flstandardbreds Chapter 181 What a coincidence!
Chapter 181 What a coincidence!
Having achieved their goal, the two palace maids quickly withdrew.
Soon the news reached Consort Jiang's ears, and after hearing it, she immediately relayed it to the Prime Minister's residence.
Prime Minister's Mansion
After reading the message, Zheng Luoqi immediately burned the letter and then called Boyu in for questioning.
"Where are the troops from Beirong now?" Zheng Luoqi asked with a serious expression.
"Your Excellency, they should arrive in the capital within the next two days," Boyu replied respectfully.
"How is things going with Vice Minister Zhang?" Zheng Luoqi continued to ask.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, Vice Minister Zhang has already made all the necessary arrangements. We are just waiting for the envoy's banquet to begin, at which time everything will be carried out in accordance with your and Your Excellency's instructions. As for Ye Churan, we have also sent people to take strict precautions." Boyu replied with his usual respectful attitude.
Zheng Luoqi nodded slightly, a satisfied look on her face, secretly thinking: I'm just waiting to see the real show at this banquet...
At this very moment, after overcoming countless hardships, Tuoba Yanran and Tuoba Yanqi finally arrived outside the capital.
Who knows what they've been through these past few days? Without servants or guards around, they had to be extremely careful. They were ripped off by pawnshop owners, cheated when buying horses, and frequently robbed on the road. Even at night, they had to be wary of thieves.
They had finally arrived in the capital. As soon as they arrived, Tuoba Yanran and Tuoba Yanqi rushed to the palace, took out the only thing they had that could prove their identities, and asked the guards at the city gate to report to Xue Huaiyu that the Northern Rong envoy had arrived.
They also instructed the guards to tell Xue Huaiyu that they had lost everything on their way to the capital and hoped that the Emperor of Great Xia could help them catch the thief.
The guard saw that the two men were empty-handed and dressed plainly. He was about to attack them, but when he saw the token they gave him, he hesitated. What if they really were envoys?
On their way here, Tuoba Yanran and her companion had pawned all their valuables, keeping only what could prove their identities.
Before arriving in the capital, the two had written letters to other merchants traveling to North Rong, asking them to help send the letters to North Rong.
Tell the emperor of Beirong that everything they brought to the emperor of Daxia for peace negotiations has been stolen, and ask the emperor of Beirong to send another gift.
Just as the guards were debating whether or not to report the matter, the sound of horses' hooves approached from afar. Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw a carriage speeding towards them.
Once the carriage came to a stop, the curtain was gently lifted by a fair, jade-like hand, and Zheng Luoqi slowly stepped down from the carriage.
Zheng Luoqi's eyes lingered briefly on Tuoba Yanran and Tuoba Yanqi, and she immediately realized that the two people in front of her must be the second princess and the fifth prince from Beirong.
At that moment, the guards saw Zheng Luoqi arrive in person and hurriedly bowed and greeted her respectfully.
Upon seeing this, Zheng Luoqi's face showed a hint of doubt. She turned to the guards beside her and asked, "Who are these two?"
The guard dared not be negligent and hurriedly replied respectfully, "Your Excellency, these two claim to be envoys from North Rong."
Upon hearing this, a subtle glint of cunning flashed in Zheng Luoqi's eyes. She continued to feign ignorance as she looked at Tuoba Yanran and Tuoba Yanqi, asking with a hint of suspicion, "Oh? Since you are envoys, why are only the two of you here?"
Upon hearing this, Tuoba Yanran realized that the other party might have misunderstood, and hurriedly explained, "My lord, we are indeed here on the orders of the Northern Rong Emperor to be sent as envoys to your country. I am Tuoba Yanran, the second princess of Northern Rong." After speaking, she pointed to the object held by the guard, indicating that it was a token of identity.
"As for whether it is the real person, you will know as soon as you see the token. The generous gifts we brought from Beirong were stolen by thieves on our way to your place."
"I have already sent word to my father, and I expect he will soon send someone to prepare the gift for the Great Xia and deliver it quickly," Tuoba Yanran explained humbly and confidently.
"Oh? Such a change of events? What a coincidence! I also have important matters to report to His Majesty. Why don't you two come with me to an audience?" Zheng Luoqi's lips curled slightly, responding casually, but a subtle hint of mockery flashed deep in his eyes.
Upon hearing this, Tuoba Yanran and the people beside her felt that it was the best thing to go in together at this moment, and readily agreed.
Soon, the three of them arrived at the council hall together.
Zheng Luoqi first bowed and said, "Your subject greets Your Majesty!"
Tuoba Yanran and the other woman followed the etiquette of the Northern Rong and bowed respectfully to Xue Huaiyu, who was sitting on the dragon throne.
Xue Huaiyu looked at Tuoba Yanran and the other person next to Zheng Luoqi and asked, "Who are these two?"
“Your Majesty, they are envoys!” Zheng Luoqi replied.
Upon hearing this, Xue Huaiyu frowned slightly, a hint of displeasure on his face, and pressed on, "Since you are an envoy, why did you enter the palace with me?"
"Oh, I met them at the palace gate. I was on my way to report to His Majesty when I met them at the palace gate. They claimed to be envoys, so I brought them in with me!" Zheng Luoqi replied expressionlessly.
Tuoba Yanran then stepped forward and offered an explanation, bowing respectfully before beginning her explanation.
Tuoba Yanran recounted the entire incident in detail, and then presented the token that could prove her identity to Xue Huaiyu for his inspection.
After Xue Huaiyu listened to Tuoba Yanran's account, he looked at the token, and his tense expression finally relaxed slightly.
"In that case, you two should rest here for now. I will send people to investigate where your lost items have gone!" Xue Huaiyu said.
"Then thank you very much, Your Majesty!" After saying that, Tuoba Yanran and Tuoba Yanqi each bowed.
Xue Huaiyu turned to Zheng Luoqi with displeasure and asked, "I wonder what brings you here, Minister Zheng?"
"Ha! It's quite a coincidence. I recently obtained something from one of my men that doesn't look like it's from our country. It looks more like something from the Northern Rong. But it looks very valuable, so I followed the clues and found a gang of bandits!"
"Then we found a lot of things related to Beirong in that gang!" Zheng Luoqi said, taking out an exquisite beaded bracelet from her pocket.
Tuoba Yanran took a closer look and realized that these were her own jewelry pieces.
Tuoba Yanran understood everything at this moment; this Lord Zheng was none other than Zheng Luoqi, the son of the Prime Minister of the Great Xia Kingdom.
He's directing and acting in his own show, putting on a drama for himself! How dare he play tricks on this princess! As Tuoba Yanran thought about this, her eyes suddenly turned cold.
The remaining chapter will be posted later.