Madam, protect me!

Princess's Mansion.

Li Anning sat in front of the dressing table, and the maid in the Princess's Mansion, who was good at makeup, was dressing her up.

She used to think that they were very good at makeup, but after seeing Li Nuo's skills, she felt that they were just so-so.

When she got married, she could often let him dress her up.

It was a pity that she married too late. If she had married half a year earlier, she could ride in a car with him today, making all the women in Chang'an envious and jealous.

She had just finished her makeup when a maid came in and said respectfully: "Your Highness, someone came from the palace and said that His Majesty summoned you."

"Father wants to see me?"

Li Anning was stunned when she heard this. Over the years, her father had never summoned her. She vaguely guessed what it was about.

This made her a little uneasy, and she asked tentatively: "Did your father say what it was about?"

The maid said: "It seems to be about the princess's marriage."

Now Li Anning could no longer remain calm.

She took a carriage to the palace and was led by two palace maids to the Imperial Garden.

In front of a certain flower bush, a figure stood with his hands behind his back.

Hearing footsteps behind him, the figure turned around and revealed a heroic and majestic face.

Li Anning walked forward slowly and whispered, "Father."

When her mother was still alive, she had a short and happy childhood. At that time, the father would play with her, let her ride on his neck, and lift her above his head...

But since her mother and the prince died one after another, the father gradually became unlike the father.

From the outside, the current father has not changed at all from the father she remembered when she was a child, but there is a deep gap between father and daughter.

Emperor Xia looked at the pretty woman in front of him, his eyes like a deep pool finally showed some fluctuations, and he sighed: "My little princess has grown into a big girl..."

Li Anning's voice trembled a little, and he whispered: "I don't know why the emperor summoned me?"

Emperor Xia's eyes became deep again, and he said: "You have reached the age of marriage. During the grand court meeting this year, I once said that I would choose one of the top scholars to be your son-in-law, but I didn't expect that the top scholars in six subjects would be the same person..."

Li Anning's heart was already in his throat, and he waited quietly for his next words.

Emperor Xia continued: "I can't take back what I said in front of all the officials in the world, so I can only wrong you. I have already seen your son-in-law for you. He is handsome and has won the top prize in six subjects. He is a rare young hero in ancient and modern times. I want to fulfill my promise and let you marry him and be his first wife..."

Before he finished speaking, Li Anning was already in tears.

Finally...

Finally she got what she was waiting for!

She can hold his hand openly, call him husband in front of everyone, be with him from morning to night, investigate cases together, practice together, and do anything they like...

Emperor Xia looked at her tears, paused, and said: "I know that you have been wronged, but the king is not joking. You are a royal princess and you should know the general situation."

Li Anning wiped her tears, looked up and said: "I know that if the emperor's words are not counted, the officials and people in the world will lose trust in the emperor. I am willing to marry, but I have two conditions..."

Emperor Xia felt guilty and said: "You say it."

Li Anning said: "I want a grand wedding, a lot of dowry, and I want to marry with Sister Jiaren."

Emperor Xia asked: "Who is Sister Jiaren?"

Li Anning said: "It is the original wife of the prince consort."

Emperor Xia always felt that something was wrong, but after thinking about it, he agreed.

Giving enough respect to the original wife while marrying the princess can show the generosity of the royal family. An Ning was more thoughtful than he thought.

He continued to ask: "What about the second condition?"

Li An Ning said without hesitation: "I want to parade with my husband."

This is not an excessive request. Emperor Xia looked outside the palace and said: "The ceremony will take a while to end. I will ask the Secretariat to draft an edict. It should be in time..."

...

The palace.

In a certain hall.

The champion in a dragon robe walked in front, and the scholars walked out of the hall in an orderly manner.

When the officials of the Ministry of Rites said that the ceremony was over and the parade was about to begin, everyone cheered up.

After studying hard for more than ten years, isn't this the moment they have been waiting for?

Before they reached the palace gate, they saw crowds of people on both sides of the street outside.

The two palace gates slowly opened.

Lu Sheng stepped forward, pointed to the main gate in the middle, and said to Li Nuo: "No. 1 scholar, please go through this gate."

Of the hundreds of Jinshi, only the No. 1 scholar can go through the main gate in the middle, and the rest can only go through the relatively low and narrow side gate.

After walking out of the palace gate, you can see the flower carriage parked not far away.

On the open carriages, there are freshly picked branches, and the Jinshi will sit in these carriages to parade in Chang'an.

The ceremony in the palace has ended, but the officials of the Ministry of Rites have not announced the start of the parade.

Everyone had to stand there and wait.

Li Nuo was a little confused. According to the process, he should get on the car and prepare to set off.

With so many officials in the Ministry of Rites, almost every process is timed, and it is impossible to make such a low-level mistake.

At this moment, a horse galloped from the palace.

"The imperial edict has arrived!"

