Ji Wushang nodded, hoping that Beigong Jueshi and Yiyun Muchen could get married today, and that other matters could be put aside for the time being.
At this moment, the Prince and Princess of Zhenbei walked into the main hall together to greet the guests, who all offered their congratulations. Beigong Minhao then walked towards Ji Wushang and Nan Xuzong.
"Your Highness." Ji Wushang bowed, and Beigong Minhao smiled. "Princess Consort Nan, there's no need for such formalities. Your Highness Nan." Beigong Minhao chuckled softly.
Nan Xuzong's eyes flickered. "Where's Jueshi?"
“He’s a little nervous. He’s inside getting ready to greet the bride soon,” Beigong Minhao chuckled again.
Ji Wushang lowered his head and smiled, "You guys chat, I'll go take a look over there."
"Mm." Nan Xuzong nodded and watched her walk towards the female customer.
Princess Qinlian and Princess Qinxiang smiled as they saw Ji Wushang arrive, saying, "Look, the Princess Consort of the Southern Prince has arrived!"
"Greetings, Princess Qinlian and Princess Qinxiang." Ji Wushang stepped forward and smiled gracefully.
"You've truly blossomed into an even more beautiful woman." Princess Qinlian took Ji Wushang's hand. "I've heard that the Prince of Nan dotes on Wushang!"
"Your Highness is really making fun of me, isn't she?" Ji Wushang smiled happily. He did dote on her, but it was better to keep a low profile to avoid others saying anything bad about her.
“How dare you laugh at the Princess Consort of the Southern Prince?” Princess Qinlian chuckled. “The whole capital is saying that the Southern Prince and Princess Consort are a loving couple, a match made in heaven.”
Ji Wushang smiled and said, "By the way, so the princess is thinking about her husband? The princess will definitely find a good family for the princess." When the princess marries, she will at least be a member of the royal family or nobility, and may be able to marry a prince. At present, several princes in the royal family have not yet married, so it seems that there will be some trouble.
Princess Qinlian listened, her head bowed in shy silence. Princess Qinxiang leaned closer and whispered, "Sister is about to come of age. It's time. Mother and Father have been looking for good men in the capital lately!"
Ji Wushang chuckled, "Princess Qinlian, have you taken a fancy to any young master?"
"Don't tease me, I haven't taken a liking to anyone!" Princess Qinlian said, blushing.
Just then, a shout was heard from outside, "The Second Prince, the Third Prince, the Sixth Prince, and the Seventh Princess have arrived!"
Everyone looked outside in surprise. All three princes and princesses from the royal family had arrived. How highly regarded was the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion! It was just that the second prince had married Princess Muchen from the Western Regions, yet it received such attention!
The four people entered one after the other. The Prince of Zhenbei and his wife immediately stepped forward to greet them, and all four said they had brought gifts.
Ji Wushang looked in the direction of Nan Xuzong and Beigong Minhao, but Beigong Minhao was no longer visible, while Nan Xuzong was alone there. After nodding and saying hello to Princess Qinlian and Princess Qinxiang, Ji Wushang walked towards Nan Xuzong.
Princess Qinlian glanced furtively at the Third Prince Huangfu Xuan, who was talking to the Prince of Zhenbei in the distance. Huangfu Lan, seeing the large group, immediately approached Princess Qinlian and Princess Qinxiang, calling out, "Qinlian, Qinxiang."
"Seventh Princess." The two bowed.
"Where is Qin Qing?" Huangfu Lan asked.
"She's with the old lady; she'll be here shortly," said Princess Qinlian.
"Hmm." Huangfu Lan noticed that Princess Qinlian's gaze kept drifting towards her three older brothers, so she smiled and said, "Princess Qinlian, you should be approaching the age of coming of age soon, right?"
Princess Qinlian blushed. Huangfu Lan smiled and sat down with Princess Qinlian and Princess Qinxiang. The three women then began to laugh, joke, and chat.
Ji Wushang walked over. "Why do you look unhappy?"
"It's alright." Nan Xuzong let her sit next to him. "You stay by my side and behave yourself."
"I'm afraid you'll be talking to someone else later and will leave me standing there," Ji Wushang said with a smile, gesturing to the person who had come. Nan Xuzong turned his head and saw Huangfu Xuan standing in front of the two of them.
When Huangfu Xuan stood in front of her, Ji Wushang's smile vanished. She tried to pull her hand away from Nan Xuzong's, but he gripped it even tighter. He looked at Ji Wushang and leaned closer affectionately, asking, "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing," Ji Wushang shook his head.
Huangfu Xuan was now standing in front of Nan Xuzong and Ji Wushang. "Prince Nan, Princess Nan, it's been a long time!"
According to the original rules, Huangfu Xuan's birth mother, Consort Yuan, should have observed a three-year mourning period. However, he attended someone else's wedding banquet not long after Consort Yuan's death, which was inappropriate according to the rules, but no one dared to say anything.
