Princess Caifeng grew up in the royal palace as well. Those who grew up in the palace tended to be suspicious of things. Especially when it seemed as if King Yan was indeed in the wrong. It was unbelievable that a prince would be imprisoned because a second consort was wronged.
What was more, he did not defend himself. King Yan seemed to be a good person.
Princess Caifeng thought about it in her heart. It would be good for her if she mentioned King Yan in front of the Emperor. On the one hand, it would repay Consort Yan’s kindness; on the other hand, it would show King Xuan that she was a gentle and kind person. If anything happened to current Consort Xuan in the future, it would not be her fault.
This would be of great benefit to her. She agreed readily, “Consort Yan, don’t worry. My elder brother will reveal the intention of the marriage alliance later. He will choose between the princes. I will ask about King Yan. Hope that it will help you.”
“Many thanks for your help, Your Highness. If His Majesty forgets it, please bring it up a few more times.” You Yue’e was delighted but there was a hint of bitterness on her face, as if she was extremely worried that the Emperor would ignore Princess Caifeng, regardless of her face.
“Don’t worry. I will keep talking about it until His Majesty pays attention to my suggestion.” Princess Caifeng patted her chest and promised.
You Yue’e was relieved when she heard that. When she saw that Princess Caifeng had dressed up, she did not bother her and left with her maidservant. Princess Caifeng straightened her clothes and went to the main hall as well.
The palace maid at the entrance of the main hall had long been waiting anxiously. When she saw Princess Caifeng approaching, she hurried in to report to the Empress. The Empress motioned for the banquet to officially begin.
Princess Caifeng’s seat was not next to Crown Prince Xieyue’s because men’s seat were on the left side while women’s were on the right side. The seats in the main hall were divided into two rows, with the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, and the Empress sitting on the top while the others sitting below them. Princess Caifeng sat beside the Sixth Princess, the Seventh Princess and Consort Yan.
Opposite them were the several princes and Crown Prince Xieyue.
Although their seats were on both sides, since they were close to the Emperor’s seat and were on the first layer of jade steps, they could hear each other clearly.
Crown Prince Xieyue came up first to toast and hope that the Qin Kingdom and the Southern Barbarian Lands could be close friends forever. Emperor Zongwen naturally drank a cup of wine politely.
The scene was very harmonious. When Crown Prince Xieyue returned to his seat, he told several princes around him that he hoped the two countries would be friendly to each other and had a good relationship. Beside them were several ministers treating the emissaries from the Southern Barbarians. They were also laughing and clinking their cups.
Suddenly, an emissary of the Southern Barbarian picked up a cup of wine and took a step forward, leaving his seat. He said, “Respected Great Qin Emperor, I’ve long heard that the women of Great Qin are gentle like jade and the men of Great Qin are mighty and handsome. Our Emperor specially asked us to get a noble girl of Great Qin on behalf of our Crown Prince to be the Crown Princess of our Southern Barbarian Lands. He also wants Princess Caifeng to marry a noble man of Great Qin, so that the two countries can be united forever.”
“Alright, since the two countries are friends, such a request is naturally not a problem. I will promise to find a noble girl the Crown Prince likes and a noble man the Princess likes.” Emperor Zongwen had a gentle smile on his face and his tone was as soft as a spring breeze. This was what everyone had secretly decided. However, the so-called noble man and girl were usually the princes and princesses.
Emperor Zongwen had always paid attention to the Fifth Princess who was born by the Empress, and did not care about other princesses who were born by consorts. If a princess married into the Southern Barbarian Lands and became their crown princess, and then their Empress, this would only benefit the Qin Kingdom and was harmless.
Princess Caifeng could marry into the Great Qin. The Eldest Prince, Third Prince, and Eighth Prince all had wife. At most, Princess Caifeng would get the position of co-wife. It was not a big deal and would not affect the overall situation at all. Of course, it would be best if she chose Feng Yuran, which would make him much stronger. Although Consort Xuan was a blessed person, she was too young and was always ill. Emperor Zongwen felt sorry for his son!
Princess Caifeng was not bad looking. She looked to be about 17 or 18 years old and was about the same age as Feng Yuran. Her nose was high and she had a stern expression on her face. She was not a soft person and could manage the back yard. If she were to marry into King Xuan’s manor, she would definitely be able to get rid of all the mess in the back yard. This would be beneficial to Feng Yuran.
The emissary bowed with a smile and returned to his seat. The matter was only made public today. It did not mean that their Crown Prince would select a wife and their princess would select a husband now. The sons and daughters of the royal family were not items that could be picked casually. They had to inform the others in private. They showed their attitude here today.
The Seventh Princess’ expression grew flustered. She looked up at the Sixth Princess who was sitting opposite, and bit her lips nervously.
The only princesses who could enter the hall today were the Sixth Princess and the Seventh Princess. Everyone understood that the Crown Princess would be one of them. Even though the Crown Princess of the Southern Barbarian Lands was noble, she would not be able to return for the rest of her life once she left her parents and married into the Southern Barbarian Lands thousands of miles away. Which princess would be willing to do so?
