Her guards

Chapter 155 The Invitation to the Martial Arts Banquet

"Brother!"

Mo Zheng stepped into the front hall and greeted the young man sitting inside with delight.

Although the Duke of Ding'an and his wife were so frightened by Wei Jiao's words that they almost fainted and wished they could kick him out immediately, they dared not and could not kick him out.

Lady Ding'an could only personally summon Yang Luo, intending to personally instruct her with things like, "A Luo, you can't go," "It's very dangerous," "No one in our family is going, you'll be all alone with no one to rely on," and "You're still in mourning, your mother hasn't been able to rest in peace, you can't go out to have fun," and so on, so that she would refuse.

Yang Luo responded with "uh-huh" and went to the front hall.

"Junior Sister!" Wei Jiao responded warmly, "It feels like three autumns have passed since we last met!"

The Duke and Duchess of Ding'an watched with complicated expressions. Were the senior and junior brothers so familiar with each other? Well, they were quite familiar. Wei Jiao was present when Yang Luo first entered the Duke of Ding'an's mansion, and the two had already interacted before entering the mansion.

But what does "not seeing you for a day" mean? Have you seen me recently? I haven't been cooped up at home the whole time...

Lost in thought, I heard "Yang Luo's" voice again.

"A martial arts banquet?" Mo Zheng asked curiously. "If there's going to be a martial arts competition, it must involve swords, weapons, horseback riding, archery, and so on. What would a scholar like you, Teacher, be doing there?"

Wei Jiao raised an eyebrow: "Junior sister, you're underestimating your teacher. The Six Arts of a Gentleman are something a gentleman among gentlemen must be proficient in. This old man... the fact that my teacher was able to survive in this chaotic world shows that his skills are extraordinary."

Mo Zheng nodded, but with a hint of timidity, "But, senior brother, I've only just started studying, and my knowledge of the Six Arts is shallow. If I go, I'll embarrass our teacher and senior brothers."

Wei Jiao looked at the woman in front of him and spat inwardly.

"How could that be?" His smile deepened. "Don't worry, Junior Sister, I'm here."

Mo Zheng smiled and said, "That's great, then I can rest assured."

Wei Jiao leaned slightly towards Mo Zheng, her eyes crinkling into a smile: "Originally, the teacher wasn't planning to go. I begged and pleaded with him to come. I did all this for my junior sister."

As he spoke, he glanced at Duke Ding'an beside him.

“Our uncle, the Duke of Ding’an, is neither good at literature nor martial arts, nor is he a member of the imperial family. He is not qualified to attend the martial arts banquet, which would also prevent you, my junior sister, from going. This is unacceptable. So I immediately went to our teacher and pleaded with him with all my heart and reason. He finally agreed to ask the emperor for a spot so that he could take his disciples with him.”

He smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corner of his eye.

"Junior sister, aren't you touched?"

Mo Zheng nodded repeatedly, her expression grateful: "Thank you so much, Senior Brother. You've been so kind to me."

"You're welcome, we're like siblings." Wei Jiao smiled. "If I don't treat you well, who else will I treat well?"

After that, he stood up.

"Then we'll meet at the martial arts banquet on the tenth day of the first lunar month."

Seeing him get up to leave, Ding'an Gong, who was standing aside pondering how his uncle was neither good at literature nor martial arts, was about to speak when Wei Jiao pointed at him.

"Uncle, there's no need for such formalities or gifts."

With that, she smiled and, surrounded by her embroidered-clad companions, drifted away like a dark cloud.

Mo Zheng called out from behind, "Take care, senior brother!"

Unable to, and not daring to, seize Wei Jiao, Duke Ding'an grabbed Mo Zheng at that moment.

"You, you, how could you agree to that?" he asked anxiously.

Wei Jiao was acting crazy. He hadn't even realized that these two senior and junior brothers and sisters had reached an agreement: "You've been good to me, I thank you."

"Didn't I just remind you?" Lady Ding'an asked anxiously, "You're still in mourning!"

Mo Zheng looked helpless: "It's hard to obey a master's orders." She looked at the Duke and his wife and said sincerely, "Uncle and Aunt, don't worry, I think my mother wouldn't blame me if she knew in the afterlife."

……

.......
With her teacher, the senior brother, the Embroidered-Robe Captain, and her mother in the afterlife as excuses, Miss Yang gracefully took her leave.

"My lord! She can't go out!" Lady Ding'an stamped her foot.

This martial arts banquet was originally organized by the Empress to prevent her from entering the palace and seeing the Emperor.

But she still wants to go.

"Go quickly and report to the Emperor," Lady Ding'an urged, "and ask His Majesty to issue an edict..."

"What decree?" Duke Ding'an said irritably. "A decree has already been issued to hold the martial arts banquet. So many civil and military officials have received invitations, and the whole world knows about it. Issuing another decree to cancel it is a royal precept! Do you think this is a joke?"

Lady Ding'an was startled by the shout and retorted irritably, "Then we'll have to meet them! What a waste of the martial arts banquet! How ridiculous!"

