Chasing Rainbows

Chasing Rainbows

Author: Jiangnan Muyu

Chapter One: Choosing a Son-in-Law

They've come to urge me again about choosing a son-in-law.

Ever since my mother and father took over their seclusion, I've been in their hands.

They are my many older brothers and uncles.

Anyway, ever since I spent a year away from home and then stayed back for half a year, my fourth uncle, cousin, my handsome father, Xuan-ge, and Yuan-ge have all been asking about my marriage. My sad story has been brought up again and again. I originally wanted to stay home and lick my wounds, but now, this shameful and hurtful thing keeps being brought up. How can I forget it? My mother, father, and brother, however, found out about it, asked a few questions, offered a few words of comfort, and then let it go.

Xuan-ge was actually already thinking of handing over the reins to Yuan-ge, but his last task was to marry me off in a grand manner. Otherwise, it would be a disgrace to the royal family. In his own words, "My only sister can't get married before she turns eighteen?" However, I won't turn eighteen until next April, and he doesn't want to be emperor this summer.

Eighteen is a limit I set for myself.

My greatest wish is to roam the martial world and marry a peerless hero. Perhaps you've noticed, these two wishes are essentially the same: to find a peerless hero to marry while roaming the martial world. Like my father, for example, even if he doesn't often travel the martial world, he's still a hidden emperor of the martial world.

In short, my biggest wish is to get married.

I only revealed this wish to He Lanqian and Shen Yimei. Qianqian is my cousin, and Yimei is two years older than me. She is the eldest daughter of the head of Baiyantang, and her second uncle is my mother's close friend.

Both of them were considered to be from the martial arts world, and Yi Mei was especially skilled in gossip about the martial arts world, with a heart full of heroic tales of chivalry. However, they did not laugh at me after hearing my wish.

Qianqian said, "Women of the martial arts world always have to get married. Those who can't get married, no matter how high their martial arts skills are, are pitiful. Besides, you are just a half-baked woman of the martial arts world. If you can't get married, I don't know how many people in Beidi Yunyang will be worried."

Yi Mei, however, thought further ahead: getting married before eighteen, that should be fine, the problem is finding a perfect husband. The perfect husbands recorded in the Hundred Words Hall are all old, and they all come from your family. The new ones haven't even appeared yet!

I said, I'm looking for someone with the potential to be a peerless hero. Potential, do you understand?

Yi Mei nodded, "Then I'll keep an eye out for you and dig around."

Qianqian teased, "When did the Hall of a Hundred Words become a matchmaking agency?"

That year, I was sixteen. Not long after saying that, I went off to explore the world on my own. My mother was also around that age when she left Xuefeng Mountain.

I wasn't early, of course. My brother went down the mountain two years ago; he was fourteen that year. Mother and Father said he was destined to inherit the title of Prince Huaiyi (in fact, he was born Prince Huaiyi), so he had to train early—heaven entrusts great responsibilities to those who are capable. When he went down the mountain, I followed behind him, warning him to be careful, otherwise, it wouldn't be meaningful if heaven entrusted great responsibilities to the dead. Granny Mei pulled me back, saying, "Pah, pah, children's words are innocent! You little devil! How could your mother, with her personality, give birth to a child like you?"

Hmm, am I still a virgin?

My personality is such that I don't follow my mother, but I also don't follow my father. According to Grandma Mei, when I was little, I was quite naive and easy to fool, and I couldn't speak clearly. My mother was worried about what would happen to this child in the future.

As a result, the beautiful father solved the problem.

So my brother's godfather said, "It's not about who gave birth to the child, but who raised the child. With my godfather around, how could he not raise a clever person?"

But the beautiful father was very unhappy and argued, "It was clearly raised by me, so how can it be attributed to him?"

Seeing that I have so many fathers, you must think that my mother is an unparalleled beauty who skillfully manages to win over so many men, right?

Actually, according to my father, my mother is the most dull woman in the world. She only looks like a woman; otherwise, she's nothing like one. She doesn't like to dress up, doesn't like to act coquettishly, and has no special talents, only great strength.

As for my many fathers, I should introduce them properly.

The only father I know as far back as I can remember is Uncle Kun. Actually, he was our stepfather, the biological father of Yan'er and Xu'er. The title "Uncle Kun" was supposedly given to us by my brother and me, and Mother never made us change it. We both had our own biological fathers, but they were just a portrait and a memorial tablet in the study. In terms of appearance, I resemble my biological father, but my godfather from the Prince Huaiyi's Mansion and Granny Liu both said I looked like my grandmother. My brother, on the other hand, resembled my mother more, but their mannerisms and expressions were said to be exactly like my biological father's.