The customs and rules there were different from those here. At that time, she would be alone there and had no one to weep out her grief to even if she was wronged. Especially if the two countries started a war, the most unfortunate one would be this kind of woman. Maybe she would be used as a sacrifice and become the flag of war.
Therefore, from the bottom of her heart, the Seventh Princess really didn’t want to marry into such a distant place. However, she didn’t dare to say much, but her heart was in a mess. Although the status of her mother was not low, she couldn’t compare with the Sixth Princess’ mother, Imperial Noble Consort Wen. With Imperial Noble Consort Wen’s clever means, she was afraid that her father would skip the Sixth Princess and ask her to marry into the foreign country. Thinking of this, the Seventh Princess couldn’t calm down. She grabbed the corner of the table cloth and twisted it again and again.
The Sixth Princess looked calm but there was a hint of coldness in her eyes. She lowered her head and did not say a word. Besides, she didn’t look uncomfortable at all.
Sitting beside them, You Yue’e held a cup of wine with her fingers. She glanced at the smiling Princess Caifeng and followed her gaze to look at the princes. As the people opposite were sitting so close together, she could not tell for a moment who Princess Caifeng was looking at approaching for a moment. She also felt that someone opposite was very much liked by Princess Caifeng.
Suddenly, her heart sank.
Princess Caifeng stood up as well and raised her wine cup respectfully. She said with a smile, “Your Majesty, may I know how many princes you have? Are they all on the opposite side?”
She looked innocent and naive. She even turned to look at Feng Yuxuan and the others, as if she was really curious. The emissary had already said that Princess Caifeng would choose her husband amongst the noble men of the Great Qin. No one would be nobler than these princes. As such, she locked her eyes on them. As she had said it so directly, it made one feel that the women from the Southern Barbarian Lands were very direct and would not try to play around.
“My sons are King Chu, King Yan and King Xuan. And King Ning is my nephew.” The Emperor drank a cup of wine and introduced with a smile.
“Gee! Why is there one missing? Which prince is not present? Does he have some work to do?” Princess Caifeng looked at those princes carefully with her beautiful eyes and suddenly asked with a smile.
How could a noble prince not be present at the national banquets between the two countries? Furthermore, Princess Caifeng wanted to choose a husband from the princes. Some people felt that it was impolite to have one prince absent.
Xieyue’s face was slightly cold and one could not see his expression. However, he looked left and right, as if he had just discovered that King Yan was not there.
This was difficult to answer. If the Emperor said that King Yan did not come, it would be the Great Qin’s fault for being impolite!
“Princess Caifeng’s eyes are sharp. Third Brother happens to be on duty and will be here in a while,” Feng Yuran suddenly replied with a laugh. His eyes were bright and charming with surprise. “Princess Caifeng, have you seen Third Brother before? Otherwise, how could you find that he is not here as soon as you came here?”
Being attracted by his handsome and charming face, Princess Caifeng was stunned for a moment. If the palace maid behind her had not pushed her, she would not have been able to reply. When she realized that Feng Yuran had taken the initiative to talk to her, she immediately blushed and bowed to him from afar. She said with a blush, “It’s not that I am concerned about King Yan, but that I found one prince didn’t show up.”
After answering in a shy manner, she was too embarrassed to ask any more questions and just sat down slowly. In other’s eyes, it meant that Princess Caifeng really had feelings for King Yan, so she deliberately mentioned King Yan on such an occasion. King Xuan’s question went to the point and made her embarrassed. No matter how straightforward a young lady was, she would still be shy if she was asked so directly.
When had King Yan hooked up with Princess Caifeng of the Southern Barbarian Lands? Hadn’t Princess Caifeng just came into the capital while King Yan had long been grounded? When had the two been in contact with each other that Princess Caifeng had mentioned King Yan in the hall?
Some even knew that the people from the Southern Barbarian Lands had already come to the capital a long time ago. Could it be that she had contacted King Yan then? It seemed that King Yan was very restless! The Empress Dowager’s face darkened, but a gentle and happy smile appeared on the Empress’ face.
The Emperor’s expression was a little dark as he sat up there. However, he immediately smiled gently and nodded. He followed Feng Yuran’s words and said, “Princess Caifeng, don’t worry. King Yan will come in a while.”
Then he turned around and signaled to the eunuch, Liu Xi who was standing by his side. Liu Xi understood and left quietly. He asked another eunuch to bring King Yan here from King Yan’s Manor. It was a national banquet between the two countries and the Southern Barbarian Lands wanted to pick a son-in-law for Princess Caifeng. If Princess Caifeng had not mentioned him earlier, they could have pretended that she did not know about him. However, Princess Caifeng had mentioned him now. it would be a disgrace to the Qin Kingdom if they did not allow Feng Yulei to appear again.
King Yan came very quickly. Soon, his carriage arrived in the palace. King Yan, who was dressed in a light green royal robe, got off the carriage. He took a deep breath and a flash of anger appeared in his eyes. He had been locked up again and again since he got married. He did not have any freedom. This time, taking advantage of this opportunity, he would be considered to have been released from the ban.
Even the Emperor could not go back on his words. As long as he appeared in the main hall today, the grounding would come to an end. Next, he had to mobilize his resources and would no longer be involved in love affairs. From then on, he would fight for the throne.
