Chapter 17: TGP: Li Amm's hand
"It was an honor to receive his majesty's praise. This subject swore his life to the throne and thus do his best to serve the empire." Ren Shou smiled warmly too. But his insides were not.
The empress gave her blessings as well. Ren Shou gave perfunctory praise to the Emperor and the Empress. Then like the scene with the crown prince was repeated, the Emperor and the Empress scrutinized Li Amm. Li Amm just smiled. But because of that freaking veil again, Li Amm had to do body gestures aside from her face. So she bowed to the couple and give a greeting.
"The sun of the empire, blesses by gods, and the chosen once since birth, His majesty-" Li Amm bowed to the Emperor. This was the greeting she learned from Aunt Shao Mei's lesson plus her knowledge in her past life to suck up on people slash k-drama's influence.
Then Li Amm turned to the Empress.
"- the moon of the empire, who had peerless beauty and generous heart, the mother of all, Her majesty- " Li Amm then bowed at the two of them.
"-this lowly servant greets the sun and the moon,"
"…." The two were speechless. It was a unique way of greeting them. But still, their ego had been satisfied. Especially, the Empress who had been called as peerless beauty.
The Empress laughed.
"This lady spoke very well. May I know which residence you came from?"
Li Amm's eyes shined. Her list flashed on her eyes.
_write a love letter to the empress
Li Amm bowed more. Her voice expressed how delighted she was.
"This humble servant is honored to speak my humble's origin. I am Li Amm De from the De Residence."
"Ohh? You are Prime Minister Amm Gu De's daughter. You had been hidden away for so long. I'm glad you attended my nephew's banquet." The Empress expressed her surprise.
The Emperor's eye flashed. He took one more glance at Li Amm.
"I am honored to be in your eyes, Your majesty. Just being by in Your presence brought me a great joy."
"Fu.Fu.Fu." The Empress covered her mouth to stop her self from laughing more. She had taken pleasure in speaking with Li Amm.
"You made Our Empress laughed. We will invite you again in the palace so that you and the Empress can have a little chat." The Emperor spoke.
The Empress was stunned. She was delighted but not to the point to invite the lady to the palace. But when she saw the scheming eyes of the emperor, she understood it immediately. So she nodded,
"His majesty is wise and generous. Let's chat again at some other time." The couple then proceeds to the highest seats.
Ren Shou held Li Amm's hand under his robe.
"Don't worry. I'll protect you." Ren Shou whispered to her.
'Eh? What is this man was saying?' Li Amm was not really afraid. In fact, she was delighted. She was about to tell him that she was happier to be summoned when the Emperor started speaking to officially start the banquet.
The banquet was quite lively.
There were entertainers such as musicians, painter, dancers, and courtesans.
A lot of officials greeted Ren Shou and sang praises about him. He was the main protagonist so he was the talk of the noblemen and women. However, the officials did not talk long with the general as they were afraid to offend the emperor. They knew of the feud eight years ago. The doubt of seed had been long sprouted between the two. Sooner or later, this general would be caught in a trap laid by the emperor. So they were careful of their speech and action.
Li Amm's father, Amm Gu De, the right prime minister was in the banquet as well.
He was watching Ren Shou and his daughter from afar. A lot of people were talking to Ren Shou. They had also been eyeing the lady beside Ren Shou. Amm De sighed in relief when he saw that his mischievous daughter did not take off her veil.
It was then Amm Gu De met the Emperor's gaze. The Emperor smiled at him signaling him that it's about to come. Amm De fidgeted and tried to calm down himself. He was never this nervous before. It was all about his precious daughter after all.
The emperor stood up. The entire hall instantly became quiet.
Even the surrounding pagodas that gathered the commoners women who attended the banquet had turned silent.
Seeing that all the attention was on him, the Emperor started to speak,
"The Ren Empire had been in peace despite the Northern Kingdom's constant attack on our northern borders. It's all thanks to our new general. Let Us give the newly appointed general an award for his hard work for all these years. Ren's general, is there anything you wish for?"
Ren Shou stepped forward and kneeled in front of the Emperor.
"Your majesty, it is this servant's responsibility to sacrifice his life for the Empire. I don't dare to wish anything else." Ren Shou said with an upright and sincere manner.
"However, I don't dare to reject his majesty's goodwill to grant me a wish. Hereby, this lowly subject would like to request the right prime minister's only daughter's hand for marriage."
Gasp. The audience gasped loudly. Especially the ladies.
Even the crown princess was shocked.
The renowned general who was cold and domineering, and said to be had no mercy on woman, was actually kneeling to get a hand of a lady?
The Emperor smiled. He expected this. He was happy to obliged to give in this request.
"We had seen your loyalty and sacrifice for the Empire. Let Us bestow you a marriage and choose a proper date for you and for Amm De's daughter.
"Right Prime Minister," The emperor called out to Amm De.
Amm De stepped forward and bowed.
"Please call your daughter to stepped forward."
Amm De reluctantly called out to Li Amm. His heart was heavy. His eyes could not cover his sorrow. Amm De' mournful face turned to Li Amm.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone