The prince stepped on me to get to the top, I angrily flirted with the enemy's hostage

The boxes outside were actually filled with gold bars, without even a single decent treasure. Even these were what she had asked for in her previous life, fantasizing that she would ask for less betrothal gifts so that others would be stunned and praise her as a good princess.

Although the problem was hers, Xie Yuan readily agreed. Compared to Xie Yuan, she must have been kicked in the head by a donkey to have such an idea at that time.

Su Rou raised her head with an embarrassed look on her face, "Father, I don't want to marry the prince. I only regard him as my brother."

It can be said that Xie Yuan also has vision. Her father is now the General of Cavalry of the Northern Kingdom, and her three brothers are also military generals. If he marries her, the military power held by the general's mansion will be enough for Xie Yuan to take advantage of the situation and enter the palace to rebel and usurp the throne.

Her father often went to the palace. Even if he had never been to the emperor's harem, he must have heard a thing or two about it. How could he not know the dangers in the deep palace?

If she says she doesn't want to, no one can force her.

Su Wan said, "Your Highness, the Emperor hasn't issued an imperial decree to appoint a Crown Princess, and my daughter says she doesn't want to. You can't force her."

Her father was just a rough man who didn't understand the meaning of those flowery words of the literati. As long as Xie Yuan was not stupid, he would understand that his father did not agree.

Xie Yuan never said a word about the Crown Princess from beginning to end. She guessed that Xie Yuan must be trying to occupy the toilet without doing anything, taking advantage of the General's Mansion while not giving it any recognition.

The queen will be chosen from a woman who can help the prince stabilize his rule, that is, the future queen after the prince ascends the throne.

Xie Yuan might have thought about using the position of Crown Princess to ask his father to help him, but it was obvious that Xie Yuan's ambition went beyond that.

Even if Xie Yuan was lying, he didn't want to promise such a thing to the General's Mansion...

Xie Yuan stared at Su Rou and softened his voice, which seemed to be coaxing. "Ah Rou, did I wake you up just now because you were sleepy and unhappy? Ah Rou, don't be silly. Yesterday, you said that General Su would definitely agree, and if he didn't agree, you would do your best to convince him."

Maybe she did say such words at this time in her previous life, but she was deceived by Xie Yuan's disguise.

Xie Yuan's disguise was really good. He deceived her father and her. If she didn't have the memory of two lifetimes, she would have believed him again.

Su Rou shook her head. "I don't remember what I promised you, and you're not the one I love."

The expression on Xie Yuan's face stiffened for a moment. She didn't know whether it was because of the first half of her sentence or the second half, but she could actually see a hint of annoyance in Xie Yuan's eyes.

Xie Yuan looked at Su Rou again, "I'm asking you again, are you serious? Are you not happy with me?"

Su Rou nodded, revealing a hint of embarrassment, "Brother Crown Prince, please don't ask me any more questions."

Her words really succeeded in annoyed Xie Yuan.

"Clap, clap, clap!" Xie Yuan suddenly clapped his hands. "Good, good, good! Su Rou, you're kidding me! You dare to treat me like a joke in the General's Mansion! Very good."

Xie Yuan threw away his sleeves and was about to leave, but was choked by Su Wan before leaving.

"When the prince left, he asked the guards to take the betrothal gifts from the courtyard back with him."

After making sure Xie Yuan was far away, Su Rou and Su Wan burst into laughter.

Su Wan put his arm on Su Rou's shoulder and said, "My daughter, I, as your father, don't believe you, but I'm really curious. Why does the prince like you?"

Su Rou's face was pure, "Maybe... he wants our family's military power?"

Although she pretended to speak without restraint, she also had another purpose, hoping to make Su Wan more alert.

Su Wan said meaningfully, "You are only fifteen now. Although you have just passed the age of marriage, there is no need to get married so early."

Su Rou knew that this was her father's true thoughts.

When she was born, the entire capital was hung with celebratory red lanterns, and the emperor sent someone to deliver a gift for the sake of her father.

This alone is enough to prove that no one can shake the influence of the General's Mansion in the court.

But after all, the emperor's mind has been unpredictable since ancient times.

Su Rou took a breath and put her hands on her waist. "Of course I won't get married so early. I want to take the military examination."

After she got engaged to Xie Yuan in her previous life, she stopped practicing martial arts and was unable to fight back when she was captured by Chang Xi.

However, with Xie Yuan's covetous gaze and the emperor's fear, she was afraid that it would be difficult for her to have any role in the court like her brother.

"Oh, I just came here and heard our daughter say that she wanted to take the military examination. She's quite arrogant." A charming voice came from outside the door.