Then there's my "beautiful father," which is what I call him. He was my mother's former boss, but he considered himself my godfather and always took it upon himself to educate me. Every year, he would tirelessly pull me away from my mother and father to raise me for a while before releasing me back. So, from a very young age, I was accustomed to two completely different ways of being raised. He taught me most of my clothing, makeup, musical skills, poetry, and literature.

As for my brother's godfather, he is actually our fourth paternal uncle. To be precise, he is the fourth paternal uncle of Yan'er and Xu'er. He wasn't our fourth paternal uncle when he recognized my brother as his godson.

I know what they're thinking, but they may not know what I'm thinking.

I returned to the capital feeling utterly devastated. My brother wasn't there either, and I was all alone in the vast palace. When my brothers Xuan and Yuan saw me like this, they took me into the palace. In any case, my Qingxin Palace had always been preserved for me there.

I didn't have much to do in the palace, mostly just practicing martial arts and watching how my sister-in-law dealt with the endless tricks of the concubines vying for favor. Xuan-ge didn't have many concubines, just a few he actually needed. His empress was someone he chose himself; she was the fifth princess of Yunyang, who, by relation, was my cousin, though not from the same mother as my uncle. That's how relationships are in the palace, all sorts of connections. Xuan-ge and his sister-in-law were very much in love, and he was planning to hand over the reins to Yuan-ge and travel the world with her. To put his mind at ease, he was particularly attentive to my marriage prospects.

Since I returned to the palace two or three months ago, Brother Xuan has been spending more time enjoying himself with his ministers. It's springtime, and the palace's exotic flowers and plants are vying for attention, so Brother Xuan holds flower-viewing banquets and poetry gatherings every few days. While inviting the male relatives of his ministers and talented young men, he says to me, "Wu Bao, we don't have many people in our family. Could you help your brother see if there are any capable men?" I rest my chin on my hand and say, "Brother, I used to understand romance, chivalry, and the ways of the martial world. Now I don't even understand romance anymore; all I understand is chivalry and the ways of the martial world. Do you want me to help you choose assassins?"

Xuan Ge's lips twitched, then he returned to normal and said, "Martial arts can stabilize the country, that's true. But literature can bring peace to the country. Let's see if there's anyone who can bring peace to the country. Scholars are meticulous, understanding, and stable, how about that?"

I've never known before that Brother Xuan was such a literary enthusiast; it seems he's about to capture all the literary stars of the Northern Barbarians. However, I haven't memorized the appearance of any of those Northern Barbarian literary stars. I was sitting admiring the flowers, watching them pass by, listening to the poetry being recited, the poems seemingly floating in the clouds. Brother Xuan turned around with a smile, wanting my opinion, but I yawned several times in a row. He had no choice but to have someone escort me back to Qingxin Palace.

Later, these kinds of flower banquets subsided a bit, probably because the flowers in the Imperial Garden had almost finished blooming.

But Xuan-ge hadn't given up on marrying me off. One day, I overheard him saying to Yuan-ge, "Wu-bao doesn't even look at these talented young men. It seems that in her heart, a man should be like Uncle back then, following Uncle and Aunt in their martial arts. Are we going to hold a martial arts contest to find a husband?"

They always called my mother "aunt." It is said that my mother was picked up and raised in the mansion by my biological father. She was originally a child bride.

Yuan Ge said, "With Wu Bao like this, it probably won't work for her to speak out loudly. Isn't it time to hold a martial arts exam this year? After the exam, select some students with some literary talent from the martial arts exam, and then let Wu Bao take a look. I think she should be good at both literature and martial arts, like her father."

Xuan Ge clicked his tongue and said, "That's difficult. A talent like Young Master Qingyu is one in a hundred years. If there is such a person, I would be happy for Wu Bao to marry him, so that we can leave a talent for the Northern Di."

I'm in pain—toothache, headache, heartache, all sorts of pain.

There is only one Kun's father in the world, but there are others like him, and Bai Yifei might also be considered one. I thought he would be my hero, and I once thought that we could be together. Unfortunately, I was just being delusional. He wavered for a moment, but still chose another woman.

So the martial arts exams started in a grand and exciting manner, and my place became quiet for a while.

The martial arts selection was over, and it was almost Dragon Boat Festival. The top martial arts champion, as always, rode through the streets on horseback, adorned with flowers, and then thanked the emperor in the Qiankun Palace. Brother Xuan hosted another banquet, and my sister-in-law invited me, but I was too bored and lazily declined.

Unexpectedly, Brot

……