The Prosperous Era's Imperial Concubine 114: Yelü Ye Visits

  Yelü Yuzhi visits

  As soon as they left the imperial garden, Mo Jingqi had already sent someone to wait at the exit. Such a big thing happened in the palace, it's impossible for everyone to just disperse and go back to wash and sleep. Although there were not many assassins who infiltrated the palace this time, compared to the more than 1,000 people of the Imperial Guard, they were nothing but a drop in the bucket.

  It's just that the guards in the palace are not as strict as imagined. No wonder the dark guards of the Ding Wang Fu privately looked down on these Imperial Guards with some pride. At least, the Ding Guo Wang Fu has never been breached by any assassin in nearly a hundred years.

  After being frightened by the assassin, Mo Jingqi naturally couldn't sleep. With his ministers who were still in a state of shock, he moved to Longteng Hall to handle government affairs. As Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao approached the door, they heard Mo Xiuyao's angry scolding coming from inside, clearly rebuking the guards for their dereliction of duty. Ye Li raised an eyebrow, remembering that the current commander of the Imperial Guard was Leng Haoyu.

  What's wrong with Big Brother?

  As they entered the hall, they indeed saw a young man who looked three-tenths similar to Leng Huan Yu kneeling on the ground with his head bowed, listening to Mo Jing Qi's scolding. Seeing the two enter, Mo Jing Qi finally suppressed his desire to continue scolding and thoughtfully stared at the two who had arrived hand in hand, saying: "Why is the Crown Princess with the Crown Prince?" Ye Li smiled lightly and said:

  "Your Majesty, Ye Li is worried about the safety of my king, so she took people to find him. In the rush, I didn't even have time to report to Your Majesty, please forgive me." Mo Jingqi looked at Ye Li with a complex gaze, then forced out a smile and said: "The King of Ding and his wife are deeply in love, it's a great story of Chu. It's only natural for the queen to worry about the king, how can I..."

  "Will you blame me?" Ye Li seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and smiled: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your understanding."

  "How is my beloved Princess Zhen Ning?" Mo Jing Qi turned his gaze towards Mo Xiu Yao and asked.

  Mo Xiuyao nodded slightly and said, "Princess Zhen Ning was frightened, but she wasn't injured."

  "That's good." Mo Jingqi smiled and said: "Zhen Ning is my beloved daughter, if she suffers any harm, I and the empress will be extremely heartbroken." Although he was smiling, Ye Li did not see a hint of genuine joy in his smile.

  "What does Wang think about tonight's matter?" Mo Jingqi stared at Mo Xiuyao and asked.

  Mo Xuyao furrowed his brow, thinking: "I don't know, but... it shouldn't be aimed at the Emperor." Although most of the guards were protecting the Emperor at that time, those assassins didn't try to break through the encirclement to attempt to assassinate the Emperor. To think about it, even if they really killed all the officials on the upper floor, the most would only make the Emperor angry and annoyed.

  The actual impact is not as great as it seems. It's probably just a matter of reshuffling the cards on the imperial court and replacing some people. "However... Lord Leng, may I ask why the Imperial Guard arrived so late?" Turning around, Mo Xiuyao pointed his gun at Leng Qingyu, who was still kneeling on the ground.

  Leng Qingyu looked up at Mo Xiuyao and said in a deep voice, "At that time, the assassin's troops were divided into several routes and attacked the palace several times. I was momentarily negligent and fell for the 'borrowing a tiger to leave the mountain' trick. Please, Your Majesty, punish me."

  "For a moment's negligence?" Mo Xiuyao sneered, "It seems that Lord Leng has already forgotten the purpose of the Imperial Guard's existence. Since he knew someone had broken into the palace, regardless of whether there were assassins in Zhai Xing Lou at the time, shouldn't Lord Leng's first priority be to rush to Zhai Xing Lou to protect the Emperor? The commander-in-chief of the Imperial Guard would actually be intimidated by a few assassins?"

  "Get out of the way, I think this position of commander of the Imperial Guard is going to be taken by someone else." Leng Qingyu's already cold expression became even more rigid, but he also knew that Ding Wang was right. Tonight's events were indeed his fault and no matter what Ding Wang said, he had no room for rebuttal.

  "Alright." Mo Jingqi frowned and said: "Tonight was indeed a dereliction of duty by Qing Yu, so let's deduct half a year's salary. The palace guards also need to be disciplined, if there's another mistake next time, I won't be lenient." By saying this, Mo Jingqi was essentially not punishing Leng Qingyu. The Leng family was wealthy and didn't lack half a year's salary, so being punished was the same as not being punished. Originally, this kind of thing

  If it were someone else, they would probably lose their head or at least their official position. But since the Emperor had already spoken and punished others, he couldn't say much more. After hearing Mo Jingqi's words, Mo Xiuyao also lowered his head and stopped arguing back.

