Rebirth of the Prime Dragon Master
Chapter 85 Brewing Storm

"His Majesty is arranging for someone to marry Shirley?" Bryant grew stern, his eyes growing cold ashe heard this news. "Am I hearing this right? His Majesty is arranging for me to be married?" Shirleyalso became serious. She had heard long ago from her grandfather of this agreement. But she hadbeen so small back then and everyone had tucked the matter away at the backs of their minds. Theemperor was bringing up this issue out of blue now. She was at loss for how to feel.

"I remembered that Prince Alston is already set to marry someone. It should be the older daughterof the leader of Ji Clan. Shirley is to be the successor of the leader of Ximen Clan, which His Majestyhas known for a long time. He should be more cautious with her marriage. No princes are evengood enough for her besides Prince Alston, who is heir to the throne of the emperor,” Bryant saidloudly, frowning intimidatingly. His words were few, and yet his arrogance and aggressiveness werequite evident.

"That's the way things should have been! I can only wonder why His Majesty wants to arrange hermarriage all of sudden...” The elders of Ximen Clan nodded their approval of Bryant's sentiments.Given the influence of their clan in the Holy Dragon Empire and the fact that Shirley was to becomethe future leader, Prince Alston was the only eligible match should the emperor want to marry herinto the royal family.

But Prince Alston had already been engaged a couple of years ago, so there was no way theemperor would arrange for him to marry Shirley.

"Did His Majesty mention which of his princes?" Bryant shouted impatiently. He was eager to knowwho the emperor had in mind.

"It's His Majesty's younger son, Prince Basil." "Basil? Isn't he that imbecile prince who was only at thefirst grade of the Mortal Stage even after fusing with the Holy Dragon Bead? I heard that he hadbeen stripped of his title. How could it be him? I thought he was no longer a prince?" Bryant lookedconfused.

"Him!? What! No! It can't be! I would rather die than marry him." A disgusting expression took overShirley's face as she heard this news. She still nursed a grudge from their encounter when he hadmade fun of her figure. She gritted her teeth in anger.

"You have missed the Dragon Birth Festival. Had you seen what happened at the Festival, you woulddefinitely think differently.” said a white-robed elder. The elders of Ximen Clan had all been invitedand attended the Dragon Birth Festival. They had all witnessed Rocky's performance.

"What happened at the Dragon Birth Festival?" Bryant realized that there must have beensomething significant that took place at the festival that he had not been told about yet.

The elders exchanged looks among each other and told Bryant everything they witnessed. Theyrelayed how Rocky had defeated all phoenix spirit manipulators from the Magic Phoenix Empire andmade a breakthrough to the Earthly Stage. They also told him the fact that he wounded Erica whowas at the ninth grade of the Heavenly Stage and was consequently reinstated as a prince. Theexpressions on Bryant and Shirley's faces shifted rapidly in the course of listening to all theseshocking stories

"He made it to the Earthly Stage from the first grade of the Mortal Stage within two months... Howcould that imbecile prince have such a gift? He couldn't have done any of these without somethingprofound propelling his progress, even after the fusion with the Holy Dragon Bead. Besides, he'sbeen totally unable to fuse with the Dragon Spirit Bead for the past five years. His fusion with theHoly Dragon Bead must have been an accident and his gift and quality must be very poor.” Bryantfound all this nearly impossible to believe. Even a real genius could not make such progress in sucha short time!

"So that imbecile is now at the Earthly Stage? It's impossible. Not a chance!" Shirley also found ithard to accept. She had made fun of Rocky about two months ago, and now he was a spiritmanipulator at the Earthly Stage! What on earth was happening!

"But this is the truth!" The elders too refused to accept it at first. But they all had seen it with theirown eyes and could deny it no longer.

"Could it be His Majesty's plot? That Basil is not as incompetent as we thought? Perhaps it was justwhat we were led to believe,” Bryant thought, wild speculations coming to his mind. Could it be thecase? Of course, he had enough reason to believe that the emperor would do such a thing.

The purpose of arranged marriage was to balance the power of each party, which was a well-knownfact among these distinguished clans. This was also necessary for preserving the peace. Back then,when the emperor had been making arrangements for Alston's betrothal, he had intended his sonto marry Shirley. But Shirley had been too young at the time, so the emperor instead turned to JiClan, which was another large and prominent clan of the Holy Dragon Empire. Ever since, the royalfamily's influence over the Ximen Clan had weakened. As one of the most influential clans in theHoly Dragon Empire, there was no reason for the royal family to leave Ximen Clan alone. Bryantdeduced that they must be figuring out another way to regain their power over their clan, namelythrough marriage.

It still sounded pretty preposterous that such an imbecile prince who had been abolished suddenlybecame an extremely gifted genius and also regained his identity as a prince. Bryant felt that theemperor must have planned it for years. It was a clever plan, nonetheless! It had indeed caught theentire Ximen Clan off guard.

Had it been any other prince, Bryant could list one hundred reasons to reject. However Basil was theone who had made it to the Earthly Stage after the fusion with the Holy Dragon Bead, which was theholy treasure of the Holy Dragon Empire. Judged from the fact that he had made suchbreakthrough in merely two months, he must have truly successfully fused with the Holy DragonBead. Bryant also knew that whoever fused with the Holy Dragon Bead shall be deemed thesuccessor of the emperor, which meant that Basil, who had just been reinstated as a prince, was apromising contender for the succession of the throne. If Ximen Clan rejected the proposal this time,it would be greatly disadvantageous once Basil became the ruler.

"Such an ingenious plan by His Majesty,” Bryant smiled coldly and grabbed the golden armrest onhis chair, which deformed immediately under his power.

"General, what should we do now? Should we accept his proposal?” the elders asked.

"Grandfather, there is no way that I marry that nauseating punk!" Shirley's face contorted at the ideaof wedding Basil. What a disgusting notion!

"Shirley, there is no time to fool around. We have to accept this proposal.” Bryant knew from thebottom of his heart that his clan did not have a choice. After all, this had come from the emperorhimself. Without sufficient reason, he still had to agree to it despite the fact that he was a generalwho was at the Immortal Stage. Otherwise, his whole clan and its future would be endangered.

"I--" Shirley still wanted to persuade him, but bit her tongue once he shot her a sharp look. "HisMajesty will summon us tomorrow. Shirley, why don't you get back to rest now? And get rid of yourboy's attires. A girl should wear a proper dress. After the engagement, you will be the fiancee of theprince. Do not disgrace the royal family and our clan,” Bryant commanded icily.

"Grandfather..." Shirley still tried to protest, in disbelief that such a terrible thing could happen toher.

"Go now. I still have something that I need to discuss with the elders.” Bryant waved her away.Shirley could only pout in protest and stood up to leave in frustration. Just as she was about to exitthe room, she spat angrily, "If only Basil dies today! It would be best for all of us. Then there will beno engagement.”