Proofread by Ruriko

Donfang Zhentian’s younger brother refused to marry Princess Wude. Getting himself locked in his house, he was blind to the imperial edict.

Princess Wude of the Cold Night Empire, Mu Qianhua, was unknown on this land maybe because Cold Night Empire kept her information from the public on purpose so that even a portrait of her was never unveiled. This time rumor had it that she was completely a fool without talent and virtue, which was surely something unexpected to the public.

Dongfang Zhentian was sitting in a dragon throne and holding his forehead in vexation. A eunuch, under the white-jade steps with the edict refused by the General, Donfang Zhentian’s younger brother, was kneeling tremblingly to wait for an order.

Dongfang Zhentian said, “He didn’t open the door for me?”

“The General said he was not qualified enough to marry Princess Wude and asked your majesty to withdraw your order,” answered the eunuch with a bitter smile.

“That little jerk… it’s an imperial edict. Does he want to act against it?” sneered the emperor.

“The General passed on a massage, saying that… ”

“What did he say?”

“He said he would rather die than marry Princess Wude.”

“How dare he? I will teach him a lesson. Call him again,” snorted Dongfang Zhentian.

The poor eunuch left frustratedly.

At this moment, a loud sound came from outside: “Princess Wude came to meet the emperor.”

As the princess was sent here to maintain the relationship between the two nations, the emperor clearly knew he should be polite to her. He soon adjusted his emotion and summoned her.

Princess Wude, who wore the wedding dress embroidered with goldspinks, passed through the long corridor and stepped on the 99 stone steps. She was in such bright red, as red as a cluster of enchanting poppies, striding to the hall. No one would stay in peace as soon as she came into sight.

However, they were most shocked by the lady’s face. Although she was not as ugly as the widespread rumors said, she was just ordinary-looking, with unclear face outline and heavy makeup. Yet the freckles still manifested themselves on the bridge of her nose.

If she did not wear the gorgeous wedding dress, she would never attract anyone’s attention in the crowd.

Seeing the audience became disappointed in an instant, Mu Qianhua showed a content smile.

Did this makeup scare you guys? She and Qingying studied many kinds of makeup since her childhood in order to slip out of the palace. They never expected that these skills could help her today.

“I am Wude, your majesty.” She came here as the Princess Royal of the Cold Dark Empire to maintain the relationship between the two nations and she had not yet married Dongfang Lingyun, so she could not be regarded as one of the subjects of the Dark Night Empire. Naturally, she did not need to kneel to the emperor of the Dark Night Empire. Dongfang Zhentian had promulgated the imperial edict that Princess Wude came all the way from the Cold Night Empire, the people of Dark Night Empire should be polite to her, that is to say…

Under the hint of Dongfang Zhentian, all officials saluted Mu Qianhua,

“Welcome Princess Wude respectfully and wish you a long life!”

Mu Qianhua thought with a smile, “The superficial etiquette is good.”

“You are welcome, princess. Come on, give her a seat.”

As soon as the order was given, a eunuch carried a chair and put it below the position where Dongfang Zhentian sat.

Mu Qianhua raised her eyebrows and thought she would not have been treated so respectfully if what his brother did last night had not embarrassed the emperor. He was probably making up for his brother, she thought.

After she sat down, she glanced at the hall. It was strange that she did not see Dongfang Lingfeng. He didn’t need to come to court?

At this point, Dongfang Zhentian uttered, “The princess came all the way to maintain the relationship between the two nations, which made me and all the people in the empire feel gratified. I can guarantee our sincerity for this marriage. You don’t need to worry what happened last night, princess. I have summoned General Pingyan to the court.”

Mu Qianhua was not anxious at all and replied, “The emperor aims to help me to handle the problem of breaking the promise of marriage.”

“Of course.”

At this time, the eunuch who went to summon the General to the palace said in a panic, “Your majesty, the General still refused to open the door and said… The emperor can either kill him or withdraw the order… Anyway, he would never marry Princess Wude!”

“What!” Dongfang Zhentian beat the throne, which shocked all the officials to kneel down.

Did he want to threaten the emperor with his life?

“Wude is here today not as a woman for marriage, but as the princess royal of the Cold Night Empire to exchange for peace between the two countries. What the General Pingyan did yesterday, breaking the promise of marriage in public, was not only a stain on the reputation of a woman, but also a provocation to Princess Wude of the Cold Night Empire.” Mu Qianhua looked at Dongfang Zhentian with her eyes squinting, and continued, “Your majesty, this is of great importance. Please consider it carefully before you make any decision.”

