In her mind, she had already thought of an excuse, such as "not feeling well" or "unaccustomed to the local water and soil". Mu Rong was about to open her mouth, but before she could say a word, Bai Si's wife said: "Baihua Jun has been traveling for a long time and must be tired. I have specially prepared some refreshments in the main courtyard, would you like to go and try some?"

  "It's fine, I don't need it. Murong Yi furrowed his brow and shook his head slightly, 'I'm not hungry yet.'"

  She was taken aback for a moment, her face fell, and Bai Si's younger sister asked dejectedly: "Does the Lord of Hundred Flowers dislike me?"

  A chill ran from the soles of his feet to the back of his neck, and Mu Rongqi really wanted to shout at her: Speak nicely and I'll like you!

  However, looking at Zi Yangjun beside her, Murong Qi felt that if she really yelled at her, the outcome would not be too beautiful. So she could only shake her head, forcing herself to hold back, and a stunningly beautiful face turned pale from holding it in.

  The white-clothed young lady in front of her didn't seem to have any intention of letting her off, clapping her hands and laughing: "Baihua Jun was born with a bright and moving appearance, I like it at first sight, why don't we go out for a stroll together later?"

  Murong Qi shook his head repeatedly: "No need, no need, I still have something to find Danyang Princess."

  "Oh?" asked Bai Si's younger sister curiously, "Are you close with her?"

  "Get close! Why not get close!" The whole brain is thinking about how to get rid of this "concubine". Murong Qi opened his mouth and said, "When we meet later, it's probably going to be a polite conversation. If you want to go out, you can also go with her. Madam should take good care of herself."

  One of them couldn't hold it in anymore, and Li Huaiyu burst out laughing, holding her belly.

  Murong Yi looked at her with a bewildered expression, while the latter relaxed her previous posture and leaned back in her chair, laughing so hard that tears streamed down her face.

  This expression looks familiar no matter how I look at it.

  He narrowed his eyes, and Murong Yi's face sank: "Dan Yang?"

  "Wow, you have a good eye for beauty!" She recovered her usual calm and collected demeanor, and Hua Yu smiled, saying "It's been a year since we last met. We've become quite close, haven't we?"

  Her eyebrows furrowed, Murong Qi slapped the table and stood up: "You dare to fool me!"

  "Didn't you fool me last year?" Hua Yu dug his ears, "I'll remember what you gave me even if I die."

  To show friendship between the two countries, Bai Hua Jun gave a thick gift to the young emperor and also gave a thick gift to the elder princess. The difference is that what was given to the young emperor was real treasure, while what was given to her was a pig's blood clot in the shape of a jade pendant, and she even boasted that it was a rare blood jade pendant. She put it in the palace, and only when it got moldy did she realize that this person had been playing tricks on her.

  "Is this the reason you framed me for sending you the Soul Locking Jade Pendant?" Mu Rong Qi sneered, hugging his arm coldly.

  "You're not being benevolent, I'm not being righteous, fair!"

  Murong Qi got up and wanted to hit her, but Ziyang Jun, who was drinking tea leisurely beside him, moved faster than her. He sidestepped and blocked Huaiyu in front of him, his sleeves fluttering. Although he didn't say a word, Murong Qi also understood what this meant.

  Reacting to something, Murong Qi's expression was very complicated: "So you're bringing Dan Yang back as your wife?"

  Jiang Xuanjin nodded.

  Looking at this handsome face, Murong sighed: "A perfectly fine person, how can he be blind?"

  Li Huaiyu poked her head out from behind Jiang Xuanyin, wrinkling her nose and saying: "What's wrong with being blind? A good girl like me is a blessing to whoever marries me!"

  "You can take a break." Murong Qi sat back in his own seat with an ill temper, still unable to accept this fact for the time being.

  She was very appreciative of Zi Yang Jun, among the four countries, only he alone held a high position with a dignified and upright air, so every time she came back to Northern Wei, she had a lot of contact with Zi Yang Jun. On the other hand, she didn't get along with Dan Yang because at that time, Zi Yang Jun and Dan Yang were not on good terms either.

  It's been a year since we last met, and these two are actually husband and wife now?!

  Taking a deep breath, Murong Yidao said: "I want to go out for a walk."

  "Would you like me to accompany you?" Li Huaiyu asked with a smile.

  He cast a sideways glance at her, then stood up and strode out of the door.

  The situation in the first-line city is somewhat tense. Important figures are gathering here, and the imperial army's forces are increasing around the sealed land borders, and it's unknown when a conflict will erupt, so there aren't many people on the streets, only a few shops are open.

  Murong Qi looked somewhat lackluster when he was in a bad mood, and despite his beautiful eyebrows and eyes, there was an air of evil about him.

  She didn't bring anyone, left the princess's mansion and walked randomly for two steps before seeing a wine tower. A servant-like person was holding a bowl of braised pork, squatting at the door with joy on his face while eating.

  In a place like this, being able to eat such a large bowl of meat is indeed something to be happy about. Murong Qi glanced at it twice and hooked his lips as he said: "What are these characters on the bottom of your bowl?"

