Longcheng was the fiefdom of the Prince of Jin.
The news that Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin will return to the Prince's Mansion today to celebrate the birthday of his mother, Xu Ruoyun, together with the civil and military officials who remain in his fiefdom, had already reached the Prince's Mansion a few days ago.
Despite Chen Huai'an's repeated emphasis that his return to his fiefdom of Longcheng would be simple and unpretentious, and that the royal family and the soldiers guarding Longcheng should not hold any grand welcoming ceremony.
However, the family members of Prince Jin's mansion still got up early in the morning to wash, dress up, and go to the Yongding Gate of Longcheng to welcome the return of their patriarch, Chen Huai'an.
It is worth mentioning that the group that went to Yongding Gate to welcome the emperor included key figures from four different factions.
Firstly, naturally, were the family members of the Prince of Jin's mansion, led by Consort Xu Ruoyun and Prince Chen Longxiang.
Secondly, there was General Wang Jian, who was ordered to guard the main camp of the Jingnan Army in Longcheng, and a group of generals of the Polu Army.
Thirdly, and more interestingly, is a group mainly composed of former civil officials and generals from the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun in the Great Xin Dynasty. The representative figures are Prince Wu Ning, Liu Xinwu, and Princess Shujun, who has a marriage contract with Chen Huai'an.
Fourthly, of course, were Princess Yue Qiluo of Bilge, who had traveled thousands of miles from the capital of the Uyghur Khanate in the Western Regions, Harabalgas, to the Central Plains, as well as the envoys and representatives from the thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions stationed in the fiefdom of the Prince of Jin.
At first glance, the welcoming delegation for Prince Chen Huai'an's return from his southern expedition was incredibly powerful and luxurious.
Behind each of these groups lies a force capable of influencing the current situation.
The atmosphere outside Yongding Gate was also slightly strange and awkward.
Only the mischievous Prince Chen Longxiang, with his head tilted and mouth wide open, revealing a set of neat white teeth, was having a great time playing around here and there.
Consort Xu Ruoyun of the Prince of Jin's Mansion, dressed in a magnificent bright yellow dress, stood in the middle of the crowd as if surrounded by stars.
To Xu Ruoyun's left is Princess Yue Qiluo, who has traveled a long way to "find her husband";
She wore a dashing bright red riding outfit, and her typical exotic beauty and complexion made Yue Qiluo stand out from the crowd welcoming the emperor.
To Xu Ruoyun’s right is Princess Liu Shujun, who has long harbored feelings for Chen Huai’an.
She wore an ethereal, pure white dress, and her gentle and refined temperament made her stand out among the welcoming crowd.
On such an important occasion, Xu Ruoyun, as the birth mother of the Prince of Jin, naturally maintained an impartial attitude towards both daughters-in-law.
But the mischievous Prince Chen Longxiang didn't care about any of that. He tilted his head, grinned, revealing a set of neat white teeth, and wandered back and forth between Yue Qiluo and Liu Shujun, having a great time.
"Dragon and Elephant, how dare you be so rude!"
Finally, Xu Ruoyun frowned slightly and scolded Chen Longxiang, who was running around and playing, "What kind of behavior is this in public? Be careful not to offend the two princesses!"
hey-hey!
Chen Longxiang grinned and made a face as he replied, "Mother, no, I just want to take a good look at my two sisters-in-law, hehe!"
As he spoke, Chen Longxiang started jumping around like a monkey again, and occasionally made faces at Yue Qiluo and Liu Shujun.
However, the young prince of the Jin Prince's Mansion, who is usually fearless, has run into a brick wall today.
When faced with Chen Longxiang's funny face "provocation," the gentle and reserved Liu Shujun simply looked at him with tender eyes and a doting expression, as if she really regarded him as her own naughty younger brother.
However, Yue Qiluo, who grew up on horseback and preferred military uniforms to dresses, was not going to tolerate the young prince of the Jin Prince's Mansion.
When Chen Longxiang tilted his head and grinned, and approached Yue Qiluo again, Yue Qiluo unceremoniously raised her hand and grabbed Chen Longxiang's protruding ear.
Then, with a sudden burst of force, twist it—
hiss--
"Ouch, sister-in-law, it hurts, it hurts!"
Chen Longxiang winced in pain as his ear was grabbed, and his seemingly frail little body instinctively turned in the direction Yue Qiluo twisted his ear.
He kept begging for mercy, saying, "Sister-in-law, I was wrong, I won't do it again. I'll twist your ear one more time and you'll have to twist it off!"
snort!
Yue Qiluo snorted coldly and said, "Longxiang, I'm teaching you a lesson on behalf of your brother. Let's see if you'll listen to your mother in the future!"
Listen, listen, listen—
Chen Longxiang never expected that his sister-in-law from the Western Regions would dare to beat him up in public.
Moreover, he immediately seized upon Chen Longxiang's weakness.
Indeed, the black-robed old monk Dongfang Xiao was referring to a young prince who was descended to the mortal realm by the Golden-Winged Roc from the upper realm to undergo tribulation. Although his arms possessed the power of the Four Symbols, they were no match for him.
However, there is one place that is its Achilles' heel: the pair of protruding ears on its head.
With his protruding ears being grabbed by Yue Qiluo, even with the power that the Four Symbols could not defeat and the ability to defeat ten thousand men, he couldn't use a single bit of it!
Besides, even if Chen Longxiang had a lot of guts, he wouldn't dare to lay a hand on his sister-in-law!
Otherwise, when his brother Chen Huai'an returns, he'll definitely hang him from that century-old locust tree in the Prince's Mansion courtyard and whip him!
Seeing that the mischievous Chen Longxiang had admitted his mistake, Yue Qiluo did not continue to make things difficult for him, but instead released her grip on Chen Longxiang's ear.
The latter felt as if he had been granted a pardon and immediately hid obediently behind his mother, Xu Ruoyun, no longer daring to tilt his head, grin, or make strange movements.
snort!
Seeing this, Yue Qiluo raised her head with an arrogant expression, like a general returning victorious from a great battle.
Completely unaware that the gazes of Consort Xu Ruoyun, Prince Wu Ning Liu Xinwu, General Wang Jian, and a host of civil and military officials from the Prince of Jin's fiefdom all turned to her with complex and intriguing expressions.
Even Chen Longxiang, the person involved, secretly thought to himself that if his elder brother returned home this time and brought his sister-in-law from the Western Regions back to the mansion, his happy days of climbing trees to steal birds' nests and going down to the river to catch fish would probably be gone forever!
"His Highness Prince Jin has arrived!"
Just as everyone was eagerly anticipating the arrival, a messenger from the Imperial Guard, riding a swift horse, galloped in and loudly announced to everyone that the Prince of Jin had arrived in Longcheng.
Sure enough, a small troop of cavalry appeared in everyone's sight shortly after the messenger reported the news.
Dressed in casual clothes, Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin rode his yellow horse and charged at the forefront of this small cavalry unit.
drive!
drive!
drive!
Chen Huai'an kept giving commands to the yellow horse, urging it to speed up.
But when Chen Huai'an raised his eyes and saw Yue Qiluo and Liu Shujun standing beside his mother Xu Ruoyun, he subconsciously roared at his yellow horse, "Whoa—"
What was bound to happen has finally arrived!
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