Before the civil strife subsided, the gates of the capital were closed as soon as it got dark, and no one was allowed in or out.
Even the princess Qianru was not convinced.
Fortunately, King Zhang's carriage and horses also had to leave the city, so she got a bargain.
"Girl Qianru, come here, my foster father has something to tell you."
Qianru then went to King Zhang's carriage.
"Father, where are you going when you leave the city so late?"
"I am preparing to go to Liujiazhuang to find you."
After chatting for a while, King Zhang finally revealed his purpose when he was far away from the city.
"Princess Nandu has returned to court, do you still have an impression of her?"
The late emperor had only two sons and one daughter. The eldest daughter, Princess Nandu, married off to Beimo at the age of sixteen to make peace and maintain peace in the country. How could she not be impressed by such a feat?
Besides, she had already remembered it by then.
On the day Princess Nandu left the capital, her father Anhou took her to see her off.
Also seeing off Princess Nandu were all the officials and people in the capital. One look at such a scene can be remembered for a lifetime.
"When the princess returns to court, there will definitely be a state banquet. Didn't my adoptive father specially come to remind me to dress up and attend?"
"Hey, don't do it. Don't pretend to be too ostentatious. You may not know that Shangguan Yuan's defeat of Beidi indirectly led to civil strife in the Northern Desert Royal Court, causing Princess Nandu to lose her husband and son, and become a lonely person. If you pretend to be
It’s so eye-catching, I’ll definitely be bullied at the state banquet.”
"If that's the case, then I'll pretend to be sick."
"What's worse! Just now Nandu asked you to come to the banquet tomorrow in front of the emperor. If you don't go, it will just give her an excuse to attack you."
"Then what should I do? Ask my adoptive father for advice."
"Haven't you been neither humble nor arrogant since you were a child? Why do you want me to teach you? As long as you are careful enough and don't take the initiative to provoke her, I will definitely speak for you."
With these few words from King Zhang, Qianru felt much more at ease.
The next day, she dressed elegantly and decently, first went to see King Zhang, and then entered the palace with him.
But after all, it was a period of national mourning, so the size of the banquet was greatly reduced, and only princes, ministers and their families of third-rank or above could attend.
Qianru sat obediently next to King Zhang, quietly waiting for the emperor and Princess Nandu to arrive.
At this time, Yi Zhonglun suddenly appeared in front of her and saluted King Zhang with a smile.
"This" Qianru was so surprised that she was speechless.
Even if Yi Zhonglun is the emperor's favorite, he is also Xu Huaishan's son-in-law. Not killing him is already a great favor, so how can he continue to serve as a high official in the court?
Prince Zhang didn't seem to be disgusted with Yi Zhonglun, and even whispered to her, "This man is a rare talent!"
How could he not be a talented person if he got involved with a treasonous old man and escaped unscathed?
But how did he do it?
King Zhang told her that it was Yi Zhonglun and You Xiaowei General Pang Yan who recommended to the emperor that he should return to Beijing to participate in politics. After he entered the city, the reason why there were so many soldiers watching and supporting him was because Yi Zhonglun also exerted a lot of energy.
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Xu Huaishan had many party members, and his eldest son Xu Youxiong commanded a hundred thousand frontier troops in the northwest. He also secretly recruited many godsons and godson grandsons who held important positions, making it very difficult to deal with.
It was only thanks to Yi Zhonglun's advice and knowing himself and the enemy that the imperial army was able to suppress the main rebels in a short period of time, and use both hard and soft tactics to defeat the remaining rebels.
However, although he had great merits, he also had a serious fault of not reporting what he knew, so he was demoted to the Hanlin Academy.
There was no hierarchy among Hanlin bachelors in the Daxuan Dynasty, so whether one could participate in a state banquet of this level depended entirely on the emperor's wishes.
Even after being demoted, he is still a favored minister. This is really a great skill!
Qianru glanced at Yi Zhonglun in surprise, and found that his eyes were staring straight at her, and she quickly lowered her face seriously.
At this time, the emperor and Princess Nandu arrived together.
It is said that because of the cold and dry climate, women in the Northern Desert look very old after they reach the age of thirty.
But Princess Nandu looks like she is in her mid-twenties, and her movements are elegant and noble. She has a pink face and a smile, and she looks very approachable.
What's especially special is that she has a small cage on her waist, which contains several golden butterflies with very beautiful wings.
The gaps in the cage are so big that even birds can come in and out freely, but a few butterflies have no intention of escaping and seem to be very attached to their owners.
This little pet highlights her specialness even more.
However, just when Princess Nandu was about to take her seat, these golden butterflies suddenly escaped from the cage and flew towards Qianru like arrows.
In front of her, they fluttered their beautiful and dazzling golden wings and lined up in a neat circle.
Everyone was shocked by this scene.
But most of them just find it rare.
Only Princess Nandu knows what these golden butterflies are conveying, but she cannot say.
Qianru has never seen such a rare and special little life, especially those wings that are so beautiful and dazzling.
In addition to the color being brighter than gold, the texture on it is also very unique.
Just when she stretched out her hand to touch it, several little ones cleverly landed on the back of her hand.
I'm so flattered!
But when she brought it closer and wanted to appreciate it carefully, she discovered that the beautiful big wings of the golden butterfly hid a mouth full of fangs.
They have no eyes, no antennae, their trunks are straight, and there is nothing visible on their heads except a big mouth full of fangs.
She was frightened and wanted to shake them off, but to her surprise, several of them took a few bites at the same time.
For a moment, I felt dizzy, my body became weak, and I fell softly to the ground.
In a daze, she vaguely heard a voice repeating in a loop. The tone was very depressing and the melody was very strange.
Something seems familiar, but I can't remember where I heard it.
At the same time, the scene she had seen in the mirage appeared before her eyes again.
Snowy mountains, grasslands, forests, and orcs covered in white fur.
There is even a scene not found in the mirage, human sacrifice.
Qianru was so frightened that she shuddered and drove away the golden butterfly that was clinging to her hand and refused to go away.
Finally, after repeated calls from Princess Nandu, the golden butterfly flew back to the cage.
But Qianru couldn't slow down, her heart was beating wildly, her veins were swollen to the point of bursting, and she looked very scary.
The emperor and Prince Zhang anxiously called Princess Nandu to get the antidote to save her life.
Princess Nandu couldn't take it out, so she responded and said that it would be fine after a while.
But Qianru fainted.
The distorted expression clearly told everyone that she was feeling very uncomfortable.
When Princess Nandu saw that the princes and ministers were criticizing her, she felt very angry.
She deliberately asked Qianru to come by name because she originally wanted to show her kindness and show that she was broad-minded and always put the interests of the country first.
Unexpectedly, a series of plans were disrupted by a few golden butterflies.
According to the secrets she knew, Qianru would not be bitten to death by a few golden butterflies, so she was not panicked.
She confidently guaranteed that Qianru would be fine, and if anything happened, she would be willing to pay for it with her life.
A moment after her words fell, Qianru's twisted expression relaxed naturally.
After a while, the person woke up.
It's just that my head is still a little dizzy, and some strange pictures always appear in front of my eyes.
In order not to disturb Princess Nandu's cleansing banquet and create new festivals, she endured it and remained calm until she left the palace.