On the sixth day of the first lunar month, it snowed.
Before dawn, Prince Duan Nangong Ke led the wedding procession out of the palace and headed towards Lingxiao Sect.
There were drums and gongs, music and flowers everywhere, it was so lively.
The people from the inner and outer cities of Kyoto got up early today and flocked to the streets to watch the eldest princess's groom.
Even some shops have decided to close today.
Guests from all over the world had already gathered outside the palace.
At this time, in Yaohua Palace.
The eldest princess, Nangong Huoyue, had just come out of the training room and was taking a bath and enjoying incense under the service of Yuewu.
In a pool of hot spring, the mist is thick and the snow-white and delicate body is faintly visible among the pink petals.
On the soft couch by the pool, bright red wedding gowns, phoenix coronas, and other items were neatly stacked.
Yuewu was squatting by the pool, carefully scrubbing her jet-black hair. When she raised her eyes, she could see the towering jade peaks half-hidden and half-exposed by the pink petals.
She glanced at him secretly and couldn't help but whispered, "Mr. Chu is so lucky to marry you... I guess he must have been so excited these past few days that he didn't sleep well for several nights."
Nangong Huoyue leaned against the pool with her eyes closed. She said calmly, "He refused before."
Yue Wu guessed, "Maybe his family is afraid that Master Chu will no longer want them after he becomes the consort of the emperor."
Nangong Huoyue was silent for a while, then asked, "Have you found out about his family members?"
Yue Wu lowered her head and said, "No. I only know that he suddenly appeared in Mocheng. After Mocheng fell, he appeared in Jingdu again. Then, under Dao Ling's introduction, he joined the Lingxiao Sect. The Jinyiwei also tracked him down for a long time, but there was no clue."
He paused, looked at her again, and whispered, "Your Highness, you should know something about him, right?"
Nangong Huoyue frowned slightly and couldn't help but think of those shameful things again.
Yuewu glanced at her cold face and didn't dare to ask any more questions.
It was quiet for a while.
Nangong Huoyue asked: "Is the wedding room ready?"
Yue Wu said respectfully, "It was already arranged yesterday. Would you like to take a look later, Your Highness?"
Nangong Huoyue said lazily: “No need.”
Yuewu glanced at her again, hesitated for a moment, and whispered, "Your Highness, do you need someone to take your place in the bridal chamber tonight? If so, we need to arrange it in advance. The Queen Mother should send someone to guard outside."
Nangong Huoyue was silent for a moment, looking at the pink petals swaying gently on the water, and said calmly: "No need. Since I chose him personally, I will not regret it."
Yuewu lowered her head and said, "Yes."
Soon, Yueying's cold voice came from outside: "Your Highness, news just came from the outer city gate that Young Master Luo has entered the city."
As soon as these words were spoken, Yuewu's hands, which were washing her hair, suddenly trembled slightly.
Nangong Huoyue frowned immediately and asked, "Is he alone?"
Yueying said respectfully: "And there is the woman named Xia Chan."
The bathroom was quiet for a while, and then Nangong Huoyue's complicated voice came: "What a nerd."
Yuewu lowered her head and continued to wash her hair, with no expression on her face.
Nangong Huoyue was silent for a while, then asked, "Is there a chance to stop him and take him away?"
Yueying was quiet outside for a while, and said respectfully: "It may be a little difficult. Since he entered the city, he has been targeted. There are people from the Jinyiwei, the government office, a few spirits, and there are also people in the palace."
Nangong Huoyue narrowed her eyes, pondered for a moment, and sighed: "Forget it, let him come. Since he has decided to come, he must have his reasons, so why should I meddle in his affairs? For some people, reputation, righteousness, backbone, etc. are more important than their own lives."
After a moment of silence, she continued, "Today is my great wedding day. No matter what, I will not let him die in the palace. Yueying, go and get ready and keep an eye on him."
Yueying said respectfully, "Yes."
Nangong Huoyue was quiet for a while, then turned to look at the girl behind him and said, "Do you like him?"
