The Deep Palace Plot, Princess of Southern Yue

  The colorful palace lanterns lit up one after another, and today's Jinluan Hall was more magnificent than the last time Gu Yunxi came. Gu Yunxi stood at the gate of the hall in a bright brocade dress with wide sleeves, surrounded by the voices of dignitaries from the capital exchanging greetings.

  The palace is majestic, with flying eaves like a rainbow. The prosperity and luxury of the capital city are even more evident in the imperial palace. From time to time, envoys from various countries appear, and their eyes reveal a few hints of envy. However, who knows that deep within the palace walls, the more resplendent the surface appears, the more it hides unspeakable filth and ugliness.

  Gu Yunxi didn't like such a place, but she clearly knew that this was her future battlefield. No matter if she liked it or not, she had never had a choice.

  The eyes that came and went swept over Gu Yunxi, acquaintances would mention words like Wolf, Commander of the Feathered Forest Army, still with a mixture of shock, doubt, admiration, and reverence in their gazes. She simply stood quietly, as if entranced by the palace lanterns.

  The maid saw Miss Gu Yunxi standing for a long time and couldn't help but remind her in a low voice, "Miss, it's almost time."

  Gu Yunxi came back to her senses, but her feet didn't move an inch. A group of young men were walking towards her from a distance, all of them dressed in elegant attire and looking like refined gentlemen. They had an air of confidence about them, but whenever a noblewoman from the capital walked past them, they would steal a few glances at her, then exchange knowing smiles with each other, their eyes gleaming with mischief.

  "Nice to meet you, princess."

  The sound of the bowing ceremony echoed, and from afar, Gong Sun Ci was approaching with a group of palace attendants. Today's banquet was held for the envoys from various countries, and apart from the young ladies and gentlemen from noble families who came to pay their respects, the princes and princesses would not be absent either. Seeing Gong Sun Ci arrive, the eyes of those young men lit up, and one of them, a jade-crowned young man, whispered something to the people behind him before walking straight towards Gong Sun Ci amidst a flurry of excited glances.

  Gongsun Ci was already fourteen years old this year, and she was a young girl with a fluttering heart. She saw the Jade Crown Prince walking towards her, and the two of them dismissed the palace attendants without knowing what they said to each other. After just a moment, the Jade Crown Prince left with his companions. Gu Yunxi smiled and walked forward, "Greetings to Your Highness."

  Gongsun Ci's cheeks flushed slightly, and she suddenly saw Gu Yunxi appear in front of her, her eyes fluttering with surprise. "You again!"

  Gu Yunxi covered her mouth and smiled, looking at the hand behind Gong Sun Ci's back. "The princess has not yet married, if the empress finds out that you privately accepted the things sent by Sun Gongzi, although they have a niece-aunt relationship, I'm afraid it will be difficult for Ya Pin Niangniang..."

  Gongsun Ci's face turned even redder, she glared at Gu Yunxi with hatred, and with a force, threw the object in her hand into the flower garden beside her. "Who accepted his gift? Just out of curiosity to take a look, leave!"

  As Gong Sun's back view walked further and further away, Gu Yunxi's gaze fell on the exquisite black bow hidden in the grass. Her mouth curved up, "This thing is indeed well-made, it would be a pity to abandon it."

  Yue Niang had been following her for a long time, and now that she had spoken up, where else could Gu Yun Xi go to pick herself up? As Yue Niang carefully tucked the bow into her sleeve, Gu Yun Xi still stood in place, not moving.

  "What's the young lady waiting for?"

  The continuous stream of people had gradually decreased, the music in the hall was melodious and elegant, her eyes scanned from the palace path where she came from, and finally lit up, what caught her eye was a familiar handsome young man, she was staring intently, but behind her back, someone suddenly patted her once.

  "What are you looking at?"

  Gu Yunxi turned her head, and to her surprise, she saw Gu Zixuan. She was slightly taken aback before regaining her composure. As the only son of Gu Zhongzheng, although he rarely participated in such banquets, he was indeed a genuine noble young master of the capital city. The reason why Emperor Lie had invited so many juniors to today's banquet was either to let them witness his so-called achievements or to show off the talents of Yan country to foreign envoys. As for Gu Zhongzheng, he probably also intended to let him enter this circle earlier.

  Perhaps it was because of the previous argument with Gu Zi Xuan, but Gu Yun Xi's tone was softer as she spoke. Her eyes sank slightly, "I didn't see anything, I just encountered a difficult situation."

