The Empress usually treated everyone with an air of superiority and indifference. But when she saw Dili Junyi and Dili Ronghe greeting her, she personally rose and helped them up, her expression kind: "Rise, both of you, and sit down."

After Dili Junyi and Dili Ronghe sat down.

The Empress called softly towards the door, "Zhu Lan."

The palace maid named Zhulan came in, served tea to the four of them, and then left.

The Empress then asked, "How is your father?"

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. My father is doing well and in good health," Di Lijunyi said, taking out a mahogany box from his bosom and presenting it to Chen Ziyun with both hands. "Before his departure, my father repeatedly instructed me to give this to Your Majesty personally."

"King Di...you're so kind!" Chen Ziyun's voice rarely wavered, and her hand trembled slightly as she reached for the wooden box. Her eyes, which were lowered by her eyelids, held an uncontrollable tenderness and excitement.

Shang Dongyang frowned slightly, a strange feeling creeping into his heart:

Why does the Empress Dowager seem to care so much about Prince Di?

The Empress Dowager was from the capital city, and the Di King was a direct descendant of the Di royal family; the two should not have had much of a chance to meet.

Chen Ziyun held the wooden box tightly in her hand without opening it or putting it down. Her tone towards Dili Junyi and Dili Ronghe became increasingly gentle and tender: "You have traveled a long way and must be tired. In order to avoid suspicion, I cannot say much to you in public. I can only ask someone to make extra efforts in terms of accommodation and food. If you are dissatisfied with anything, you must send someone to tell me in time."

"Thanks to Her Majesty the Empress's patronage, we are quite comfortable here and at the post station," Di Lijun said humbly.

Before their departure, King Di specifically instructed the siblings that the Empress of Dazhao was their strongest ally in Dazhao, and that they must treat the Empress with the utmost respect.

Finally, Dili Junyi added, "Father also brought many gifts for Your Majesty and His Highness separately. Since it is inconvenient to bring them into the capital, they are currently stored in a cave outside the city. We will have to trouble Your Majesty and His Highness to send someone to retrieve them when they are ready."

Shang Dongyang was overjoyed and instantly put aside any doubts he had about the Empress.

Who cares what his mother's relationship is with Old Di Wang, as long as it benefits him;

For the past six months or so, he has suffered enough from being broke.

He had been hoping for the Di Kingdom delegation to come to the capital, which meant he was hoping for this money, and now he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

They agreed on how to receive the "gift".

The Empress and the Crown Prince felt much more at ease and became increasingly kind to Dili Junyi and his sister.

Seeing that the conversation had gone on long enough, Di Lirong stepped forward, knelt down, and clasped her hands in greeting, saying, "Your Majesty, Empress, Your Highness, I have a matter I would like to ask for your assistance with."

When the Empress saw her kneel, she knew what she wanted and quickly gestured for her to get up: "Good child, I know what's on your mind."

“No, this is not Ronghe’s concern,” Dili Ronghe said frankly. “This is my father’s order. My father sent someone to tell us that we must separate the Ninth Prince from the bandits around him. My father is good at divination, he must have foreseen something.”

The Empress was slightly surprised, then a sweet smile of satisfaction appeared on her lips, and she murmured, "Prince Di and I are indeed of one mind."

Shang Dongyang: "..."

Di Lijun and his sister: "..."

How embarrassing! Did they hear something they shouldn't have heard?

One hour later.

Dili Junyi and Dili Rong declined the Empress's offer of a ride and returned the way they came.

Halfway there, Di Lirong couldn't help but whisper, "Brother, don't you think the Empress of Da Zhao's expression was strange when she mentioned Father?"

"It's just as strange that Father mentioned the Empress of Da Zhao." Di Lijunyi didn't focus on his father's generation. With a thoughtful expression, he said, "I think it's quite strange that the Empress and the Crown Prince spoke so evasively about that bandit Ninth Prince's wife."

Mentioning Ji Fengyao, Di Lirong thought of the humiliation she suffered during the day and said fiercely, "Since the message sent by the royal envoy is the same as that of the Empress and the Crown Prince, which is to ask us to find a way to separate the Ninth Prince from that bandit, we might as well just kill that bandit and separate the Ninth Prince from him in the afterlife, so that they will never see each other again!"

Dili Junyi pondered for a while and nodded in agreement: "Although we don't know what secrets that bandit princess has, such a remarkable person cannot be allowed to live; no matter who in Da Zhao she falls into, she is a threat to us."

Shang Beiyu, hidden in the shadows: "..."

Meng Qi is one of his ten demon generals, and a person who can stand alone against a force.

After all these years of messing around in this world, all he's produced are these two idiots?

The letter he had Li Yu deliver to them clearly stated:

The plan was to create trouble for the Ninth Prince, so that he would be temporarily unable to attend to matters in the capital.

Furthermore, this caused a rift between the Ninth Prince and his bandit queen, leading to a strained relationship.

How are these two interpreted as:

One wants to marry Shang Xiye, the other wants to kill the little female bandit?

Seeing that the two of them were already planning how to make their move tomorrow, and it didn't seem like they were lying, Shang Beiyu was afraid that they would really hurt the little female bandit, so he couldn't help but show himself and block their way.

Dili Junyi and Dili Ronghe were immediately startled and on high alert: "Who goes there!"

"Didn't Meng Qi teach you to read?" Shang Beiyu was very displeased, his tone was extremely cold: "I told you to go and cause trouble for the Ninth Prince, not for the Ninth Prince's wife; as for the Empress and the Crown Prince, just deal with them casually, don't take it seriously."

Dili Junyi and Dili Rong looked at each other in bewilderment:

Holy crap, where did this idiot come from?

How dare you speak to them in that tone?

Seeing the two of them standing there dumbfounded, Shang Beiyu was even more displeased. He said in a deep voice, "How did Meng Qi teach you? Why don't you kneel before me?!"

Dili Junyi clicked his tongue, drew his sword from his waist, and said, "You blind dog, open your dog eyes and see clearly! I am the eldest prince of the Di Kingdom, the number one hunter of the grasslands! You, a spy who can't see the light of day, dare to talk nonsense in front of me! Kneel down before me now!"

Shang Beiyu: "!!!"

It turns out that Meng Qi really did raise these two as if they were the village's two idiots!

Otherwise, in these three thousand planes and six thousand worlds, who would dare make him kneel?!

"Very well, Meng Qi has raised two good children." Shang Beiyu was so angry that his face turned ashen, and his aura suddenly dissipated. He immediately turned and left.

The deputy envoy who came to find and meet Dili Junyi and Dili Ronghe felt a tremor in his heart when he sensed the demonic energy emanating from Shang Beiyu: This is the aura of the Venerable One!

Could it be that His Majesty has summoned him?

The deputy envoy hurried over, but only caught a glimpse of Shang Beiyu's departing figure in the distance.

Meanwhile, Dili Junyi was pointing at Shang Beiyu's back and arrogantly shouting, "You audacious dog slave, how dare you be so disrespectful to me and my sister! When I return to the country, I will definitely report to my father and have your dog head chopped off!"