My enemies became my companions

Chapter 256: Respect Chen Yi, but keep your distance

Queen An gathered the quilt together and suddenly felt a little cold. After returning from the underground palace, she was mentally traumatized and her usually comfortable body became a little weaker. Jingren Palace was huge to begin with, and after the great cold, even with the underground heating on, there was still a hint of coldness.

When the nameless old lady saw what was wrong with An Hou, she walked forward, held An Hou's hand, and transferred her internal energy to her.

After a long time, Queen An's face turned redder and she said:

"much better."

"The Empress's health does not allow her to stay in Jingren Palace. You may want to let the female officials choose from these memorials. They will discuss this with the elders through the palace people anyway." Old Lady Wuming had a kind face. She had watched the mother of this country grow up and had accompanied her from the An family to the capital. The latter had married into the palace at the age of 28, and it had been nearly 20 years now.

Queen An opened her eyes and stared at the vermilion pillars of Jingren Palace. She was distracted for a moment. She curled up slightly and clutched the quilt, as if she wanted to hug someone. When she thought about it carefully, his face accidentally flashed by her and she felt a chill on her back.

Her face darkened and she casually loosened the quilt.

After a while, Queen An asked:
"Has he met the daughter of the Chen family?"

Old Madam Wuming had been prepared. She knew that besides King Annan, the thing Queen An was most concerned about was this matter. After thinking for a while, she said:

"According to the divinations of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, they did meet and had a very pleasant conversation."

"Which step?" asked Queen An with a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe they have feelings for each other."

"Very good, I will grant him a marriage tomorrow."

Her voice was calm. She promoted Chen Yi, secretly guided him through the spies planted in Wuyong Building, and arranged for Donggong Rushu to meet him. Everything was done according to plan.

Finally, she sat high up in Jingren Palace, and a marriage contract was granted along with the imperial decree. He should be grateful that he could marry such a beauty, and the Crown Princess of Western Jin Dynasty.

If you don’t want to…

Queen An had thought about the possibility that he might not want to do so, but what if he didn't want to?
As long as he stayed in the capital, there was no reason for him to be unwilling.

Here, there is the woman he cares about, his official position, and his yard. How could he not be willing?

However, even though he understood this truth, Queen An would not push him too hard for now. He seemed to be out of control now, and if he forced himself blatantly, he would be alert and resist. It would be best to use a combination of soft and hard tactics.

"Mommy."

"exist."

Empress An yawned and said lazily, "Send some information to Jin Ya Pavilion and let Li Jisheng spread some rumors, saying that he is suspected to be from the Chen family of the Western Jin Dynasty."

The nameless old lady hesitated and said, "I'm afraid someone will impeach him for this."

"It was to get people to impeach him." Empress An squinted her eyes, staring at the wisps of smoke rising from the stove. "Someone impeached him, and the palace sent back those memorials. Only then did he realize the benefits of the palace and how to rely on the palace."

After hearing this, the nameless old lady suddenly realized and nodded.

"What does Prince Jing's Mansion say about that matter?"

Queen An remembered something else and asked.

The nameless old lady reported: "The clan office has delivered a secret letter, and King Jing has not yet responded, but given the situation, it seems that he is ready to agree."

Empress An curled her lips and smiled, saying coldly: "That stubborn old man is hesitating, and he can't figure out that this matter is a favor given to him by the palace."

"I heard that Princess Jing tried her best to persuade him these days."

"She is quite a lady with a kind heart." Queen An said with a smile.

"That's right. Women with long hair tend to have short knowledge. But it is said that Prince Jing's hair is longer than the princess'." Old Lady Wuming also laughed.

After laughing, Queen An propped herself up slightly and straightened her palace dress which was lying in a somewhat messy state.

She thought for a while and said:
"Prepare your carriage tomorrow and go to his courtyard. Let me meet the daughter of the King of Xiang in person."

"this…"

"When we were in the underground palace, he mentioned to me that he wanted to give her the title of princess. Now his wish has been fulfilled. The daughter of Prince Xiang will be adopted by Prince Jing's Mansion and given the title of princess. The marriage will also be granted to him." Queen An's tone left no room for doubt.

The nameless old lady agreed. She knew that the mother of this country would not do anything without a purpose. Her continuous rewards and plans seemed like favors, but in reality they were just a soft knife cutting into one's flesh.

Let Chen Yi know that as long as he stays in the capital, he has to obey the orders from the palace.

The daughter of Prince Xiang, the daughter of Prince Jing, Min Ming, and even the widowed Lin Wanheng, the more leverage one has to threaten a person, the more obedient that person will be.

"I don't know if he understands that what I can give him, others can't give him."

An Hou's eyes were dim,

"Neither can sword armor."

...............................

Sixty miles away from the capital.

Zhu E sat down in front of the dressing table.

Women dress up to please themselves, and she was born with a love of dressing up. In the Demon Sect, apart from studying scriptures, she had almost nothing to do, so she began to use rouge and looked in the bronze mirror every day, watching the person in the mirror become more and more attractive. After that, she learned the art of disguise, and the person in the mirror was not only attractive, but also often changed into several faces.

Now looking at myself in the bronze mirror, I carefully put on rouge.

With just a light layer of makeup on, she was already better than countless women. Looking at herself in the mirror, Zhu E felt inexplicably sad, because she thought of that man, and then she thought of Qin Qingluo.

Now, as she was dressing up for that man, she unconsciously raised her hand and touched the hairpin in her hair.

That's silver.

It would have been fine if I hadn’t looked at it, but after I did, Zhu E couldn’t help but be dazed.

She sat there for a long time, and when she came to her senses, a shadow loomed behind her.

Zhu E was startled at first, but then her expression turned into a smile. She turned her head and saw her prince.

"Aunt Zhu."

Qin Qingluo lowered his eyes slightly, as if he was not looking directly at the woman in red.

Zhu E stared at the golden hairpin on her head for a long time before calling out:
"…Prince, have you finished watching the drill?"

"Ah."

Qin Qingluo responded. She was still wearing heavy armor. Seeing this, Zhu E slowly stood up and was about to take it off for her.

Her jade fingers slowly untied the armor strings, and took off the armor piece by piece. The close-fitting armor outlined Qin Qingluo's unique tall body, a living rouge and fiery horse. Looking at that graceful and muscular part, Zhu E couldn't help but think of how passionate he was at that time.

After a long time, her eyes became uncertain, and she seemed to remember something and asked:
"My Lord, have you thought about what I said?"

Qin Qingluo paused visibly, with a hint of murderous intent between his brows.

The golden hairpin in the hair crown trembled slightly, and Zhu'e looked at it infatuatedly.

She continued, "He is a Ming Zun after all. I'm afraid he has no loyalty to the demon queen. The relationship between the palace and him is strained now, but there is no conflict that cannot be resolved. Sooner or later, it will soften. What's more... he said that he likes me and the prince. If we slowly make friends with him and wait for him to appear as a Ming Zun in the future, it will not only stabilize the hearts of our Divine Religion, but also be beneficial to the prince's major affairs."

Qin Qingluo's face turned gloomy.

Neither then nor now had she ever intended to make friends with him.

His death was the best thing that could happen. It was like the layers of haze had finally dissipated and the sun was shining through the clouds.

But at the moment, the city was still under a dark cloud, and her voice was low:
"No need to say more. I don't want to see him anymore."

Zhu E was startled for a moment and said nervously:
"But... he is Ming Zun..."

The tall woman turned her head and glanced towards the capital:
"Since he is a wise master, I will respect ghosts and gods but stay away from them."

(End of this chapter)