Su Rou looked over and saw Mrs. Jiang, the eldest wife of the mansion, stepping over the threshold and walking towards her, waving the fan in her hand.

Faced with Jiang's sarcasm, Su Rou did not act too radically.

Because Jiang was the eldest wife in the mansion, she gave birth to a legitimate son, but was inferior to her mother in every way. That's why she always looked down on them.

Su Rou said, "What does Jiang Shi mean by this? If my elder brother hadn't had my father's support, how could he have become a general? You look down on women, but aren't you still a woman?"

Madam Jiang leaned against the door frame. "My dear young lady, what you said is just a piece of advice. It's better for women to stay content with their duties. Isn't it better to marry and raise children honestly? I see that even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can come and propose marriage in person. Even if you become the Crown Princess, why not? Maybe our General's Mansion will have a Queen in the future."

Su Rou doesn't like others blaming her for what is a woman's duty. What is a woman's duty?

Is it unruly to not follow the arrangements and marry honestly?

This is the fate of other women, but definitely not Su Rou's.

Su Rou frowned, looked at Su Wan, and said in a coquettish tone, "Father... Look at Jiang, how come I said I wanted to take the military examination and it became my fault?"

Su Wan ignored Jiang and stood in front of her and Jiang. "Let's not talk about anything else for now. Answer your father first! You want to take the military examination? No, no, your mother didn't come today because she asked me to bring her message to the Crown Prince. Your mother doesn't want you to suffer in the palace, and your father doesn't want you to either. But how can you be so careless as to squeeze into the military camp? Besides, your mother didn't allow me to take you to practice martial arts in the first place."

Su Rou raised her eyebrows. "Father, if you don't agree, I'll go and sign up when no one is in the mansion, and no one can stop me."

Seeing that Su Wan wanted to say something, she ran away.

When she passed by Madam Jiang, her eyes met Jiang's.

In her previous life, she devoted herself to Xie Yuan and didn't care much about Jiang's weirdness.

Today, Jiang must have heard from the maids in the mansion that Xie Yuan had brought gifts to propose marriage, so she showed up here to watch the fun.

Jiang wished that no one in the general's mansion would obey her wishes.

Seeing her doing something she is not happy about makes Jiang happy!

In the previous life, when the general's mansion was dragged out by Xie Yuan's men at night, Jiang was having an affair with the groom in the mansion.

The two men knelt on the ground in disheveled clothes, crying for their parents, and hoped that their father could save them before they died.

After all, Jiang was a noble lady from a prominent family, and she was very secretive. My father had never treated any of the ladies badly. Jiang's behavior was really a betrayal of my father's good intentions.

But she couldn't take care of Jiang for the moment. As long as Jiang didn't cause her any trouble, she naturally wouldn't care about Jiang.

Forget it, I'll just stay away for now and have a good argument with Jiang tomorrow.

However, Su Rou never expected that the people would see Xie Yuan entering the general's mansion with his guards and betrothal gifts in a grand manner, and later saw Xie Yuan's guards leaving the general's mansion in disgrace with the betrothal gifts.

The story spread among the people, and they made up a story that the crown prince came to propose marriage but was driven out of the general's mansion.

Although this was true, it reached the emperor's ears.

The emperor summoned her into the palace.

The imperial city was majestic, and Su Rou followed Su Wan as he walked on the stone bricks.

There was a commotion in the distance. Su Rou looked over and saw a man in dark black clothes walking towards her, surrounded by a group of eunuchs.

She knew all of Xie Yuan's brothers and sisters. If the man in front of her was not a prince, could it be that he was an idle prince who had been stationed at the border and had returned to the capital?

But at this age, she looks a little younger...

Su Rou tugged at Su Wan's clothes, "Father, who is this person?"

Su Wan stopped and looked in the direction she pointed. "He's the hostage sent by the Southern Kingdom. I heard he's the Southern Kingdom's little prince, and his biological mother is the Southern Kingdom's queen. Two years ago in the winter, the Southern Kingdom fell into a food shortage, so I led my troops to attack the Southern Kingdom and made it submit to us."

She did remember the time her father led his troops out, but she didn't know it was to attack the Southern Kingdom...

Since ancient times, only the fittest survive. My father is proficient in strategy and tactics. He took advantage of the time and place to conquer the Southern Kingdom. Even if the Southern Kingdom is to blame, it cannot be blamed on their General's Mansion, but the emperor of the Northern Kingdom should be blamed.

She heard one of the eunuchs cautiously walking in front to lead the way for the man in the dark black robe, "Your Highness Prince Yu, be careful."

Prince Yu?

If it was this title, she would have an impression of it.

None of the Southern Kingdom’s princes had the word “Yu” in their names, only the legitimate son of the Southern Kingdom’s general had it.