Chapter 278

Chapter 278: Chapter 278. Lu Chen sweet-talked to other women

Hong Ling helped Qiao Jinniang out of the carriage and said, “Your Highness, this is third Miss Qiao Ruoyin.” Qiao Ruoyin’s family knelt on the ground and bowed. Qiao Jinniang also saw Qiao Ruofeng and Qiao ruowan, whom she had not seen for a long time. The two sisters were wearing armor, and their faces were tanned. Qiao Ruofeng used to have an umbrella when he went out in the Sun. The Jinniang walked up to Qiao Ruoyin and helped her up. “Sister, there’s no need to be so formal. This must be the little niece who was just born. Second aunt asked me to bring a gift for the child. This phoenix hairpin is a token of my appreciation.” After Qiao Ruoyin received it, she thanked her profusely. “The Crown Prince and the crown princess have come from afar. The Xu family has prepared some wine for your highness to welcome you. I Hope Your Highness will do me the honor.” Qiao jinniang said, “Sorry to bother you.” Qiao Jinniang took Little Lu Xi’s hand and went to the Xu family. Qiao Ruoyin’s first child was also a son. He was one year younger than Lu Xi. The two of them played together as soon as they met. Qiao Ruoyin’s child grew up at the border. No one in the family told him about imperial power or anything like that. When he played with the emperor’s great-grandson, he was not restrained. Unlike in Chang ‘an, other than the prince of Bao County and the Prince of Yun County, the rest of the children were mostly respectful to Lu XI. Children were children after all. Many of them were still young, so they listened to their family members talk about tolerating Lu XI. Those children didn’t understand or understand why they had to suffer this grievance. On the surface, they were respectful, but on the inside, they would resist playing with Lu Xi. Lu Xi was young, but she understood. Now that she had a playmate of a similar age, she was very happy. The Three Sisters of the Qiao family’s second house opened the letter from second Madam Qiao one after another. For a moment, their eyes reddened. Qiao ruoyin said, “I’m really unfilial. I’ve been married for four years, but I haven’t returned to Chang ‘an to visit my elders. Sigh.” Qiao Ruofeng said from the side, “Second sister, don’t say that. You’ve been married for four years. Father, mother, and grandmother also know about it.” Qiao ruoyin said, “Crown Princess, a few days ago, I saw the Qin family in the mine in Yunzhou. I heard from Miaomiao about Chang ‘an. How is eldest sister?” Qiao jinniang smiled and said, “She is finally free now. She is doing very well in the manor. There are many people coming to propose marriage.” Qiao ruoyin said, “It would be good if eldest sister could have a look.” The Qiao sisters chatted for a while before a woman in cool clothes came in, exposing her calves and arms. When Qiao Jinniang saw this dress, she felt that it was very novel. “I, Xu Mingshuang, pay my respects to the Crown Princess Consort.” Qiao jinniang said, “No need for formalities.” Qiao ruoyin smiled and said to Qiao jinniang, “This Xu Mingshuang is my mother-in-law’s niece-in-law. You should have met her elder brother, Xu Mingwei. The Xu family’s uncle and aunt died young. The two siblings have also grown up in the Xu family since they were young. They are no different from the children of the Xu family.” Lady Qiao replied, “So she is Xu Mingwei’s younger sister.” Qiao Ruofeng did not feel good when he saw Xu Mingshuang. Xu Mingshuang’s gaze had been sizing up Lady Qiao. She was scheming in her heart. In terms of looks, she was inferior to Lady Qiao. She wondered if this crown princess who had risen to become a phoenix would be easy to get along with? If she was not easy to get along with, no matter how sweet Lu Chen was to her, she would not be willing to enter the Eastern Palace. At the welcoming banquet, as they were all relatives, there were no separate seats for men and women for today’s banquet. In the middle of the stage, there were local actors from Yunzhou performing the Yunzhou frontier fortress dance. The frontier fortress dance was mostly performed by people who fought bravely against their