General Mu and the military advisor captured a small town in Xiangyun Kingdom, effectively tearing up the surrender agreement made just a few days ago. When they returned to the military camp, the other soldiers surrounded them.
One of them asked, "What's going on? Why did the fighting start again?"
Another worriedly said, "The surrender agreement has been sent to the capital in a hurry. Should we send someone to retrieve it?"
A rough voice interjected, "Absolutely not. If those civil officials in the capital find out, they'll suspect our general's loyalty to Dayong again..."
"You're just overthinking. We should focus on the result. The result is that we've captured the small town that Xiangyun Kingdom was holding out in. Taking over Xiangyun Kingdom is just a matter of time!"
The voices gradually became chaotic as the soldiers chattered away, and some even asked for the specific reason.
General Mu didn't say a word. He just heaved a heavy sigh and left with Shen Heqing and Shen Danqing, who also looked preoccupied, leaving the military advisor to be questioned.
The military advisor also sighed. "It's a long story!"
"Do you know the general's only daughter? The little baby we all held when we were kids. Remember?"
"The girl who sent the medicine from the general's mansion when your son was seriously ill last time."
"Right, right, the little girl who used to play with us when we were kids."
"..."
Everyone remembered Mu Lanyue, General Mu's only daughter. With just a few words from the military advisor, they subconsciously regarded Mu Lanyue as one of their own.
After laying the groundwork, the military advisor, acting like a thief, motioned for everyone to go into the tent to talk.
As soon as they entered the tent, the military advisor told everyone, "No one went to see the general today. He's in a bad mood, and so are the Shen brothers. Well, it's normal for them to be in a bad mood after going through such a terrible thing."
"I'm telling you this in secret. Don't tell anyone else."
"Lanyue had a fight with her husband, and they're talking about getting a divorce. It's not Lanyue's fault, so her husband is in the wrong! He just ran away secretly to relax. Then Princess Rou of Xiangyun Kingdom saw him. The two of them... Well, poor Lanyue."
Some people had already imagined a scene based on the military advisor's words. "They're having an affair? These adulterers!"
"The princess of a small country is just vulgar!"
The military advisor continued with a pained expression. "Today, the general took his two grandsons to stroll in the small town. Then he ran into Princess Rou with... Well! When she saw the general and the two young masters, she still refused to admit it. She even claimed that she was forcibly abducted by Princess Rou."
"After learning about this, the general was so angry that he ordered the capture of the small town."
The real situation was that General Mu and the military advisor had already arranged for people to guard nearby. As soon as the signal flare was fired, they captured the small town. But now, the gossip took precedence, and no one bothered to look into the details. After listening to the gossip, no one could find any evidence either.
While the military advisor was keeping the generals occupied, General Mu had already gone to change the time for the soldiers to leave the camp.
After listening to the whole story, the soldiers were extremely angry. "Xiangyun Kingdom thinks they can push Dayong around? Lanyue is a princess. A mere princess of a small country actually dares to fight with a Dayong princess for a man. It's so rude!"
"Right. Support the general in conquering Xiangyun Kingdom."
"The weapons and supplies that have greatly enhanced our strength were sent by the second young master. We might as well use these weapons to take over Xiangyun Kingdom. As for the shortage of supplies... There are plenty in Xiangyun Kingdom!"
"Wait. Although Shen Yunfeng wasn't abducted, his affair with Xiangyun Rou isn't a good thing. It might also affect the reputation of the eldest young master Shen. What should we do about this?"
"Right. The eldest young master Shen taught the soldiers to read yesterday. He's such a good person. His reputation can't be ruined."
The military advisor didn't expect Shen Heqing to have such a good reputation. Many people were defending him. He didn't show his surprise on his face and just said, "Yeah, it's really hard to find a solution that satisfies everyone."
For a while, the military advisor couldn't think of a good way either.
Everyone got together to discuss and finally came up with a good idea. They would still attack Xiangyun Kingdom, and they wouldn't change the story of the princess forcing someone because of lust, but they would change the people involved.
