Chapter 15 - Lifetime Opportunity (2/2)

Lei Xing was ready for her dismissal.

{...Then I can go, right? Better yet tell me I am incompetent and unfit to grace your ”immense” presence...that would really be the best-case scenario, then no nobles would dare try to offer marriage to a woman who displeased the emperor...}

”...then I'll ask you a question.”

Lei Xing frowned.

{...Huh? What? Why? This was unexpected...}

”Would you like to be my empress?” There was a collective gasp and everyone in the hall was shocked, the one most in shock was Lei Xing, she immediately looked up, her face was in shock and then she subconsciously glared in annoyance...then quickly corrected her expression remembering where she was.

{...Did she just glare at me?...}

Lei Xing's mind was racing.

{...What the hell? Where did that come from? Forget that, No! Not interested!...Can't say that out loud though, my head will fly...}

Lei Xing bowed her head and head, ”The position of empress is grand and extravagant...”

”Answer honestly.”

Her mouth twitched and she rolled her eyes and then calmly looked up.

{...Since you said so, I will give you the courtesy and be honest...}

She had completely forgotten her timid plan.

”Since the emperor has asked for an honest answer, I wouldn't dare to do anything else...there are two aspects to that question...The first aspect is with regards to the position of empress, the empress's position is one of extravagance, prestige, immense grace, but beyond all that it is at its core a position of heavy responsibility, which requires great qualifications to effectively hold it...”

”So you are saying you do not have the qualifications for it?” The emperor asked

”Having qualifications is one thing, but having the motivation is even more important. While a naturally smart person with the qualifications can excel, there still needs to be the motivation to propel them to excel...On the other hand, a dim hard worked can effectively be on par with one who is naturally smart...so qualifications are not necessarily as relevant as they seem...”

”Okay, and the second aspect?” The emperor nodded and calmly asked.

”The second aspect of your question is about being your empress, which at its core the also empress' position entails being a wife. I cannot make any statements with regards to that, as the wise know one should never make judgments based on the surface value. I do not have any knowledge on your benevolent person to decide one way or another...”

”Hmm, so you mean to get to know me?” The emperor asked with a raised eyebrow.

”I dare not.”

”Since you dare not, the result would be that you would never be able to make a decision, isn't that right?”

”I guess so...” Lei Xing hesitantly said.

{...What's he playing at?...}

”So, in conclusion, you are not interested in the position of being my empress, right?”

The hall was deadly silent. The ministers held their breath and her father was ready to shoot up to defend his daughter if needed, he would offer his life in penance for her disrespecting words. Prince Yi smirked, apparently amused by the turn of events.

Lei Xing hurriedly bowed as she said, ”I dare not...the position of his majesty's empress is one of extravagance, prestige and is a grace beyond this commoner's imagination...” Lei Xing spat out the words.

{...This is getting dangerous, even if you got the message, why would you throw it back at me for confirmation?...Unless you're gunning for my head?!... I may have gone too far, I think...}

”That's all, you can go back.” The emperor calmly said.

Lei Xing breathed out a sigh of relief, she bowed again, got up and glanced up a bit and saw the emperor looking to the side absentmindedly, and saw the empress dowager shooting daggers at her. She quickly turned and went down, she really thought she was about to die, she reprimanded herself for her foolish outburst of courage and reminded herself to control her stupid mouth.

She is someone who enjoys challenging conversations, and because of this stupid attribute of hers, she almost lost her head today.

{...I really need to re-evaluate myself....but this may have worked out well, thanks to his clarification even the dumbest person here is now aware that I am not interested in marrying the emperor...but more importantly, I seemed to have offended the most powerful people in this kingdom so marital prospects definitely ruined hahahaha...}

As lei Xing walked back the other candidates glared at her and scoffed at her ”stupidity” for wasting the opportunity of a lifetime, but they had all glimpsed a good strategy and those that had already gone thought that they should have let the emperor ask them something as well. There were only about seven of them left who hadn't gone up.

Lady Baihe glanced at Lei Xing, smiled condescendingly and walked forward, and following Lei Xing's steps said she couldn't think of anything to say and that the emperor could ask her any questions.

The emperor glanced at her and then asked, ”What do you think Lady Yin's words?”

Lady Baihe frowned a bit, clearly this was not the question she was expecting, but nevertheless, she happily answered, ”Not everyone knows gold is more valuable than a pebble. Some people are short-sighted and cannot see the bigger picture and cannot imagine a world beyond the confines of the pit they have dug themselves into...”

”Hmm, that is one way to view it. You can go down.” The emperor calmly said

Lei Xing sighed and rolled her eyes in her mind.

{...In other words, I am willfully blind, good to know -_-)...}

Lady Baihe finished and then the next person stepped up and did the same, and the emperor asked the same question.

In short, the same happened with the next four candidates and Lei Xing was called everything from stupid, foolish, blind, naive, slow...of course in more flattering words.

Finally, the last candidate, Lady Yu stepped up, still fidgeting and wriggling her hands, she had her head down and kept sneaking glances at the emperor and didn't say anything for a while, it seemed she was still collecting herself and trying to find her words.

After a while, the emperor just went ahead and asked, ”What do you think of Lady Yin's words?”

”I...I...I don't reeally have an opi-opinion on that.” She stuttered out.

The emperor raised an eyebrow and looked at her, she saw this and looked down and her face went red.

”Um, um...I have heard tha-at the emperor is a great a-a-artist. I, I, I have had the grace...of viewing your drawing of of the Yangling mountains, it it was magnificent. I ha-ve heard that you always draw the landscape of of pla-places you have visited. I have always great-tly admired your work and talents...” She managed to stutter out with great effort. She shyly looked up at the emperor again and looked down.

”Ah, Yangling mountains, one of my earlier work. Since you like it so much, I'll gift it to you.” The emperor said with a small smile. It was rare that he got praised for anything other than war.

Lady Yu looked up wide-eyed and fell to her knees and kowtowed, ”Thank you so much for your grace, I will make sure to treasure it immensely.” She said this clearly and loudly, her joy overtaking her nervousness.

”That's good, it will be delivered to you later. You can go down.” The emperor said with a little laugh.

Lady Yu got up, bowed again and came down with a shy gleeful smile on her face. Lei Xing watched her and smiled a little as well.

{...How cute...a fangirl meeting her idol...must be nice...}

After that, the candidates were allowed to return and await rest as they await the farewell banquet.