messenger

Before Zhu Qinghe could figure out why the person opposite her looked so familiar, the Silver Tenon Tribe King arrived.

Zhu Qinghe had no choice but to regain her composure and focus on her inner thoughts.

When the king took his seat, everyone rose to greet him, except for the people at the opposite table who remained completely still, sitting perfectly still.

Zhu Qinghe found this person rather interesting. Although the envoy of the Great Li Dynasty represented the Great Li Dynasty, it was rare for him to show such disrespect to the Yinshan tribe.

The king naturally noticed that table as well, but his expression remained unchanged. He said, "There's no need for formalities. Today's banquet is to celebrate the marriage of my son and Princess Jialing. It's just a family dinner."

With a "click," everyone looked toward the source of the sound. The Dali Dynasty envoy, dressed in black, casually flicked his hand and said, "Sorry, my hand slipped."

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Could this person be acting so arrogantly on the orders of the Emperor of the Great Li Dynasty?

What exactly does the Da Li Dynasty mean? Sending a princess here for a marriage alliance, yet still sending envoys to show off their power—do they really think the Yinshan tribe has no one to rely on?

After repeated attempts, the king finally lost his patience and asked, "The envoy from the Le Dynasty has come from afar; he must have received instructions from the Le Emperor."

The man then rose and bowed slightly: “Your Majesty, Princess Jialing is the only daughter of the late King’s daughter and the Emperor’s most beloved princess. The Emperor is very reluctant to let her go on this marriage. Moreover, the princess has been frail and sickly since childhood and is delicate. Therefore, we have been specially sent to take care of and protect the princess’s daily life, so as to prevent her from suffering any mishaps due to the change in environment.”

"I hope Your Majesty will grant my request."

Zhu Qinghe's lips twitched slightly as she listened. What reluctance? What fragility? The emperor really knows how to make things up.

And what exactly is this guy's nature, that he can lie so calmly and naturally?

She was starting to doubt whether she was really that favored.

His words were sincere and reasonable, and even if they were unreasonable, the Silver Tenon Tribe couldn't refuse them.

Sending a princess to marry into their family is already an honor; they can't refuse such small requests.

The meal was nerve-wracking, but the roasted lamb leg was quite good.

The food of the Silver Tenon tribe is quite different from that of the Da Li Dynasty, but it has its own unique flavor.

Even though she was engrossed in eating, she could feel the gaze on her constantly falling on her.

Could it be that the emperor really sent someone to spy on her?

After the banquet, Zhu Qinghe sent Yin Luoha away and the maid who was supposed to serve her.

She wanted to test the envoy's abilities.

At tonight's banquet, she wore an elaborate and gorgeous dress with a very long train.

She bent down and lifted her skirt, just as she heard someone behind her ask very close by, "Princess, do you need any help?"

She turned around, and the person behind her was indeed standing very close. As she turned her head, her forehead almost brushed against his chin.

She instinctively took a step back, but failed to notice that her heel was stepping on the hem of her skirt, causing her to lose her balance and fall backward.

A large hand grasped her wrist and led her in its direction.

By the time Zhu Qinghe realized what was happening, she was already in the man's arms, and his hand was even on her waist.

lecher!

Zhu Qinghe was immediately enraged and shoved him away, shouting, "How dare you!"

The man withdrew his hand and raised an eyebrow: "I only helped the princess because I saw she was about to fall."

Zhu Qinghe was too lazy to argue with him about these things and went straight to the point, asking, "Did the emperor send you to spy on me?"

“Princess, this is not a good place to talk.” The man held out his hand. “Why don’t we find a secluded place?”

Zhu Qinghe lifted her skirt and said coldly, "Lead the way."

The man walked ahead of her without hesitation, and Zhu Qinghe watched his back from behind, finding him increasingly familiar.

He was dressed in black, made of high-quality, smooth material, with only subtle gold patterns embroidered on the cuffs and hem; the style was simple yet unique.

With broad shoulders and long legs, and a leisurely gait, he gradually overlapped with someone from his memory.

But his face...?

Seeing that no one was around, Zhu Qinghe tentatively asked in a low voice, "Shen Wumei?"

The man paused, turned around, and asked in confusion, "Who is the princess calling?"

Zhu Qinghe felt a mixture of disappointment and relief.

Indeed, he is, after all, the son of Prime Minister Shen, and Prime Minister Shen would certainly not allow him to do such a dangerous thing.

She shook her head: "It's nothing, I mistook you for someone else."

The man replied meaningfully, "Princess, you are now a princess. Do you still have feelings for another man?"

Zhu Qinghe was in a bad mood and spoke rudely: "It's none of your business."

The man fell silent.

The two found a secluded pavilion to talk. The terrain of the Silver Tenon Tribe was flat, but the central royal city had many mountains built by hand, making the terrain chaotic and complex, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

This king may appear rugged, but he is actually quite deep-thinking.

The area was well-hidden by trees, so Zhu Qinghe stopped lowering her voice.

"Speak, what did the emperor send you here for?"

The man approached step by step, forcing her to retreat until her body crashed into a pillar with nowhere left to go.

"what you do?"

“Princess, now that you have become a princess, you should not be fickle and mislead others and yourself.”

The man picked up a strand of hair that had fallen over her shoulder and twirled it around his fingertips in an ambiguous manner.

Zhu Qinghe coldly pushed his hand away forcefully, but it was instead gripped in her palm.

