Xu Ruhui stared at Lu Yan, who had just walked into the house, with a gossiping look on his face. He spat out the sunflower seed shell in his mouth on the table with a "pfft" and said with a giggle, "Yo, senior brother, you're really early."
Lu Yan gave him a sidelong glance, ignored him, walked straight to the table and sat down, then poured himself a cup of tea on his own.
Xu Ruhui immediately leaned forward and said, "You stayed at the Shen Mansion last night, right?"
Lu Yan raised his eyebrows and glared at him fiercely, saying, "Shut up!"
Xu Ruhui threw all the sunflower seed shells in his hand on the table with a clatter, casually clapped his hands, grabbed another handful and started cracking them, saying, "Tell me, senior brother. Did you stay at the Shen Mansion? Did you climb in through the window again last night?"
Lu Yan was too lazy to bother with him and simply got up and walked into the room.
"Tsk, so boring." Xu Ruhui curled his lips, put down the sunflower seeds in his hand, propped his head up, and resigned himself to saying, "Come on, let's get down to business. I've just received some news. Xiao Qi sent a letter saying that the rebellion in the Qi Sect has been almost suppressed, and he's applying to lead his troops back to the Northern Kingdom."
Hearing this, Lu Yan stopped in his tracks. Besides being slightly stunned, there was also a hint of admiration in his eyes.
Xiao Qi was one of Lu Jiang's disciples. His original name was Qi Qi. Since he was the seventh in seniority, everyone in the Lu family called him that.
Last month, because of the invasion of the Turks, Lu Yan had just pacified the seven states of the Northern Kingdom. But unexpectedly, as soon as the imperial edict for the betrothal came, there was an internal turmoil in the Qi Sect. It was said that Chu Jietian's subordinates held their troops and wanted to overthrow the regime of the Qi Sect.
As a vassal state of Lixia, King Xia Jie must send troops to reinforce Chu Jietian. But the incident happened suddenly, and the Northern Kingdom was close to the Qi Sect, so King Xia Jie asked the Northern Kingdom to send troops to rush to the rescue of the Qi Sect.
Since Lu Yan had to return to Lige to get married, he handed this matter over to Xiao Qi, who volunteered to do it. But Xiao Qi had never led troops alone before. Although Xiao Qi was very capable, Lu Yan was always worried. When he received this news, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief and said, "Xiao Qi did a good job!"
Xu Ruhui said, "The king should also know about this, but he hasn't issued an order to withdraw the troops yet."
"Then don't act rashly for the time being. Wait for the king's arrangement." Lu Yan thought for a while and said.
Xu Ruhui nodded. After hesitating for a while, he said, "Senior brother, let's not talk about Xiao Qi's side for now. The seven states of the Northern Kingdom have just been pacified. Although Wei Yan is in charge, there are still many things waiting for you to take care of. You came to Lige this time because of the marriage. The Northern Kingdom can't be without a leader for a long time. Senior brother, when are you going to go back?"
Hearing this, Lu Yan was immediately stunned on the spot.
This was something he had been thinking about recently but had been avoiding.
At that time, although he had agreed to this marriage with a fluke mentality and came to Lige, in fact, subconsciously, he didn't think that Shen Qingfeng would really marry him. But reality was like a dream. He and Shen Qingfeng were in love with each other, which made him have to face this problem directly.
Would Shen Qingfeng go back to the Northern Kingdom with him?
The answer was impossible.
Shen Qingfeng had to support Xia Chuli to ascend the throne, which naturally meant that no matter what, Shen Qingfeng had to stay in Lige City and couldn't take a single step out. Otherwise, how could a strategist be called a strategist if he was outside?
But Lu Yan was different. He was the king of the Northern Kingdom. There were thousands of people in the Northern Kingdom behind him. He couldn't abandon his people just for Shen Qingfeng.
Actually, Lu Yan had known these things for a long time, but he just didn't want to face them.
Now, the wedding date of the two was approaching. All Lu Yan wanted to do now was to marry Shen Qingfeng. He wanted the whole world to know that Shen Qingfeng was his. As for other things, Lu Yan really didn't want to think about them for the time being.
"I understand." Lu Yan said, "Wait a little longer, wait a little longer..."
