From then on, Ning Wanwan really did join Ning Yuanzhou, Pei Jinxiu, and the others every day to practice martial arts. Although she could not compare to Ning Yuanzhou and Pei Jinxiu, who had trained daily since childhood, she at least achieved modest results.
Ning Yuanzhou was as irritating as ever, constantly mocking Ning Wanwan. When he found out that she secretly had a crush on Pei Jinxiu, he made sure everyone knew. Consequently, the training ground, which was normally filled entirely with men, soon learned that Ning Wanwan had only come there to pursue Pei Jinxiu. Furious, Ning Wanwan got into a fight with Ning Yuanzhou. In the end, the two of them stopped speaking to each other, and upon returning home, they were both punished by being made to kneel in the ancestral hall.
Abandoning all pretense, Ning Wanwan simply stopped hiding it and pursued Pei Jinxiu openly and boldly. At that time, Pei Jinxiu was still an out-of-favor imperial prince. Whether he was conquered by Ning Wanwan's beauty or touched by her warmth, he actually went directly before Your Majesty to request a marriage decree. Remembering that Pei Jinxiu had previously been betrothed to Lin Jiaoyan, the daughter of a criminal official, the aging Emperor seized the opportunity to invalidate that engagement and issue a new decree betrothing Pei Jinxiu to Ning Wanwan.
Chapter 22