Chapter 37: AI Matchmaking
Page 1 of 3
...
Consort Yun helped Chai Xiao straighten his ceremonial robes.
“I saw that the Junior Preceptor has returned as well, didn’t I?”
“Yes! Chai Huo may be planning to cause trouble, so the Teacher has gone to make arrangements!”
“Cause trouble? What sort of trouble?”
Chai Xiao explained what he had learned from Yao Jin: General Xiang Shouyue of the Imperial Guard was acting suspiciously, and Chai Huo would likely try to obstruct the plan to divert the Ying River into the city moat.
Consort Yun’s leisurely eyes widened at once, as though they might leap from their sockets.
Her mouth opened involuntarily, and her rosy lips instantly turned deathly pale. They trembled faintly, yet no words came out.
Even Vermilion Bird stood gaping in astonishment.
“Mother! Mother!”
Only after Chai Xiao called out several times did Consort Yun recover herself and ask, “You’ve already worked out every possible response so quickly?”
Chai Xiao nodded.
“We’ve finished running through them all!”
“Just wait and enjoy the show!”
Vermilion Bird cupped her hands and said, “Your Majesty! I never imagined that the Second Prince could be so vicious!”
“He harbors the ambitions of a wolf! We must guard against him!”
“After noon, the Heaven, Earth, and Human Arenas will be crowded, making accidents more likely. Young Master, Your Highness, please stay close to me so I can ensure your safety!”
Strangely, Chai Xiao did not answer. Instead, he stared fixedly at the tight, graceful figure of this valiant heroine.
She wore a suit of black soft armor, solemn and restrained.
Fine silver threads traced patterns of drifting clouds, shimmering with lively brilliance beneath the sunlight.
A moon-white jade sash encircled her waist, from which hung a warm, lustrous pendant.
A strip of red silk rested across her brow, embroidered with an exquisite phoenix design.
Her dark hair was swept into a high knot, and the corners of her lips curved faintly upward.
Her face was like a hibiscus reflecting snow; her brows resembled distant blue mountains veiled in mist; her eyes were limpid as autumn water, their pupils sharp and bright.
With every glance, light seemed to ripple through them. She possessed the crisp efficiency of a soldier, along with a hint of wild, untamed spirit.
She was dazzling, yet never lacking in valor.
Proud, yet never lacking in resilience.
She was just like her name—a phoenix reborn from the flames.
She concealed the vastness of stars and seas, as well as the fearless courage to face any battlefield.
From the look of it, His Majesty was only a step away from drooling.
“Young Master! Young Master!”
Vermilion Bird called twice, but he still did not react.
Covering her face, she cast a helpless look toward Consort Yun.
Seeing her son staring blankly, Consort Yun paid no heed to the blush already spreading across Vermilion Bird’s face and scolded him playfully.
“What are you doing, you rascal?”
“Looks like you really do want to take a wife after all!”
Only then did Chai Xiao return to himself.
“Mother!”
Consort Yun smiled sweetly. After glancing at Vermilion Bird, who had silently shifted half a step away, she leaned close to her son’s ear and whispered, “I asked you before whether you wanted to marry her, and you kept dodging the question, claiming that you only wanted to get married so you could collect gift money. You made me search everywhere for an explanation!”
“And now what is this? Your true feelings are finally showing?”
Chai Xiao blinked. Instead of answering directly, he asked softly, “How old is Vermilion Bird this year?”
Page 1 of 3
Page 2 of 3
Consort Yun was both exasperated and amused.
“You were born in the Year of the Monkey, and she in the Year of the Rooster. What do you think?”
Chai Xiao could not help staring.
“She’s only seventeen? One year younger than me? Truly, heroes emerge in youth!”
“And you have the nerve to call her Big Sister!”
“Mother, that’s just a common form of address. Any pretty girl can be called Big Sister!”
Vermilion Bird’s hearing was sharp, and she caught the mother and son’s entire conversation. The crimson clouds on her face deepened until she was completely flushed.
Yet her duty as his personal guard forbade her from leaving. She could neither move nor remain still comfortably, and could only stand there in awkward silence.
Consort Yun naturally understood the girl’s feelings. She shifted gently to the side, blocking Vermilion Bird from view.
Then she looked straight into her son’s eyes and asked, softly but firmly, “You little scoundrel, stop beating around the bush. Tell me honestly—what exactly are you thinking?”
Chai Xiao smiled and shook his head.
“I’m just afraid you might not be willing, Mother!”
Consort Yun’s willow brows shot upward, creasing her forehead into a small furrow.
“Do you think I don’t know you? Don’t worry. I’ll support you!”
Chai Xiao looked toward Vermilion Bird.
“Can you guarantee that she’ll be willing too?”
Consort Yun first froze, then patted her chest and gave him her word.
“If you truly feel that way, I’ll speak with her!”
“After all, my son is the ruler of Great Xu. Though he is only a duke at present, becoming a prince is merely a matter of time!”
“To become a princess consort—or even a secondary princess consort—would be an immense honor. She certainly won’t refuse!”
