Inside the Imperial Palace, in the Golden Palace.
It was time for court to begin, but the situation in the court today was somewhat different from usual.
Empress Murong Xi of Yueyao arrived in Jingzhou last night and stayed at a random inn. This morning, she brought the Holy Maiden Chuxia of Yueyao and the tribute to Emperor An to the palace.
It just so happened that it coincided with the morning court session in Anguo.
Emperor An introduced Empress Yueyao, but the ministers' reactions were rather lukewarm. They didn't even glance at her much because of her status and otherworldly appearance. Instead, they stared longingly outside, as if waiting for something.
Murong Xi was filled with doubt: Had the ministers of Anguo become so noble? Everywhere else, men would give him a second glance, no matter where they were. Only here…
It seems that Anguo is truly a magical country!
"They're here!"
At this moment, someone spoke first, and everyone turned to look back, even Emperor An, who was sitting on the dragon throne, craned his neck.
Unable to contain her curiosity, Murong Xi also turned to look.
Then a stunningly beautiful woman, followed by two men carrying papers, walked towards the Golden Palace.
The woman wore a light blue official robe with a white gauze over it, which perfectly showcased her graceful figure. Her long black hair was styled into a simple bun, adorned with an elegant plum blossom hairpin.
Her eyebrows were like emerald feathers, her teeth like pearls, her slender waist moved with delicate steps, her fair wrists were revealed through a light veil, her eyes were clear and elegant, and she was not to be looked at directly. Her expression was cold and indifferent, truly as pure as ice and snow.
What a beautiful woman!
This was Murong Xi's first thought, and she suddenly realized that these people weren't giving her a second glance because they were watching her! But she wasn't bad either…
As a woman, it's inevitable to feel a competitive spirit at this moment, but Murong Xi also noticed that although these ministers were all looking at this beautiful woman, there was no desire or greed in their eyes. Instead, it seemed like... anticipation?
This made her even more suspicious.
At this moment, the beautiful woman slowly strolled over and happened to pass by Murong Xi. When she looked up, her eyes met Murong Xi's, and Murong Xi nodded to her unconsciously.
The pretty woman nodded, seemed to give her a slight smile, glanced at her a couple more times, and then walked straight past.
"Your Majesty, I am late. I beg Your Majesty's punishment!"
"You may dispense with the formalities, Your Excellency. It's good that you've arrived! All my beloved ministers have been waiting for you! If you hadn't come, I wouldn't have been able to hold this morning court session!"
After Emperor An finished speaking, the Golden Palace erupted in laughter, and the atmosphere became even more relaxed.
...
This beautiful woman was none other than Zhu Xinning, a secretary in the Imperial Secretariat.
In the vast kingdom of An, there is no other woman in the entire world who can enter the palace and attend court and possess such beauty.
Upon hearing Emperor An's introduction, Murong Xi finally understood Zhu Xinning's identity and immediately realized: this beautiful woman was actually the legendary talented woman of Anguo who could attend court! Most importantly, if she remembered correctly, she was that bastard's second sister!
On the night she and Jing Zhe were taken away by the Western Frontier Heavy Cavalry Regiment, when she and Jing Zhe were intimate, Jing Zhe told her about his background. He had seven older sisters, and some of them were very powerful, so powerful that he could remember them as soon as he mentioned them.
Zhu Xinning was among them.
But why are all his sisters so beautiful? His fifth sister, Liu Jinghong, is one thing, but now his second sister is also a stunning beauty. Could it be that he has some kind of relationship with his second sister?
Thinking of this, Murong Xi's gaze towards Zhu Xinning became uncertain, as if she were lost in thought.
After the officials finished laughing, it was Duke Yu Sheng who spoke first: "Lord Zhu, has today's newspaper been published?"
Upon hearing this, the ministers perked up.
"I'm sorry to have kept the Duke of Huguo and all the lords waiting. The reason I'm late is that I went to get the newspapers, and I'll distribute them to you now!"
As she spoke, Zhu Xinning handed the first newspaper to Andy, and then the two newspaper employees carried the other newspapers and distributed them.
When the task was assigned to Murong Xi, the members hesitated.
Because the number of newspapers brought each time was fixed, when Jing Zhe was around, he would bring one less and deliberately not give it to Bai Qingyuan.
Since Jing Zhe wasn't there, Zhu Xinning didn't want to offend Bai Qingyuan too much, so she brought him a portion and also a portion for Su Mochen.
Today, with Murong Xi and Chu Xia present in the court, the newspapers would clearly not be enough if distributed to them. However, both of them were focused on the newspaper distributors, so when the distributors reached them, they hesitated to move forward.
To give or not to give, that is the question.
Zhu Xinning and Emperor An had obviously noticed it as well, and it was Emperor An who spoke first to defuse the situation: "It seems that the Empress is also very interested in our Da'an Daily?"
Murong Xi didn't hide anything, nodding with a smile: "Your Majesty, when I was in Liangzhou, I heard President Jing talk about the Da'an Newspaper and its publications, and I've always admired it..."
"Oh, so the Empress knows President Jing. Then she definitely deserves a copy of this newspaper!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Then I will not stand on ceremony."
Murong Xi accepted the offer without hesitation and handed it to Chu Xia.
At this moment, Emperor An said again, "The number of newspapers is fixed. In that case, there's no need to give Mo Chen her newspaper yet. I'll send someone to pick up a copy after court. As for the second one, why don't we give mine to the Empress?"
After thinking for a moment, Emperor Andi decided to take out his own newspaper.
"Your Majesty, you mustn't!"
Yu Sheng quickly stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, you mustn't!"
The other ministers immediately bowed their heads in agreement. If they asked Emperor An to give up his newspaper when all the other ministers had theirs, wouldn't that be a slap in their face if word got out?
Besides, no one would dare to do that.
However, everyone has been waiting for so long, eagerly anticipating the chance to read the newspaper, so handing over their own copy now feels a little reluctant.
So although everyone said "Your Majesty, you must not," they all lowered their heads and no one gave up voluntarily.
Emperor An chuckled upon seeing this.
So he waved his hand and said with a smile, "My dear ministers, there's no need to worry about it. I'll stop looking for now!"
"No, Your Majesty cannot fail to see this!"
Yu Sheng stepped forward again. The other ministers looked over and thought that Duke Yu was really prepared to offer up his newspaper this time. However, he couldn't read, so it would be better for him to go back and listen to storytelling.
But then Yu Sheng came to Bai Qingyuan's side and, without warning, snatched the newspaper from his hand.
"Grand Tutor Bai can read it later, it won't be too late. Can you really stop His Majesty from reading the newspaper?"
He then handed it over to Emperor An.
"this…"
Emperor An glanced at the two of them, then accepted the gift: "In that case, I thank you—"
"Your Majesty, this is what I should do. Your Majesty need not be so polite!"
Yu Sheng said with a smile, his face full of righteous indignation.
Bai Qingyuan: "..."
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