Do you know: I should be fat and you should be thin!

After making the declaration a hundred times, Zhou Ning arrived outside the Fu Ning Palace and saw the Prince of Yan with his hands behind his back, as well as eighteen scarlet-robed officials with knives held to their necks!

"Your Highness, Prince of Yan?" Zhou Ning asked.

"Zhou Ning? He is indeed very young. Now that you have abandoned the darkness and turned to the light, what else do you want?" the Prince of Yan asked.

He believed that Zhou Ning wouldn't just want one woman; a fool couldn't possibly become the top scholar!

"My sister said purple has a lot of charm, but I don't think scarlet suits me very well. What does Your Highness, the Prince of Yan, think?" Zhou Ning asked.

The Prince of Yan laughed and said, "You are a civil official, what difficulty is there in this? As long as you are willing to hand over the imperial edict and tiger tally, after I ascend the throne, I will grant you the title of Vice Chancellor (equivalent to a deputy prime minister, a core second-rank civil official position in the Great Zhou Dynasty). Not only that, I will also bestow upon you the title of Duke of Yuhang (a second-rank noble title in the Great Zhou Dynasty, belonging to the 'Duke of a Founding County' level, enjoying a fief, salary, and privileges, but without actual power to govern the people)."

Zhou Ning smiled and said, "Then I thank Your Highness, the Prince of Yan, in advance. Once Your Highness fulfills your promise, I will present the gifts with both hands! But not now!"

Knowing he couldn't force him, the Prince of Yan said, "Fine, the wedding will be held outside the palace. You are not allowed to enter!" He was still on guard. If Zhou Ning were to take the old emperor away, they would basically be waiting to die on the spot!

"Are you done talking? Bring everyone to the eaves to watch the ceremony. Our two families will keep an eye on them together, and assign two people to watch over each of them. He won't be able to cause any trouble!" Consort Rong said as she left the palace.

The Prince of Yan had no objection; having two people watch over one was a safer approach, as Zhou Ning definitely couldn't save anyone!

He still hasn't realized that when he went out, there should have been 350 people, including the 50 he sent, but only 286 people came back!

Consort Rong gave Rong Xian a wink, and Rong Xian immediately led nearly three hundred men into the palace to cooperate in keeping an eye on people!

Soon, the old emperor, Empress Cao, a group of female military officers and their families, and a group of officials were all arranged to watch the ceremony under the eaves.

Apart from the old emperor, everyone had two armed rebel soldiers behind them. If you looked closely, you would find that one of them had a happy expression on his face.

"Pengqi! It really is you!" Sheng Changbai couldn't believe it.

Zhou Ning dared not look at him. He and Rong Feiyan held the same red and green love knot, and bowed to heaven and earth side by side, then to Consort Rong and Rong Xian, and finally turned around to bow to each other as husband and wife.

Under the witness of the officials, the two cut off a lock of their hair and braided it into a love knot, thus becoming husband and wife, their love unwavering.

With the officials as witnesses, the two shared a pot of meat, and from then on, they shared joys and sorrows.

Rong Xian personally cut a gourd in half, and had the two of them each hold half of the gourd to drink from. After they finished drinking, they put the gourds back together.

Just as the two gourds were joined together to drink from the same cup, and the broken gourd was returned to one, the two families were thus united as one.

Consort Rong had a bed carried out and placed in the center of the palace. She personally scattered gold, silver, and colorful fruits onto the bed and helped hang many gauze curtains, demanding that the two consummate their marriage on the spot!

Although the female relatives of the military officers were frightened, they couldn't help but be curious. They would never encounter such a wonderful thing again in their lives!

Zhou Ning's lips twitched as he asked, "Are you serious? Don't go too far!"

He wanted to buy some time for the army to arrive, but he never thought of using sex to do so!

Besides, it wasn't mentioned in the letter!

If word gets out, how will I ever be able to face anyone again?

I can't go out in a short time; I'll be too embarrassed to leave the house.

Too much time is not a good thing either. If word gets out, I'll be called a beast!

"Sister, I don't want to!" Rong Feiyan also resisted, mainly because she remembered bad memories; it really hurt!

Besides, who would have a wedding night in front of so many people?

Consort Rong said gently, "It's alright, it doesn't hurt that much anymore. Your sister wouldn't harm you, would she?" Looking at Zhou Ning, her gentleness vanished, and she asked, "Look under the eaves, are you sure you want to refuse?"

Her meaning was clear: if Zhou Ning satisfied her, she would rescue the hostages immediately. If not, all her previous efforts would be wasted, and she would have boarded the pirate ship for nothing!

"You're ruthless! You want to see, right? Watch carefully!" Zhou Ning picked up Rong Feiyan and walked into the unique wedding room.

Between not being able to walk and the animals, he chose the latter.

Take this opportunity to recover your internal energy!

On the tent, shadowy figures crisscrossed, attacking and defending.

