The procession accompanying the Wei Kingdom’s Princess for her marriage was immensely grand, with a huge number of attendants following along.
Di Shengyue looked at the honor guard flanking both sides, her eyes subtly deepening. She opened her mouth and asked, “Why are the capital’s guard army escorting the Princess all the way to the capital?”
As a military general, she was very clear about the distribution of different military officials. Since they were the capital’s guard army, they shouldn’t leave the capital without a command.
“I heard the Wei Princess suffered several assassination attempts on her journey, so Father Emperor sent people to meet and escort her,” Xiao Yinxue said. “The Gu Kingdom is too presumptuous, daring to plot to kill the Princess to incite conflict between the two nations.”
“Princess, how do you know it was the people from the Gu Kingdom?” Di Shengyue raised an eyebrow and looked at Xiao Yinxue.
“Who else would try to harm the Princess at this time besides the Gu Kingdom?” Xiao Yinxue said. “And only the Gu Kingdom has the capability to send so many people to infiltrate Xiao.”
“Then the Princess is thinking too simply,” Di Shengyue pinched Xiao Yinxue’s smooth, delicate cheek, smiled, and said, “The Gu Kingdom would never do such a foolish thing.”
“Are you suggesting it wasn’t the Gu Kingdom?” Xiao Yinxue grabbed Di Shengyue’s hand, which was busy making trouble, and pressed for an answer.
Di Shengyue pointed to her own cheek and said, “Princess, here.”
Xiao Yinxue winked slyly, suddenly reached out, and gave Di Shengyue’s cheek a hard pinch, saying, “There, it’s done.”
Di Shengyue touched the side of her face that had been pinched and said, “Princess, that’s not what I wanted.”
“Hmph, this Princess says it is what it is!” Xiao Yinxue, unusually, decided to be willful. She twisted Di Shengyue’s nose and said, “Are you going to tell me or not?”
“Since the Princess wishes to hear, how dare I not speak,” Di Shengyue smiled, her eyes full of indulgence, and said, “No matter how precious the Wei Kingdom’s national treasure is, in the end, it’s just a princess. Wei is currently suffering continuous defeats and only wants peace. Even if the Princess truly died within the borders of Xiao, they would be helpless. Exposing their spies in Xiao for the sake of one princess is absolutely not a profitable trade. Princess, consider this: who is the one who least wants the Wei Princess to enter the palace right now?”
“Could it be… someone in the palace?” Xiao Yinxue looked at the palanquin not far away, deep in thought.
Di Shengyue watched Xiao Yinxue lower her head in serious contemplation and curved her lips. She leaned down and secretly kissed Xiao Yinxue on the cheek.
Xiao Yinxue’s face instantly flushed red. She quickly glanced around.
Finding that the people around them were focused on the Wei Princess’s procession, she slightly let out a breath and gave Di Shengyue a look of slight embarrassment and annoyance.
“If the Princess won’t take the initiative, I can only do it myself,” Di Shengyue whispered close to her ear.
“Shameless,” Xiao Yinxue touched the spot where she was kissed, speaking words of blame, but a faint smile hung on the corner of her mouth.
As the two were speaking, the Wei Princess’s palanquin had already advanced to their position.
The Wei Princess’s palanquin was exceptionally luxurious, conical in shape, with brilliant jewels inlaid on the top. Snowy white thin gauze draped down from all sides, gently swaying in the wind, shimmering faintly, a beautiful sight indeed.
A slender figure was vaguely visible within the gauze curtain, and just watching from afar was enough to feel captivated.
Di Shengyue looked at the Wei Princess’s palanquin with interest. In the Xiao Kingdom, only enclosed sedan chairs were used, and one could never see the person inside during a marriage procession.
However, the Wei Kingdom’s palanquin only used a layer of thin gauze, allowing one to vaguely see the form of the person inside.
She wondered what kind of sight it would be if Xiao Yinxue were sitting in it.
Although Xiao Yinxue was slender, her figure was shapely and exquisite. If she were in this palanquin, she would surely be captivating.
Dressed in a vibrant garment, with a gentle breeze lifting a corner of the gauze curtain, one could catch sight of that beautiful color and Xiao Yinxue’s bashful face.
Just thinking about it made her heart yearn.
Di Shengyue pondered in her heart when she could have a craftsman make a similar palanquin for Xiao Yinxue.
Xiao Yinxue turned her head and saw Di Shengyue looking at the Wei Princess with great enthusiasm, and she immediately became a little angry.
Was this Wei Princess really that good-looking!
The street suddenly became noisy.
A few sounds of objects cutting through the air, “Swoosh swoosh,” and several arrows shot rapidly from a distance, aimed directly at the Wei Princess’s palanquin.
The honor guard was chaotic for only a moment but quickly reacted.
The Xiao Kingdom’s guard army moved to the outermost perimeter, forming a circle to block the arrows.
Suddenly, several masked figures dashed out from the surrounding crowd, pulled out their weapons, and attacked the Princess’s palanquin.
The leader possessed exceptionally high martial arts skills. With a light touch of his foot, he easily leaped over the guards’ defense and thrust straight toward the Wei Princess’s palanquin.
The Wei Kingdom’s guards seemed to freeze for a moment, and for a time, no one thought to intercept the assassin.