Yuewu lowered her head and said, "No, I just... admire you."
Nangong Huoyue stared at her for a few more seconds and said, "He is not suitable for you. He is indeed talented and capable, but he is just a scholar after all. And... he has a wife at home, among which..."
Having said this, she suddenly stopped and frowned.
Thought about it again.
She took out the message and sent a message to someone: Senior Sister, your husband has entered the city and is preparing to die in the palace. You should know this, right
After sending the message, she held the communication certificate, with a complex emotion on her face, and thought to herself: That woman... is it true that she has no feelings at all? However, she is so attentive to another person, or another soul... Or maybe she just has no feelings for her husband and is just using him...
After a while, the message came back: I know
Nangong Huoyue looked at these two words, was stunned for a moment, and replied: You are too cold-blooded, aren't you? Even if you let him marry into your family out of necessity and just used him, he is dedicated to your Qin family, and he is sincere to your sister. Why don't you stop him
I thought the other party would not reply again, but soon, the message came back: You protect him
"… "
When Nangong Huoyue saw the message, she thought she had read it wrongly. She frowned and read it carefully several times. She couldn't help but laugh. Could it be that this girl had become stupid from practicing? Why did she suddenly become so shameless
She immediately replied: Sorry, I can't do anything. Today is my wedding day, I can't turn against the emperor because of him. He did give me a lot, but what I gave him is more.
After a pause, she replied: Senior Sister, have you become stupid from practicing? Or, I am going to marry someone today, and you are in a bad mood and your brain is broken? You should already know who my consort is, right
The other party did not reply.
Nangong Huoyue frowned and waited for a while before putting away the message. Her expression changed for a while and she murmured, "That girl... won't she come too? Is she for her husband, or for... her lover?"
Then she shook her head and said, "No, she doesn't dare to come, let alone do anything here..."
"It seems that she has really cultivated to the point of being ruthless and heartless..."
"Not caring about her husband's life or death, not caring about her lover becoming another woman's husband, how pitiful and lamentable..."
At this time, Yueying's voice came from outside the door: "Your Highness, the Queen Mother is here and said she would personally help you comb your hair and put on your rosy robe."
Nangong Huoyue came back to her senses, and the expression on her face became cold and majestic again.
at the same time.
Yongyan Palace, in the underground secret room.
Emperor Nangong Yang was sitting alone in a corner, practicing with his eyes closed.
At this time, Li Gui's voice came from outside the door: "Your Majesty, the son-in-law of the Qin family has entered the city, bringing with him the maid named Xia Chan. At this time, he is probably almost in the inner city."
The flames were reflected on Nangong Yang's face, flickering. After practicing for a while, he slowly exhaled a breath of white air and opened his eyes. With a gleam in his eyes, he said, "Keep an eye on him and don't let anyone intercept him. If he enters the palace, let him go. If he goes somewhere else, kill him without mercy."
Then he snorted again, "I haven't prepared any program for my sister's wedding. I didn't expect that he would have the guts to come. As expected, scholars are the most useless. They were tricked into coming with just a few words."
Li Gui said respectfully: "Your Majesty, I heard that the maid is good at swordsmanship..."
Nangong Yang sneered and said, "Let her come in together. I just want to try out the new practice method. Isn't it good? Back then, that bitch named Hua Gu died in front of that boy. Today, another woman died in front of him..."
At this point, a hint of sarcasm appeared in his eyes, and he said, "On the day of the Taikang Banquet, he stole the limelight. Today, I will naturally let him steal the limelight as well."
Li Gui reported again: "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother went to the Princess's place early in the morning. Also, there has been no change in the guards in the palace. There has been no movement in the army of Fire Moon Country and the border, and the border of Hundred Flowers Country is also as peaceful as before..."
