The banquet for meeting the Mongol officials was arranged in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Changning sighed. He had only been taking a few days off, and now he had to come out and take charge of things again.
Hutuli was particularly considerate in helping her mother, following her side and listening to the reports from the various palace ladies-in-waiting. Nowadays, the internal affairs of the inner palace are jointly managed by the Imperial Household Department and the Palace Ladies-in-Waiting Bureau, each with its own set of powers.
This time, everyone arrived in full force, with Meng Guqing being the first to arrive. They are all currently staying at the post station.
Hongmin and Hongchen still go to the Xu residence every day, and Hongyan picks them up and drops them off.
Changning also understood that Yinzhen wanted to take this opportunity to discipline Hongchen's temperament and give Hongyan a chance to interact with the outside world.
Hongyan is still young and hasn't established his own residence outside the palace. He's always been in the Forbidden City, so leaving the palace is very inconvenient. But with an excuse, he can openly leave the palace to observe the people's conditions.
So Changning also heard from her sons that many Mongolian merchant caravans had come to the palace, all of them traveling to the capital with Mongolian nobles, bringing with them a lot of Mongolian horses and other food items.
Hongyan also took his two younger brothers shopping and bought a lot of things. He sent Changning a row of twelve wooden ornaments, saying they were for praying for blessings in Mongolia.
Hongzhao was very excited when he saw it and took the initiative to take his two younger brothers to and from the Xu residence.
“Brother, Father is very busy right now and has given you a lot of tasks. You need to go and help Father. Leave Hongmin and Hongchen to me!”
Looking at his younger brother patting his chest and making a promise, Hong Yan twitched his lips, but still nodded.
“Alright. However, Hongzhao, the most important thing is to ensure their safety. There will be Imperial Guards on both the way there and back, so don’t run around on your own.”
Hongzhao nodded hurriedly: "Yes, yes! Don't worry, brother!"
Hutuli said with a teasing look, "What, are you going to the post station to secretly find Naritai?"
Hongzhao scratched his head, looking unusually embarrassed, and said, "I want to go see if she's arrived yet."
Changning couldn't help but chuckle: "You can look for them, but be careful not to be too flashy."
Xu Mansion...
After Hongzhao dropped off his two younger brothers, he was about to leave when he saw Xu Qingxue running over happily, taking Hongchen's hand, and telling him that she had caught several crickets last night, and now there were very few crickets left. If she wasn't careful, there wouldn't be any left.
This surprised Hongzhao, who hadn't expected there to be a little girl here. So he pulled Hongmin aside and whispered, "Who is this little girl?"
Hongmin was preoccupied with how to answer Xu Anda's question, so when he heard him ask it, he casually replied, "Oh, that's Xu Anda's granddaughter, Xu Qingxue."
"She's Xu Anda's granddaughter? Her personality is nothing like his!" Hongzhao was very surprised. He had thought that Xu Anda's granddaughter must also be very old-fashioned!
I never expected they'd catch crickets too!
However, he can now take Naritai to catch crickets, something she's definitely never done before!
So he grinned and went out happily.
Hongmin glanced at Hongchen, who was laughing happily with Xu Qingxue in front of him, and then at Hongzhao, who was single-mindedly looking for Naritai, and sighed deeply.
The Mongols were all concentrated in those few post stations, and Hongzhao found Naritai without much effort.
She came with her brother and was now pulling Ashida along, wanting to go out for a stroll with him.
"Brother! Please take me with you! This capital city is so bustling, there are so many fun things to do! I still want to go see that magic trick we saw yesterday! That person could actually breathe fire, I want to learn from Hongzhao, he's definitely never seen anything like it!"
Ashida was somewhat helpless. His younger sister was constantly mentioning Hongzhao, so he said helplessly, "Sister, we're in the capital now. Don't call the Fourth Prince by his name anymore. If people hear that, what will become of your reputation as a young lady?"
Naritai curled her lip: "What reputation? We never care about that on the grasslands!"
Ashida sighed: "But we're in the capital now. You're a Mongolian princess, and he's a prince. This always involves the issue of marriage alliances. You're both still young, so it's better to be careful. Otherwise, why has Abu always been reluctant to let you come to the capital?"
"I'd heard that the rules in the capital were strict, but I didn't expect them to be this strict. You can't even call someone by their name anymore?"
Naritai was somewhat displeased, staring with her large, clear black and white eyes.
Ashida sighed, wanting to offer further advice, but then heard a familiar voice.
"Na Ritai! Na Ritai! I've come to see you! Come on, let me take you to catch crickets! There are fewer and fewer crickets now, if we don't catch them soon, they'll all be gone!"
Naritai and Ashida turned their heads at the same time and saw Hongzhao, dressed in noble clothes, grinning from ear to ear.
Naritai immediately forgot what Abu and her brother had said, and happily ran over, her voice ringing out, "Hongzhao! I knew you would come looking for me!"
Hongzhao nodded vigorously: "Of course! As soon as I heard that the Mongols had entered the capital, I rushed over to find you. However, I came under the pretext of picking up my two younger brothers to the Xu residence. I still need to go see them tonight. We don't have much time, let's go quickly!"
"good!"
As soon as they finished speaking, the two of them held hands and prepared to leave.
Ashida suddenly felt a tightness in his chest.
Fortunately, Naritai still cared about him as her older brother, so she turned around and waved to him, "Brother! We're leaving now!"
Then he left without looking back.
Ashida was in the yard, the autumn wind was chilly, and he felt abandoned by his sister...
"Hey? Naritai, I remember you said before that Abu wasn't planning to let you come to the capital with him?"
Naritai chuckled, a hint of smugness in her voice: "He didn't agree, but I secretly boarded the transport cart, mingled with the firewood, and escaped together. We've been traveling all this way, and they haven't noticed us at all."
"Huh?" Hongzhao opened his mouth wide, seemingly not expecting Naritai to be so fierce.
"Later, when Abu Eji found out I wasn't there, she guessed that I must have run away with her, so she sent someone to ask my brother, and that's how they found me stealing food. Let me tell you, I was starving to death those few days."
Hongzhao immediately pictured a small, thin figure huddled in a pile of straw, hungry and cold, secretly crying at night...
"Come on! I'll take you out for something delicious today!"
“Okay!” Naritai smiled, her eyes crinkling.
Not long after, Hongzhao led her to a restaurant, went to a private room, and waved his hand, "Waiter! Bring me one of all your famous dishes and wines!"
Just as they finished their business, Prince Yi Thirteen, who had come out from next door, heard the familiar voice, twitched his lips, and turned around to look.
"Hey! Fourth Prince, what are you doing here?"
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