Three Years After Falling Off the Cliff

The sun began to move westward, and Sui Tingheng saw Fu Yi out of the palace. The two walked side by side on the palace road, and occasionally a flower branch peeked over the red wall, causing Fu Yi to look up.

"Liu Zihe that my great-aunt Kangyang mentioned..." Sui Tingheng looked at the Dongfeng Gate in front of him and slowly stopped moving forward: "If I had known that he liked you, I should have encouraged him a little more last time at the Cuju field."

"Your Highness, please don't think too much. I am not familiar with the young master of the Liu family, and there will be no relationship between us in the future." Fu Yi explained: "Your Highness, please don't treat anyone differently because of me."

"So you are not familiar with him." Sui Tingheng's eyes were filled with a smile: "In that case, Lord Liu was a bit presumptuous, just following his own wishes without considering your embarrassment."

"This is a trivial matter, and I don't take it to heart."

"You don't take it to heart, but that's not an excuse for him to be presumptuous." Sui Tingheng put one hand behind his back and walked forward gracefully: "People who truly love and respect you will never let you feel embarrassed. Lord Liu is still a little young, and he doesn't know how to be considerate."

If I remember correctly, Liu Zihe seems to be one year older than the prince?
Fu Yi smiled and nodded. Whatever the prince said was right, and she did not refute it.

The two of them walked to Dongfeng Gate. Sui Tingheng saw the Yun family carriage parked outside Dongfeng Gate. He stopped and said, "The carriage to pick you up is here."

"Your Highness, I'll take my leave." Fu Yi walked out of the Dongfeng Gate and glanced back as she got on the carriage. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was still standing there, standing tall and slender in a jade crown and brocade robe, looking extremely noble and elegant.

She was slightly stunned, bent down and sat in the carriage, and saw Yun Zhaobai sitting inside.

"Brother..." Fu Yi felt a little guilty.

"It seems that your trip went smoothly." Yun Zhaobai threw the book in his hand onto the table. "Half an hour ago, the Ministry of Rites came to our house to announce the decree that His Majesty would confer the title of Princess on you. What did you do?"

"I just did something insignificant." Fu Yi pointed a small distance with her hand and said, "Brother, don't worry, I will definitely not do anything rash."

"Fuyi, I just hope you can protect yourself." Yun Zhaobai noticed that Fuyi's hair was a little flat, as if it had been pinched. He took out a wooden comb from the drawer of the carriage and motioned for her to sit in front of him.
"Brother, don't worry, I won't joke about my own safety." Fu Yi sat obediently in front of Yun Zhaobai.

Yun Zhaobai untied Fu Yi's bun and expertly combed her hair: "If you encounter something you can't solve, remember to tell us."

"Okay." Fu Yi hugged Yun Zhaobai's arm: "Brother is the best."

"Hey, don't move!" Yun Zhaobai asked Fu Yi to sit down and helped her tie her hair into a bun: "After going out, you messed up your hair like when you were a kid."

"I'm not a child of three or four years old. Your Majesty messed up my hair." Fu Yi told Yun Zhaobai about how she met His Majesty when she was a child. Yun Zhaobai was silent for a while and then said, "When you were a child, you told me when you came home that an adult was crying and throwing tantrums on the ground to take away your half bag of candy. I didn't expect that person would be His Majesty."

His Majesty deliberately mentioned this matter that is detrimental to his royal authority to his sister. Does His Majesty really like Fu Yi, or is he doing this to show his trust and respect for the Yun family?
Your Majesty has been on the throne for only two years. The old forces still exist in the court, and the civil and military officials are not of one mind. If Your Majesty wants to completely grasp the power in the court, he must have enough support.

"No wonder His Majesty promoted you twice in just a few months, and the Queen and the Crown Prince treat you very well." Yun Zhaobai put the comb back into the box, held Fu Yi's head and admired his hair-combing skills: "His Majesty is a benevolent and wise monarch. You should get along with His Majesty as you should on weekdays, and don't worry."

"Brother, the imperial court will hold an imperial examination next year. Do you want to take the examination?"

"It's not appropriate now." Yun Zhaobai helped her fix her hairpins: "I'm not in a hurry to enter the court, let's wait a few more years."

"Oh." Fu Yi nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

Yun Zhaobai glanced at the snacks on the table: "These are your favorite snacks, why don't you eat them?"

"I just had some snacks in the Palace of Seal of Heaven, and now I can't eat." Fu Yi took out a storybook and leaned back in a certain position: "Brother, eat by yourself."

The Palace of Imperial Seal...
Yun Zhaobai picked up a piece of dessert and turned to look at Fu Yi, who had no manners at all. "Did His Royal Highness the Crown Prince send you to Dongfeng Gate just now?"

