The new emperor's first decree upon ascending the throne was to forcibly take his cousin as his

This was Jiang Wantang's first time entering the Empress Dowager's palace. The nanny serving Empress Dowager Meng was stunned when she saw her.

He immediately snapped out of his daze and said, "Please, miss."

Not long after Jiang Wantang went in, a commotion broke out inside.

This is the first time in all of Empress Dowager Meng's life that someone has dared to disobey her.

"You have quite the nerve; even the emperor wouldn't dare speak to me like that."

Jiang Wantang scoffed, "Xie Chengli is unlucky to have a mother like you. You can control him because he's your son. We're not related, so you're overstepping your bounds. Why are you meddling in other people's business?"

She came here to complete a mission: to win Xie Chengyan's heart and make him fall in love with her, not to let these arrogant ancient people cause trouble.

"You want me to marry your son right off the bat? What are you thinking, you old hag!"

These words infuriated Empress Dowager Meng, who pointed at her for a long time without being able to utter a word.

"Let me tell you, if you dare let me marry your son again, I'll come in the middle of the night and shave your head!"

You think you can bully her? No way!

*

On the other hand, Ruan Xianrong tried her best to persuade her elder brother all the way, but in the end she still couldn't convince him.

"Didn't you ever think about what would happen if those bandits were ruthless and vicious, and you really didn't make it back?"

"Niannian, you've never really liked me learning martial arts. Why is that?" Ruan Zhaolin asked, puzzled.

"Because I don't want you to go and fight bandits; you'll die."

Ruan Zhaolin chuckled, "Hey little sister, can't you wish me well for once? I haven't even left yet, and you're already saying I'm going to die."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to suppress the bandits alone. Besides, I haven't mastered martial arts yet, so I won't go so soon."

After talking for so long, I still couldn't get through to them.

I went back and told my father about it.

But her father actually agreed, not only strongly supporting his son's decision to join the army, but also encouraging him for a long time.

Her vision blurred; she knew there was no way to dissuade her.

I returned to the courtyard in a daze, and after comforting myself for a while, I felt much better.

Life went on as usual. As the day of the Emperor and Empress's wedding drew near, the Empress Dowager sent another message to the Ruan family, summoning Miaoyin to the palace.

Miaoyin didn't want to go, but after dawdling for a while, she still got into the carriage to go to the palace.

Normally, he would only stay in the palace for half a day before returning, but today he stayed in the palace for a whole day and did not return.

Concerned, Lady Sun sent someone to fetch him, but the people at the palace gate said that he had left the palace before noon.

No one was seen for a whole day and night.

The Ruan family panicked.

It's not a good thing that the Ruan family lost both of their daughters one after the other.

With the wedding just around the corner, the person disappeared. When the news reached the palace, people assumed that the Ruan family had deliberately run away from the wedding.

However, this matter could not be kept secret, and the palace would find out sooner or later, so Ruan Boheng took the initiative to go to the palace to apologize.

At this point, it's always better to take the initiative and confess than to be provoked by someone with ulterior motives.

Upon hearing the news, Xie Chengli dispatched all the palace guards to search the entire city.

Prime Minister Ruan took the initiative to apologize, but he was actually happy inside.

Miaoyin is naive and not suited to enter the palace. Not to mention the other concubines, just Empress Dowager Meng alone would be enough to make her suffer.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that her daughter was deliberately hiding herself and didn't want to be empress.

Xie Chengli was not angry; in fact, he comforted Prime Minister Ruan with a few words.

Then, changing the subject, he said, "The date for establishing an empress has already been chosen and announced to the world to comfort our ancestors. If the date is changed..."

His Majesty's wedding is a major event for the entire nation; it would be inauspicious to change the date so close to the wedding.

But Prime Minister Ruan had no better options at the moment and could only try to find the person.

He glanced at the new emperor above, but showed no sign of anxiety, as if he had a solution.

"Does Your Majesty have a remedy?"

Xie Chengli put down his brush, looked at the painting he had made, and was very satisfied. "I want to marry a girl from the Ruan family. Whether she is Miaoyin or not is irrelevant."

