"Sister Xia, I'll leave this to you." Huichuntang's first reform was a complete success. Lin Jinghan gained confidence and took Lin Lixuan to work on selling lotus perfume.
If these things were done by the two of them alone, it would take an unknown amount of time to finish, so he assigned the work that did not require her to do personally to the four brothers of the Wu family, and finally everything was arranged before dark.
The opening of the perfume shop was proceeding smoothly, as were the peace talks.
The Nanzhao delegation made concessions during the peace talks, agreeing to cede five bordering cities to Donglin and increase the annual tribute, though the specific types and amounts were still under negotiation. Furthermore, they not only sent the Third Prince as a hostage but also agreed to allow the eldest princess, Murong Huan, to marry.
Everything seems to be moving in a good direction.
Nanzhao agreed to the marriage, and the bride was their most beloved eldest princess. This was almost equivalent to Nanzhao keeping a hostage in Donglin permanently, and the emperor was naturally happy to see it happen.
He originally planned to take Murong Huan directly into his harem, but the prince of Nanzhao insisted that Murong Huan choose her own husband, otherwise he would not let the princess marry. The emperor did not care much about this, and generously prepared a banquet for Murong Huan, promising her to choose her own husband at the banquet.
The person in charge of this banquet happened to be Imperial Concubine Lin Wanrou. Ever since she sent a palace maid to trick Murong Huan last time, she knew that Princess Nanzhao had a crush on Prince Jingnan.
"Choosing her own husband sounds really nice. I'm afraid she wants to choose Prince Jingnan, right? Regardless of whether it is or not, let's invite Prince Jingnan here first. Also, with such a grand occasion, how can I not let my sister participate?"
Lin Wanrou seemed to be talking to herself, or talking to her personal maid. She picked up a pen and added the three words "Prince Jingnan" to the list of male guests, and added "Princess Jingnan" to the list of female guests.
At the same time, in order to avoid suspicion, some other married couples and their families were written on the list, because the purpose of this palace banquet was not to select a husband for Princess Nanzhao, but to make friends with Nanzhao. Therefore, any officials and wives who could rank high were eligible to accept the invitation.
Lin Wanrou picked up the list, gently blew the ink dry, and finally stamped it with her own seal, smiling very proudly, "The show is about to begin."
Sikong Zhan was the first to know the news that Murong Huan was going to choose her own son-in-law. He looked at the two palace banquet invitations in his hand, reviewed the last document in his hand, and got up to go to Nuanfeng Courtyard.
"Nothing good will happen when there are crowds of people, not to mention Nanzhao and his group. Can I not attend this palace banquet?" Lin Jinghan casually threw the invitation on the table.
"Don't worry, I'm here." Sikong Zhan thought about it and didn't tell her the news that Murong Huan wanted to choose her own husband - Jinghan was so busy now, there was no need to take up her time and energy for irrelevant matters.
"Then Your Highness must protect me well." Lin Jinghan smiled playfully and continued to write furiously.
Sikong Zhan frowned, dissatisfied with Lin Jinghan's neglect of him, and went to her desk to see what she was writing.
"I'm busy, don't disturb me." Lin Jinghan didn't even raise her head and directly asked the person to leave.
Sikong Zhan was unhappy and snatched Lin Jinghan's pen directly. "You have to practice martial arts and run business every day now. You are so busy that you don't even have time to look at me."
Lin Jinghan got angry and stood up to grab her pen. "Give it back to me and don't waste my time. Didn't I share my earnings with you?"
Sikong Zhan deliberately raised the pen high, just out of Lin Jinghan's reach. "This prince is not short of money, and I will not let this prince's princess be short of money. If I had known that your business would consume so much of your energy, I should not have agreed to let you go out to do business."
"I do whatever I want to do, why do you care?" Lin Jinghan stood on tiptoe to grab the pen angrily.
Sikong Zhan deliberately turned his face to the side suddenly, and due to inertia, Lin Jinghan was caught off guard and directly put her forehead to his lips.
At that moment, her hand froze in mid-air, and an electric current spread from her forehead throughout her body.
The evil plan succeeded, Sikong Zhan's eyebrows were full of smiles, he put the pen in his hand into Lin Jinghan's hand, took the opportunity to hug her into his arms, kissed the Yanhong he had been thinking about day and night, and let her go after a long time, staring at her with burning eyes,
"Remember, you are my princess, and you are not allowed to refer to yourself as 'this lady' to others."
His voice was low and hoarse. She quickly pushed him away, not knowing where to look. Suddenly, she saw the unfinished book on her desk. She pretended to be calm and sat back down.
"Your Highness, you, you're disturbing me. If this booklet isn't finished, it will delay the opening of the perfume shop."
As she spoke, she picked up the pen and continued writing. As for whether she had made any mistakes, she herself didn't know...
Sikong Zhan successfully stole the fragrance. Seeing the red ears of his little princess, he was very satisfied. He stopped disturbing her and took the book and sat next to her to read carefully.
After two days of intensive preparations, the palace banquet finally kicked off on the third day.
As the person in charge, Imperial Concubine Lin Wanrou dressed up and set off on time when the morning court was dismissed. She went to the Imperial Garden where the banquet was held and busily directed the palace servants.
As the Son of Heaven, the Emperor was naturally the last to arrive. Seeing Lin Wanrou so busy, he extended his hand to her and said, "Wanrou, thank you for your hard work."
"Wanrou is very happy to be able to share the emperor's worries." Lin Wanrou was graceful. After bowing, she placed her hand in the emperor's palm. The two walked to the main seat hand in hand.
After the king and his ministers exchanged greetings, the warriors of the two countries began to compete according to the predetermined procedure.
Lin Jinghan had no interest in the palace banquet at all. She had been sitting next to Sikong Zhan, writing and drawing. Only the martial arts competition on the field allowed her to put down her pen temporarily, carefully observe the moves of those people, and ask Sikong Zhan for advice from time to time.
Since the purpose was to find a husband for Murong Huan, the main venue was naturally the young talents. One after another, young talents competed in literature or martial arts, showing the charm of the young talents of Donglin Kingdom to Nanzhao Kingdom.
Lin Jinghan sensed something was wrong and nudged Sikong Zhan's arm. "That's not right. It's just a palace banquet, why are these people working so hard? Don't tell me they're trying to show off the country's strength. I've never seen them so devoted to their country before."
Since Lin Jinghan discovered the clues herself, there was no need for him to hide it from her. Now was the perfect time, neither too early nor too late, to tell her. Sikong Zhan peeled a grape and fed it to Lin Jinghan's mouth.
"Murong Huan has agreed to the marriage, so they should all be trying their best to perform, hoping to be chosen by Princess Nanzhao."
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