A wicked mother swaps her son and sucks his blood? The true legitimate daughter is reborn and goes o

That person was none other than Tuoba Rui, who had left the Shence Army in Beirong a year ago.

That day, the three had a private conversation.

Tuoba Rui requested permission to go to Beirong Capital to atone for his crimes through meritorious service.

At that time, the Beirong army was no longer a threat, but if the Shence Army really entered the Beirong capital, there would still be bloodshed and casualties.

Xie Xuanjin and Song Qingning agreed.

Tuoba Rui returned to the capital of Beirong and, taking advantage of the chaos in Beirong, secretly instigated a struggle between the various princes.

Not long after, more than a dozen princes of the Beirong royal family died one after another, leaving only a young child who posed no threat to anyone.

The aristocratic families could only support the youngest child remaining in the royal family to ascend the throne. Tuoba Rui served as the young emperor's "teacher" and stayed by his side.

The powerful families wanted to control the young emperor, so he used the young emperor to incite a struggle between the powerful families.

In less than a year, the Bei Rong family was either wiped out or severely weakened, ultimately becoming completely powerless.

A month ago, Bei Rong sent a letter bearing the imperial seal. In the letter, the young emperor of Bei Rong expressed his desire to become a vassal of Da Jing.

Xie Xuanjin and Song Qingning knew that it was not the young emperor's idea, but Tuoba Rui's.

He hated Bei Rong and wanted to humiliate him.

Perhaps there are other intentions as well.

When Song Qingning thought of Xie Heng, she looked up and exchanged a glance with Xie Xuanjin, knowing that he and she had the same idea.

"Send a copy of the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet invitation to his residence. As for Heng'er..."

"He should be going out of the palace to see the lanterns again this year, so send more people and prepare more lanterns."

Song Qingning gave the instructions.

Although Wan Zi didn't understand why she would send an invitation to the palace banquet to Tuoba Rui, she didn't ask any further questions. Following Song Qingning's instructions, that afternoon, an invitation to the Mid-Autumn Festival palace banquet was placed in the inn where Tuoba Rui was staying.

When Tuoba Rui saw the invitation, his eyes trembled slightly.

He knew that the Emperor and Empress would know about his arrival in Dajing, but he never expected that they would send him an invitation to the Mid-Autumn Festival palace banquet.

That palace banquet was a banquet for rewarding meritorious service.

Thinking back to more than a year ago, he said he would atone for his crimes by performing good deeds.

I wonder if my performance over the past year has satisfied the Emperor and Empress.

If there is a reward...

Upon realizing this, Tuoba Rui immediately stopped.

Then a self-deprecating smile appeared on his lips as he laughed at his own wishful thinking.

However, he still held the invitation tightly, looking at it again and again.

The long-awaited Mid-Autumn Festival banquet arrived quickly.

This year's Mid-Autumn Festival banquet was particularly grand.

The palace banquet was held in the evening, and by noon, the area outside the Sifang Pavilion was already filled with carriages.

A few years ago, the North Courtyard of Sifangguan was burned to the ground, but it has now been rebuilt and everything is the same as before.

Song Qingning also arrived early.

In the garden of Sifangguan, ladies from various families gathered together. Some played pitch-pot and admired the flowers, while others drank tea and chatted. In twos and threes, they created a scene of prosperity and harmony.

Song Qingning was not dressed in formal attire.

She disliked being ostentatious and only brought Hongling with her.

Hongling had just been playing with her brother's two sons and got her shoes dirty. She went to get them herself, but the twins ran off to play elsewhere, leaving Song Qingning all alone.

Song Qingning was originally sitting on the corridor waiting for Hongling.

Suddenly hearing a noise from behind the corridor, Song Qingning, having nothing else to do, went over to investigate.

Behind the corridor, a row of low trees provides cover, and the figure of a woman dancing with a sword is faintly visible.

The girl looked to be in her early teens, beautiful and lively, but her movements were not skillful and she didn't look like someone who had practiced martial arts.

After a few swings, the sword fell to the ground.