  Zhao Cai was savoring his meat when he suddenly felt a jolt and turned over his bowl.

  With a "crash", all the braised pork in the bowl fell to the ground.

  Attracting wealth: "Zhāo cái"

  He whistled softly, and Mu Rong Yi smiled wryly, shoving his hands into his pockets as he continued walking forward.

  The greedy fool was blinded, looked at the evil and seductive beauty, then looked at his own magnificent roasted meat, and burst into tears, rolling and crawling into the wine house.

  Lu Jingxing was reading the letters sent by several shopkeepers from Pingling when he suddenly heard a shocking and earth-shattering wail.

  "Your Highness!"

  He looked up and saw Zhaocai crying so pitifully: "My meat, my braised pork belly is gone!"

  His eyebrows jumped, and Lu Jinghang said helplessly: "What a big deal? If you want to eat, let the kitchen make it again."

  "But she said"

  "It's done." With a wave of his hand, Lu Jing said, "Send this letter to the princess's mansion for His Highness, something is going to happen in Pingling."

  As soon as he heard it was something important, Zhaocai stopped crying and stretched out his greasy paws to receive the letter.

  Persimmons are picked when they're soft to the touch. Among several large fiefdoms, Pingling was actually the weakest in terms of military strength, so Li Huailian made up his mind to start with Pingling and planned to formally reclaim the fief after the new year. Upon hearing the news, several shopkeepers decided to close their shops ahead of time and move to other cities to do business. Lu Jinghang disagreed, instead suggesting that they wait for a good opportunity to collect more debts.

  Jiang Xuanyin is sure to protect Pingling, although he doesn't know what the outcome will be, but he is willing to trust him a little more.

  If Lu Jinghang's light smile was lost, then it would be a loss, but it wouldn't be anything significant. A businessman with little courage can't make a big fortune.

  The New Year's atmosphere didn't last for two days before it dissipated, and news came from Pingling that the imperial court intended to forcefully reclaim the fiefdom. 30,000 troops and 100 officials were dispatched to the border of Pingling, seemingly with the intention of directly seizing power.

  Murong Qi was on the street beating up two men who had insulted her when she received the news. Someone handed her a letter, and after glancing at it, she gave a few casual orders and sent someone to deliver a message to Eastern Jin.

  She didn't come to this border town just for the sake of Ziyang Jun's favor, but also because of the situation in the four countries. West Liang was not a viable option, South Yan was at peace in a corner, and only East Jin and North Wei had strong forces. At present, there is a tendency to split, and she must come to lend a helping hand no matter what.

  The emperor of Northern Wei was also foolish, who else could he offend, and yet he offended both the Princess Changle and Prince Ziyang together, causing such a mess, it's probably impossible to clean up! As someone waiting for the net to be pulled in, Murong Qi was excitedly waiting for the shell to pinch the snipe's mouth shut.

  It came quickly on this day, the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, a clash broke out at Pingling Biancheng, and the imperial court officially went to war with Pingling.

  Jiang Xuanjin was well-prepared and reinforcements arrived quickly. The two sides clashed twice within a day, each with their own losses and gains.

  "It's not advantageous for the imperial family to fight at this time." Bai Qi said in a low voice, "Your Majesty has yet to stabilize the hearts of his subjects, and another conflict has arisen within the country. If we can't quickly take down Pingling, I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain to the officials of the court."

  Li Huaiyu leaned against the soft couch, slightly furrowing her brow: "Huailun is getting anxious."

  I don't know why, but since they returned to their hometown, Huai Lin's actions have become more and more anxious. If she were as cautious as when she was in hiding before, she might still be able to avoid two or three troubles. But now it seems that he is impatient and wants to confront them head-on without caring about the consequences.

  As for winning or losing, it's actually a close call, but the variable is that they have a Baihua Jun on their side.

  "What a stubborn fool!" Li Huailian slapped his palm on the imperial case, angrily saying, "My Northern Wei affairs have nothing to do with her Eastern Jin!"

  Just after capturing the border town of Pingling, it was counterattacked and taken back in less than a day. Reinforcements arrived from Ziyang and Danyang, but surprisingly, Eastern Jin also sent someone to deliver supplies to Ziyang, euphemistically calling it a "gift".

  Which country's gift is military pay?!!

  "Your Majesty, calm down. That Bai Hua Jun is cunning and deceitful in her ways, even the ruler of Eastern Jin can't control her." Qi Han cupped his hands and said, "I've had people investigate, and now the actual power in Eastern Jin lies in Bai Hua Jun's hands."

  "What's to be done?" Li Huailian burst out in a rage.

  Liu Yunlie hesitated for a moment beside him and said, "If I'm not mistaken, Zi Yangjun is planning to defect to the enemy."

  The war has begun, Jiang Xuanjin is afraid of losing, so he invites Baihuajun to assist. With Dongjing supporting them from behind, they will definitely be able to defend Pingling.

  "What a ridiculous thing!" Li Huailian was furious and got up from his seat to pace back and forth in the imperial study, but he didn't know what to do.

