Chapter 92

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Protagonist:

Yan Qianqian

However, Princess Shangguan merely smiled faintly, responding with an airy indifference: "This place is not Dongying Guo. As outsiders, we ought not be too forceful; a slight concession is no great matter. Furthermore..."

Saying this, Princess Shangguan lifted a corner of the carriage curtain slightly, gazing toward the distance, then added softly: "You look at that An Wang in the distance. If today's matter is insisted upon without yielding, I fear it will not end well. It would be better to go with the flow and grant him a favor."

The yatou stood to one side, head lowered, lips pressed tightly together, not making a sound. She waited quietly for Princess Ouyang to pass before her eyes. After Princess Ouyang had gradually walked away, the originally congested street finally began to slowly return to smooth traffic.

An Wang's gaze swept over the street gradually restoring order, then he turned to look at Lu Daren beside him and said: "Do not forget to have that small stall moved back to its original place." Lu Daren was slightly stunned, and only after An Wang's reminder did he suddenly recall this matter. He hurriedly instructed his subordinates to go move the small stall.

Seeing his stall carefully moved back to its original position, the stall owner was deeply grateful, bowing repeatedly to An Wang and the others to express thanks. An Wang merely smiled and nodded, then turned his gaze toward the distant figure of Princess Ouyang who had already disappeared, a hint of thoughtfulness in his eyes.

After all matters were handled, An Wang waved his hand to signal Lu Daren to leave first. Afterwards, he walked alone toward the Imperial Palace with steady steps.

After entering the Imperial Palace, An Wang went directly to the Yudi. At this time, the Crown Prince was respectfully reporting to the Emperor that the envoys from various countries who had come to celebrate the Emperor's birthday had all been properly accommodated.

Just then, a guard hurried over and reported to the Emperor: "Reporting to Your Majesty, An Wang Your Highness requests an audience from outside." Upon hearing this, the Emperor's face immediately lit up with joy, and he quickly said: "Summon him quickly!"

Soon after, An Wang entered the Yudi. He first bowed with clasped hands to the Emperor and called out loudly: "Imperial Brother!" Then the Crown Prince quickly turned around, bowed to An Wang, and shouted: "Imperial Uncle!" The Emperor looked at An Wang and asked: "Old Seven, how is the defense going?"

An Wang said: "Imperial Brother, basically everything has been arranged, but since the envoys from various countries arrived, there have inevitably been some minor frictions, and they are all princesses, princes, and the like, so Lu Daren of the City Defense Department finds it difficult to handle."

The Emperor asked curiously: "Old Seven, you should pay more attention to this. Matters that Lu Daren finds difficult to handle, you take them on. I have your back; let me see who dares not give you face." An Wang replied: "Understood, Imperial Brother."

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, the Emperor's birthday arrived. As night gradually fell, the entire Jingcheng was shrouded in a layer of mysterious black gauze.

At this time, various officials were also busy. They wore splendid attire, smiled, and hurried toward the direction of the Imperial Palace.

Among the many fu di, An Wangfu was naturally no exception. However, unlike others, An Wang, being busy with affairs, did not return to the fu but went directly from outside to the Imperial Palace.

After all, this gong yan was of great importance: not only to celebrate the Emperor's birthday, but also to ensure absolute safety during the banquet, preventing spies from other countries from taking the opportunity to attack the Emperor.

Inside An Wangfu, the Wangfei was making preparations in an orderly manner. After everything was tidied up properly, she took Yan Si and Qianqian onto the carriage heading to the Imperial Palace.

As for why she chose to bring these two, the reason had to be explained from earlier. Originally, before the gong yan began, the Empress had sent people to pass word to various families, hoping each fu would bring marriageable men and women to attend together. It was rumored that other countries intended to strengthen their relations through marriage alliances.

And in An Wangfu, those who met the conditions were precisely Yan Si and Yan Shuang'er. However, the Wangfei truly could not bear to let her precious daughter marry far away, so after deep consideration, she finally decided to bring only Yan Si to the gong yan.

As for Qianqian, she was a complete "lively enthusiast." Especially for such a grand occasion as today—the Emperor's birthday—she was longing for it and could not wait to witness it with her own eyes.

Therefore, although she knew Qianqian this little rascal had "prior offenses," who could resist this clever and mischievous little girl? Only to see her lying on the ground rolling and throwing a tantrum, a sight simply laughable. Not only that, she also earnestly promised again and again: "I absolutely will not run around wildly like before!"

Facing such a troublesome little rascal, the Wangfei was truly helpless and could only nod in agreement. However, the Wangfei was still uneasy, and once again sternly and seriously warned Qianqian with repeated instructions: "This time you absolutely must not run around! If you disobey again, see how I deal with you!"

Qianqian was very well-behaved, quickly patting her little chest and promising earnestly: "Don't worry, Wangfei Niangniang, even if the sky falls this time, I absolutely will not run around a single step!"

After the three had carefully dressed themselves up, they set off together in a carriage toward the Imperial Palace. Along the way, everyone chatted and laughed, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.

Not long after, they arrived at the gate of the Imperial Palace. The Wangfei got out of the carriage first, followed closely by Yan Si and Qianqian. Afterwards, the three followed the leading eunuch, passing through layer upon layer of Gongdian, and finally arrived at the place where the banquet was held.

This banquet was different from previous ones: seats were not divided by gender, but arranged according to the officials' ranks.

An Wangfei, led by a young eunuch, smoothly found her own seat. Thus, the three sat down together, quietly waiting for the banquet to officially begin.

Just then, the sound of footsteps was heard; it turned out that Guo Lanxin, Ai Sheng, and Ai Jiao had walked into the banquet hall together.

They saw An Wangfei sitting there at a glance, so they deliberately stepped forward to say hello. An Wangfei, seeing this, hurriedly stood up and smiled in response:. After the few of them exchanged pleasantries for a while, Qi Ling, smiling, led An Ning as well as Qi Yu and Qi Xi slowly into the hall.

Among them, Qi Yu, as a young man of marriageable age, stood tall and upright with a distinguished bearing; as for Qi Xi, because she had learned beforehand that Qianqian would attend the banquet, she begged her mother An Ning bitterly to bring her along...