Chapter 90: Misunderstanding (1/2)
Lu Yin felt himself in a dilemma, “Your Majesty, is it possible to cancel this marriage?”
“Do you have another sweetheart?” the Emperor asked curiously. Lu Yin almost instinctively shook his head, but quickly caught himself and nodded, which prompted a laugh, “Then forget her. Luke Auna brought this marriage up personally, and rejecting it would humiliate the Aunas and turn the Fireforge Planet into a laughingstock.”
“Err… I actually don’t fancy Jenny.”
“Feelings don’t last a lifetime, especially for cultivators who live for hundreds of years. Emotions don’t last long; you two just have to get along and live your lives together, no need to overthink.”
Lu Yin was left in a bind, but the Emperor seemed to come up with something before he could think of a retort. The man leaned over, “Little Yin, tell me the truth; do you have any ideas about Wendy?”
Lu Yin blinked without a direct response, but this only convinced the Emperor that he’d guessed correctly. He started massaging his temples, “I promised Zishan that my family would be engaged to his, and through direct descendants. That does mean you and Wendy are engaged, but I simply cannot make the decision for her. You’ll have to fight for her hand in marriage yourself; the best I can offer is that I won’t oppose it.”
As Lu Yin looked down, The Undying Yushan sighed, “I’m not trying to bring you down, Little Yin, but Wendy is formidable even across the Innerverse. You should know of the Astral Combat Ranking, a list compiled by the Astral Combat Academy ranking the prodigies across the universe. She’s in the top 20 of that list, no more than 20 people in her current generation can match her across the universe. Even I cannot underestimate her power, and I definitely don’t plan to use her as a pawn in a political marriage to stabilize my Empire. Her goals are too high for me to touch; if you want to win her over, you have to get into the top 50 at least.”
“I’m confident in myself, Your Majesty,” Lu Yin looked up again.
Undying Yushan laughed, “Confidence is a good thing. Since that is so, I’ll help you speak to the Auna Family. There won’t be an outright rejection, but I will postpone the marriage by three years. Three years; if you haven’t wooed Wendy by then, you have to be obedient and marry Jenny, okay?”
Lu Yin nodded solemnly, “Three years, then. I’m confident Her Highness will sit up and take notice of me by then.”
The Undying Yushan nodded and watched Lu Yin leave, muttering to himself, “Sit up and take notice? Young ambition. Wendy is a disciple of the Myriad Swords Peak of the Innerverse, not someone groomed by the Great Yu Empire. Her noticing you isn’t just difficult, it’s impossible. Nevermind, three years is long enough to temper him.”
Within the Auna Family’s study, Patriarch Xueshan slammed the table, “A mere Fireforge Planet dares to make use of my family? I’ll repay this debt one day!”
Rocky Auna seemed indifferent, “Jenny seems to like Yan Feng.”
“So what if she likes him? The environment of the Fireforge Planet is unsuitable to our family. If this marriage goes through, how will we retain our independence in the Great Yu Empire?”
Rocky’s gadget was suddenly pinged by a message, and his brows furrowed as he read it through. Unhappiness filled his gaze.
“What happened?” Xueshan asked.
“The Zishan King wants to marry Princess Wendy.”
Xueshan sneered, “He does not know his place; even someone like Schutz would not have the courage to say something like that. What, does he not fancy Jenny?”
“He utterly defeated her on Earth.”
The mere mention of this left the man angry, “Such a disappointment, couldn’t even beat a simple native. Pass down my orders, she better not think of leaving the manor before breaking through to the Melder realm.”
“What about the Zishan King?”