Upon hearing the commotion, Zong Jiu hurried to the inner room: "Your Majesty."
Xuanyuan Peng opened his eyes groggily and saw Bai Shi's concerned face.
Looking at Bai Shi's face, still as stunningly beautiful as when she was young, Xuan Yuanpeng thought he was dreaming. He raised his hand and gently stroked Bai Shi's delicate face, speaking with a hint of sorrow, "Ya'er, why did you choose him? Why not me?"
Xuanyuan Peng's question completely baffled the Bai family.
She stared at Xuanyuan Peng for a long while, then tears welled up in her eyes with anger: "What kind of time is this, and you're still so hung up on these things? I've been with you for decades, and he's only been with me for a year and a half, and you're still jealous of him!"
She never imagined that his obsession ran so deep.
Hearing Bai Shi's scolding, Xuan Yuanpeng finally realized that this was not a dream. He immediately said anxiously, "Ya'er, why are you in the palace again? Didn't I put you in confinement? It's not safe in the palace. You should go back quickly."
Xuanyuan Peng then looked anxiously at Zong Jiu: "Quickly send the Dowager Consort back to the Holy King's Mansion. Have the Imperial Guards send more people to guard the Holy King's Mansion and not allow anyone to disturb the Dowager Consort."
Hearing that Xuanyuan Peng still cared about her so much, Bai's eyes suddenly reddened, and tears fell again.
Zong Jiu, his eyes also red, knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty, the Prince has entered the capital. You are safe, and the Dowager Consort is safe too."
Xuanyuan Peng was also quite excited upon hearing this: "Zhan'er is back? How is the situation in the North?"
Zong Jiu bowed and reported, "The Prince is providing disaster relief in the North. The people in the North are all getting food. The Prince has also found a way to solve the drought in the North. Your Majesty, you don't need to worry."
"That's good." Hearing that the North was at peace, Xuan Yuanpeng nodded with relief: "Did Zhan'er's return to the capital go smoothly this time?"
“The prince…” Zong Jiu hesitated to speak, fearing that the emperor would be angry.
Bai Shi explained from the side, "Zhan'er led troops back to the capital. You sent him to the north to provide disaster relief and suppress bandits. Zhan'er went there and subdued the bandits, but there were so many, forty or fifty thousand, that it was impossible to kill them all. Zhan'er considered that they were forced into banditry by famine, and since they hadn't committed any major crimes, he submitted a memorial asking you to approve their amnesty. However, the memorial never reached your hands. Xuan Yuan Yu even sent three thousand Imperial Guards to the north to falsely convey an imperial edict to execute Zhan'er on the spot. Zhan'er was forced to kill the deputy commander of the Imperial Guards who went to deliver the edict, intending to come back and explain to you. But then the Northern Rong suddenly invaded, and Zhan'er had no choice but to lead troops to suppress the bandits in the north again. Later, Xuan Yuan Yu accused Zhan'er of treason and imprisoned me and Ning'er in the imperial prison, forcing Zhan'er to return to the capital. Zhan'er had no choice but to fight his way back to the capital."
Xuanyuan Peng was stunned upon hearing this, not expecting so many things to have happened: "The Northern Rong have invaded the northern border, how is the war going now?"
Seeing Xuanyuan Peng's worry, Bai quickly comforted him, "With Zhan'er here, they will naturally be driven out of the North. Don't worry."
Zong Jiu also wiped away his tears and comforted him, "In order to lead the army to resist the Northern Rong, the Prince did not even have time to take care of the Dowager Consort and the Princess Consort. It was not until the Northern Rong were defeated that he led the army back."
Xuanyuan Peng looked at Bai Shi with heartache: "That beast Xuanyuan Yu didn't do anything to you, did he?"
Bai shook her head quickly: "He locked me up in the Heavenly Prison. He wanted to use me to control Zhan'er, so he naturally didn't dare to really kill me. The jailers in the Heavenly Prison didn't mistreat me either, but he had someone bring Ning'er into the palace."
Upon hearing this, Xuanyuan Peng became nervous again: "Then Zhan's wife, she..."
"It's alright, it's alright." Seeing his nervousness, Madam Bai quickly reassured him, "He sent Ning'er to the Cold Palace, but luckily Ning'er was clever. She said she had the real Su family army's military tally, so Xuan Yuan Yu and Xuan Yuan Zhi took her out of the palace. Ning'er even asked her masters to come to the Heavenly Prison to rescue me. Just then, Ning'er's mother sent the Vermilion Bird Divine Beast to pick up Ning'er, so we took the opportunity to go to Xiliang together."
Xuanyuan Peng was somewhat bewildered after hearing what Bai Shi said. His mind couldn't process it all at once. He had too many questions about what she said and didn't know which question to ask first.
As if understanding his confusion, Madam Bai explained to him, "Do you still remember General Su's wife?"
"Of course I remember." Xuanyuan Peng looked tenderly at Bai Shi's stunning face: "We were known as the two beauties of the capital."
Actually, he still thought his Ya'er was more beautiful, with a beauty that could rival the most beautiful flowers in the world, as radiant as a peony.
Bai blushed under his burning gaze: "Actually, Madam Su is not an orphan at all, and her name is not Mu Junyu. She is Empress Duanmu Junyu of Xiliang."
Xuanyuan Peng stared wide-eyed in disbelief, as if he had heard a fairy tale: "She's the Empress of Western Liang? How is that possible?"
How could the Empress of Western Liang have stayed in Eastern Chu for so many years?
"It's true." Bai explained the events of that year to Xuanyuan Peng very seriously: "Back then, Duanmu Junyu's younger sister, Duanmu Shenghua, the Prince of Xiliang, murdered Duanmu Junyu..."
Bai Shi explained the events of that year to Xuan Yuanpeng in detail: "At that time, Su Renzhong and she developed feelings for each other, but she had just lost her memory. In addition, the Prince Hui replaced her as empress. Su Renzhong was worried that if he sent Duanmu Junyu back, the Prince Hui would plot against her again. So he brought her back to Dong Chu and had the Marquis of Dingping take her in as his sworn sister, which was a way of giving her a respectable status."
Xuan Yuanpeng hadn't expected that Su Renzhong and Duanmu Junyu had such a story. Thinking of something, he immediately asked nervously, "Is the military seal of the Su family army still in her hands?"
If she were just an orphan, or even a general's wife, the military tally would be irrelevant to her. But she is the Empress of Western Liang.
Most importantly, the Su family army is not considered a regular army of Dongchu and is not under his control at all. They only recognize the military tally, so the military tally must not fall into her hands.
Madam Bai understood his worries and quickly said, "Don't worry, she has already given the military tally to Ning'er. Ning'er then gave the military tally to Zhan'er. Previously, Xuan Yuan Yu invited the Su family army to guard the city, and Ning'er happened to take out the military tally, so Zhan'er entered the capital city without much effort."
Upon hearing that the military tally of the Su family army was in Xuan Yuanzhan's hands, Xuan Yuanpeng was relieved: "That's good. I never expected that Su Renzhong's wife would be the Empress of Western Liang. Then Zhan's daughter-in-law must be..."
Xiliang is a matriarchal society, so Zhan's wife must be a princess of Xiliang.
Bai smiled and said, "Yes, Duanmu Junyu has returned to the throne of Empress and regained the power of Xiliang. She also named Ning'er as Crown Princess. Ning'er is now the Crown Prince of Xiliang."
Xuanyuan Peng was stunned again, and he was also a little confused. He seemed to have difficulty reacting for a moment, as if he had just taken a nap and so many things had happened.
"I remember Zhan's wife is six months pregnant, isn't she!"
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