Snatching a Husband Beneath the Exam Results-and Catching the Crown Prince

The imperial princes each had their own handsome features, with little to choose between them. But once His Highness the Crown Prince appeared, he unquestionably outshone them all.

His face alone belonged in a painting, and beneath it lay bone structure that was no less intoxicating. His brows and eyes could steal a person's senses, and his bearing was noble and otherworldly. Even an immortal banished from heaven could hardly have surpassed him.

But to Shen Anxin, he was the most, most, most dangerous presence of all.

Shen Anxin: You can't see me! You can't see me! You can't see me!

"Ah!"

So overwhelmed was she by her guilty conscience that she forgot she was wearing homemade high heels. She lost her balance and twisted to one side.

Before Shen Anxin could let out a dolphin-like shriek, an arm suddenly reached over and caught her securely.

A pleasant, delicate fragrance wafted up to Shen Anxin as both her hands gripped the arm, steadying herself.

The entire hall sucked in a breath.

Shen Anxin looked at the sleeve embroidered with dragons, swallowed, and hurriedly let go.

A voice like pieces of jade chiming together came from above her, seemingly tinged with laughter. "Are you all right, Lord... Shen?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Thank you, Your Highness." In her panic, Shen Anxin even forgot to lower her voice.

Everyone: She's completely exposed now.

Shen Anxin hurriedly lowered her head and tried to retreat. Eunuch Chen also wanted to quickly lead her aside.

Xiao Yanchen spoke before he could. "There is room beside me. Let Lord Shen stand here for the time being."

Everyone: *!!!!!*

At that moment, none of them could hold back their itching curiosity. Something was damn well going on here!

Shen Anxin's reaction was strange! His Highness the Crown Prince's reaction was even stranger! Could it be that the two of them... knew each other?!

Eunuch Chen naturally could not defy the crown prince, so he immediately abandoned Shen Anxin.

Seeing Eunuch Chen about to leave, Shen Anxin desperately wanted to reach out and stop him.

Shen Anxin: Don't go, Eunuch Chen! Don't leave me here alone! Take me with you!

Eunuch Chen: Don't call me! Don't call me!

He broke into a little run and rushed back to Emperor Hongyao's side.

Everyone: Something must have happened between them!!!!!

Shen Anxin could only stand meekly beside Xiao Yanchen, making her presence as small as possible.

Shen Anxin: Don't panic, don't panic. I'm Shen Anlan, not Shen Anxin. I'm Shen Anlan, not Shen Anxin. Nothing happened before, so by rights, he won't pursue the matter now either.

Chacha was puzzled. Host, what's wrong? By the standards you were just using, this crown prince has a face like polished jade and is exquisitely handsome and radiant. He's exactly your type. Why do you seem so afraid of him?

Shen Anxin: He's exactly my type! That handsome face was a calamity that nearly got all nine branches of my family executed!!!!!

Everyone sucked in a breath. She had done something that monumental?!

They couldn't help looking at Xiao Yanchen and Shen Anxin. A handsome face that was a calamity? Was it what they thought?

But Shen Anxin was hanging her head guiltily, her heart in a tangled mess. She hadn't even noticed the countless gazes fixed on her.

Chacha: You caused trouble?

Shen Anxin was wailing frantically in her heart, making everyone nearly go mad with curiosity.

What on earth happened? Stop wailing and tell us!

And that Chacha, aren't you a gossip-eating system? Do your job!

Feeling the eager gazes throughout the hall, as well as the burning stares from his younger brothers, Xiao Yanchen awkwardly raised a hand and rubbed his nose.

The unusual gesture surprised even Emperor Hongyao. His son had always been upright and proper. Was he embarrassed now?

If anything major had happened to the crown prince, Emperor Hongyao couldn't possibly have heard nothing of it, especially not a disaster that warranted the execution of nine branches of a family.

...A handsome face that was a calamity... Wait. A year ago, at the imperial examination, when the successful candidates' names were posted and the crown prince went in plain clothes to watch... hadn't something happened?

By now, Shen Anxin had finally calmed her little heart and was telling Chacha this juicy piece of gossip with regret.

I... once went husband-snatching beneath the exam results. I mistook the crown prince for an ordinary scholar, had my people drag him into the residence, and asked him to marry into my family.

The ministers: What did we just hear?!!!!! What have you done????? That was His Highness the Crown Prince!

The younger princes all turned wide eyes on their eldest brother.

Eldest brother... had been through something like that?! This Shen Anxin was far too bold!

Emperor Hongyao: ...So it was that incident after all.

At the time, the hidden guards had reported that the crown prince had been mistaken for a scholar who had failed the exam and seized as a prospective live-in husband. But he had not called for help and had even signaled them not to interfere, so they could only watch. They still had to report it, though.

Emperor Hongyao had also found it absurd and funny. It wasn't as though his eldest son lacked martial skills, so how could he have been snatched away?

When Xiao Yanchen returned, he asked what had happened. If his son had taken a fancy to the young lady, the selection of a crown princess could be moved up.

But Xiao Yanchen had only smiled and said it was a misunderstanding, and the matter had been dropped.

Chacha: ...Host, your days were truly eventful while I was away.

Shen Anxin: Ahhh, don't laugh at me!

Chacha: I'm admiring you! You're the first host to dare be so fierce without a system to back you up!

Shen Anxin: How can you blame me for that? It's all the crown prince's fault!

Everyone: ??? You were the one who snatched him! You were the one who took him back to your residence, and now you're pinning the blame on the crown prince!

