"Great fortune!"
The Empress Dowager exclaimed excitedly, "This is a good omen! This woman is no ordinary person!"
Everyone in the hall snapped out of their daze and burst into applause, which was thunderous.
Many of the young ladies from prominent families who were initially jealous of Hailing now looked at her with admiration, never expecting that this Miss Ji would be so capable.
Not to mention them, even the most beautiful woman in the world, Princess Jingyue, would probably be no match for her, let alone them.
The thought that even a princess was no match for her made these women feel much better, and they were less hostile towards Hailing. Not only was she beautiful, but she was also extremely capable, and she had the natural right to be proud.
However, there were still a few people in the hall who harbored resentment and kept a close eye on Hai Ling.
The first one is Princess Jingyue. She never expected that her carefully created sword dance would be so easily defeated in front of this woman. Whether it is appearance or talent, she is inferior to her. Will Ye Lingfeng choose her as his empress now?
Inside the main hall, as soon as the applause stopped, Feng Zixiao spoke first.
"The women of the North are indeed more talented than the women of my Great Zhou. I like them very much, especially Miss Ji. I intend to marry Miss Ji as the Empress of the Great Zhou Dynasty and reunite with the Northern Lu."
As soon as Feng Zixiao finished speaking, the courtiers of Beilu became somewhat indignant, because today's selection was still for their emperor, not for the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Why did he speak first? Besides, since this Miss Ji was so capable, how could she marry into the Great Zhou Dynasty?
Ye Lingfeng, sitting at the head of the table, had a cold expression but a slight smile on his lips. He looked at Feng Zixiao and spoke in a low voice.
"It seems that Emperor Jing has forgotten that today is still my banquet for selecting concubines."
"It was my abruptness," Feng Zixiao said with a smile, then raised an eyebrow and added, "Among all these young ladies in the palace, besides this Miss Ji, there must be someone else whom Emperor Xie has his eye on."
After Feng Zixiao finished speaking, Ye Lingfeng's face turned ugly. He hadn't expected this man to be so shameless.
He despised Ling'er in every way back then, but today he wants to take her back to the Great Zhou Dynasty in every possible way. It's utterly ridiculous.
However, Ye Lingfeng did not speak, so Ji Cong, who was at the head of the main hall, stood up, clasped his hands, and spoke calmly.
"Your Majesty, I have just had a daughter and do not wish for her to marry far away. Therefore, I request that Emperor Jing of the Zhou Dynasty choose another young lady from a different family."
Inside the main hall, Ye Lingfeng really wanted to cheer.
"Alright," she said, her sharp eyes fixed on Feng Zixiao. "See? His father has spoken up and is not satisfied with you at all."
However, Feng Zixiao was determined to bring Hailing back to the Great Zhou. She was originally his empress, so why should she marry Ye Lingfeng of the Northern Dynasty to become his empress? Since she was so outstanding, she and he were a match made in heaven. How could she marry someone else?
He would absolutely not allow such a thing to happen.
So when Feng Zixiao heard Ji Cong's words, he laughed and looked at Ji Cong, who was sitting at the bottom of the main hall.
"I have always heard that the Ji family of Beilu is still a family of meritorious officials for generations. Although the old general loves his daughter dearly, if this daughter carries the glory of peace between the two countries, wouldn't the Ji family be even more famous for generations to come?"
Ji Cong's face darkened, and he was about to erupt in anger, but Hai Ling raised her hand to stop her father. A smile played on her lips as she slowly rose, her radiant presence drawing the attention of everyone in the hall.
It is unknown who she intends to marry, whether it be the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty or the emperor of Northern Lu. Regardless of which one, this woman will rise to great heights from now on, transforming from a carp into a dragon.
Unfortunately, Hailin slowly opened her mouth, and her two sentences shocked everyone.
"Emperor Jing, are you sure you want to marry me as your empress?"
Upon hearing her question, Feng Cixiao, with his handsome features, immediately replied in a deep voice, "I have absolutely no ulterior motives."
"I originally intended to give Emperor Xie a grand gift today, but I'll give it to you now as well."
As Hai Ling finished speaking, everyone in the hall was astonished and stunned, wondering what grand gift the young lady of the Ji family was going to give to the emperor. Suddenly, she raised her hand, and the two maids who had been standing beside her leaped into the air as fast as dragons, flashing straight to the round pillar in the middle of the hall. One of them hugged a pillar, and with the other hand, she took something and suddenly shook it, revealing it to be a couplet.
The first couplet reads: "East Palace and West Palace, only this one palace."
The next couplet reads: "Home flowers and wild flowers, only one flower."
After the two people on the pillars of the main hall finished hanging the couplets, they wrapped their legs around the bronze pillars and with a flick of their other hand, they pulled each other, and the horizontal scroll appeared.
Several large, bold characters in ink clearly came into view: "He will only marry one wife in his lifetime."
The entire hall was stunned. This was too shocking. Hai Ling glanced around with satisfaction, and finally looked defiantly at Ye Lingfeng at the head of the hall. Wasn't he forcing her to enter the palace to be selected? Fine, today she would declare in the hall that if she wanted to marry him, she could only marry one wife in this life. Let's see how she would answer in the hall. Hai Ling withdrew her gaze from Ye Lingfeng and looked coldly and disdainfully at Feng Zixiao.
"Emperor Jing, have you seen this clearly? If you wish to marry me, you must marry only one wife in this life and never take a concubine again. Tell me, who can do that? Can Emperor Jing do that?"
The cold, sharp words landed, but no one reacted. Silence fell, and everyone was frozen in place.
He will only marry one wife in his life. Among all the people in this hall, who can bear to only marry one wife? Moreover, many of them already had maids when they were thirteen or fourteen years old. Who can be without a single woman? I'm afraid you can count the number of people present on your fingers.
However, just as everyone was lost in thought, two loud and deep voices rang out simultaneously in the main hall.
"I can do it."
Everyone looked up in shock, only to find that the two people speaking were the Emperor of Beilu and Emperor Muye of Shaoyi.
In the main hall, everyone gasped again.
Originally, it was thought that the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty wanted to marry the young lady of the Ji family. Unexpectedly, now even Emperor Wu of Shaoyi wants to marry Miss Ji. In addition, there is the emperor of Beilu. Now it is three emperors vying for one empress. It is truly unheard of and unseen. Just seeing the scene in front of us is terrifying. What kind of situation is this?
Unfortunately, His Highness Prince Jing of Nanling Kingdom got involved, even though it was all very complicated.
"I can do it too, Miss Ji, you should also take me into consideration."
After Prince Jing Ruan Xihao finished speaking, Feng Zixiao, who had been stunned by Hai Ling, also came to his senses. He raised his eyebrows and spoke in a deep voice.
"I have decided to abolish the harem for your sake."
Four men are fighting over one woman.
In Guangyang Palace, many people had grim expressions. The Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and the Consort of Beilu all had cold faces, squinting at the people in the hall, and finally looking at Ji Hailing together, wanting to see what kind of charm this woman had that made four princes fight over one woman.