a sweet treat with the other Such tactics may work on ordinary officials, but they are useless against the Prince Ding Royal Family." Xu Qingfeng frowned slightly, clearly indignant: "Whatever the roy...231. Farewell to Princess Changle

231. Princess Changle

Xu Qingchen果然在永林等著他們。

The group rushed to the small city of Yonglin, where they found Mr. Qingchen sitting leisurely in the best tea house in town, drinking tea with a serene and elegant demeanor under the bright moonlight and gentle breeze. Seeing them enter, Xu Qingchen smiled and said, "I've been waiting for you all day long. I already arranged for us to stay at an inn. How about we rest here for one day before leaving" Ye Li smiled and replied, "Big Brother thought very carefully. Xiuyao and I had the same plan." Everyone took their seats as Xu Qingchen raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, "It seems everyone enjoyed the journey"

Upon hearing this, Feng Zhiyao instantly felt resentful, complaining, "How could it be otherwise Mr. Qingchen doesn't know that we've been walking and waiting all along, but no cowardly pursuers came even after crossing Yunlan River, leaving me full of hope!" These past few years had been too peaceful, to the point where in northwest there were people vying to go on剿匪missions. Now, even outlaws are gone from within the borders of northwest. Truly... my hands itch a bit. "Emperor Mo Jingqi is truly making things interesting for us. If he issued an imperial edict to intercept and kill us, wouldn't those generals dare not defy it I want to experience being surrounded by ten thousand troops yet breaking free! Now look at this situation where people are cutting corners... if Emperor Mo Jingqi finds out that we left Suixue Pass unscathed...

Would he be angry enough to die from frustration"

Xu Qingchen smiled and shook his head, saying, "Prince Feng is overthinking things. Mo Jingqi wouldn't dare issue a public declaration of war. Once he does that, it would mean officially declaring war on the Mo Family Army. By then, the Mo Family Army would likely mobilize troops at Feihong Pass before we can kill the prince. Even if they could muster all their strength to kill the prince...

If Prince Li were to return to northwest..." The anger of King Ding and nearly a million Mo Family soldiers is not something anyone can bear. Hearing Xu Qingchen's analysis, Feng Zhiyao could only express regret at Emperor Mo Jingqi's timidity.

"Your Excellency, the Lower City guards report that an envoy from Greater Chu requests an audience." A guard reported.

"An envoy from Greater Chu" Feng Zhiyao was somewhat surprised and asked after looking at Mo Xiuyao and Ye Li: "In this situation, can an envoy from Greater Chu still seek an audience with Your Excellency" Xu Qingchen calmly smiled and said, "Prince Feng, why not guess who the envoy is" Feng Zhiyao looked at him and asked, "Could it be that Mr. Qingchen has already seen them" Xu Qingchen shook his head and replied, "I haven't met him personally, but I can make a reasonable guess. The Southern Zhou Kingdom sent an invitation for all monarchs and nobles to attend Princess Anxi's wedding ceremony. Greater Chu wouldn't send too low-level envoys here, but... given Mo Jingqi’s character, he certainly won’t come himself." Emperor Mo Jingqi highly values his status in life and is overly cautious about personal safety. He has never ventured beyond the capital city's hundred-mile perimeter. Usually, unless absolutely necessary, he remains within heavily guarded imperial palace grounds.

"Emperor Mo Jingqi has always known of King Li’s relationship with Southern Frontier," Xu Qingchen said calmly, but his smile was slightly colder. At that time when Mo Jingqi suddenly decided to take action against the Xu family, it couldn't have been without the instigation from the Liu family. Mo Xiuyao frowned and asked, "Liu Chunfeng" Feng Zhiyao blinked, then asked, “Who is Liu Chunfeng” Zhuo Jing whispered with a smile, "Prince Feng, Liu Chunfeng is Chancellor Liu and Empress Liu's father." It wasn't surprising that Feng Zhiyao didn’t know him. Although Empress Liu was around the same age as Mo Xiuyao, Liu Chunfeng himself is only slightly younger than Duke Huaguo. In Feng Zhiyao’s memory, when he first noticed this person, Chancellor Liu had already been established, so naturally, he hadn't remembered his name.

Xu Qingchen nodded and said, "Indeed, I guess the envoy from Greater Chu is indeed Liu Chunfeng."