The woman sighed, seemingly unwilling to give up, picked up her sword again, and continued practicing.

"I must win their favor," the woman said, as if encouraging herself.

Song Qingning raised an eyebrow.

Hongling returned with the shoes and heard the woman's words from afar, which immediately displeased her.

Hongling wanted to step forward, but Song Qingning stopped her with a look in her eyes.

Song Qingning did not disturb the woman's sword practice.

I deliberately walked a little further away before sitting down to change my shoes.

Hongling was still angry, thinking about what the woman had said.

While helping Song Qingning change her shoes, he said, "Favor? So young, I wonder which noble family she comes from, going to such lengths to use these underhanded methods. What, does she want to gain the Emperor's favor and become a concubine?"

Over the years, Xie Xuanjin's harem has never seen any new women.

After the Empress Dowager was sent to Bohai County, the powerful families and court officials had even less intention of sending their daughters to the palace.

Unexpectedly, one appeared today!

"Your Highness, she harbored ill intentions and should have been taught a lesson just now. Why did you signal to me not to disturb her?"

Hongling was dissatisfied and became angrier the more she thought about it.

After helping Song Qingning change her shoes, Hongling finally couldn't hold back any longer and stood up abruptly. "No, this servant needs to know who she is, to give her a warning, and make her give up this idea."

Hong Ling was full of momentum, but after taking only two steps, she was stopped by Song Qingning.

"Your Majesty..."

Hongling reluctantly stopped.

Seeing her face flushed with anger, Song Qingning couldn't help but laugh. "How does the Emperor look?"

"Of course it's excellent." Hongling didn't understand why she asked that, so she answered truthfully.

Song Qingning then asked, "What about his talent? What about his character?"

"His Majesty is skilled in both literature and martial arts. Everyone praises him as the most virtuous monarch in the history of our Great Jing Dynasty."

"So, isn't it normal for women to admire her? If I were her, since I admire her, I would also want to try my best to win her favor, so let her be."

The woman's clumsy swordplay, yet her persistent and determined effort, was rather amusing.

Song Qingning stood up and glanced at the woman dancing with a sword from afar.

The image of Xie Xuanjin flashed through her mind, and she frowned slightly.

She wasn't worried that Xie Xuanjin would develop an interest in other people, but she was somewhat concerned that his aloof and cold demeanor might frighten the beauty.

into the night.

At the palace banquet, Song Qingning saw the woman practicing swordsmanship again.

Not only her, but there were more people at today's palace banquet than in previous years.

Miss Xue has recently returned to the capital, and at this moment, she is sitting next to Empress Dowager Meng.

Everyone saw this courtesy and understood its meaning without saying a word.

Miss Xue and Crown Prince Wenzhao were childhood sweethearts, deeply in love, and were originally going to get married. However, due to the death of Crown Prince Wenzhao, she died peacefully.

Miss Xue was born into the Xue family. With her status, it would have been easy for her to find another husband. But no one expected that she would become a nun a few years ago.

She was said to be a nun, but in reality, she was to guard the tomb of Crown Prince Wenzhao and never marry.

Over the years, Empress Dowager Meng would visit her every so often.

Song Qingning knew that in her mother's eyes, Miss Xue was already her daughter-in-law.

When Song Qingning looked at Miss Xue, Miss Xue also happened to look over. Their eyes met, and they nodded and smiled, friendly and approachable.

Tuoba Rui sat at the end of the table today. He was dressed modestly and still wore a veil.

The Emperor and Empress sat in the main seats.

Although Song Qingning was not dressed in her finest attire, her imperial majesty remained undiminished.

The palace banquet begins.

The highlight of today's palace banquet is the distribution of rewards based on merit.

Those who were invited and knew they had made contributions were all sitting at the table, unable to hide their excitement.

The rewards were bestowed one by one, when suddenly the chief eunuch shouted, "Qin Shan, the richest man in Runan County."

Immediately afterwards, a middle-aged man with a large belly led a woman to kneel before the hall.

That woman was the same one who had just been practicing her swordplay in the back of the corridor, saying that she "must win favor"!