  Gu Zi Xuan raised an eyebrow, "You're now the darling of both the Emperor and Prince De, what could possibly be difficult for you?"

  Gu Yunxi shook her head, "It's not a big deal, it's just that having me do it is too inconvenient."

  Gu Zi Xuan was thoughtful beyond his years and asked upon hearing this, "What do you mean by 'not convenient'? Tell me more."

  Gu Yun Xi looked around, one hand taking out the bow and arrow from Yue Niang's sleeve, while the other lowered her voice, "This is a gift that Yang Wei, the son of the Minister of Works, gave to Princess Jing Ci. However, due to the strict etiquette in the palace, after the princess accepted it, she became afraid and asked me to return it to him. But I had some previous dealings with Yang Wei, so sending it back like this is a bit..."

  "I get it!" Gu Zi Xuan suddenly enlightened, furrowed his brow for a moment, "I'll send it for you!"

  "Really?"

  Seeing Gu Yunxi seemed to be skeptical, Gu Zixuan stood up straight and raised his eyebrows, "Of course, I know Yang Wei. Later, I'll just have my attendant disguise himself as a palace servant and send him over, that's all."

  Gu Yunxi covered her mouth and smiled, "Since that's the case, I'll leave it to you. When delivering it, just say it's from Princess Ci and don't mention anything else. He will understand on his own."

  As she watched Gu Zixuan enter the grand hall, the smile at the corner of Gu Yunxi's mouth slowly faded away. She composed herself and followed him in with slow steps. Before her eyes was a harmonious scene. The banquet had not yet begun, and Emperor Lie and Empress Shu seemed to have just taken their seats, but for some reason, the Empress Dowager had not arrived.

  Gu Yun Xie walked along the edge of the hall towards Gong Sun Mo's seat, but before she could get close, a fiery figure blocked her line of sight. Gu Yun Xie paused, "Your Highness."

  Today, Luo Ran was still wearing a bright red robe, her exquisite makeup making her look delicate and beautiful to the extreme. She held a silver cup in her hand and looked at Gu Yunxi with a shake of her head, "Miss Gu has arrived late, Luo Ran had originally thought that she could meet Miss earlier and make friends with Chu Yi."

  Gu Yunxue was somewhat taken aback, "That day I was quite rude to Your Highness, please forgive me. Today's banquet has been inconvenient in many ways, so Chu Yi will stay at the manor."

  "What a pity..."

  With a soft sigh, her gaze fell on Gu Yunxi's back, "But what about Prince Chu?"

  Gu Yun Xi turned around in surprise, and behind her was indeed Wan Qi Chen wearing a black fox fur coat. His complexion was still pale white, and at this moment, he was holding a small purple-golden warmer wrapped under his fox fur coat. The whole person was still thin and frail, she couldn't help but feel a stir in her heart. He had followed her in, so the scene just now...

  Wan Xi Zhen's expression remained unchanged as he nodded at Luo Ran, "It's been a long time, Your Highness."

  Gu Yunxi nodded at Wan Qi, but her eyes caught sight of two young figures entering and exiting the hall. She bowed to Luo Ran, "Yunxi won't disturb you both, I'll take my leave first."

  Luo Ran smiled charmingly, her eyes sweeping over Wan Zun's body, "Please let Miss Gu go ahead, if there's a chance Luo Ran would still like to see that Chu Yi, that day was a pleasant surprise, Luo Ran really liked it."

  Gu Yunxi nodded and continued to head towards De Wang, walking a few steps before suddenly stopping. She had never introduced herself before, so how did the Princess of Nan Yue know her surname was Gu?

  Gu Yunxi turned around, and the two figures in red and black were saying something. Wan Qi Zhen, who was usually deep and taciturn, had a smile on his face at this time. She frowned, quickened her pace, and walked towards De Wang.

  Gongsun Mo had already seen her entering the hall, Gu Yunxi hurried over and whispered two sentences in his ear, Gongsun Mo's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the two people behind him, "Sun Zhe, listen to the young lady's orders."

  Sun Zhe took a step forward, "Miss Gu."

  In the midst of the bustling hall, amidst a kaleidoscope of colorful lanterns, Gu Yunxi's mouth curled up and he uttered a sentence that sent chills down Sun Zhe's spine.

  Digression

  I think our Luo Ran is absolutely making her first appearance, not someone else pretending to be her before.