Ye Lvy slightly frowned and turned her head to look at Mo Xiuyao beside her, "Doesn’t the Prince and this Minister Liu have any special relationship" Mo Xiuyao sneered, "The Dinting王府 has always been on bad terms with the Liu family; where do you think a special relationship would come from" Back when Mo Liufang was still young, it wasn't the current Chancellor Liu who was in charge of the household but the late Grandpa Liu. When Grandpa Liu took up the position of chancellor at over sixty years old, there was already a twenty-something Regent Prince Mo Liufang towering over him. This was something that made the already petty-minded Grandpa Liu unable to bear it for long. During those years, he didn't hesitate to give Mo Liufang trouble and therefore, the Dinting王府 had never been on good terms with the Liu family. That's also why when Consort Liu fell madly in love with Mo Xiuyao back then, not only was Mo Xiuyao indifferent to her feelings, even members of the Liu family didn't agree with this marriage and sent her into the palace without hesitation.

"Let him come up; I want to see what he has to say," said Mo Xiuyao in a cool voice.

Before long, a person was led upstairs to the tea house. It was indeed one-year-old white-haired Chancellor Liu. Although Liu Chunfeng is already old, his body and spirit seemed quite good, with sharpness in his slightly blurred eyes. However, everyone was taken aback at the people standing beside him – two women were next to the Chancellor. The elder of them wore a snowy-white robe and her absolutely beautiful face showed slight coldness – who else could this be but Consort Liu Although Consort Liu is already over thirty years old now, time seemed exceptionally kind to her; she hadn't changed much compared to half a decade ago. Beside Consort Liu stood a young girl of around thirteen or fourteen years old wearing a pale yellow robe embroidered with pink and white lotus flowers; her face was gradually maturing and had faint hints of beauty. It could be imagined that within two years, this young lady's appearance would definitely not fall short of Consort Liu’s; her clear and lively eyes revealed purity and grace that Consort Liu did not have. When she saw Ye Lvy, the girl showed a look of joy and took one step forward to call out softly, "Princess Dingwangfei..."

Ye Lvy was slightly stunned as she looked at the face which resembled Empress Hua’s and Princess Hua Tianxiang; she said with interest, "Princess Changle."

Seeing that Ye Lvy remembered her name, Princess Changle nodded happily and wanted to take a step forward. However, Consort Liu coughed lightly behind her and said coldly, "Princess, as a princess of the country you should pay attention to etiquette; don’t act improperly and embarrass the emperor." Princess Changle stopped in her tracks, turned around to look at Consort Liu, and smiled sweetly, "Thank you for reminding me. However, I didn't want to come up just now; it was what the Empress said that suggested we should go upstairs, right All I wanted is to catch up with Wangfei, but who did the Empress want to catch up with" Consort Liu’s face changed, and she stared firmly at Princess Changle. Princess Changle wasn't afraid either and looked back without hesitation. After a while, Consort Liu said, "Of course I also just wanted to catch up with Wangfei."

Ye Lvy stood up and smiled slightly, "It's rare to meet an old acquaintance in this frontier city; since the Empress and Princess both want to chat with me, why don't we go somewhere else to talk In case... it would damage your reputation." Princess Changle happily grabbed Ye Lvy’s hand and said with a smile, "Wangfei, I haven’t seen you for so long that I thought we might never meet again. Let's talk somewhere else." Then she led Ye Lvy into the room next to them; upstairs of the tea house had been booked by Xu Qingchen, so they didn't have to worry about her walking around and accidentally going into someone else’s rooms. After taking a few steps with Ye Lvy, Princess Changle turned back to look at Consort Liu who was still standing in her original spot and said with a smile as she narrowed her clear eyes, "Consort Liu, why haven’t you left Even if my reputation isn't too good, the emperor’s daughter isn’t worried about marriage; but Consort Liu... ha-ha... I wonder whether Father would like to hear people say that pear blossoms grow over walls"

“What nonsense are you talking!” Consort Liu blushed and glanced at a man in purple with silver hair who was standing behind her back, before quickly following Princess Changle.

