Both worlds are like dreams

Xue Huang suddenly lost the mood to sleep in and opened her eyes before dawn.

She washed and dressed early and went to the outer room to have breakfast.

Yun Qing gave her a list with the name of the wedding delegation and the route to the border.

In addition to Mo Yunchen's black-armored soldiers, the wedding party also included the dowry bestowed by Emperor Ling on Mo Xingyue and two hundred royal guards, all of whom would accompany her to Dongchu.

There were another hundred royal guards to escort Murilan back home, plus his own palace soldiers of about fifty men.

As for the route, we took the official road all the way, passing through Muhua City and heading to the border of East Chu.

Lu Xuehuang was not worried when she went there, because there were still people from the Dongchu delegation. With Su Linjin and a group of masters around, Mo Yunchen would not be able to take action easily.

But we also have to be careful.

The return journey is the most dangerous, because more than half of the people who can protect Mo Ruilin are gone. If Tianqi takes the opportunity to assassinate him again, it will be difficult to return to Shangyang City safely.

Thinking of this, Xue Huang suddenly lost her appetite and looked at the letter worriedly.

Mo Yun woke up a little late. When he came out, he found Xue Huang was already eating with a strange look on her face.

And seeing her brows slightly frowned, I knew what she was worried about.

"Are you so worried about me?"

Nonsense! Xue Huang thought.

She put away the letter and said indifferently: "General Shen trusts you very much. Isn't he afraid that you will defect to the Fifth Prince on your way?"

"If he survives and comes back, I might consider it."

"Then please wait and see, Your Majesty. He will definitely return to Shangyang City safely."

Mo Yunchen smiled and said, "If I really turn against you, would you still want to kill me?"

"Of course." Xue Huang did not hesitate. As long as she could find a solution to the Heart-Eating Gu, she would kill him without hesitation.

"Then why should I switch sides?"

Xue Huang sneered, "You also know you can't, why are you asking these nonsense?"

Mo Yunchen remained silent. After all, she just didn't believe him.

Yun Qing came in from outside, looking a little unhappy, not caring about Mo Yunchen being here, "Princess, that concubine Cui is here again, saying that according to etiquette, she should come to see the principal wife."

Xue Huang didn't say anything. She didn't care at all whether the emperor paid his respects or not. She didn't want to be a princess in the first place.

She didn't know what the procedure was for a concubine to meet the main wife, so she could only look at Yun Qing and said, "Then go and get ready."

Yun Qing frowned slightly, "Princess, with your status, you don't have to see her."

Xue Huang turned her head and glanced at Mo Yunchen, "Excuse me, Your Majesty, can I not see her?"

"If you don't want to, then don't meet her." Mo Yunchen said calmly. "I just want you to do one thing, find a reason to kill her."

"I said, I won't be your executioner."

"Please."

Xue Huang was speechless, but she still stood up and went to the small living room with Yun Qing, determined to meet Cui Jinyu.

Yun Qing advised her, "Princess, why are you doing this? She is just a concubine's daughter, and you are a princess of two countries. No matter from which angle you look at it, there is no need to pay attention to her."

"After all, she is Shen Congfeng's spy here. If she is beneficial to us, she can stay. If she is not beneficial to us, she will be driven away."

“But you shouldn’t be involved in this matter. You are a princess, how can you be with a concubine…” Yun Qing swallowed the word.

Xue Huang understood what she meant and said calmly, "Okay, it's just a deal, why take it so seriously?"

"I have met this concubine. She thinks highly of herself and I am afraid she will be difficult to get along with. So Princess, don't be polite when you see her later."

Xue Huang nodded and went to sit in the main hall.

Haitang led the person up, and Xuehuang looked up. The woman in front of her was indeed quite pretty. She was wearing a long pink embroidered dress that outlined her graceful figure, like a willow swaying in the wind. Her face was as white and tender as jade, with a pair of dimples on her cheeks. She had light rouge on her face, which made her cheeks look like a newly opened peach blossom, white and rosy, which made her look even more charming. Her eyes were black and white, and she looked very pitiful.

Xue Huang felt that Yun Qing was wrong. This woman looked very well behaved!

"My name is Jinyu, nice to meet you, elder sister!" Cui Jinyu bowed and her eyes fell on Xuehuang's face that was as beautiful as ice and snow. She had heard that Xuehuang's appearance was peerless and she was a little disdainful at first, but when she saw her today, she couldn't help but admire her.

Well! Xue Huang thought. She made a mistake in judgment.

Even though Xue Huang had stayed in Jinxiu Tower for so long, she had never seen any woman in the tower who spoke as seductively as a fox as Cui Jinyu. Especially the word "sister", which made Xue Huang feel uncomfortable, arrogant, unwilling, and provocative.

Cuinong spoke quickly and said directly: "Concubine Cui, since you have to pay respect according to etiquette, whether it is the etiquette of Dongchu or Beiling, shouldn't you kneel down?"

"Yes!" Yun Qing also said with a cold face. "According to Beiling etiquette, a concubine should kneel down to pay respect to the wife. Our princess is the Princess Changle, who was personally appointed by His Majesty. Not only did the concubine not kneel, but she also looked directly at the princess. Doesn't she even take the Emperor of Beiling seriously?"

Cui Jinyu's face froze, and she quickly knelt down, "It is my fault for being rude, please forgive me, sister."

