The concubines and female relatives of the imperial family, led by Consort Xue Guifei and Zheng Biyu, stood on the wall and watched the gold-inlaid carriage disappear into the western sky amid the crowd of black-robed armored soldiers.

When a rabbit dies, the fox mourns its own death. The concubines were saddened and stared at him in silence.

Zheng Biyu retracted her gaze, turned away from the crowd, and asked the maid, "Why didn't Princess Fukang come to see Princess Wen Zhao off today?"

The maid whispered, "Your Highness, Princess Fukang is ill."

Zheng Biyu sneered, "Go to the princess's mansion."

The chief official of the princess's residence did not dare to let Zheng Biyu and his party in: "Your Highness, the princess is ill and cannot see guests."

Zheng Biyu didn't even look at the chief secretary and ordered the guards of the East Palace to break into the house.

"Even if Princess Fukang is about to die, she must go to see Princess Wenzhao off! If she can't get out of bed, have someone carry her!"

The chief secretary's eyes widened: "Your Highness, aren't you afraid that the Crown Prince will blame you?"

Zheng Biyu's maid stepped forward and slapped the chief secretary in the face: "You cunning slave, are you threatening the Crown Princess?"

The Chief Secretary had never expected that the Crown Princess, who was usually gentle and dignified, would embarrass him in public. He had no time to dodge and was hit. He staggered for several times before he could stand still and was unable to recover for a long time.

The guards quickly found Zhu Luyun and pulled her out of the princess's mansion.

Her face was pale, with tear marks on it, and she looked frail, as if she were really sick.

Zheng Biyu glanced at her coldly and said, "Princess Wen Zhao is marrying the Yelu tribe on your behalf, aren't you going to see her off?"

Zhu Luyun pursed her lips and burst into tears: "I'm sorry, Seventh Princess... I didn't expect it to turn out like this... It was my aunt's servant who deceived me..."

Zheng Biyu twitched the corner of his mouth slightly, signaling the guards to pick up Zhu Luyun and bring her to the wall.

When the concubines saw Zhu Luyun, their well-maintained faces immediately became gloomy, and the younger princesses and counties also showed contempt on their faces.

Zhu Luyun heard the deliberately exaggerated sarcastic laughter from the palace concubines and royal ladies, but she forced herself not to bow her head.

Zheng Biyu pointed to the west and lightly stroked Zhu Luyun's delicate face with his vermilion nails.

"Look carefully, the person originally sitting in the carriage should be you."

It all started when she made a random marriage, which made Wei Ming set his sights on the Seventh Princess.

Zhu Luyun's lips are pale blue.

Zheng Biyu's hand suddenly flicked lightly.

Zhu Luyun felt a sharp pain on her face, shivered, and covered her face tightly.

Zheng Biyu held her hand and rubbed the small cuts he had made on her face with his fingertips gently: "Zhu Luyun, no matter how the prince indulged you in the past, I never complained about you."

She was a daughter of an aristocratic family and did not dare to expect undivided love from her husband. What she needed was her husband's respect and the benefits that this marriage would bring to the family.

Since the prince liked Zhu Luyun, she could magnanimously tolerate Zhu Luyun and allow Zhu Luyun to be arrogant and willful because of the prince's favor.

But it is obvious that her tolerance did not bring about Zhu Luyun's obedience.

The prince treats Zhu Luyun as himself and cleans up the mess for her time and time again. If this continues, who knows how many more disasters Zhu Luyun will cause?

As the mistress of the Eastern Palace and the mother of Taisun, she could not allow Zhu Luyun to continue to act recklessly.

"I'll give you two choices." Zheng Biyu wiped the blood off Zhu Luyun's face, "Leave Chang'an and never set foot in the imperial city again, or move into the backyard of the East Palace and serve the prince."

Zhu Luyun's eyes were blurred with tears. She said nothing with a stubborn expression.

Zheng Biyu sneered: "Zhu Luyun, the previous dynasty has long been destroyed."

Does Zhu Luyun think that all the ministers in the court are really loyal to the previous dynasty?

No, aristocratic families are always loyal only to their family.

The reason why they were willing to protect Zhu Luyun was only partly because of their guilt towards the last emperor. Their real purpose was to use her as a bargaining chip to remind Li De that the Li family was an old minister of the previous dynasty, so as to limit the imperial power.

When she becomes an ordinary concubine of the prince, she will understand that the identity of a princess of the previous dynasty cannot bring her much dignity.

Zhu Luyun clenched her teeth and looked humiliated.

…

The carriage drove out of the city, leaving behind waves of noisy voices in the bright sunlight filled with the golden glow of autumn.

