Kekeqin was the place where Emperor Gaozu was born and grew up. After ascending to the position of Khan, Emperor Gaozu launched military campaigns and established the current Liu Kingdom. Then, Kekeqin came under the control of the Yuan clan.
Emperor Gaozu fought battles both in the south and the north, expanding the territory of the Liu Kingdom. As the northwestern gateway of the kingdom, Kekeqin played a crucial role.
Therefore, Kekeqin had always been highly regarded by the royal family of the Liu Kingdom.
To strengthen the relationship between the royal family and Kekeqin, inter - marriages had been arranged almost every twenty years. Princess Lanxin, the daughter of the late emperor, was married off to the current Khan of Kekeqin through a peace - making marriage. She gave birth to the third prince, Yuan Zhen, and the fifth princess, Yuan Zhu.
Twenty years had passed. The only unmarried princess in the royal family of the Liu Kingdom was the eighth princess, so the task of the peace - making marriage naturally fell on her.
However, the empress dowager was reluctant to let her daughter marry far away. So, she proposed the idea of marrying the fifth princess of Kekeqin to the capital.
She wanted to arrange a marriage between Princess Yuan Zhu and Crown Prince Qi Yu to strengthen the relationship between the two sides.
Princess Yuan Zhu had just come of age last month. With a lively and cheerful personality, beautiful looks, and archery and horsemanship skills no less than those of men, she was known as the pearl on the grassland. She was also the most beloved daughter of the Khan of Kekeqin.
Due to this love, the Khan of Kekeqin didn't accept the empress dowager's proposal. Instead, he left the decision to Princess Yuan Zhu.
Although the empress dowager was dissatisfied, she agreed to the Khan's request and specially invited Princess Yuan Zhu and the two princes to the capital.
The people on the Horqin Grassland were bold, war - like, and highly respected warriors. Therefore, Princess Yuan Zhu's requirement for a husband was very simple, just two words: "powerful"!
Regardless of appearance, as long as a man had this quality and caught her eye, she would accept his proposal.
The Khan of Kekeqin didn't have much time left. So, before his death, he wanted to determine the next successor and find a good marriage for his beloved daughter.
That was why the two princes accompanied Princess Yuan Zhu to the capital.
Accompanying them were also the top ten warriors on the grassland. They were the pride of Kekeqin. This time, they came not only to protect the three of them but also to demonstrate the might of Kekeqin.
Intending to promote this marriage, on the empress dowager's suggestion, the emperor decided to hold a martial arts tournament. He would select unmarried young talents with good martial skills from the royal descendants and all the noble sons in the capital to compete with the ten warriors from Kekeqin.
In this way, he wanted to suppress Kekeqin and let Kekeqin, which had become increasingly arrogant in the past decade, recognize the status of the royal family. At the same time, he hoped that Princess Yuan Zhu could choose a satisfactory husband from the contestants.
Having made up his mind, the emperor attached great importance to this competition. He carefully selected all the participants. Besides Crown Prince Qi Yu, the participants also included Yu Chengyang and the three brothers of the Zhen family, who had been specially summoned from the southern border by the emperor long ago. The emperor told them that they must win!
Because losing would not only be a disgrace to the royal family but also an insult to the glory won by their ancestors!
After the date of the competition was set, all the participants were eager to fight. They were going all out for honor or a better future, hoping to make a name for themselves in this battle!
Time flew by, and soon it was the day before the competition. As soon as night fell, a mysterious guest came to the Prince Xian's Mansion.
On this hot summer day, he was wrapped in a black cloak and wore a hood, keeping his head down. He came alone to the mansion gate, looking very cautious.
Without registering, he was personally welcomed in by Zhan Feng.
Yun Xi had just returned from her business at the shops. From afar, she saw the backs of Zhan Feng and the man.
Yun Xi slightly raised her eyebrows, full of suspicion. When she walked to the mansion gate and casually asked, she found that the man indeed hadn't registered.
Just as she was hesitating with the medicine bottle in her hand, Yu Zhu said:
"Miss, aren't you going to take the medicine to the prince's courtyard?"
This was the Qianhua Bailu Pill that her miss had specially asked the divine doctor Baizhu to prepare for her some time ago. It had a miraculous effect on clearing away heat and detoxifying.
As the name suggested, the Qianhua Bailu Pill was made from a thousand kinds of medicinal materials and a hundred drops of morning dew.
Because both the proportion of medicinal materials and the manufacturing process were very complicated and time - consuming, Baizhu didn't want to make it in this hot summer at first. But finally, he couldn't resist the miss's plea. It took him half a month to make only two pills.
Yu Zhu once asked Yun Xi what the pills were for. Yun Xi accidentally let slip that they were for Qi Rong, but fortunately, she didn't tell Yu Zhu everything.
She just said that Qi Rong had offended many enemies by doing evil deeds on weekdays and might be poisoned at any time. So, in order not to become a widow prematurely, she had asked for this pill from the divine doctor Baizhu for him.
The reason why Yun Xi didn't ask Baizhu to diagnose Qi Rong was to follow Qi Rong's wish for secrecy, so as to avoid the leakage of the news and the threat to him.
Hearing Yu Zhu's words, Yun Xi was still thinking about what she had just seen. She subconsciously shook her head:
"It's too late today. I'll give it to him another day. It's the same."
She didn't want to stumble upon some unknown secret and be threatened and closely watched by Zhan Feng like a thief again. She couldn't bear it!
Thinking of this, Yun Xi entered the mansion and went straight to her Nanyuan Courtyard.
On the other side, Zhan Feng led the man all the way to Qi Rong's Nanyuan Courtyard. As soon as they stepped into Qi Rong's study, the man took off his black hat and knelt directly in front of Qi Rong.
"Yuan Qi of Kekeqin is grateful to His Highness Prince Xian for saving my life! If it weren't for your help before, my whole family, including my wife and children, would have perished in the fire! Today, I finally have the opportunity to thank you in person. Please accept my bow!"
Saying this, Yuan Qi respectfully kowtowed three times to Qi Rong.
Zhan Feng looked at his master in surprise, but Qi Rong just gently shook his head at him, signaling him not to interfere with his eyes.
After Yuan Qi finished kowtowing, Qi Rong personally helped him up, and the two sat down on the couch in the study together.
"Did Yuan Zhen try to harm you on your way to the capital this time?"
Qi Rong asked. Hearing this, Yuan Qi's face darkened, and his eyes were filled with anger:
"On the way, he tried to plot against me twice. But because of the guards you sent, they discovered his plot in time, and he didn't succeed. At that time, I should have listened to your advice and not shown him mercy. Now, he has a chance to catch his breath and even wants to kill me!"
The eldest prince, Yuan Qi, had a humble background and a weak family. He was no match for the third prince, Yuan Zhen.
To eliminate his rivals, the third prince, Yuan Zhen, had brutally killed his two elder brothers one after another and pretended that they had died accidentally.
Yuan Qi originally had no hope of competing for the position of Khan, but the third prince still wouldn't let him go. In order to silence him, he even set a big fire within a radius of three miles from Yuan Qi's mansion, surrounding Yuan Qi and his family in it!