The noblewoman was humiliated, her face flushed red, looking as if she wanted to die of shame and indignation. Song Yaozhu felt that the girl's drooping head was frantically searching for a crack in the ground to disappear into.
“Miss Yan is both beautiful and talented. If we were to send her, it would be like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. My third sister was raised in the countryside since she was a child and has only learned a little bit of the trade in the last two years. But compared to Princess Tuoba, she is enough. After all, our Great Chen has a long history, and even some of our knowledge is something that many vassal states cannot match.”
Provoked by Song Wenyue's taunts, Tuoba Hongyun immediately stood up and said sternly, "It seems that Consort Shu looks down on our Beiqing! Every woman in Beiqing can ride a horse and wield a sword, what can the women of your Great Chen do! Win a man's heart!"
The expressions of all the women present turned cold, and Song Wenyue's lips twitched, unable to utter a word.
Song Yaozhu chimed in, "Indeed, the women of Da Chen are no match for those of Bei Qing. I've heard that even if a woman of Bei Qing achieves great military exploits, she is still just a plaything of the Bei Qing royal family. The once renowned General Jin Tie couldn't bear being stripped naked and humiliated in the main hall, so she committed suicide by hitting her head against a pillar. Compared to those who achieve great military exploits but still fail to gain the monarch's appreciation, at least we're alive."
Tuoba Hongyun's pupils dilated. "You're talking nonsense! General Jin Tie died suddenly because she suffered from a chronic illness due to years of leading troops!"
Song Yaozhu met Tuoba Hongyun's angry gaze without flinching.
She was furious when she heard the news. A female general with a distinguished military record returned to her country only to be ridiculed by the emperor and his ministers, instead of being honored and praised.
The emperor, fearing her military power, wanted to take her as a concubine. When she refused, he conspired with his ministers to bully and humiliate her. Unable to bear the humiliation, Jin Tie committed suicide by running into a pillar.
When the woman died, the emperor and his ministers panicked and immediately lied, saying that she had died suddenly from a pre-existing illness, and the matter was suppressed.
Back then, Yuwen Wuji wanted to use this matter to slander Beiqing, but she stopped him. She felt that since the person was already gone, why should her posthumous reputation be tarnished?
But only those who have died once can understand the pain of having their own corpse lying in the dark underground while the murderer goes unpunished.
Posthumous fame is unimportant; what matters is that the murderer must pay the price!
"You! How dare you maliciously slander my Northern Qing royal family! You have a lot of nerve!"
Song Wenyue panicked as well, and her eyes held a warning in them as she looked at Song Yaozhu, who remained motionless.
The noble ladies fell silent, thinking to themselves, "These two sisters are really good at offending people."
The younger sister teased her, and the older sister directly broke through her defenses.
They dare not say anything or look at anything now.
"Malicious slander? How could Your Highness speak of me like that? I was merely stating a fact. If stating a fact is so unbearable for Your Highness, then there's nothing I can do. After all, Your Highness's capacity for acceptance is not something I can cultivate."
Enraged, Tuoba kicked over the stool in front of him and strode toward Song Yaozhu, taking a long whip from his waist as if to lash her.
"How dare you! Princess Tuoba, this is the Great Chen Imperial Palace! How dare you act so disrespectfully in front of me!"
Tuoba Hongyun completely ignored Song Wenyue's warning. She seemed to be driven mad with anger, and with a flick of her long whip, she aimed straight at Song Yaozhu's face.
Song Yaozhu naturally wouldn't sit still and let herself be hit. She turned around and barely dodged the long whip, shouting, "Assassination attempt by Beiqing! Assassination attempt by Beiqing people!"
Her shout immediately alerted the imperial guards stationed in the Imperial Garden.
Today there is a palace banquet, and to prevent anyone from taking the opportunity to cause trouble, all areas of the inner palace open to outsiders are guarded by imperial guards. Song Yaozhu's shout immediately caused the imperial guards to draw their swords and rush into the imperial garden. The group saw Tuoba Hongyun whipping someone, and quickly subdued the person.
"How dare you! I am the princess of Northern Qing! Do you intend to start a war with Northern Qing by treating me like this?!"
"Princess, there's no need to keep bringing up war. It's quite impolite. Or is it that Beiqing's true intention is to go to war with Dachen, and the princess's trip is just to test the waters?" Song Yaozhu straightened her robes, which had become disheveled while she was dodging, and pressed for an answer.
Tuoba Hongyun choked up; naturally, she couldn't admit it.
"Nonsense! How could Beiqing possibly start a war! This princess is simply annoyed by your utter lack of hospitality!"
"The guests have already overturned the table, are we going to pretend to be rich even though we're not?" Song Yaozhu sneered. "Princess Tuoba, if you don't have the awareness of being a guest, we don't need you as a guest!"
With her hands restrained, Tuoba Hongyun had no right to refuse. She glared hatefully at Song Yaozhu, then at the group of noble ladies watching coldly behind her, and quickly calmed down.
"Release this princess!" Tuoba Hongyun shouted sternly. The Imperial Guards glanced at Song Wenyue, then at Song Yaozhu, but did not release her.
"What are you doing! Release Princess Beiqing now!" Consort Shu's rebuke came from behind them. When the imperial guards saw Consort Shu, they took away Tuoba Hongyun's whip and released her.
"What's going on? Why are you disrespecting Princess Beiqing!" Although Consort Shu's voice was fierce and reproachful, there was no panic in her eyes, as if she couldn't wait to see Song Yaozhu make a fool of herself.
"The Princess Consort of Xiaoyao made slanderous remarks against my Northern Qing royal family and the female general, which is why I lost my temper!"
Consort Shu looked at Song Yaozhu, her eyes filled with schadenfreude.
"Princess Xiaoyao, Princess Tuoba is a distinguished guest of our country. How can you neglect such a distinguished guest? Quickly apologize to your guest!"
Seeing that Consort Shu was backing her up, Princess Tuoba also said, "I want her to kneel down and apologize to me!"
Consort Shu frowned, thinking to herself that Princess Tuoba was truly brainless. Making a princess apologize to her was already giving her enough face, yet she wanted her to kneel and apologize? Did she intend to trample the dignity of the Great Chen Dynasty underfoot?
Putting aside the distant future, if she really made Song Yaozhu kneel down and apologize to her, Yuwen Wuji would curse her to death tonight, and the officials would definitely impeach her tomorrow.
She is the mother of the Fifth Prince, and she must not do anything that would damage the prestige of the Great Chen Kingdom, as that would be bad for the Fifth Prince's future.
Therefore, she straightened her expression and said, "Kneel down to apologize? That's too harsh. I wonder how the Princess Consort of Xiaoyao offended the princess?"
Tuoba Hongyun then repeated what Song Yaozhu had just said, "She insulted our Northern Qing royal family and slandered our female general. Shouldn't she apologize?"
Consort Shu was secretly shocked upon hearing this. So that's how General Jin Tie died. If General Jin Tie hadn't died, their Great Chen might not have even had a chance to catch their breath.
That was a good death, a brilliant one.
Therefore, when he looked at Tuoba Hongyun again, there was inevitably a hint of contempt in his eyes.
"He has passed away, and the princess should not tarnish General Jin Tie's reputation."
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