The city commander could say he didn't know the regent and queen of Great Chu, but Empress Dowager Wu couldn't say that to deny Xiao Yanchu and Su Ruojin's identities, since Great Chu had reported this matter to other countries.
Moreover, there were already portraits of Xiao Yanchu and Su Ruojin in the palace.
Empress Dowager Wu had no choice but to immediately arrange for the Ministry of Rites to prepare the welcoming ceremony.
After Xiao Yanchu and Su Ruojin arrived at the palace and went through a symbolic greeting ceremony, they arrived at the banquet arranged by Empress Dowager Wu.
The civil and military officials in the palace also received the news and rushed to the banquet immediately.
Ji Yanzhuo was still young, so Empress Dowager Wu and Gao Hongyuan were the main people who received Xiaoyue.
At the banquet, Wu Taitai picked up her wine glass and looked at Xiao Yanchu and Su Ruojin, as if she were seeing them for the first time, and greeted them with a smile.
"Your Highness and Your Highness, is there some urgent matter that brings you to Xiaoyue so suddenly without any prior notice? I would have sent someone to fetch you both and make proper preparations. This banquet is far too rushed. I hope Your Highness and Your Highness will not mind."
These words were a veiled accusation that Xiao Yanchu and Su Ruojin had come to Xiaoyue in private without prior notice.
Xiao Yanchu raised his wine glass, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"Empress Dowager Wu, my wife and I are merely visiting Xiaoyue to see the princess's master. We have nothing to do with state affairs, so we dare not trouble you with such matters."
Private trips don't need to be reported; it's just acting, anyone can do that.
"Oh, may I ask who the Princess's master is?" Gao Hongyuan asked.
The city magistrate had already told Gao Hongyuan about his encounter with Xiao Yanchu and Su Ruojin at Cangming Mountain.
Gao Hongyuan felt a little uneasy. He used the array to see that the person was on Cangming Mountain, and Xiao Yanchu and Su Ruojin just happened to be on Cangming Mountain. Could there be such a coincidence in this world?
Su Ruojin is clearly the princess of Da Chu, so why is her master in Xiaoyue?
Could it be what I'm thinking?
However, Gao Hongyuan quickly denied this, stating that Su Ruojin and Fu Linglong could not possibly know each other.
He had checked and found out that this was Su Ruojin's first time visiting Xiaoyue, and Fu Linglong had never been to Da Chu either.
Su Ruojin glanced at Gao Hongyuan and smiled, "My master has long since retired to the mountains and forests and has not been active in the world for a long time. She also does not want others to disturb her cultivation. Please forgive me, Grand Preceptor, for not revealing my master's name."
She didn't want Gao Hongyuan to cause trouble for her master. Although she wasn't afraid, she figured that the less trouble her master would cause, the better.
"Oh, by the way, Grand Preceptor, when we came down the mountain, we saw the city guards searching for someone in Cangming Mountain. My master is cultivating in seclusion in the mountains. I hope that the Grand Preceptor will withdraw the city guards so as not to affect my master's cultivation. I can also tell you clearly that the person you are looking for is no longer on the mountain."
Upon hearing Su Ruojin's words, Gao Hongyuan and Empress Dowager Wu's expressions changed slightly.
Su Ruojin's words were clearly telling them that she knew who they were looking for!
She not only knew, but she even knew where the person they were looking for was!
The matter of the Second Prince Xiaoyue was a secret, so how could she, the Regent Princess of Da Chu, know about it?
If this matter involves the Great Chu, it won't be so simple.
No, impossible. How could that little bastard be related to the princes and princesses of the Great Chu? It must be a coincidence.
Thinking of this, Gao Hongyuan laughed and said, "Your Highness is joking. We are not targeting your teacher. It's just that there is a spy in Xiaoyue recently. We received intelligence that the spy is hiding in Cangming Mountain, so we sent the city guards up the mountain to search for him."
"Grand Preceptor, you may still not understand what I'm saying. I'll say it again: the person you're looking for isn't on the mountain. I request that you recall the city's garrison." Su Ruojin's smile remained unchanged, but her tone carried a hint of warning.
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