SBCEJM -Chapter 103 How Does It Feel to Be Confessed to by a Princess?

After hearing those words, Feng Zexuan froze on the spot.

【System, I…】

Feng Zexuan blinked, almost thinking she had misheard.

【Did… did I just get confessed to by a woman? A princess, no less?】

【Host, absolutely true! So, how does it feel being confessed to by a princess?】

The system’s voice brimmed with shameless excitement, clearly enjoying the drama.

【…It feels kind of absurd.】

Feng Zexuan’s gaze landed on the deeply flushed face across from her.

The side hall was terrifyingly quiet, with only wisps of smoke curling upward from the sandalwood burner.

“Your Highness.”

She pointed at herself and deliberately puffed out her chest.

“Look carefully. I’m a woman.”

“I’m not blind!”

Xiao Mingyue suddenly raised her head, neck stiff and straight, stubborn fire burning in her eyes.

Feng Zexuan stepped forward, her aura abruptly turning sharp.

“Really? I don’t believe you. Tell me your true motive.”

Forced back half a step by the pressure, Xiao Mingyue’s face paled slightly.

“You’re the one who lied to me first!”

She stomped her foot, her voice tinged with grievance and anger.

“You disguised yourself as a man and fooled everyone everywhere, making me… making me…”

Halfway through, she bit her lower lip, as though desperately suppressing something.

Feng Zexuan raised a brow.

They had only run into each other a few times and barely exchanged a single sentence.

How exactly had she been “deceived”?

“So, Your Highness intends to charge me with deceiving the emperor?”

Her tone remained calm.

“No!” Xiao Mingyue denied immediately.

“You deceived my feelings, so you have to pay the price!”

She lifted her chin, trying hard to appear righteous.

“I want compensation for my… emotional damages!”

【Pfft… emotional damages? Where did she even learn that term?】

【Report, Host: the princess likely picked it up when she overheard you complaining on the streets before.】

Feng Zexuan stared at the princess before her, catching the fleeting calculation hidden in her eyes.

“And what kind of compensation does Your Highness want?”

Xiao Mingyue’s expression suddenly calmed.

The girlish shyness from moments ago faded away like a receding tide.

She walked to the window and rested a hand on the carved lattice frame, gazing at the layered palace walls in the distance.

The slanting sunset cast shifting shadows across her face.

“It’s simple. You only need to agree to one condition.”

She turned around, ambition gleaming in her eyes.

“Convince Father Emperor to let me attend court and participate in politics alongside the princes.”

Feng Zexuan narrowed her eyes.

So that was it.

“Attend court?”

“That’s right!” Xiao Mingyue clenched her fists tightly.

“In two days, the princes who’ve reached adulthood will begin participating in court affairs. I… want to go too!”

“Your Highness, this isn’t a simple matter.”

Feng Zexuan shook her head.

“Since ancient times, princesses have never interfered in governance. His Majesty will never agree.”

“Then that depends on the Northern King’s abilities!”

Xiao Mingyue turned and approached step by step.

“If you can become a king despite not sharing the imperial surname, then this request shouldn’t be difficult for you.”

“Northern King, I’m not joking.”

She pointed outside the hall.

“If you dare establish schools for women, then you should dare let me attend court!”

Her eyes carried the madness of someone making a desperate gamble.

“Help me achieve my wish and prove myself before Father Emperor. In return—”

She paused before speaking each word clearly:

“I, Xiao Mingyue, Third Princess of Great Xia, will become your most steadfast ally.”

The dagger was finally revealed.

Only now did her true objective appear.

This was no “compensation.”

It was a naked political transaction.

Feng Zexuan fell silent, her gaze drifting across Xiao Mingyue’s face.

This seemingly spoiled and willful princess actually possessed a fair amount of cunning.

She clearly understood that, as a princess, she held no real power.

The only bargaining chip she could offer was her identity itself.

【Host, this princess is smarter than you imagined.】

The system reminded her at the perfect moment.

Feng Zexuan had to admit she was tempted.

Watching only the princes play political games would be far less entertaining.

Adding a princess into the mix? Court sessions would definitely become much more interesting.

“Fine. I agree.”

Xiao Mingyue’s eyes lit up instantly.

“However—”

Feng Zexuan raised a finger, her gaze cool.

“I’ll only help you with the matter of attending court. As for the rest of the muddy waters, I won’t touch them.”

“Deal.”

Xiao Mingyue smiled so brightly that her eyes curved into crescents.

“But Your Highness, have you truly thought this through?”

Feng Zexuan’s expression turned serious.

“Once you step into the court, you’ll never return to being the carefree princess you used to be.”

Xiao Mingyue’s smile slowly faded as she returned to the window.

“Northern King, do you really think I’m carefree right now?”

The setting sun stretched her shadow long across the stone floor.

“Father Emperor has seven sons and three daughters. Every prince has a chance to fight for the throne. But what about us?”

She turned back, unwilling fire blazing in her eyes.

“We can only marry powerful nobles and become tools for political alliances.”

“I refuse to accept that! I’m also Father Emperor’s daughter, so why should I just accept my fate?”

Xiao Mingyue clenched her fists so tightly her nails dug into her palms.

“If you can disguise yourself as a man and carve out your own place in the world, then why can’t I openly prove myself?”

Feng Zexuan fell silent.

Suddenly, she understood.

The princess before her was someone unwilling to be manipulated by fate.

“Alright. I understand.”

Feng Zexuan nodded.

“Then how does Your Highness plan to deal with the doubts from the ministers in court?”

“They’ll say you don’t understand state affairs. They’ll say women cannot participate in politics. They’ll say you’re violating ancestral traditions.”

Xiao Mingyue curled her lips into a confident smile.

“You don’t need to worry about that. I’m not some decorative princess who only knows poetry and painting.”

She walked to the desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a thick stack of handwritten manuscripts.

“All these years, I’ve secretly studied statecraft. Military strategy, law, livelihood, finance—I’ve studied all of them.”

Feng Zexuan flipped through the pages and found them densely packed with neatly written notes on governance and politics, detailed and meticulous.

“As for those old fossils questioning me…”

A sly glint flashed through Xiao Mingyue’s eyes.

“Isn’t that what you’re for, Northern King? If you can even push through women’s schools, are you really afraid of dealing with a few stubborn old ministers?”

Feng Zexuan laughed at her words.

Was this princess perhaps a little too trusting of others?

【Sigh… kind of naïve.】

Shaking her head, Feng Zexuan walked toward the hall exit.

Just as she reached the doorway, the system’s excited voice rang out:

【Host! Huge gossip!】

【What now?】

The system’s tone suddenly turned mysterious.

【The Crown Prince already has someone he loves!】