Nangong Yang was silent for a moment after hearing this, and said in a cold voice: "Are you giving up now? This is not like her character. Let them continue to monitor her, and after she gets married, I will start to take away these things from her naturally. Even if she has other ideas, she will not have any chance anymore."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Li Gui agreed and waited outside for a while. When he was about to leave, Nangong Yang suddenly said, "Bring a palace maid down, let her wear the wedding gown and sew the mask on."
Li Gui froze at the door for a moment.
Nangong Yang's face, illuminated by the flames, revealed a strange and sinister smile: "I also want to get married today."
Li Gui said respectfully, "Yes."
After saying that, he hurriedly retreated.
Inner city of Kyoto.
The streets were already crowded with people.
All the officials and soldiers of the government office had already been mobilized. They had set up lines and stood people on both sides of the road, clearing out a large space in the middle for the wedding procession and the groom's procession to pass by.
At the same time, the entire inner and outer cities were under tight security.
However, at this moment, the groom was not in the wedding procession, nor was he waiting at the Shili Pavilion outside the city. Instead, he came to the inner city quietly.
Another street had few pedestrians and many shops were closed.
Luo Qingzhou, wearing a loose Confucian robe that revealed his handsome face, walked towards the palace with Xia Chan.
He did not hide his whereabouts or wear a mask, but just walked on the street nakedly.
The street intersection near the palace was crowded with people and guards.
Luo Qingzhou took Xia Chan and walked straight over.
When the guards saw them, they said nothing and did not try to stop them. They just let the two of them walk past them and towards the palace gate.
The two of them seemed like invisible people.
When the people surrounding the area saw this, some of them bravely tried to go over, but were glared at by the guards and kicked back.
There was a lot of discussion among the crowd.
Luo Qingzhou ignored the situation behind him and brought Xia Chan to the gate of the outer city of the imperial palace.
The guard at the door glanced at the two of them and said expressionlessly, "Please come in, Mr. Luo. His Majesty has been waiting for you for a long time."
Luo Qingzhou bowed and took Xia Chan into the palace.
The guard glanced at the sword in the girl's hand behind him and said nothing.
The two men continued walking, one in front and one behind, on the spacious and deserted road in the palace, and soon arrived at the last gate leading to the palace.
Guarding the palace gate was the old general Yuchi Ling with white hair and beard.
He came down from the city wall, his eyes flashing, and he glanced at the two of them. His gaze stopped behind Luo Qingzhou, and then without warning, he drew out the sword at his waist with a "clang", and the sharp tip of the sword instantly pierced the throat of the girl behind him.
Xia Chan stood there, holding the sword in her hand, motionless.
Until the tip of the cold sword was just a hair's breadth away from her throat, she remained like a sculpture, motionless, without even blinking her eyelashes.
Yuchi Ling narrowed his eyes, looked at her deeply again, put away the sword in his hand, and said in a deep voice: "Although His Majesty has ordered you to enter, my responsibility is to protect the palace. Every warrior must check his cultivation before entering. Mr. Luo, are you a warrior?"
He looked at the boy in front of him with sharp eyes.
Luo Qingzhou smiled calmly and said, "I am just a scholar. If the general wants to check, then go ahead and check."
Yuchi Ling raised his other hand, holding a bronze mirror in his palm, and said, "I have completed the inspection, but I just want to ask you in person. You are a world-renowned scholar, so you will not lie."
After saying that, he looked at the girl behind him and said, "You must be a warrior, but I can't tell your level. If it's convenient for you, please use your inner strength to release your warrior aura, or stab me with a sword. It's all fine."
Xia Chan held the sword, her face cold, she didn't move, and she said nothing.
Yuchi Ling narrowed his eyes at her, waited for a while, and said in a cold voice: "If the young lady is unwilling to show her cultivation, then I'm sorry, you can't enter the palace today."
Xia Chan looked at the young man in front of her and clenched the sword in her hand.
Luo Qingzhou turned around, looked at her, reached out and held her sword-holding hand, and said softly: "Chanchan, then you don't have to go in, just wait for me outside. I will come out after I apologize to His Majesty."
