Chapter 160

"Chunhua, put the spear away," Xie Linghan said to prevent anyone from getting hurt.

Chunhua briskly wrapped the spear in several thick layers of cloth and packed it into a wooden chest.

"Oh right, sister-in-law, I've come to bring you a gift," Fubao beckoned and instructed Huazhi to bring forward the prepared gift box.

"Wow, wow! Fubao, what did you bring?" Miss Chen and Lin Jiajia squealed with excitement as they watched Huazhi present an elaborately decorated wooden box.

"Of course it's something good!" Fubao lifted her chin with a smug look.

Xie Linghan smiled, glanced at Fubao, and asked, "What kind of good thing is it?"

"Sister-in-law, open it quickly and see if you like it," Fubao urged.

Before Xie Linghan even opened the box, she laid eyes on something utterly miraculous.

In contrast, Miss Chen and Lin Jiajia found it odd. "This fruit looks so strange!"

"This... could this be a ginseng fruit?" Xie Linghan gasped in disbelief. This was an extraordinarily rare treasure that could only be found by sheer fortune.

"Eh? Sister-in-law has seen this before?" Fubao asked in surprise, thinking that mortals shouldn't normally be able to encounter such an item.

"I have never seen the physical object before, only read descriptions of it in ancient texts," Xie Linghan replied.

"Tell me, Fubao, how on earth did you get your hands on such a rare treasure?" Xie Linghan narrowed her eyes, giving Fubao a scrutinizing look.

"Fubao, is this really a ginseng fruit?" the two young ladies beside Miss Chen were dumbfounded.

"This..." Seeing everyone's gazes fixed upon her, Fubao felt her heart tighten. She had never expected Xie Linghan to recognize a ginseng fruit.

"Oh my, I was wondering why all these little rascals had vanished without a trace. So they've hidden themselves away in the bride's chambers," Bai Yugu's voice drifted in from outside the doorway, followed shortly by her graceful figure.

"What are you all chatting about?" Bai Yugu asked, using a round silk fan to partially shield her lips.

As her gaze swept over the fruit inside the box, her eyes suddenly narrowed. Why on earth was this thing here?

"Aunt," Xie Linghan stood up and offered a respectful bow.

"There's no need for such formality, niece-in-law," Bai Yugu replied with a faint smile.

"Junior Aunt," Fubao also offered a greeting.

"My, isn't this Fubao? Look how much you've grown," Bai Yugu said, feigning astonishment.

It seemed this item had been brought by this chubby fish. Speaking of which, seeing this thing always made her blood boil.

Fubao: Why is this person acting so strangely?

"Anyway, whose idea was it to send peaches? Sending peaches to a bride?" Bai Yugu sat down, picked up the ginseng fruit from the box, and examined it closely.

"Miss Bai, this isn't a peach, this is—mmph, mmph!" Lin Jiajia hadn't even finished her sentence when Fubao clamped a hand over her mouth. Was this silly girl trying to let the whole world know it was a ginseng fruit?

"Not a peach? No, this is definitely a peach. I just had a maid buy a few for me yesterday," Bai Yugu said, turning the ginseng fruit over in her hand.

"Junior Aunt, is this really just a peach?" Xie Linghan asked, seeing that Bai Yugu didn't seem to be lying.

"This kind of peach is common all over the streets. Its shape is just a bit different from ordinary peaches. Could it possibly be a ginseng fruit or something?" Bai Yugu arched a slender eyebrow and said.

"So it's just a peach after all," Xie Linghan said with a hint of disappointment.

Hearing this, Fubao let out a sigh of relief. If her future cousin-in-law had truly kept questioning the origin of the ginseng fruit, she really wouldn't have known how to explain it.

After making a commotion in the bride's bedchamber for a while, the group took their leave. Xie Linghan looked at the pink, tender fruit in the box, pondered for a moment, and decided to take it out and place it on a porcelain plate so she and Bai Zhuo could share it when he returned.

...

On the way back to their courtyard, the maid with floral buns could no longer hold back her question.

"Mistress, that was clearly a ginseng fruit. Why did you deny it?"