"Who are you? Why would the emperor send someone like you to the Silver Tenon Tribe?"

She was furious, her face flushed. The man looked at her, loosened his grip slightly, and softened his tone: "My name is Shen Er, and I am from the Shen family."

Zhu Qinghe's eyes lit up, but then dimmed again, a look of wariness appearing in them: "You're one of Prime Minister Shen's men, aren't you?"

Only Prime Minister Shen knew about her relationship with Shen Wumei, and he went to great lengths to send people to persuade her to give up.

She said coldly, "Since you are from the Shen family, you must know about my relationship with your young master."

“I can understand that you are working for Prime Minister Shen, but have you ever thought about how many more years Prime Minister Shen has left to live?”

"Offending me is the same as offending your young master. Once Prime Minister Shen is gone, won't Shen Wumei be the one in charge of the Shen family? Have you thought about what will happen to you then?"

Shen Er chuckled lightly: "Is the princess so certain that she can become the mistress of the Prime Minister's mansion?"

"To be honest, my young master is just a lowly constable, how can he compare to the noble status of the little prince?"

“Here, you are the Queen, second only to the King. When the King ascends the throne and the young prince succeeds him, you will be the undisputed number one.”

"With your abilities, it wouldn't be difficult to keep the little prince under your control. Then you'd be in charge of the entire Silver Tenon tribe."

Zhu Qinghe snorted coldly: "You think highly of me."

“The princess is my support here, so of course I have to consider her needs,” Shen Er said.

Zhu Qinghe asked sincerely, "How could the Shen family recruit someone as glib and shameless as you?"

Shen Er leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Given time, the princess will realize just how popular I am."

The new queen's bedroom.

Liang Youan clutched her stomach weakly and asked, "Why isn't Qinghe back yet? Is the banquet still going on?"

Bai Qiuru took out a cold steamed bun from her bundle and handed it to her.

Liang Youan turned her head and refused: "I don't want hard steamed buns, I want braised pork knuckle!"

Mu Chengwen, leaning against the small table and drinking cold water to relieve his hunger, said, "You're still ordering food here? We're servants now, no one's going to pay attention to you."

Liang Youan: "I don't care, I want to eat a big pork knuckle!"

"Then go and do it yourself."

"Fine, I'll go then," Liang Youan said, getting up. "Wait for me to bring back some good food."

Before Bai Qiuru could even speak, she vanished in a flash.

"...Can she manage on her own?" Bai Qiuru asked Mu Chengwen.

"It's alright, a grown person like her can't possibly get lost, let her go."

Liang Youan successfully made his way to the kitchen thanks to his exceptional foraging skills. Luckily, no one was inside.

Although we didn't see the braised pork knuckle, there were still quite a few delicious leftovers from tonight's banquet.

To avoid being discovered, she only took a small portion of each dish, so at first glance it was impossible to tell that it had been touched.

She took a clean cloth from the table next to her, wrapped a few steamed buns, and some easy-to-grab items like prawns, chicken legs, and lamb legs.

Hmm, those glutinous rice cakes are also quite delicious, take a few more.

The soldiers patrolling the Silver Tenon tribe complained as they walked along: "There's such a lively banquet going on up ahead, but we two brothers can only work in the back and don't even get a bite to eat. Damn it."

“That’s right,” the person next to him wiped the sweat from his forehead and clicked his tongue, “but the girls of the Great Li Dynasty are really beautiful.”

"Look at that new queen, her face is smaller than half the size of my palm, her waist is thin, and her skin is so white it's dazzling."

"Unlike the women around here, who are big and burly."

The two were making lewd jokes as they passed by the kitchen door, just as Liang Youan came out and they almost bumped into each other.

The soldier inside glanced at him impatiently: "Are you blind...?"

His words trailed off after he saw the person in front of him clearly. The Le Dynasty woman, who had just been fantasizing, stood timidly before him.

Although she wasn't as beautiful as the new queen, she was still a fresh and lovely beauty.

The two men couldn't help but move closer. Liang Youan, who had come to steal food, was already feeling guilty, and became even more nervous when he saw the two men getting close. He covered his chest and backed away.

One soldier said in a high-sounding tone, "What are you hiding in your clothes? Take it off and let us see."

Liang Youan nervously explained, "It's just some food. The princess didn't eat enough at the banquet, so she asked me to get some food."

"Oh, you're a maidservant to the princess, right? Then we need to investigate you even more thoroughly. Who knows if you have ulterior motives, like poisoning the food or something?"

Liang Youan's face paled, and she subconsciously retorted, "I didn't."

"Little sister, you can't just say you don't have it. Just show it to us and we'll know."

The soldier chuckled, his hand already outstretched.

Liang Youan retreated helplessly to the door frame, her hands being intercepted halfway.

Someone stood in her way.

"Gentlemen, the Dali Dynasty and the Yinshan Tribe have just established a friendly alliance. Isn't it inappropriate for you to bully our Dali girls here?"

Liang Youan looked up and saw a tall and imposing man with one hand habitually behind his back and a heavy sword hanging at his waist.

He stood there like a pine tree or a mountain, calm and dignified.

It was him.

She suddenly realized this fact, and her heart began to pound.

The two soldiers, annoyed at being interrupted, shouted, "Who are you, you little punk? Get out of my way!"

"I am Mu Chengwu, an envoy of the Dali people."