Princess Xiyue was also dumbfounded. In her expectation, she was the heroine who could turn the tide, who could not only scold her cousin but also leave a good impression on the Xiao family.
But things have developed to the point where they are out of the princess's control. The Xiao family is indeed a family of military generals. The two little girls did not show any sign of stage fright in front of so many people. Even Xiyue admired the courage of the two children.
"What happened?" A group of people came from another road. The man leading them was wearing a bright yellow robe. There was no doubt that it was the emperor who had arrived.
"Nothing happened. The twelfth prince is greeting the Xiao family!" Yun Yifan and his group also quickly appeared.
These people must have been watching the excitement from the sidelines for how long! Xiao Yao thought bitterly.
"It's okay, nothing happened." Princess Xiyue also came out to explain. If the handsome man knew that the Xiao family had been humiliated, it would be hard to say whether she could get married or not.
The atmosphere at the scene was obviously not right, but they were all trying their best to cover up something. Looking at the mess on the ground, the emperor would not believe anything if they said everything was fine.
"Achen, you speak." The emperor called out.
"To answer your uncle, it's really nothing." Yun Yichen glanced at Luo Yan coldly. He got it easy for him. If he had taken action himself, he would have beaten him to a pulp.
Fortunately, he was sensible and did not take advantage of the situation. Xiao Yao decided to call it a draw with Master Yun. From now on, as long as he was willing to stay away from her, or she would give in to him, they would just be familiar strangers.
"Hurry up and come to pay your respects to the emperor." Xiao Jingkang saw that the women in his family all looked unhappy. Although he really wanted to know what had happened, it was not the right place and the right occasion. He could only pass the current hurdle and ask after returning home.
"Your Majesty, I, your humble servant, pay my respects to you. Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!" The women of the Xiao family lined up according to their seniority and knelt down to kowtow.
"Get up! I summoned you to the palace in advance because I want you relatives to get to know each other. You have already met the twelfth prince, and now come to meet Prince Yusu, who is also the cousin of Princess Xiyue." The emperor had a calm expression and acted as an introducer.
When everyone met, it was basically the Xiao family members who did the greetings, while the people from Northern Jin accepted them. The women of the Xiao family felt extremely depressed, and Xiao Yao performed her movements in a very proper manner, which was completely different from her usual lively and vivid appearance.
"Junior sister must be very upset." Mu Fengwu was angry and sad. Junior sister, who should have been the center of attention, had been wronged today. This prince of Northern Jin was so annoying. He would have to find a suitable opportunity to teach him a lesson some other time.
Yun Yichen also noticed Xiao Yao's perfunctory and coping attitude, and his heart ached inexplicably. He would rather the little girl and himself be unreasonable, and would rather the little girl be clever and calculate others, than see her look listless.
"Which two are the twins in your family?" The emperor seemed to be in a good mood. Looking at the children of similar age in front of him, he suddenly thought of the twins, so he asked casually.
"Xiao Jun and Xiao Yao pay their respects to the emperor." Xiao Jun walked towards Xiao Yao, naturally took his sister's hand, and kowtowed again.
"Raise your head and let me see."
"Yes." The two children looked up at the emperor.
"This..." The emperor looked at them carefully for a while and said in surprise. These two children did not look alike at all. No matter from which angle you looked at them, they did not look like twins, a boy and a girl. If the emperor had not firmly believed that the Xiao family would not dare to lie to him, he would definitely have questioned it out loud.
The two children before him, the boy robust and full of energy and spirit, the girl delicate and delicate, already showing the beginnings of her stunning beauty. Twins, boy and girl, were rare to begin with, and a boy with such energy and a girl with such beauty were even rarer. The emperor was quite pleased with the two children and beckoned a servant to bring two jade pendants to the twins.
"In our Northern Jin, if a family has twins, it is a very good omen. The girl from that family will definitely find a good husband. Your Xiao family is lucky to have a girl who is not only a boy but also a girl with outstanding looks. Even if she cannot become a princess in the future, she will definitely be a concubine." Luo Yan said with a smile.
"You..." Old Marquis Xiao took a big step forward and looked directly at Luo Yan. The battle-hardened aura in him suppressed Luo Yan, a prince, so much that he couldn't breathe.
"Grandfather, please don't be angry." Xiao Yao smiled brightly at the old marquis, then turned to Luo Yan and said, "Although our Xiao family comes from a poor background, we are not greedy for fame and fortune. Our men would rather fight on the battlefield than curry favor with the powerful; and our women would rather become nuns than be concubines."
"If the other party is the supreme ruler of the world, he is someone that your Xiao family cannot afford to offend and dare not offend!" Luo Yan didn't believe that a little girl would have the power to resist the imperial power.
"It's just a death at worst. As a human being, we should do what we should do and not do what we shouldn't do. So what if I'm a girl? I, the daughter of the Xiao family, would rather die standing than live on my knees." Xiao Yao said crisply. Her eyes were as cold as a pool of spring water, and her expression was firm without a trace of reluctance.