Bai Yugu twirled the round silk fan in her hand, thinking to herself that the sunlight was a bit dazzling today.

"Huahua, how could a mere mortal possess such a rare treasure as a ginseng fruit? No one would believe it even if you told them! However, that sharp intuition of the Xie girl is truly no joke."

"No wonder that thing ended up in her hands," Bai Yugu murmured, the corners of her lips curling upward into a playful smile.

"Mistress, then what should we do about..." the maid with floral buns asked hesitatingly.

"Let's stir up some trouble. That long spear is due to make its appearance in the world."

"How should we go about this?" the maid asked.

"Half a month from now, let's start with that batch of scholars who have come to the capital for the imperial examinations."

"Understood."

Bai Yugu gazed into the distance, her eyes profound and distant. Ah, everyone who is supposed to emerge is finally coming out. What kind of antics is the Mandate of Heaven planning to pull this time?

...

During the Dragon Boat Festival, a grand dragon boat race was held, and the little princess slipped out of the palace once again, heading straight for Fubao.

Gu Li looked rather helpless as he watched the little troublemaker wedge herself right between them. Was this supposed to be their sweet couple's time alone? His face turned pitch black when he noticed Miss Chen and Miss Lin waving enthusiastically at Fubao from afar.

This year's dragon boat race was exceptionally lively and crowded with people. Among the numerous competitors participating in the race, Fubao spotted Gu Yu on a small boat, dressed in practical athletic attire with a red silk ribbon tied around his forehead. Honestly, that fellow seemed to pop up everywhere.

Gu Yu was here for something important this time; His Majesty had declared that the first-place winner would receive two gold ingots for free, plus a beauty.

The little princess watched the sailors, who looked as though they had been injected with chicken blood, curled her lip in disdain, and remarked, "My imperial father's prize is quite generous indeed—two gold ingots and a beauty. But that beauty hasn't even arrived yet."

Fubao was quite curious about what she meant by the beauty not having arrived yet.

"Sigh, Fubao, let me tell you, the beauty Father Emperor mentioned is actually a princess from another land sent for a political marriage—a hostage princess sent by a neighboring state," the little princess explained.

"What's going on? How did a political marriage princess get dragged into this?" Fubao was somewhat bewildered.

"I don't know the full details either. Word is she comes from the remote borderlands. You know how harsh the climate is out there; the people there are sturdier and burlier than the last, with men and women looking practically identical. I even heard that this princess they sent has a waist measuring three feet eight inches wide, and shoulders broader than a typical man's," the little princess gossiped, not forgetting to mock the situation.

Fubao: "..."

"So they're just handing her off to whoever wins," Fubao felt a pang of sympathy for the political marriage princess.

"Not just anyone, they're using this race to pull out a champion and hand him a wife, and the whole political marriage issue is perfectly resolved," the little princess clapped her hands together, indicating that this was how simple it was.

"Aren't there any other candidates?" Fubao asked.

"Which of the noble youths would be willing to marry her?" The little princess glanced sideways at Fubao.

Fubao: That is true.

Fubao cast a look at Gu Yu, who was currently as fired up as if he had taken stimulants, and suddenly felt a shred of sympathy for him. *Hang in there, big guy. This is the moment to showcase your personal charm.*

Gu Yu: I suddenly have an ominous premonition.

The competition proceeded smoothly, and truth be told, the atmosphere was quite fantastic.

Suddenly, right beside the neat rows of large racing boats, a turtle shell broke the surface of the water, and shortly after, a giant turtle head poked out from the waves.

The oarsmen all stretched out their necks to look.

Inscribed on the turtle's back were the words: *I am number one.*

Everyone: "..." Wasn't this General Wu's guard turtle? How did it end up over here?

Instantly, the competitive spirit of the oarsmen was ignited. A mere little turtle dared to mock them? With that, the small boats, which had been maintaining a decent pace, suddenly accelerated like arrows shot from a bow, racing forward faster and faster.

Everyone: "..."

General Wu: Hehe, so this is the true purpose of a turtle.