The emperor hesitated for an instant, and then said, “What Lingyun has done this time is really out of line. Let me apologize to you on his behalf.”

“At present, it seems that I cannot see the General today. Since the General prefers to die rather than marry me, I don’t own the good fortune to get married with him,” sighed the princess, wiping her tears with a handkerchief which had already been soaked in onion juice. Therefore, her performance was realistic and vivid in the eyes of others. What she thought in her mind now was that she was extremely satisfied with Dongfang Lingyun’s behavior of breaking off the engagement. She was so pleased that while showing thanks to him in mind, she also thanked his family.

Although this princess was plain-looking, she looked pathetic when she was crying. The rumors spread among people were unbearable, as she was a noble princess after all. Being treated so rudely, how could she not feel grievance?

The cry of the princess who came to have a peace-making marriage in the court made Dongfang Zhentian feel really knotty.

Then he asked, “Princess, how do you want to deal with this matter?”

Seeing the opportunity was coming, Mu Qianhua continued to wipe away her tears while expressing her own thoughts, “Although I’m still young, I know that if one is forced to love the other, they won’t gain the happiness. Since the General’s attitude is so firm, I hope your majesty to cancel the marriage between us and renegotiate the peaceful rules with Cold Dark Empire. After all, having a peace-making marriage is not the only way to maintain a good relationship between the two countries, is it?”

All the ministers in the court all felt frightened and gasped as they heard what the princess said.

Obviously, the princess also wanted to break off the marriage. However, in fact, it was pardonable since being greatly humiliated was intolerable for a woman.

The emperor frowned and said, “Emm… The marriage between you and Dongfang Lingyun was decided by the two countries. I’m always a man of my word. The marriage could not be cancelled so hastily.”

Mu Qianhua thought, “I don’t care whether you are a man of your word!” Mu Qianhua’s heart was filled with great anger, but she continued to coax, “I could understand why the General refused to marry me. I don’t deserve him. Although I’m a woman, I don’t want to force him. If the emperor is willing to cancel this marriage, I would also like to wish the General could get married with the one he loves in the future. As for the General’s rejection of me yesterday, I could understand. As long as he could apologize to me sincerely, I wouldn’t fuss about it. How do you think about it?”

This was the first time in her life that she vastly belittled herself. If not for letting the emperor break off the engagement, she wouldn’t have to make so much effort. She could just stay here till the day to leave without caring about who was Dongfang Lingyun.

The emperor said, “What the princess said is indeed worth considering. Besides, as this marriage is related to the peace between the two countries, involving a wide range of issues, the General should not have done so.”

Princess Wude secretly praised Dongfang Lingyun in her heart and said to herself, “No, no, no…. That’s what he should do.”

The emperor added, “It’s disrespectful to let you suffer such a humiliation. We indeed should compensate you.”

“Your majesty, it is very kind of you. It is important to break off the engagement as early as possible. If I continue to wipe eyes with this handkerchief, my eyes will swell up”, Mu Qianhua thought, clenching her fists silently.

The emperor suddenly changed his tone, saying, “However, it is not good for both countries to cancel the marriage. Since you are the princess on behalf of Cold Night Empire to complete the peace-making marriage, you should not say such hasty words. All the emperors are men of their words, including me. If I do as what you’ve said, how could I protect the honor of the empire?”

Mu Qianhua gawked at the emperor. Although he looked very clam, what he said seemed impossible for her to retort. The emperor was really a hard nut to crack.

“I have a better solution”, the emperor said as he stood up, and a bad feeling began to stir in Mu Qianhua. Then he loudly announced to all the ministers, “Regardless of the empire, the General Pingyan degraded the etiquette of Dark Night Empire, he is no longer the most suitable man to get married with the Princess Wude. Go and spread my words, ‘Immediately terminate his engagement with Princess Wude, reduce him to a lower peerage and deduct salary for one year. Additionally, Dongfang Lingfeng, the third prince of Dark Night Empire, is courteous and knowledgeable. I confer him the title of Prince Duanyin, awarding him a thousand liang of gold (1 liang = 50 grams), a house and thousands of hectares of fertile land. He will get married with Princess Wude.’”

The moment he finished his announcement, the eunuch kneeling at his feet recorded what the emperor had said. Then he turned around and stamped his imperial jade seal on the edict, not giving Mu Qianhua any chance to refute.

