Chapter 247: Chapter 185: Hunting the Wild Geese

The Empress and Emperor were overjoyed upon hearing that it was Wen Ranchen who found the red fruit their daughter wanted, and they couldn’t stop smiling.

After receiving their daughter’s approval, they immediately sent someone to match the couple’s birth charts.

Because it was an urgent task from the Emperor, the monks who performed the fortune-telling at the monastery did not dare to procrastinate, so they quickly prioritized the Emperor’s request and worked overnight to match the birth charts of the Princess and her future Prince Consort.

The next day, the guards returned to the palace with the results, and the Emperor ordered the preparations for the Princess’s wedding to begin.

The Emperor’s eagerness to marry off the Princess was as if someone were chasing him, making Shen Jingxian doubt whether she was indeed the Emperor’s most cherished daughter.

The Emperor felt helpless to explain that he and the Empress were afraid that if Shen Jingxian remained unmarried, she might be deceived by those mischievous Crown Princes and Princes around her.

It was no wonder they were so cautious; ever since the Princess came of age, the number of suitors in the Capital City suddenly increased dramatically. Princes and Crown Princes were making small talk, while even foreign Emperors secretly came to see the Princess.

Even though Yunyi Country generally maintained good relations with other nations, recently there was a consensus among the court to consider closing the borders until after the Princess was married.

After all, if the Princess fell for a foreign Emperor, Crown Prince, Prince, or similar and insisted on marrying far away, wouldn’t that be disastrous for them!

In this tense atmosphere, Wen Ranchen shattered the deadlock, and with a single order from the Empress and Emperor, the marriage was imminent!

This gave Shen Jingxian the illusion that the Empress and Emperor were in a rush to marry her off.

In fact, it wasn’t an illusion.

All in all, the matter of the Princess’s marriage was put on the agenda. Originally, the Princess’s grand wedding should have taken at least half a year to prepare, but who was Shen Jingxian? As the most spoiled Princess, her wedding had been in preparation since her birth, ready to proceed as soon as a date was set!

Such speed made Shen Jingxian exclaim in disbelief.

…

Wen Ranchen didn’t expect to achieve his wish so smoothly. Although he previously put on a confident demeanor in the palace, in reality, from the moment his hand touched the Princess’s lips, his mind went blank.

Even when the birth charts had been matched, he hadn’t yet recovered, his mind was filled with the princess’s mix of surprise and shyness, an expression he had never seen before.

Wen Ranchen’s hand was itching with eagerness.

He had seen portraits of the Princess circulating outside, the poorly drawn ones couldn’t capture a tenth of her beauty, while the good ones barely grasped three-tenths of her charm.

If he were to paint her, even if not capturing her completely, it would at least be seven or eight out of ten.

Wen Ranchen suddenly felt the urge to paint.

If the beauty which had bloomed at his fingertips that day wasn’t recorded on paper, what if he forgot when he became senile?

Wen Ranchen, always known for his foresight, now found it perfectly reasonable to prepare for a possible future for the Princess.

The wind, rising from nowhere, stirred gentle ripples in Wen Ranchen’s heart.

He had always known, ever since his mother passed away, that he would be moved by only one person.

Wen Ranchen spread out a canvas to paint, closed his eyes, and could recall every interaction with the Princess.

Her Highness was clever and cute, noble and proud, beautiful whether she smiled or not.

Perhaps too many images flitted through his mind; when it came time to put pen to paper, Wen Ranchen hesitated instead.

Could he really capture Her Highness’s beauty? Moreover, he hadn’t married her yet, and randomly painting her—would it harm her reputation? Would others gossip about the Princess using his painting?

Such a distinguished figure, he didn’t want any blemishes on her.

Thinking of this, Wen Ranchen laid down his brush and turned to leave with a bow and arrows, without taking a single guard.

He headed to the Bright Mirror Platform to shoot geese.

In Yunyi Country, when a man is engaged, it’s customary for him to present geese to the woman’s family. Sometimes, to show sincerity, the geese are personally hunted by the groom.

Though he knew the Princess’s stature would not care about mere geese, he couldn’t help but want to express his feelings.

Wen Ranchen excelled in both riding and archery, finding it easy to hunt any geese. However, he felt none of the geese he caught fit his liking.

His thought was simple: the Princess was so beautiful, the geese for her should be the best-looking as well.

Yet these geese either had lackluster feathers, weren’t sleek enough, or were heavily molting. Thus, Wen Ranchen’s arrows flew faster and the pile of geese beside him grew larger.

Finally, a Hidden Guard lurking in the shadows couldn’t hold back and softly advised, “General, it doesn’t matter if the geese are ugly, they’ll become beautiful with time.”

Wen Ranchen stared at the guard for ten seconds with a look that said, ’You better not be lying or I’ll kill you.’ After which, he agreed.

After glancing around at his surroundings and then back at the geese flapping by his legs, he carefully picked out twenty to bring back to the General Mansion to raise.

Yes, it would be better if they could be raised to look even more beautiful.

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