The old minister, his face filled with grief and indignation, bowed to the emperor: "Your Majesty..."
The emperor gestured and said, "Minister Zhang, there's no need for further words. I already know what you want to say." He then forced a smile and said to Du Lin, "Thank you, Prince Du Lin, for bringing so many gifts. I have also ordered many gifts to be prepared for your dynasty. When you leave, please give them to your emperor and convey my regards to him."
Dulin smiled and said, "Your Majesty is too kind. I hope our two countries can continue to have such a good relationship!"
The Emperor said, "By the way, I was planning to invite the princes to a banquet in my palace after court. What do you think?"
Du Lin: "Your Majesty's kind offer is certainly worthy of my respect!"
But while the emperor was patient, not all of the old ministers who had followed the late emperor were so patient. Another old minister stepped forward and said, "May I ask Prince Dulin, you just mentioned that an envoy visited a few years ago. Was that the one who visited, Maha?" This old minister had also been in court back then.
Dulin: "If I remember correctly, it was he who led the delegation back then."
The old minister then asked anxiously, "I wonder if Your Highness could summon him to my Eastern Chu Kingdom again? Or perhaps send a message to your country to ask this Mahodra a few questions?"
While the ministers were discussing amongst themselves, the emperor, seated on his throne, had already been stealing glances at Yang Jie several times. He naturally remembered that it had only been three or four years since the envoy from Xiwan Kingdom visited when the late emperor was alive, and Yang Jie was the one who received the envoy, Mohede.
The medicinal herb, Purple Jade Fragrance, which can be described as a divine medicine, was not presented by Mahode. There are only two possibilities: either he embezzled it himself, or Yang Jie, the person who received the envoy, embezzled it. Mahode probably took a bribe, so he did not mention this divine medicine to the late emperor.
Regardless of who embezzled it, the fact that the toxic symptoms of the medicine appeared before the late emperor's death suggests that the miraculous medicine was not brought back to Xiwan Kingdom by Mahode. Furthermore, very few people in Dongchu Kingdom knew about this miraculous medicine and its value, and it was generally difficult for buyers to obtain a high price. Therefore, Mahode would not have sold it to others casually.
Looking at Yang Jie's forced composure, yet sweat beading on his forehead, Emperor Sima Xiu had already come to a conclusion: Ah, he had actually wanted to remove Yang Jie from his post for a long time, but was held back by the Empress Dowager's reputation; now look what's happened…
He was secretly clenching his teeth until they ached.
Meanwhile, as dawn was approaching, most of the guests at Cuihonglou had already left, with only one distinguished guest remaining in Chu Nian's room.
Zoya, disguised as a man, arrived an hour ago. She walked around the room, stopping and starting, making Zhao Feiyan dizzy. Helplessly, she said, "Little princess, can you please be quiet for a while?"
Zoya said, "How can I stay quiet? The one who is going up against Yang Jie in the court right now is my elder brother, not yours. Let me tell you, if this plan fails and Yang Jie retaliates, I will drag you all down with me."
Meanwhile, Chu Nian had already brewed the tea and said, "The tea is ready, would you like some?"
Zoya: "You still have the mind to drink tea?"
Chu Nian: "I told you, this plan will not have any problems."
Zoya: "How can you be so sure? Don't you know how quickly things can change in the imperial court!"
Chu Nian: "No matter how things change, their essence remains the same!"
Zoya was speechless for a moment.
Zhao Feiyan giggled twice, walked over and sat down, saying, "Sister, I'll have a drink."
As Chu Nian poured her some tea, she asked curiously, "By the way, how did you feel about meeting Ma Yue this time?"
“Ma Yue?” Zhao Feiyan was taken aback. “You mean the emperor? Why are you bringing him up? When I met him, besides being a little shocked that he was actually the emperor, what else could I feel?”
Chu Nian looked at her with some puzzlement: "I remember you paid a lot of attention to Young Master Ma during that auction of the Cliffside Chrysanthemum."
Zhao Feiyan: "At that time, I felt that he had an air of refinement about him, and he didn't seem like the kind of person who would frequent brothels. So, I thought he was coming for us, and I was worried that he had bad intentions. Isn't it normal to keep an eye on him?!"
Chu Nian was even more puzzled: At this point, why doesn't the female lead have any feelings for the male lead at all?
While in the hunting grounds, Chu Nian noticed that the emperor had been stealing glances at Zhao Feiyan several times, suggesting that he had feelings for her.
The female lead's romantic progress is a bit too slow right now. Does she really need the male lead to actively and relentlessly pursue her before she'll even notice? Chu Nian pondered to herself, tapping her fingers lightly on the table.
Zoya asked, "Isn't your emperor named Sima Xiu? Who is this Ma Yue, the young master you're talking about?"
Chu Nian smiled faintly and remained silent.
Zhao Feiyan remained calm and composed, turning her head away to drink her tea, leaving Princess Zoya with only the back of her head visible.
Just as Zoya was about to complain about the two people's attitude, there was a soft knock on the door. Her expression changed, and she hurriedly went to open the door.
The one who arrived was her trusted bodyguard, Tianxuan.
"How is it?" Zoya asked anxiously.
Tianxuan smiled and said, "Princess, rest assured, everything is proceeding according to plan. The prince has been kept in the palace by the emperor of Dongchu for a family banquet and cannot leave for the time being. He publicly dispatched two important private guards, Feng and Lei, back to Xiwan to find Mohede in court. After the court session, Yang Jie immediately led several trusted men on horseback to the east gate."
Zoya: "My older brother was kept at the banquet? Then, who will keep an eye on Yang Jie?"
Tianxuan chuckled and said, "Princess, this matter concerns the cause of death of the Emperor of Dongchu's father, so the Emperor naturally sent people to keep a close eye on Yang Jie a long time ago."
Zoya: "Then why did the Emperor insist on keeping us at the banquet? It feels like he's detaining my older brother."
Chu Nian said, "You don't need to worry about this. It's probably because the emperor has some private questions he wants to ask Prince Dulin, which are inconvenient to discuss in court."
Zoya: "What secret question?"
Chu Nian pondered for a moment and said, "For example, did Mahode say anything after his mission ended and he returned home? Or, for example, the late emperor did not receive the Purple Jade Fragrance. Did your emperor not know this all along? And so on. These are the kinds of questions that are not convenient to ask in front of Yang Jie."
Zhao Feiyan: "I don't understand, why do you look like Prince Dulin will be eliminated if he participates in this plan?"
Zoya: "What if the plan fails? My older brother had nothing to do with this at all."
Zhao Feiyan smiled and said, "This plan isn't about harming anyone; it's just about revealing the cause of the late emperor's death."
Chu Nian nodded and said, "Don't overcomplicate things."
Zoya: "What if the Empress Dowager intervenes?"
Chu Nian: "The Empress Dowager will not interfere. On the contrary, if she knew that the late Emperor's death was related to Yang Jie, she would definitely not tolerate Yang Jie anymore."
Zoya: "But, but I'm still worried. People from your Eastern Chu Kingdom are all so cunning..."
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