Chapter Seventy-Nine: Another Yue Princess Marries into Jingling

  After arriving at the Jin Palace, people would occasionally raise their heads to look into the carriage of the Zhenling young master. Wei Luo didn't want to receive those unusual and prying glances, so he had already pulled down the curtains early on.

  After pulling down the curtain, she couldn't see the scenery outside and didn't dare to look in the direction of the Duke of Jingling, so she turned her head sideways with closed eyes, imitating his way of cultivating her spirit.

  As the carriage swayed, the noise outside grew louder and clearer, and the light shining through the curtains became brighter, until it was like daylight. Before long, the carriage came to a stop, and a clear, respectful voice called out from outside, "Young master, we've arrived."

  Jingling Gongzi finally opened his eyes.

  Just as he opened his eyes, a shrill shout pierced the night sky, "Young Master Jingling has arrived!"

  That voice was piercing and extremely loud. For a moment, the surrounding noise and laughter disappeared.

  At this time, the carriage curtain had been lifted, and just as the light came in, Wei Luo was like a rabbit shrinking into the corner of the backlight, that action was extremely agile and swift!

  The Prince of Jingling lazily glanced at her, didn't say anything, and got off the carriage with a swagger. The moment he appeared, hundreds of voices shouted in unison: "We've seen the Prince of Jingling."

  The gentle and clear laughter of the Duke of Jingling came, "Everyone is too polite." With his opening, the noise started again, and the crowd walked towards him with a smile, exchanging a few words with each other.

  Wei Luo remained still in the corner of the carriage, not moving at all.

  After a while, the noise gradually subsided, and then the sound of chaotic footsteps rose, and the voices of the crowd grew farther and farther away. It seemed that the ministers had escorted Prince Jingling into the main hall.

  At this time, Wei Luo carefully came to the carriage curtain, quietly looked outside, and saw that there were indeed not many people around the carriage, before jumping down from the carriage.

  She slipped down from the carriage like a rabbit, looked up at Jingling Gongzi fifty meters away, and began to trot towards him.

  The Prince of Jingling was surrounded by dozens of ministers and famous scholars, Wei Luo followed him ten steps behind, then stopped in his tracks, starting to pace back and forth.

  She honestly lowered her head and tried to make herself as inconspicuous as possible. In fact, a boy dressed like her didn't have any presence at all, so she didn't need to try hard.

  When Gongzi Jingling arrived at the gate of the palace, that sharp whistle sounded again, "Gongzi Jingling enters the palace——" The voice was loud and clear, with a lingering echo.

  After Gongzi and others entered the main hall, Wei Luo lowered her head and slowly rubbed against Gongzi's seat along the corner of the hall.

  This is a grand hall that can accommodate thousands of people for a banquet. High above the vaulted ceiling, countless lanterns are hung, and every ten steps, there stands a swordsman wearing full chest armor. Wei Luo looked up and couldn't help but hesitate for a moment.

  The Prince of Queling, as the crown prince, sat in a very prominent position. That was the main seat facing the nobles! There were two seats on either side, and the one sitting on the left was a man in his 40s with big golden fish bubbles under his eyes, wearing a marquis's crown, who should be the Marquis of Jin.

  The Duke of Jin was very thin, with a dark and gaunt face, the nasolabial fold between his lips and nose pulled down long, with a gloomy look.

  His five senses have some similarities with the son of Queling, but on the body of Jinhou, I really can't feel half a bit of cleverness, only gloominess and excessive lust for dark and obscure desires.

  The Prince of Queling arrived at the right side of the host, surrounded by a crowd, and after making his bow to the Marquis of Jin, he knelt down.

  That position was the very center of the entire palace. Behind the throne, where the emperor and crown prince sat, only a few palace maids stood far away against the wall, with no one else around. Wei Luo thought for a moment, then retreated to the corner near the host's seat, tightly pressed against the wall, her head slightly lowered, hands hanging down, looking like an attendant.

  Sitting on the right side of the hall, eight or nine young men with similar faces sat in a row. They were so alike that they looked like the Prince of Jin and the Marquis of Qi. Anyone who saw them would know at once that these were the other princes of the State of Jin.

  Wei Luo only took a glance before withdrawing her gaze. The entire grand hall was filled with hundreds of noble guests, all chattering and making a ruckus.

  After all the distinguished guests had fallen, Wei Luo finally let out a breath of relief. The foodies, scholars and swordsmen brought by the Duke of Jingling also fell.

  Finally found the organization.

  Wei Luo let out a happy sigh of relief. Although the place she was standing was in a corner, all the palace maids and eunuchs were entering and exiting from there, each carrying wooden boxes past her, forcing her to lean against the wall, which was really uncomfortable.

