317, invitation
317, invitation
Wait until Lu Mingfei sat down.
The Princess of Zhennan, seated at the top, looked at the young official in a red robe. Putting aside their respective positions, this handsome and talented young man was a very appealing person.
However, even if there was a problem with their stance, Princess Zhennan did not dislike the young man in front of her.
"I wonder what hobbies Lord Lu has?"
"Princess, I have no other hobbies except reading." Lu Mingfei didn't know why the princess suddenly asked about his life and hobbies. He immediately became alert and chose the most conventional answer to answer.
"Reading is good. No wonder Lord Lu was able to win the top three places in the imperial examinations. It turns out that he likes reading." Princess Zhennan also took the opportunity to praise him.
Lu Mingfei wasn't surprised that Princess Zhennan knew his background. He didn't take such compliments personally, thinking they were just casual compliments.
Without waiting for Lu Mingfei to speak, Princess Zhennan continued, "Lord Lu has arrived at the perfect time. March is the season of spring, when flowers are in full bloom."
"I will hold a flower-viewing banquet at my house in two days. Lord Lu, please bring the Fifth Princess with you to attend." She brought the Fifth Princess with her because she was afraid that Lord Lu would not come if she invited him alone.
"Yes." Lu Mingfei stood up and bowed in response.
He just thought that Princess Zhennan wanted to meet the Fifth Princess.
Afterwards, Princess Zhennan asked some more questions about the Fifth Princess, as well as some topics about their journey and the capital of Kyoto. He only answered the questions he could and glossed over the ones that were difficult to answer.
After sitting here for a while, Lu Mingfei stood up and said goodbye. "It's getting late today, so I'll take my leave first. I'll bring the Fifth Princess to visit you another day."
"Okay." Princess Zhennan waved her hand.
The maid beside her brought over an invitation.
Lu Mingfei took the invitation, bowed to the Princess of Zhennan who was sitting upstairs, and followed the maid who led the way out.
After Lu Mingfei left, Princess Zhennan dismissed the servants around her, looked behind the screen and said, "Come out."
"Mother." Qi Jun walked out from behind the screen and bowed to his mother who was sitting there.
"Come and sit here with mother. There's no need for these empty formalities between mother and son." Princess Zhennan gestured to her legitimate son to come and sit across from her.
Qi Jun didn't bother to be formal with his mother and sat down in the seat closest to her.
The relationship between mother and son did not change at all because he had been away from home for many years. Therefore, after he returned home, the relationship between mother and son remained the same as before.
This was her own son. Princess Zhennan spoke to him without hiding anything. "This Lord Lu is a talented person."
"Find opportunities to interact with him more often, and it would be best if we could use him for our own benefit."
"I know," Qi Jun replied.
"As for the fifth princess, you can marry her if you want, and forget it if you don't want to. Now our Zhennan Palace doesn't need you to marry a princess to reduce the fear of the court and Emperor Zhao towards us." In fact, according to the current thinking of the Princess of Zhennan, she doesn't want her legitimate son to marry the daughter of the Zhao family as his principal wife.
Now that the Zhennan Palace had separated from the imperial court and established itself as a nation, it was tantamount to standing in opposition to the imperial court. Once the imperial court sent troops to attack them, the two sides would come to blows and all their dignity would be torn apart.
Letting her legitimate son marry the daughter of the Zhao family is equivalent to having the daughter of her enemy by her side. This is an unstable factor for both their Zhennan Palace and her legitimate son.
Therefore, whether from the perspective of the Zhennan Palace or as a mother, the Princess of Zhennan does not want her legitimate son to marry the daughter of the Zhao family.
However, she still wanted to ask her son what he thought about this matter. "What do you think about this?"
Hearing this, Qi Jun did not answer the question immediately. He felt a little conflicted. If he had agreed to marry the fifth princess, it was because of his family.
But later...didn't he have any dislike for that lively and lovely girl?
Qi Jun could deceive others, but not himself. He recalled seeing the Fifth Princess sitting in a carriage at the city gate today.
...The joy on her face seemed to have disappeared. Could it be that she didn't want to marry me?
As a mother, Princess Zhennan immediately saw her son's hesitation and asked pointedly, "Do you like her?"
"...I don't know." Qi Jun shook his head slightly and replied.
Princess Zhennan looked at her son steadily and said, "In that case, there is no need to rush into marrying a wife. You should first carefully examine your heart."
"If you really like the Fifth Princess, Mother won't stop you from marrying her. If you don't like her, just make her your concubine."
"Our Zhennan Palace is so big, we can just find a courtyard and put her in there. As for your wife, I will help you find a suitable girl."
"In two days, my mother will hold a flower viewing banquet and will invite all the girls of marriageable age in Yunzhou City. Remember to come and participate. You might meet a girl you like."
“...Yes.” Qi Jun remembered that the fifth princess would come, so he responded.
After that, the mother and son talked for a while.