Xiao Yanchen raised a brow and glanced at her.

Shen Anxin: Who told him to be born so stunning? He bewitched me! At the time, I saw he was wearing ordinary scholar's clothes and had only a young attendant with him. He stood beneath the results for ages without moving, so I thought he was some down-on-his-luck scholar who hadn't passed!

Everyone was snatching husbands beneath the results that day. Even Shen Anlan had been dragged away. As soon as I saw the crown prince's face, my brain suddenly short-circuited, and I thought someone like him who hadn't passed might agree to marry into my family. With such a beauty before my eyes every day, wouldn't life be wonderful?

The ministers: ...From a certain point of view, that was an acknowledgment of the crown prince's merits!

Xiao Yanchen also remembered how a young woman had suddenly rushed up to him that day and asked, her eyes sparkling, "May I ask if you are married, young master..."

By then, Shen Anxin had transmigrated for over a year and had gradually adapted to her new life, but she could never bear the ancient practice of a man having three wives and four concubines.

If marriage was inevitable in this era, she might as well take a husband into her family herself, find someone she liked, and bring him home. If they got along, they could stay together; if not, they could divorce. Divorce would be convenient with a husband she had taken into her family, and she could keep the children too.

The people of the Marquis of Shuoping's Residence had all agreed with this idea. After all, Shen Anxin's circumstances were unusual.

She had originally intended to look slowly, but then she saw Xiao Yanchen that day and liked him at first sight. Truly, above the character for lust hung a knife.

Shen Anxin felt terribly aggrieved. The servants dragged him into the residence, but he never told us who he was along the way. He didn't struggle desperately, and no one came to save him. I kept coaxing him, saying every nice thing I could think of to persuade him to marry into my family, and he didn't refuse!

The ministers: He didn't refuse?!

Emperor Hongyao and the princes stared at Xiao Yanchen in astonishment.

Chacha: Then did he agree?

Shen Anxin: ...No.

The ministers breathed a sigh of relief. If His Highness the Crown Prince had privately agreed to something as absurd as marrying into another family, none of them could have expected to leave Fengtian Hall today.

Emperor Hongyao and the princes also quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Of course, how could he possibly have agreed to something so outrageous?

Xiao Yanchen was somewhat embarrassed. Back then, sweet words had come readily to the young lady's lips, and she had placed all the best things before him to coax him into happiness. The enticing terms she offered had been clear, orderly, and well reasoned. Had he been an ordinary scholar, he probably would have nodded and agreed to marry into her family under her onslaught.

And as for him... somehow, faced with her expectant expression, he simply couldn't bring himself to say no, as though he were afraid she would look disappointed.

His state of mind at the time had perhaps been more like playing along with a little sister.

Chacha: What happened afterward?

The ministers: Yes, yes, what happened next?

Emperor Hongyao and the princes also couldn't help pressing for an answer in their hearts.

Shen Anxin: Shen Anlan came back and heard I'd snatched a husband beneath the results, so he came to see him. But one look was all it took for him to chase me out.

Everyone: Of course. The third-place scholar was also the heir, so naturally he had met the crown prince.

Shen Anxin: Even my father, who was recuperating, was called out. Then I was punished with confinement and didn't even see him leave.

Afterward, they didn't tell me the man was the crown prince either. They only said I'd provoked someone I shouldn't have and nearly brought disaster upon all nine branches of the family.

I did wonder who he was at the time, but I never dared guess he was the crown prince! Who could have imagined the crown prince would let me snatch him into the residence so easily?

When I saw it was him just now, I was so scared I nearly fell to my knees before him. No wonder Father and Shen Anlan reacted so strongly back then.

The ministers: The fact that your family only punished you with confinement shows how much they dote on you.

But the crown prince truly was benevolent. That such a major incident had gone so long without the slightest rumor getting out proved that the crown prince must have personally ordered the loose ends tied up, ensuring that no news leaked and preventing that audacious girl from being implicated.

Xiao Yanchen had actually already guessed that the Marquis of Shuoping's Residence would not tell Shen Anxin who he was. After all, they presumably did not want Shen Anxin to become entangled with him, a member of the imperial family, again.

When the Marquis of Shuoping and his son saw him out of the residence that day, the marquis had offered trembling apologies.

Xiao Yanchen had said, "It is no trouble. Second Miss Shen is exceedingly interesting."

Shen Anlan had immediately stepped forward. "My sister was recuperating from illness before and had no chance to meet outsiders. She has only just recovered, and it would be difficult now to mold her temperament into that of a proper young lady. Our family will not demand that she be any particular way in the future. We only hope she can live freely and happily, without restraint. I heard her say that she wants one couple for one lifetime. Though the idea is somewhat overbearing, since it is her wish, we can only agree to let her take a husband into the family. We never imagined Your Highness would be drawn into this. We deserve ten thousand deaths."

They were all clever people. Some things only needed to be hinted at; it was merely a matter of preparing for a rainy day.

Such matters depended on mutual willingness, and Xiao Yanchen naturally would not use his power to pressure anyone, much less when he had not yet developed feelings for her.

He had grown busy afterward and had hardly thought of Second Miss Shen.

Only whenever his imperial father and mother urged him to marry, a lively, graceful figure would flash through his mind, and he would refuse without thinking.

Not until today had they met again, and in such a manner.

And... that secret had been thoroughly exposed as well.

Feeling the various gazes around him, Xiao Yanchen's lips curved upward involuntarily.

Everyone knows now. This time, Shen Anlan can't blame me for it.