Chapter 61: Collateral Damage to the People’s Eggs

Princess Li Ning’an lazily said, “Oh, I forgot to mention, I’m also the concubine of the young lord Yan. If you want to marry me, you’ll have to defeat him first.”

“The Northern Yue delegation has come a long way. You should rest at the Honglu Hall, freshen up, and then enter the palace to meet my father.”

Li Ning’an gestured for Yan Ziqi to go on ahead, not needing to wait for Chi Jin.

If she had to do everything herself, what was the point of her fourth brother coming along?

In the end, Li Ningzhi was the one formally responsible for the reception. Even if Li Ning’an abandoned her duties, he still had to carry on.

As Yan Ziqi led Li Ning’an away, Wen Di remained behind to busy himself with the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple. He muttered quietly, “If I’d known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have come.”

But on the bright side, he’d placed another bet on Li Ning’an and Yan Ziqi in the gambling den, and it looked like he was going to make a big profit this time. Thinking about that lifted Wen Di’s spirits considerably.

Yan Ziqi actually didn’t want to take Li Ning’an with him. Their relationship was already hard to clarify at the border.

Today, there were bound to be many curious citizens eager to see what the second prince of Northern Yue looked like. Bringing Li Ning’an along so conspicuously would surely cause a stir.

Li Ning’an wanted precisely that—she wanted everyone to know that Yan Ziqi was hers.

Whether Yan Ziqi took her along didn’t matter, because she had plenty of ways to make him listen.

The people gathered along the streets, expecting to see the Northern Yue delegation enter first. Instead, they saw two riders charging ahead.

“Who are they?”

“Isn’t that Princess Ning’an? And who’s holding her?”

“It’s the young lord Yan. Why are those two leading the way? Where’s the second prince of Northern Yue?”

Some people, clutching rotten vegetable leaves, were waiting to throw them at the second prince of Northern Yue’s carriage.

If not for this group of Northern Yue people, the war wouldn’t have started.

The imperial guards held back the agitated crowd, quietly pulling aside anyone who seemed too eager to throw something.

No matter how angry people were, losing their decorum at a time like this would be unacceptable.

As for Princess Ning’an and the young lord Yan, people speculated they must be nearing engagement.

The young lord Yan, once a notorious flirt, had supposedly turned over a new leaf thanks to Princess Ning’an. They said he’d even stopped going to brothels while stationed at the border.

After Li Ning’an and Yan Ziqi passed, Li Ningzhi finally appeared, escorting the second prince of Northern Yue.

Chi Jin and the fourth prince of the Great Qi, however, seemed to be chatting solely about Princess Ning’an.

Following them were Ling Jibai, Tong Liniang, and the Northern Yue general.

Then came the officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple, followed by the carriages and soldiers of Northern Yue.

People noticed the second carriage was the strangest, shrouded tightly in black cloth, revealing nothing.

“Who’s in there?”

“I didn’t see General Tong. Wasn’t he…ahem…all I saw was the grim-faced General Tong.”

The bystanders started discussing again.

“The young lord Yan is part of the escort for the Northern Yue delegation. Why did he leave with Princess Ning’an?”

An older man with a thick beard asked in apparent confusion.

A woman nearby, her sleeves concealing an egg, whispered, “Stay back a bit, don’t break my eggs.”

The bearded man couldn’t quite hear her and raised his voice. “What did you say? Break what?”

The woman had to shout back, “Don’t break my eggs!”

The words “break my eggs” reached Chi Jin’s ears.

“What eggs?” Chi Jin glanced over, trying to locate the speaker.

This brief pause made Li Ningzhao stop as well, looking toward the crowd.

The imperial guards immediately began searching for the person, while the woman lowered her head, hoping not to be noticed.

Earlier, someone trying to throw vegetable leaves had already been taken away by the guards. No one knew what had become of them.

It was all General Tong’s fault—why did he have to be captured?

Now Northern Yue was basking in pride, even wanting to take a princess back with them.

How utterly shameless.

As the aunt muttered, she felt that the Northern Yue should have been given a proper thrashing.