The emperor looked at Mu Qianhua with a smile, asking, “Are you satisfied with my arrangement?”

Damn! It was not good at all! Although Mu Qianhua was really annoyed, she still kept smiling and said, “I don’t think it’s a good…”

“Really, I think that’s a good idea,” the emperor smiled as if he was a crafty fox.

The princess said, “But I feel bad…”

The emperor argued, “It doesn’t matter. You will soon find this is a wise decision.”

“I just think you are thick-skinned…” she said to herself.

“The Prince Duanyin was under orders to go to inspect the river last night. He could not return within three months. During this period, we are sorry to let you live in the reception hotel  and wait for him to come back to marry you.”

Seeing his smiling face, Princess Wude suddenly felt that she met an old fox.

She had given up struggling for this arranged marriage at this moment.

It seemed impossible that Dark Night Empire would offer to break off the engagement.

And at this time, Prince Duanyin could hardly imagine that he had replaced Dongfang Lingyun to marry Princess Wude.

That day, his men found that the third prince sneezed over twenty times.

“The old fox did it on purpose!” Back to the hotel, Princess Wude kept cursing Dongfang Zhentian with great anger, which greatly frightened her maid Qingying. “Please lower your voice, my princess. We are in his empire now, if your words were heard by others, we will definitely get into trouble.”

“Why should I shut up? He dares not to do anything offending me. It is so annoying that he has arranged me to marry his another brother without my permission.” Since her well-designed plan had been totally destroyed, Princess Wude was more irritated now.

“Are you still going to break off this engagement?”

“Why not? As virtue rises one foot, vice rises ten! I don’t believe he will knock me senseless  and send me into the bridal chamber!” she was used to controlling her whole life and having the final say in everything.

“But what are we going to do now?” Qingying knew Princess Wude very well. She had the guts to challenge the authority.

Pondering for a while, Princess Wude said, “If we want to fight with the old fox, we have to stand firm here. If we want to win, first of all, we must gain economic independence. Go to tell our men, we must not use the money that Dark Night Empire offered to us.”

Hearing the words, Qingying was shocked, “But we have used up all the money brought from our empire on the road. We now only have your dowry.”

Princess Wude crooked her finger at Qingying. When she got closer, Princess Wude knocked her hard on the head. “You are so stupid. I’ve told you countless times that earning money needs a well-rounded plan and wise investment.”

It was at that moment that Qingying realized that her princess had a good sense of business.

“I will open up a restaurant in the busiest street of the capital.”

“That’s a good idea, but my princess, how could we raise the principal?” Qingying asked.

Putting on a cunning smile, Princess Wude said, “Take out some valuable items from my dowry and go to the pawnshop. In any case, I am reluctant that Dongfang Zhentian can take advantage of my belongings.”

Qingying nodded, “OK. I’ll get to work on it.”

…

Five days later, except the news that the good-for-nothing princess who was refused by General Pingyan was married to the third prince by the emperor, there was another piece of widespread news – the most popular restaurant on the busiest street was bought by a mysterious woman. No one knew exactly who she was, and no one knew why the previous owner would sell such a promising restaurant to others. What they could see is the plaque replaced by a brand new one with three characters “Qian Jin Restaurant” on it.

A couplet was posted in front of the door.

The first line is: When drinking with a bosom friend, a thousand cups are still not enough.

The second line is: After spending a thousand liang of gold, you will earn more later.

This strange couplet lacked a top scroll.

A lot of people came to the restaurant with great curiosity. They saw there stood a woman in crystal-clear blue on the second floor, wearing a blue veil, with a lotus painted between the eyebrows. With her starry eyes, this enchanting lady attracted the attention of all the people.

Behind her stood a woman in black with a silver foil mask, appearing to be her bodyguard.

When the people were in a lively discussion, the woman in blue began to talk in a mild and sweet voice, “I am Bai Xiao, the owner of this restaurant, and thank you very much for taking your time off of your busy schedules to attend our opening ceremony. And this is my bodyguard. We are looking forward to your regular coming with great pleasure.”

Bai Xiao was the pseudonym of Princess Wude, which was used when she and Qingying slipped out of the palace of Cold Night Empire and now could be used to conceal their identities.

Princess Wude was a beauty with striking features. Such a beauty became the boss of the Qian Jin Restaurant, which attracted great attention. And her restaurant became well-known at once.