The surrounding commoners were in an uproar.
Di Shengyue’s eyes darkened slightly. She casually picked up a nearby rouge box and flicked it hard with her fingertip.
The rouge box flew straight toward the leader like an arrow released from a bowstring. With a soft muffled sound, it struck the person’s abdomen directly.
The person was repelled several steps. Their back foot landed on the carrying pole of the palanquin, and they leaped into the air again.
The cold, gleaming sword edge lifted the thin gauze around the Princess. With a strong upward swing, the entire gauze curtain flew off and drifted to the ground.
The Princess’s graceful figure was completely exposed to the public. She wore a luxurious silver headdress and a purplish-red sheer gown, which further accentuated her fair skin. A dark purple silver-patterned belt was tied around her waist, perfectly outlining her slender, delicate waist. Her entire being was filled with an exotic beauty.
Even with her face covered by a veil, one could already imagine what kind of enchanting allure lay beneath it.
The Wei Princess instinctively retreated backward.
The palanquin itself was not large, and the Princess, being careless, nearly fell off.
Di Shengyue quickly rushed out, leaped up, swept out a leg, kicking the assassin to the side. With her other hand, she pulled the Wei Princess into her arms.
As their eyes met, Di Shengyue saw the Wei Princess’s deep, watery eyes, like a whirlpool, fiercely drawing people in.
For a moment, Di Shengyue only felt that those eyes were simply too seductive, so seductive that it made her want to possess this woman.
Di Shengyue was only momentarily distracted. She shook her head and quickly regained her focus.
She placed the Princess aside and began fighting with the lead assassin.
Di Shengyue and the assassin exchanged several blows. The surrounding guards seemed to finally react at this moment and came to assist.
Seeing the disadvantage, the assassin quickly retreated.
Just before leaving, perhaps in too much haste, a jade pendant fell from their sleeve.
Di Shengyue flicked her wide sleeve, sweeping up the jade pendant and tucking it into her sleeve.
The attention of the surrounding people was focused on the Princess, and no one noticed the brief flash of the jade pendant.
“Thank you, Imperial Son-in-Law, for your assistance,” the leader of the Xiao Kingdom’s guard army walked over to Di Shengyue and offered his thanks.
Di Shengyue nodded, acknowledging the gratitude, and then walked toward Xiao Yinxue.
Seeing Di Shengyue approach, Xiao Yinxue’s face was cold. She let out a “Hmph,” turned, and entered the shop.
A hint of brilliance flashed in Di Shengyue’s eyes. She quickly followed Xiao Yinxue’s steps and grabbed her wrist. “Princess, listen to me.”
“Hmph, is the Wei Princess’s waist slim? Was it very comfortable to hold?” Xiao Yinxue angrily shook off Di Shengyue’s hand and said.
A hint of helplessness surfaced in Di Shengyue’s eyes. Xiao Yinxue was truly jealous now.
“Princess, it was an urgent matter of expediency just now,” Di Shengyue explained.
“Hmph, yes, you have high martial arts skills, and no one is more proactive than you in saving the Princess,” Xiao Yinxue glared at Di Shengyue, turned, and walked away.
Looking back and seeing Di Shengyue still following her, she said fiercely, “Don’t follow me!”
Di Shengyue looked at Xiao Yinxue’s retreating figure, and a subtle light flashed in her deep eyes.
She lifted the silk covering a row of rouge boxes and wrapped several loops around her waist.
Then, she flung it toward Xiao Yinxue’s waist, tightly wrapping around it. She lightly tapped her foot and spun around, using the pulling force of the silk ribbon to pull Xiao Yinxue entirely toward her.
Xiao Yinxue did not anticipate Di Shengyue’s move. Her feet were unsteady, and she was dragged all the way.
Di Shengyue spread her arms and caught Xiao Yinxue in a full embrace.
“Princess,” Di Shengyue’s low chuckle slowly sounded next to Xiao Yinxue’s ear.
“You, let go quickly!” Xiao Yinxue realized the silk ribbon had tightly bound the two of them together, making it impossible to break free. Her face immediately turned red again.
“No,” Di Shengyue rested her chin on Xiao Yinxue’s shoulder and said, “If the Princess won’t listen to my explanation, I won’t let you go.”
“How can you be so shameless!”
A grand general, using her martial arts skills like this!
“Since the Princess wouldn’t let me follow, I could only use this method,” Di Shengyue laughed. “Every time you get jealous, you refuse to listen to any explanation.”
“Who said I was jealous!” Xiao Yinxue said, both shy and annoyed, but she didn’t dare to look at Di Shengyue.
“If the Princess wasn’t jealous, why were you angry just now?” Di Shengyue lightly tapped Xiao Yinxue’s nose with her index finger and smiled.
“That, that was…” Xiao Yinxue bit her lip, mumbling and unable to speak.
Di Shengyue tightly wrapped her arms around Xiao Yinxue’s waist, chuckling as she said, “Princess, rest assured, from now on, both my hands will hold your waist, leaving you no chance to be jealous again.”
Her waist was tightly held in Di Shengyue’s embrace, listening to Di Shengyue’s soft words of affection, and Xiao Yinxue’s cheeks flushed red again, despite herself.