Feng Zhirao only just came out of his daze and pointed in the direction where Princess Changle had disappeared to. With his tongue clucking, he said, "That girl is Princess Changle" Mo Xiuyao raised an eye to look at him before lowering it again to drink tea coolly; “What do you have to say about this” Feng Zhirao was speechless and embarrassed as he could only agree with what she had just said. Although he'd seen Princess Changle only a couple of times, he still remembered how sweet and innocent the little princess protected by Empress Hua used to be. He even used to envy her because that person gave all his affection and care to her. But was this girl now a completely different person Could this once innocent little princess actually speak such scathing words

Xu Qingchen lowered his eyes and said, "Princess Changle isn't having an easy time in the palace." Feng Zhirao didn’t respond as he fell silent with his face gradually turning gloomy. Since a few years ago when Empress Hua asked for help from Xu’s family on their behalf, Emperor had taken away her control of the harem; although everything else remained unchanged and no one dared to be disrespectful towards her because of the Empress’s influence in the palace, this was different compared with an empress who actually held power.

Chancellor Liu stood aside, his face turning red and pale. No one had invited him to sit down, but they were talking about how harshly his daughter treated Princess Changle right in front of him; Chancellor Liu’s beard jutted out as he couldn't help but interject angrily, "Third Young Master Feng is overdoing it. Has my daughter really been harsh with Princess Changle" Feng Zhirao and Zhuo Jinglinhan who had just now been discussing this matter heatedly immediately fell silent. Zhuo Jing changed his expression to a cold one again; he turned around to look sideways at Chancellor Liu, "Chancellor Liu, interrupting others when they're talking isn't polite, is it"

Enraged, Chancellor Liu pointed at Zhuo Jing and stuttered for a long time before finally regaining his breath. With an angry expression he said, “Leaving guests unattended; is this how the Dinting王府 treats guests”

"Only welcome guests are considered guests, those who come uninvited..." Lin Han sincerely looked at Chancellor Liu, using his expression to tell him that they really hadn't invited him up.

Feng Zhiyao propped his chin in one hand and said indifferently, "Also, this young lord not only suspects that the Liu family doesn't follow proper etiquette, but I also suspect that the entire Chu imperial household is clueless about etiquette How did you come up here just now Chancellor Liu walked first, followed by Princess Changle.

“What’s wrong with that” Chancellor Liu asked irritably. Feng Zhiyao sneered and said, "Chancellor Liu, Empress Dowager Liu holds the rank of First Rank, as does Princess Changle. As for you, Your Excellency... you also hold the rank of First Rank. But isn't there a difference between these ranks No matter how high in rank Empress Dowager Liu is, she’s still a concubine. Princess Changle, however, is the daughter of the empress dowager. May I ask, would your family really allow a concubine to walk ahead of their legitimate daughter Even more so, her father"

“Feng Zhiyao! You… you…” Chancellor Liu finally shook with anger and his finger pointing at Feng Zhiyao wouldn’t stop trembling. He couldn't say that what Feng Zhiyao said was wrong, because generally speaking, as the chancellor he had to greet Princess Changle when he saw her too. And regarding Empress Dowager Liu and Princess Changle's relationship, he also couldn't say that royal rules were different from those of ordinary households. Although in the palace, Princess Changle must observe junior etiquette towards Empress Dowager Liu, but in the eyes of scholars across the country, as the legitimate eldest princess, Princess Changle was more esteemed than this concubine Empress Dowager Liu. The reason why Princess Changle observed etiquette for Empress Dowager Liu was out of respect and politeness to her father, not because it was necessary.

"Duke Ding, is this how you discipline your subordinates" Chancellor Liu, angered into rash speech, directly pointed the finger at Mo Xiuyao. Mo Xiuyao turned his head and raised an eyebrow coldly as he said, "When did it become your business to interfere with how I discipline my subordinates"

Chancellor Liu finally realized that in front of Duke Ding’s people, he couldn’t get any advantage at all. Not only were Feng Zhiyao and Zhuo Jing sharp-tongued, there was also the always silent Xu Qingchen sitting next to them. This seventeen-year-old youth had made a contemporary high monk spit out blood when they debated. As such, Chancellor Liu rolled his eyes and fell down directly. Feng Zhiyao blinked, "So this is how you leave Recently, every time we encounter people from Duke Jingqi’s side, whether in literary or martial contests, their strength is so poor"

Xu Qingchen smiled faintly and said, "It's not that they can't do it; this is the best way to leave." This showed that Chancellor Liu knew when to yield. If he had insisted on staying, he might have really fainted from Feng Zhiyao’s relentless provocation. In the end, it was still necessary not to let an elderly man of seventy lie alone on the ground, so Xu Qingchen gestured for a guard at the staircase entrance to bring Chancellor Liu's attendants up and take him down to see a doctor.

