A few days after the longevity banquet, Ning Xihua stayed at home as usual, eating and waiting to die, feeling bored.
Song Yi really couldn't stand it anymore, so she dragged Ning Xihua out of the house on the pretext that the rouge and powder in the house had gone bad and she needed to buy new ones.
"Song Yi, if the rouge goes bad, just ask the maids and stewards to buy it. Is it necessary for us to go there in person?"
Ning Xihua stood in the rouge shop, picking and choosing, but she really couldn't tell the difference between the various rouges with fancy packaging.
Song Yi looked at Ning Xihua's listless appearance and sighed helplessly, "How can the maids and stewards know which rouge is suitable for the princess? You have to come and try it yourself before you know what to buy."
Other girls all like powder, flowers and rouge, but her princess is different. She stays at home all day long and never goes out.
She stayed at home without washing or dressing up, with her hair down and makeup untied all day long, and the dressing box in the house was almost covered with dust.
"Besides, the prince asked me to take you out more often. You spend all day in the mansion or in that place. What if you get sick?"
Ning Xihua thought that you don't understand the happiness of a stay-at-home girl, but she couldn't argue with Song Yi, so she could only let her try various colors on her hand. In the end, she obediently chose a bunch of rouge and paid the bill.
On the way back home, Ning Xihua was still asking Song Yi, "Is there anything else you want to buy? How about buying everything at once? I won't let you use the excuse of buying things to get me out next time."
Before Song Yi could reply, a young servant in brown clothes stopped them.
The servant bowed respectfully to Ning Xihua and said, "Please forgive me for disturbing you, my prince, but my prince just happened to see you and specially invited you to come over and have a chat."
Ning Xihua was a little puzzled, "Who is your prince?"
The servant bowed his head and replied, "The surname of the mansion is Bai."
Bai? So he is the prince of Zhenguo. Why is he looking for her?
Although Ning Xihua was puzzled, the Prince of Zhenguo had spoken up to help her at the last birthday banquet, so she still followed the servant and prepared to meet the prince.
When they arrived, Ning Xihua paused. Oh, Tingfeng Tower, she was familiar with this place.
The servant did not lead her to the fifth floor, but led her up the lobby stairs to a private room on the fourth floor.
After entering the private room, Bai Luoqiu, the son of the Duke of Zhenguo, bowed to her and motioned for her to take a seat.
The birthday banquet was held in such a hurry that Ning Xihua was able to take a good look at Bai Luoqiu.
Although he was the de facto ruler of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion, Bai Luoqiu was only 28 years old and had not yet reached the age of 30. He was handsome, with slightly dark skin, but his eyebrows and eyes still resembled Su Bi.
Unlike Su Bi, Bai Luoqiu is more robust and sturdy, with a mighty and sharp aura, and it is obvious that he is experienced in the battlefield.
But now facing her, he restrained his sharpness and seemed much gentler, looking a lot like Su Bi.
"I hope you won't mind my asking you to come here."
"You are too polite, Master Bai. I also want to thank you for speaking for me at the birthday banquet that day." Ning Xihua said politely.
Bai Luoqiu smiled brightly, "Princess Jielan humiliated the Crown Prince. I am the Crown Prince's uncle after all. How could I just watch her being so presumptuous and say nothing?"
He paused, then turned to look at Ning Xihua with admiration, "Princess, you are indeed courageous to speak up for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince without fear of what others may say."
Ning Xihua felt that the compliment was very sincere, so she became curious about the attitude of her uncle Su Bi.
"I thought that the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion had a bad relationship with the Crown Prince, just as the rumors outside said."
Bai Luoqiu looked up at her, his face clear, "Are you trying to trick me, Princess?"
Ning Xihua smiled and did not deny it.
Bai Luoqiu said bluntly, "The princess should know why the relationship between the Duke of Zhenguo and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not harmonious."
Ning Xihua nodded, she knew about this.
Logically speaking, as the prince's uncle, the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion should be a staunch supporter of the prince. However, due to an old incident in the early years, it was widely rumored that the relationship was bad.
At that time, Emperor Shao Yuan had just ascended the throne. There were still rebellious forces in the court that had not yet been eliminated, and the Ryukyu Kingdom was eyeing him covetously. In order to stabilize the government, Emperor Shao Yuan did not want to go to war with the Ryukyu Kingdom at this time.
The Ryukyu Kingdom agreed to a temporary ceasefire, but demanded that Dali send the crown prince to the Ryukyu Kingdom as a hostage.
Queen Ruijia was strongly opposed to it, but her father, Duke Zhenguo, strongly supported her.
Yes, it is said that the emperor was very hesitant at the time, and it was Duke Zhenguo who stood up and strongly advocated sending his own grandson to the Ryukyu Kingdom as a hostage.
At that time, the Crown Prince was only 5 years old. With the consent of his parents and grandfather, he went to the Ryukyu Kingdom alone and became a hostage, staying there for seven years.
Although the Duke of Zhenguo was praised by the people for sacrificing his grandson for the sake of the country and the people, this rift was ultimately sown between him and the Eastern Palace.
After the prince returned to the court, Queen Ruijia had passed away due to illness, and the Duke of Zhenguo was very cold to him, which completely chilled the prince's heart. Since then, the relationship has become increasingly distant and even gradually deteriorated.
Bai Luoqiu sighed and said, "In fact, the Kingdom of Liu didn't insist on holding the crown prince as a hostage. There is still room for this matter to turn around."
Ning Xihua was puzzled. "Then why did the Duke of Zhenguo insist that the prince go?"
Under normal circumstances, shouldn't one try one's best to protect the prince and send someone else as a hostage?
Bai Luoqiu shook his head and told the truth: "Because of military power."
It turned out that the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion was in charge of 200,000 troops to guard the Western Regions. Because the Ryukyu Kingdom was powerful at the time, in order to resist the Ryukyu Kingdom, all the resources of the court were directed to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.
In addition, the Ning Wang Mansion and Weiyuan General's Mansion have always been law-abiding and have not participated in political affairs, so the Zhenguo Duke Mansion is almost the only one in power.
In addition, Empress Ruijia also came from the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion, and the Crown Prince is the Duke of Zhenguo's grandson. The Emperor is quite wary of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.
When Liuguo proposed to take the crown prince as a hostage, if Dali had mediated properly, it could have replaced him with another prince. At that time, Dali had the third prince and the fifth prince in addition to the crown prince.
However, Concubine Sun was in great favor at the time, and the emperor was reluctant to take the third prince as a hostage. Doctor Zheng was also the emperor's mentor, and he knelt down and begged, and the emperor could not bear to go against his mentor's wishes and sent the fifth prince away.
In addition, Emperor Shao Yuan was already very jealous of the power of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion. He was worried that the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion would collude with the Kingdom of Ryukyu to change the dynasty and establish a new monarch, so he proposed exchange conditions to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.
After hearing this, Ning Xihua already understood a little, but still asked, "What conditions?"
Bai Luoqiu smiled bitterly, "You can choose between handing over the 200,000 troops or sending the crown prince as a hostage."
"So the Duke of Zhenguo chose military power and gave up the crown prince."
Ning Xihua suddenly felt as if there was a breath stuck in her chest, which made her feel a little uncomfortable.
"Yes, father believes that the family should be the most important thing. My eldest sister is the empress, and all the children she gives birth to are legitimate sons. Any one of them can be made the crown prince."
Bai Luoqiu looked at the teacup at hand, his eyes somewhat blank, as if he was recalling the scene at that time.
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