Chapter 61: Baili Zhou

  Everyone who heard this remark nodded in agreement, but their faces remained as respectful as ever. Emperor Rui's relative, Baili Zhao, was not comparable to Baili Yi. Baili Yi was a descendant of Empress Xiao, and the Xiao family had an unbreakable bond with them, being related by blood and bone. This was one reason.

  The second is Baili Zhui. This person was once the Crown Prince of Zhou, holding great power. Even though he has voluntarily relinquished his position as crown prince and has been living in seclusion for many years, not asking about worldly affairs, the influence left behind has not completely dissipated. At least three years have passed, and until now, there is no senior minister in the court who dares to submit a memorial to discuss the establishment of another crown prince.

  Baili's gaze shifted slightly, but it was the first to fall on Xiao Xian's body. The corner of his mouth seemed to rise slightly, and there was no smile on his face: "Is this Miss Xiao Xian from the Xiao family? It's been more than three years since we last met, and you've grown up!"

  Xiao Chengyan listened to him mention himself, and only slightly saluted, saying: "It's been many years since I saw the king, and the king is still as elegant as ever!"

  Baili Zhao seemed to smile slightly, but didn't respond to her words. Instead, he turned to Xiao Chengye and said: "Chengye also seems more mature than three years ago!" However, unlike Xiao Chengxian, upon hearing this, Xiao Chengye only bowed his head and thanked the king for his praise, without saying another word.

  It was clear that Baili Zhou didn't intend to say much more, and his gaze quickly shifted to Ling Yuqing: "You are the sixth son of the Ansuo Marquis' manor, Ling Yuqing, right? How is your father doing now?" Because he wasn't familiar with Ling Yuqing, there was a hint of inquiry in his question, and finally, he mentioned the current Ansuo Marquis, Ling Zhao.

  Facing Baili Zhao, Ling Yuqing also didn't dare to be the slightest bit slow, and hurriedly returned the courtesy, saying: "In response to Your Highness's question, my father is doing very well! The other day, I still heard him mention Your Highness, and he even spoke with nostalgia about the experience of following Your Highness to rush to Beijiang seven years ago!"

  At present, the Central Plains are divided into two parts, namely Southern Yue and Northern Zhou. Southern Yue has the southwestern Rong as a threat, while Northern Zhou also has the northern Di tribe frequently invading. Therefore, although there were conflicts between the two countries from time to time, they always treated each other as neighboring countries and exchanged gifts according to etiquette on ordinary days. They did not dare to touch each other's bottom line for no reason, leading to conflict between the two countries.

  Seven years ago, the northern Di grasslands suffered a severe drought, and the Di people launched a large-scale invasion of Northern Zhou. At that critical moment when the border was under pressure, it was Bai Liji, who was then just over twenty years old, who led a large army to rush to the northern border. On the one hand, he firmly defended the border and strictly guarded against death. On the other hand, he also used a surprise attack to penetrate deep into the northern Di grasslands, roaming freely across the steppes, and directly attacking the Yellow Dragon. He also sent envoys to persuade the various tribes of the northern Di to stir up internal strife among the Di tribes. Only then was this war finally pacified.

  And in that battle of Beibei, An Su Hou Ling Zhao was also one of the many marquises who followed the army to go on an expedition.

  Suddenly hearing the two words "Northern Border", Bai Li seemed to be stunned for a moment, and his face also appeared somewhat dazed. However, he quickly regained his usual apathetic and listless demeanor: "Past events, I've almost forgotten them all, yet he still remembers!"

  Ling Yuqing still wanted to say something, but Xiao Chengye on the side was already listening with great urgency. He kept making eye contact with him.

  On the other side, Bai Lixiao obviously had no intention of continuing to speak, and simply shifted his gaze away, looking at Yuandai: "These two, are they the young ladies of the Ling family?" His eyes were dull, and when he looked at Yuandai, it was as if the two had never met before.

  Ling Yuqing was not familiar with him, and he changed the subject. He didn't want to continue talking either, so he just responded with a "yes" and pointed at Yuan Dai: "This is my younger sister Yuan Dai, ninth in line among the sisters!" Then he pointed at Ling Yu Xuan: "That's third house Yuan Xuan, tenth in line!"

  The Yan sisters silently pay their respects.

  Baili Zhao's gaze swept across Yuandai's face, but suddenly paused at a certain point behind her, and a hint of strangeness flashed in his eyes. After a while, he suddenly asked: "Who is the maid wearing lotus-colored clothes standing behind Ninth Miss?"

  Without turning around, Yuandai knew who he was referring to. Among the many maidservants who came out with her today, only one person wore a lotus-colored shirt - Du Ruo. With a slight raise of her eyebrows, Yuandai calmly said: "As for what Your Highness said, that is servant girl Du Ruo!"

  In an instant, except for Yuandai, everyone's gaze fell on Du Ruo with a hint of surprise. And Du Ruo, at this moment, became stiff and flustered, completely losing the elegance and playfulness she had when she was by Old Lady Xiao's side.

  She was stunned for a while before she realized that she should pay her respects, and with great effort, she managed to force a slight smile on her face. Du Ruo stammered: "Servant girl Du Ruo, greetings Your Highness!" Her voice was even trembling.

  Quietly gazing at Du Ruo, it wasn't until after a long, long time that Baili Zhao slowly asked: "You... have been in the Ling manor for how many years?"

  Du Ruo did not expect him to suddenly ask about this, and after a moment's pause, she truthfully replied: "In response to the king's words, I entered the Ling manor at the age of five and have been serving under the old lady ever since! It wasn't until recently that the old lady instructed me to serve Ninth Miss!"

