On one side were silk-embroidered carriages, while on the other were iron-blooded troops just returning from the battlefield.
The leading general rode a blood-stained warhorse. His skin was rough and dark from the ravages of the frontier, and he had a thick stubble. However, his bright, star-like eyes and high-bridged nose made him stand out among the generals whose faces were covered in sand.
"It's Meng Huaiyi! Wasn't he dead?"
"Why is he back? Isn't he going to come and arrest people again? He's the one who ransacked Lord Sun's house in the West City. The whole family was beheaded, the youngest child was only five years old, what a tragedy!"
The infamous leader of the Black-Clad Guards, a menacing figure, caused the crowds watching the princess's carriage to retreat considerably.
Some busybodies even deliberately looked at both sides: they didn't even give face to the "lackey" prince, but they wondered if they would give face to the princess.
Hearing the people's discussion, the deputy general beside Meng Huaiyi was furious: "They're cursing us now, but once they find out what we've done, they'll all be heroes!"
Their leader killed the barbarian chieftain Totobuqa on the battlefield!
The defeat at the border a few years ago shattered the morale of the Southern Dynasty generals. In recent years, the border has repeatedly provoked them, but the Southern Dynasty either dared not fight back or sent a general and suffered a defeat every time.
Bai Qing sent Meng Huaiyi, a fourth-rank military officer of the Black-Clad Guard, to the border, giving him money and food.
Meng Huaiyi lived up to His Majesty's expectations, training an elite force in just a few months. He even led a team in a night raid on the tribe of the Fourth Prince of the Barbarians, Totobuhua, achieving a great victory and taking Totobuhua's head.
Totobuhua was a notorious barbarian general who plundered the people on the border and enjoyed eating human organs. He once boasted that if he ever conquered the Central Plains, he would take the heart and liver of the emperor in the capital and soak them in wine. The people of the Southern Dynasty wished they could eat him alive!
Now, with his head in hand, we're returning to the capital in triumph, ready to reward our merits and see who dares to look down on the Black-Clad Guards!
Bai Qing gave his daughter special face and summoned his chief steward to attend to her.
Upon seeing this, the chief steward took his whisk and went up to him, saying, "Lord Meng, it's been a long time."
They were all acquaintances of the Emperor. Meng Huaiyi cupped his hands in greeting, and the chief steward continued, "Today is the Princess's housewarming, and I have been ordered to lead the Princess's entourage. The Princess's palanquin is not easy to move; just the canopy bed bestowed by His Majesty alone requires more than ten craftsmen to carry it..."
Meng Huaiyi naturally understood his meaning. He pulled on the reins and ordered his subordinates, "Let the princess go first."
His horse moved aside, and the others behind him naturally moved away as well.
Upon learning that it was the princess traveling in a palanquin, Meng Huaiyi's deputy was somewhat displeased: "The princess is just moving house, while we have returned victorious from a battle... We should have known better than to rush to report the good news to His Majesty. We should have packed up first and sent the messenger back."
Meng Huaiyi pulled on the reins without saying anything.
The lieutenant started gossiping again, "Princess Tianfu? General, do you still remember Liu Jin'an?"
Meng Huaiyi had dealt with people from the Ministry of Revenue.
"He is Princess Tianfu's lover."
The deputy general said, "I don't know what the princess sees in him. He's neither good at literature nor martial arts, and asking the Ministry of Revenue for a little money is like asking for his life."
While Meng Huaiyi and others were fighting in the capital, the news had already been distorted by the time it reached the border regions. Princess Tianfu was a beautiful and affectionate princess, while Liu Jin'an was a handsome scholar. In order to continue their illicit affair, the two conspired to murder the princess's husband and in-laws.
"His Majesty dotes on this princess now. Look, even the Grand Eunuch is following her." The lieutenant stroked his chin. "General, if you shaved your beard, you'd be a handsome young man, wouldn't you? Much better than Liu Jin'an?"
"Back then, the eldest princess even made a fuss about wanting to marry you. What if this Princess Tianfu took a liking to you—"
"If you spout any more nonsense, you'll be sent to the military camp to brush the horses tonight," Meng Huaiyi said coldly, and the deputy general stopped talking.
After a while, their gazes turned to the princess's palanquin. Everyone said the princess was beautiful, and they wondered if they could see her today.
Meng Huaiyi, however, was not interested. He needed to enter the palace to meet His Majesty today and just wanted to get out of the traffic jam as quickly as possible.
The princess's palanquin was lifted again, and Meng Huaiyi's horse, with its reins pulled tightly, bucked unhappily.
Meng Huaiyi stroked its mane soothingly, and just as he looked up, the princess's palanquin arrived right in front of him.
A pair of slender white hands gently lifted the curtains outside the sedan chair.
She rode in a high sedan chair carried by thirty-six men, and although he rode a horse, he was still a little shorter than her.
The Imperial Astronomical Bureau had calculated the relocation date, and the sunlight on that day was perfect, shining through the golden curtain onto the princess.
The princess had long, jet-black hair tied in a bun. Despite her seemingly gentle and quiet appearance, a few strands of hair lazily draped over her fair neck.
Her features were like a painting, and the pale sunlight shone on her face, making her as beautiful as spring blossoms, captivating all who looked at her.
She glanced at him indifferently, but Meng Huaiyi tightened his grip on the reins.
Sure enough, their eyes met the next moment.
The princess looked down at him from her palanquin, her beautiful eyes gleaming with a heart-stirring light. Her red lips slowly curved into a smile, her gaze still fixed on him.
Meng Huaiyi was also watching her until the sedan chair continued forward, at which point she loosened the gauze curtain in her hand.
The surrounding people were also stunned.
"She really is a princess, she is so beautiful!"
"Mother, I just saw the princess! The princess is so beautiful!"
"Princesses ride in grand sedan chairs, so beautiful and majestic! I want to ride in one too!"
"Father, Father, I want to marry the princess!"
"You brat, get out of here! You want to be dismembered like the former prince consort?"
After Princess Tianfu's palanquin departed, the crowd gradually dispersed. Meng Huaiyi looked back at the ceremonial guard for a long time, then turned back and tightened his grip on the reins: "Giddy up!"
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