Discussion with the Princess at Night (Part 2)

　　The Princess seemed to be surprised by my surprised reaction.

　　"Are you not willing to marry me, Brother Ming?"

　　'We're making unfounded counter charges on the victim now?!'

　　'This att.i.tude of yours is so open-minded that you're sending chills down my spine! You think I can marry you with just a word? You think we're buying vegetables at the market here?!'

　　"Your Highness! Please make yourself clear!" I nearly leapt to my feet, "You just abruptly told me to marry you. Whatever do you mean?!'

　　"Oh, that's fair. Indeed, I should explain it to you. You and I have only just gotten acquainted, so asking you for this favour is, indeed, a little rude of me."

　　In the past, I heard that the Second Princess was obsessed with sabre arts. While she was usually witty and strong, by the sounds of it, she wasn't gifted with a silver tongue.

　　Struggling to put into words what she wanted to say, she fiddled with her soft, snow-white chin with one hand. The tip of her slender fingers gently sunk into her chin, but that made it clearer as to just how smooth and supple her skin was. It gave the viewer an urge to touch her skin.

　　After pondering to herself for a long time, she seemed to finally successfully pieced her thoughts together, "Brother Ming, can you marry me?"

　　"…" I remained silent. What she said after all that thinking nearly made me suffer an internal injury, "Your Highness, can you tell the whole story in one go?"

　　"Mm… What I mean is, are you willing to pretend to marry me?"

　　"Pretend?"

　　I suddenly had some vague understanding of where this was going.

　　"Yes, pretend."

　　The Princess looked at me with a solemn look. She blinked, "I want to ask you to do me a favour, and team up with me to defeat Jin w.a.n.gsun; then marry me in my father's presence. Rest a.s.sured, it is of course, a fake marriage. After a year or so, the two of us can find an excuse to amicably divorce."

　　'I get it now.'

　　'The Princess isn't happy with Jin w.a.n.gsun, but she didn't have a better way of avoiding him. Since his compet.i.tion was me, n.o.body would think I'd have a chance at winning, would they? That explains why the Princess courageously came to offer to help me defeat Jin w.a.n.gsun.'

　　"As for your compensation, I will allow you to take everything you obtain during your time as my husband after our amicable divorce, whether that's a manor or fields. You can take what you please."

　　'I genuinely believe that she'll allow that.'

　　'Your grandpa is a venerable elder of the Dark Robe Sect. Your father is the Emperor. Is there any likelihood of your dowry being spa.r.s.e?'

　　"However, that…" I folded my arms and did my best to a.n.a.lyse it, "This may sound rude, but I would like to ask why you trust me so much, Your Highness? Are you not afraid that I will tell His Majesty about this or refuse to divorce you, which would be disastrous for you?"

　　The Princess smiled. She maintained her usual heroic and suave demeanour.

　　"As you can see, I am a Princess, but I do not stay in the Imperial Palace for long. I spend most of my days fighting in the pugilistic world. There are many times where I'd rather be Blood Stained Gla.s.s, Li Hongzhuang. I hope this won't make me sound embarra.s.sing, but I am incompetent at embroidery, cooking and cleaning. All I know is how to wield a sabre. All of my siblings call me a dull person. Would you want to marry such a wife?"

　　After listening to her self-deprecating speech, I had a totally different thought.

　　'It goes without saying that I want to marry a virtuous wife. In saying that, my view doesn't align with having one's wife do nothing but arduously wait for her husband's return every day. Perhaps it's because I witnessed my s.h.i.+niangs live with my s.h.i.+fu as I grew up. When my s.h.i.+fu was travelling, my s.h.i.+niangs also travelled. In fact, they helped the weak and protected the people more than my s.h.i.+fu did. As a matter of fact, my s.h.i.+niangs may have been the ones who managed to protect Mount Daluo's reputation as a gallant and upright sect.'

　　'A heroic maiden as the Princess is a rare resource is the pugilistic world. Most importantly, Blood Stained Gla.s.s is a female hero that's often ranked on the Pink and Red Reflection! Previously, I didn't know that was the Princess.'

　　'Don't retire even if you get married! Bless our loyal readers with your angelic aura!'

　　And so, when she asked me if I wanted to marry her, one word popped into my mind, "Yes."