumed the throne and thus didn’t have firm political power. But now that he was firmly seated in his position, it didn’t make sense if he continued to refuse to take a wife.
“It seems that Elder Ming Yao and the rest are very concerned about my marriage,” said Rong Xiu after a brief silence.
He’s neither angry nor rejecting my idea outright. Does that mean we have a chance? Delighted to hear this response, Ming Yao hurriedly bowed and said, “You’re the core of the clans, so it’s only natural that everyone is concerned since you’ve yet to decide on your Princess Consort. Thus, I’m here for the sake of you and the rest of the clans!”
“Oh? It sounds like you already have a plan in mind,” said Rong Xiu with slight interest.
Feeling greatly encouraged, Ming Yao rushed to explain, “To tell you the truth, although you haven’t been actively considering these matters, the rest of us have been thinking about it on your behalf. We’ve already selected the most outstanding women from several clans. As long as you give us the approval, we’ll arrange for them to come to your birthday celebration for you to meet them. I’m sure you’ll be able to find the woman of your liking among them.”
Rong Xiu laughed. “I wonder which clans they are from? I haven’t been paying much attention to these matters in the past.”
Ming Yao thus said a string of names. Apart from his own clan, several other clans that got along pretty well with them were also involved in this matter.
Rong Xiu patiently waited for him to finish speaking before asking, “It seems like you guys have prepared this for a long time. How come I haven’t heard 36 Respected Elder Ming mention it before?”
Ming Yao’s eyes flickered out of fl.u.s.ter as he laughed it off. “Well… He’s often not around, so we didn’t dare to bother him with these matters.”
The truth, however, was that they had already mentioned this matter to 36 Respected Elder Ming when they sought him out previously. But not only did 36 Respected Elder Ming coldly shoot down their idea, he even warned them not to think about it. The latter knew that Rong Xiu would naturally have his own plans when it came to such matters, so whoever tried to interfere in his affairs was just courting their own death.
Though after Ming Yao and the rest went back and thought about it again, they still refused to give up on this opportunity. They couldn’t help thinking that Rong Xiu might pick a lady from their clan.
Although the clan owed its current status to 36 Respected Elder Ming, he had grown old, and he tended to avoid being a.s.sociated with the clan instead of putting in a good word for them. Everyone was secretly disappointed in 36 Respected Elder Ming as they thought that he was doing this purely for the sake of protecting his own status and winning Rong Xiu’s trust.
Hence, they would rather bank on this chance than remain at the status quo. This was also why they had chosen to work with a few other clans to push this idea forward and why they had specifically acted in 36 Respected Elder Ming’s absence.
“I see…” Rong Xiu smiled as he nodded in understanding. What a shame. There goes 36 Respected Elder Ming’s years of effort in trying to protect his clan from trouble. Despite going to great lengths, he still failed to stop them from getting into trouble in the end. Once the seed of greed is planted into one’s head, it’s hard to get rid of it.
Ming Yao didn’t seem to find Rong Xiu’s smile the slightest bit dangerous. On the contrary, he thought that their plan had worked and was secretly delighted about it.
“In that case, why don’t you invite the rest of the clans to partic.i.p.ate as well?”
“Oka—” Ming Yao couldn’t believe his ears as he looked at Rong Xiu in shock. “W-what? T-the rest of the clans?”
“It’s two months away from my birthday celebration. All the clans will come to celebrate my birthday anyway, so isn’t it better to have everyone join in?”
“B-but…” Seeing how Rong Xiu seemed to be serious about it, Ming Yao felt that things were beginning to develop out of his control. But this is something that we’ve discussed and agreed upon with the other clans! We’ll lose our advantage if the rest of the clans join in as well! There are so many clans! There’s no telling who His Grace would choose! The number of women who want to get married to him is more than we can count! People didn’t dare to say anything in the past because he didn’t have the intention of taking on a wife, but once they know that he’s choosing his Princess Consort… I can’t imagine how fierce the compet.i.tion will be! It’ll be a wasted trip if he ends up choosing someone else!
Ming Yao wanted to object to the idea, but standing in front of him was their esteemed ruler. Not daring to utter the word ‘no,’ he could only say, “We’ll… do as you say, Your Grace!”