After hearing these words, the men were in awe and their blood boiled.
"Does the Twelfth Prince have any questions?" Yun Yifan asked coldly. He had known for a long time that his junior sister was different from the others. What he heard and saw today moved him even more. If he did not have the heavy responsibility of assisting his brother the Crown Prince and stabilizing the court through marriage; if he was just a son of an ordinary family, he would never miss such a good girl.
"Then this prince will wait and see." Luo Yan didn't believe that a little girl could achieve the level that Xiao Yao described. He wanted to see if she could do what she said.
"Tianyu is a man of integrity, and his daughter is no less so. My royal brother, do you think Miss Xiao should be rewarded?" King Jing believed that Xiao Yao's neither humble nor arrogant attitude not only gave Tianyu face, but would also surely make the people of Northern Jin take notice of her. Such a child should be rewarded.
"Yes." She was insightful and courageous. If this were his own daughter, she would be the apple of his eye, the apple of his eye. The emperor glanced at the Ninth Prince, then at Yun Yichen, and secretly felt a pity. It was a pity that this little girl was a little young. For a royal family that was waiting for children, it was not appropriate to wait another seven or eight years.
"I have long promised Lord Xiao that the marriage of girls from the Xiao family is entirely decided by the old marquis, and no one is allowed to interfere. Since the girl from the Xiao family has said so today, I will promise you one more condition, that is, girls from the Xiao family will never be concubines, and no matter who they marry in the future, they must be the main wife." The emperor believed that with the knowledge of the girl in front of him, she would never be inferior to others in the future. In this case, he would give the Xiao family another favor.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Everyone in the Xiao family came forward to pay their respects and express their gratitude.
Yun Yifan and the others also felt that what the emperor said was absolutely right. With Junior Sister's character and appearance, why should she become a concubine or a side wife? The old mansion and the Xiao family would never agree to any of the families that dared to look down on her.
A group of people walked and talked as they walked towards the palace where the banquet was to be held today. Not long after, other officials and female relatives also arrived one after another. Xiao Yao and Xiao Yuan followed obediently at the end of the team. They also sat in a corner of the designated seat during the meal.
Yun Yichen had never seen such well-behaved and quiet Xiao sisters before. He had always hoped Xiao Yao would become a lady, but today, when his dream came true, he found that the little girl before was still more comfortable and pleasing to the eye. He didn't want to see her dignified appearance at all. If possible, he would like to let the little girl live a lively and naughty life, even if she made him angry half to death, even if sometimes he wanted to hit her a few times to vent his anger.
Accompanying the Emperor was Empress Mu, a woman of great dignity and dignity. Empress Dowager Han also attended the banquet, though she was much more low-key than usual. Ever since the Han family was sanctioned by the Emperor, she had fallen seriously ill. Initially, the Emperor forbade any member of the Han family to enter the palace to see the Empress Dowager. Only after the majority of the Han family's wealth had been returned to the state treasury and power had returned to the Emperor, were the women of the Han family allowed into the palace.
When Queen Mother Han learned the specific punishment results, everything had already been settled. Apart from getting angry again and sighing, she felt that it was too late to change the situation and nothing could be done.
Because of the Han family's current situation, Queen Mother Han is looking forward to her nieces and granddaughters marrying into the palace and the royal palace, so she brought all the girls of the Han family of marriageable age into the palace. At this banquet, girls from the Han family can be seen everywhere. At this moment, Yun Yifan and Yun Yichen are surrounded by several gorgeous young ladies from the Han family, and Han Yueyan is among them.
For the sake of his grandmother, Yun Yichen dealt with them indifferently. Today, there was a particularly strange phenomenon that puzzled him. Whenever a girl approached him, he would subconsciously look at Xiao Yao. He tried his best to control this action, but he could only do it once or twice. He wanted to hold on for a long time, but after trying, he felt that he could not do it at all.
"Cousin, what kind of handkerchief and purse do you like? Yueyan will embroider it for you when she gets home."
"No need. Someone gave me my purse." Yun Yichen would rather use the sachet that he had kept carefully than take anything from the Han family.
"How could my cousin the Crown Prince like such tacky things? He should embroider a belt or make a piece of clothing." Another charming girl said with a seductive smile.
A belt? Yun Yichen only remembered that the little girl had reluctantly given him a unique belt. Apart from that, he had never accepted any gifts from anyone else. In his eyes, anything that was delivered to him was far less desirable than something he had asked for. Unfortunately, since the little girl left the villa, he hadn't received anything from her.
After the banquet finally ended, Xiao Yao finally let out a long breath. She never wanted to attend such a party again. She really hoped that today was just a dream, and that those people she didn't want to see and the things she didn't want to pay attention to would disappear forever!
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