"Outrageous! This is an insult to scholarship!" The officials trembled like leaves, feeling both ashamed and angry.

It's too much to only be able to watch and listen!

Seeing the old emperor sigh, the Prince of Yan said smugly, "See? A wise man knows when to yield. He has everything—beauty, power, and more! I've already promised him the position of Vice Minister of State Affairs and even bestowed upon him the title of Duke of Yuhang! Even if he delivered the blood-written letter and tiger tally for you, saving your life, could you possibly give him an even higher reward? Haha!"

The old emperor roared, "Dream on! I would rather die than issue you an edict of investiture! And he can forget about rising to power overnight!"

"With Zhou Ning here, if you don't write it, I'll have him assassinate all the members of the imperial clan. If you still don't write it then, the throne will simply be passed on to another family, and you will be the biggest sinner of the Zhao family!" the Prince of Yan said madly.

The old emperor fell silent. How tragic it was that the imperial family had no relatives!

Half an hour passed, and seeing that their feet were aching and the matter was still not over, the officials began to wonder if they needed to take better care of themselves.

The women were incredibly envious; they hadn't realized it could last this long! Just standing there made their legs weak.

Consort Rong felt happy for her sister, after all, the old emperor wasn't that powerful.

She led Rongxian behind the Prince of Yan, her fingertips pinching the silver hairpin that had been hidden in her sleeve. With a sudden flick of her wrist, the hairpin pierced the back of the Prince of Yan's neck.

"Attack!" Rong Xian roared, drawing his sword and piercing through the Prince of Yan in an instant. The two of them attacked almost simultaneously, and before the Prince of Yan could even utter a cry of alarm, his body slowly went limp.

"kill!"

One of the two rebel soldiers behind each official and woman immediately switched sides, slashing down the rebel soldier next to him and finishing him off!

In the blink of an eye, more than sixty people died a violent death!

"Ah! Murder!"

The female officials and their families were all terrified. They screamed, but none of them dared to move.

"How dare you! Kill them!" The Prince of Yan's guards drew their swords and stabbed at Consort Rong!

when!

Rong Xian reacted quickly, parried the incoming sword, pushed down Consort Rong, and fought him to the death!

The scene was chaotic, with nearly a thousand imperial guards instantly engaging in a firefight.

One side was furious that the merit of following the emperor had been lost so easily, and there was even the danger of exterminating nine generations of their family!

The other side was thrilled that the risk of being executed along with nine generations of their family was gone, and they even had the merit of saving the emperor!

It's a fight to the death!

"Changbai, quickly escort His Majesty into the palace! All officials and their wives, hurry into the palace!" Zhou Ning shouted. His shout was powerful and clear, even amidst the clamor of a thousand people.

The old emperor was not far from the palace entrance. Upon hearing this, Sheng Changbai immediately protected him and retreated into the Funing Palace. The female officials and relatives did not hesitate any longer and rushed into the palace. It was too frightening outside!

Zhou Ning tore off the gauze curtain and wrapped it around Rong Feiyan. He then used his lightness skill to carry her up to the Funing Palace and put her down. He took out the firecrackers that he had previously hidden in his crotch and used his internal energy to set them off two in a row!

Boom!

Boom!

"Save my sister! Please!" Rong Feiyan pleaded as she saw Consort Rong tumbling and rolling among the rebels, in grave danger.

Zhou Ning ordered her not to move. First, he jumped down and killed two rebel soldiers from the Prince of Yan who were about to break into the palace. Then, he used all his strength to sweep his palm wind seven zhang away, instantly clearing out the rebel soldiers under the eaves. Only then did he rush to Consort Rong's side, grab her, lift her up, and throw her onto the Funing Palace with the injured Consort Rong.

"Keep an eye on Feiyan! Don't let her go down and cause trouble!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Ning leaped back to the palace entrance, his true energy flowing freely, making the gate and corridor completely impenetrable!

"Pengqi, be careful!" Sheng Changbai saw Zhou Ning standing naked at the entrance of the palace and was both anxious and afraid to go up and cause trouble!

"Close all the doors and windows! Protect His Majesty! Wait for reinforcements!" Zhou Ning dared not be careless for a moment. It seemed like he was guarding a door, but in reality, he had to guard an entire corridor!

Although the rebels didn't have such good agility, they could still break into the palace through the windows!

The old emperor exclaimed excitedly, "My dear minister! I knew it! Cough cough cough!" He had witnessed the death of the Prince of Yan before his eyes, so how could he not know that it was all a scheme? Although it was absurd, it had indeed saved most people!

Gu Tingye and his men were in a dilemma outside the city when they suddenly heard two loud noises in the clear sky. They confirmed that it was the sound of firecrackers. He immediately drew his bow and shot an arrow, killing a rebel soldier on the city wall!

"Surpass the palace to rescue the emperor! Archers, hold down the city walls! Charge with me!"

The British duke shouted, worried about his wife's safety, and joined the advance team!

......