Chapter 305: Untitled
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
After Ji Yu acknowledged her orders, ng Fuyao added, “From now until the coronation ceremony, this part of Xuanji belongs to , even if it isn’t mine before it’s mine now, you guys had better guard it well. Even if the Emperor of Xuanji wants to enter, if I didn’t give permission, you still kill!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
ng Fuyao smiled humorlessly and entered the hall to continue drinking tea with the Second Prince and the officials from the Ministry of Rites. However, the tea that they drank was a strong tea, and the Xuanji representatives who had not had anything the whole day could feel the fiery tea burn their eyes and emit blue light. Only when night fell did a ssenger finally arrive to say, “We’ve set up four tables at the West Wind Parlour, may the honored guests head over.”
All of the Xuanji officials rejoiced, their faces filled with relief as they invited King ng. However, ng Fuyao said, “Let change first.”
After spending almost half a period to change, ng Fuyao finally erged and sauntered towards the West Wind Parlour.
Behind the West Wind Parlour was a little building ant for the eunuchs serving the royal family to use. From t
Except… Every table was not laden with beautiful delicacies, but instead a huge black pot.
Within the pot were pancakes, the top stead and the bottom fried. Hot steam erged from the mouth of the pot, and the aroma was enticing, but to see such a dish at such a noble event was rather unfitting. The servants wanted to laugh but couldn’t laugh, the officials looking extrely awkward, unsure what to do or say.
However, soone stood up, giggling, as she raised a hand in invitation. “Please excuse our simple dishes and inferior wines, Crown Prince please, King ng please.”
The girl was elegant and slender, dressed in a pale green palace robe decorated with jade green embroidery and erald pearls. Her eyes shone with courtesy, and under the chandelier, they sparkled like a fountain.
Her features were not impressive, far inferior to ng Fuyao, but her expression was kind and honest, her eyes straightforward. ng Fuyao looked at her, feeling that her deanor was rather likable.
Based on her words, she was probably one of the princesses of Xuanji as well? That was rare, although she didn’t inherit any of the good looks characteristic of the princesses of Xuanji, she did have the good character that those shallow princes and princesses lacked, and she felt her hatred for the Xuanji royal family diminish slightly.
“Ninth Sister, why have you co?” the Second Prince suddenly asked.
“I heard that Tenth Sister was not feeling well and left earlier,” The girl smiled, “I just thought that as a fellow woman, King ng should have so female accompanint, or else it would be seen as a lack of respect on Xuanji’s part. Hence, I decided to co here, uninvited.” Flashing another smile, she raised a cup at Zhangsun Wuji and ng Fuyao, then downed it. “Given everything that’s happened, may Your Highness and King ng forgive us, let down these three cups as punishnt.”
Indeed, she downed three cups in succession, her expression unchanged as she put down the wine cup. Clearly, she was a drinker and adding on to her frank behavior, the earlier awkwardness was washed away as she reacted so naturally, casually, carefully, not embarrassing Xuanji nor losing an ounce of respect towards Zhangsun Wuji and ng Fuyao.
Upon looking at this turn of events, ng Fuyao began to respect this princess, digging into her mory for any information on the other party. Xuanji’s Ninth Princess, Feng Danning, the youngest daughter of Consort Rong. She was a learned and courteous individual, known as the Number One Female Prodigy in Dan City.
The title of Female Prodigy had always been a prestigious title referring to those who spent their whole lives either studying or with their noses pointed up reciting poems… ng Fuyao did not feel averse to Female Prodigies… Using her way of speaking, they were: Nerds!
Hence, she had not taken the Ninth Princess’ information seriously, but since she was a perceptive individual, her interest in the princess began to grow. ‘Does she have a claim to the throne as well? Based on talent, she is definitely suited.’
With the Ninth Princess joining the banquet, the entire atmosphere ward considerably. This royal princess was courteous and smart, learned in all cultures and histories, and the entire banquet soon fell into her rhythm. The Xuanji officials, who had been terrified by ng Fuyao, were also rescued from their nightmare.
After three rounds of wine, Feng Danning smiled and pulled out a pale golden scroll. “The Crown Prince and King ng have co from afar, Xuanji does not dare to neglect you and has specially prepared an itinerary for the two of you during your stay here. Rest assured that we will spare no expense on service during your journey.”
ng Fuyao glanced at the scroll; the next day, they would visit Dan City’s Fenglai Mountain, the day after they would visit Yuchi Lake, then Taiyou View the day after, and the thousand-year-old Wanxian Temple… The entire half month was filled with traveling, all the way until the fifth day of the fourth month.
Upon looking at the itinerary’s locations, tsk tsk, they seed to be all remote areas?
Upon looking at the accompanying staff, tsk tsk, how did it look like sightseeing excursion? It sounded more like an assassination in the works.
A clearly absurd arrangent, since when were there high-ranking representatives who visited a country without paying a visit to the Emperor?
Upon looking at the stamp at the bottom of the list, ng Fuyao’s eyes flashed; Xuanji’s symbol was the Phoenix. Hence, there should be a phoenix on the stamp, yet this was a picture of a mountain scenery with the words “Master of Ming Pavilion.” It was obvious that it was a personal stamp.
“Your Highness’ personal stamp is rather unique,” ng Fuyao pointed at the stamp and smiled, “Master of Ming Pavilion, is that your title?”