  He learned the ways of governance within a country, but did not know how to handle relations between countries. The failure of his diplomatic mission to Eastern Jin had already led to some criticism from court officials, and if he really allowed Dongjin Baohua Jun to help Jiang Xuanzhen occupy Pingling, people all over the world would surely say that this emperor was unpopular.

  "Your Majesty, I have a plan." Yu Yunlie cupped his hands.

  "You said."

  His eyes gleamed with a deep light, and Liu Yunlie said: "Since they have allied themselves with Eastern Jin, then we can also seek the help of Western Liang."

  Li Huailian was stunned.

  Zhi Han hesitated slightly: "Isn't this inappropriate?"

  "Looking at the situation on Zi Yang's side, it's clear that they're going to rebel. Jiang Xuanjin has been preparing for a long time, while we've always been passive. If we don't prepare more things, once we lose, everything will be over."

  Last time, Liu Yunlie went on a diplomatic mission. Among the three countries, Xiliang was the most smooth. Li Huailian knew that the lord of Xiliang highly valued Liu Yunlie and had established a good trade relationship with him. Further cooperation is not impossible.

  After a moment's thought, he sat down and picked up his pen.

  "Aren't you afraid of being scolded to death by Old Man Jiang?" Murong Qi sat in the courtyard, shaking his head. "How dare you say I'm sending you grain and supplies? If I really sent them, you would be betraying your country!"

  Jiang Xuanjin brushed off his robe and said calmly: "It wasn't my idea."

  Murong Yi turned her head to look at Li Huaiyu beside her, the latter met her gaze and coquettishly said: "I'm just a woman, how can I manage these things?"

  "Mind your own business!" Murong Qi frowned, "Trying to drag me down with Eastern Jin?"

  "When are you going to change this habit of taking advantage and acting smart?!" Li Huaiyu glared at her, "I let you get a free favor from the Eastern Jin without doing anything, and you still put on this attitude?"

  The military salary sent by Danyang was all issued in the name of Dongjin Baohua Jun, even if it was used, could not give her less benefits?

  "Hmm", Murong Qi stretched out his legs and tripped the maid who was bringing tea, causing her to stumble.

  "Is your master upstairs?" The maid was so frightened that her face turned white.

  Murong Qi turned his face and smiled. He said with a tone of gloating: "Let you walk without looking at the road."

  Li Huaiyu: "I don't know"

  She said that Baohua Jun was ill, absolutely not a rumor, this person was really hateful when doing bad things, and for no reason, anyone who didn't offend her could be bullied by her.

  Jiang Xuanjin told her last night that Murong Yizhen has a streak of evil in him, which was cultivated in the Eastern Jin imperial palace. He is not kind to this world and is already twenty years old but still unmarried.

  "What are you staring at? Just say what's on your mind." Murong Qi said to her, "You went to great lengths to send me a gift, what do you want?"

  She came back to her senses and smiled with a hint of embarrassment: "Just a momentary whim."

  Jiang Xuanjin paused, his dark eyes scanning over with a hint of confusion.

  Li Huaiyu didn't explain much, stood up and pulled him to leave: "We who have become family are different from those who are alone, we need to spend some time together, you can do as you please, we'll take our leave first."

  Murong Qi's face fell: "Who are you bullying, a lone and helpless person?"

  Hua Yu turned back and said straightforwardly: "You!"

  Murong Qi: "I'm going"

  How annoying, she thought, if Li Huaiyu's belly wasn't so big, she would have chased after her and kicked her.

  "What exactly do you want to do?" Jiang Xuanjin also asked as they walked along the road.

  Li Huaiyu smiled and hugged his arm, pretending not to understand, only asking him: "What did your recent family letter say?"

  Jiang Xuanjin's eyes slightly sank at this mention.

  He explained to his father that rebelling against the imperial court was a desperate move, and if they didn't make plans ahead of time, they would eventually be exterminated by the emperor. However, Old Master Jiang insisted that he was rebelling and wanted to take his family back to the capital to plead guilty. Having no choice, he could only have them confined within the Ziyang main city, not allowed to go out.

  What can be said in a family letter? It's nothing more than the eldest brother advising him, the second brother showing concern for him in a couple of sentences, and then it's just the father's scolding and threats.

  This kind of thing. No matter how you explain it, all he can do is protect his whole family.

  "Oh dear, don't be unhappy." She stopped in her tracks, and with some effort, Hua Yu hugged him tightly while holding onto her belly, "It will get better."

  It's too hard to get better, but looking at her round and smooth little face, Jiang Xuanjin felt a bit better, and said in a low voice: "I'll accompany you back for a nap."

  "Good." Sweetly agreed, Huai Yu smiled again, "I heard them say that when a woman is pregnant with six months, her husband is always busy and often goes out, rarely having time to accompany her. But you're always by my side?"

  He gave her a glance and said, "Because you're too good at stirring up trouble."

  He's afraid that if he turns his back, this person will get into another accident, so it's still better for him to keep an eye on things himself.

  Especially, her belly was so big that it scared him.