"Lord Yan, Princess Lianhua, what brings you here?"
Lu Qingwan and her husband still hadn't met all the officials in the Great Qin Dynasty, so Yan Ruozhao was not suitable to converse with Lord Yan at this moment.
Thus, as the carriage stopped outside the Qin King's mansion, Si Fengming became the spokesperson for the group.
With Si Han's reminder, they had all hidden the little bun in the carriage early on.
After Lu Qingwan and the others disembarked, Si Han and Si Lan tacitly drove the carriage into a nearby alley, giving the little bun no chance to appear.
Those blocking the entrance of the Qin King's mansion had not expected that the group would bring back a living person after going out for a meal.
The entire group, from the master to the servants, bowed to them, "Your subject greets His Highness the Crown Prince and Her Highness the Crown Princess. Greetings to His Highness the Qin King and Her Highness the Qin Princess!"
After speaking, they realized that beside Lord Yan and Bai Lianhua was a discreet young man.
He was not surrounded by attendants, and his horse was tied to a willow tree quite a distance from the mansion's gate.
Si Fengming naturally added, "A Zhi, why have you come?"
The young man's brows bore a slight resemblance to Feng Xiwu's brothers.
He was tall and imposing, dressed in a fitted black martial uniform. If it weren't for the exquisite embroidery on his clothes and the valuable accessories at his waist, one might mistake him for a guard from some family. However, this gave him a certain carefree air that many Great Qin officials lacked.
Upon hearing Si Fengming's words, the young man cupped his fists and replied, "My grandfather heard of His Highness the Qin King's return and specially ordered me to see him and to bring back a portrait of His Highness and Her Highness the Qin Princess. You know his osprey; it's been watching the mansion. If I don't come out, the entire household won't have peace. So, I've been waiting here."
He only complained about the Youzhou King's osprey forcing him to wait outside, neither complaining about Feng Xiwu making him wait too long nor about the Qin King's mansion not letting him in. His accommodating demeanor greatly disappointed Lord Yan, who had been waiting to witness a spectacle.
Beside him, Princess Lianhua, clad in white and adorned with silver jewelry, fixed her gaze on Feng Xiwu, unable to tear her eyes away.
Seeing that no one was paying her any attention, she did not seem embarrassed and directly curtsied to Feng Xiwu. "Lianhua greets His Highness the Qin King. Your Highness has been back for a long time, but I have not seen my elder brother return. My grandfather ordered Lianhua to specifically inquire of Your Highness when my elder brother will return home?"
She spoke as if of her own accord, but her words drew everyone's attention to her. After speaking, Bai Lianhua looked at Feng Xiwu shyly, making it seem as if she and Feng Xiwu had some intimate connection, despite merely inquiring about her brother's whereabouts.
Lu Qingwan maintained a calm facade, but her hand was already stealthily twisting a full circle of Feng Xiwu's tender flesh at his waist. It was a testament to Feng Xiwu's endurance that he could suppress the urge to bare his teeth and lose his composure in public.
While calmly freeing his flesh from Lu Qingwan's grasp, he said ruthlessly, "Lian Yu is not my subordinate; he is a free man. He can return whenever he wishes. As for when he will return, I do not know. If the young miss of the Bai family wishes to know, you can ask Lian Yu yourself."
After speaking, he didn't even spare Bai Lianhua a glance. Holding Lu Qingwan's hand, he urged Si Fengming and his wife, "Let's go. When did my imperial brother develop the habit of chatting at the door?"
Si Fengming, engrossed in conversation with Gu Xingzhi, readily placed a hand on Gu Xingzhi's shoulder and said, "Fengwu is right. Let's go inside and talk." As they spoke, the brothers walked towards the mansion in apparent harmony, completely ignoring the pitiful Lord Yan, who had been waiting by the roadside.
Seeing that they were all about to enter, Lord Yan hurriedly chased them to the steps of the Qin King's mansion, calling out, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, please wait!" As he spoke, he reached out to tug at Si Fengming's sleeve, but before his hand could fully extend, Li Jin and Si Lan had already blocked him.
Si Fengming did turn back, but he had no intention of conversing further with Lord Yan. He spoke coldly, "Lord Yan, your daughter attacked Her Highness the Qin Princess with concealed weapons and injured the Qin King's mansion's chief steward with a sleeve arrow. All members of the Qin King's mansion witnessed this. Your wife, moreover, hurled curses at the Qin King and his wife in front of the Crown Prince's mansion. These are all consequences of their own actions. Coming to me is useless. Over the years, how many despicable deeds have your wife and daughter committed by leveraging their status as the Crown Princess's family? It's already exceedingly gracious of me not to add insult to injury. If you continue to pester me, the charges they face will be more than just the Jiaofang Division and the Jingzhao Prefecture."
All of Lord Yan's pleas for mercy were stifled. He stood there stunned, watching the Si Fengming brothers enter the mansion, and said not another word.
As for Bai Lianhua, when she entered the palace yesterday, the Empress Dowager had already hinted at her intention to betroth her to Feng Xiwu. Although Feng Xiwu was not favored, as a member of the Bai family, she understood Feng Xiwu better than others. She knew that Feng Xiwu possessed exceptional talent and would surely achieve great things once he returned to Great Qin. Furthermore, having met Feng Xiwu once before, she had already fallen head over heels for the exceptionally handsome Feng Xiwu. Upon sensing the Empress Dowager's intentions, she unilaterally believed that she would be Feng Xiwu's princess. When her family mentioned Lian Yu, she eagerly volunteered and happily went to the Qin King's mansion, thinking she would get closer to Feng Xiwu first.
As a result, Feng Xiwu's reaction was like a bucket of ice-cold water poured directly over her. Seeing her standing there with a gloomy expression, ignored by everyone and not leaving, her maid cautiously approached and asked, "My lady, what... what do we do now?"
"What do we do? Didn't you see that Lu Qingwan, that barbarian girl from the south, is preventing His Highness from getting close to me? Keep a close watch on the Qin King's mansion. Inform me the moment either Lu Qingwan or His Highness the Qin King leaves!" After speaking, she threw off the maid's hand that was supporting her and angrily got into the carriage.
Inside the mansion, Lu Qingwan was unaware that she had been unfairly blamed by Bai Lianhua for nothing. At that moment, she was instructing Li Jin to arrange accommodations for the Crown Prince and his wife, with tea and refreshments sent all the way to the Wutong Courtyard. It was the hottest season of the year, so Lu Qingwan had arranged for the guests to stay in the pavilions.
After a while, Lu Qingwan sat down beside Feng Xiwu, and Si Fengwu joked, "The Empress Dowager only today mentioned betrothing Bai Lianhua to Fengwu, and she's already come chasing to the mansion. It seems the Bai family and the Empress Dowager have reached a consensus. Sister-in-law, you better keep a close eye on Fengwu! If someone manages to exploit a loophole, even if Fengwu won't marry another woman, it will be enough to disgust you for a while."
Yan Ruozhao and Gu Xingzhi also frowned in displeasure. It was common for empresses dowager to bestow marriages upon members of the royal family. However, to arrange a marriage when they already had a spouse and had just had their wedding was clearly meant to be malicious. As outsiders, Yan Ruozhao and Gu Xingzhi both felt indignant on behalf of Feng Xiwu and Lu Qingwan. The couple themselves, however, were as calm as if they were listening to gossip about others.