  Mo Xiu Yao didn't say anything, Mo Jing Qi nodded in satisfaction and asked: "Shall we leave tonight's matter to King Ding to investigate? I'm sure King Ding will give me an explanation as soon as possible?"

  Mo Xiu Yao furrowed his brow and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. In another month, I will be setting out to head to Bei Rong. There are also many trivial matters on the side of the Bei Rong prince as well as in the manor, I'm afraid Wu Xian won't be able to split himself up."

  Mo Jing Qi was taken aback for a moment, and didn't force the issue again. He nodded and said: "It's my fault for not considering it thoroughly, never mind. I'll have Prime Minister Liu investigate this matter now."

  Mo Xiuyao had no opinion on this matter, in fact even if he did have an opinion Mo Jingqi wouldn't listen to him.

  As they left the palace, Ye Li looked at Mo Xiu Yao with a hint of curiosity on the carriage, "Are you helping Leng Qing Yu?"

  Mo Xiuyao smiled and looked at her, raising an eyebrow: "Can you tell?"

  Ye Li rolled her eyes, "You're being too obvious." Anyone could see that Mo Xiuyao had deliberately targeted Leng Qingyu in the hall just now. However, even if Mo Xiuyao really didn't like Leng Qingyu, there was no need to make things difficult for him at that time. And with Mo Jingqi's personality, if Mo Xiuyao wanted to demote someone, he would definitely protect them. If it weren't for Mo Xiuyao's difficulties, even if Mo Jingqi trusted Leng Qingyu again, it wouldn't be possible to only deduct half a year's salary from him. "How come I didn't know you and Leng Qingyu had such a good relationship? Is it because of Leng Er's face?" Mo Xiuyao shook his head, "Leng Er doesn't need me to give him face, besides... even if he were to save a beggar on the side of the road, he wouldn't ask me to help his brother."

  Ye Li lowered her eyebrows and pondered for a moment before looking up at him, "Do you want to intervene in the affairs of Mo Jingqi and the Leng family?"

  Mo Xiuyao leaned back in the carriage, smiling: "The young lady is really clever. This is just a small trick, and Mo Jingqi will figure it out later. However, Mo Jingqi is a person who, as long as he has a little bit of suspicion, even if he himself is clear about it, will still be unable to help but guard against Leng Qingyu. In the future, it will be easier for us to add fuel to the fire." Ye Li understood that this was laying the groundwork in advance. If Mo Jingqi and the Dingguo King's residence were to get along peacefully in the future, Leng Qingyu would naturally be safe and sound as the emperor's confidant. But if it really came down to an unavoidable situation, Mo Jingqi's trusted followers would also be within the scope of those who needed to be eliminated by the Dingguo King's residence. Thinking about how Mo Xiuyao was going to leave on a long journey in more than a month, Ye Li couldn't help but furrow her brow, feeling a vague sense of unease in her heart.

  "What's wrong with Ah Lian?" Mo Xiuyao asked softly, looking down at her deeply furrowed eyebrows.

  Ye Li looked up at him, "What plans do you have for going to Bei Rong?"

  Mo Xiuyao smiled and said, "A Lian, don't worry, the Beirong people won't openly fight with me. Although there are some underhanded things that can't be avoided, after all these years, what is the Dingguo Wangfu afraid of?" Ye Lian furrowed her brow and said, "It's still better to be careful." Knowing she was worried about him, Mo Xiuyao pulled her into his arms and softly said, "I know, A Lian, you can rest assured, I will return safely." Ye Lian nodded heavily, one hand unconsciously grasping the hem of Mo Xiuyao's clothes tightly.

  The next morning, Ye Li was still practicing martial arts in the school field when Mo Zongguan hurriedly came to report that the Beijun prince had requested an audience. Ye Li also knew that with only a little over a month's time, it was a bit rushed, not just to select a suitable candidate for the marriage alliance, but more importantly, to teach the princess-to-be the etiquette and rules of the imperial court, which were not things that could be accomplished overnight. Since the founding of Da Chu, there had basically been no instances of sending a princess to another country for a marriage alliance. Even if everything was prepared in advance, it would still take almost a year. This time, Mo Jingqi suddenly agreed to form an alliance with Beijun, and both sides relaxed their conditions to the point where it seemed like child's play. Although no one took this alliance seriously, they still had to go through the motions for the sake of appearances.

  "Is the king available?" Ye Li asked, tossing her sword into its scabbard on one side.

  The ink general said: "The third young master of Feng came to see the king early this morning. The king has gone out."

  Ye Li nodded, "Please invite Prince Yelü to the main hall, and also send over the flower name list of the ladies from the capital city that were organized a few days ago."

  "The princess, it's really not easy to get into the Dingguo Mansion." Before Mo Zongguan could respond, Ye Luye's laughter echoed from afar. Outside the moon-shaped gate, Ye Luye gazed at the motionless face of the Dingguo Mansion guard with a hint of regret in his heart for being unable to force his way in. Indeed, this was the Dingguo Mansion that had sent so many assassins and spies fleeing in defeat. Its defenses were ten times stronger than those of the Great Chu Imperial Palace. Looking at the guard's expressionless face, Ye Luye didn't try to force his way in; as long as these people wouldn't let him pass, it was absolutely impossible for him to break through the siege and enter within a short period of time. Besides... offending the beauty would be a loss.