  Baili Zhuo nodded slightly, then didn't look at her again, but turned to Yuandai and said: "I've long heard that Miss is skilled in cultivating flowers. Today I see it for myself, and indeed the reputation is not unfounded!" His tone was light, but it was impossible to discern whether he was praising or criticizing.

  Yan Dai smiled faintly: "Your Highness is overpraising!" But these four words were all she said. As for the person in front of her, she couldn't fathom his thoughts and had no way of guessing what he would do next. In this situation, she could only try to say as little as possible and avoid making mistakes.

  Fortunately, Baili Zhao had no intention of making things difficult for her, and turned to Ling Yuexuan again, asking a few questions in a light tone. Ling Yuexuan also answered a few questions with trepidation. After asking everyone, Baili Zhao shifted his gaze back to Xiao Chengye: "If you have time, bring them to my other courtyard for a visit!" Xiao Chengye hesitated for a moment, not daring to say anything else, and hastily nodded in agreement, thanking Baili Zhao again.

  Baili Zhao waved his hand and stopped talking to the crowd, only shouting loudly: "Yue Yao!" As soon as this voice went out, a response came from afar. The next moment, a figure flashed over like lightning. Yuandai watched from the side, her eyes fixed on him. It was because she recognized that the man in front of her was the ordinary-looking man who had guided her way on Guanyin Mountain that day.

  Nuo Yue Yao stood still beside Baili Zhao, his eyes naturally sweeping across the crowd in front of him. His gaze lingered on Yuandai's face for a moment before quickly turning away, as if he had never seen her before.

  When he came over, Baili Zhao turned to Baili Yu and said: "Yue Yao pushed me back, you can go with them to admire the plum blossoms!"

  Baili Yu nodded and said: "Yes!"

  Baili Zhao nodded at Yue Yao, and Yue Yao immediately busied himself to push the wheelchair forward, slowly exiting the forest.

  Everyone in the woods did not speak, but it wasn't until his figure disappeared into the Shui Lin that everyone seemed to let out a sigh of relief. Baili Yi saw that everyone was like this, and couldn't help but smile, saying: "I haven't seen Second Brother talk so much with outsiders for a long time!" The tone was very happy, and it seemed that he was quite pleased for Baili Zhao. He originally had a beautiful and elegant doll-like face, and when he smiled, his eyebrows and eyes curved, and the corners of his mouth deepened, making him look even more handsome and charming than usual women.

  Yuan Dai had always felt that he was not a man of many words since they met, but at this moment, seeing him smile, she suddenly understood why Baili Yu rarely smiled. Suppressing the laughter that was about to burst out, Yuan Dai nonchalantly shifted her gaze away.

  Although she didn't say a word, everyone around her had eyes and could see everything.

  Among these people, others were afraid to speak because of Baili Yu's face and the dignity of the prince, but Xiao Chengyu was not afraid of him at all. When he saw this smile, he exclaimed as if he had discovered a new continent: "Ah! Baili, you look so good when you smile!" Before he finished speaking, he had already covered his mouth and started laughing, obviously the previous sentence was just a joke.

  Baili Yu originally didn't feel anything, but now being smiled at by her like this, his handsome face had already turned bright red, glaring angrily at Xiao Chengyan. In his heart, he was extremely angry, yet he couldn't do anything to her. Fortunately, although there were many people present, only one of them was of Xiao Chengyan's status, so even though everyone was holding back their laughter, no one chimed in.

  After humming a soft tune, Baili Yu brushed off his sleeve and turned around to leave.

  Xiao Chengye suppressed a smile and gave Xiao Chengyan a glance, then softly scolded: "You..." In the end, he didn't stay for long, quickly chasing after Baili Yu. Ling Yuanqing was also by their side, not saying a word, and followed him as well.

  Three people left, and only Yuandai was left in the forest. Xiao Chengyan smiled leisurely and said: "Finally they all left!" It turned out that she had just said those words to drive away Baili Yi and the other three.

  She smiled slightly, and just now when Xiao Chengyan said this, she still had some doubts in her heart. After all, the relationship between the Xiao siblings and Baili Yu was not ordinary, if it was said that Xiao Chengyan didn't know what Baili Yu looked like when he smiled, she wouldn't believe it.

  "Ah, so sister wants to get rid of those three!" She said with a snort, "But to be honest, the way Prince An smiles is really..." Before she could continue, Yan Dai coughed heavily and interrupted her. Some things are better left unsaid, and once spoken, they lose their propriety. This was especially true for a noble lady like herself, and even more so when discussing a member of the imperial family.

  Ling Yuexuan was not a person who didn't know the boundaries, but just had a childlike heart and occasionally misspoke when she lost her composure. At this moment, hearing Far Dai cough, the next words were swallowed back in an instant, and a pair of big black eyes also glanced nervously at the direction where Baili Yi and others went.

  Xiao Chengxian seemed to have not heard anything, only smiled and said: "It's strange to say, when I'm facing Baili for a hundred miles, I can be reckless, but as soon as I see that Second Brother Huang, I feel trembling from the bottom of my heart, and I don't dare to say an extra word!" When she said this, although her face was smiling, Yuan Dai heard her sincerity from her tone.

  Ling Yuexuan nodded beside her and said, "I was also very afraid when I saw him!" She turned to Yuandai again and asked, "What do you think, Ninth Sister?"

  The two of them having said that, Yuandai didn't want to appear too special either, so she smiled and said: "Isn't it just so!"