This scholar is a bit cruel

Chapter 381 Declaration of Marriage
Silver Cold Palace.

After Princess Yin Ning returned, she went into the secret chamber to continue her cultivation.

At this moment, a guard came to report: "Lord Luo requests an audience."

Yin Ning was puzzled. She left the secret room and went to the courtyard outside, where she asked someone to bring her in.

As soon as Luo Zijun entered the courtyard, she said, "Second Princess, I have a question for you. When you went to visit the fox clan with the Queen that day, did you see the fox princess?"

Yin Ning frowned upon hearing this and asked, "Why are you asking this?"

Luo Zijun's face turned pale, and she cupped her hands in greeting, saying, "Please inform me, Second Princess."

Yin Ning stared at him for a while before saying calmly, "I didn't see her, and neither did my mother."

Luo Zijun asked, "Does the Second Princess know where she was before, what she was doing, and when she appeared in the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons?"

Yin Ning narrowed her eyes and said, "I don't know."

Luo Zijun's expression shifted for a moment before she asked, "Do you know her name?"

Yin Ning replied coldly, "I don't know."

Luo Zijun paused for a moment, then cupped her hands again and said, "Second Princess, may I go and see her?"

Yin Ning said coldly, "Neither my mother nor I can see you, so what right do you have?"

Having said that, she ignored him and turned to enter the secret room.

"Second Princess..."

The stone gate was closed, and no one responded.

Luo Zijun stood there stunned for a long time before turning around and leaving.

He didn't go back, but went to the edge of the cliff outside. Familiar scenes flashed through his mind, all of them about his senior sister.

Some are from when they were children, and some are from when they grew up.

Shortly after he left, the door to the secret chamber opened, and Yin Ning left her palace and went to her mother's palace.

"Is that all he asked?"

After listening to her report, the Queen pondered for a moment and then asked.

Yin Ning nodded and said, "After seeing that gift, he went to see me immediately."

The queen's scarlet eyes flashed with a sharp light: "It seems that he may very well know that fox princess."

"It is said that the fox princess only recently crossed the sea to come here."

Yin Ning's expression shifted: "Could it be that she had been hiding in Daliang all along?"

The Queen did not continue on this matter, but picked up the letter on the table and said, "Of the eighteen vassal states, fifteen have already raised troops to support that fox princess. The Fire Wolves of the Underground Cave are doomed. It is estimated that there will be a result within a month."

Yin Ning glanced at the letter in her hand and asked, "What does Mother need me to do?"

The Queen looked at her and said in a calm tone, "You don't need to do anything, just keep an eye on him. Since that fox princess has sent a gift, I'm sure there will be some more things to happen."

Yin Ning seemed to have vaguely guessed something, and said, "If the other party wants him..."

The Queen gave a half-smile: "Perhaps then you won't have to worry about it anymore."

Yin Ning fell silent.

If that human boy chooses to leave and go to the fox clan, then she should be able to give up completely, right?
Of course, he could bring her along.

But given her personality, would she willingly accept being inferior to others?

Yin Ning returned to the secret chamber, but had no heart for cultivation. After pondering for a while, she left the secret chamber and came to a small courtyard behind it.

He hasn't come back yet.

Bai Meixue was sitting alone in the room, quietly reading a book.

Yin Ning walked to the window, looked at the desolate room, and couldn't help but reveal a playful smile: "Three days of entanglement, and now it's time to start spending the night alone?"

Bai Meixue looked up at her: "Is something the matter?"

Yin Ning replied calmly, "It's nothing."

Bai Meixue ignored her and continued reading her book.

Yin Ning stared at her for a while longer, then asked, "Where is he? Did he go to find that woman named A Wu?"

Bai Meixue did not answer, and continued to turn the pages of her book.

Yin Ning sneered and prepared to leave.

Bai Meixue suddenly asked, "When can we leave?"

Yin Ning stopped, a strange smile appearing on her face: "Anytime is fine, today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, anytime is fine."

A hint of doubt appeared in Bai Meixue's eyes.

"If he wants to."

Yin Ning added this last sentence, then left with a cold smile.

Bai Meixue watched her cold figure walk out of the courtyard, a thoughtful look appearing between her brows.

Not long after, Luo Zijun returned, looking preoccupied.

Bai Meixue put down the book in her hand, stared at him for a while, and said softly, "She just came to tell me that we can leave at any time."

Luo Zijun nodded, still looking distracted.

Bai Meixue said, "Then let's set off today."

"Ah."

Luo Zijun responded and was about to sit down when she suddenly snapped out of her daze and looked at her, asking, "Set off? Where to?"

Bai Meixue looked at him calmly and said, "Naturally, I want to go back to Daliang. Where else do you want to go?"

"Back to Daliang?"

Luo Zijun paused, her expression momentarily dazed, then nodded and said, "Of course I have to go back to Daliang... I really do have to go back..."

He paused, then added, "But..." "But what?"

Bai Meixue looked at him calmly and said, "Is there someone here that you can't bear to part with?"