“She’s merely a young woman being shy. Even someone trained in martial arts would inevitably feel awkward when discussing such a major event in life!”
Chai Xiao suddenly widened his eyes, wearing an expression of utter speechlessness, and waved both hands frantically.
“Mother! You’ve misunderstood!”
Seeing Vermilion Bird repeatedly glance in their direction, Consort Yun hurriedly stopped her son.
“What have I misunderstood? Explain yourself!”
Chai Xiao spread his hands.
“I thought you had understood already!”
“I want Vermilion Bird to hold a tournament to choose her husband!”
The words struck Consort Yun like a thunderbolt splitting a clear sky.
This Mother of the Realm, whose bearing represented all of Great Xu, saw stars flashing before her eyes, and her body swayed unsteadily.
“A tournament to choose her husband?”
“Do you actually want to marry her or not? Why are you pushing her away?”
Chai Xiao covered his mouth and lowered his voice.
“Mother! Heaven and earth are my witnesses—I have never said that I wanted to marry her!”
“Having her hold a tournament to choose her husband is simply a last resort!”
Consort Yun finally steadied herself, her expression turning solemn.
“Explain properly. What is going on?”
Chai Xiao sighed.
“When a man is poor, even his ambitions shrink; when a horse is thin, its coat grows long!”
“Your son has no choice. I’m simply too poor!”
“We need to raise a million taels of silver!”
“Although the Heaven, Earth, and Human Arenas have been set up with great fanfare, the estimate for ten days is only five or six thousand taels. Even if that amount multiplied several times over, it would still amount to only tens of thousands.”
Page 2 of 3
Page 3 of 3
“Therefore, just as one must combine several techniques in a martial contest to secure victory, we have to make use of everyone—and use them to their fullest.”
“Then we must gather everything we can think of at the Heaven, Earth, and Human Arenas. Only then might we earn the greatest possible profit.”
“To put it plainly, setting up only fast-food stalls and private dining rooms is nowhere near enough!”
“We must expand it into a food festival—and then make it even bigger!”
“More themes, more varieties, more people drawn in to participate and spend money!”
“We need to turn it into a Disneyland—or perhaps call it a Pleasure City!”
“I’ve already reached an agreement with Yao Jin. The guards of the noble estates and the Imperial Guard will lead a Lion King Tournament.”
“I’ll use Chai Huo’s two hundred taels from the beauty-body-pillow sales as the betting stake. We should be able to make several thousand taels, perhaps even ten thousand.”
“If Vermilion Bird is willing, we’ll hold a tournament to choose her husband!”
“As for the specific arrangement…”
Before Chai Xiao could finish, he felt a gust of wind sweep rapidly past him. Before he could react, Vermilion Bird was already standing before him.
“Young Master! There’s no need to explain! I’m willing!”
Chai Xiao stared at her.
“You truly are willing? Do you know what—”
Her phoenix eyes shone brilliantly, as though flames burned within them.
Yet beneath that radiance lurked a faint chill born of regret, lending her an almost piercing severity.
“Her Highness the Consort has treated me like family.”
“Young Master insisted on sending a courier rather than me to deliver the letter, saving me from the Second Prince’s murderous hands. In other words, you saved my life.”
“Now Your Highness and Young Master are exhausting yourselves trying to raise a million taels of silver. This is also a great undertaking to save the nation and its people.”
“I, Vermilion Bird, am willing to offer my life in repayment for Your Highness’s and Young Master’s kindness, and in exchange—”
Chai Xiao hurriedly shook his head, waving both hands again and again.
“No, no, no!”
“You still haven’t understood!”
“When I said ‘a tournament to choose her husband,’ I meant it in quotation marks!”
“Let me put it this way: this ‘tournament to choose her husband’ is merely a name, or perhaps a pretext!”
Consort Yun and Vermilion Bird both froze.
They did not quite understand the quotation marks, but the word “pretext” was perfectly clear.
He intended to use the banner of a tournament to choose a husband as a means of swindling money!
This newly enthroned ruler of Great Xu seemed to wager on almost everything.
Now that he had finally stopped gambling, was he planning to move straight on to fraud?
Trickery, deceit, cheating, and theft!
Was he planning to commit every one of those shameless acts that decent people would never stoop to?
Even if he managed to raise the money through such methods, it would hardly be honorable. Surely people would condemn him.
True, those who accomplished great things did not fuss over minor details—but surely there had to be some bottom line.
Chai Xiao immediately noticed the disdain in his mother’s and Vermilion Bird’s eyes, and hurriedly explained.
“No! ‘Pretext’ isn’t the right word!”
“Let me put it this way: the person standing on the tournament platform to face challengers from all directions will be virtual—or, rather, fictional.”
Consort Yun and Vermilion Bird exchanged glances, then stared at Chai Xiao as though he were some kind of monster.
“A fictional person?”
“Standing on a platform to fight in a martial tournament?”
Had the midday heat given him sunstroke?
Or had his obsession with money driven him mad, so that he had begun babbling nonsense?
Page 3 of 3