Chapter 242 Princess Qi Visits
Zhu Qingyan did not sleep well that night and hardly fell asleep. His brain seemed to be out of his control and kept repeating various details of the policy papers.
Zhu Qingyan knew that even if he couldn't sleep, it was necessary to close his eyes and rest.
The night passed like this. At daybreak, Zhu Qingyan sat up and began to wash and pack. The carriage to take her and Zhu Lan to the palace was already waiting outside the inn.
Zhu Qingyan got up earlier than Zhu Lan. After packing up, he went to knock on Zhu Lan's door. The two planned to go together.
Zhu Lan was fixing her hair.
At this time, there was another knock on the door, and Zhu Qingyan got up to open it. Zhu Lan thought it was Xiao Wan and Qiao Youyou, but when he turned around, he saw a strange woman standing outside the door.
Zhu Qingyan looked the other person up and down and saw that she was wearing exquisite makeup and good clothes, and was definitely not an ordinary woman. Zhu Qingyan felt vaguely that the woman in front of him looked familiar, but after searching his memory, he was sure that he had never seen her before.
The woman was followed by a maid, who stepped forward and said to the room:
"Princess Qi has arrived. Why don't you pay your respects to her?"
Zhu Qingyan was startled when he heard this, and Zhu Lan had already stood up.
"Step back." Murong Lin glanced at the maid with a slightly reproachful look, and the maid quickly lowered her head and stepped aside.
"Excuse me, are you Miss Zhu Lan and Miss Zhu Qingyan?"
Zhu Qingyan nodded.
Murong Lian smiled at her with a very friendly smile, and then warmly took Zhu Qingyan's hand.
"This must be Qingyan, right? My sister often mentions you in her letters. You are indeed a man of extraordinary talent and good looks."
Zhu Qingyan finally realized, "You are Ah Jing... Princess Ning Yue's sister?"
Murong Lian nodded slightly to her, and Zhu Qingyan suddenly felt a sense of closeness in her heart.
Zhu Lan also came over to greet her, "Student Zhu Lan, greetings to Her Majesty Princess Qi."
"Zhu Huiyuan's name is now resounding throughout the capital. He is truly a role model for women like us. Even I admire him greatly."
"Your Highness, thank you for your praise. Please take a seat."
Zhu Lan asked Murong Lian to sit down and made her a cup of tea, while secretly wondering what her purpose was in coming here.
He and Zhu Qingyan had offended the King of Zhenbei. Murong Lian, as the eldest daughter of the King of Zhenbei, suddenly appeared here at this time, which might not be a good thing.
Be sure to be extremely vigilant.
At this time, there was less than half an hour left before the scheduled departure time, so there was still room for conversation. Zhu Lan and Zhu Qingyan stood aside with their heads bowed, waiting for Murong Lan to speak.
"I heard about what happened to you two in the Northern Frontier." Murong Lan looked at the two with a smile, his eyes full of kindness. He seemed to have considered it for a moment before continuing, "The King of Zhenbei is my father. He had previously written a letter to the court to impeach you two. I also know about this."
Zhu Lan did not expect that Murong Lian would actually bring up this matter on her own initiative. It was so straightforward that Zhu Lan was a little surprised and waited for her next words more cautiously.
"I know that there are some misunderstandings between my father and you two. Perhaps you two are dissatisfied and find it difficult to trust me." Murong Lian paused, slowly raised his hand and picked up the teacup on the table.
"Today, I am offering tea instead of wine to apologize to you on behalf of my father for the impeachment mentioned above."
After saying that, he drank the tea in the cup.
Zhu Lan and the other person looked at each other and said quickly, "Princess, you are too polite."
Zhu Lan pretended to be terrified, but he felt more and more puzzled in his heart.
The Princess Qi was so open and even condescended to apologize to the two of them. What on earth was she trying to do?
"You two are smart people, so I won't beat around the bush." Murong Lan put down the teacup and asked the two of them to sit down.
"I hope His Royal Highness appreciates your talents. I am here today on His Royal Highness' behalf, hoping to make friends with the two girls."
After saying this, Murong Lian called the maid outside the door and placed the two bundles on the table.
Zhu Lan thought, it couldn't be that he was here to give money to himself and Zhu Qingyan, right?
Zhu Lan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw there were only two sets of clothes in the bundle.
"I have asked His Highness, and among the ten candidates who won the first place in the palace examination today, only the two of you are women. You will be meeting the emperor today, so you must not be careless about your attire."
Murong Lian ordered the maid to unfold the two sets of clothes. They were two sets of sky-blue scholar's uniforms. There were no extra patterns, but they were very textured.
"This style was carefully modified by me. Although it is a men's style, it has been re-cut according to the female body shape and is very suitable for wearing. The patterns and embroidery on the clothes are in line with the palace style. When you two wear them into the palace, you can show your feminine style without being too fancy. Most importantly, you will appear to know the rules."
Zhu Qingyan had an inexplicable liking for Murong Lan. He had indeed been struggling for a long time last night about what to wear when entering the palace today. After thinking it over, he finally decided to still wear the slightly worn scholar's uniform that he had worn during the palace examination.
The set Murong Lian sent was obviously much more suitable than hers.
"Thank you, my lady."
Zhu Qingyan took the clothes with some gratitude. Zhu Lan beside him seemed to hesitate for a moment before taking the clothes and thanking him.
Zhu Lan was just a step late in getting his clothes, and Murong Lin noticed it.
"Don't worry, I won't harm you."
She stood up and walked out. When she reached the door, Murong Lin turned around and smiled at the two of them, "After the grand ceremony of announcing the names of the successful candidates, I and His Royal Highness Prince Qi will hold a banquet at your residence. I look forward to seeing you again."
After Murong Lian left, Zhu Qingyan looked at Zhu Lan, hesitating whether to change into this outfit.
Zhu Lan was also a little troubled.
If he doesn't wear it, it would be a clear sign of not giving face to Prince Qi, but now is definitely not the time to make enemies.
But if she put it on, who could guarantee that what Princess Qi said just now was really from the heart? She was the daughter of the King of Zhenbei. If the King of Zhenbei instructed her to do something with her clothes and made the two of them look bad in front of the emperor, wouldn't that be too unfair?
At this moment, the door was knocked again. Zhu Lan thought that Murong Lan had returned, but when he opened the door, it turned out to be Qin Yuwei wearing a bamboo hat.
Qin Yuwei walked into the room, closed the door, and then took off her bamboo hat. "Lanlan, I heard that you two were going to meet the emperor today. I was afraid that you would not have enough time to prepare, so I asked someone to make two sets of clothes overnight--"
Qin Yuwei stopped talking in the middle of her words, her eyes falling on the two open bundles on the table.
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