Chapter 66

Without raising his voice or deliberately becoming emotionally agitated, the voice was very calm, as if talking about a trivial matter, making it particularly clear. Those three words were so clear that the people in the hall could not find any reason to convince themselves that they had heard wrong.

Thus, those three words instantly made the entire Weiyang Palace fall silent.

Unlike the previous silence filled with hopeful anticipation, this silence was truly dead quiet, the atmosphere abnormally eerie.

The next moment, the silence was broken, and the hall erupted in chaos.

Countless voices were almost about to shatter the dome of the hall!

Someone objected?

Someone actually dared to object to this marriage!

Deep in the hall, Xu Shiji suddenly stood up, looking at Chen Changsheng at the entrance, his face extremely pale. Prince Chenliu was slightly stunned, not knowing what had happened. Mo Yu also slowly stood up, her face expressionless, a frosty look gradually appearing between her brows.

The reaction from the Southern delegation was even greater. The head of the Qiu Mountain family stared at the young man at the entrance, not knowing who he was, and after several deep breaths, he managed to suppress his anger. However, the young people in the delegation who were participating in next year's imperial examination did not have such deep composure. Their anger was uncontrollable, especially the three young masters of the Divine Kingdom's Seven Laws, Guan Feibai and the others, whose expressions were cold to the extreme, looking at Chen Changsheng as if he were a dead man.

Qiu Shan Jun was their most revered elder brother. They knew how much this marriage meant to him and how much he cherished and protected Xu Yourong. Yet, at this crucial moment when the perfect couple was about to be formed and the elder brother's wish was about to be fulfilled, someone dared to come and cause trouble!

What was this if not courting death?

If this were any other place, these three young strongmen of the Divine Kingdom's Seven Laws would have already drawn their swords and killed Chen Changsheng. But this was the imperial palace of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and as southerners, they could only temporarily endure, waiting for the Zhou people to handle the situation first.

The handling came very quickly. Xu Shiji's face was dark, staring at Chen Changsheng at the entrance, and he shouted coldly, "Where did this scoundrel come from! How dare you make a commotion in the palace! Guards, seize this person!"

After being recalled from the front lines to the capital, he had been entrusted by the Holy Empress and began to jointly oversee the defense of the imperial city with Xue Xingchuan, both inside and outside. The guards and imperial troops in the palace were all his direct subordinates. Hearing his command, more than ten guards moved towards Chen Changsheng.

Xu Shiji stared at Chen Changsheng with an extremely unfriendly look, full of warning and unmasked killing intent—he would not give Chen Changsheng any chance to speak. If it really came to that, he would order the guards to kill Chen Changsheng directly.

Many people in the hall noticed his killing intent, but they did not associate it with anything else, because he was Xu Yourong's biological father. If someone dared to cause a disturbance at his daughter's engagement banquet, he would probably have the same impulse to kill that person.

The guards failed to subdue Chen Changsheng because someone stood in front of him—Luo Luo, who had left the position of the National Teaching Academy at some point, held the Luoyu Whip, not even glancing at the guards, her gaze directly falling on Mo Yu deep in the hall.

Then, another person stood in front of Chen Changsheng.

Tang Sanshiu.

After Chen Changsheng and Luo Luo left the hall, Tang Sanshiu had just arrived at Weiyang Palace, so he had not seen them. His attention was focused on Guan Feibai, the fourth of the Divine Kingdom's Seven Laws. It was only after Luo Luo returned to Weiyang Palace and he still did not see Chen Changsheng that he began to feel a bit strange.

He did not know why Chen Changsheng opposed the marriage between the Xu family and the Qiu Mountain family, but he knew that Chen Changsheng and the Xu family had some grudges. However, he did not bother to think about these issues. Since nine people were going to deal with Chen Changsheng, he naturally had to stand up.

Xu Shiji's expression became even colder, looking at Luo Luo and Tang Sanshiu who were blocking Chen Changsheng and said, "I don't care who you are or what your background is, but tonight I am here to arrest a criminal. If anyone dares to obstruct me, don't blame me for being ruthless."

"A criminal?" An elderly voice suddenly sounded beside Xu Shiji, with a somewhat bewildered tone.

The speaker was the Archbishop of the Church of the Teaching.

The old man had just opened his eyes and was indeed bewildered, as if he had just woken up.

He looked around and then asked Xu Shiji, "Where is the criminal?"

This seemingly rhetorical question made Xu Shiji's face very difficult.

The Archbishop followed everyone's gaze to the entrance and saw Chen Changsheng, as if he finally understood, and said, "This young man is a student of the National Teaching Academy. I personally signed the roster, so there's no mistake. Even if he is late, he can't be considered a criminal, right?"

The guards at the entrance looked at Xu Shiji.

Xu Shiji's face became even more difficult, and he finally determined the Archbishop's stance.

Prince Chenliu was somewhat helpless and explained to the Archbishop, "He spoke out against the marriage earlier."

The Archbishop looked at the people in the hall and smiled, saying, "Since there is a step of asking the people, it is natural to allow objections. If objections are not allowed, why did Your Highness ask in the first place? If the rules can be ignored, and marriages can be arranged at will, why come to the Great Zhou Dynasty to propose?"

Logically, this statement was irrefutable.

Thus, the people of the Southern delegation became even angrier, many of them glaring at the Archbishop, but the old man closed his eyes again, as if he was going to continue sleeping, completely ignoring the sharp and cold gazes.

