Along with a letter from the State of Chu to Dongwei, a group of soldiers in impressive foreign attire also arrived in Dongwei.

—

In Dongwei, at the Tian'e Palace, Qin Heng, the reigning emperor of Dongwei, though no longer young, still looks like he's only in his thirties, handsome and dignified.

He frowned, looking at the letter sent by the emperor of Dongwei Kingdom with a puzzled expression.

Just like a few years ago, when he didn't understand why the State of Chu would send its preferred crown prince to his Dongwei Kingdom as a hostage, he was caught in a dilemma: he dared not treat the foreign prince lightly, nor could he allow him to live freely in his Dongwei Kingdom. Therefore, he had been keeping the prince under surveillance in the palace all along.

Now the Emperor of Chu wants to take her back and even wants to choose a concubine from his Eastern Wei. What's going on? Could it be that Chu has some other scheme in mind?

Qin Heng couldn't understand it, but as a strategist, he naturally thought of the dirty side. Even if he was out of his mind, as an emperor, he wouldn't believe that Chu Zhen was just choosing a young lady from Dongwei to be the fifth prince's empress!

"Su Xin, what do you think Chu is trying to do?"

Su Xin was Qin Heng's chief eunuch and one of his confidants.

Su Xinsheng had an honest face that always wore a smile, making him appear harmonious and approachable. However, as the personal eunuch who had served Emperor Dongwei since he was a prince and was still trusted by Qin Heng, no one dared to underestimate this honest-looking eunuch.

Su Xin glanced at His Majesty's expression out of the corner of his eye. He saw Qin Heng's phoenix eyes narrow slightly, and he knew that His Majesty's suspicions had resurfaced. As one of His Majesty's confidants and the person who had been by His Majesty's side the longest, Su Xin dared to say that he understood His Majesty better than anyone else.

Knowing that His Majesty suspected the motives behind the letter from He Chu, Su Xin carefully rehearsed his words in his mind and said, "Your Majesty, since He Chu wants to take back Xie Ping, the hostage, and Xie Ping is a difficult person to deal with, it's good that he's going back. Why don't we just go along with their wishes? No matter what their intentions are, we can get away with this..."

Su Xin didn't say anything more, and Qin Heng understood his intention.

His furrowed brows relaxed. "You...you're right."

"Wait a moment, summon Duke Xu, General Wu... and the others."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Su Xin bowed respectfully, turned and left quietly.

Half an hour later, Duke Xu, General Wu, and others were summoned to the emperor's presence to discuss state affairs. No one knew what was discussed in Tian'e Palace, but it was known that His Majesty's expression became noticeably more cheerful for several days afterward.

...

Inside the capital city of Dongwei Kingdom.

A group of unusually tall men dressed in foreign attire walked curiously through the capital city.

The men's unusually tall stature, deep-set features, and distinctive foreign attire clearly attracted the attention of many residents in the city.

They all stared at these young men, who were clearly from other ethnic groups, with curiosity.

These foreigners weren't nervous at being watched. When they noticed a pretty woman staring at them, several younger, lively-looking men waved to her or gave her a bright smile.

The young women who were peeping blushed with embarrassment and dared not look anymore.

The exceptionally handsome young man from another ethnic group noticed their striking appearance. He frowned slightly, gave them a warning look, and then repeated himself in their native language, "Rusha, Kechi... you better behave yourselves. This isn't Hechu. Be careful what you say and do."

As soon as the man finished speaking, the atmosphere instantly became more solemn, and the lively young men became somewhat subdued.

The handsome young man with a round face who was leading the group tried to smooth things over, saying, "I understand, General. It's also the first time Rusa and the others have been to another country. They're just curious!"

Upon hearing this, Mu Bai glanced at the several young soldiers who were secretly watching him with tense expressions. Thinking of these soldiers who had followed him since they were young and had never seen or enjoyed anything good, Mu Bai's serious and handsome face relaxed a little. "Alright, just this once. I'll buy whatever you want... Also, tone down your attitude and don't scare people."

Upon hearing the general's words, the group of young soldiers couldn't wait to cheer, completely ignoring the rest of his sentence.

Mu Bai's warning was drowned out by the cheers of several excited young people.

Mu Bai wasn't angry at all; only a hint of helplessness crossed his face.

They're still just a bunch of kids.

Even General Mu Bai, who had achieved fame at a young age, didn't realize that he wasn't much older than the soldiers under his command.

The handsome, round-faced young man who had just tried to smooth things over knew from his general's expression that his friend had automatically adopted the persona of a mature father again.

Jiang Qing patted him on the shoulder with a smile. As Mu Bai's childhood friend and deputy general, he said with a smile, "Alright, General Mu, we're just here to pick up our Fifth Prince and future Empress. It's not like we're going to war. Why are you looking so serious? Just think of it as a trip to Dongwei."

Mu Bai glanced disapprovingly at his friend, "Even if it's not a war, we still need to be careful with our words and actions. After all, it's not between us and Chu."

Jiang Qing smiled and said, "You're just too serious. You're exactly like my old man."

"Jiang Qing, General Jiang is doing this for your own good."

"Hey, stop...stop, don't say anymore, my general. Look how happy these young people are having. Don't spoil their fun." Jiang Qing blinked and pointed to a few young soldiers in the distance who were happily laughing after buying a bunch of snacks.

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