Fu Yi looked at the storybook and nodded absentmindedly.

Yun Zhaobai frowned slightly and threw the snack into his mouth. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is so considerate to his subjects?

When the carriage passed by Sifang Pavilion, Fu Yi heard Zhang Yang's noisy voice, threw down the storybook and looked out the window.

"They are from Liyang Country." Yun Zhaobai's face turned ugly.

During the reign of the previous emperor, the Liyan Kingdom invaded the border several times, but the previous emperor would rather cede land and pay compensation than resist the foreign enemies. As a result, the Liyan Kingdom became more and more arrogant and considered itself superior to the Dalong Dynasty.

Sifang Pavilion was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites and was specially used for foreign envoys to live in. Seeing the envoy from Liyan Kingdom yelling at the people and servants of Dalong, he took a deep breath and got off the carriage.

"You can't even lift a box properly. Do you know that the treasure in the box is priceless? The people of Long Dynasty are really useless..."

"The envoy's box is valuable, why don't you carry it yourself?" Fu Yi saw the envoy of Liyan Kingdom raised his whip and wanted to whip the servants of Sifang Pavilion, so she stretched out her hand to stop his whip: "Could it be that the king of your country is reluctant to arrange a few more servants for the envoy, and can only ask us, the people of Long Dynasty, to help you?"

"Who are you?" The envoy of Liyan State was tall and strong. When he saw a young woman dared to stop his whip, he did not hide his arrogance and dissatisfaction at all: "I am the cavalry general of Liyan State. The emperor of your Long Dynasty has to be polite to me. How dare you, a weak little woman, be rude in front of this general? Is this how you treat guests in your Long Dynasty?"

"The General of Chariots and Cavalry is awe-inspiring and indeed worthy of respect. However, Your Majesty has only been on the throne for two years and has never met the General. Where does such politeness come from?" Fu Yi pushed the man away and said, "Anyone who comes is a guest. Our Dalong Dynasty has always been hospitable to guests, but please remember that the guest should follow the host's wishes."

"You are so sharp-tongued. I don't want to argue with you." He pointed to a servant in Sifang Pavilion and said, "Call your Minister of Rites. I want to ask him what Long Chao meant by this."
The servants secretly glanced at Fu Yi, and no one dared to move.

"General, you are so arrogant. Are you here to congratulate us or to cause trouble?" Fu Yi raised her chin slightly. "This is our Long Dynasty. Please abide by the etiquette of Long Dynasty."

"Yes, in our Long Dynasty territory, you actually want to bully our people?"
"Miss, you are right. Those who don't even know how to follow the host's wishes are rude people who eat raw meat and drink blood!"

"Hmph." The General of Chariots and Cavalry looked down on Long Chao's weakness and incompetence, but he was not happy to see someone being tough and rude to him. He glanced at the people surrounding him and put the whip back into his waist: "This general will not bother with a woman like you." The previous emperor of Long Dynasty was weak and incompetent, and the new emperor was a coward who even the previous emperor had scolded. He must be even less courageous than the previous emperor.
He doesn't need to deal with this arrogant woman. Once the news reaches the ears of Emperor Long Chao, someone will come to apologize to him.

Thinking of this, he looked at Fu Yi with contempt: "Soon you will know the consequences of offending this general."

Fu Yi also snorted: "General, please don't forget to observe the etiquette of Dalong."
After saying that, he turned around and left without paying any attention to him.

"She actually said that this general is arrogant. Who of us is more arrogant?" The general turned around and asked the people around him, "Whose daughter is she that dares to treat this general like this?"

The servants of Sifang Pavilion turned their heads away and pretended not to hear his words. Li Yanguo's men all looked angry, as if they had been humiliated by the whole world.

"General, I think I have seen this woman before." The deputy general whispered, "Four years ago, I came to Longchao as a guest and saw her in the palace. It is said that she is the sweetheart of Prince Ning."

"Prince Ning?" General Charioteer was puzzled. "The heir to the throne is the eldest prince of Long Dynasty. Prince Ning can't even protect himself. How dare she be so arrogant?"

"I don't know about this." The deputy general showed a fierce look on his face: "But this woman dared to be rude to you, General. We must make the Emperor of Longchao give you an explanation."

"You are worthy of being the one I want to consider my daughter. You did a great job!" After hearing about the conflict between Yun Fuyi and the general of the chariot and cavalry of Liyan State, the emperor excitedly slammed the table and said, "I have been waiting for someone to stand up and kill the prestige of Liyan State. Fuyi has set a good example for me."

"Heng'er, grind the ink for me. I want to write an inscription personally as a reward to Fu Yi." The emperor was so excited that his face turned red.