enemies. The Actors’dance was majestic. Xu Jiedu sat beside Lu Chen, pouring wine for Lu Chen, and introducing the delicacies and fine wines from Yunzhou. Qiao Jinniang felt that it was strange that the person beside him was not Qiao Ruoyin’s husband, but Xu Mingwei. Most of the Jiedu of great Tang were hereditary, which meant that the person Lord Xu brought to Lu Chen this time was definitely his future successor. The imperial court naturally did not like a family occupying military power for a long time, but this was a rule that had always been hard to change. Moreover, there was another reason. In order to prevent these people who held military power from rebelling, their military power could be passed down from generation to generation. Their power had always been there, so why would they take the risk of rebelling? “Your Highness, I have heard that your highness’swordsmanship is superb. I dare to dance with my sword and would like your highness to give me some pointers.” After Xu Mingshuang came out, she bowed to Lu Chen and said. As soon as she finished speaking, she jumped onto the stage in a red dress that exposed her arms and calves. In her hand, she held a sword that shone with a cold light. The light of the candlelight reflected on the surface of the sword. The shadow of the sword imprinted itself on Xu Mingshuang’s eyes, revealing her pair of Bright Eyes. Xu Mingshuang waved her hand and made a sword gesture. She stabbed straight at Lu Chen. Qiao Jinniang’s heart jumped to her throat when she saw this scene. Lu Chen did not bring any secret guards with him when he came to the Xu Residence. As soon as the sword came, Lu Chen used the wine glass to block the wine. He jumped up and grabbed Xu Mingshuang’s arm and wrist in an extremely beautiful and swift motion, snatching the sword in her hand, he placed the sword in front of Xu Mingshuang’s neck. Lord Xu and Xu Mingwei knelt down repeatedly and said, “Your Highness, please spare my life.” The guards stepped forward and suppressed Xu Mingshuang. Lu Chen threw away the sword in his hand and said to Xu Mingshuang, “Assassinating the crown prince of the current dynasty is a crime that deserves to be executed.” Xu Mingshuang smiled. “Your Highness, I Just Want to test your martial arts and see if you are worthy to be my husband.” Qiao Jinniang frowned. “Husband?” Along the way, she had actually met many officials who wanted to offer Lu Chen Beauties. Qiao Jinniang had bumped into them several times. Some of these officials outside could not even see the crown prince. If the beauty offered was taken back to Chang ‘an by the crown prince, it would be good for their promotion in the officialdom. Qiao Jinniang was not very angry. After all, it was only human nature. If she was in the officialdom and saw the crown prince passing by her territory, she would also think of offering beauties. Lu Chen rejected them one by one. After coming to Yunzhou, Qiao Jinniang did not think that there would be such a thing. After all, Yunzhou was the territory of the Qiao family! It was not to the extent that she did not take her, the crown prince’s consort, seriously. Xu Mingshuang smiled at Lu Chen and said, “Your Highness’martial arts are actually so good. I admire it. I am willing to marry your highness as a side Consort.” Qiao Jinniang asked Qiao ruoyin beside her, “Is your husband’s cousin not very smart?” Even the pampered Qiao Ruoshui was not as direct as Xu Mingshuang. Qiao ruoyin said awkwardly, “Crown Princess Consort...” Qiao ruofeng said, “Not only is she not very smart, she even wants to treat herself as a princess without the princess’orders.” Lu Chen’s expression was also very bad as he said, “Xu Jun, do you dare to let any crazy woman into the banquet? When did I say that I wanted to marry her as a side consort?” Xu Mingshuang said, “Your Highness, how can you go back on Your Words? Two days ago, you clearly wrote to me saying that you would let me be a side concubine!” The word ‘letter’made Qiao Ruofeng’s expression change. She recalled the time when King Yong wrote to her. Could it be that the crown prince’s brother-in-law was also a scum like his fifth brother?