The armored imperial guards silently escorted the carriage, and the ceremonial drum and trumpet corps following closely played cheerful music. The music was mixed with the dull and monotonous sound of horse hooves, and the colorful flags fluttered in the wind, making a sound of hunting.

Qin Fei told Yao Ying that after leaving Chang'an, it would take three or four days to reach the temporary residence of the Yelu tribe.

Yao Ying fell asleep with Ping Ji as her pillow, and when she woke up it was already dusk.

The situation was chaotic, and life outside Chang'an was not safe and secure even within the Wei territory. The group stopped at the official post station to rest, and the local postmaster prepared a gift for Yao Ying and wanted to present it to her in person, but Qin Fei flatly refused, so the postmaster had to ask him to pass it on.

Yaoying was exhausted after wandering in the carriage for a whole day. She ate some soup and went to bed.

I slept until the middle of the night and was suddenly awakened by noisy voices outside the window.

Yaoying got up and put on her clothes. She saw a bright fire reflected in front of the window. She could faintly hear the sound of a fire burning, and screams, roars, and footsteps coming from upstairs and downstairs.

With a bang, the door was pushed open and then gently closed. In the dim light, several young men in light armor rushed to Yao Ying and bowed to her.

"Princess, come on, let's get out of here!"

Yao Ying recognized that the other party was the Yulin guards who escorted her, two of whom were princes from aristocratic families. She frowned slightly and took two steps back.

The young man in the lead was sweating and he stopped and said, "Princess, if you don't leave now, you will have no chance. We set fire to the stables and several tents to deliberately disrupt the line of sight. Now Captain Qin is leading people to put out the fire. We will take you away."

Yao Ying remained calm and said worriedly, "Where else can we go if we leave here? No matter how far we run, we will be caught and brought back."

The man thought she was convinced by his words, and was overjoyed. He said, "Don't be afraid, Princess. We have arranged for someone to pick you up. After rescuing you, we will go all the way south and go directly to Nanchu! Once we get to Nanchu, even the emperor and the crown prince won't be able to hold us accountable!"

Yao Ying's heart moved, and she scanned the faces of several people one by one: "You are all young and have a bright future. You really shouldn't take such a big risk for me."

The man wiped his sweat nervously, and while he pricked up his ears to listen to the noise outside, he said: "We have admired the princess for a long time, and we can't bear to see her marry far away. As long as we can rescue the princess, it's worth it even if we risk our lives."

Yao Ying smiled faintly and asked, "Where are my bodyguards?"

The young man was stunned for a moment, and suddenly a horse neighed downstairs. Several people were startled and looked at each other. The man gritted his teeth and walked forward to pull Yaoying: "Princess, if you don't leave now, it will be too late!"

Yao Ying flicked her sleeves, dodged the man's hand, and said loudly: "I am grateful that you are willing to take risks to save me, but the alliance between Wei and Yelu has been signed. Yelu has kept its promise and helped Wei Dynasty to recover Liangzhou. Wei cannot break its promise. As a princess of Wei, I cannot leave with you."

The man's face darkened and he stretched out his big hand to grab her.

Yao Ying raised her voice, stared at the other party with gloomy eyes: "Are you planning to take me away by force?"

The man felt guilty when he saw her clear and bright eyes, and his momentum suddenly weakened.

At this time, there were some laughs and footsteps coming from outside the window. Qin Fei, dressed in military uniform, pushed open the door and stepped into the room, followed by dozens of soldiers holding torches.

"You think you can get rid of me with that little trick?"

Qin Fei slowly drew his sword, with a slanted smile on his face.

He was one of the most valiant generals under Li Xuanzhen. He quickly subdued several young men from aristocratic families who only knew a little bit of martial arts, and ordered his subordinates to tie them up and carry them out.

"The princess was frightened."

Qin Fei dealt with a few dandy young men, sheathed his sword, turned around and clasped his fists towards Yao Ying.

Yao Ying stood in front of the window, her face calm: "Where are my bodyguards?"

Qin Fei said: "Maybe he went to pee somewhere."

Yao Ying's eyes fell on Qin Fei's face: "Commander-in-Chief Qin, there is no need to deceive me. You knew that those people would take action, so you deliberately sent Xie Qing and the other guards away and pretended to fall into the trap so that they could break into my bedroom..."

Qin Fei showed a surprised expression on his face.

Yao Ying paused for a moment and expressed his guess: "Captain Qin, you just delayed deliberately, I think it was to test me, to see if I would go with them?"

Qin Fei scratched his head and admitted generously: "Yes, the princess is really smart!"

He bowed deeply to Yao Ying.

"Please forgive me, Princess. I was just following orders."