"Father, Miss Yun is not good at calligraphy. Why don't you reward her with some gold, silver and jewelry?" Sui Tingheng did not move.

"Hiss." He felt a little distressed when he heard about the gold, silver and jewelry, but thinking that this was a reward for Yun Fuyi, the emperor still reluctantly asked the chief steward to personally pick out a few treasures and asked him to take them to the Yun family.

"Fuyi is a beautiful girl with a good temper. She is playful and righteous. If you didn't like well-educated and well-mannered women, I would really like you to marry her." The emperor sighed regretfully, "What a nice girl like this."

Sui Tingheng hesitated to speak: "Father, when did this son of yours ever say…"

"It's a pity that the Yun family has no intention of marrying off their daughter." The emperor shook his head repeatedly: "I have also secretly inquired about the opinion of Lord Yun. Their family would rather raise their daughter for a lifetime than let her marry the wrong person."

Sui Tingheng fell silent.

"I didn't say you're not a good husband. It's just that you don't like her. If you marry her, she will be wronged." The emperor patted Sui Tingheng's shoulder and took out a thick stack of papers from under the table: "This is what your mother gave me. See if there is anyone you like."

"No need." Sui Tingheng didn't even look at the stack of portraits, and said expressionlessly: "Father, I don't have a favorite woman."
"Father, I think these women are all talented..."

"Father, the person I like doesn't necessarily need to have a lot of talent, nor does he have to be able to write poetry or paint." He bowed to the emperor and said, "Father, I'm tired and want to go back to rest."

"Are you tired?" The emperor felt sorry for his son. "I was thinking of asking you to take Zhang Fu to the Yun family. Since you are tired, then..."

"Your Majesty, do you want to take this opportunity to let the court officials understand your attitude towards Liyan Country?" Sui Tingheng said, "Your son is willing to share your worries for you."

He walked out of the imperial study and went directly to the emperor's private treasury.
Zhang Fu, the chief steward of the imperial court, was selecting jewels suitable for reward in the inner storehouse. When he heard footsteps behind him, he turned back vigilantly. Seeing that it was the Crown Prince, he relaxed again: "Your Highness."

"Eunuch Zhang, don't pay any attention to me." Sui Tingheng glanced at the rows of treasures and said, "I will look at them myself."

"Yes." As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Fu saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince take down a box of pink colored glass and put it on the tray of the eunuch behind him.

Seeing Zhang Fu looking at him, Sui Tingheng turned his head to look at him: "What's wrong?"
"My humble servant is rude." Zhang Fu lowered his head quickly, and then he saw the prince take out several more boxes of jewelry.

"Your Highness, you really can't take this." Seeing that the prince was about to take away a piece of fine white jade, Zhang Fu knelt in front of the prince and said, "Your Majesty must keep this for the queen to carve a private seal."

Sui Tingheng put the box back to its original place and took away a gold, pearl and jade ornament: "These things are enough to reward Princess Yun, there is no need to take anything else."

Zhang Fu looked at the dozen brocade boxes behind the prince and smiled uglier than crying: "Your Highness is right."
It was the Crown Prince who took it, and it had nothing to do with him. No matter how sad Your Majesty is, he should not blame him.

The conflict between Yun Fuyi and the envoy of Liyang State at the gate of Sifang Pavilion had already been heard by all the court officials. Some felt relieved, some thought she was too impulsive, but almost no one insulted her for it.

When the news of the crown prince leaving the palace to go to the Yun family came out, the court officials began to get nervous. The enthronement ceremony was approaching, and the crown prince had not left the palace for nearly two months. Now he went directly to the Yun family, which clearly represented the will of His Majesty.
Your Majesty, will you let Yun Fuyi apologize to the envoy of Liyang Kingdom?
Fu Yi watched the rewards being carried into the Yun family like water, and couldn't help but quietly tug at the prince's sleeve and asked him softly, "Your Highness, is this...really a reward from His Majesty?"

"Yes, it was given by my father." Looking at Fu Yi who was very close to him, Sui Tingheng imitated her and bent down to whisper in her ear: "I picked it for you personally."

"Your Highness, you..."

"Fuyi, I thought we were already friends." Sui Tingheng smiled gently: "I have something good, I want to share it with my good friends."

Only then did Fu Yi notice that His Highness no longer called her "Miss Yun", but "Fu Yi".

Seeing that she didn't speak, Sui Tingheng's eyes dimmed, and then he smiled again: "It doesn't matter, as long as Miss Yun likes these."

"Your Highness and this subject are naturally friends."

As soon as she said this, she saw Sui Tingheng's smile was tender, like a first blooming summer lotus, fresh and elegant.

No one can bear to see a handsome man fall in despair. How can she, at such a young age, not be tempted by male beauty?
(End of this chapter)