She immediately felt her own pulse, wondering if it was because she was in her later stage of pregnancy that she felt so tired easily. But her body was in good condition and there was nothing abnormal.
"What's wrong?" Xiao Jinghan noticed Yi Qing's little action.
"Nothing." Yi Qing was helped to sit down by Xiao Jinghan. "Will Princess Dina perform a dance later?" Yi Qing asked in a low voice.
"Yeah."
"Find a way to knock off her veil." Yi Qing felt that her momentary daze just now was very strange.
Xiao Jinghan didn't know what Yi Qing was up to, but he nodded slightly.
The North Di princess's pair of purple eyes were as crystal - clear as jade, which was already amazing. Her dance was even more enchanting and alluring. The eyes of all the court officials of the Great Jin were fixed on her.
Yi Qing paid attention to Prince Nian on one side. This man was a typical hypocrite. Under the guise of advocating peace, he actually resorted to any means. He clearly knew Xiao Jinghan's temperament but still specifically proposed a marriage alliance with Xiao Jinghan. This was clearly an attempt to sow discord between the emperor and his subject, but no one could refute him.
Prince Nian was very satisfied with the reaction of the court officials of the Great Jin. His eyes swept across and saw Yi Qing sizing him up. He raised his wine cup to Yi Qing.
He already knew that Xiao Jinghan and the others had been to the shrine, and the strange phenomenon of the purple glazed tiles in the shrine was related to them. Both sides had their concerns, so no one would mention it.
Yi Qing smiled indifferently.
Over there, Princess Dina had already come to toast the emperor while dancing. She knelt down halfway to offer the toast. From the emperor's perspective, her devilish figure was fully on display. At this moment, her veil slipped off, revealing a face as bright as the moon.
Yi Qing looked at Xiao Jinghan, and Xiao Jinghan shook his head slightly.
Yi Qing looked at Princess Dina, who was panicking to gather up her veil. Her panicked look made people feel even more pity for her.
Prince Nian stood up to apologize. "Princess Dina has come to your country for the first time. She must have been intimidated by the emperor's majesty and thus lost her composure. Please forgive her, Your Majesty."
"It's okay." The emperor looked at the wine cup on the table. Thinking of the envoys from the Southern Border, he took this opportunity not to drink. "Princess Dina, please take your seat."
Everyone just pretended not to see.
Only Yi Qing felt regretful. Although Princess Dina's veil had fallen off, she still didn't get to see the princess's face.
In fact, not only Yi Qing didn't see Princess Dina's face, but the emperor, who had seen the veil fall, also didn't get a good look at her. It was just a fleeting glance that tickled his heart.
After the banquet, he returned to his palace. As soon as he lay down, he thought of the panicked look on Princess Dina's face when her veil fell. His heart seemed to be hit by something, and he became even more eager to know what Princess Dina really looked like.
"That Princess Dina must be up to something." Yi Qing said very surely in the carriage. "The sacred object of the North Di is purple glazed tiles. If there really is a North Di princess born with purple eyes, the North Di would surely regard it as a divine miracle and worship her like a goddess. They would never let her come for a marriage alliance."
Xiao Jinghan also thought of this. He had been at the border for many years, so he couldn't have not known about the North Di princess with purple eyes. "Even if what you said is true, it can't change anything. For a marriage - alliance woman, having the title of princess is enough."
Yi Qing thought it made sense. "A fox will always show its tail. I think that dog emperor has been bewitched by her. Maybe he'll take her in himself, and the marriage - alliance thing won't have anything to do with you."
Xiao Jinghan also felt that the emperor seemed to have taken a fancy to her today.
Yi Qing was in her later stage of pregnancy, so she slept very lightly at night. The slightest noise would wake her up. She suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and saw that Xiao Jinghan had already sat up.
"What's wrong?" She was startled.
"Nothing..." Xiao Jinghan had been very careful, but he still woke Yi Qing up. "The emperor is here."
That's why she heard some knocking sounds, Yi Qing thought. "What time is it now? What is he doing here in the middle of the night?" She was originally awake, but when she heard it was the emperor, she suddenly felt sleepy and irritated.
"You go back to sleep. He may have something important to discuss at this time." Xiao Jinghan put on his clothes and was about to go out.
"Okay." Yi Qing lazily hugged Xiao Jinghan's arm. "What could be important to him at this time? It must be about the North Di princess."
With her sleepy eyes half - closed, her skin looked like congealed fat in the candlelight. Xiao Jinghan's Adam's apple involuntarily rolled.
He stroked Yi Qing's hair. "I'll handle this matter."
After Xiao Jinghan left, Yi Qing turned over and lay down but couldn't fall asleep at all. She kept thinking about the moment when Princess Dina's veil fell. She must have done it on purpose.
The emperor suffered from insomnia tonight and looked very listless. When he saw Xiao Jinghan, he was like a drowning man grabbing a life - saving straw. He pulled him to sit at the table beside.
"Do you have any wine?" The emperor looked distressed.
Xiao Jinghan found it strange. Even if it was about the North Di mission, the emperor shouldn't be so distressed. "What's wrong with you, Your Majesty?"
The emperor didn't know what was wrong with him, or rather, he didn't know how to put it. Could he say that his mind was full of Princess Dina's charming figure and he couldn't fall asleep?
"I've been busy with many things recently. I just want to have a few drinks with you." The emperor pretended to be melancholy to gloss over the matter.
Xiao Jinghan thought the emperor came because of the North Di mission, but he didn't mention it at all. "I'll have someone prepare it right away."
After the food and wine were served, just as the emperor was about to pour the wine, Yi Qing came over. The emperor frowned when he saw her.
"It's cold at night. Why did you get up?" Xiao Jinghan said as he put a cloak on Yi Qing.
The emperor suddenly lost his appetite for the wine. He looked at his own shoulder, and a feeling of loneliness welled up in his heart. He even forgot why he was melancholy.
Yi Qing felt extremely happy when she saw the emperor's expression. "Your Majesty came to our general's mansion in the middle of the night to drown your sorrows with wine?"
"I don't need to drown my sorrows with wine." The emperor drank the wine directly.
"Do you dare to say that you're not suffering from insomnia and can't fall asleep?" Yi Qing blurted out, and then she realized something was wrong.
She was good at diagnosing diseases, but looking at the emperor's complexion, she didn't figure out what could have made the emperor lose sleep.
The emperor wasn't embarrassed when exposed by Yi Qing. "It's just that some people are jealous and won't even allow their husband to take a concubine."
Yi Qing didn't quite believe it. It wasn't the first day that she didn't allow Xiao Jinghan to take a concubine, and the emperor had known about it for a long time. "You don't mean that you've taken a fancy to the North Di princess, do you?"
The emperor's eyes involuntarily flickered.
"Really?" Yi Qing looked at the emperor. "Then this matter is easy to solve. You're the emperor, and she's not married yet. You can just take her in, and everything will be fine."
Xiao Jinghan felt something was wrong. Except for Concubine Xue, who had accompanied the emperor since childhood, the emperor had never paid attention to other women.
The emperor thought Yi Qing was being too simplistic, but he didn't refute.
Yi Qing thought that was exactly what the emperor was thinking. "This matter is so simple. What else is there to think about?"
Xiao Jinghan wondered if the emperor was really interested. He looked at him doubtfully.
The emperor found it hard to say this. "How could I have such thoughts? It's just..." He thought that since he was going to lose face, he might as well just say it. He had lost enough face in front of this couple anyway. "As soon as I lie down, I think of the moment when Princess Dina's veil fell. I didn't see her face clearly, but I just can't fall asleep thinking about it."