Xue Huang didn't want to get too entangled with her, but her words made Xue Huang very disgusted. Xue Huang knew that Cui Jinyu was like this because of Mo Yunchen. But this marriage was not what Xue Huang wanted, so if anyone came to make her unhappy because of Mo Yunchen, she would definitely make the other party unhappy.

Cuinong, who was serving tea next to her, did not ask anyone to pass tea to Cui Jinyu, but poured a cup for Xuehuang instead.

Xue Huang took it slowly and methodically, and did not ask Cui Jinyu to stand up. After sipping the tea, she said leisurely: "I am not a person who pays attention to empty etiquette. Today I will regard it as a greeting. However, I still want to remind you that the royal and noble families attach great importance to etiquette. You have lived in Shangyang City for a long time, so you should know it better than me."

"Yes, it's me..."

Yun Qing interrupted her, "Concubine, when the princess is talking, you are not allowed to interrupt her!"

Cui Jinyu lowered his head, "Yes!"

“So in the future, if the concubine says anything about paying respects according to etiquette, then just follow the rules. Otherwise, I will think that Bei Ling’s etiquette of respect and inferiority is just a decoration.” Xue Huang said lightly.

Yun Qing said expressionlessly: "Concubine, when the princess speaks, you should reply."

Cui Jinyu's face almost turned green, "Yes, I will remember it."

Xue Huang couldn't help but look at Yun Qing. Should she cooperate with her like this?

"There is one more thing," Xue Huang put down the teacup, "The concubine is already 26 years old this year, eight years older than me, but she calls me sister, which makes me uncomfortable. Although etiquette cannot be abolished, please change the name in the future."

Cui Jinyu raised her head slightly, her eyes seemed to be hesitant as to whether she should speak or not. Seeing that Xue Huang and Yun Qing had no intention of continuing to talk, she could only suppress her dissatisfaction and whispered, "Yes, Princess."

Yun Qing spoke again, "It's better to call her Princess."

Cui Jinyu frowned slightly, blinking her eyes like a little rabbit, as if Xue Huang and the others in front of her were big bad wolves, looking very pitiful. "Is this... inappropriate?"

Xue Huang had a blank expression on her face, but out of the corner of her eye she noticed a figure in red walking out from behind the screen.

No need to guess who it is.

Cui Jinyu's eyes lit up with joy, and she said softly, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

Mo Yunchen just glanced at her lightly and said to Xue Huang, "Hurry up and deal with this place, and come with me to somewhere." After that, he sat down without asking Cui Jinyu to get up.

Cui Jinyu was disappointed. She thought Mo Yunchen came to speak for her and let him see how Xue Huang treated her, but she didn't expect that he didn't care at all.

"I don't have much to say, it's okay if she remembers it." Xue Huang said calmly.

"I dare not disapprove of what the princess says, and I will obey it." As she said this, she bent down, very respectful and humble.

Mo Yunchen had a cold face, "Didn't I ask you to change your name just now? Have you forgotten it so quickly?"

Cui Jinyu was startled and said quickly: "It's my fault. I just said something wrong."

Xuehuang winked at Yun Qing, and Yun Qing presented the reward gift that he had prepared in advance to Cui Jinyu.

"Thank you, Princess." Cui Jinyu took it with both hands.

"Get up." Xue Huang said.

Cui Jinyu responded and slowly stood up. The next moment, her body shook and she fell directly to the ground, covering her knees with a look of pain on her face.

Xue Huang was quite surprised. Was this a scam? Even if she was stupid, she knew that Cui Jinyu was acting. However, Xue Huang found it a little funny because Cui Jinyu didn't know that Mo Yunchen was actually behind the screen.

So this little bit of drama is not enough to watch.

Sure enough, Mo Yunchen didn't even look at her, got up and walked out.

Xue Huang didn't say anything and took Yun Qing out.

Cuinong and Haitang also treated her as if she didn't exist. Cui Jinyu suddenly felt like a joke. She stood up in shame and left quickly.

After leaving the main courtyard, Cui Jinyu's maid came up to greet them, "Madam, are you okay?"

Cui Jinyu's face turned green, "The prince really treats her differently."

"How did you know that, Madam?"

"I can't really explain it, but I just feel that the prince treats her much better than me. She treats the prince very coldly, but the prince still stands on her side."

"The princess is a princess of two countries and is highly regarded by His Majesty. Naturally, the prince must be polite to her."

"Maybe." Cui Jinyu sighed. "My uncle asked me to keep an eye on their relationship. I don't know why."

"Your Highness, please do not ask any more questions. Just follow the orders of the general."

"Yes! Uncle is my only support, I will definitely follow his orders. And uncle is right, as long as I find evidence against the prince and give it to him, the prince will treat me well." Cui Jinyu looked at the brocade box in her hand and stuffed it into the maid's hand. "What Concubine Li said is right, the Princess Changle is indeed very beautiful, but the prince is not the kind of person who will be fascinated by beauty, so what if she is very beautiful? The prince must be tolerant and protective of her because she is the Princess of Dongchu, and it is not the prince who wants to marry her, she took the initiative to marry."

"It's strange. It's said that Princess Changle and the prince of Jingguo were in love with each other and even got engaged under the Moon Goddess Tree. But why did she marry the prince?"

"My uncle was also puzzled, so he asked me to investigate this matter. It seems that I should go to Lanxiu Pavilion more often to pay my respects to her in the future."