  Wei Luo quietly made her way to the ninth row on the left, carefully finding an empty seat before sitting down. As she sat down, those swordsmen and foodies all turned their heads to glance at her, their eyes revealing disdain - they already knew that this little girl was the newly promoted third-rate foodie who had luckily advanced through her charm.

  The Duke of Jin looked around at the dignitaries gathered in the hall, picked up a square green cup, and slowly stood up. He swirled the cup towards the crowd and said in a hoarse, tired voice: "Today, our prince Zhenling defeated the Qin army, captured six cities, and returned with flying colors to boost the prestige of our Jin people. This banquet is held to welcome him back and wash away his dust." As he spoke, he raised the wine high, covered his right sleeve slightly, tilted his head back and drained the cup in one gulp, saying: "Cheers!"

  Many noble men raised their cups of wine at the same time and drank them dry in one gulp.

  The Duke of Jin put down his wine cup, his dull yellow eyes scanning the ministers indifferently, and continued: "Now that our national prestige has been established, we have already informed all the vassals and presented a memorial to the Zhou Son of Heaven. In a few days, envoys from various countries will come to congratulate us. The Qi state's Jixia Palace and the Chu state's Zhizi Terrace have both sent famous scholars. Swordsmen from all over the world are flocking to Xin Tian. Such prestige originated with Gongzi Jinling, so let us celebrate..."

  After Duke Jin's voice rose to say "Everyone, let us celebrate—", the nobles all stood up from their seats with a rustling sound, holding wine vessels that had been refilled by the palace maidens beside them, and turned towards Prince Queling, saying in unison: "We congratulate Your Highness on the rise of Jin's prestige—"

  The neat and loud singing voice keeps echoing in the grand hall.

  The Duke of Jingling burst out laughing, he raised his wine glass and stood up, saying loudly: "Cheers!"

  Having said that, he slightly raised his right sleeve, lifted his left hand high, tilted his head and drank the wine in the jug in one gulp.

  After Duke Ling of Jin drank the wine, Lord Chun smiled slightly. His face was really dull and even when he smiled, it gave people a sense of dryness and darkness.

  After laughing, the Duke of Jin picked up the wine vessel that had been refilled and turned to the Viscount of Zhenling, saying: "The merit of this time for Ba Er has already been rewarded by Father Hou with the position of Crown Prince. However, this merit is great, and Father Hou still has a reward!"

  The Marquis of Jin spoke to this point, and the brow of the Duke of Jingling jumped slightly. Wei Luo saw his slightly pursed lips and knew that he was vigilant in his heart, and couldn't help but wonder: reward? What reward?

  In fact, it was not just Weiruo who was curious, but the entire hall fell silent as the crowd that had been whispering to each other stopped talking. They looked up and focused their attention on the father-son pair at the main seat.

  The Duke of Jin coughed and said with a hoarse and tired smile, "My son has been an adult for many years and should have gotten married and had children long ago. However, three years ago, the King of Chu arranged for his daughter to marry my son, but she was killed by bandits on her way to our state. After Yuji's death, my son has been procrastinating until now. The King of Chu, remembering how deeply my son loved Yuji, specially asked Duke Yue to arrange another marriage."

  The voice of the Duke of Jin was not loud, but rather weak and lacking in energy, giving people a sense of being out of breath. However, the acoustics in this grand hall were excellent, and in the midst of silence, every word he spoke clearly reached every corner.

  Everyone was silent.

  Wei Luo hung her head, staring at the father and son on the main seat with big, round eyes that blinked unblinkingly. The puzzle that had been engraved in her heart for a long time finally had some answers.

  She gazed at the smiling, gentle and handsome face of Jingling Gongzi on stage, and for a moment she was overwhelmed with emotions, her mind completely blank.

  The chairman above, the voice of Jin Hou was still hoarse and weak, "This time, the Chu king's daughter-in-law, is the most favored legitimate princess of the Chu Marquis, her status far surpasses that of the previous Yue Ji. My son will surely be satisfied."

  He said this, clapped his hands together, "Clap, clap, clap!" and started applauding.

  As the applause rang out, a girl in magnificent attire, with pearls and jade hanging from her head and white powder on her face, walked out with four maidservants surrounding her. Her pink skirt was long and trailing, with sparkling jewels and dazzling gold, actually inlaid with gold and precious pearls.

  The princess of Yue stepped forward and came before the prince of Jingling and the marquis of Jin, made a curtsy to both of them, then in a soft and melodious voice with a slight accent of Wu and Jin dialects said: "I have seen your lordship, I have seen the crown prince."

  Weiluo lowered his head, almond eyes wide open, staring at the eldest princess of Yue for a moment. After gazing at the heavy and intricate jade phoenix crown on her head, and the thick layer of white powder on her face that obscured her original features, Weiluo turned to look at Gongzi Jingling.