"Third Prince, please sit down," Nan Xuzong said, a hint of disgust in his eyes, as if to say, "You scared my Wushang!"
Huangfu Xuan looked at Ji Wushang with cold eyes, then at Nan Xuzong, who was sitting opposite them. "It seems that Princess Consort Nan has a lot of prejudice against me."
"I don't know why Your Highness says this." Ji Wushang straightened up slightly and sat up straight.
"A feeling." Huangfu Xuan's eyes flickered. "I wonder if I have ever done anything to hinder the Princess Consort of the Southern Prince?"
Ji Wushang shook his head. He and the man had only met for the first time at the palace banquet. How could the man possibly do anything to hinder him? He was being so polite. That was quite a compliment!
"Then I can rest easy. Otherwise, I would feel guilty," Huangfu Xuan said, his gaze falling on Nan Xuzong. Nan Xuzong looked over and saw Huangfu Xuan. "Your Highness, appearing here is truly a rare moment of leisure amidst your busy schedule!"
“Indeed.” Huangfu Xuan’s lips twitched slightly.
Ji Wushang stood up. "You guys chat first. I'll go take a look over there. I haven't visited the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion in a long time. I might as well take this opportunity to go and have a look."
They wanted to discuss some things, and I, as a woman, should know to avoid them.
Huangfu Xuan poured himself a glass of wine and drank it.
Nan Xuzong looked at Ji Wushang and said, "Be careful. Have Gong Shu stay with you and protect you."
"Mm." Ji Wushang nodded, bowed to Huangfu Xuan, and then walked out.
Nan Xuzong reached out, took the wine pot, poured it into Huangfu Xuan's wine cup, and then poured it into his own. "What do you want?"
"Good thing." Huangfu Xuan downed his drink in one gulp.
"Let me ask you first, you've met Wushang before, why is she a little afraid of you?"
"I haven't seen her before," he replied simply, but thinking about it, it seemed like he had seen those eyes somewhere before. Ji Wushang, Ji Wushang... Ji Dingbei's eldest daughter... Could it be her?
“You remember now.” Nan Xuzong said affirmatively, finishing his drink in one gulp.
"Nine years ago, I was leading troops on the frontier to kill enemy soldiers. On one occasion, Yiyun Shangcheng was captured, and she and I rescued her together. For this, she was punished."
"Was it you who pushed her out?" Nan Xuzong suppressed his anger, but gripped his wine glass tightly. "She was whipped and sent back to the General's Mansion!"
"She admitted it herself, not me..." Huangfu Xuan recalled that he remembered those eyes, a pair of stubborn and determined eyes. She walked out and shouldered everything, while he was able to continue his training on the battlefield. Three years later, he was transferred to fight in other territories and had slowly forgotten about this incident, but now, when he thought back on it, it was still vivid in his mind.
"We don't need to talk anymore," Nan Xuzong said coldly. "Although it wasn't your responsibility nine years ago, you should have stopped her. She was only six years old! Six years old, how could you bear to do that?!" Nan Xuzong glared at him coldly. If this weren't the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, and if there weren't so many guests present, he would have definitely gone up and grabbed Huangfu Xuan's collar!
"Isn't she doing well now?" Huangfu Xuan said calmly.
“No, she’s not good…” Nan Xuzong sighed, “She’s not good…”
"What do you mean?" Huangfu Xuan asked. "We'll discuss this further in the private room tonight!" His gaze drifted to the side.
Huangfu Ting was already standing in front of the two of them. "You two are having a great chat!"
"Heh!" Nan Xuzong sneered, "Second Prince, please have a seat!"
The three sat in a triangular formation, but remained silent.
In a secluded courtyard, there were a few lively sounds. But inside the inner room, the liveliness was much less.
Beigong Minhao pushed open the door and walked in. "Jueshi, how is it? Are you ready?"
Bei Gong Jue Shi was sitting in front of a dressing mirror, looking at herself in her red dress, and turned around, "Brother."
Bei Gongminhao was stunned. His crimson eyes turned even redder, almost obscuring the pupils. Bei Gongminhao stepped forward, "Jue Shi, your eyes..."
He shook his head. "It's nothing." Bei Gong Jue Shi turned to look at himself in the mirror, stretched out his large hand, and looked at it. "Brother, if I can't control myself, will you kill me?"
"Peerless." Bei Gongminhao shook his head, standing in front of him. "Go back to Wudang Mountain!"
Bei Gong Jue Shi shook his head, "Master won't care about me anymore. What's the point of me going up the mountain?"
"No. Let's go up the mountain! There should still be a way. Besides, give up. The King of the Western Regions is not so easy to deal with. Your strength is not enough to fight him."
