Chapter 56: The Charming Girl Whose House Was Confiscated and Her Family Was Exterminated 8

As a major general who had risen to prominence in the past two years, possessing exceptional military achievements and a promising future, Ye Xun was seated at the front of the men's table. With the keen acumen of a warrior, he could easily sense the gazes of those in the hall fixed upon him.

His expression remained unchanged, still cold and steady. Even after he came to his senses, he continued to drink glass after glass as before, as if the stunning girl who had just appeared had not caused any effect on him.

As if he was aware of the gazes of others, the cold-faced general unconsciously became even colder, causing the curious people to swallow nervously and quickly look away.

The young master of the Ye family was not one of those young men in Bianjing who spent their days watering flowers and playing with birds. He was a general who had fought on the battlefield with real swords and guns. If you offended him, you would suffer the consequences.

However, seeing that his expression remained unchanged, everyone couldn't help but secretly admire him. He was indeed a young general whose only thought was about the battlefield. He was not moved even by such a stunning beauty...

Ye Xun didn't care about everyone's speculation. He poured himself another glass of wine, then raised his head and drank the wine in the glass again.

Under the dimming light, the girl stood elegant and calm, her beautiful eyes full of longing. Her lips curled into a gentle smile, captivating countless young men...

The girl seemed oblivious to the intense gazes, her chopsticks gently picking up the pink pastry...

Major General Ye frowned, raised his head, and drank the wine in his cup. He looked at the wine pot on the table and found it surprisingly bitter...

I don't know if it was an illusion, but this major general, who was used to drinking strong liquor like Biansha, actually felt that he seemed a little drunk...

The young and promising Prime Minister Xie was gentle and elegant, and his graceful posture while sitting at the desk attracted countless noble ladies.

As the most senior civil official, he sat in the seat closest to His Majesty and could clearly see the burning intensity in His Majesty's eyes. He turned the jade cup in his fingers slightly, with a thoughtful look on his face.

So this is why His Majesty let the Nan family go...

The land of gentleness is the grave of heroes... Such a beautiful girl can easily captivate anyone...

Noticing his heartbeat was unusually intense, he raised the wine glass to his lips, hiding the deep meaning in the corner of his mouth.

The whole hall was filled with undercurrents, but the girl at the center of the undercurrent seemed unaware of it. There was a childish look between her brows as she carefully enjoyed the delicacies on the table. When she ate something delicious, her eyes would light up slightly, and her brows were full of satisfaction, which made the people who were secretly watching her couldn't help but smile knowingly.

After the palace banquet, it was time to watch the fireworks. Outside the Linde Hall was a spacious terrace. Unlike other rooms in the palace where one could only see the square sky, the terrace was vast and high. When one looked up, one could clearly see the entire sky in the palace, and when one looked down, one could also take in most of the imperial palace.

After the banquet, the ministers and their relatives attended in turn and walked to the terrace on both sides. The empty seat in the middle was the seat of the emperor and empress. However, His Majesty had just ascended the throne and had no wives or concubines in the backyard. Therefore, it was reasonable that only His Majesty could occupy this position now.

Watching the girl, as dazzling as the bright moon, slowly walk out of the hall with the crowd, Gu Qiao's eyes were deep. He slowly stood up from his seat and walked out of the hall.

Wherever the emperor passed, all the court officials and relatives bowed their heads and made way for him. Nan Qiao, who was standing beside his mother, also lowered his head.

A shadow cast by the light appeared in her peripheral vision, and a pair of black boots with white base walked out of the hall step by step. The girl slowed down her breathing, her eyelids trembled slightly, and she waited quietly for the emperor who held the power of life and death to pass by her.

The black boots with white bottoms were already in front of her. As they were about to pass by, the girl was about to breathe a sigh of relief when a smiling and magnetic voice came from above her head, making her startled.

"I heard that Miss Nan loves to watch fireworks. I wonder if I can have the honor of inviting her to enjoy the New Year's Eve fireworks with me today?"

Watching the boots stop in front of her, the girl seemed unable to help but look up slightly, and her bright eyes filled with a little doubt met the emperor's smiling eyes directly.

The bright moon hangs high in the sky, the moonlight pours down, and the girl under the moonlight looks hazy and beautiful.

Gu Qiao's eyes were dark, and all the eagerness accumulated in his heart seemed to be unable to be resisted any longer. Without waiting for the girl's response, he reached out and took the girl's hand that fell at his side. In the girl's confusion and bewilderment, he brought her to the center.

This action was contrary to etiquette, but all the civil and military officials bowed to greet him and did not express any objection to the scene before them.

A girl of this beauty enjoys the best of everything in the world...

It seems like it's all as it should be...

The girl looked at her wrist being held by the other party, and a slightly uncomfortable blush appeared on her slightly childish face. She felt that the muscles between her wrists were burning like fire, glowing with heat.

Nan Qiao struggled with her hands somewhat uncomfortably, raised her eyes to look at the emperor with a scorching gaze, and moved her cherry lips slightly as if she wanted to say something, but before she could say anything, she was interrupted by the fireworks that suddenly rose up.

The moon is bright in the sky, the stars are twinkling, and large fireworks are blooming in the sky, lighting up the entire dark night for a moment.

The girl forgot the struggle in her hands for a moment. She raised her head and stared at the dazzling colorful fireworks in the sky, with admiration in her eyes.

