Whoever Has the Ability Will Become the General's Wife

After she entered, she bowed respectfully. The Empress Dowager motioned for her to sit and smiled, "You came at the perfect time! We're just talking about picking a new bride for General Evan Shaw! Got any good candidates to recommend?"

Looks like breaking off the princess’s engagement left the Empress Dowager feeling guilty, so now she wants to make it up to General Evan Shaw.

Grace Wan felt a strong wave of regret bubble up from deep inside.

If she’d known there’d be a day Evan Shaw and her daughter might get back together, she never would’ve let Cynthia Zhu make that mistake.

If only Cynthia could marry him—wouldn’t that be just perfect!

......

Grace Wan forced down her regret and smiled, "General Evan Shaw is a real catch—only a lady from one of the great noble houses could ever hope to match him!"

"Exactly! I was thinking the same thing," the Empress Dowager nodded, then turned her gaze to Chloe Zhu. "By the way, Chloe, you haven’t told us about your future in-laws yet, have you?"

Chloe Zhu gave a shy little smile, her heart pounding like a drum.

No way, right?

The Empress Dowager wants to set me up with General Evan Shaw?

Sure, she wasn’t a spirit cultivator, but the Zhu family’s status—and the fact she was Zhu Minghan’s only legitimate daughter—made it possible.

Grace Wan seemed to have the same thought, her face changing just a bit as she nodded, "No, not yet."

"Or maybe—"

"Mother, you might not know this," Colin Gu piped up with a cheeky grin.

"Oh? What don’t I know?" the Empress Dowager asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Our General Evan Shaw is basically the hottest ticket in all of Danyang City. Every girl wants to marry him! Princess Xinyao is royalty, so no one dares to complain. But if you pick another girl for him, you’ll make one family happy and three families mad!" Colin Gu teased.

The Four Great Houses are the pillars holding up the Gu royal family’s throne.

If the Empress Dowager picked a bride from one house, the other three would totally be ticked off.

The Empress Dowager nodded thoughtfully, "So, does His Majesty have any brilliant ideas?"

"How about this—let all the unmarried girls from the Zhu, Shen, Yuan, and Sun families, ages twelve to twenty, battle it out! Whoever comes out on top gets the prize!" Colin Gu suggested with a grin.

"I love it! That’s an awesome idea!" The Empress Dowager was practically glowing. "Whoever’s got the skills gets to be General Evan Shaw’s wife! No one can say I’m playing favorites now, haha!"

Grace Wan chimed in with a beaming smile, "His Majesty’s idea really is genius."

She still wanted Chloe Zhu to get into the palace!

Just now, she’d almost let the Empress Dowager pick Chloe Zhu for General Evan Shaw.

Good thing His Majesty tossed out the idea of a competition.

With a tournament like that, there’s no way Chloe Zhu would ever get picked.

She’s totally hopeless!

Chloe Zhu was still just a pawn in her hands—she’d move her wherever she wanted...

......

Once the Empress Dowager and His Majesty were on the same page, they looked to Evan Shaw. "General, what do you think?"

Evan Shaw gave a faint, cool smile. "Isn’t this a little too showy?"

"Not showy at all!" the Empress Dowager insisted. "General Evan Shaw is the pride of the Blue Moon Kingdom—he totally deserves it! If I can find him a girl with both brains and beauty, maybe I’ll finally feel a little less guilty!"

Evan Shaw glanced at Colin Gu, "Then I’ll leave it to His Majesty and the Empress Dowager to decide."

Colin Gu nodded, looking pleased. "Great! I’ll issue the royal decree tomorrow. The tournament will be held during the Empress Dowager’s birthday bash. Sound good?"

"No objections, Your Majesty," Evan Shaw replied, cool as ever.

Chloe Zhu shot him a look—he didn’t seem even a little reluctant!

After all that drama to break off the engagement, now this?

Wow, General Evan Shaw, you are seriously popular!