Xia Chan's hand trembled, and when she was about to speak, she met his eyes, and the hand holding her little hand suddenly tightened.
She was stunned for a moment, then said obediently, "Yeah."
Yuchi Ling frowned slightly, a hint of hesitation appeared on his face.
He raised his head and looked at the city wall.
A figure stood on the city wall and suddenly said in a sharp voice: "His Majesty has ordered that Young Master Luo and this girl go in together. General Yuchi, do you want to disobey His Majesty's order?"
Yuchi Ling hesitated for a moment before waving his hand and saying, "Everyone go in."
After saying that, he turned around with a sullen face and climbed up the city wall.
Luo Qingzhou raised his head and looked at the city wall, but the figure who had just stood on it had disappeared.
A guard on the city wall showed a trace of confusion on his face.
Just now his eyes went dark and he seemed to have passed out and knew nothing. But when he came to, he found himself still standing there steadily, and there was nothing unusual.
Luo Qingzhou brought Xia Chan into the palace and headed towards Yongyan Palace.
Along the way, they met some eunuchs, palace maids, guards, patrolling royal guards, etc., but they all ignored the two.
When passing through an archway and about to reach Yongyan Palace, a burst of "chuckles" suddenly came from the road next to it.
Then, a ball suddenly flew over.
“Bang!”
The ball hit Luo Qingzhou's cheek.
Luo Qingzhou staggered, covered his face, and turned his head to look.
Several palace maids were surrounding two little girls and running towards this side. One of the girls suddenly opened her eyes wide and said, "Luo Qingzhou! It's you! You bad guy, why didn't you come to play football with me for so long! Humph, you deserved to be kicked in the face by Changle!"
The person who spoke was naturally Nangong Xiaoxin from Prince Duan's Mansion.
She didn't go out to play with us today.
Next to Nangong Xiaoxin, there was another little girl in a white dress. She looked about the same age as her, with eyes and eyebrows similar to the eldest princess Nangong Huoyue, and she looked quite delicate and cute.
She should be the youngest princess, Princess Changle.
Luo Qingzhou stopped, bowed his head, clasped his hands and said, "I am Luo Qingzhou, a humble citizen, and I pay my respects to the two young princes."
Nangong Xiaoxin came over with Princess Changle, and immediately put her hands on her hips and said angrily: "Your Highness is Your Highness, what do you mean by little Your Highness! Luo Qingzhou, you look down on me!"
Princess Changle, who was standing by, blushed slightly, blinked her big eyes, and looked at the handsome young man in front of her shyly and curiously, and whispered, "Xiao Xin, is this the person who is good at guarding the gate that you mentioned?"
Nangong Xiaoxin snorted coldly and said angrily: "It's this bad guy! Every time I need someone, he says all kinds of sweet words and keeps me company. When he's done using me, he just wipes his mouth and walks away, never to come back again. How despicable!"
Princess Changle blinked her clear eyes and whispered, "It's really hateful. Why did he come to the palace today? Is he here to attend my sister's wedding banquet?"
Nangong Xiaoxin said disdainfully: "He must be here to flatter Sister Huoyue. How shameless!"
Luo Qingzhou lowered his head, said nothing, and did not explain.
He was wondering why these two girls, a princess and a little princess, suddenly appeared in this place at this time
Even if they were just playing football, why would they suddenly come here when the palace is so big
No matter how stupid these palace maids are, they should know this place and cannot just come here to play around, right
At this moment, Nangong Xiaoxin suddenly shouted to the back: "Sister Meijiao! Sister Meijiao! Come here quickly, look which bad guy is coming!"
After hearing this, Luo Qingzhou was stunned for a moment, then suddenly he realized something. He raised his head and looked behind them with a complicated expression.
Nangong Meijiao was wearing a red dress today. Her figure was still tall, slender and graceful, but her complexion did not seem to be very good. After seeing him, her face suddenly turned pale.
She held another ball in her arms and walked over slowly. She looked at him for a few seconds and said, "Did you come to the wrong place? The princess's palace is over there."
