"Your Highness, His Majesty has sent a message asking you to return to the Imperial Capital as soon as possible. And the Empress... Her Majesty has also sent a message saying..."

Zhou Nian secretly swallowed his saliva and continued, "They said they have chosen three concubines for you and asked you to return before the Double Ninth Festival, your birthday. His Majesty and the Empress will hold a ceremony to crown you a concubine."

Zhou Nian secretly complained that His Majesty and the Empress had really reached their limit of patience. Look, this was not a selection of a concubine but a direct appointment of a concubine. If His Highness had returned a little later, I'm afraid that His Highness would not be able to choose the Crown Princess himself, but would have been decided directly by His Majesty and the Empress.

Huangfu Lingao frowned, and Zhou Nian suppressed a smile as he glanced at him. Then he looked at the pale-faced Crown Prince and said, "And..."

"Can't you finish it all at once?" Huangfu Lingao said coldly.

Zhou Nian touched his nose and said, "The Empress has already asked His Majesty to announce His Highness's selection of a concubine to the world. And Tianqing and Yunlang will also send their princesses to Shengyuan for marriage, as well as the Lord of Posha City in the north..."

"Dugu Ling?"

"Yes, Dugu Ling snatched back Posha City, which originally belonged to him, from his uncle five years ago. He then swept across the Northern Wasteland and became the true overlord of the North. He was only 18 years old that year.

However, he went into seclusion not long after that, leaving all affairs in the north to his two right-hand men.

Some people said that he had to practice in seclusion because of his serious injuries, some said that he practiced in seclusion because he obtained a unique martial arts book, and some even said that he was actually dead, but the news was kept secret for the stability of the Northern Wilderness.

"But no matter what, even if he hasn't appeared publicly in recent years, the situation in the north has remained stable. Why is he suddenly coming out now and even offering to come to our Shengyuan to participate in the ceremony?" Zhou Nian analyzed.

The Northern Wasteland and Shengyuan were far apart, and there had never been talk of an intermarriage between them. Emperor Shengyuan hadn't specifically informed them of this, but the Northern Wasteland, contrary to their usual practice of not participating in the Three Kingdoms conflict, had proactively sent representatives to Shengyuan. It couldn't be just to join in the fun of Crown Prince Shengyuan's selection of a concubine; they must have had ill intentions.

Huangfu Lingao snorted coldly: "Dugu Ling came with ill intentions. Yunlang and Tianqing, who has a simple mind?"

Huangfu Lingao was in a bad mood. "Any news about the woman in red on Mount Qi?"

Zhou Nian was stunned for a moment, as if he had not expected Huangfu Lingao's change of mind.

After thinking for a moment, he shook his head and said, "I have sent people to search everywhere around Qishan, but there is no trace of the Red-robed Witch. It's as if she has disappeared from the face of the earth.

Your Highness, we should set off for the imperial capital as soon as possible so that we can make plans early." We can't really wait until the Double Ninth Festival to go back and participate in the ceremony of conferring the title of consort.

Huangfu Lingao stared at the dark scene in the distance with his eagle eyes, and after a long moment he said, "Let's go."

Prince Che's Palace

"How's it going? Have you found Qi Qing?" As soon as Bai Shi stepped into the study, Bai Ziyu immediately jumped up from his seat, strode in front of Bai Shi, grabbed Bai Shi's shoulders and asked anxiously, "How's it going? Tell me?"

Bai Shi looked at the Fourth Prince, whose eyes were red and bloodshot, and whose expression was haggard. He also looked at his own prince, who was clearly heartbroken, and shook his head helplessly.

"Your Highness, Fourth Prince, I followed Xiaoguai in searching. When we finally found a trace of Miss Qiqing, we discovered that Princess Ruyang was also sending people to look for her.

When his subordinates arrived, they only saw a dozen corpses in the backyard of the inn. They were all guards of the Ruyang Princess Mansion, but Miss Qiqing had disappeared.

Judging from the dozen or so bodies, they were all killed in a single blow. There were no signs of excessive fighting at the scene, so it seems Miss Qiqing was not injured."

"Missing? Why is he missing? How could this happen?" Bai Ziyu shouted loudly.

"I don't know, I'm incompetent..." Bai Shi was frightened by Bai Ziyu's anger and knelt on the ground with a thud.

"Princess Ruyang! King Ruyang! How dare you send people to hunt down Qiqing? Damn it! Damn it! I will kill her!" Bai Ziyu said viciously, holding the purple vine whip in his hand.

"Zi Yu, calm down." Bai Ziche's hoarse voice was far different from his usual gentle voice.

"Calm down? How can I calm down, my royal brother? Qiqing is gone. Do you know how dangerous she is now? Your beloved fiancée, that bitch Liu Ruozhi, is hunting Qiqing! She deserves to die, and so does her father, Prince Ruyang!

Bai Ziyu dropped the purple vine whip, his shoulders slumped, as if all his energy had been drained away. "I'm the one who deserves to die the most. I clearly said I would protect her. I said I would protect her, my royal brother."

Bai Ziyu looked at his brother with a complicated expression. After a long while, he didn't say what was in his heart. He just said, "Brother, do you think we can find the Seven Emotions?"

Royal brother, if Qiqing loves you, I am willing to withdraw and stay with her forever.

"Zi Yu, we will definitely find her." Bai Ziche told Bai Ziyu with great determination, then changed his tone, "Before that, we must clear the obstacles. Only then can this incident not happen again."

Only when they have enough power can they be free from constraints and truly protect their seven emotions.

The serious tone aroused Bai Ziyu's fighting spirit. Yes! He was not strong enough, so Qiqing was hurt. Only when he and his brother were strong enough could they protect Qiqing and keep her.

After seeing Bai Ziyu off, Bai Shi returned to see his own prince sitting at the table. He stared blankly at the barrier between the inner rooms, gently stroking the deer jade pendant that he had never given away.

Bai Shi thought about the time a few days ago when His Highness went to the palace to negotiate with His Majesty and the Empress regarding the incident of Miss Qiqing killing Yao Shoulu.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!