"Empress Dowager, I won't marry him!"
Yunluo sat in the Empress Dowager's bedchamber, shaking her arm.
The Empress Dowager scolded her, "Dali may be far away, but Duan Yu is its Crown Prince now. If you marry him, you'll be the Crown Princess, the future Empress of Dali. What's wrong with that?"
"Look how old you are already. If you don't marry soon, you really won't be able to find a husband."
The Empress Dowager could not bear to marry Yunluo off so far away either, but she wanted even less for Yunluo to remain unmarried forever.
It was not that she cared about the Imperial Family's reputation. She simply felt for her only daughter.
The emperor had chosen so many prospective husbands for Yunluo, yet not one had caught her eye. Now the court officials feared the mere mention of her name as they would a tiger, leaving marriage to someone from another country as her only option.
Besides, Dali was not some impoverished place like Great Liao or Western Xia. It enjoyed springlike weather all year round. They did not even mind Yunluo's age, so what did she have to complain about?
Yunluo grew anxious. "Then let me stay unmarried! If I have to marry someone I don't like, I'd rather not marry at all."
"Silence!" The Empress Dowager's face hardened. "Like? Who do you like? Is marriage a matter of whether you like someone?"
Family background, looks, age, learning, and character all had to be considered, and Duan Yu was an outstanding choice in every respect.
Moreover, Dali's imperial Duan Clan had a martial heritage. Duan Yu was said to be known as a Great Hero in the Jianghu, and his martial arts ranked among the finest of the younger generation. Did that not meet Yunluo's requirements