Ruan Boheng was startled. "Your Majesty means..."

"Minister Ruan has lost one daughter, but doesn't he have another one?"

The emperor's wedding date cannot be changed, but the bride can be replaced.

Ruan Boheng immediately knelt down, "Your Majesty, this is impermissible!"

"Why can't it be done?"

"Your Nguyen family can produce another empress, isn't Prime Minister Nguyen happy?"

Xie Chengli's smile faded. "Or is it that your Ruan family doesn't want your daughter to enter the palace, so you've resorted to this elopement scheme?"

"Your Majesty is wise; I had absolutely no such intention."

"Since you have no such intention, then Prime Minister, please go back and make preparations."

Ruan Boheng opened his mouth slightly, but still managed to say those words, "Your Majesty should know that Niannian was once kidnapped, she..."

"Prime Minister," Xie Chengli interrupted him, "Since I am willing to replace him, I don't care."

Ruan Boheng's heart sank. In truth, even if His Majesty did not marry a daughter of the Ruan family, he would still be loyal.

He is loyal to the Great Zhou Dynasty and to the Great Zhou Emperor. As long as he is a good emperor, the Ruan family will remain loyal.

"What I want is a daughter of the Ruan family, does the Prime Minister understand?" Xie Chengli reminded him one last time.

Back home, Ruan Boheng explained what had happened, which shocked Ruan Xianrong so much that she lost her appetite.

Xie Chengli wants her to marry in his place?

Are you kidding me?

Didn't he like Miaoyin? How long has it been since the talent was last seen, and now he's already replacing her?

Once he marries her, there will be no possibility for him to be with Miaoyin again in this lifetime, and he will not do such a thing.

Without having time to consider the pros and cons, he immediately boarded a carriage and entered the palace.

"Xie Chengli, what exactly do you want to do?"

Upon entering, she addressed everyone by name, forgetting her status and failing to bow.

He chuckled softly, "Niannian's here?"

He still had that lazy demeanor, unhurried and easy to manage.

This is the same person who now wants to change brides? Has he gone mad?

He waved to dismiss everyone in the hall before looking at her.

"Miaoyin didn't want to marry me, so she ran away from the wedding. This is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of her family."

The tone was light and airy, yet chilling.

"How do you know that Miaoyin ran away from her marriage and wasn't kidnapped?" Ruan Xianrong retorted.

"Whether it's true or not, now that she's disappeared, whether she ran away from the wedding or not, who can know?"

"Thank you for the gift!" she gritted her teeth.

"Are you plotting against the Ruan family?"

"If I marry into this family, the Ruan family will naturally be at your disposal. If I don't marry into this family, you'll eliminate the Ruan family, won't you?"

Xie Chengli neither agreed nor disagreed.

"Heh." Ruan Xianrong sneered, "Others really think you're just a lazy prince who doesn't care about politics. What wouldn't someone who dared to kill his own father do?"

Xie Chengli's eyes darkened. "You guessed it."

On the surface, it was said that the elder brother poisoned the father, but secretly, everyone was saying that he had killed his own father.

No one knew that the emperor was not going to live long to begin with. It was as if it had been planned that he would pass away soon after he ascended the throne.

His eyes reddened, and he looked at the dragon throne above and laughed out loud, but there was no hint of the joy of a winner, instead it sounded like a lament.

"Do you know that this dragon throne was not originally what I wanted?"

If one has desires and cannot obtain them, they become delusions, and one will have no choice but to strive for them.

Ruan Xianrong laughed in anger, "If I didn't want you to rebel, why would I?"

"Niannian," he gently hugged her, "I will do everything I can to be good to you."

"I know you hate the palace." His tone was surprisingly sincere. "But I'm different from my brother, I won't confine you."

"I will try my best to be a good emperor. After we get married, you can go wherever you want, as long as you can come back to visit me often."

"You are the only one I could ever dream of sitting in this position."

Ruan Xianrong was speechless with shock and momentarily forgot what to do.

Xie Chengli... likes her?