Unable to see the girl he likes in tears, 11th Prince convinces Yuan Zhan to add his little sister back into the list for the “bride contest”.

The “bride contest” for Yuan Ling finally starts off with a test in embroidery. Easily impressing all with her elaborate embroidery on a cloak for Yuan Ling, Qing Chen explains that the image on the cloak represents the common people as a reminder to our hero to return safely from the battle field. Yuan Ling consults with his fellow judges and is about to name Qing Chen as the winner until Yuan Zhan reminds him that Qing Chen’s cloak could very well be seen by the emperor as Yuan Ling’s desire for the throne. Promptly seeing the truth of Yuan Zhan’s words, Yuan Ling chooses Princess Duo Xia as the winner instead.

Realizing her own mistake as well when Yuan Zhan confesses to how he convinced everyone to pass over her and choose Princess Duo Xia as the winner, Qing Chen quickly assures Yuan Zhan that she is not angry but feels deeply thankful to him.

Going with Yuan Ling’s well known title as “God of War”, the second test is a fighting contest. Quite confident in her fighting ability, Princess Duo Xia easily defeats poor Cai Qian who still naively believes she has a chance of marrying our hero. Keeping his face unreadable even as the 12th Prince rallied his brothers to place bets on who the winner will be, Yuan Ling skillfully evades all questions on who HE hopes will be the ultimate winner.

 

 

Exchanging a secret look with Yuan Ling when it is her turn to fight Princess Duo Xia, Qing Chen has a flash back to her meeting with Yuan Ling the day before. Walking up to Qing Chen who is checking out the empty stage, Yuan Ling pulls her to him and asks “Are you scared?”
Yanking her hand away proudly, Qing Chen replies “Scared? What would I be scared of?”
Crossing his arms, Yuan Ling asks “Would you like to know what’s notable about Princess Duo Xia’s fighting style?”
Breaking out in a slow smile, Qing Chen says “So, you want me to defeat her?”
Pretending to be troubled when Yuan Ling promptly replies in the positive, Qing Chen continues “But isn’t this kind of underhanded?”
Undaunted, Yuan Ling protests “But I want you to win. Moreover, I know you have the ability to win. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”


Changing the topic to one she is more concerned about, Qing Chen muses “You seem to be enjoying this contest quite a bit. The ladies on the stage is trying to win for you, and the ladies below the stage is also doing everything in their power to attract your attention. But you, you just need to watch from the sideline.”
Wisely realizing this is the time to profess his unwavering devotion, Yuan Ling swings around to face Qing Chen as he traps her with his hands “I only care if the woman in my heart will really do all she can for me…because it took a lot of effort on my part to finally break through the wall guarding her heart.”
Smiling confidently, Qing Chen replies “She will do everything in her power.”

Not surprisingly, with that personal encouragement from our hero, Qing Chen defeats Princess Duo Xia and wins the fighting contest. Note: There were really only three contestants (The Princess, Qing Chen and Yuan Zhan’s little sister Cai Qian) since they were the only ones that knew how to fight.

Huffy when he catches Qing Chen walking around with Ming Yan, a jealous 12th Prince tries to warn Ming Yan off by saying Qing Chen only has eyes for Yuan Ling. Amused that 12th Prince is still clueless of Ming Yan’s gender, Qing Chen teases him by offering to help him capture Ming Yan’s heart. Horrified by how tempting Qing Chen’s suggestion sounds, 12th Prince declares that he and Ming Yan are both men…then hesitantly asks “Would going through the time portal change one’s …um…preference?” Laughing as a red faced 12th Prince runs away, Qing Chen muses “So Ming Yan is his weakness.”

Episode 30

The third test is on the gracefulness of the contestants and the winner is the one that garners the most praise from the princes. Due to the necessity of the plot… Cai Qian is the one that won.

With three contests ending with three different winners, the princes decided to add one more contest to break the tie. Eager to add some fun to the boring contest, 12th Prince suggests…much to the dismay of those who are worried about the girls they love, that the three girls should have a drinking competition. Unfortunately, even the drinking competition ended in a tie, with all three girls completely drunk.

Amused as he helps a stumbling Qing Chen sit down, Yuan Ling asks “You obviously can’t handle your liquor, so why did you try so hard?”
Her face red with alcohol, Qing Chen replies “If I don’t try hard, how can I win? If I don’t win, how can I marry you?”
Staring at a drunk Qing Chen, Yuan Ling says slowly “No matter what, in my heart, you are the only choice for my wife.”
Cocking her head, Qing Chen says “But I think maybe Duo Xia is a better choice for you. No one believed I would win.”
Smiling, Yuan Ling asks “So, you were afraid, that’s why you tried so hard to win her?”
Huffy, Qing Chen protests “Who’s afraid! So what, if you have Duo Xia?! I have someone else!”
Equally huffy, Yuan Ling declares “So what if you have someone else? The someone you speak of, can not even be compared to me. Plus, I always knew in your heart that you…”


Before Yuan Ling can finish his sentence, Qing Chen stops him by putting her finger on his lips then follows by planting a kiss on our hero.