Xu Ruhui looked at him. There was a flash of some emotion in his eyes, but he finally didn't say anything.
"Didn't I ask you to keep an eye on the movements of the Prince Cheng's Mansion?" Lu Yan coughed lightly and changed the topic.
"Hey!" Xu Ruhui put his hands on his hips and showed a very dissatisfied look, saying, "You asked me to investigate the power scope and relationship network of Prince Cheng. This kind of thing is not so easy to investigate. I still have to hide my figure and run around all day long. I was busy all day yesterday. Can't you even let me take a rest?"
Xu Ruhui's action was obviously to make Lu Yan happy. Lu Yan naturally understood. He squinted at Xu Ruhui and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll allow you to take a rest."
Xu Ruhui immediately pulled a long face, hugged Lu Yan's waist and began to complain, "Senior brother, senior brother, I also want to hug a beauty! Wuwuwu! If I don't use my little brother anymore, it will become dull! After this matter is finished, you have to give me a vacation!"
Lu Yan gently patted his head and scolded, "You only think about looking for girls!"
Xu Ruhui said, "It's not. I can also do with young men. I'm not like you, senior brother. You've been a widower for so many years."
"Get out of here!" Lu Yan scolded with a smile and pushed him away.
Xu Ruhui wasn't angry when he was pushed away. He made a face at Lu Yan and then retreated to take a rest.
Although Shen Qingfeng no longer lived in the palace, according to his title, he was still the reading attendant of the crown prince.
The sacrifice at the Golden Summit Temple was the most important sacrificial activity in Lixia every year. Almost all the people in the city had to participate. For such a big event, and it was Xia Chuli who was presiding over it for the first time, Shen Qingfeng was always restless. He went to the palace early in the morning.
Although the sacrifice would not be held until after noon, a series of preparatory activities before the sacrifice were indispensable.
Xia Chuli only slept for three hours at night and was then pulled up by Shen Yu. He started preparing in the Divination Hall.
When Shen Qingfeng arrived, Xia Chuli had already put on the sacrificial robe.
The sacrificial robe was composed of nine layers of clothes inlaid with gold and jade. From the shoulders to the heels, the layers were different. They were named Tianqiong, Dingqi, Xuanhuang, Ronggen, Qitu, Yuxuan, Xiazhi, Huiji, and Digen respectively. The nine layers of clothes represented the heaven, earth, and all things in life. They were intended to pray for good weather and peace and prosperity in Lixia.
The people in the Divination Hall were all busy with this sacrifice. The people in the hall were bustling around, each busy with their own things. Xia Chuli was the same. He hadn't slept well for many days. Now, wearing the heavy sacrificial robe, he felt weak all over and his legs were soft. Just as he was about to fall, he supported the table with his hands. Just as he was about to raise his eyes to talk to Shen Yu, he saw Shen Qingfeng step into the door.
Xia Chuli was immediately stunned on the spot. He supported the table with both hands, stared at Shen Qingfeng who had just entered, and his lips parted slightly.
Shen Yu, who was standing beside him, also saw Shen Qingfeng. He was stunned for a moment, then stood up and walked over, saying, "Qingfeng? Why did you come?"
Looking at the busy figures of the people in the hall, Shen Qingfeng didn't dare to slack off either. He quickly walked to the two of them and whispered, "I came to see A Li."
Hearing this, Xia Chuli immediately felt mixed emotions in his heart. He stared at Shen Qingfeng and couldn't say a word for a moment.
Shen Qingfeng looked at him and then turned to look at Shen Yu beside him and said, "Brother, are you ready?"
Shen Yu looked between the two of them. After noticing that the atmosphere was a bit strange, he cast an inquiring look at Shen Qingfeng.
Shen Qingfeng looked at Shen Yu and said, "Brother, I want to talk to A Li. Is that okay?"
Shen Yu frowned. After all, the relationship between the two of them was a bit awkward now. But then he thought that his younger brother was already in love with that Lu Yan, and his father had told him not to interfere too much. So he didn't need to stand in the way between the two of them all the time. Moreover, although the sacrifice was busy, Xia Chuli's part was basically ready. So he nodded and pointed to the side, saying, "There's an inner room over there. You can go in there with him."
Shen Qingfeng nodded, turned his head to Xia Chuli and said, "A Li, let's go."