"Oh, and there’s Sima Ping... Let Ah Jue go check on it for !" Bai Qingyan said with a smile to Bai Jinxiu, "This ti, he was purely implicated, but if we don’t punish him, I’m afraid it will affect their camaraderie as comrades-in-arms."
"Eldest Young Lady, rest assured. If it weren’t for Xiao Si going first this morning, Ah Jue would have gone already..." Bai Jinxiu said with a smile, "Ah Jue felt it was not good to go too frequently, so he planned to hold off for a bit."
Just after Bai Qingyan and Bai Jinxiu finished speaking, a young eunuch reported from outside that the Crown Prince and the Second Prince of the Yan Kingdom, Murong Ping, along with Xie Xun, had already arrived at the entrance of the shop, inquiring if Bai Qingyan wished to summon them.
"Please, let them co in!"
Seeing the Crown Prince of the Yan Kingdom take the lead, accompanied by Murong Ping and Xie Xun as they respectfully entered the main hall and properly perford their courtesies to Bai Qingyan, the Crown Prince quickly turned his head to look at Murong Ping upon seeing Bai Jinxiu.
Murong Ping whispered, "King of Fu!"
"King of Fu..." The Crown Prince of the Yan Kingdom made a long bow to Bai Jinxiu.
Bai Jinxiu also stood up with a smile and returned the courtesy.
"Wei Zhong, offer seats..." Bai Qingyan said with a smile while looking at the Crown Prince of the Yan Kingdom, "The Crown Prince and Second Prince, along with General Xie, have co to the Zhou Dynasty to establish an alliance between the two countries. Originally, we should have hosted a banquet when you three arrived, but too many matters delayed it."
These were all diplomatic niceties that everyone understood. The newly seated Crown Prince of the Yan Kingdom imdiately straightened his back and bowed deeply to Bai Qingyan, saying, "The affairs of a country are manifold, and it is natural that His Majesty cannot spare himself. Fortunately, with the alliance now established, we have co to the Zhou Dynasty to show the sincerity of our Yan Kingdom. If our presence delays the governance of the Zhou Dynasty, it is not the wish of our Yan Kingdom!"
"Indeed!" The Crown Prince of the Yan Kingdom smiled warmly, "The mansion that His Majesty has prepared for the foreign ministers is exquisitely beautiful, clearly showing that His Majesty does not treat us as re envoys. This, we keep in our hearts!"
"The three of you have co from afar to the Zhou Dynasty to strengthen the alliance, which is only fitting," Bai Qingyan said with a nod and a smile to the Crown Prince of the Yan Kingdom.
"Precisely because His Majesty bears no grudges and treats us foreigners with such magnanimity, we feel even more ashad and uneasy... Thus, we dared to co disturb His Majesty amidst his busy schedule!" The Crown Prince of the Yan Kingdom tightened his hands within his sleeves, "My mother was once deceived by traitors to betray the Zhou Dynasty, nearly harming the King of Zhen. After realizing she was fooled, my mother was filled with remorse, and so before I ca to the Zhou Dynasty, she instructed to convey her apologies!"
Speaking thus, the Crown Prince of the Yan Kingdom turned his head to look outside the main hall, "My mother knew that the King of Zhen was gravely injured, so she specially ordered soone to bring the secret dicine of our Yan Royal Family, along with treasures that are extrely beneficial for recovery!"
Outside the main hall, six eunuchs brought in three treasure chests.
In one of the treasure chests were the secret dicines of Yan, though these were originally prepared by the Empress Dowager of Yan for her own son. However, due to the incident where military generals in the Zhou Dynasty requested to send troops to the Yan Kingdom, the Crown Prince thought it would be more useful to offer these secret dicines to the Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty and the King of Zhen than keeping them by his side.
Bai Qingyan did not believe that the Empress Dowager of Yan would admit her mistakes, as she always felt that others owed her.
Thinking of the Empress Dowager of Yan, Bai Qingyan’s eyes turned cold, but when dealing with the direct descendants of Murong Yu, the Crown Prince of the Yan Kingdom, he still maintained a friendly deanor, "It’s a long journey for the Crown Prince and Second Prince to bring these! I... shall accept them on behalf of the King of Zhen!"
The Crown Prince of the Yan Kingdom heaved a sigh of relief.
"Second Prince and General Xie have both once fought alongside on the battlefield, resisting the Tianfeng Kingdom together, so our friendship is indeed quite exceptional!" Bai Qingyan said, his gaze falling on Murong Ping and Xie Xun.
The two hurriedly perford their courtesies.
eting Bai Qingyan in the palace was different for Murong Ping and Xie Xun compared to being on the battlefield...
Seated in that lofty position, Bai Qingyan seed to distance himself from them, especially in the resplendent palace, making Bai Qingyan appear even more imposing.
Coming out from the palace, both the Crown Prince and Murong Ping couldn’t help but look back at the grand double-eaved palace with red lacquer, green tiles, and golden designs, as they ascended the white marble steps, feeling as if they were entering a heavenly palace.
This was the grand palace of Dadu City, ordered to be built by their grandmother, and today they were fortunate enough to witness it.
Both Murong Ping and his older brother couldn’t help but marvel in their hearts that the Dadu Palace was far more magnificent than the current Yan capital’s palace. Such a splendid palace is where the ruler of the world should reside!
Neither Murong Ping, the Crown Prince, nor Xie Xun hoped for the palace, overseen by Empress Ji of the Yan Kingdom, to house future occupants other than their own Yan Kingdom Emperor and not the Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty.
"Let’s go, brother..." Murong Ping softly called to the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince nodded, "Let’s go!"
·
The trouble stirred up by Lu Yuanpeng, Cheng Yuanzhi, and Du Sanbao at Wude Gate, incited by Guan Zhangning this ti, did not cause Bai Qingqi to raise a fuss. He kept Guan Zhangning, the deepest planted spy of Xiliang, to bait out those remaining in Xiliang harboring thoughts of restoration or revenge against the Zhou Dynasty.
If left unchecked, who knows when it might cause significant problems for the Zhou Dynasty.
Unexpectedly, Guan Zhangning couldn’t hold his composure and went to the mansion of the Princess of Yunjing today.
Guan Zhangning, sohow familiar with the young general guarding the Princess of Yunjing’s mansion that night, brought a pot of wine and bought roast goose from Yanque Tower in Dadu City, heading to find the young general.
Drinking on duty was prohibited, but given the good relationship between the young general and Guan Zhangning, and the fact that Yanque Tower’s roast goose is hard to co by, and Guan Zhangning being a general of the Bai family army — essentially of the Emperor’s faction — he indulged in drinking with Guan Zhangning.
Bai Qingqi had just cajoled Xiao Ba to sleep at the Bai family’s fifth wife, Mrs. Qi, and had listened to his mother’s suggestions and looked at portraits of several noble young ladies, hoping Bai Qingqi could establish a good match. After much effort getting out of his mother’s courtyard, a Hidden Guard ca to report that Guan Zhangning had already entered the Princess of Yunjing’s mansion.
"General Guan Zhangning and the officer guarding the Princess of Yunjing’s mansion entered the gatehouse and erged half an hour later, claiming the officer had drunk too much and fallen asleep. Just then, it was ti for the patrol, so he replaced the officer and entered the mansion to patrol!" reported the Hidden Guard.
After a mont of silence, Bai Qingqi said, "Keep watching; do not startle the snake."
"Yes!" The Hidden Guard accepted the command and withdrew.
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