Chapter 1149: Chapter 1140: Rouge (25)
The court’s tribute is easy to prepare; just send whatever is precious enough to bring honor to Daqi.
The challenge is deciding what gift to send Zhao Xu as a brother.
He is the future Emperor of Nanliang, after all.
After two days, the court prepared their tribute, but they still hadn’t decided.
On the day of departure, Su Chong escorted them out of the city.
The Commandery Princess Fu Yun was pregnant, and he was busy with the Flying Tiger Army, so he could not go to Nanliang to offer congratulations.
He entrusted Prince NanAn to deliver a gift to Zhao Xu on his behalf.
Prince NanAn sighed, "Now that Brother Zhao has become the Emperor of Nanliang, we will have fewer opportunities to meet him."
Not just fewer, perhaps you could count the chances on one hand for the rest of this lifetime.
If that weren’t the case, they wouldn’t have competed for the task of delivering the tribute.
With a nudge to the horse’s belly, they set out toward the border.
While Prince NanAn and his group just set out, an unexpected visitor arrived at the small courtyard—
Dong Chenglang.
His arrival at the small courtyard truly surprised Xie Jingchen.
Dong Chenglang should be helping Zhao Xu at this time; why would he come to the border to find him?
He thought something had happened, but upon meeting Dong Chenglang, he learned that Prime Minister Zhao had entrusted the task of proposing for Zhao Xu in Beimo to Dong Chenglang.
Dong Chenglang was Zhao Xu’s brother-in-law.
Currently, there were few in Nanliang with a status surpassing his.
No one else was suitable to go to Beimo to propose for Zhao Xu, so he had to make the trip.
Upon hearing that Xie Jingchen was still at the border, Dong Chenglang let the marriage convoy proceed ahead and rode swiftly to catch up with them in Daqi, and then head back to catch up.
Su Jin had encountered Dong Chenglang twice. The first time he captured her, the second time he was tied up in Daqi, and Xingxing flogged him with her whip.
Upon seeing Su Jin, Dong Chenglang saluted and apologized for capturing her.
As for Xingxing, Dong Chenglang commented, "Your little maid has quite the strength; her whip really hurts."
Xingxing took it as a compliment.
After all, having eaten so many meat buns, she would be ashamed if she wasn’t strong.
Dong Chenglang had a simple meal at the small courtyard before taking his leave.
The last time, Prince NanAn and his group already helped Zhao Xu propose, and this time, they were only going through the formalities, to escort Princess Jing Shan back to Nanliang.
Previously, King Beimo and the Beimo Empress worried that it might take Zhao Xu two or three years to overthrow the Nanliang Court and worried Princess Jing Shan would have to wait for him for a long time.
Now that the marriage convoy had arrived, King Beimo and the Empress were reluctant to part with her.
Nanliang brought two hundred carts of betrothal gifts, all of them rare treasures, but the most precious was the Purple Gold Whip crafted by Zhao Xu himself following his design.
This was his promise to Princess Jing Shan.
Princess Jing Shan loved the whip dearly.
Daughters grow up and are destined to marry.
No matter how reluctant, King Beimo had the Astronomical Bureau select an auspicious date and sent Princess Jing Shan off in a bridal sedan.
The auspicious date Beimo calculated matched the date Nanliang selected.
The Eldest Prince of Beimo personally escorted Princess Jing Shan to Nanliang for the wedding.
Phoenix crown and wedding robe, ten-mile red wedding.
Princess Jing Shan was the only princess from Beimo to marry far away and seem particularly thrilled about it.
Half a month later, Prince NanAn and his group arrived at the border with the tribute.
After staying overnight at the small courtyard, they set off for Nanliang the next day.
Xie Jingchen and Su Jin did not depart with them.
Although Su Jin was determined to go together early on, neither she nor Xie Jingchen mentioned it to the Princess Consort even once.
They knew clearly that the Prince and the Princess Consort would not agree.
They might even abandon the trip to Nanliang to dissuade Su Jin from the idea.
If they were to go together, it would have to be in secret.
