"Lady, I have seen your intention," said the official. "For now, just stand down and wait for my ssage before taking a stance."
"Donger obeys."
"Good, go rest in the garden, and there's no need to rush off," Mr. Zhao said as he saw the guest out with a cup of tea in hand.
Mrs. Xiao rose gracefully and walked towards the door.
The mont she stepped over the threshold, her deanor transford, reverting to that of a high and aloof family head as seen by outsiders, a woman of great poise who t n with indifferent coolness and aloof eyes.
Then, one after another, imperial rchants ca to call.
Each one ca bearing gifts, their politeness bordering on obsequiousness.
Accustod to officials and nobility in the Capital, the sudden array of rchants and scholarly families by comparison seed even more bent on bowing and scraping.
Moreover, no one dared show the slightest disrespect to Zhao Douan, this seemingly young but powerful "great personage."
All knew that such a great personage was a King Yan of the mortal world, with a re glance deadly enough to ruin their families.
"Mr. Zhao, it has been a long ti; you still possess an impressive deanor."
Finally, after several visits, Zhao Douan heard the sound of a bell-like, clear laughter.
Looking up, he saw Xu Junling, accompanied by her maid Lv Shui, entering the courtyard.
"Commandery Princess?" For the first ti, Zhao Douan stood up and greeted her with a great laugh:
"If you are coming, just co; why bring sothing... hey, don't take it back, I'm just saying—take it not to heart."
Xu Junling, unable to help but laugh, as the two had grown more familiar, joked in reply,
"I heard about the big events you've orchestrated in the Capital. You wouldn't believe the looks on the faces of those Li Party scholarly families by the Huai River when they heard of Gao Lian's death."
Zhao Douan spoke with solemn righteousness:
"It was truly unexpected that Governor Gao would commit suicide out of fear of his cris, though having confessed before his death, it shows he still had so conscience left."
Xu Junling blinked and inquired, "Did he really commit suicide out of fear of his cris?"
"Could there be any doubt about it?"
"Ha ha..." Xu Junling offered a look that said 'do you think I'm naive,' but did not probe deeper, and instead, she brought up the matter of Mr. Zhengyang taking a disciple, pestering with non-stop questions, as the curious Princess was particularly interested in this.
Zhao Douan, playing coy and feigning ignorance, simply said it was because Mr. Zhengyang was up to no good, while Xu Junling's gaze grew more complex, as if trying to see through him.
"I was thinking of visiting Prince Huaian myself later, but it seems the Commandery Princess has co first," Zhao Douan changed the subject.
"Do you wish to see my father, the King?" Xu Junling asked, her smile hinting at playfulness.
"Would it be inconvenient?" Zhao Douan probed cautiously.
Xu Junling pondered in silence, then with a charming smile, was about to say sothing when suddenly noise erupted from the main gate of Zhuozheng Garden, accompanied by the loud shouts of the servants in the garden:
"Prince Jing has arrived!"
The pair inside the hall was taken aback, they exchanged glances and said in unison, "Did you invite him?"
They then looked at each other with odd expressions.
Xu Junling had not expected Prince Jing to co personally, and her mind flickered with various thoughts, unsure of what drama this might bring.
Zhao Douan was surprised because it was much earlier than the ti he had instructed Feng Ju to extend an invitation, aning that Prince Jing wasn't summoned by him but had co of his own accord.
Just a few hours earlier, he had repelled the Princely Heir on the river, and now, in the blink of an eye, the young man's father had arrived.
"The visitor cos with ill will," Zhao Douan murmured softly.
Imdiately after, under Xu Junling's curious gaze, he rose and smilingly suggested,
"Commandery Princess, shall we go out to greet him together?"
After all, it was necessary to observe the formalities due for such an occasion.
...
As the two rose and stepped out of the hall, those imperial rchants who had co to visit Zhuozheng Garden earlier and whom Zhao Douan had deliberately asked to stay and relax in the garden, all ca upon hearing the news.
Mrs. Xiao, Lady Lin, and their spouses all appeared with looks of bewildernt.
"Prince Jing is here?"
Haitang, the old Tributor, as well as Lang Shiba, Ji Yue, and other guards, also rushed over, readying their defenses.
Zhao Douan gestured for them to remain calm and looked towards the front of the garden.
He saw a grand procession approaching, surrounded by several servants from the Royal Mansion. In the lead was a family of three.
Xu Jinglong, whom they had recently seen, walked at the very end with his head slightly bowed, expressionless, and with a deanor of obedience.
In the very front was a refined middle-aged man looking solidly in his pri, although his temples were already flecked with gray.
The face above the splendidly embroidered robe with four-clawed dragons was handso and stern, imbued with a near-imperial dignity due to the slight smile hanging on his lips.
Wrapped around his arms were white bodhi beads, and hanging at his chest was a beautiful "Peaceful Nothingness Plate" of an orange hue, a rare South Sea Warm Jade.
The chief of the Eight Princes.
The powerful Vassal King with the greatest threat to the Empress's throne, from Jiancheng Road, Prince Jing, Xu Wen!
Zhao Douan's gaze collided with that of Prince Jing's and was then drawn to a gently-featured beautiful woman by his side.
She wore a flowing tassel gown, her face plain and unadorned with makeup, her eyebrows long and delicate, her hair coiled into a matron's bun.
Though no longer youthful, she radiated a unique charm of womanhood; the slight wrinkles at the corners of her eyes only added to the rich, wine-like depth of a woman's years.
Information that Zhao Douan had previously perused flashed into his mind, and he guessed her identity:
The current Princess Jing, Lu Yaner.
Following the death of Xu Jinglong's birth mother, the position of Princess had been vacant for a while, with several hopefuls within the Royal Mansion vying for the title. However, Prince Jing had never taken a stance.
One day, he surprisingly took a female crown who had beco a Daoist nun in one of the temples on Jiancheng Road and brought her back to the mansion to be his new Princess.
That was this Lu Yaner.
This beca a hot topic of discussion in the marketplace at the ti, with rumors circulating that this Daoist nun was Prince Jing's old lover, now rekindled, although there was no evidence.
Moreover, it was said that this Princess, perhaps due to renouncing her vows, was unlike ordinary won and did not shy away from making public appearances.
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