  "Fall back." Ye Li appeared behind the guards with Mo Zong, speaking softly. The guards silently retreated, and Yelü Ye raised an eyebrow to size up the woman in front of him. Unlike before, this time Ye Li wore a simple white tunic, with a green belt around her waist. Her black hair was casually tied back without any adornments, but her natural beauty still shone through, her eyebrows and eyes like a painting, her aura extraordinary.

  Yelü Yeshi smiled and said: "Am I disturbing Your Highness?"

  Ye Li looked at him with a smile that was not quite a smile and said: "Prince, if you were really worried about disturbing us, why did you have to force your way in?"

  Yelü Xianyu smiled innocently: "I just wanted to appreciate the scenery of Dingguo King's mansion, who knew that Dingguo King's mansion was so heavily guarded."

  Yueri thought it was unnecessary to refute this kind of quibble, and smiled faintly: "The prince please go to the front hall for tea, I'll take my leave first."

  "Wait." Yelü Ye stepped forward, and Mo Zongguan also stepped forward, standing in front of Yelü Ye and smiling faintly: "Your Highness, please restrain yourself." Yelü Ye laughed loudly: "Was the queen just practicing martial arts? I'm very curious about the Zhongyuan martial arts, I wonder if I have the honor to exchange blows with the queen?" Mo Zongguan said: "The Dingguo King's mansion is full of masters, if Your Highness wants to exchange blows, I can choose a few people to accompany you. Even this old man can also accompany Your Highness for a little entertainment."

  Yelü Ye Xiao looked at Ye Li and said, "This king naturally knows that the Dingguo Wangfu is full of masters. However... I want to experience the high-level moves of the Queen of Dingguo."

  Ye Li said faintly, "I thought we had already crossed hands with the prince last night. Moreover...the prince's own martial arts skills were also learned from me in Zhongyuan, so what's there to be curious about?"

  Ye Luoye was taken aback, his kung fu indeed learned from the Central Plains people, but every time they met, he had been avoiding using Central Plains martial arts. It turned out that he hadn't avoided others' eyes after all? "The princess has a good eye for it. Last night, I hastily went through a few moves and was somewhat regretful. I wonder if today I can have the honor of exchanging blows with the princess?" Ye Li lowered her head and turned around, saying: "Since that's the case, Prince Ye Luo, please." After speaking, she led the way and walked in first. Watching Ye Li's back, Ye Luoye raised an eyebrow and smiled, following her happily.

  After entering the campus behind the wall, Yelü Ye was somewhat disappointed. This martial arts arena hidden in the backyard of Dingguo Wangfu, where outsiders were forbidden to enter, was not much different from others. However, thinking again, he felt it was reasonable. Moxuyao had been disabled for seven or eight years and didn't need a martial arts arena at all. Moreover, even if there were any secrets in the Dingguo Wangfu, they wouldn't be placed openly in the mansion where people might break in at any time, although no one had ever succeeded in breaking in over the years.

  He didn't know that just half a month ago, this place was in a different state. It's just that after Yelü had better options, he removed these simplified versions from the mansion, and even daily training didn't need them.

  Ye Li walked into the martial arts arena and turned around to look at Ye Luoye who was following behind, saying calmly: "Prince Ye Luo, please."

  Ye Lü Ye couldn't help but furrow his brow, only now realizing that this Ding Guo Wangfei was not as easy to deal with as he had imagined. He didn't believe that Ye Li couldn't see that he wasn't really interested in sparring with her, but she pretended not to know and walked into the martial arts arena with a serious expression, waiting for him to make the first move. She even put on a welcoming face, seemingly intending to let him take the lead as a guest. This made Ye Lü Ye want to cry and laugh at the same time - during a duel, he had to yield to a woman, and if this got back to Bei Zheng, his older brother would probably die laughing. As the seventh prince of Bei Zheng, Ye Lü Ye was proud of his noble status and exceptional looks, and even the bold and forthright women of Bei Zheng couldn't help but blush in front of him. But this woman had shown no reaction at all when he had deliberately flirted with her multiple times. If a woman could remain calm and composed even when a remarkable man like himself was trying to charm her, then it had to be said that she was really not easy to deal with.

  As they walked towards the martial arena, Yelü Xie laughed and said: "The princess doesn't take a single weapon? The princess is learning swordsmanship?"

  Ye Li said calmly: "The prince also said that I am learning swordsmanship and still studying, how dare I show off?"

  Yelü Wozuo nodded, "I also think the princess is quite skilled with short-range weapons." Not only was she skilled, but thinking back to last night's unexpected two thrusts still made his heart feel chilly. "Please, Princess."

  "Please," said Ye Li.