Before the knight on horseback walked out of the palace gate, a powerful voice came out first.

Although the voice was not loud, it was very penetrating. In the noisy environment, it was clearly heard by everyone.

Including the Jinshi in front of the palace gate, everyone knelt down, and in an instant, the entire palace gate was quiet.

The knight turned over and dismounted, took out a bright yellow scroll from his arms, and said: "New champion Li Nuo, accept the decree!"

Li Nuo was stunned for a moment, then said: "Student accepts the decree."

The knight opened the scroll and said loudly: "The decree says that the new champion Li Nuo, a man of noble character, excellent talent and appearance, has won the first place in six subjects, and is truly the best among the heroes in the world; the beautiful daughter of the Song family, gentle and respectful, has the quality of Huirou, gentle and bright, and has the beauty of peace and justice, and is granted the sixth-rank imperial lady..., my youngest daughter An Ning, is virtuous and dignified, and is of noble character, and is the right time for marriage..., I ask the Ministry of Rites to choose a date to complete the wedding and prepare the ceremony, and I hope that the three of you will be in harmony, of one mind and one heart, and do not disappoint my wishes, I respect you."

The knight who read the imperial decree seemed to have a strange power in his voice, and even the people hundreds of feet away could hear it clearly.

However, this imperial decree was too wordy, and most people could not understand what it meant.

But the newly-appointed Jinshi nearby understood it better than anyone else.

No, they really wanted the princess to marry him!

How could a royal princess marry a married man?

I thought that the six champions were all one person, and the other party was already married, so His Majesty would withdraw his order and choose another one from this batch of Jinshi as a consort.

Unexpectedly, His Majesty would rather let the princess marry a married man than consider anyone else.

Is the six champions so amazing?

The six champions are indeed amazing.

People who have not participated in the imperial examinations may think that the six champions are amazing.

But only those who have participated in the imperial examinations know that "amazing" is not enough to describe the six champions.

The imperial edict said that he could not only marry the princess, but also did not have to divorce his original wife.

He was born into a prominent family, the only son of the most powerful official in the court, and he was the champion of six subjects, ranking first among all Jinshi.

That would be fine, he also had two, no, three beauties in Chang'an...

Why did he encounter all the good things in the world!

All the Jinshi were envious and jealous.

But they could only envy and be jealous.

If any of the ninety-nine people present had a little bit of ambition, even if he won the first place in one of the subjects, he would not have the chance to be the son-in-law.

But they were not ambitious.

The imperial edict came so suddenly that even Li Nuo was a little caught off guard.

Li Anning said that as long as he won the first place in six subjects, her marriage could be delayed.

Li Nuo believed it.

After all, they held hands, hugged each other, and their first kiss was taken away.

In Li Nuo's heart, her status was always somewhat special.

His original idea was to delay it for a while.

As for the result of not having to divorce, not having to wrong his wife, and letting Li Anning and his wife be the legal wives, to be honest, he didn't dare to think about it.

The knight took the imperial edict and walked to Li Nuo, saying, "My Lord, please accept the edict."

Li Nuo took the imperial edict and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."

At this time, a figure slowly walked out of the palace.

Li An Ning, wearing a phoenix crown and gorgeous palace clothes, slowly walked to Li Nuo and stretched out her slender jade hand to him.

Seeing Princess An Ning, who had a beautiful face, graceful figure, and elegant and noble, being held by that person, all the Jinshi were about to bite their teeth.

If I had made one less mistake.

If I had written better.

If I had performed exceptionally well in the archery exam...

Unfortunately, there is no if.

The Ministry of Rites finally solved a troublesome matter. Lu Sheng smiled and said, "Please ask the champion and the princess to get in the car!"

Li Nuo took Li An Ning's hand and slowly walked to a gorgeous carriage in front of the palace gate.

A figure had already sat in the car early.

Li An Ning lowered his head and did not dare to look at Song Jiaren.

Song Jiaren glanced at them and silently moved to the side to make more room.

This carriage was originally designed for two people. After all, there has never been a champion who has two wives.

Fortunately, the seats are spacious enough. Li Nuo sits in the middle, with his wife on the left and Li Anning on the right. Three people can sit, but there is no space in the middle.

The carriage started slowly, and the champion's carriage was in the front.

The scholars who came after him rode in a carriage with five people, always keeping a distance from the carriage in the front.

Li Nuo was still holding Li Anning's hand, and he didn't know if his wife understood the imperial edict just now.

Even if she didn't understand, she could understand this scene now.

Before, his wife seemed to have accepted Anning.

But Song Yiren messed it up.

Li Nuo tried to hold his wife's hand.

It went smoothly, without any resistance.

He boldly put the hands of the three of them together. Song Jiaren turned her head and looked at him, but didn't say anything.

Li Anning breathed a sigh of relief, smiled at the crowd on the roadside, stretched out his hand, and waved at them, which drew cheers from the crowd...