Jiaojiao is getting married, and the male leads fall for her and fight over her.

Chapter 158: Imperial Decree Granting Marriage?

Pei Dongzhou replied, "That would be an honor for me and my cousin."

He looked at Shen Shuyi, who was standing there dumbfounded.

Shen Shuyi was feeling incredibly frustrated. Her fake marriage with Pei Dongzhou couldn't possibly become real just because Emperor Jinglong said something.

Otherwise, if the emperor finds out that their marriage is off, wouldn't that be considered deceiving the emperor?

"Yes, it is an honor for me and my cousin, the Crown Prince, to have Your Majesty grace us with your presence," Shen Shuyi said insincerely.

At this moment, a eunuch entered and announced that Li Yi had arrived.

When Li Yi entered and saw that Shen Shuyi and Pei Dongzhou were indeed in the Imperial Study, he said to Emperor Jinglong, "Father, please judge this. Dongzhou knew that I liked Cousin Shen, yet he still tried to take her away. Isn't that too immoral?"

Because he still trusted his intuition, he simply brought it up with his father, hoping to force Prince Pei to admit that it was a presumptive marriage.

However, judging from the current situation, Prince Pei has not shown any intention to clarify the matter.

"Your Highness is mistaken. My cousin and I grew up together and are deeply in love. Your Highness is the one who came later. How can you say that I stole her?" Pei Dongzhou did not tolerate Li Yi and directly confronted him in front of the emperor.

"Dongzhou, Father is right here. Tell me clearly, are you and Cousin Shen really engaged?" Li Yi refused to believe it and pressed on.

Pei Dongzhou said frankly, "Wasn't the Prince present at the time? There were so many witnesses, so the engagement was definitely real."

Li Yi looked at the silent Shen Shuyi: "What did Cousin Shen say?"

Feeling like she was being roasted, Shen Shuyi could only bite the bullet and reply, "My cousin, the Crown Prince, and I are already engaged. Why does Your Highness need to keep pestering me?"

Li Yi fell silent.

So, is it true that he acted like a petty person?

"Have you set a wedding date yet? I want to attend your wedding banquet!" Li Yi retorted, not to be outdone.

He still found it unbelievable; how could Prince Pei really marry Cousin Shen?

Shen Shuyi was stumped by the question, and she subconsciously looked at Prince Pei.

Pei Dongzhou gave her a reassuring look: "If Your Highness can attend my and my cousin's wedding, we would certainly welcome you."

"I'm asking what date the wedding is scheduled for," Li Yi said, his gaze fixed intently on him.

"The wedding date has not yet been set..."

Before Pei Dongzhou could speak, Li Yi scoffed, "Since this is a presumptive marriage, there's no rush to set a date, right?"

Emperor Jinglong was somewhat surprised to hear "presumed marriage": "Presumed marriage?"

Pei Dongzhou replied, "Perhaps His Highness is unwilling to believe that my cousin and I are engaged, and insists that it is a presumptive engagement. The reason why the wedding date has not yet been set is simply because my mother has not yet agreed to the marriage."

Emperor Jinglong understood: "Perhaps I can issue an imperial edict to bestow the marriage."

Shen Shuyi was startled upon hearing this. How could a marriage be arranged by imperial decree?
Pei Dongzhou looked over and gave her a reassuring look.

"I appreciate Your Majesty's kindness, but I still hope that my mother can accept my cousin from the bottom of her heart," Pei Dongzhou replied neither humbly nor arrogantly.

Li Yi scoffed from the side, "Maybe in the end you won't even marry Cousin Shen, which would only delay her marriage. If you truly cared about Cousin Shen, why would you..."

“Your Highness is overthinking it. My cousin, the Heir Apparent, and I are of one mind, and we are confident that we can persuade Aunt to accept this marriage,” Shen Shuyi interjected.

She quickly remembered that this was in front of the Emperor, and she shouldn't have lost her composure.