In another room, however, the atmosphere was entirely different. Princess Changle pulled Ye Li’s sleeve and chattered nonstop, her somewhat childish but beautiful face showing innocence and sincerity. Ye Li smiled as she looked at Princess Changle, with warm laughter in her eyes. A few years had passed; the little girl who used to be a loli had grown into a graceful young lady. Empress Dowager Liu sat further away from them both, looking indifferent and somewhat detached, obviously not intending to really catch up with Ye Li.

Empress Dowager Liu ignored Ye Li, and Ye Li didn’t plan on paying attention to her either. At first, when they met a few years ago, Ye Li had felt some fondness for Empress Dowager Liu due to the latter’s unique personality in the deep palace. However, after seeing how Empress Dowager Liu clung to Mo Xiuyao and openly or covertly targeted her, Ye Li's fondness for her had completely disappeared. After all, no matter how much Empress Dowager Liu loved Mo Xiuyao from the bottom of her heart, Ye Li was his legally wed wife. Ye Li didn’t mind if Empress Dowager Liu liked Mo Xiuyao, but it was too much to dislike and verbally abuse her so much that she felt threatened and looked down on her. Especially now, when she saw Empress Dowager Liu’s cold and noble appearance, she easily recalled how the latter had begged in the peach forest of the imperial palace, making Ye Li feel vexed.

“Duchess Ding, I heard that you gave birth to a cute little brother” Princess Changle pulled Ye Li curiously and asked.

Ye Li smiled and nodded, "Yes, he’s already five years old this year."

The Princess Changle sighed and said, "Surely the Prince Dingwang's consort’s younger brother must be very cute and clever. Why didn’t Consort Wang bring her little brother to Southern Yi"

Seeing her disappointed expression, Ye Li couldn't help but smile. She poked her nose and asked, "There are so many young princes in the palace that you can never see them all."

The Princess Changle harrumphed softly and said with a slight frown, "Mother hasn’t given birth to any younger brothers for me. I don’t have one."

“Alright then, no younger brothers. How about we call our little Bo ‘Princess’ in the future” Ye Li couldn’t help but smile as she teased her. The Princess Changle’s eyes lit up and she blinked before smiling at Ye Li, "Really Then… should I give my brother a gift upon meeting him Hmm… I can't go to Northwest now so Consort Wang could take it back for me. My younger brother will like me if he sees this gift from the Princess Changle." She looked down at herself and pulled off an exquisite jade bell without hesitation, putting it into Ye Li’s arms.

Ye Li was taken aback by the beauty of the jade bell she held in her hand. It was made of top-grade white jade with exquisitely carved dragon-and-phoenix patterns. One dragon and one phoenix intertwined to form a tiny ball, inside which there was a round jade bead. Although it was just a small bell, the unmatched craftsmanship and rare jade clearly indicated its high value.

The Princess Changle’s generosity even made Lady Liu, who stood by her side, turn around and frown as she said to the princess, "Princess, this jade bell is what Empress Dowager gave you."

Unhappy with her words, the Princess Changle frowned slightly at Lady Liu. She replied coldly, "If my imperial grandmother gives me something, it’s mine. It has nothing to do with whether or not Lady Liu agrees that I give away my gift."

Ye Li reached out and pulled the princess towards her before smiling and saying, “Alright then, let me thank Princess on Cheng’s behalf for his present. Speaking of which, I should also take this opportunity to return a gift to Princess as well, but there really isn’t anything with me that can be considered precious.” The Princess Changle's eyes lit up at Ye Li’s words and she blinked before asking, "Consort Wang, couldn't you pick something for me" Raising an eyebrow, Ye Li asked playfully, “What does the princess want” The Princess Changle got up from her seat and leaned close to Ye Li as she whispered a few words into her ear. Ye Li frowned slightly in confusion and asked, "You… want to use it for what"

The Princess Changle pursed her lips before saying while pulling on the braid at her chest, “To play of course. I know Consort Wang must have something that others don’t.”

Ye Li thought about it and said, "I’ll go look for it when I get back home and give it to you if I find it."

The Princess Changle smiled so widely her eyes crinkled. “I knew Consort Dingwang is the best.”e young man standing beside Ye Lin also quickly bowed towards Ye Li's skirt and greeted her, “Shen Liang greets Ding Wangfei.” He was somewhat awkward in his actions but it could be seen that he was a...