Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Upon seeing the enthusiastic Xu Jingyan, Jiang Mengxuan instinctively took two steps back.

This is not out of fear or disgust, but out of respect for the distinction between men and women.

"Third senior brother, your junior sister congratulates you on finding a good match."

When Xu Jingyan was three steps away from her, Jiang Mengxuan smiled and cupped her hands in congratulations once again.

Xu Jingyan was taken aback at first. Looking at his junior sister who was so close to him, he couldn't help but feel a little lost.

"Thank you for your kind words, Junior Sister. I am naturally very happy that you could attend my engagement ceremony."

At this moment, he saw Shen Lang and Jiang Shangxian getting off the carriage, chatting and laughing.

"Ok?"

The moment Xu Jingyan saw Shen Lang, he immediately recalled the figure he had brushed past when he entered the palace that night, and suspicion arose in his heart.

Seeing Xu Jingyan's gaze lingering behind her, Jiang Mengxuan immediately began to introduce herself.

"Senior brother, let me introduce you. This is my royal uncle, Prince Jing, Jiang Shangxian."

Xu Jingyan bowed to Jiang Shangxian: "I am Xu Jingyan, and I greet Your Highness Prince Jing."

With his round belly sticking out, Jiang Shangxian waved his hand and said, "It's no problem, it's no problem. Hmm, I've heard a lot about the name of Hero Xu. Seeing him today, I can confirm that it's well-deserved."

In reality, he had no idea what Xu Jingyan's name was; it was just empty talk. He should just listen to it and not take it seriously.

Jiang Mengxuan continued, "This is Shen Lang, a centurion of my Jingwei Division, who is also my..."

After a pause, Jiang Mengxuan lowered her eyes slightly, a rare blush appearing on her face.

"Future husband".

Xu Jingyan was greatly shocked by these words.

Shen Lang, who was originally going to watch the drama unfold, was also dumbfounded. How come the biggest drama was about him?

"What's going on? What does this woman want? Is she trying to bully us like this?!"

Thinking of this, Shen Lang was just about to explain.

But then Xu Jingyan said to Jiang Mengxuan in a somewhat stern tone, "Junior sister, let's talk in private."

After saying that, he walked away to the side by himself.

However, Jiang Mengxuan did not move an inch until Xu Jingyan took seven or eight steps before realizing that his junior sister had not followed, and he had to turn back.

"Junior sister, why didn't you come along?"

"Senior brother, let's say what we have to say here. We're a man and a woman alone together, and if someone sees us, it might cause misunderstandings."

Xu Jingyan was speechless.

Is the little junior sister who used to cling to him really gone forever?

So he could only hint at her indirectly: "Junior sister, how can marriage be treated so lightly?"

My senior colleague said we must keep our eyes peeled and look carefully to avoid being deceived by unscrupulous people.

Jiang Mengxuan frowned slightly: "What do you mean by that, Senior Brother? Why don't you just say it directly?"

"My senior brother is just offering a reminder. As the saying goes, you can know a person's face but not their heart. I've been wandering the martial world for many years."

Having witnessed countless Daoist couples turn into bitter enemies, I simply don't want to see such a tragedy repeated in my junior sister's life.

"Thank you for the reminder, senior, but I believe my judgment is correct."

Seeing Jiang Mengxuan defend Shen Lang like this made Xu Jingyan feel very uncomfortable.

He had a vague feeling that his junior sister should belong to him, and no one had the right to take her away from him.

Especially the thought of my junior sister marrying another man, being intimate with him, willingly parting her delicate, snow-white hands to reveal her flawless beauty for him to pluck, and finally bearing him children...

No, no, absolutely not!

He simply couldn't accept his junior sister becoming someone else's wife. No, it wouldn't do!

While Xu Jingyan was imagining the future, Shen Lang, who was being inexplicably mocked, couldn't possibly be in a good mood.

So he decided to try and calm this guy down.

"Young Master Xu, today is your joyous day. On this celebratory occasion..."

Mr. Shen first wishes you a happy and fulfilling marriage, and that your child will definitely not be the neighbor's.

With these words, it was finally Jiang Shangxian's turn to be a spectator.

He enjoys seeing large-scale scenes of bloodshed.

Xu Jingyan's face darkened instantly, and he looked at Shen Lang with a gloomy gaze. Shen Lang calmly returned the look with a smile.

In an instant, murderous intent surged, as if a bloody storm was about to erupt.

"Young Master Shen, marriage is about matching social status. Do you think you are good enough for my junior sister?"

Jiang Mengxuan, who had originally intended to smooth things over, gradually darkened her expression upon hearing these words.

When did I become your junior sister?

In that instant, her feelings toward Xu Jingyan underwent a subtle shift.

"So who do you think is good enough for you? Are you trying to say it's yourself? I've felt something was off about you since just now. So you're trying to have your cake and eat it too, right?"