Instead of Shen Yunfeng being abducted by Princess Rou on the border, the story would be that after they conquered Xiangyun Kingdom, Shen Yunfeng took a fancy to Princess Rou and took her as a concubine and brought her back to the capital.
Some people even suggested killing Shen Yunfeng directly. But if Shen Yunfeng died, Shen Heqing and Shen Danqing would have to observe mourning. It was also unrealistic to make Shen Yunfeng disappear, as it might arouse the suspicion of the Shen family.
There were too many people in the small town, and it might not be possible to hide the affair between Shen Yunfeng and Princess Rou. Instead of trying to forcibly conceal the news, it would be better to blur the details, which would make the story more believable.
...
Fengyi Palace.
The queen opened a wooden box filled with priceless Dongzhu pearls. She smiled and said, "Baozhu, these are the Dongzhu pearls that were recently offered by a local area. Although they're small, they're all round and shiny, and they're about the same size. You can take them and play with them like marbles."
The Dongzhu pearls were sent to the capital a few days ago. The emperor had seen the pearls sent by the Dragon King and didn't think much of these ordinary Dongzhu pearls. So he decided to give them to Shen Baozhu as a toy, hoping to gain some favor in front of the gods.
The emperor originally wanted to give the pearls to Shen Baozhu himself. But then he remembered that the third prince had been deceived by Concubine Li and didn't get to drink the elixir water. Out of self - interest, he gave the pearls to the queen and asked her to give them to Shen Baozhu. He also hoped that the queen would take this opportunity to let the third prince get along with Shen Baozhu and build a good relationship, which would help solidify the third prince's position as the crown prince.
The queen was also sensible. Like the emperor, she didn't tell the third prince about Shen Baozhu's identity as a divine child.
Children are innocent, especially Shen Baozhu, who has a god by her side. If the third prince approached Shen Baozhu with an ulterior motive, not only might it backfire, but they were also afraid of angering the gods and bringing disaster.
Thinking of this, the queen closed the wooden box and pushed it towards Shen Baozhu. "Aunt has some matters to attend to. Let Brother Xuyang play with you, okay?"
Shen Baozhu nodded happily. She was very happy today because it was the last day of her punishment. Tomorrow she could eat pastries. The real person had gone to get her a gift and said it would be given to her today.
Thinking about the new gift, Shen Baozhu could hardly sit still. She had already decided that she would first show it off to Emperor Uncle because he always praised her little golden dragon.
The second person she would show it to would be Prime Minister Grandpa because he would help her speak ill of Grandma and would give her and Sister Yutang beautiful ornaments.
Then she would go home and show it to her mother, then to her third brother, Aunt Yun...
As Shen Baozhu was counting, she suddenly remembered that the Dragon King was going to give her two gifts. So she tentatively asked, "Dragon King, what are you doing?"
In a blessed land, the Dragon King had transformed into a small dragon and sneaked into the old dragon's treasure vault. He headed straight for the gift he had his eye on. He was convinced that this gift would be no worse than the one from the real person Qingyun!
But the old dragon wasn't easy to deal with either. The treasure vault was filled with many hidden weapons. These weapons couldn't hurt the Dragon King, but they were really annoying to a dragon.
The juice of bitter fruits poured down from all directions. The Dragon King was covered in it, and a lot of it flowed into his mouth. It was so bitter that he wanted to vomit.
The Dragon King trembled his claws and replied, [Naturally, I'm eating fruits and lying around leisurely.]
Lin Yu: [Does the Dragon King have nothing to do? I'm having some problems with my data analysis and I'm still looking for the cause.]
The real person Qingyun: [The gift is almost finished. I'm waiting for my fellow daoist to perfect it.]
Seeing the real person Qingyun's message, the Dragon King shook his head and refused to admit defeat. [My gift is almost ready too.]
Looking at the messages, Shen Baozhu was extremely excited. Great news! The Dragon King was really going to give her two gifts!
In the eyes of the third prince, Shen Baozhu was just a shallow - minded girl who only knew how to giggle after getting a reward. She didn't even know how to flatter him, the crown prince.
The third prince directly pushed the box to the ground and looked at Shen Baozhu haughtily. "Pick it up for this crown prince."