"I am Pei Xueqiao, a steward of the Imperial Ancestral Temple under the Ministry of Ceremonies. This is Her Highness the Sixth Princess."

Cui Jiu was surprised to see the princess in person, and bowed respectfully, saying, "Your Highness."

Qin Zhaoyue took a step to the side, "Commander Cui, you must be tired from your long journey."

"It is my duty, and I dare not complain about the hardship."

Oh ho ho, that hard chin, that resolute expression.

There was also a rough, deep voice, like someone had swallowed a subwoofer; Qin Zhaoyue felt her head spin...

I don't know if I can let him call me "you brat," it doesn't seem appropriate since it's our first meeting.

If you scare someone again, *swoosh*...

The Imperial Guard captain stepped forward, and the two sides exchanged military orders.

On one side was the escort mission document from the Northwest Xuanwu Reserve Legion, and on the other side was the document from the Xuange Division responsible for receiving and escorting the guards.

After each person looked through it, they switched it back, just to confirm their identities and responsibilities.

The escort team also needed this document to report back to the Xuange Division.

Whether they will stay in Fengjing temporarily or return directly to the Northwest remains to be seen.

"Please wait a moment, everyone."

After clasping his hands in a fist salute, Cui Jiu instructed his men to quickly clear a path, revealing the carriage that was being guarded.

Upon closer inspection, the horses pulling the carriage were clearly extraordinary.

The four horses rode side by side, their shoulder peaks being half a hand higher than those of horses from the Central Plains.

Backlit, you can see steel-like tendons beneath the bluish-gray fur, and most remarkably, those golden-amber eyes.

It reflected the snowfield's light like crystal, and its eyelashes were covered with a layer of frost.

The bridle, forged from fine iron, is shaped like a wolf's snout, but instead of the red tassels popular in the Central Plains, it is adorned with azure snow cloud patterns dyed from the tail fur of a sand fox.

Even someone who doesn't know much about horses can tell at a glance that this is no ordinary horse.

Although the nobles of the northwestern frontier are not as powerful as before, they seem to still possess strong stallions and have not lost their horse-breeding skills.

Just then, a figure lifted the carriage curtain and jumped out of the car without any help.

A red fox fur collar with a beaded deer pattern brocade robe, snow leopard fur trimmed at the cuffs, and octagonal silver armlets engraved with wolf head patterns.

A five-colored silk ribbon with a red carnelian buckle hangs from it, along with a silver bell and a gold-inlaid dagger sheath.

He strode in against the light, dazzling to behold.

However, they had only gone halfway when Cui Jiu stopped them. "Helian clan, please hand over your weapons."

“Eh…” Helian Chaolu immediately drooped her face, looking like a wilted eggplant.

"I called her Little Lulu on the way, but when we arrived in Fengjing, I called her Helian Shi. I'm heartbroken."

As she spoke, she lowered her head, her shoulders heaving as she covered her face and wept.

Cui Jiu:......

Sensing the intense gaze on his back, he instinctively turned around.

Qin Zhaoyue crossed her arms, leaned back, and stared at the person opposite her with her eyes downcast.

His eyes clearly conveyed two words: trash.

What a waste of that imposing physique and deep, bubbly voice, tsk tsk tsk...

Cui Jiu was stung by that gaze. "No... I didn't..."

Explanation seemed futile at this moment, and he was so angry that his chest heaved violently.

He turned around and glared fiercely at the other person.

"Making lies won't work, hand it all over!"

The next moment, Helian Chaolu raised her head and curled her lips in disdain.

Tch, I didn't fool them.

Only then did everyone realize that the little girl who had been chattering away for so long had a clean face.

Her bright, large eyes didn't shed a single tear, and her makeup remained flawless.

Helian Chaolu looked unwilling, but she still took the dagger from her waist and slapped it onto the other person's outstretched palm.

"Alright!"

Cui Jiu remained unmoved. "No, continue."

Whether they were guards seeing them off or waiting to take over, everyone was silently watching the two of them.

Helian Chaolu sighed and reached out to remove the filigree gold phoenix hairpin.

With a slight click, the pearl it was holding suddenly cracked open, revealing fine silver needles inside.

He plucked them out one by one, handed them to the other person, and then closed the pearl box again.

Cui Jiu remained unmoved and continued to spread his palms out.

"Hey, don't go too far! This hairpin can't be considered a weapon!"

Cui Jiu lowered her eyes and said coldly, "Continue."

Next, everyone witnessed a miraculous scene.

The phoenix tail hairpin, with its seven feathers disassembled, is entirely composed of willow-leaf darts.

"continue."

The hairpin wrapped with crimson silk thread was actually a blowgun.

"continue."

Hidden mechanisms are concealed within the bright moon earrings by the ears; unscrewing them reveals tiny blades.

"continue."

Star-shaped caltrops are sewn under the leather straps.

"continue."

Pressing down the mutton fat jade belt buckle will release a three-foot soft sword.

"continue."

Two thin chains can be seen when the deer-patterned brocade robe is lifted.

"continue."

The wolf head pattern on the octagonal silver armlet twists open, revealing a pair of arrowheads.

"continue."

The shoes, embroidered with honeysuckle patterns, have upturned toes and hidden iron hooks at the tips.

...

Cui Jiu's two hands weren't enough; both hands had to help him take down the weapons, which totaled about twenty items.

Qin Zhaoyue: ……

Silently giving a thumbs up, wow, that's really something.

He quickly nudged the broken ink beside him and whispered, "See this? Press this, give me one too!"

After thinking about it, Sui Mo did not refuse outright.

Given her prince's capacity to cause trouble, it's a good thing he carries some weapons.

There's no need to be as extravagant as this person in front of you; just a few things that are easy to handle will do.

"You pervert, you've stripped me naked!"

Cui Jiu turned a deaf ear to Helian Chaolu's accusations.

He had his men fetch a wooden box, put all the loose weapons inside, and then turned and walked towards the Imperial Guard captain.

"Brother, I'm entrusting this to you for safekeeping."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!