Prince Ning's Mansion.
"What did you say! Prince Jingnan didn't return last night and got married instead?"
Princess Ning suddenly stood up from her chair, her face full of shock. Her body even swayed slightly.
She was dressed in a silver-patterned lotus-colored brocade jacket and skirt. There were not many hairpins on her head. She simply pulled up her black hair with a jade hairpin inlaid with a ruby magnolia, and two tourmaline glass bead flowers were used as decoration. She didn't look luxurious but extremely noble.
However, at this moment, she was so shocked that her originally pale and beautiful face flushed, and her chest heaved violently.
Xiao Jingnan's guard, Lu Ping, knelt on the ground and replied in a deep voice:
"Yes. The heir apparent went to the Imperial College to check the list of successful candidates in the imperial examinations yesterday, but was caught by someone to be a son-in-law. There were too many people at that time. We didn't dare to make a fuss, so we just quietly followed them to the door of that family."
"We originally wanted to reveal our identities to rescue him, but the heir apparent waved us off and told us not to interfere."
"Wu Yao and I guarded outside all night. It was not until this morning that we saw the heir apparent come out. He said..." Lu Ping paused for a moment before saying, "He said he had found a good wife for himself and asked us to come back to report the good news to the prince and princess."
Prince Ning and the princess exchanged a look, and they both saw disbelief in each other's eyes.
"Are you sure? Did that girl really marry Jingnan in the wedding ceremony? And she's still alive after that?"
Prince Ning had spent his whole life in battles and was always a steady man. But at this moment, his voice trembled with excitement.
Lu Ping said, "Yes. I heard that girl's loud and energetic voice this morning when she told the maid to tidy up a room for the heir apparent. I think she's in good health."
"Thank the ancestors!"
Princess Ning immediately clasped her hands together, with tears in her eyes. "Thank God! Jingnan's marriage finally has a solution!"
There was nothing they could do. Finding a wife for Xiao Jingnan was really too difficult!
It was not just difficult; it was simply a hellish task!
She gave premature birth to Xiao Jingnan, which damaged her health and made her unable to have more children. This son had been weak and sickly since childhood.
Later, there were continuous wars in the southern border. Xiao Jingnan followed Prince Ning to the army and finally became a bit stronger. But when he was fourteen years old, a wandering Taoist priest came to their home and said that Xiao Jingnan had an extraordinary fate. If he couldn't get married before he was twenty, he might not live past his birthday that year.
At first, Princess Ning didn't believe it.
But since then, Xiao Jingnan's health really got worse and worse, and it seemed that he was gradually getting weaker.
Princess Ning started to worry. Her first three sons had all died in battles on the battlefield. Now, this was the only son left under her knees, and she must save her son's life!
Princess Ning started to cast a wide net and made a big deal of arranging a marriage for Xiao Jingnan in the capital. But unexpectedly, besides his poor health, his love life was also unbelievably unlucky. Three of his fiancées died suddenly one after another.
If it weren't for the fact that she and Prince Ning were still alive, Princess Ning would almost have suspected that Xiao Jingnan was an unlucky star who would bring bad luck to his parents, wife, and relatives...
Now, hearing that her son had found a wife by himself and that she was alive and kicking, Princess Ning wished she could immediately add 100,000 catties of sesame oil to all the temples and Taoist temples in the capital!
It was really a blessing from heaven!
Princess Ning was so happy that she didn't know what to do. "Hurry! Go and ask for that girl's name card and birth date. I'm going to ask for a longevity memorial tablet for her... Also, prepare ten boxes of pearls, jade, gold, and silver, and take out those jade and antique treasures rewarded by the palace. The prince and I are going to visit our in-laws!"
This daughter-in-law was not easy to come by, and they must do enough courtesy!
All the betrothal gifts and wedding finery should still be there. They must not let down this kind-hearted girl who had saved their whole family from trouble!
"Don't be in a hurry..." Prince Ning stopped the flustered Princess Ning.
Although he was also very excited, after all, he had trained in the army for many years and had developed the habit of staying calm when things happened. "Your health is not good, and you shouldn't be too emotional. We'd better find out the details first."
He helped his wife sit down and asked, "Which family does that girl belong to? Who else is there in her family? Do they agree to this marriage?"
With Xiao Jingnan's reputation in the capital, he really doubted who would marry their daughter to him.
Lu Ping hesitated for a moment and replied, "She's the third daughter of General Xuanwei, Li Rusong."
Hearing this, the prince and the princess felt their hearts sink. It was like a basin of cold water had been poured on the hot charcoal, and the fire was immediately extinguished.
The third daughter of the fourth-rank General Xuanwei, Li Rusong...
They knew this girl.
At the end of last year, that wandering Taoist priest came to the capital again. Seeing that Xiao Jingnan was almost nineteen years old and still hadn't found a wife, and it seemed that he was going to be single for the rest of his life, he felt pity for him.
He told Princess Ning that if she could find a girl with a stronger horoscope than Xiao Jingnan's and let Xiao Jingnan marry her, maybe they could achieve the effect of two negatives making a positive and win unexpectedly.
Princess Ning searched everywhere in the capital and finally found Li Wanming.
That wandering Taoist priest looked at Li Wanming's horoscope and said that this horoscope was strange and extremely tough, and it must be able to overcome the heir apparent.
When Princess Ning heard this, she planned to go to the palace to ask the emperor for an imperial edict to arrange the marriage.
However, she was stopped by Prince Ning.
"He's the emperor, not the king of hell. What if she can't overcome Jingnan? Isn't it forcing that girl to die? Let's follow the normal procedure and ask someone to propose marriage. We must take the girl's personal will into consideration."
The girl's personal will soon came. Li Wanming didn't want to marry into a noble family!
After Princess Ning knew this, she wasn't angry. She just sat at home and shed tears secretly.
Prince Ning also sighed deeply. "Forget it. You can't force a cow to drink water.
"We feel sorry for Jingnan, but that girl is also the apple of her parents' eye. There's no reason for us to forcefully marry her just because of our power when she doesn't want to. Maybe this is Jingnan's fate. Let's accept it..."
Unexpectedly, just when they were about to prepare for Xiao Jingnan's funeral, there was a turn of events, and they heard the news that he had already married, and the bride was the third daughter of Li Rusong, Li Wanming!
"Are... are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"
Princess Ning still couldn't quite believe it.
Wasn't it said that that girl didn't want to marry? How could she suddenly catch Jingnan to be her husband after the list of successful candidates was announced?
Could it be that she liked to play such a game of playing hard to get...
Seeing that his prince and princess were thinking more and more wrongly, Lu Ping quickly said, "When the heir apparent came out to get something this morning, he said that Miss Li of the Li family didn't know his identity. He told us not to look for him these few days to avoid revealing his identity."
"No wonder." Prince Ning and Princess Ning quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
"In that case, let's cooperate with Jingnan," Princess Ning said.
Prince Ning also said, "You should guard carefully outside the Li family's house and don't startle the people inside! Also, see if there are any other needs. No matter how big or small they are, you must satisfy them all!"
This hard-won daughter-in-law must be kept even if it's raining knives from the sky!