If discovered halfway, Prince and Princess Consort could only let them follow along.
Moreover, not only were Su Jin and Xie Jingchen going, but Chu Shun and Qin Hanhan were also going.
Yuanyuan was not much older than Guanguan; if Yuanyuan could endure the journey, Guanguan certainly could.
If they went to Nanliang, Chu Shun and Qin Hanhan would have to return to the Capital City, and it’s a jolting journey no matter where they went.
So Chu Shun and Qin Hanhan also decided to make a round trip to Nanliang.
Initially, Mrs. Feng disagreed, but there was nothing she could do.
Qin Hanhan provided ample reasoning to go to Nanliang.
Su Jin stayed to accompany her, thereby delaying their return to the Capital City and making the Emperor wait anxiously to see his grandson until now.
Her trip to Nanliang would not delay for long, and if she returned to the Capital City first with her child, the Emperor would certainly be displeased.
Mrs. Feng felt that Qin Hanhan made a valid point.
She absolutely could not return to the Capital before the Princess Consort Zhenbei.
Moreover, Qin Hanhan’s medical skills were average, and Guanguan hadn’t left the small courtyard since birth. The arduous journey back to the Capital could risk illness, which she couldn’t treat.
It’s difficult to treat a child’s illness; Little Princess’ cold took many days to recover, and even the medical skills of the Zhenbei Princess Consort surpassed those of the palace’s Imperial Physicians, let alone ordinary doctors.
Traveling with Princess Consort Zhenbei, it might be tiring, but at least it would be safe.
Additionally, there was the task the Emperor gave her, to find the antidote for the Unity Gu.
This was an assignment Emperor gave Qin Hanhan after Xie Jingchen survived an avalanche, stating that even without the avalanche, the Unity Gu would need to be resolved.
The journey to the Southern Border was inevitable.
Qin Hanhan was reluctant to leave her child in the Capital City; she wanted to take the child to the Southern Border.
However, such reasoning wouldn’t persuade Marchioness Jingguo.
Traveling with Su Jin to Nanliang, then returning to the Capital, the journey itself involved quite a few bumpy days, and if the child remained healthy, she would take the child to the Southern Border.
Ever since the Little Princess sped to the border in a rush and was fine, they realized that despite the child being small, she wasn’t as fragile as they thought.
The Little Princess traveled at breakneck speed with an 800-li urgent message; if they traveled leisurely, enjoying the sights along the way, they wouldn’t be overly fatigued.
Because Su Jin decided to go on her own, Qin Hanhan wanted to follow, making it hard for Su Jin to dissuade her.
On the second day after the Prince and Princess Consort’s departure, Xie Jingchen and Su Jin set out.
Maid and wet nurse followed along, making their group not small compared to the tribute mission.
Xie Jingchen instructed the Hidden Guard to catch up with the Prince, to relay messages timely.
The Hidden Guard caught up with the Prince while they were having tea at a small stall.
Seeing the Hidden Guard approach, the Prince frowned and said, "Why did you follow?"
"The Young Master was concerned and sent me to take a look," said the Hidden Guard.
"With me accompanying the Princess Consort, what is there for Chenchen to be concerned about?" the Prince asked.
The Hidden Guard nodded, "That’s precisely how I advised the Young Master, but he wouldn’t listen."
The Prince said no more.
Since they had already come, let them follow.
He had left enough people to watch over the small courtyard; missing one Hidden Guard wouldn’t be an issue.
Someone approached, interrupting them.
It was a young woman who came over, holding a tray covered with silk, its contents unknown, and she smiled at the Princess Consort, "I have some good items from Daqi here; would Madam like to take a look?"
The Princess Consort became intrigued, "What good items?"
The woman unveiled the silk.
The tray held soap and rouge.
The Princess Consort, "...."
"I don’t need it," the Princess Consort smiled.
The woman hurriedly said, "Are you sure you don’t need it?"
"These are all from Daqi, and since we’re near the border here, they’re cheaper. As we continue forward and reach the Capital City, the price will be more than double what it is here."
