In the evening, Shen Baozhu deftly nibbled on a fruit sent by the Dragon King. The next moment, she appeared in the Qianqing Palace.
In a corner of the Qianqing Palace, a small square table and three cushions had already been set up.
On the small table were delicate and delicious dishes and three bowls of cold jelly.
The emperor and Prime Minister Sima had been waiting there for a long time. Seeing Shen Baozhu's figure, they hurriedly stepped forward to greet her.
The three of them sat down together in front of the square table and began to chat.
The emperor looked at Shen Baozhu with a beaming smile. "Baozhu, did anything interesting happen today?"
"Uncle Emperor, do you know a prefect surnamed Xu? He's Sister Yutang's grandfather!" Shen Baozhu asked casually. Without waiting for the emperor's answer, she went on talking on her own.
"I heard that their family rules are extremely strict! You can't move around when sleeping, and you can't meet your brothers every day. You can only stay in the attic... And there's no delicious food!"
"Moreover, her grandfather is so bad! He found a fiancé for Sister Yutang who can't get married and have children..."
A few days ago, Shen Baozhu had wanted to pour out this matter to the emperor but hadn't found the opportunity. Now she told him everything that had happened at noon as well.
The emperor's complexion changed slightly. This Prefect Xu knew that Chen Liang was unreliable but still arranged this marriage. A prefect was a local official in charge of the people. If he treated his own granddaughter like this, what about the ordinary people?
The former was a family matter, while the latter was related to the safety of the people.
The emperor couldn't help but think deeper. Shen Baozhu was a little fairy child, and there were always immortals around her. Didn't it mean that the immortals could also see this matter? Would the immortals doubt his judgment?
No, this wouldn't do!
The emperor made up his mind. No matter who this Prefect Xu was, he had to be dealt with as soon as possible.
"The Xu family is so terrifying! Baozhu, quickly try this cold jelly. It's a new thing in the capital." Prime Minister Sima smoothly diverted the topic, drawing Shen Baozhu's and the emperor's attention to the cold jelly.
Since Shen Baozhu's punishment would last for a few more days, there were no pastries on the table, only some simple food. The three of them started to eat the cold jelly, but Prime Minister Sima ate without much appetite.
The reason was simple. The emperor couldn't remember the exact identity of Prefect Xu, but he did!
There was more than one prefect surnamed Xu. But the one who had returned to the capital to report on his duties recently, was related to the Yong'an Marquis Mansion, and had a friend surnamed Chen could only be Prime Minister Sima's great nephew, Xu Zeyuan.
Moreover, Prime Minister Sima had guessed the reason why he had arranged for Xu Yutang to marry Chen Liang.
But this reason was too shocking. Prime Minister Sima didn't dare to tell the emperor. After all, he was on close terms with Xu Zeyuan and had promoted him to be a prefect.
The emperor finished the cold jelly in one go and gave Shen Baozhu a definite answer. "Baozhu, don't worry. Now that I know about this, I will surely not ignore it."
"Wow, Uncle Emperor is so amazing!" Shen Baozhu didn't stint her praise.
The emperor was flattered by the praise and was determined to handle this matter well. Prime Minister Sima couldn't help but break into a cold sweat. If the emperor found out about his involvement, it would be all over!
...
At the border city.
General Mu held the improved crossbow in his hand, extremely excited. "Excellent, excellent! With such a divine weapon, our Great Yong will surely win!"
"Come, grandfather will take you for a stroll in the Xiangyun Kingdom."
Now that Shen Danqing was considered a member of the Mu family, General Mu also began to plan for his future.
With this batch of new supplies, General Mu was confident that he could capture the Xiangyun Kingdom in one fell swoop. Before that, he wanted to take Shen Danqing to the Xiangyun Kingdom for a stroll so that he could gain the merit of spying on military intelligence.
Shen Danqing understood his intention and said gratefully, "Thank you, grandfather!"
General Mu took Shen Danqing and disguised themselves as countrymen selling firewood. They entered the small town in the Xiangyun Kingdom without any hindrance.
Some time ago, due to a shortage of supplies, General Mu had paid out of his own pocket to buy food and cloth in this small town. So he was very familiar with the town. He first took Shen Danqing to a restaurant for a meal.
Shen Danqing reached out to stop General Mu. He hesitated a little. "We're countrymen now. Going to a restaurant for a meal might arouse suspicion, right?"
General Mu let out a soft laugh and directly pulled Shen Danqing into the restaurant.
The waiter in the lobby saw General Mu, and his eyes changed slightly. He locked eyes with General Mu and blinked three times in succession, as if hinting at something.
And Shen Danqing clearly felt General Mu tense up and enter a state of alert.
General Mu turned around and pulled Shen Danqing out of the restaurant. He bought two sesame cakes at the pancake shop opposite. The two of them sat on the ground. It seemed as if they were eating cakes, but in fact, their eyes were fixed on the restaurant.
"The war has been going on for some time. It's inevitable that there will be a shortage of supplies. So I came to this small town to purchase supplies under the name of Sui Da." General Mu explained to Shen Danqing.
And the place to purchase supplies was this largest restaurant in the town.
The restaurant owner helped to collect the supplies and made a profit from it. He and General Mu had an agreement that the number of times the waiter blinked would be the secret signal.
After the two sides made eye contact, if the waiter blinked once, it meant the supplies hadn't been collected yet. Blinking twice meant the transaction could be carried out. And blinking three times meant there was a problem in the restaurant and the transaction should be postponed.
Shen Danqing put forward his opinions on this matter. "After all, this is the territory of the Xiangyun Kingdom. If your identity is exposed, will it bring danger?"
"After the transaction is successful, what excuse should we use to transport the supplies away?"
"Can the restaurant owner be trusted?"
General Mu finished the sesame cake in a few bites. "Danqing, the first lesson grandfather teaches you is that sometimes it's better for everyone to turn a blind eye. As for who Sui Da is and what the purpose of buying these things is..."
"Does the restaurant owner really not know?"
These words were like a blow to Shen Danqing's head. He wasn't stupid, but he was too young. Sometimes his thinking was too shallow and he needed the guidance of an elder.
Shen Danqing took a bite of the sesame cake and pondered over General Mu's words repeatedly in his heart.
"You people, kneel down. And you two eating sesame cakes over there, kneel down too..." A few guards trotted over, holding their swords and ordering the common people on the street to kneel.
Not far away, a carriage slowly drove over and stopped in front of the restaurant.
A man and a woman walked out of the carriage hand in hand. The woman was well - maintained, but the fine lines at the corners of her eyes revealed her real age. The man holding her hand wore a mask that covered most of his face, only showing his slightly upturned phoenix eyes and mouth.
Shen Danqing, who was kneeling on the ground with the common people, quietly raised his head. For some reason, he always felt that the back of that man was very familiar, but he just couldn't remember.
As the man and woman walked into the restaurant and the guards followed them in, the common people were able to get up. They began to whisper to each other.
"What kind of official is this? So imposing and still bringing a beauty."
"You blind fool. What beauty? This is our Princess Rou of the Xiangyun Kingdom! The masked man beside her is her husband!"
"Princess Rou has a husband? When did this happen?"
"You country bumpkin! They've been together for more than twenty years. My relative's brother - in - law is a cook in the military camp. He heard it from the eldest prince!"
Rou... Shen Danqing subconsciously thought of Bai Xinrou. A terrible thought flashed through his mind, but he quickly dismissed it.
It shouldn't be him. He and Shen Heqing were both under twenty years old. It couldn't be that Shen Yunfeng had the ability to split himself into two, one taking concubines in the capital and the other in the Xiangyun Kingdom.