"I also think it's a hoax. But you know that most people in our Yulong Kingdom actually believe in such things as feng shui. Just like those ministers, they are so stubborn and unreasonable."
Listening to Xin Zizhao's complaints, Wei Shuxuan found it quite interesting. "It's really rare to see you with such a troubled expression. Is it because of the selection of the imperial concubines?"
"If it were just this one thing, it wouldn't be so bad. There's another thing besides this," Xin Zizhao stopped halfway and looked at Wei Shuxuan seriously. Wei Shuxuan showed a confused expression, looking forward to Xin Zizhao telling her the rest. ".....I'd better not tell you. I'm afraid you'll get angry."
Wei Shuxuan raised her eyebrows and looked at Xin Zizhao seriously. "Is there anything you can't tell me?"
"If you can guess it, I'll tell you."
Xin Zizhao smiled tenderly and looked affectionately at Wei Shuxuan who was leaning in his arms. Then he saw Wei Shuxuan frown slightly, but only for a moment. Her eyebrows soon relaxed. "Is it because of me? Let me think. Just as you said, if those ministers are so stubborn, it must be because I, the new empress, am so incompetent. I disappeared without a trace on the second day of our wedding. They must have asked you to divorce me, right?"
Looking at Wei Shuxuan's somewhat proud face, Xin Zizhao already knew that she would definitely guess it. But actually, this kind of thing wasn't something that couldn't be told. He just wanted to tease Wei Shuxuan.
"Yes. Do you know? If you hadn't come back, I would have been really troubled. After all, those ministers are not easy to deal with."
Wei Shuxuan didn't believe that Xin Zizhao couldn't handle those ministers. "So, did you accept that mirror?"
"I did. If I didn't accept it, how could I know what those people from the Qiangfeng Kingdom were up to?"
How could Wei Shuxuan not see through Xin Zizhao's little scheme? She joked, "I'm sure you're up to no good again."
"Sure enough, you know me best."
In the evening, Xin Zizhao held a banquet to entertain Qiha'er who had come from afar from the Qiangfeng Kingdom. As the empress, Wei Shuxuan also attended the banquet. Qiha'er only felt that the current empress of the Yulong Kingdom looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't tell exactly what that feeling was.
Qiha'er's overly direct gaze made Xin Zizhao very angry. He felt as if his treasure was being coveted by others. Xin Zizhao turned to look at Wei Shuxuan and found that she didn't notice the intense gaze of the man with an eye patch. She was just watching the song and dance performance.
"Qiha'er, let's have a toast to the future friendship between the Yulong Kingdom and the Qiangfeng Kingdom."
Xin Zizhao raised his wine cup and took the initiative to propose a toast to Qiha'er who was sitting below. Qiha'er was stunned for a moment. A smile appeared on his handsome face and he also raised his wine cup. "Okay, Your Majesty of the Yulong Kingdom. Let's wish that the Yulong Kingdom and the Qiangfeng Kingdom will always have a wonderful friendship. Hahaha!"
Seeing that Qiha'er finally took his eyes off Wei Shuxuan, Xin Zizhao finally felt relieved. But for him now, as long as Qiha'er stayed in the palace for a day, he couldn't completely relax his vigilance.
Fortunately, during the rest of the banquet, Qiha'er didn't look at Wei Shuxuan again. Wei Shuxuan was very happy watching the performance and didn't even notice that Xin Zizhao was in a bad mood.
Finally, the banquet was over. Wei Shuxuan and Xin Zizhao walked side by side towards the Qianyu Palace. Suddenly, Xin Zizhao remembered that in the afternoon he had asked Xiao Gaozi to record what Qiha'er had said.
"By the way, Xiao Gaozi, did you record what Qiha'er said as I told you today?"
"Your Majesty, of course I did. I've recorded all the details that need attention in my notebook."
"That's good."
Wei Shuxuan was a bit confused listening on the side and asked Xin Zizhao, "What did you ask Xiao Gaozi to record?"
"Didn't I tell you today? The envoy from the Qiangfeng Kingdom sent a mirror and asked us to enshrine it according to their requirements. So, I asked Xiao Gaozi to record it."
"It sounds quite interesting. When we get back to the Qianyu Palace later, let me take a look at that notebook too!" Wei Shuxuan became interested in this.
According to what was recorded in the notebook, the next day Xin Zizhao ordered people to clean up an abandoned palace in the palace, repair it a bit, and rename it the Hall of Wind and Rain. Inside the palace, thin gauze curtains were installed to block the sunlight. Outside the palace, rows of tall trees were transplanted all around, looking lush and green. The environment was well-decorated.
After some careful renovation, the decoration of the Hall of Wind and Rain was in no way inferior to the other palaces in the palace. Qiha'er said that a gorgeous and shady palace should be used to enshrine this Phoenix Feather Mirror. Now that the palace was ready, the next step was to select the maids to manage the Hall of Wind and Rain, and finally to prepare the sacrificial offerings for the Phoenix Feather Mirror.
Wei Shuxuan and Xin Zizhao stood together outside the Hall of Wind and Rain, watching several eunuchs carry the Phoenix Feather Mirror covered with a red cloth into the hall. Wei Shuxuan looked at the outside of the hall somewhat puzzled. "I said, why is the Hall of Wind and Rain decorated so dimly? Isn't it better to make it brighter?"
"I don't know either. Anyway, Xiao Gaozi said that Qiha'er told him so and he just recorded it like that. In any case, it should be right to just follow their instructions."
"Eh, really?" Wei Shuxuan still felt something was strange. It was already strange enough to enshrine an ordinary mirror, and they even made the whole palace so shady. She didn't know what their intention was.
"Do you want to go in and take a look?" Xin Zizhao asked Wei Shuxuan. Seeing that Wei Shuxuan was still confused about the question just now, he had to comfort her. "Don't think about it so much for now. After a while, we'll probably know the intention of doing this."
".....Okay."
Wei Shuxuan thought Xin Zizhao was right. She'd better not dwell on this for now. After all, this mirror didn't originally belong to them.
As soon as they walked into the palace, it wasn't actually blocked very tightly. The thin gauze curtains weakened the intensity of the light. Coupled with the shade of the trees all around, it actually gave a very comfortable feeling. There was a small window diagonally above the stone platform where the Phoenix Feather Mirror was placed. It should be for ventilation and letting in light. The intensity of the light coming through this window varied according to the position of the sun.
"What do you think of this place?"
".....The environment is quite nice."
Wei Shuxuan glanced at the sacrificial offerings on the stone platform.