The two palace maids beside her looked at her.
Luo Qingzhou was silent for a moment, then said, "I came to see Your Majesty. I came to the palace today not only to attend the eldest princess's wedding, but also to apologize to Your Majesty."
Nangong Meijiao's hands holding the ball trembled slightly, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but her eyes glanced at the palace maid next to her.
Luo Qingzhou interrupted what she wanted to say: "Princess, I came here to sincerely apologize to His Majesty today. There are people waiting for me at home, and I will go back as soon as possible."
Nangong Meijiao looked pale, glanced at Xia Chan behind him, and said, "Your Majesty is very busy..."
At this time, the maid next to her suddenly said, "Princess, let's take the little princess to the court or the back garden to play. If the steward sees us, we will be punished."
Nangong Xiaoxin suddenly glared at her and said, "What are you afraid of? If he dares to punish you, just come to me! I'll ask Changle to go find the Queen Mother and let her scold them!"
Then he asked with a puzzled look on his face: "Luo Qingzhou, how did you make Brother Emperor angry? Today is Sister Huoyue's wedding day, and you actually came here to apologize. You really know how to choose a day. Brother Emperor is busy meeting guests now, so he has no time to pay attention to you."
After saying that, she suddenly came over, pulled Luo Qingzhou's wide sleeves and said, "Come on, play football with us first, and then go to Sister Huoyue's wedding banquet together. After the wedding banquet, this princess will personally accompany you to apologize to Brother Emperor. Oh, and Changle, let Changle go with us. Brother Emperor likes me very much, and he loves Changle very much. With the two of us accompanying him, Brother Emperor will definitely not punish you, let's go!"
Luo Qingzhou stood there without moving.
Nangong Meijiao was anxious and was about to come over to pull him together, when Li Gui's shrill voice suddenly came from the gate of Yongyan Palace not far away: "Hey, Master Luo is here! Come in quickly! His Majesty has been waiting for you for a long time, and said that he would go to the eldest princess' wedding banquet with you later."
Then he bowed his body again, and said with a smile on his face: "Your Highnesses, go and play first. After His Majesty has seen Master Luo, I will let Master Luo come over to play with you, okay?"
"not good!"
Nangong Xiaoxin immediately said with a straight face: "Li Gui, Changle wants Luo Qingzhou to play with her now, right, Changle?"
Princess Changle was stunned for a moment. Just as she was feeling embarrassed, her arm was suddenly pinched. She hissed and immediately said, "Eunuch Li, can you... let Brother Luo go and play with Changle for a while?"
Li Gui's face froze for a moment. Just when he didn't know how to answer, Luo Qingzhou, who was grabbed by Nangong Xiaoxin's sleeve, suddenly bowed and said, "Your Highness, you go first. I will go to see His Majesty first and will be there later."
After saying that, he gently pried open Nangong Xiaoxin's small hand and turned away.
Xia Chan followed behind and glanced at the three of them.
Nangong Meijiao said with a pale face: "Luo Qingzhou..."
Luo Qingzhou did not look back and quickly walked to the gate of Yongyan Palace with Xia Chan.
Li Gui glanced at him with a fake smile and said, "Mr. Luo, please..."
“Bang!”
Before he could finish, Luo Qingzhou slapped him hard in the face.
Li Gui was shocked and angry, covering his cheek and asked, "Master Luo, why is it this time?"
“Snap! Snap! Snap!”
Luo Qingzhou slapped him three times in a row, then looked at him and said, "No reason, I just thought you didn't dare to fight back, so I wanted to slap you."
Li Gui froze for a moment, gritting his teeth.
Luo Qingzhou ignored him and strode into the house with Xia Chan.
"close the door!"
Li Gui immediately gritted his teeth and said hatefully, with an extremely resentful and ferocious look on his face.
"Squeak..."
The palace gates are closed.
Nangong Meijiao, who was standing outside and watching this scene, felt her heart tremble suddenly.