Yao Ying said calmly: "Go back and tell the prince that the deal between him and me is between the two of us, and the marriage between Wei and Yelu is a diplomatic relationship between the two countries. I will not go back on my words, nor will I destroy the alliance between the two countries for my own selfish reasons."

Qin Fei nodded repeatedly.

Yao Ying looked at him and asked, "How are you going to deal with them?"

Qin Fei shrugged his shoulders and said, "They acted on impulse. Tie them up first and take them back to let their father give them a good beating."

Yao Ying thought for a moment and softened her voice: "Go back and tell Mr. Zheng that these people may have connections with Nanchu. They must be investigated carefully and not be let off."

Qin Fei was stunned.

The fire in the stable had been put out, and it was dark in front of the window. Yao Ying said softly, "They just said they would take me to Nanchu, and someone would pick me up on the way. I don't know who instigated them to rescue me. That person might have ulterior motives. If I really followed them, the Yelu tribe would be furious, the alliance would collapse, and the Wei Dynasty would be in a mess. Who would benefit the most?"

Qin Fei opened his mouth wide, his heart beating fast with fear at the thought of the possible consequences, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"I was careless!"

He slapped his head, turned around and left. After he left the door, he turned around again, stood at the doorstep, and bowed to Yao Ying.

The bow just now was only to comfort Yaoying, but this bow now is a sincere expression of my admiration.

Even at this time, the princess still considers the overall situation in everything she does.

Yao Ying said calmly, "Please ask the captain to send someone to explain things to the eldest prince of the Yelu tribe, so as to avoid them getting suspicious. Since Nan Chu was able to incite the Yulin Guards to rescue me, he might also be fanning the flames in the Yelu tribe."

Qin Fei, sweating profusely, agreed and sent someone to inform Chang'an. He personally found the eldest prince of the Yelu tribe and told them that the stable had caught fire but did not alarm Princess Wen Zhao.

The next day, Yao Ying appeared in front of the envoys from the Yelu tribe, still dressed in gorgeous clothes, looking elegant and graceful.

The eldest prince heard a fire and loud shouting in the official inn last night, and he couldn't help but feel suspicious. Now seeing Yaoying's radiant face, like a goddess, he couldn't help but feel his heart was moved. He just wished he could get closer to her and look at her more. How could he remember his suspicions from yesterday?

He laughed heartily and watched Yaoying get on the carriage with an unbridled look in his eyes.

Qin Fei breathed a sigh of relief, but then felt his heart tighten.

It seems that the Yelu tribe will not be suspicious.

However, the eldest prince's desire for the seventh princess was obvious to everyone. Chief Yelu was old, and once the Yulin Guards and the Ceremonial Guards who came to see him off left, would the eldest prince let the seventh princess go?

No matter how worried Qin Fei was about the safety of the Seventh Princess, three days later, when they arrived at the station and saw the towering mountains in the distance, he had to count the troops and bid farewell to Yao Ying.

"Princess, this is the best I can do."

Qin Fei spoke harshly.

"From now on, you will only have Xie Qing and a few dozen personal soldiers by your side... Take care."

Yaoying smiled, opened the car curtain and looked towards the east.

"Take care, Captain."

Qin Fei felt heavy in his heart and did not dare to look up at her. He turned around, climbed onto the horse's back, and galloped away as if he was running for his life.

The cavalry of the Yelu tribe quickly came over and surrounded the carriage. The eldest prince's voice reached Yao Ying's ears: "My beauty, the road ahead will be difficult."

There was a burst of laughter.

The carriage rocked heavily several times.

Yaoying sat in the carriage without saying a word.

…

Chang'an.

After Zheng Biyu finished her palace affairs, she fed her son a bowl of hot millet porridge and coaxed him to sleep. Just as she was about to lie down and rest for a while, a maid hurried across the corridor and knelt on the ground.

"Madam, there is some movement in the palace."

"What's going on?"

The maid dared not say a word.

Zheng Biyu signaled the palace maids standing in front of the corridor to leave.

The maid stood up, took a few steps forward, and whispered, "I heard from people in Concubine Xue's palace that Concubine Rong is dead!"

Zheng Biyu looked down at her nails and said, "What's so surprising about this?"

Concubine Rong poisoned Empress Xie and was thrown into prison. She had offended so many concubines over the years that she would definitely not live to see the end of the year.

The maid took a few breaths and moved closer: "Your Highness, there is nothing strange about Concubine Rong's death. Concubine □□ said some nonsense before she died, which frightened Concubine Xue Gui."

Zheng Biyu raised an eyebrow: "What did Concubine Rong say?"

The maid bowed her head and said, "Concubine Rong said that Princess Wen Zhao is not the blood of the emperor!"

The author has something to say: Thank you for feeding and cultivating with nutrient solution, hugs~