Outside Linde Hall, Li Xuanzhen stood in front of the steps with his arms folded, his handsome face covered with a thin layer of light golden sunlight.
From below the steps came a wave of hearty laughter. Chief Yelu, with braids draped over his shoulder and in a laced Hu robe, entered the front hall of the Linde Hall surrounded by a group of people.
Li Xuanzhen stood above a draft and his wide overcoat robe was blown open by the wind. He watched Chief Yelu's back disappear through the vermillion palace gate.
Qin Fei stood behind him with a struggling look on his face, "Your Highness... Seventh Princess... Seventh Princess is, after all, your younger sister."
Although not a full-blooded younger sister, but still a sister with his blood.
Li Xuanzhen's thin lips were tightly pursed.
Qin Fei muttered in a low voice: "This subordinate should not speak out of turn, but this subordinate feels that Chief Historian Wei's method is too underhanded. How can you calculate a young lady like this? In this subordinate's opinion..."
Li Xuanzhen turned around abruptly.
Qin Fei was scared enough to jump three feet high. He swallowed the unfinished words back into his stomach, not daring to make a sound.
Li Xuanzhen turned his back on Linde Hall and left in big strides.
......
Inside Linde Hall, Yaoying stood under a pomegranate tree full of bright red flowers. After waiting a while, she still did not see the representative from Daci'en Temple.
She asked the palace maid, "Why hasn't the representative arrived yet?"
The palace maid lowered her head and replied, "Your Highness, wait a little longer. Just now, the supervisor said that the representative has already arrived outside the hall."
Yaoying raised her eyes, quietly and carefully sizing up the palace maid.
The palace maid lowered her face, allowing her to look.
Yaoying frowned gently.
Something was wrong!
She turned on her heels and left.
The palace attendants looked at each other in dismay.
Without saying a word, Xie Qing gripped the sword's hilt tightly and followed Yaoying at a brisk pace.
The palace maid who replied was frozen in place, and only reacted when Yaoying had gone far away. She quickly ran up to her: "Your Highness, the representative will be here soon. Why are you leaving?"
Yaoying did not say a word.
The palace maid kept looking back and found a dozen figures approaching on the pathway leading to the front hall. She was overjoyed and reached out to pull Yaoying, "Your Highness, look! The representative is here!"
Yaoying ignored the palace maid, leaving without looking back.
The palace maid's heart thumped. She ran a few steps faster to block Yaoying's way, a broad smile on her face: "Your Highness, look! The representative is really here!"
Yaoying glanced at the palace maid coldly.
The palace maid calmly said, "If you don't believe me, turn around and look."
Yaoying did not turn around.
Xie Qing took a step forward and unsheathed a long sword: "Get lost!"
The palace maid didn't expect him to actually draw his sword when he said he would, so she shrieked and shuddered as she retreated.
This deliberately high scream drew the attention of the approaching people not far away, and more than a dozen eyes swept over.
Yaoying sensed the strange gaze behind her, feeling like pins and needles She subconsciously raised her sleeve to block her face, darted quickly through the corridor, hiding in the middle hall.
A tall figure walked over.
Yaoying was walking too fast and didn't notice someone was in front of her, so she ran headfirst into his embrace.
The other person was a man with a solid chest. His long arm reached out and took Yaoying's elbow, helping her to stand firmly.
Yaoying was startled and lifted her head, coming into contact with the cold eyes of the other party.
A pair of long, narrow phoenix eyes looked at her coldly.
Yaoying froze in place. For a moment, her body went limp.
"That palace maid was eldest brother's person? What does eldest brother want to do?"
Her questioning voice was trembling.
Li Xuanzhen released her hand and moved his eyes away, "Go to the back hall."
Yaoying's hands hidden in her sleeves gently clenched into fists. Her heart was beating like a drum while she lightly sweated under her clothes.
Li Xuanzhen twisted his face away from her and moved out of the way, his voice as cold as ice and snow: "Go to the back hall. Don't come out."
Xie Qing had finally chased over and vigilantly shielded in front of Yaoying. The tip of his sword pointed at Li Xuanzhen.
Li Xuanzhen's face had little expression.
The sound of talking and laughing came from outside the window, and the people got closer and closer.
"Go to the back hall." Yaoying gently tugged on Xie Qing and said decisively.
Xie Qing nodded, sheathed the long sword, and assisted Yaoying into the back hall.
Just as the figures of the master and servant disappeared behind the corridor pillars, Chief Yelu entered the front hall in high sprits and said curiously, "Just now, I saw two people heading in that direction...."
Although the woman covered her face, a look at the exquisite and delicate figure told him that it must have been a beauty. It was a pity that she was walking too fast and he couldn't see her face clearly.
Wei Ming, who was accompanying Chief Yelu, heard his words and secretly despised Chief Yelu's brazenness. But with a smile on his face, he said, "Today's Buddha's birthday puja was presided over by the Seventh Princess. That person just now seemed to be the Seventh Princess."
Chief Yelu suddenly became interested.
He had heard of the Seventh Princess, who was said to be a dainty beauty. Unfortunately, the Seventh Princess never attended palace banquets and polo matches, and he never had the opportunity to see her.
Wei Ming sneered inwardly. His eyes darted around sharply, looking for Li Yaoying's figure, and saw someone present who should not have been here-Li Xuanzhen.
His face instantly sank.
If he wanted the greedy Chief Yelu to abandon Zhu Luyun voluntarily, he could not just rely on a portrait; he had to let him see the Seventh Princess with his own eyes in order to thoroughly impress him.
The Seventh Princess was living in deep seclusion. He had cleverly arranged it and, with great difficulty, found an opportunity for Chief Yelu to get a glimpse of the Seventh Princess's beauty that could overturn cities, and the Crown Prince actually ruined it!
During the puja, Yaoying hid in the back hall from beginning to end and did not show up.
Chief Yelu did not see Yaoying.
Days of hard work went down the drain, and Wei Ming was furious.
The Seventh Princess was on the defensive and their ploy had failed.
Unexpectedly, three days later, things actually took a new turn.
Chief Yelu offered up a completely deferential marriage proposal document, seeking to marry the Seventh Princess.
Wei Ming could not believe his ears: "Chief Yelu clearly did not see the Seventh Princess. How could he give up Princess Fukang?"
The subordinate was also bewildered: "This subordinate does not know. The chief not only promised to change candidates, but also said that he was willing to be on the front line of the Wei army and help recover Liangzhou-as long as His Majesty promised the engagement!"
Wei Ming's jaw dropped.