Duke Ding'an pressed his hand to his forehead, feeling a throbbing pain: "It wasn't us who sent her. The Grand Master of Ceremonies went to ask His Majesty for permission. How could His Majesty not know? His Majesty agreed. It has nothing to do with us!"

They couldn't control the chief priest, and they had even less control over the emperor; in short, they couldn't control anything!
Suddenly, the Duke of Ding'an wondered if this was a case of fate not granting his wish, even if the person in question was the Empress.

Well, Your Majesty, in truth, his sister is the real Empress!

Therefore, no matter how much trouble that Chai family girl caused, she couldn't get what she wanted; even the heavens were on Yang Luo's side!

That's right, exactly!
Duke Ding'an couldn't help but put his hands on his hips and burst into laughter.

Lady Ding'an looked terrified. Had the Duke gone mad?

……

……

Canceling the martial arts banquet was out of the question. The emperor was somewhat troubled.

The martial arts banquet was indeed held because of the rampant banditry, and it was to encourage court officials not to slack off.

Indeed, it was because the Empress did not want to hold a palace banquet that she made this compromise.

"I don't want to see anyone from the Yang family come to congratulate me on the New Year this year," the Empress said bluntly.

The emperor didn't actually want to see the Yang family either.

So, on a whim, they changed it to a martial arts banquet, limiting the number of participants and excluding the Yang family.

Unexpectedly, everything was already agreed upon. Wang Zaitian had just said that he would bring several disciples to participate, write articles to record this grand event, compose poems for the dynasty, and add to the festivities for His Majesty.

He knew immediately that Yang Luo must be involved. She was the newly accepted female disciple of the Chief Priest, and he was definitely going to take this opportunity to show her off to everyone.

reject?

Wang Zaitian had no reason to refuse any discussion of essay writing, horsemanship, or archery.

To put it bluntly, Yang Luo is a bad person and I don't want her to go, but Wang Zaitian came all the way to the capital to discuss philosophy with him for a whole day and night...

The emperor dreaded dealing with Wang Zaitian.

Should he speak to the Empress? The Emperor felt even more troubled...

Just as he was racking his brains, a girl's soft laughter rang out from outside the palace, "Father—"

The emperor was overjoyed and looked outside the palace.

"Heisei! You're here, that's wonderful!"

……

.......
"What did you say? You want all your study companions to go to the martial arts banquet?"

The emperor was somewhat surprised when he heard Princess Heisei's purpose for coming.

Princess Heicheng smiled and said, "Father, please rest assured that we can have a banquet alone. We can ride horses, play ball, throw arrows, and shoot grass targets at a special horse farm. We will not go near Father and Mother and will not cause any trouble for the martial arts banquet."

He suggested that she hold the banquet alone, without going to her father and mother's side. When the emperor heard this, his eyes lit up. "Good idea!" he exclaimed.

Yes, even if someone is gone, they don't have to be seen again.

"Father, please agree," Princess Heicheng said with a smile, then stood up. "You just need to agree, I'll talk to Mother."

The emperor looked pleased, yet also somewhat remorseful.

“Heisei, your father knows you are doing this to help him out of a predicament,” he said. “Your father will not hide anything from you. That Miss Yang is unruly and has offended the Empress. Your father is reluctant to punish her because of the old Duke Ding’an’s help back then. Your mother does not want to see her, but I did not expect the Grand Master to take her there.”

Speaking of which, let's look at the Heisei era.

His daughter had a smiling face, intelligent eyes, and was neither arrogant nor impatient, as clear and bright as jade.

"Father thanks you for resolving this problem."

"Father Emperor begs you again to keep a close eye on this Miss Yang and not let her disturb your mother."

Princess Heicheng bowed solemnly: "Your Majesty, I obey your command. Please rest assured."

The emperor adopted a solemn posture: "You've worked hard, my dear minister."

After saying that, the father and daughter couldn't help but laugh.

……

……

As Princess Heicheng walked out toward the Empress's Palace, she saw Wei Jiao approaching with light steps.

"Princess--"

As before, Wei Jiao greeted her with a smile from afar when she saw her.

Princess Heisei stood there watching him. As he approached, she smiled slightly and asked, "Have you finished looking at your junior sister?"

Wei Jiao laughed heartily: "It is difficult to disobey a master's orders."

Princess Heicheng thought to herself, "I can't disobey my master's orders. I've never seen him give me any orders before." Her smile deepened.

“I also have something to say to the chief priest,” she said.

Wei Jiao asked curiously, "What is it?"

Princess Heisei said, "Tell the Grand Master that I will be bringing my companions to the banquet, and I would like to invite Miss Yang to join us."

As soon as he finished speaking, a smile bloomed on Wei Jiao's face again.

"Your subject obeys." He bowed deeply, responded loudly, and turned to leave. "Princess, I'll go right away."

Princess Heisei watched the departing figure and smiled faintly.

Yes, she addressed the chief priest as "Sir," but she was also a princess, and "Sir" was also a subject.

Princesses are allowed to give orders to their subjects.