The Empress

Chapter 7: The arrival [1]

The wedding that has been the talk within the 3 Kingdoms for months has arrived. What is more exciting is the arrival of the entire royal family of Kingdom of Leng. The people in the Kingdom of Long knew that the relationship between the 2 Kingdoms has been on the rocks ever since the tragedy that has befallen on the Xue family.

Empress Huihuang1 of the Kingdom of Long nearly started a war when she heard what had happened. Emperor Long Feng too supported his wife's decision when she wanted to start a war, which made the relationship between the 2 Emperors went from good to bad. Surprisingly, a few days later after she first announced her intention, something had stopped her from doing so. Some said that on that day on the battlefield, a messenger sent a letter and when she read it, she left the battlefield altogether with her 100,000 soldiers. This made Emperor Leng Re Long stumped as he and his troops of soldiers are left (without a word) on the battlefield.

What was written in the letter is still a mystery to this very day? But, the tragedy of the Xue family has sealed the outcome between the Kingdom of Leng and the Kingdom of Long. The 2 Kingdoms are no longer allies with one another. What made it worse is that 5 years after the tragedy, a new Kingdom has emerged in between the 2 Kingdoms, Kingdom of Xi, which is ruled by a female ruler, only known as ‘Madame Red’. Almost immediately, everyone can see that the royal family of the Kingdom of Long are more inclined to be an ally with the new Kingdom. And, the new Kingdom is giving zero chance for any interaction with the Kingdom of Leng.

This wedding does excite the people of the Kingdom of Long but, in their opinion, the invitees are much more exciting. They cannot wait to hear what will happen once the ruling families of the 3 Kingdoms meet. There will for sure be exciting gossips for them to gossip about. Royalties are full of gossips and skeletons in their closets they thought to themselves.

Emperor Leng Re Long and his entourage are the first one to arrive in the imperial city. Upon arrival, Imperial General Bing Xiaji is the one who welcomed their arrival. The men of the Leng family are using horses while the women are using open carriages. Obviously, the Leng family wanted to show their appearances towards the curious crowd. The crowd have to admit that the royal family members are indeed quite good looking but, in their hearts, the Kingdom of Long possesses one-of-a-kind family members. Even their infamous young Imperial General is looking quite exceptional.

Emperor Leng Re Long upon meeting the infamous young man has to admit that the young man standing before him is not only good looking, but he is someone with a high cultivation level as well. He heard about him countless times and thought that one of his daughters should marry this young Imperial General. But he also heard how devoted the young Imperial General towards his fiancée is, Crown Princess Long Fenghuang. They even have a daughter together, an adopted daughter but she is rumoured to be their real daughter. He cannot let any of his daughters to become a concubine especially when the main wife is the cold-hearted Crown Princess Long Fenghuang.

Third Princess Leng Moli2 saw Imperial General Bing Xiaji and she immediately develops a crush on the handsome man. Her mother, Empress Jiaohua, realizes this and pinched her daughter's hand.

Second Princess Leng Yueliang3 saw the determination in her younger sister's eyes. Seeing the handsome man in black-coloured military attire, she immediately recognized him, Imperial General Bing Xiaji. He is engaged to Crown Princess Long Fenghuang and is widely known for his unparalleled love towards her (and, their adopted daughter). Her younger sister will suffer a humiliating defeat for sure. Let her have a taste of her own medicine then she amusingly thought to herself. She always thought that her beauty is unchallenged by others. She should see the Crown Princess with her own eyes then. She has the chance of briefly meeting her older brother, Crown Prince Long Dongji, and he is one of the best-looking men she has ever seen in her life. The younger sister of such a beautiful looking ma will for sure not lose in terms of beauty.

First Prince Leng Fenge4 and Fourth Prince Leng Yingjun5 are watching the Imperial General with discerning eyes, they acknowledged that the Imperial General is just like what they have heard. Handsome, charismatic and distinguishable. He is obviously someone with high cultivation level and he is obviously letting them sense it. He is indeed as cunning as the rumours as well. It makes both of them are full of anticipation to meet Crown Princess Long Fenghuang, the formidable man’s ultimate weakness.

Imperial Noble Consort Wan is slightly nervous upon entering the neighbouring kingdom. She will meet the former empress soon. As much as she is excited about meeting her again, she is nervous as well. What will happen? Will she claim her right as Fenge's mother? She loves her son more than anything in the world even though he is not her own flesh and blood. She then pretends to close her eyes then leans against the carriage's back wall.

Noble Consort Meili sees this but looks at the other direction, ignoring both of her so-called older sisters. She hated her life, if she was not pregnant then, she will run away to live a life unrestricted by the ridiculous rules of the imperial palace. Above all, she hated the man that she has married. He caused her best friend to go missing without a word for 15 years now. He is to be blamed for that. Sometimes, she even found herself to be hating at her own son.

For the crowd, they are looking at a happy and beautiful family but each of them is not that happy, to begin with. Being a royal family member is a blessing and a curse at the same time. For each smile, there are tears as well.

Suddenly, they heard thunderous sounds of horses’ feet coming from behind. The entourage from the Kingdom of Xi has just arrived. The thorn in the Emperor's flesh has arrived...

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1. ** Glorious2. ** Jasmine3. ** Moon4. ** Separate, part5. ** Handsome