Shen Qing was pondering the purpose of Princess Zhaohua.
Princess Zhaohua never did anything without a profit. She had fabricated a fake princess who was supposed to have returned from Xingshu. She made everyone believe that she intended to form an alliance with Xingshu, and the fake princess was her pawn. The two of them had conveyed to Xingshu the message that the Kingdom of Jiang was willing to form an alliance.
The mantis stalks the cicada, while the oriole waits behind. Emperor Jing of Jiang took advantage of the situation. He made the fake princess and Xingshu relax their vigilance. Then, at a crucial moment, Shen Liangzhi, the real person in charge of the troops, defected, and the people of Xingshu would be caught off guard.
As for Princess Zhaohua, she did this to deplete the troops of Yelv Wujie. Then, in the name of restoring the country, she would support the orphan of the former crown prince of Beirong. Since the orphan was young and Beirong had been divided for many years, with each tribe having its own ideas, if he wanted to secure the throne, he could only rely on Princess Zhaohua, a powerful princess.
In fact, from the very beginning, what Princess Zhaohua wanted was Xingshu.
There was another thing.
Suddenly, Shen Qing remembered something. Why did the fake princess and the old forces of Beirong listen to Princess Zhaohua?
Princess Zhaohua was not in Beirong. How could she be sure that the people of Beirong would not defect and turn against her after the restoration of the country?
There was only one possibility. The new lord that Beirong was going to support, that child, was very likely the child of the fake princess!
Use the child to control the mother, and then use the mother to control the child.
The more Shen Qing thought about it, the more shocked she became. If this was the case, Princess Zhaohua was extremely cunning and ruthless in both her methods and schemes.
She had played a grand game of chess, and everyone was just a pawn on her chessboard.
In her previous life, her soul had only remained for a month after King Jin ascended the throne. Then, not long after, she was reborn. She really didn't know much about what was going on outside.
But she was sure that her existence would be the only exception in this game.
Her return to the Kingdom of Jiang was equivalent to directly overturning Princess Zhaohua's chessboard. Of course, Princess Zhaohua would not let her live to reach the capital of the Kingdom of Jiang!
Suddenly, all the fog in front of her dissipated, and Shen Qing felt a lot more settled.
Previously, the enemy was in the dark while they were in the light. They were always at a disadvantage. Now that she had understood everything, it was not certain who would win in the end.
At least the current situation was favorable to them. Yelv Wujie was stretched thin. With the Duke of Sui guarding the border, they could rest assured about the border.
Now, only the south remained.
The south...
A look of worry appeared on Shen Qing's face again. She wondered how Ji Junye was doing.
Although they exchanged letters every few days, she could tell that he rarely mentioned military affairs. Even when she asked, he only reported the good news and concealed the bad.
Although military secrets were part of the reason, she always had a bad feeling.
At this moment, exclamations came from outside, pulling Shen Qing back from her thoughts.
Shen Qing went out to take a look. It was the gyrfalcon sent by Shen Si.
The gyrfalcon was half the height of a person. The feathers on its abdomen and back were snow - white, and only its wings had dark - brown patterns. Its eyes were like torches, looking majestic.
Even Shen Qing couldn't help but be excited when she saw it.
It was so beautiful.
But if one only thought the gyrfalcon was beautiful, they would be greatly mistaken.
The gyrfalcon was the king of all eagles. It had extremely strong hunting abilities. Its sharp claws were like golden hooks. With one claw, the prey would be killed instantly.
Si Bao stood in front, curiously looking at the beautiful big bird in the cage that was half the height of a person.
The gyrfalcon also looked at her contemptuously, as if its look was saying: Stupid human. A weak cub like you is not even enough for me to take a bite!
Shen Qing twitched the corner of her mouth. Si Bao was really brave. Ying Xiu was so scared that her legs were trembling, but Si Bao was standing the closest.
With the animal trainer there, there was no need to worry about the gyrfalcon hurting people. But Shen Qing was still afraid that it would scare Si Bao. She stepped forward to pick Si Bao up, but unexpectedly, Si Bao reached out her hand first and tried to touch the gyrfalcon through the iron railing!
"Shriek—"
The gyrfalcon let out a fierce cry. Si Bao was startled and sat down on the ground with a thud.
"Si Bao!"
Shen Qing quickly stepped forward and carefully checked Si Bao. "Are you scared?"
Si Bao was stunned for a moment, then giggled. "Mother, Little Flower. I like Little Flower."
Little Flower?
Only then did Shen Qing realize that the Little Flower Si Bao was talking about was the gyrfalcon.
You call a raptor twice your height "Little Flower"?
However, seeing her like this, she must not have been scared. It was she who had been over - concerned.
Ren Le, the animal trainer, twitched the corner of her mouth. "Madam, its name is Pojun."
She had been training gyrfalcons for many years and would definitely not let the animal hurt anyone. This little girl who looked about two years old was not afraid at all.
But what kind of name was Little Flower?!
Such a name was simply an insult to the gyrfalcon!
Si Bao ran away as soon as Ren Le said its name was Pojun.
Shen Qing nodded to Ren Le as a greeting. "Thank you, Miss Ren. A place to stay has been prepared in Changchun Garden."
Shen Qing had prepared a separate courtyard for Ren Le and the gyrfalcon. She told the servants to take good care of them and to come to her if they needed anything.
...
Liu Xuan slept until noon the day after her wedding. She wanted to call someone, but found that her throat was extremely hoarse. She decided to get out of bed and drink some water by herself. But as soon as she got out of bed, she felt her legs were sore and weak.
Involuntarily, she thought of last night. Liu Xuan's face blushed like a ripe apple.
The last time she had had marital relations was ten years ago. Her ex - husband had been in poor health, so he couldn't be very energetic. But Yan Peiyu usually looked reserved and shy. Once he got close to her, he was like a hungry wolf.
Fortunately, she didn't have a mother - in - law, so she didn't need to pay respects with tea. Otherwise, it would be really embarrassing for a new bride to sleep until noon!
Liu Xuan drank a cup of tea and finally felt better. "Xing'er."
The maid Xing'er heard the noise and came in with a cup of water. Seeing the faint marks on Liu Xuan's body half - covered by her clothes, she quickly lowered her head, blushing and not daring to look anymore.
The noise from the main house last night didn't stop until the third watch. The servants didn't dare to sleep much.
"Madam."
Xing'er was glad that her mistress had found a good home.
"When will... Master Yan be back?"
Xing'er said, "I heard from the people in the mansion that Master Yan will have lunch in the yamen and won't come back. He will come back after work in the evening."
"Got it."
"By the way, Madam, there's another thing."
"What?" Liu Xuan asked.
"The Liu family went to the Liu Mansion yesterday. They wanted to disrupt Madam's wedding, but were controlled by the people of Lady Lingzhang. Then they followed to the Yan Mansion. Master Yan even went to see them."
Liu Xuan's eyes gradually turned cold. "The Liu family must have had bad intentions. What did they say?"
Xing'er thought for a while. "It seems that the Liu family was greedy. They wanted to use Madam to force Master Yan to buy an official position for Liu Yu."
Liu Xuan slapped the table. "His Majesty hates the selling of official positions. How many people were punished for the imperial examination fraud case the year before last? Don't they know that? They even dared to come to the door openly and say such things. They really think their lives are too long!"
Fortunately, Shen Qing had stopped them. Otherwise, if they had been allowed to talk nonsense at the wedding, would Yan Peiyu still have a future?