Marrying a White Snake Wife is Super Cool

The martial arts tournament was over. Lu Yuan, the one all the civil and martial officials had least expected, had actually won.

"He won?"

"It’s over?"

...

The old eunuch stood by the ring, shouting at the top of his lungs, "The winner is—Lord Lu, Prefect of Dongchang!"

In the distance, Gu Ziye, who was sitting on top of a wall, heard the announcement from the Training Ground. Lu Yuan had won.

Gu Ziye pushed herself up with both hands and stood on the wall. She jumped up and down, waving her little hands wildly and shouting, "Hooray, hooray, Yuan~ won!"

In her excitement, Gu Ziye missed a step. A loose brick on the wall fell to the ground as she cried out, "AH!"

Several nearby Jinyi Guards rushed forward and safely caught the Princess as she fell from the wall.

After being caught by the Jinyi Guards, Gu Ziye quickly stood up and said, "How audacious! Is my body something you’re allowed to touch?"

’If anyone’s going to touch me, it should be Yuan~!’ Gu Ziye blushed and muttered under her breath.

The Jinyi Guards quickly knelt. "This subordinate deserves death!"

Gu Ziye waved her hand. "Enough! No one is to speak of what happened today. Just pretend it never occurred!"

"As you command!" said the kneeling Jinyi Guards.

If the Princess hadn’t been climbing over walls, these Jinyi Guards wouldn’t have been following her in the first place.

Standing on the ring, Lu Yuan thought he heard Yue’Er’s voice in the distance. He turned to look but saw no sign of her.

Lu Yuan scratched his head. ’I must be too wound up. How could Yue’Er possibly be nearby?’

Seeing Lu Yuan still dazed on the ring, the old eunuch hurried forward, bowing slightly and gesturing with his hands. He reminded him in a low voice, "Lord Lu, aren’t you going to come down and thank His Majesty the Emperor for his grace?"

’Thank him for his grace? What grace? I haven’t even been rewarded with anything yet!’ Lu Yuan thought, but he didn’t say it out loud.

At the old eunuch’s signal, Lu Yuan leaped off the ring. He walked to the entrance of the Golden Tent, handed the Celestial Master Sword from his waist to a Little Eunuch, and, under the watchful eyes of four generals guarding the entrance, cupped his hands and said, "Your subject, Lu Yuan, requests an audience with His Majesty the Emperor!"

Lu Yuan was standing a mere five meters from the Emperor, yet he still acted with perfect decorum. The Emperor was very pleased with this and said, "Enter!"

The Emperor, Gu Yuanzhang, added, "Let the other four enter as well."

When Lan Ying walked to the tent’s entrance, the four generals shouted in unison, "Big Brother!"

Lan Ying was deeply ashamed. He just nodded without a word.

Lu Yuan, Lan Ying, Braised Egg, Scarface, and the fat man stood inside the Golden Tent.

Aside from Lu Yuan and Lan Ying, the other three had all suffered injuries of varying degrees. The fat man’s was the most severe; his right shoulder blade had been pierced through.

Emperor Gu Yuanzhang began to bestow rewards one by one.

Hearing the Emperor call his name, the fat man took a step forward.

The Emperor asked with concern, "Your injury, what did the Imperial Physician say?"

"Replying to His Majesty the Emperor, the Imperial Physician said it was a deep injury to the muscle and bone. I’ll need to rest for a hundred days before I can move my right arm freely." The fat man spoke with all seriousness, completely devoid of his previous lecherous demeanor.

After listening, the Emperor signaled for his personal eunuch to present a small box to the fat man. "We bestow upon you an Elixir. Consume it!"

The eunuch opened the box, revealing a turquoise elixir to everyone present.

Lu Yuan recognized the turquoise elixir at a glance. It was one of the two he had presented to the Emperor a few days ago.

’The Emperor is using this guy as a test subject,’ Lu Yuan thought. ’The Emperor is suspicious by nature; he clearly doesn’t trust the Elixirs I gave him.’

Lu Yuan felt it was a great pity. A Human Level Middle Grade Elixir was actually being given to this guy!

Seeing the Elixir in the eunuch’s box, the fat man swallowed a few times, slowly took it out, placed it in his mouth, closed his eyes, and swallowed it down.

"AH!" the fat man cried out, his face showing a hint of pain.

Everyone was stunned. Why would the Emperor order the fat man’s death?

The Emperor’s face instantly darkened, and he too began to have doubts. ’Is it poison?’