When his father came back from outside, Qi Jun greeted his father and left his mother's yard.
When they came out and saw the guards waiting outside, Qi Jun casually asked, "Where is Lu Mingfei?"
"Your Highness, after leaving the palace, Lord Lu went to the largest restaurant in Yunzhou City for dinner," the guard replied.
"He's alone?"
"Yes, I didn't see him taking the fifth princess with him."
"Let's go and take a look." After Qi Jun said this, he took the guards out of the palace and went out in a carriage.
***
The sun has set in the west, the last bit of cloud in the sky is disappearing, and the sky is getting darker.
At this time, Lu Mingfei was sitting in the largest restaurant in Yunzhou City drinking.
There were several dishes on the table, and in front of him was a wine glass and a pot of wine. He sat there alone, drinking and eating.
However, he didn't touch the food on the table much, he only drank one glass of wine and held another glass in his hand.
It is really comfortable to watch the streets with fewer pedestrians and vehicles, watch the sunset gradually fade away in the sky, and enjoy the spring breeze of Yunzhou City.
If he hadn't come to Yunzhou City on a mission this time, he would have had a good time here, taking in the scenery of Nanjun and appreciating the local customs and food culture.
It's a pity that he was shouldering the heavy responsibility entrusted by the emperor, and he also brought five princesses here to marry, so he couldn't relax even if he wanted to.
Today was his first day in Yunzhou City, but he did not see the person he wanted to see the most, the Prince of Zhennan. He did not know whether the other party was really busy or deliberately avoiding him.
He thought the latter was more likely.
But no matter how difficult it was to see him, he had to find a way to meet the Prince of Zhennan and complete the task assigned to him by the emperor. As for what the Prince of Zhennan thought and how he would respond, that was not something he could control.
As an official of Dayan, he naturally hoped that the world would be peaceful and that the princes in various places would submit to the court again.
However, Lu Mingfei also knew that this possibility was not very high.
These princes were not stupid either. They all knew that the imperial court was definitely pretending to negotiate peace this time and would find an opportunity to deal with them in the future.
So he felt that whether it was his trip south or other envoys' trips to other vassal kings, the results should be similar.
Even if a vassal king agreed to submit to the imperial court again, it would definitely be a delaying tactic.
What the princes in various places are waiting for now is whether the imperial court will take action against them first, or they will unite and take action against the imperial court.
On Zhao Lang's side, he hoped that the princes from all over the country would attack the imperial court, so that Prince Ding would have a reason to start a rebellion.
Regarding the reason why there has been no movement from Prince Ding.
Lu Mingfei thought about it and felt that the reason why Prince Ding had not yet announced his independence was probably not only because he was currently at war with the Hu people in the north, but also because Prince Ding needed a more appropriate time.
Because once Prince Ding declares himself king, the imperial court will likely concentrate its forces to attack him. Then Prince Ding will be caught in the middle, attacked from both sides, and his chances of winning will be slim.
As for the imperial court, as long as they captured Prince Ding and the Zhenbei Army, they would be able to intimidate the other vassal kings, which was killing two birds with one stone.
The imperial court is now hesitant to take action against Prince Zhennan and other vassal kings, in fact, it is also worried that these vassal kings will unite to deal with the imperial court.
Just as he was lost in thought, he heard footsteps approaching. Lu Mingfei turned his head to look at the source of the sound and saw Prince Qi standing there with his men.
"What is Lord Lu thinking about? Why is he so absorbed in it?" Without waiting for Lu Mingfei's invitation, Qi Jun walked to the table where Lu Mingfei was and sat down opposite Lu Mingfei.
Lu Mingfei waved to the waiter standing not far away, and asked him to come over to remove the dishes on the table and replace them with new dishes.
When the waiter of the restaurant saw that their prince came to their restaurant to eat, he did not dare to neglect him. He changed the dishes on the guest's table as quickly as possible and brought up a pot of better wine.
Lu Mingfei didn't ask his second brother to replace the pot of wine he had just held. The cup still contained the wine he had just held. He held the wine glass and invited Prince Qi, "Prince, please."
Qi Jun picked up his wine glass, gestured to Lu Mingfei, raised his head and drank a glass of wine. He said to Lu Mingfei, who also drank the wine in the glass, "I have been in Kyoto Prefecture for so many years, but I have never had the opportunity to drink with Lord Lu."
"This time, no matter what, I will have a drink with Master Lu."
"I thought that the prince wouldn't want to drink with me." Lu Mingfei looked at Prince Qi who suddenly changed his attitude towards him. After thinking about it for a while, he began to understand why Prince Qi suddenly changed his attitude towards him.
The servant on the side came over and poured wine for their prince and Lord Lu, then stepped aside.
Qi Jun turned the wine glass in his hand, looked at Lu Mingfei opposite him, and asked, "What do you mean?" Author's words: Thank you Bole 9492239 (9492239) for your support, mua! To know more exciting content, please leave me a message on Liancheng Reading
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