Feng Danning’s eyes flashed, and there was a fleeting mont of unease in her eyes before she replied, “No, it’s not.”
ng Fuyao raised an eyebrow as Feng Danning continued, “It was sent out by the inner court, we’ve never seen this stamp before, but it contains His Majesty’s personal handwriting.”
She moved closer and proceeded to point at “His Majesty’s personal handwriting” for ng Fuyao, her jade-like finger traveling over the pale golden scroll, not landing at the bottom of the list, but instead pointing at the word between “Fenglai Mountain”, “Yuchi Lake”, “Taiyou View” and “Wanxian Mountain”.
ng Fuyao squinted her eyes, Zhangsun Wuji tilted his head, and the two of them chuckled unanimously, “Oh, I see.”
Feng Danning curtsied and retreated.
They carried on eating the gyoza, the sound of rrint filling the air as the officials began to appreciate the flavor of the gyozas, which tasted even better with wine, and the more they ate, the more they laughed.
ng Fuyao drank her wine lazily, a slight smile gracing her lips.
“Lai, Chi, You, Xian.”
“Lai ci you xian.” (The second word of the nas of the locations ntioned earlier form a similar pronunciation to the Chinese phrase for “Coming here is dangerous.”)
Feng Danning actually thought of using assonance to warn her discreetly.
However, she wasn’t a pig, how would she not be aware that coming here was dangerous? Feng Danning naturally knew that they were aware as well. Hence, the warning was fake; it was rely the Ninth Princess’s attempt at hinting her alliance.
Seems like there were quite a few factions within the Xuanji Royal Court.
ng Fuyao smiled and tapped her fingers on the table. “Your Highnesses, food must be eaten, places must be visited, and official matters must be discussed as well. I have yet to receive a response on how Xuanji intends to answer for the Crown Prince and I being trapped and ambushed in the North. Who is the culprit? How many are there? Have they been caught? How do you intend to deal with the criminals?”
After being bombarded with these questions in rapid succession, all of the officials quickly put down their chopsticks, and the room quickly fell quiet. The Second Prince looked slightly stunned, his gaze falling upon the easily manipulated Pri Minister. He knew that the Pri Minister had gone to et the Emperor about this matter previously, but he didn’t know what had been discussed.
The Pri Minister’s fingers tightened around his chopsticks as he frantically thought of what to say. He would never tell ng Fuyao directly what His Majesty had said, yet he didn’t know what else to say, and after a long ti, he mumbled, “… We’re currently investigating the situation. The entire of Xuanji will definitely give the Crown Prince and King ng a good answer.”
ng Fuyao nibbled on her chopstick and smiled. “How efficient, how efficient.”
The other Xuanji officials remained silent, acting dumb.
“Actually, there’s no need to do much, there’re so many people in the world, finding those few murderers is like finding needles in a haystack, I don’t want to trouble you guys,” ng Fuyao said to the delight of the officials. However, she continued, “As the saying goes, a head for a head, if you beat soone then pay them, the Crown Prince and I could be counted as being beaten by Xuanji. Since our statuses are different, you don’t have to compensate us with silver, just cut a few cities for us.”
The tone in which she spoke was casual and light, yet when the officials heard her, they almost fainted, and after several monts, the Pri Minister stuttered, “… Cut… cut a few cities?”
“I don’t need much,” ng Fuyao chewed on gyoza and raised a hand, “Just this is enough, the Crown Prince will take the larger ones, I’ll take the smaller ones.”
“Five… five cities…”
“That’s right,” ng Fuyao smiled, “Just a few days ago, wasn’t Dahan just discussing with you guys about erasing a few cities on the Xuanji map? The discussion should probably be finished by now? If it’s not finished, then my troop of 30,000 n from Chang County and Wuji’s troop of 30,000 stationed at Mianzhou is precisely located on both sides of Dan City, so…” She ford a scissor-shape with her fingers and mid cutting the air, smiling sinisterly.
“Just like that… Snip!”
All of the officials jumped in fright as if they had really been cut by her.
“This is no small matter, no small matter,” the Pri Minister wiped his sweat, “We don’t have the power to make this decision, no power…”
“This is the most pressing issue that I want to settle right now,” ng Fuyao said solemnly. “Before it’s settled, I have no intention to travel around.”
“Uh… Uh…” The Pri Minister was stumped; he naturally knew that the traveling arrangent was absurd, but what wasn’t absurd at that mont? The Imperial Court was in a ss, and all the officials were uncertain as to who the new leader was going to be. His Majesty had locked himself in the harem and refused to co out, only releasing orders, yet occasionally the orders had been contradictory as well. Under such circumstances, although the Pri Minister had been trying hard to hold things up, he was already at his wit’s end. Now that the opposing party was on the offense, what could a re official like him offer? His head?
One look at the itinerary was all it took to understand His Majesty’s intent not to let the Crown Prince and King ng remain in Dan City to witness the civil unrest. But since he had been so unwilling, why had he invited them in the first place, creating such a situation now?
The Pri Minister’s mind was in a jumble, yet unable to understand what was going on in the secretive Xuanji Palace. He broke out in a cold sweat as he tried to shift the topic.
However, ng Fuyao didn’t have the patience and retrieved a box from beside her. “I have a present from Dahan to personally offer the Emperor of Xuanji, yes… personally! But with the itinerary that you planned for , it seems like I won’t be able to et His Majesty, this is…”
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