Seven or eight seconds later, the fat man’s complexion began to turn rosy. He rolled his neck, then tried to slowly swing his right arm.

The reason for his pain was that under the effects of the Healing Pill, his flesh had begun to regenerate, and his nerve endings were recovering.

When the human body is injured, a scab forms. For a long time afterward, the wound will feel incredibly itchy, making one want to scratch it. This is because the nerve endings are regrowing, which is why you shouldn’t scratch a scabbed wound.

An expression of disbelief on his face, the fat man hurriedly pulled open his collar and ripped away the bandages wrapped around his right shoulder blade with his left hand.

He held the blood-soaked bandages in his left hand, staring at the smooth skin over his right shoulder blade. Not a single trace of the wound could be seen, nor could any scars be found on his entire body.

In just seven or eight seconds, the injury had healed completely. It was a medical miracle!

With the exception of Lu Yuan, everyone present was in disbelief. The two Grand Elders had lived to a ripe old age, but they had never seen such a miraculous panacea.

The Grand Elder of Le Shen Temple stroked his beard, thinking, ’The Court is truly generous, to give such a fine Elixir to this man. Could it be that they have an Alchemy Master capable of creating such a thing?’

Scarface was even doubting himself. It felt like a dream. He was certain he had pierced the man’s right shoulder with his spear, so how could there be no scar at all?

Coming to his senses, the fat man dropped to one knee with a THUD. "Thank you for His Majesty the Emperor’s immense grace."

The Emperor was also stunned. The Elixir’s effect was truly that miraculous. ’Where on earth did Lu Yuan get this? There’s only one left now. I must keep it safe!’

The Emperor glanced at Lu Yuan. As their eyes met, Lu Yuan quickly looked away.

With just that single glance, Lu Yuan saw the greed in the Emperor’s eyes.

The Emperor had originally intended to reward the fat man with other things, but seeing as he had already consumed such a fine Elixir, he did not bestow any further rewards upon him.

Scarface, Braised Egg, and Lan Ying were rewarded one by one with either money or an official position.

Although these three had placed higher than the fat man, everyone felt that their rewards were not as precious as the Elixir he had received.

Lu Yuan stood to one side, awaiting the Emperor’s reward.

The Emperor paused, then looked at Lu Yuan and said, "As for the reward for first place, We are still deliberating. It will be given to you during the morning court session tomorrow. You are all dismissed!"

Lu Yuan and the other four took their leave. Except for Lu Yuan, who had come alone, the other four all had family members present at the Training Ground.

Lu Yuan walked out of the tent, picked up his Celestial Master Sword, and had a eunuch lead the way out of the palace.

After Lu Yuan left, the two Grand Elders from the Celestial Dynasty Palace and Le Shen Temple, along with the civil and martial officials, were also dismissed by the Emperor.

The huge crowd of civil and martial officials chattered amongst themselves as they walked, discussing the morning’s tournament.

The Grand Elder of Le Shen Temple quickened his pace to catch up with the Grand Elder of the Celestial Dynasty Palace. "Old friend," he asked, "why the hurry? You looked a little pale this morning."

Of course he did. Who wouldn’t look pale when their own precious treasure was being carelessly flaunted by an outsider?

The Grand Elder of the Celestial Dynasty Palace said stubbornly, "I just wasn’t feeling well."

"Oh? Should I take a look for you, old friend?" said the Grand Elder of Le Shen Temple.

"No need. I know my own old troubles best. I’m heading back now!" The Grand Elder of the Celestial Dynasty Palace was in a hurry to catch up to Lu Yuan and get to the bottom of things.

Inside the Golden Tent, Marquis Yongchang, Lan Yu, cupped his hands and said, "His Majesty the Emperor, this..."

The Emperor, sitting with one hand on his forehead, waved dismissively. "You are dismissed as well."

Seeing this, Marquis Yongchang, Lan Yu, said, "Your subject takes his leave."

Lan Yu picked up the Treasure Sword from beside the table and left with a flick of his sleeve. His five adopted sons, including Lan Ying, followed him out of the palace.

Without looking back, Lan Yu said, "Do you have any idea how great a loss your surrender caused us?"

Lan Yu didn’t care in the slightest about his adopted son’s thoughts, only his own interests.

"Adoptive Father, your son was incompetent!" Lan Ying said.

"This is not the place to talk. We’ll discuss it when we get back!" Marquis Yongchang, Lan Yu, said, thinking to himself, ’You brat. Did you really think the Princess was someone you could get close to?’