The imperial guards quickly located her, as the people around her had cleared away, fearing to be implicated.

The aunt was brought before the Northern Yue’s second prince’s horse. Though she was supposed to kneel, she didn’t.

Li Ningzhi, worried that Chi Jin might resort to violence or do something inappropriate, promptly said:

“In our kingdom, a land of propriety, we surely intend to present Prince Chi Jin with a gift.”

Li Ningzhi’s tone was neither flattering nor deferential—it was calmly neutral.

But to the aunt, it carried a sense of restrained indignation, as if saying, “Even if we wanted to throw eggs at you, we’d have to offer them as a gift.”

“I’m not… I didn’t mean…” The aunt stammered, pulling the egg from her sleeve, about to throw it at Chi Jin.

Li Ningzhi wouldn’t let her actions jeopardize relations between the two countries and signaled to the nearest imperial guard.

Fortunately, the guard was quick to snatch the egg, holding it up and presenting it to Prince Chi Jin.

Ling Jibai, watching from a distance, rolled his eyes but kept his thoughts to himself.

When had Great Qi ever been so submissive, as though they couldn’t face Northern Yue?

And to make matters worse, just because Chi Jin had heard the word “egg,” they actually sought it out instead of pretending they hadn’t heard.

But Li Ningzhi, lacking experience and with his uncle captured and the Tong family weakened, naturally acted more cautiously, hoping not to cause trouble.

As Chi Jin leaned forward to receive the egg, a whip cracked through the air.

The whip struck the egg, breaking it before it could reach the guard’s hands.

With the commotion, Yan Ziqi and Li Ning’an had moved farther away, but Yan Ziqi glanced back briefly, not seeing anyone.

Realizing that Li Ningzhi might not be a match for Chi Jin, he returned with Li Ning’an.

Seeing what had transpired, Li Ning’an handed her flexible whip to Yan Ziqi.

With a perfect understanding between them, Yan Ziqi struck once more.

Li Ning’an said with an air of indifference, “What? Can’t Prince Chi Jin even afford an egg and has to take this aunt’s?”

Still nestled in Yan Ziqi’s embrace, the two managed the perfect move while mounted on horseback, demonstrating his impressive martial skills.

The guard stood petrified, and luckily someone had the presence of mind to quickly escort the aunt away.

“All this dawdling, and it turns out he wanted an egg? Seems there’s a shortage of everything over there,” Li Ning’an mocked.

“No wonder you want to seize what isn’t yours. It’s just our bad luck to have you as neighbors.”

She sighed dramatically, “A dog bites, but I can’t just bite back, can I?”

Li Ning’an patted her horse, adding, “Animals—they just need a good beating.”

The aunt, who had been struggling to break free, calmed down, feeling somewhat vindicated by Li Ning’an’s words.

Chi Jin looked at Li Ning’an with a smile, unperturbed by her implied insults.

The procession continued, and Li Ningzhi felt relieved.

Once they reached Honglu Hall, the Minister of Rites coughed and looked to the fourth prince, realizing he might not be reliable. He then turned to Princess Ning’an, as if to ask whether General Tong should be released now that they’d arrived in the capital.

Li Ning’an understood but kept silent.

Li Ningzhi glanced at his elder cousin before addressing Chi Jin:

“Now that we’ve arrived at Honglu Hall, it’s only proper, before you freshen up to meet the emperor, that we see General Tong.”

Chi Jin, sensing Li Ningzhi’s connection to General Tong, replied, “I know you’re anxious, but don’t worry.”

“Since he’s my captive, it’s naturally up to me to decide.”

Li Ningzhi, yet to fully mature and standing a half-head shorter than Chi Jin, appeared at a disadvantage.

He glanced at the Minister of Rites, seemingly unsure of his stance.

Li Ning’an patted her younger brother’s shoulder, saying, “Let him hold onto it.”

“He wouldn’t dare enter the capital without some bargaining chip.”

Chi Jin scrutinized Princess Ning’an with amusement. “Hahaha, Princess Ning’an’s bold spirit would be well-suited to Northern Yue.”