However, the waters within their Northern Lu territory were also murky, making it unsuitable for war at this time, which is why Ye Lingfeng agreed to the marriage alliance.
"Sit down."
The banquet officially began, and the Guangyang Palace was bustling with activity.
However, Nalan Mingzhu had no appetite. Firstly, she was too excited to eat anything after meeting her mistress for the first time. She hadn't expected her mistress to be in Beilu, and even to be the Empress of Beilu. Secondly, she noticed that the atmosphere in the hall was a bit strange, as if someone was annoyed with her.
Nalan Mingzhu wondered, "I haven't done anything that would anger heaven and man, so why do people dislike me?"
After the banquet, I was lost in thought.
Hai Ling naturally hoped the banquet would end quickly so she could ask Princess Nalan what was going on and whether she was her Rouge.
So who was the woman who harmed her before? In any case, that woman was at least related to Rouge.
An hour later, the banquet ended. Ye Lingfeng glanced around the hall, his gaze finally settling on Nalan Mingzhu. He slowly said, "The gentlemen present at today's banquet are all prominent figures in Northern Lu. I wonder if Princess Mingzhu has anyone she fancy?"
Nalan Mingzhu was stunned for a moment before remembering that she was now representing the princess of Nanling Kingdom, who had come to Beilu for a marriage alliance. She had forgotten her real purpose. She quickly looked up and scanned the room, and found that there were indeed many talented young men in the hall. Many of them had their eyes shining and seemed to be very satisfied with her. However, Nalan Mingzhu was not moved by these people. She was not the kind of person who was easily moved. After looking around, she finally saw a familiar figure.
She recognized this man; he was Ji Shaocheng, a general from Beilu. She had met him once before and had taken a liking to him. Since she was going to marry someone, she might as well marry someone she knew. With a thought, Nalan Mingzhu pointed her pale hand at Ji Shaocheng.
In the main hall, many people were disappointed, but Ji Shaocheng's face was cold, and his eyes were filled with a cold light. This woman looked exactly like the woman who harmed Ling'er, and she actually wanted to marry him. How ridiculous.
Ye Lingfeng's voice rang out: "Nalan Mingzhu bestows upon Ji Shaocheng the title of Lady, and the wedding will take place on a chosen date."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
The envoy from Nanling Kingdom breathed a sigh of relief. After the marriage alliance between the two countries, Beilu would not be able to attack Nanling Kingdom in the short term, so they only needed to resolve the matter of Shaoyi.
In the main hall, everyone rose to respectfully see the Emperor and Empress off, and the others left one after another. The envoys of the Southern Ling Kingdom were escorted into the post station by officials from the Ministry of Revenue.
As soon as Hailing returned to Qingqian Palace, she ordered a eunuch to invite Princess Mingzhu over.
Ye Lingfeng didn't stop her; he was also eager to see what was really going on with Nalan Mingzhu.
The sedan chair quickly carried Princess Mingzhu to the Qingqian Palace, where Hailing and Ye Lingfeng were waiting.
Nalan Mingzhu excitedly bowed to Hailing. She was completely unaware of what had happened before, and was only happy to see her mistress. Moreover, her mistress was so beautiful when she was thin. She knew from the past that she was the most beautiful.
Hailing came down from the main hall, reached out to help Nalan Mingzhu, looked her over carefully, and then her voice became choked with emotion.
"Rouge, is that you?"
This call seemed to transport the two of them back to the past. Nalan Mingzhu's eyes were filled with tears as she nodded vigorously.
"Yes, Miss. I never expected to see you again. I've been trying to find out about you."
She investigated Hai Ling's whereabouts, but she never considered that Hai Ling was still the Empress of Bei Lu, nor did she ever have such a thought, which is why she missed her chance with her.
"rouge."
Hailing thought of the past and could no longer dwell on the things that had been done to her. She was genuinely happy. Her relationship with Yanzhi was different from others. She had met Yanzhi during her most difficult time, and they could be said to have depended on each other for survival.
"Miss."
Inside the main hall, the two people held hands tightly, their smiles radiant.
Ye Lingfeng, sitting at the head of the table, found the scene quite stimulating. He stood up abruptly, walked to Hai Ling's side, pulled her aside, and coldly looked at Nalan Mingzhu: "I have a question for you, Princess."
"Please speak?"
Nalan Mingzhu could tell that Ye Lingfeng was very hostile towards her, but she didn't know why. Moreover, besides the emperor of Beilu, even Shi Lan and others were somewhat dissatisfied with her. She couldn't help but feel a chill in her heart. She remembered that when she left Beilu, she wholeheartedly hoped that her mistress would be well. She never expected that when they met again, it would be like this. Her heart ached and her face turned pale.
"Does the princess have any sisters?"
Nalan Mingzhu raised an eyebrow in surprise and slowly nodded: "Yes, I have a twin sister, Nalan Mingtang, but I don't know if she is still alive?"
Upon hearing this, everyone in the hall suddenly realized that the woman who looked exactly like Rouge and had lost her memory must be Princess Nalan's younger sister, Nalan Mingtang.
"I wonder why Your Majesty asks this?"
This time, without Ye Lingfeng speaking, Shi Lan explained, "Previously, Her Majesty the Empress saw a woman who looked exactly like the princess and brought her back. Because she had lost her memory, we mistook her for you. Who knew that she would be used and turn around to poison Her Majesty the Empress? That time, Her Majesty the Empress almost lost her life. So when we saw you..."
Before Shi Lan could finish speaking, Nalan Mingzhu's face was already extremely ugly, filled with gloom. After Shi Lan finished speaking, he anxiously looked at Hai Ling.
"Miss, are you alright?"
Hai Ling shook her head. Seeing that Yan Zhi was alright and had even become a princess of Nanling Kingdom, she was very happy: "I'm fine, don't worry."
Nalan Mingzhu finally understood why everyone looked at her with such caution and distrust. It turned out that someone had harmed their master, and that person must be her twin sister, Nalan Mingtang.
I never expected her to be so foolish as to dare to harm the empress of a country. Isn't that courting death?
In fact, the two sisters were also unfortunate people. Her father was a general of the Southern Ling Kingdom. Once, when the family returned to their hometown to worship their ancestors, they were ambushed by bandits. Their father and his servants were killed, and the two sisters were abandoned in the wilderness and wandered around. Later, the Nalan family found her and took her back to the Southern Ling Kingdom. The current Empress Dowager took pity on her plight and bestowed upon her the title of Princess Mingzhu, and sent her to Northern Lu for a marriage alliance.
Now that she knew that Princess Nalan was actually Yan Zhi, and that Yan Zhi had not done anything to harm her, Hai Ling was very happy. She kept Nalan Mingzhu in Qingqian Palace to chat with her, and even sent Ye Lingfeng back to his palace.
Nalan Mingzhu never asked about his sister Nalan Mingtang from beginning to end, which made it obvious that she must have been dealt with.
Although she felt a little sorry for her, she felt more sorry for her mistress than for her mistress, so she put aside the matter of Nalan Mingtang.
The next day, Shi Mei returned, and the palace became a bit more lively again.
Shi Mei finally realized that the woman from before was not Rouge, and that Princess Mingzhu in front of her was the real Rouge. She was finally relieved.
Inside the main hall of the Qingqian Palace, voices could be heard constantly.
Besides Nalan Mingzhu, Xi Liang was also brought into the palace by Hai Ling. The group of people got along well and became happier as they talked.