"Are you telling me to give up at this critical juncture?" Bei Gong Jue Shi looked at him, raising his voice. "You've always thought I've distanced myself and forgotten everything, but just when I was really thinking of forgetting, so many things suddenly happened! Going back to the past is impossible now. I can't give up... Brother, I'm asking you for one thing."
"Go ahead," Beigong Minhao sighed helplessly.
"If I die, please take good care of Mu Chen for me." Bei Gong Jue Shi turned to look at himself in the mirror. "I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself and will hurt Mu Chen. If necessary, please kill me."
"Listen to me!" Bei Gongminhao said angrily, grabbing Bei Gongjueshi and glaring at him. "I won't stop you all from thinking about dying! But if you want me to take care of this or that for you, no way! You want me to take care of Mu Chen? I won't! Mu Chen is yours, so you can take care of him!"
Bei Gong Jue Shi was slightly stunned. After staring at him for a long time, he said, "Brother, there's no turning back. The only person I can ask for help from is you..." Bei Gong Jue Shi pursed his lips slightly, "I'm not afraid to tell you, I'm already working for the King of the Western Regions. The first thing I did was kill Huangfu Lan. I didn't even flinch. I was going to plunge the soft sword in my hand into her heart! If the King of the Western Regions hadn't sent Black Eagle to inform me at the last moment, I guarantee that Huangfu Lan would already be a corpse!"
Bei Gongminhao was astonished, "Why did the King of the Western Regions change his mind at the last minute?"
"I don't know. My task is to obey any of his orders. I must complete all his tasks before I gain his trust!"
"If his task for you is to kill me, would you do the same?" Bei Gongminhao looked at him, feeling a chill. His younger brother had ultimately become a murderer, had he? Was this fate or something else?
Bei Gong Jue Shi remained silent. Just as Bei Gong Min Hao was about to speak, Bei Gong Jue Shi said, "I will advance my plan."
"What if I let you kill the Prince and Princess of the Southern Realm?" Bei Gong Minhao almost roared. Planning ahead? Does planning ahead guarantee success?
"Kill her!" Bei Gong Jue Shi said coldly. "She's already married to the Southern Prince, brother, you shouldn't love her anymore, right?"
“No, I love her.” Beigong Minhao shook his head. “Don’t hurt her…”
“I know.” Bei Gong Jue Shi sighed, “Brother, why do this? She will never know your true feelings, and she will never be moved by anything you do.”
“I don’t know.” Bei Gongminhao suddenly laughed. “Sometimes, why let her know? I did all this willingly, it has nothing to do with her. Never mind, don’t talk about my problems. Take good care of yourself and Mu Chen. You should go and greet your bride. She must be a beautiful wife. Best wishes to you.”
"Thank you, brother!" Bei Gong Jue Shi nodded.
Beigong Minhao closed his eyes slightly and nodded, "Let's go."
As he walked out, Beigong Minhao noticed a beautiful figure in a corner in the distance, and his heart skipped a beat.
"I'm going first." Bei Gong Jue Shi noticed his strange behavior and thought about urging him, but when she followed his gaze, she saw a light blue figure and immediately understood.
"Okay." Bei Gongminhao felt a surge of excitement and immediately told him to leave, then turned and ran towards that beautiful figure.
Ji Wushang found a relatively secluded pavilion, a quiet place where few people would pass by. Based on his previous actions, Beigong Minhao should arrive here soon.
Let's just wait a little while.
Ji Wushang sat in the pavilion, gazing into the distance. He could see all the pavilions and towers, the red and green trees, the lush and towering trees, and many beautiful flowers whose names he did not know.
"You were waiting for me," Bei Gongminhao said as he entered. His eyes were warm as he looked at Ji Wushang, his gaze full of smiles. This pavilion was wonderful; finally, he had a moment to himself with her.
Ji Wushang stood up to bow, but Beigong Minhao helped her up. Ji Wushang stepped back to prevent him from touching her, while he stood there slightly embarrassed.
Ji Wushang smiled slightly embarrassedly, "I came today because there are some things I wanted to ask the Crown Prince."
"Ask away!" Bei Gongminhao's eyes flickered, a bitter smile flashed across his lips, and he turned his back to Ji Wushang.
"Are you and Cong very close brothers?"
"yes."
Is there some secret he's hiding from me between you and me?
"..." Bei Gongminhao hesitated for a moment. This was a secret between him and her, and he shouldn't tell her. Besides, telling her wouldn't make any difference; it would only add to her worries.
“No.” Bei Gongminhao turned around and looked at Ji Wushang. “There are no secrets between him and me. He should have told you everything, right?”
“No.” Ji Wushang’s eyes turned slightly cold. “He kept it from me, probably because he was afraid I would worry, or because he was worried about my safety…” Ji Wushang sighed. “Am I really useless? Because it seems like I’ve never done anything for him.”