The princess was ordained by Heaven.

The guard snorted, scratched the side of his face, and tore off the human skin mask to reveal a delicate face: "It's suffocating! No wonder Ninth Sister's mask is not breathable at all. After all these years, I haven't seen her improve it."

Yu Rong snatched the mask away, carefully smoothed it out, and put it in the box: "Because you don't cherish it, I gave you all outdated items. However, these are all my treasures. If you are so rude again, I will make you an ugly face next time."

Wei Yanxing didn't want to embarrass himself, so he could only awkwardly shut up.

The emperor in front of the screen couldn't help but look at Zheng Xun.

How did her Azure Dragon Guard end up next to Tao Heng?

If he hasn't forgotten, those Azure Dragon Guards made an appearance in the palace last time.

He suddenly realized that he still didn't know enough about Zheng Xun.

Although we can hear her inner thoughts, she never reveals a single word about them.

This shows that she is extremely restrained and has few distracting thoughts, and also proves that she is firm enough that she rarely hesitates or wavers once she has made up her mind.

His daughter is truly outstanding.

Zheng Xun rummaged through the plate next to her. The plate, which she had just emptied, had been refilled at some point. Perhaps she was afraid he would go hungry, because the table around her was crammed together, like a sacrificial offering.

She is short, so the chair prepared for her is small and cute. She can sit on it easily and her back doesn't hurt even after sitting for a long time.

This is the Empress's Phoenix Palace.

Zheng Xun squinted his eyes comfortably.

This world is great except for the fact that I don't have an older brother.

[But Tao Heng is really unlucky. Ever since he got involved with the academy, he's been constantly hunted down. This time, his pursuers are assassins privately hired by local officials. It seems that officials in this dynasty all like to support assassins... So, is there anyone who can do something about this?]

Look at Qianzhi, he's been pushed to his limits!

Emperor: What do you mean by "you are humble"? Are you very familiar with Tao Heng?

He gritted his teeth and glanced back at Li Xiaojun.

Secretary Li immediately understood and turned to write it down.

In the light screen, Tao Heng squatted down in front of the assassin with a smile: "Tsk tsk, you guys are quite persistent, chasing me this far, aren't you tired?"

The leader of the pursuers indifferently turned his eyes away: "Kill me or torture me, please."

Wei Yanxing reached into his waistband and pulled out the folding fan he never parted with, raising an eyebrow at him: "You are the witnesses who have been delivered here. It's not time to kill or torture you."

"Seventh Brother, tie these three people up."

The seventh brother responded and efficiently cleaned up the battlefield.

Wei Yanxing wiped his eyes with emotion: "Only the seventh brother is a little obedient. I'm such a useless captain."

Thinking of his other rebellious teammates, he gritted his teeth, still feeling resentful.

Looking around, Tao Heng seemed the easiest to bully. He chuckled, strolled over, and casually said, "Lord Tao, what are you going to do with those patrol guards? Sigh, it's not easy for you, Lord Tao. You've encountered such troublesome and disobedient subordinates on your first assignment. It's a wonder you managed to hold out until our Azure Dragon Guard arrived. You've worked hard."

That's right, he was hitting Tao Heng where it hurts.

He's happy when he sees others suffer setbacks.

Tao Heng: ...

He glanced at Wei Yanxing thoughtfully.

Wei Yanxing lightly waved his folding fan, looking just like a proud peacock: "What? Has Lord Tao finally noticed my dashing and handsome appearance?"

Tao Heng sighed regretfully, "No, I was just wondering why I didn't slap you a couple more times just now. After all, Brother Wei's buttocks feel pretty good."

If you mess with him, you've really messed with him. He's never been afraid of a sharp tongue.

Sure enough, Wei Yanxing's face turned as black as charcoal: "How can you, an official, speak so rudely?"

He admitted that he felt a little nauseous.

"I am but a country bumpkin, and I have not yet learned the ways of elegance."

Wei Yanxing, seemingly lost in thought, laughed instead: "Whether it's elegant or not isn't the most important thing. Lord Tao is not strict in managing his subordinates. Half of the patrol guards who came with you are lazy and the other half have betrayed you. If the Emperor finds out about this, he will probably blame you for not managing your subordinates properly."

Tao Heng calmly said, "As expected of the Azure Dragon Guard, their eyes are always only on the Emperor. I don't know if the Emperor will blame me, but the princess will surely understand."

Wei Yanxing: ...

Listen to this! Is he even speaking human language? He clearly wishes he were dead!

"Do you think you can sow discord between my master and me by saying this?" He waved his folding fan, his expression indifferent. "From the moment we followed the princess, we were already separated from the Azure Dragon Guard."

"Only you know what you're thinking. It's your good fortune to have the opportunity to follow the princess. If any of you are ungrateful, I won't hesitate to remove any obstacles for the princess."

He received the princess's kindness during his most difficult time, and many people said he was heartless, but there is only one thing he can be praised for: gratitude.

"Take care of yourself first. I'll say the same to you." Wei Yanxing closed his folding fan, his expression solemn.

Tao Heng spoke in a grand and dignified manner, but he knew that he was asserting his sovereignty and blatantly telling the princess that he, Tao Heng, was more trusted by her.

He wanted to scoff. Only he noticed how much a young girl valued him. The princess might have some unpredictable abilities, but what was so remarkable about that…

Okay, that's really impressive.

Damn it, he didn't believe that with Wei Yanxing's abilities, he couldn't become the princess's number one subordinate.

[Tsk, I'm still so young, and two young men are already fighting over me. Sigh, beauty is a sin.]

The emperor raised his teacup to cover his twitching lips.

As everyone knows, he rarely sides with outsiders, but this time, he really felt that Tao Aiqing and Wei Yanxing's days under Zheng Xun's command might be a bit chaotic.

Zheng Xun didn't stay in Fengyi Palace for long. The Empress and Zheng Jiao wanted to keep her, but she wanted to go back to practice martial arts. They couldn't persuade her otherwise, so they had to let her go in the end.

Watching her departing figure, Zheng Jiao suddenly stood up: "I feel that my diligence is not even one ten-thousandth as good as my sister's. I also want to go back to practice martial arts."

After saying that, she left in a hurry.

The emperor and empress looked at each other in bewilderment.

……

The next morning before the court session, Zheng Xun gave the written eulogy to Lord Jiang.

Zheng Xun was not good at writing eulogies, but she had seen countless similar farewells of life and death.

Fortunately, Lord Jiang allowed enough time.

During this period, she read through countless writings by her predecessors, expressed the emotions she witnessed in writing, translated them into the language of Dayong, and finally created this memorial text.

However, in front of so many learned officials in the court, she felt that she was showing off her limited knowledge, and only Lord Jiang did not mind.

The morning court session has begun, and it's time for our daily gossip session again.

The light screen unfolded, and the image that appeared on the screen was of the Zhao family.

She was in a simple house. Ding Kang was being held back and kneeling behind her. In front of her was an awkward middle-aged man.

"Your daughter's body is right here. This is the murderer who killed your daughter."