CHAPTER 697: CHAPTER 564: ILL-FATED LOVE

Cong Lv noticed something odd about the maid serving Xue Pian Ran.

"Stop there! Who is she?"

Xue Pian Ran raised her eyebrows, speaking calmly.

"Brother Cong, she is my new maid, and it is her first time in the Imperial Palace, which is why she seems a bit frightened."

As Xue Pian Ran mentioned her maid, she felt a surge of resentment. It occurred to Cong Lv that her original maid had died in Daxia because of Ye Ling Yue.

"Search her, go to the side."

Those like Feng Xun and Xue Pian Ran, with their noble identities, were exempt from being searched, but officers below the Third-grade and delegates from other countries were not.

Hearing that Cong Lv ordered a search, Lian Yu was so frightened that she stared at Xue Pian Ran and dared not even breathe out loud.

"Brother Cong, even you are deliberately making things difficult for me. Just now, that woman went in with a Spiritual Pet and you didn’t search her, but now you want to search my maid. Is my person not even comparable to the animals that woman keeps? Fine, everyone is making things difficult for me; I might as well not attend this palace banquet," Xue Pian Ran said, her cheeks flushing with emotion as she made a gesture to storm off with a flick of her sleeve.

"Pian Ran, what are you talking about? Why would I make things difficult for you? You know that it’s customary to be searched when entering the palace," Cong Lv hurriedly explained.

The reason he hadn’t searched Little Zhiyo was because Feng Xun was holding it, and besides, Spiritual Pets were typically kept outside the court after entering the Imperial Palace.

A few days earlier, due to an incident involving the Daxia Embassy, Cong Lv had a direct conflict with Feng Xun, and upon seeing Feng Xun again, Cong Lv felt somewhat awkward.

Although he had been friends with Feng Xun from a young age, these days, he felt that they were growing apart.

Sometimes, he even felt that Feng Xun was very cold, like a stranger.

And the reason for the current situation between the two was precisely because of Xue Pian Ran.

From a young age, Cong Lv knew that Xue Pian Ran liked Feng Xun, and at that time, Cong Lv thought that Feng Xun liked her back.

But it wasn’t until Ye Ling Yue appeared that Cong Lv realized it was just a one-sided wishful thinking on his and Xue Pian Ran’s part.

Cong Lv had once secretly rejoiced that Feng Xun had found the love of his life and given up on Xue Pian Ran.

But thinking back on what Emperor Beiqing had said that night, that Ye Ling Yue and Feng Xun’s destinies clashed, and that Xue Pian Ran was the right match for him, Cong Lv’s heart became conflicted again.

"Forget it, go on in," said Cong Lv with a sigh, letting Xue Pian Ran and Lian Yu enter the palace.

Only then did Xue Pian Ran breathe a sigh of relief, taking Lian Yu with her into the palace.

Inside the Imperial Palace, Ye Ling Yue surveyed her surroundings.

Although it was not her first time in Beiqing, Ye Ling Yue had been excluded from the Daxia Delegation during her last visit, so this was her first time at Beiqing Imperial Palace.

Unlike the Daxia Palace with its omnipresent exotic flowers, quaint bridges, and flowing waters, the Beiqing Imperial Palace was vast, ancient, and at least ten times larger in area than the Daxia Palace.

Along the lengthy imperial pathways ran cypress and ancient pines on both the north and south sides, and at the end of the year, Beiqing’s temperatures reached their lowest.

Crossing the sprawling pathways where snow had been swept clean, the snow piled upon branches and eaves had already formed into icicles, which, under the palace lanterns, splintered into colorful light.

The night was cold, and the path was slippery; with its lengthy course having no carriages available, Ye Ling Yue regretted her choice as she stumbled along the way in her long dress, which was aesthetically pleasing but impractical, causing both her and Feng Xun to move at a snail’s pace.

After sliding for the third time, Feng Xun intended to call for a carriage.

"No, everyone else is walking. If I’m the only one in a carriage, it might attract gossip," Ye Ling Yue shook her head, and after pondering, she simply lifted the hem of her dress.

Feng Xun frowned and, without saying much, stepped forward and picked Ye Ling Yue up around her waist.

Ye Ling Yue exclaimed in surprise, instinctively wrapping her arms around Feng Xun’s neck.

Behind her, countless gazes turned her way.

Ye Lingyue’s face flushed with embarrassment, and she softly asked Feng Xun to put her down.

"Although I am physically weak, I still have the strength to carry my own wife," Feng Xun said with a low laugh, his magnetic laughter as rich and mellow as fine wine.

Having said this, he strode forward towards the Chuyun Palace, where the lights were dimly lit.

Chuyun Palace was located at the highest point of the Beiqing Imperial Palace, resembling an aged eagle. From its observatory, one could clearly overlook the entire landscape of the Imperial Palace.

Standing on the observatory of the Chuyun Palace was a person with a tall and slender figure, wearing a luxurious dragon robe embroidered with five-clawed golden dragons, his black hair like clouds, and under his ink-black eyebrows were a pair of glamorous and enchanting eyes.

Her gaze was fixed on the crowd outside the Chuyun Palace, moving like ants.

Among the crowd, a figure gradually approached.

Some people are born radiant, able to be spotted in an instant, whether in the darkness of night or amidst a host of soldiers.

Feng Xun was one such person.

Upon seeing Feng Xun, the person on the observatory sharply narrowed their eyes.

Feng Xun was actually wearing that robe—with a white base and cloud patterns, he looked so much like his father, Feng Lan.

She couldn’t help but take a step forward.

Just one step allowed her to see clearly that Feng Xun was not alone.

He was holding a woman in his arms.

The woman, too, wore a palace garment with a white base and cloud patterns.

Feng Xun held the woman tightly in his arms, his forearms obscuring her face, but the indulgent affection in his eyes could not be hidden.

The person on the observatory trembled and took a step back.

For the first time, those eyes, steeped in power and struggle for decades, revealed a hint of fear.

The cold wind was piercing, the chilling breeze cutting into the Beiqing Empress’s face like knives, causing a raw pain that even made her heart, hardened over many years, ache with it.

The bitter wind not only tousled the Beiqing Empress’s hair but also her thoughts.

Time seemed to flow backward to more than twenty years ago.

At that time, Emperor Beiqing was not yet the lofty Emperor he is today, and she was still the Eldest Princess of Beiqing, the most favored eldest daughter of the previous Emperor.

Favored, yes, but not the most beloved.

The Emperor and Empress were deeply in love, having only two daughters. The Eldest Princess, born during the early winter when the frost first falls, was simply named Qingshuang.

The Little Princess was born one year after the Eldest Princess, during a fall when the red maples spread their branches, and so she was named Qing Feng.

Due to the scarcity of royal descendants, Qingshuang and Qing Feng had very close affections for each other and were almost inseparable.

Until Qingshuang turned five and Qing Feng was four, the Emperor brought a seven-year-old boy into the palace—that boy was the later renowned Beiqing War God Feng Lan.

The three, being close in age, quickly became friends. The previous inseparableness turned into a trio always being together.

Qingshuang, like Empress Qing, was naturally beautiful, intelligent, and composed from a young age, while Qing Feng, on the contrary, was like the previous Emperor—a complete tomboy, always playing around and getting as dirty as a little mud monkey.

Because of the care entrusted by the previous Emperor, Little Feng Lan was supposed to look after the two princesses, but in reality, he was always cleaning up after the mischievous Little Princess Qing Feng.