Before Luo Zijun could answer, Shui Wu's slightly panting voice suddenly came from outside: "Brother Zijun, I need to talk to you. May I come in?"

Luo Zijun paused for a moment, then walked to the window and said, "Come in."

Shui Wu ran in from the doorway, holding an envelope in her hand. She came to the window and said, "This letter must have fallen out of that brocade box. I just saw it in the room. It should be for you."

She handed the letter in through the window.

Luo Zijun's expression shifted. She took the letter and, seeing that the envelope was blank and nothing was written on it, immediately opened it.

Inside was a yellowed piece of paper.

Luo Zijun carefully unfolded the paper and found four large characters written at the top: "Declaration of Marriage!"

"Marriage declaration?"

He paused for a moment, then quickly looked at the following text: "I, Luo Zijun, also known as Xu Xuan, today formally marry (missing character) and become husband and wife. No matter what happens in the future, (missing character) will always be my one and only wife, my forever..."

Two small holes were dug out in the two places where the characters were missing, clearly indicating that the names were deliberately removed.

His name was scrawled at the bottom, along with bloodstains and fingerprints.

Luo Zijun stared blankly at the "Marriage Declaration," reading it several times in a row. Suddenly, a vague image of a day when she was a child flashed into her mind, showing her being beaten black and blue, bleeding from the nose, and being threatened to write.

He couldn't remember when he wrote this "Declaration of Marriage," because he vaguely remembered that he had written many similar things, all of which he was forced to write under threats of violence.

"It really is her..."

At this moment, my mind is filled with images of her as a child—her arrogant, domineering, easily angered, jealous, and fierce demeanor.

"Marriage declaration?"

Before he knew it, Bai Meixue had come to his side, her gaze fixed on the yellowed paper in his hand, her expression subtly shifting.

Luo Zijun put it away, looked at her, opened her mouth, but didn't know how to explain.

"So, you're not leaving?"

After a long silence, Bai Meixue spoke, her expression now calm.

Luo Zijun said awkwardly, "Let's go, but..."

"who is she?"

Bai Meixue asked.

She knew he liked to philander and had many romantic entanglements, but she never expected that there would be one here, and it seemed to be a vixen.

Shui Wu didn't leave; she hid outside and eavesdropped.

She was genuinely curious too.

"Hey……"

Luo Zijun sighed deeply and said, "To be honest, I'm a little confused about this matter as well."

He took a deep breath and said, "I don't know that fox princess, nor do I know anyone from the fox clan. But I know whose this 'Marriage Declaration' and that rolling pin are."

The room remained silent, awaiting his reply.

"It belongs to my senior sister."

He said with a complicated expression.

Bai Meixue paused for a moment, then asked, "Your senior sister? Which senior sister?"

Suddenly, she understood something.

"Childhood sweethearts, innocent and inseparable, always in a state of ambiguity... It turns out you two had already secretly pledged your lives to each other."

She certainly knew the woman from the pharmacy, but she never expected her to appear here.

Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Shuiwu quickly left.

"It seems you won't be returning to Daliang. Fine, let those people from Chujian Bookstore and Grand View Garden wait, let the Queen wait, and your sister-in-law, and those women from the outer city... Anyway, you've almost forgotten about them..."

"..."

On this day, Luo Zijun's worries and troubles weighed heavily on her heart, like the surrounding mountains.

That night, Miss Bai went to Shui Wu's room.

Luo Zijun stayed alone in her empty room all night without sleeping.

Ten days later, news arrived that the Cave Fire Wolves had suffered a crushing defeat, all their followers had surrendered, and the Fox Clan had regained control of the Snow Jade Palace.

The fox princess, who possesses the bloodline of a divine fox, will ascend the throne as empress in seven days.

All the feudal lords of the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons were to travel to the Snow Jade Palace to attend the Empress's coronation ceremony.

Snake Valley naturally received the news as well.

The snake princess returned victorious with her troops, recounting the battle that had breached the Snow Jade Palace with great pride, and then excitedly spoke of the powerful bloodline and charm of the fox princess.

"All who see him submit to his power; he shines like the bright moon in the sky, dazzling and unparalleled in the world!"

“Mother, according to the rules, each vassal king will send his heir to live in Snow Jade City to appease the emperor. Our snake clan should do the same. However, the empress took the initiative to send someone to tell me that I do not need to stay there. She also told me to come back and tell you that she likes my second sister and wants her to live in Snow Jade Palace and be her personal bodyguard.”

Upon hearing this, all the high-ranking members of the Serpent Clan were taken aback.

The Empress and the Second Princess, Yin Ning, exchanged a glance and asked in unison, "Which second sister?"

The eldest princess paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered that she seemed to have two younger sisters.

As she was wondering how to answer, the Queen's eyes flashed with a sharp light as she said, "Go, all of you. We'll set off first thing tomorrow morning."

She looked at the second princess: "Ning'er, go and inform them that no one can be absent from the Empress's coronation ceremony."

"Yes, mother."

The second princess frowned slightly, sensing that another war was about to begin.

(End of this chapter)