Chapter 477 The Earl of Enping Returns to the Capital

Just as Wei Jia and her group finished packing and set off to return to the capital, the capital once again became lively.

After the Min and Sun families were successively raided and beheaded, the capital finally welcomed a good thing.

The Earl of Enping has returned to the capital.

Of the 30,000 troops that accompanied the Earl of Enping on this expedition, 20,000 were regular troops from the Xishan Camp, and the remaining 10,000 were drawn from the city guards of the capital and the imperial guards of the palace.

Upon returning to the capital, the army was stationed twenty li outside the city, awaiting Emperor Xiaozhao's bestowal of rewards before returning to their respective posts.

It is said that the Earl of Enping returned victorious this time, bringing back not only a large amount of gold and silver treasures, but also a map of the Shang'an territory after it was divided with Da'e.

From this point on, half of Shang'an's territory will be officially incorporated into the Dayan map.

In addition, what is even more talked about is that the Earl of Enping also brought back the little princess of Shang'an Kingdom.

It is said that when the allied forces of Dayan and Da'e marched straight in and reached the capital of Shang'an, the Shang'an royal family surrendered without a fight and opened the city gates directly.

Afterwards, a tripartite meeting was held. In reality, it was a meeting between the Great Yan and the Great Xi to discuss how to divide Shang'an. The people of Shang'an were like meat on a chopping board, waiting to see whether they would be cut into pieces or sliced.

Given the Shang'an royal family's understanding and sensible nature, and in order to stabilize the situation in Shang'an and prevent a complete breakdown in Shang'an's balance of power,

Ultimately, the two countries decided to spare the lives of the Shang'an royal family, and Dayan would take them back to the capital to be kept in captivity.

During the negotiations, Enping Bo was known for his fierce and domineering nature, and was prone to violence, often resorting to killing at the slightest provocation. Furthermore, Dayan's strength was indeed slightly superior to Da'e's.

Therefore, the final result of the negotiations was that Shang'an's territory was divided in two, with roughly equal land areas. However, Dayan obtained the rich land including the capital of Shang'an and gained control over the Shang'an royal family.

Therefore, on this return, the Earl of Enping brought back about fifty or sixty main members of the Shang'an royal family.

However, in order to extract useful information from the Earl of Enping and to obtain his protection, the Shang'an royal family sent their most beautiful little princess, Feng Yudie, to get close to him.

Of course, the Shang'an royal family wasn't stupid, and they didn't ask Feng Yudie to do anything outrageous. Every time, they approached her under the pretext of asking Earl Enping for help.

There was no other way; the Earl of Enping was taking the royal family back to the capital, and it was impossible for him to bring their palace maids and eunuchs with him.

Therefore, they had to do many things themselves along the way.

It's easy to imagine expecting the emperor, empress, princesses, princes, dukes, princesses, and heirs... to cook, tend the fire, wash dishes, do laundry, and prepare meals...

Although Shang'an is a small country, does that mean the emperor of a small country is not an emperor?

Therefore, the young and beautiful Princess Feng Yudie was sent to ask Earl Enping for help.

Today we're hiring someone to teach them how to cook, tomorrow we'll hire someone to teach them how to do laundry, and the day after tomorrow...

Anyway, on the way back to Beijing, Feng Yudie always had an excuse to ask Earl Enping for help.

As Feng Yudie appeared more and more often by the Earl of Enping's side, some romantic rumors slowly began to circulate in the military camp.

When the army arrived in the capital, the news that the Earl of Enping had brought back a beautiful princess completely overshadowed the news that the Earl of Enping had brought back the entire royal family of Shang'an.

Anyone who didn't know better would think that the Earl of Enping only brought back a beautiful little princess this time.

Even the servants in the Earl of Enping's mansion heard about this and were discussing it extensively.

"Have you heard? Our Lord has brought back a princess from Shang'an."

"I heard that the princess of Shang'an is quite a beauty."

"Not only that, it's said that our Earl treats that princess exceptionally well. Don't you think our Earl's mansion is about to change its mistress?"

"Shh, keep your voice down, don't let Madam hear you."

"What's there to be afraid of? It's not just me saying this. Everyone's saying it."

“Indeed, Madam is of ordinary appearance and of humble origin, with no family background to rely on. How can she compare to the princess of Shang’an? If it were me, I would also choose the princess of Shang’an.”

...

Since the army was returning to the capital, they were all stationed outside the city and could not enter the city without being summoned.

Therefore, although the Earl of Enping and his entourage arrived in the capital yesterday, they have not yet returned to their residence.

Su Rongrong was originally looking forward to Yan Jin's return with great joy, but when she passed by the back garden, she overheard several maids talking.

Her face turned pale instantly, overwhelmed with shock, sadness, grievance, and grief.

Seeing this, Ah Qi knew he was in trouble.

She had heard about this last night, but she had kept it from Su Rongrong.

Su Rongrong was originally a gentle and kind person, even somewhat weak-willed.

The few times he showed strength were all to support Qiao Qinghe. And what gave her that confidence was Yan Jin.

However, once the matter involves the Earl of Enping, Su Rongrong finds it difficult to remain calm and rational.

Aqi quickly reassured her, "Madam, don't listen to their nonsense. Don't you know how the Lord treats you? How can you let a few words from others disturb your peace of mind?"

"If the Earl were to return and find out how little you trust him, he would be heartbroken."

Su Rongrong wiped away the tears welling up in her eyes, nodded with reddened eyes, and said, "You're right. I shouldn't have doubted Brother Yan."

Aqi calmed Su Rongrong down before striding forward and shouting loudly towards the back of the artificial hill, "Who's gossiping there? Come out now!"

It was quiet behind the artificial hill, and after a long while, three young maids slowly emerged.

Aqi frowned: "Just the three of you?"

How did she just hear Chunfang's voice? But Chunfang wasn't among the three maids.

The three maids looked at each other, but no one said a word.

Just then, a little girl twisted Chunfang's arm and stood up from the bushes not far away.

It turned out that Chunfang had sensed something was wrong while Su Rongrong and Aqi were talking, and ran away by herself.

She even used her position as the head maid to forbid the three junior maids from mentioning her, saying that as long as they didn't betray her, she would plead for them and ask the madam to be lenient. Otherwise, all four of them would be punished together, with no one even pleading for them.

"Sister Aqi, there's one more here."

The maid who captured Chunfang was named Aqin, one of the girls who had been rescued from the assassin organization.

He was young, but quite skilled and quick-witted. That's why he was sent to serve Su Rongrong.

Upon seeing Chunfang, Aqi immediately recognized her. "It really is you!"

Chunfang broke free from the maid's grasp and said defiantly, "What did I do? Don't think that just because Madam values ​​you, you can falsely accuse people at will."

"I was one of the first senior servants to enter the manor! I was even personally appointed by the Earl to serve the Madam!"

Aqi was too lazy to listen to her nonsense. When he saw her, he understood what was going on.

Before she came to the Earl's mansion, Chunfang was Su Rongrong's head maid. Because Chunfang was a few years older than Su Rongrong and had been sold from a wealthy family, she was quite powerful.

Normally, he has an even more imposing presence than Su Rongrong, the matriarch of the household.

The servants in the mansion flattered her so much that she couldn't distinguish between master and servant, and she began to show signs of becoming too powerful and domineering towards her master.

Later, after considering various factors and on Wei Jia's advice, Su Rongrong took Aqi back from Qiao Qinghe.

Ever since Aqi arrived, Chunfang's status has plummeted.