Sadly, the much anticipated kiss is cut short when Qing Chen suddenly gets a premonition of Yuan Ling being ambushed in the forest of Mingyi Tower.
Alarmed when Qing Chen suddenly pulls back with a shocked expression, Yuan Ling asks “What’s wrong?” Sighing when the still dazed Qing Chen remains silent, Yuan Ling continues “What do I need to do for you to be willing to be my Princess Consort?” Hmm…he thought she pulled back because she still has some doubts about being with him?
Leaning her head against his shoulder, Qing Chen doesn’t answer Yuan Ling’s question but says “Don’t speak. Don’t say anything.”


Cupping Qing Chen’s face tenderly with his hand, Yuan Ling mutters “I hope I can stay by your side, forever.” Straight translation is actually “I hope I can stay by your side, forever drunk never wake up.” It sounds a whole lot more romantic in Chinese…but kinda weird in English, so I changed it.

Waking up to find herself back at the Feng household, Qing Chen is informed that Yuan Zhan had sent over a special kind of tea to help relieve any discomfort that may come with her hangover. Unwilling to accept anything more from Yuan Zhen, Qing Chen promptly returns everything to Yuan Zhen.

Not surprised when his man tells him Qing Chen had returned everything he sent to her, Yuan Zhan mutters “She is feeling sorry towards me. She is treating me so harshly because she doesn’t want to be indebted to me. But how can she know that if she is really determined to be with 4th brother, I won’t have the right to stop her. However, now that Princess Duo Xia is set on marrying 4th brother, it would make it impossible for him to marry Qing Chen. If that happens, then no matter the cost, I will bring her back to me.”

Puzzling over the difficult issue of which of the three girls should be Yuan Ling’s wife, the emperor’s first choice is of course Princess Duo Xia for political reasons, however, as Yuan Zhan points out, our hero has already rejected a marriage to Princess Duo Xia once and would very likely to do so again if the emperor tries to force the issue. Pleased when Yuan Zhan suggests that perhaps Princess Duo Xia would be willing to marry another prince if she just has an opportunity to get to know his other fine sons, the emperor consents to Yuan Zhan’s idea of letting the princess and Qing Chen participate in the military training at Mingyi Tower.

Worried about her vision of Yuan Ling being ambushed, Qing Chen tries to convince Yuan Ling to not participate in the military training at Mingyi Tower.
In a teasing mood, Yuan Ling asks “Ah, I know. You are afraid that Princess Duo Xia will win? Right?”
Still worried, but amused by Yuan Ling’s teasing question, Qing Chen answers “How’s that possible. How can she take what’s not hers.”
Smiling, Yuan Ling replies “Wow, so much confidence! If you are so confident then what are you worried about?”
Turning serious, Qing Chen explains that every vision she had concerning Yuan Ling had come to pass, and yesterday (a pause for embarrassing remembrance of the kiss) she had another premonition of him getting hurt.
Giving Qing Chen a smile of reassurance, Yuan Ling counters “Qing Chen, listen to me. To solve something, doesn’t always mean running away from it. Even if your premonition is true, escaping once doesn’t mean you can avoid it next time. For example, last time you had a vision of me being ambushed but am I not just fine right now?”
Not convinced, Qing Chen protests “But that’s because I was there!”


Backing Qing Chen until she is up against the shelves, Yuan Ling says with a laugh in his voice “That’s because the best defense is a good offense.” To prove his words, our hero leans down for a kiss. Yeah! The poor guy finally got his kiss.

Qing Chen meets with Elder Tao Yao and confesses to her about her premonition concerning Yuan Ling. Thoughtful after hearing Qing Chen’s words, Tao Yao thinks to herself “Is that because of the connection between the two stars?” Keeping her suspicion to herself, Tao Yao instead tells Qing Chen that with the current situation it would be difficult for Yuan Ling to ascend to the throne even though he is the one chosen by the heavens. Agreeing with Tao Yao’s worry and the fact that the emperor obviously harbors resentment towards them for forcing him to admit his mistake, Qing Chen decides that it is best to hide her sorceress identity for the time being.

Suspicious of Yuan Zhan motive for his suggestion of including Princess Duo Xia in the military training, 9th Prince accuses Yuan Zhan of wanting to marry Prince Duo Xia himself. Not one to miss any chance of muddling the waters, 12tth Prince jumps up and suggests that it is high time 9th Prince marries again so he might just as well marry Duo Xia himself. Taking 12th Prince’s words as a serious offense to his dead wife, a furious 9th Prince leaps forward to get his hands on 12th Prince. What started as a little spat between two brothers quickly escalates into a brawl involving almost all the princes. Speechless as he looks over his 12 sons, most carrying varying degrees of bruises, an already angry emperor becomes even more furious when none of his sons would fess up who actually started the fight and promptly decides to punish all of them.

 

 

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