The fireworks burned for a full quarter of an hour before stopping. When the last ray of light completely dissipated, the sky returned to its original darkness. The girl on the terrace seemed to have not calmed down yet, and there was still admiration on her face.

The dazzling fireworks in the sky are indeed beautiful, but in the eyes of everyone at this moment, the most eye-catching is the girl looking up at the sky.

It was cold outside, so the girl put on a cloak. The long cloak wrapped her up completely, leaving only her fair little face and black hair exposed.

She looked up at the sky, pursed her red lips, her little face was illuminated by the fireworks in the sky, and the light in her eyes was breathtakingly beautiful.

The first palace banquet after the new emperor ascended the throne ended with these brilliant fireworks.

After that night, as the court officials and their relatives spread the news, the reputation of Nan Qiao, the beautiful girl of the Nan family, spread throughout Bianjing City, and even had a tendency to spread beyond Bianjing City...

At one time, numerous visiting cards flooded into the Nan Mansion, including some from high-ranking officials in the city of Bianjing. Unfortunately, all of them were rejected by Madam Nan.

Her daughter was frail and the weather was cold, so how could she feel at ease letting her attend these unnecessary parties?

Since His Majesty has expressed his attitude, there is no need to worry too much about those high-ranking families. Madam Nan sighed softly, still feeling a little complicated about His Majesty's preference for her daughter.

But after a few days of thinking about it, I've come to terms with a lot. Qiao'er's beauty is stunning. If she were to marry into an ordinary family, her husband's family might not be able to protect her daughter's beauty.

Only the almighty emperor has the ability to protect her daughter and prevent others from taking her away.

The innocent girl, who had never experienced anything in life, seemed unaware of her mother's thoughts and quickly put the events of the palace banquet behind her.

"What is this?" she asked curiously, looking at the small tube in her hand.

The girl's face became more and more red. Ming He lowered her eyes and replied respectfully:

"Miss, this is new lip balm."

Lip balm? Nan Qiao became even more curious after hearing this. Although she didn't wear makeup on weekdays, she knew that lip balm was kept in a lip balm box.

She had never seen lip balm in a tube before.

"And lip balm in a tube?"

Ming He met the girl's curious eyes, her heart softened, and her voice became softer:

"Of course it didn't exist before. This is a new thing that has recently emerged in Bianjing City."

As he spoke, Minghe demonstrated to the girl how to open it.

The tube that was rubbed with a jade-like luster was taken away, and inside was a thinner tube. Minghe gently twisted the round bottom, and a piece of pink lip balm slowly rose from the bottom.

Nan Qiao was curious and picked up a tube of lip balm to play with it. Sure enough, she saw a piece of bright red lip balm slowly rising.

"Does the girl still like it?"

Nan Qiao nodded happily. Girls always love to be coquettish. Although they don't often put on makeup on weekdays, her room is fully equipped with lip balm, rouge, powder... everything a girl needs for dressing up.

"If you like it, you might as well go to Huanrongfang and have a look. I heard that Huanrongfang has a lot of new things."

"Besides the new lip balm, there's also new stone ink, new rouge, and new gouache... There are so many colors and so many different styles."

Minghe suggested with a smile that the snow had stopped for a few days and the weather had warmed up, so it would be good for the girl to go out for a walk.

Nan Qiao pondered for a moment and then agreed. After breakfast, he went to look for his mother.

"Why do you suddenly want to leave the house?" Mrs. Nan asked with a little surprise.

The girl seemed a little embarrassed: "I just... I just wanted to go out and take a look..."

"I heard there are a lot of fun things in Bianjing recently, so my daughter wants to go and see them..."

The girl is a typical lady from a wealthy family who never goes out of the house. She stays in the square backyard all day long. Now that she has grown up, she naturally wants to go out.

Mrs. Nan also grew up in the boudoir, so she naturally understood the thoughts of girls of this age. Looking at her daughter's expectant look, the doting in her eyes almost overflowed.

"You can go if you want, but you have to wait until mother arranges for an entourage to accompany you," she said indulgently.

If her son hadn't been so busy these days and her daughter-in-law hadn't just given birth, the young couple would have needed some time to be intimate with each other, and Mrs. Nan would have felt relieved to let her son stay with his sister.

The girl was delighted, a smile appeared on the corners of her lips, and her jade-like little face was dazzlingly bright.

"Qiao'er, do you want to go out and play?" A doting male voice suddenly rang out, and the curtain at the door was lifted.

"Brother! Sister-in-law!" Nan Qiao was delighted to hear the voices. She immediately turned around and called out in surprise when she saw two men and women coming in from outside one after another.

Nan Mu, the eldest son of the Nan family, has been busy this month and looks a little haggard. Looking at his sister whom he had not seen for a few days, he felt both sad and relieved.

In the end, the Nan family was able to overcome this difficult time thanks to the girl they loved the most.

"If you want to go there to play, brother will take you there." Nan Mu said dotingly with his usual smile on his lips.

Nan Qiao carefully looked at her brother whom she hadn't seen for some time. The dark circles under her eyes made her snort, and warmth welled up in her eyes.

"I don't want my brother to take me!" Nan Qiao smiled nonchalantly, "I want to go out and play by myself. You'd better spend more time with my sister-in-law. Be careful that my sister-in-law will punish you by making you sleep in the study!" After saying that, she blinked mischievously.

Everyone in the room was amused by the little boy's mischievous appearance. The dark clouds that had hung over the Nan Mansion for a month had dissipated, and the Nan Mansion had returned to its original joy and warmth.

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