The Archbishop continued to rest his eyes, but his words set the tone for the matter, at least on the surface, representing the stance of the National Teaching.

There were not many people qualified to question his words, and Mo Yu was naturally one of them, but she did nothing, slowly sitting back down, her expression slightly different, because she had noticed that when Chen Changsheng entered the hall, a black sheep disappeared at the same time.

In the night outside the hall.

She, of course, knew what the black sheep represented.

What did it mean that the black sheep brought Chen Changsheng to Weiyang Palace?

Prince Chenliu did not expect her to remain silent and was somewhat surprised.

At this moment, Elder Xiaosonggong of Lishan stood up and said, "Your Highness, what is going on here?"

The marriage between Xu Yourong and Qiu Shan Jun was no longer a simple alliance between the Eastern Divine General's Mansion and the Qiu Mountain family. Before tonight, the Great Zhou Dynasty and the various Southern religious factions must have had multiple consultations until they reached a complete agreement, after which the Southern delegation would come to propose.

The so-called proposal was just a matter of respect for etiquette and a necessary process. No one expected any unexpected events. Elder Xiaosonggong's question was naturally justified, as this was in the Great Zhou Dynasty's imperial palace, and since both sides had already reached an agreement beforehand, the Zhou people naturally had to provide an explanation.

Prince Chenliu smiled bitterly, speechless, thinking that the Holy Empress had only asked him to preside over the event tonight but had not said anything else. They were asking him for an explanation, but who could he ask? The Archbishop was resting his eyes, and Mr. Mao Qiuyu was drinking, these old fellows... were too much.

After much thought, he could only ask the person involved, "What... is going on?"

Prince Chenliu looked at Chen Changsheng at the entrance, spreading his hands, appearing quite innocent.

From this detail, it could be seen that he indeed had some goodwill towards Chen Changsheng; otherwise, he would not have let him explain first.

"Earlier outside the hall, I heard Your Highness say that Qiu Shan Jun wishes to marry Xu Yourong, and asked if anyone objected."

Chen Changsheng paused here and continued, "So I said, I object."

This answer was equivalent to no answer, just a reiteration.

He did not emphasize his tone, but the three words appearing again still made the atmosphere in the hall even more oppressive.

His attitude was very clear: I object to Xu Yourong marrying Qiu Shan Jun.

...

...

"Why do you object?"

"On what grounds do you object!"

Two voices sounded in the hall at the same time. One came from Prince Chenliu, who frowned, somewhat puzzled and worried. The other came from Elder Xiaosonggong, who raised his eyebrows, extremely angry and very forceful.

These two questions were also what everyone in the hall wanted to ask.

Xu Yourong was of the True Phoenix lineage, and Qiu Shan Jun was of the True Dragon lineage. Both possessed rare talents and potential that had not been seen in a thousand years and were seen by the human world as future leaders to resist the demon race. They had also studied and practiced in the South, belonging to the same school, and had grown up together, almost like childhood sweethearts. Not to mention, this marriage was crucial for the unification process of the Northern and Southern religious factions. In short, there were countless reasons why they should be together, but not a single reason why they should not.

What is a celestial couple? This young couple was the celestial couple in the eyes of the world.

This drenched, disheveled young man actually opposed this marriage.

Why? On what grounds?

Chen Changsheng answered both questions with one sentence.

"I have a marriage contract with Xu Yourong."

He said, "She is my fiancée, so she cannot marry anyone else."

The hall fell silent again.

Marriage contract?

He said Xu Yourong was his fiancée?

Ridiculous!

The people in the hall were shocked and speechless, looking at Chen Changsheng, unable to believe it, thinking it must be a lie!

Xu Shiji stared at Chen Changsheng, his face slightly pale, his hands trembling at his sides.

He said it, this damned fellow really... finally... said it!

He regretted it immensely. At the beginning, he should have killed him, burned him to ashes, and scattered them in the Luo River!

After tonight, the Eastern Divine General's Mansion would become a laughingstock!

The people of the Southern delegation were as angry as Xu Shiji, but they did not believe that Chen Changsheng was telling the truth. They thought this young man was acting on the orders of some faction, deliberately causing trouble, and humiliating the Lishan Sword Sect and the entire Southern religious faction.

The head of the Qiu Mountain family's face was extremely pale, the female disciples of the Holy Maiden Peak frowned in silence, the young people of the Lishan Sword Sect were full of anger, and Guan Feibai's face was pale with rage, his right hand gripping the hilt of his sword!

"Ridiculous! Where did this shameless scoundrel come from, daring to insult our Lishan!"

Elder Xiaosonggong suddenly turned and looked at Mo Yu, saying, "Such a madman, why don't you quickly expel him from the palace? What are the Zhou people trying to do!"

How could that young man possibly be Xu Yourong's fiancé!

Many people in the hall only now realized this and rose in anger, shouting at Chen Changsheng.

...

...

(Recommending a new work by a certain great author, it's actually a Naruto fanfiction, apparently participating in a writing contest. I have great confidence in this great author's writing quality. The address is: http://chuangshi.qq.com/bk/tr/79518489-1.html. Also, I ran a long distance today and am really tired, but don't worry! I've decided to be extremely rare and diligent and continue writing, two updates confirmed! The next update... shouldn't be too late, right?)

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