The Southern Chen Dynasty, the imperial palace.
When Consort Zhao received the imperial edict from Emperor Chen, she was completely stunned—he actually summoned her to leave the palace to attend her younger brother's wedding banquet. What an incredible event this was!
How did my brother manage to do it?
Consort Zhao was bewildered, but on the surface she put on a very moved expression. She finally kowtowed several times sincerely to express her gratitude. After returning to her main hall, she began to make plans in her mind.
This must have been taught to Li Langxuan by the Duke of Zhenguo. Doesn't she know her younger brother well? He's smart as he is, but he's a bit too upright. He certainly doesn't have the shamelessness, no, the worldliness, of the Shang Yunlan and Shang Shaoyan siblings.
However, it's good that she can get out. She has a general idea of what to do next.
Liu'er massaged her legs from the side, keeping her eyes down and silent. After a long while, she looked up at Consort Zhao—her lady had been in a bad mood lately, and even she dared not make jokes. Now that she was about to be a little happier, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Liu'er was somewhat absent-minded when Consort Zhao spoke up at that moment: "Liu'er, I intend to send you out of the palace. What do you think?"
Liu'er was stunned for a moment, then knelt on the ground in fear and trepidation, somewhat uneasy: "Your Majesty, have I done something wrong? Please don't send me out of the palace—"
Consort Zhao lazily looked up at her and said, "My health has been deteriorating lately, and I'm afraid my days are numbered. I must make proper arrangements for you before I can feel at ease."
Liu'er glanced at Consort Zhao somewhat presumptuously, wanting to say, "You ate three bowls of rice yesterday, you seem to be in good health," but last time Consort Zhao suddenly attacked her, she dared not speak, and could only look at Consort Zhao with tears in her eyes.
Consort Zhao was not soft-hearted; on the contrary, she was a cold-blooded person who remained unmoved by Liu'er's pitiful state.
She had her own reasons for sending Liu'er out of the palace.
Liu'er was spoiled terribly by her, and now she was almost completely out of control. She would say disrespectful things without hesitation, and would take advantage of anyone who gave her a little benefit. Such a person could not be kept around for long. But now was a time of great turmoil, and she really did not want to give anyone a handle to use against her. So she could only send her away to marry into a wealthy family as their principal wife, and that was all she could give her.
Regardless of how hesitantly Liu'er looked at Consort Zhao, Consort Zhao closed her eyes and began to take a nap.
She didn't see the struggle and resentment that flashed in Liu'er's eyes.
...
Northwest, Shuocheng.
Shang Shaoyan finally recovered and finally met Lu Shuangyi.
She kept her capture of the two cities in the Western Turkic Khaganate a complete secret, so even though Lu Shuangyi herself was in Shuocheng, she had no idea what Shang Shaoyan had done.
Lu Shuangyi's face was pale, and she had dark circles under her eyes. It seemed that she hadn't slept well for the past few days. When she saw Shang Shaoyan, her eyes welled up with tears, but she didn't feel a bit aggrieved.
She greeted Shang Shaoyan with a respectful greeting, half-crying and half-laughing, clearly having come to understand her situation and what kind of person Shang Shaoyan truly was in the past few days.
As expected, Shang Shaoyan's expression softened considerably. She also performed a gesture of respect as an equal, then sat down, raised her chin, and asked with a smile, "Have you thought it through? Will you marry me or not?"
Lu Shuangyi nodded and smiled somewhat reluctantly: "I won't get married... but I don't know how you're going to help me?"
They don't even refer to themselves as "this Empress" anymore? It seems they've made quite a bit of progress these past few days.
Shang Shaoyan raised an eyebrow and teased her deliberately: "You really don't want to get married? Didn't you want to be the mother of a country? Although that old Khan isn't much, he's still a monarch."
Lu Shuangyi twitched her lips, glanced at Shang Shaoyan speechlessly, and didn't care about Shang Shaoyan's "disrespectful" remarks that she usually considered. She just took a deep breath and then said, "Are you really not going to get married?"
Shang Shaoyan nodded, but didn't say how he could help her. He continued to ask, "If you're not getting married, what are your plans? Have you thought about where you'll go and what you'll do after that?"
Lu Shuangyi had clearly thought it through. She smiled slightly and said, "Where else can I go? I thought my loving father would send me here for a political marriage because of a few words from a powerful eunuch. I also thought my respected empress didn't want me to marry her nephew and would go along with it. But after carefully counting, there wasn't a single person in the entire palace willing to help me."
She paused for a moment, then said, “Except for Consort Zhao. She raised me for four or five years, so there's still some affection between us. If I return to the palace, I can spend my days with her, eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist prayers, which would be better than before. If I don't return to the palace, then I'll take my dowry to Northern Zhou, find a beautiful place with clear waters and lush mountains, and raise ten or eight male concubines. That would be quite nice.”
Shang Shaoyan found it hard to believe that this was Lu Shuangyi's true thought. After all, everyone in Shengjing knew that this pampered third princess was a person who enjoyed a luxurious life.
Most of the talk about vegetarianism, chanting Buddhist scriptures, and beautiful scenery is fake.
However, Shang Shaoyan really didn't know what Lu Shuangyi was going to do. While wiping her broadsword, she said casually, "The Northern Zhou will probably be in chaos soon. What good will it do you to go there? There will be no one to take care of you."
Lu Shuangyi smiled slightly and shook her head, saying, "I've already inquired. There's a small town on the border between Northern Zhou and Southern Chen, with beautiful mountains and clear waters, it's quite nice."
Shang Shaoyan didn't stop wiping his knife, but his mind immediately turned to Xie Huayin—"You know, there's a small town called Green Water Town at the border of Northern Zhou and Southern Chen. It's a beautiful place with clear waters and lush mountains. I lived there for a year. I'll take you there sometime in the future."
Green Water Town?
She roughly understood what was going on, but didn't show it on her face. She just smiled and looked at Lu Shuangyi: "Do you need me to send troops to escort you there?"
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