Fortunately, Emperor Jinglong did not reprimand her for her inappropriate behavior; instead, he acknowledged her and Prince Pei's account.

"Dongzhou is always meticulous in his work, so it's understandable that he doesn't need my decree for a marriage. Fine, I won't interfere in the marriages of you young people anymore." Emperor Jinglong said, then turned to Li Yi and said, "Prince Jin, as you can see, Miss Shen and Dongzhou are in love and have already discussed marriage, so you shouldn't interfere anymore."

Li Yi thought to himself, "My father, the emperor, is actually siding with outsiders. Is he even my biological father?" "All of you, step down. Shuyi, stay." Emperor Jinglong suddenly issued another decree.

Shen Shuyi was taken aback and panicked a little.

Could it be that the emperor has discovered something fishy about her marriage to Prince Pei and wants to question her more thoroughly?

She was very flustered and looked to Prince Pei for help.

Pei Dongzhou had no choice this time; he couldn't possibly take his cousin away under His Majesty's nose. "Cousin, don't be afraid. His Majesty is a kind and good person."

Emperor Jinglong gave Pei Dongzhou a deep look; this was the first time he had heard a subject describe him as a "good person."

When Shen Shu saw Pei Dongzhou leave, he felt as if his reliance had been lost.

But she was on high alert, fearing that Emperor Jinglong would think she looked down on Li Yi and would make things difficult for her.

"When did you move into the Marquis of Pingyang's residence?" Emperor Jinglong asked, breaking the silence after scrutinizing Shen Shuyi for a while.

Shen Shuyi was surprised by the simple question. She felt relieved and answered truthfully: "My mother passed away early and moved into the Marquis's mansion before I was old enough to know anything about it."

"She left so early?" Emperor Jinglong murmured silently.

Shen Shuyi was taken aback. Was the "she" that Emperor Jinglong was referring to Pei Zhichun?

For a moment she didn't know how to answer, so she simply remained silent.

"How have you been living in the Marquis's residence? Has the Pei family mistreated you?" Emperor Jinglong asked again.

Shen Shuyi replied respectfully, "Everyone in the Marquis's mansion treats me very well, especially the old lady, my cousin the heir, and my third cousin."

"My third cousin is from Xizhou?" Emperor Jinglong's eyes flickered slightly.

He had also heard that Pei San and Li Yi were close friends and acquaintances.

"Exactly."

"You say Dongzhou treats you well? As far as I know, Dongzhou is a man who doesn't know how to cherish women and keeps his distance from them. Are you sure he treats you well?" Emperor Jinglong was skeptical.

Shen Shuyi could understand Emperor Jinglong's confusion. She also felt that although Prince Pei seemed kind and gentle, he was actually very cold-blooded.

But Prince Pei treated her very well; whenever she encountered a problem, Prince Pei would help her immediately.

Even though she was being targeted by Li Yi, Prince Pei still arranged her engagement in order to help her.

Sometimes I'm just too nice to her, which makes her feel unreal and uneasy.

She felt that as the male lead, Prince Pei was being a little too kind to her, the cannon fodder female supporting character.

“It’s true. Whenever I encounter difficulties, it’s always my cousin, the Crown Prince, who helps me. Apart from my maternal grandmother, my cousin, the Crown Prince, treats me the best.” This was Shen Shuyi’s honest statement.

"If that's the case, then Dongzhou is a suitable candidate for marriage."

Emperor Jinglong's words made Shen Shuyi want to laugh.

The issue now isn't whether she wants to marry or not; it's that her relationship with Pei Dongzhou was never meant to be. Judging from the Emperor's casual tone, could he be deliberately lowering her guard, subtly testing her?
Otherwise, why would they have kept her here and asked her about Prince Pei?

"Your Majesty said so."

"When you and Dongzhou get married, I will come to your wedding banquet." Emperor Jinglong stared at her for a long time before allowing Shen Shuyi to leave.

　A new month is here! Wishing everyone good luck!

　　(End of this chapter)