Chapter 92
In the imperial court, everyone held a sheet of paper in their hands.
The paper contained the content of Xu Ming’s memorial.
After reading through Xu Ming’s eloquent and impassioned several-thousand-word petition, the gathered officials couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath. It was as if the entire hall had grown colder.
This document—a “petition to annul the engagement”—stirred the hearts of all who read it. A vivid image of someone unwilling to be bound by family obligations, determined to achieve great deeds unencumbered, leapt off the page.
“Why am I annulling the engagement? I am doing this for the nation!”
“How could I abandon the greater good for the sake of a small family? Besides, should something happen to me, what then? Wouldn’t Her Highness the Princess be left widowed?”
“Let the engagement remain for now. When I conquer the northern wilderness and slay the countless demons, I shall return with a ten-mile-long bridal procession to wed the Princess!”
Within Xu Ming’s words, one could sense a blend of a scholar’s refinement and a general’s passion—a kind of romanticism unique to those two roles combined.
Is this truly the writing of a fourteen-year-old? This is the epitome of a Confucian general!