Shen Lang didn't give Xu Jingyan any face at all. He only held back because of the thousand taels of gold. Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered to say anything more and would have just killed the guy with a knife.

"Young Master Shen, you'd better not cause trouble here. Junior Sister is not someone of your status to be worthy of!"

Xu Jingyan clasped his left hand behind his back, slowly tightening it, a sign of his rising emotions, which could even be described as bordering on rage.

Jiang Mengxuan remained silent and watched coldly from the sidelines, feeling extremely uncomfortable with what Xu Jingyan had just said.

Suddenly, Shen Lang's eyes turned cold: "So, what exactly is Young Master Xu trying to say by stopping us outside the mountain gate?"

I also want to remind you that since His Majesty has chosen me as his son-in-law, then she is my wife, Shen Lang's wife.

No matter who tries to make a move on my wife, I will spare no effort to make them experience the true meaning of the word "regret."

"Young Master Xu, I'll ask you just one question: do you have any feelings for my fiancée, Shen Lang?"

Jiang Mengxuan, whose face had been gloomy, couldn't help but show a hint of surprise and delight when she heard Shen Lang say these words.

Xu Jingyan was completely stumped by this rebuttal and didn't know how to respond.

Just as tensions were about to rise, Liu Qinghuan's voice suddenly rang out from inside the mountain gate.

"Junior sister, you've arrived?"

With Liu Qinghuan's arrival, the conflict between Shen Lang and Xu Jingyan temporarily came to an end.

Xu Jingyan regained his composure, bowed to his senior sister, and then silently entered the mountain gate.

"Senior Sister, we meet again."

"Ah."

Liu Qinghuan appeared quite uncomfortable in the face of Jiang Mengxuan's greeting.

"Junior sister, I'm really sorry about what happened last time..."

"Senior sister, it's all in the past, why bring it up again?"

Jiang Mengxuan smiled slightly, indicating to Liu Qinghuan not to take this matter to heart.

"I can understand Senior Sister's difficulties, and I absolutely do not blame you."

"Junior sister, I...sigh..."

The more magnanimous Jiang Mengxuan appeared, the more distressed Liu Qinghuan felt.

As the senior sister, she finally got a favor from her junior sister, but the junior sister was scared off by a powerful minister. She felt guilty every time she thought about it.

"Senior sister, don't worry about the Jinling Secret Realm. Shen Lang has already taken care of it perfectly for me."

"Ah, it's resolved. Did Ye Mo give you any trouble?"

"No, Ye Mo hasn't mentioned a word about this matter so far."

Upon hearing this, Liu Qinghuan was greatly surprised and looked at Shen Lang in disbelief.

"By the way, Senior Sister, he is Shen Lang. You met him at Wenxiang Tower that day. He's the one who saved my face."

"Yes, Commander Shen truly lives up to his reputation as a young hero."

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang couldn't help but laugh: "Miss Liu, you flatter me. It was nothing more than a small favor. There's no need for such praise."

These words were like a resounding slap in the face, almost causing Liu Qinghuan to collapse to the ground.

A mere fifth-rank martial artist could describe handling the Jinling Secret Realm as a trivial matter; it sounded like he was implying his own incompetence.

For a moment, she felt a mix of emotions.

But Shen Lang really didn't mean to mock Liu Qinghuan; he was just stating a fact.

“Junior sister, it’s rare for you to come back to the sect. Stay a few more days this time. I want to have a good talk with you.”

But Jiang Mengxuan refused: "I'm sorry, Senior Sister, things are very turbulent in the court these days."

After attending my third senior brother's engagement ceremony, I have to rush back to the capital to oversee things. We'll talk again in a while.

Liu Qinghuan sighed softly: "Alright then, once you're done with this, let's get together properly. It's inevitable that fellow disciples will become estranged if they don't keep in touch for a long time."

"Oh, by the way, is Second Senior Sister back? I miss her."

"You mean Qingqiu? Don't you know that girl? She's so impulsive, she won't stop until she causes a big commotion."

I heard she recently went to the northwest frontier. Never mind her, the engagement ceremony is about to begin, let's hurry to Zhengyang Palace.

"it is good."

After Jiang Mengxuan responded, she directly reached out her hand to Shen Lang.

Shen Lang narrowed his eyes, asking with his gaze, "What do you mean?"

Jiang Mengxuan smiled faintly: "Shen Lang, you just said that I am your fiancée. In that case, shouldn't you hold your wife's hand and face everything together?"

"I f***ing..."

Shen Lang was about to curse, but when he thought that a thousand taels of gold might be lost because of his swearing, he could only follow her instructions, forcing out a gentle expression and taking the Empress's hand.

Jiang Shangxian, who was behind him, was overjoyed when he saw this.

That's great, brother. With this hand in hand, you're probably never going to escape my niece's clutches again. I don't believe you can let go! Hehehe.

Then he looked around and shook his head.

"None of these oddballs here can compare to my brother."