The harem consorts, imperial relatives, and the female family members of the officials.
Amid warbling orioles and dancing swallows, a hundred beauties vied in splendor, like a hundred flowers bursting into bloom.
At their center stood the current Empress, mother of the Second Prince.
At the Empress's side, a radiant woman drew every eye. She was tall and carried herself with noble grace, her heroic bearing striking and commanding.
She was the North Wind Eldest Princess.
Perhaps nourished by the soil and waters of the north, she was the tallest among all the women, and thus the most outstanding in the crowd.
Rumor had it that her horsemanship and archery were superb, not the least inferior to any man's.
Ever since she had married into flourishing Kyoto four years ago as a princess sent far from home for a political marriage, she had established a firm foothold there in merely four years.
The Second Prince was deeply devoted to her. To prove his single-hearted love, he had actually dismissed every concubine in his household.
Though the North Wind Eldest Princess had pleaded for them many times, the Second Prince had made up his mind.
Those concubines met miserable ends. Some were reduced to servants, while others were drowned in deep pools.
Few knew the reason behind it.
Thus, the Second Prince was branded as "heartless."
Within the Great Qing imperial clan, she moved through the waters like a fish. The Empress treated her as her own daughter, and she associated closely with the wives of court officials, calling one another sisters and confidantes.
This North Wind Princess was truly formidable in her methods!
After exchanging pleasantries with the Empress and the consorts,
you quietly withdrew to one side and watched in silence.
Lu Yu, meanwhile, kept his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart, wholly uninterested.
Among this gathering of beauties, quite a few pairs of flickering eyes faintly revealed their curiosity and scrutiny toward you.
After all, you had once been at the height of your glory, your name shaking the realm. You had been granted the title of Junior Guardian and the authority to establish three offices, as though only one step remained before you soared straight up into the blue clouds.
Back then, countless beauties had yearned for you day and night, pouring out the bloom of their youth for your sake.
Yet the world was unpredictable. In the end, all they received was news that you had retired to Zhongnan. Your former glory had vanished, and you had become an ordinary man in plain clothes.
The news swept across the lake like a biting cold wind, instantly extinguishing the flames of passion in countless women's hearts and leaving behind only icy disappointment.
In the torrent of power, even a hero who had won towering military achievements became no more than passing clouds once he lost his authority, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Your once-glorious feats became insignificant with the dissipation of your power, less worthy of notice than peddlers and common laborers roaming the streets.
Now, the Second Prince advocated peace, and the Empress was his birth mother. As for you, you were no longer the hero whose name had once shaken the world.
Naturally, no one dared provoke the Empress's displeasure, risking the offense of both the Second Prince and the Empress just to curry favor with a general who had once belonged to the war faction.
Within the whirlpool of the imperial court, who would dare challenge the Empress's dignity or question the Second Prince's decisions? Everyone avoided you as though you were a plague, terrified of being implicated by association.
Now, no one in this palace greeted you, leaving only a stretch of desolation.
They kept far away from you, leaving an empty space around you.
The officials' female relatives and young masters wore even more mockery and cold sneers on their faces.
The Junior Guardian Lu Shenzhou of old, the Daoist Lu Chen of today.
The same man, yet the difference was as vast as heaven and earth.
At that moment, someone walked toward you.
That North Wind Eldest Princess.
Given her exalted status, naturally no one dared say a word!
"Jinyu greets the Junior Guardian?" she said softly, her voice enough to intoxicate the heart.
Her voice was even more delicate than that of southern women.
After marrying into Great Qing, she had requested to change her name. The Emperor had been greatly pleased and bestowed upon her the imperial surname Zhou.
Her name was Zhou Jinyu.
This name was both her new identity and the beginning of her new life.
The Second Prince had been invested as the Prince of Han.
"Lu Chen greets the Princess Consort of Han."
Zhou Jinyu's gaze drifted over you like autumn waters.
"Junior Guardian, this is actually our second meeting?"
You were puzzled. In your memories, you truly had no impression of ever meeting this Princess Consort of Han.
Zhou Jin smiled. "Back then, when the Junior Guardian led his iron cavalry in an attempt to strike straight at Huanglong Prefecture, I saw your figure from afar atop the city gate. Yet the distance was too great, and I could not see clearly."
She paused, then continued, "At that time, I had always thought the Junior Guardian was a valiant hero forged of iron and blood. I never expected that when I saw you again today, you would be a... Daoist."
Perhaps because they were not far away, the female relatives and young masters behind her heard every word.
Ever since the Princess Consort of Han had begun speaking with Lu Chen, everyone had pricked up their ears and listened intently.
At those words!
Someone behind them had already burst out laughing. As though someone had taken the lead, the laughter grew louder, drawing everyone's gaze.
"A hero... a Daoist, hahaha."
"Indeed, a fitting comparison."
Even the Empress, who served as mother to the realm, could not help but let a faint smile curl across her lips. Yet it vanished in an instant.
The Empress frowned slightly, sensing that something was amiss.
Only then did the surrounding clamor gradually subside. Everyone's gazes focused on you again, craning their necks in anticipation of your response.
Yet after hearing them, you remained as calm as drifting clouds and a light breeze, as though those words had nothing to do with you.
Zhou Jinyu's gaze remained fixed tightly on your face, trying to catch even the slightest ripple of emotion.
Yet you remained unmoved, like an outsider looking in.
She continued, "Back then, when the Junior Guardian was at Huanglong Prefecture, it truly was like black clouds pressing down upon the city, threatening to crush it..."
She gently shook her head, a complicated light in her eyes. "Forget it. Those matters are but passing clouds and drifting smoke. They should not have been brought up again."
You nodded.
You had long ceased wanting anyone to remember what had happened back then. Now, you only wished to cultivate the Dao in peace.
Seeing your expression, this northern woman suddenly refused to let the matter rest. "Jinyu did not wish to speak of these things, but since the Junior Guardian does not wish to hear them, I feel it is all the more necessary to say them."
Helplessness appeared on your face.
After recalling the past for a moment, this northern woman slowly said,
"Back then, when the Lu Family Army reached the outskirts of Huanglong Prefecture, all of us North Wind soldiers were terrified beyond measure."
"At that time, more than two hundred thousand troops were stationed within Huanglong Prefecture, while the Lu Family Army had only eighty thousand men."
"I kept wondering: more than two hundred thousand troops rested and waited for the weary, facing those eighty thousand Lu Family Army soldiers. Could they really not win?"
She paused, then continued,
"My elder brother Tuoba Shuyi, who had possessed heroic spirit since childhood, did not even have the courage to fight. He merely prepared to wait for death within the city."
"At the time, I truly wanted to curse him for being unworthy of being a man."
"As a commander, he should have led his soldiers in brave resistance against the enemy, rather than choosing to flee."
"Looking at it now, that seemed to have been the best decision back then."
She spoke slowly, as though talking to herself, yet also as though seeking your opinion.
Zhou Jinyu turned to you, anticipation in her eyes. "Junior Guardian, do you think the decision to negotiate peace southward back then was the best one?"
You were about to answer when a crisp, resolute female voice suddenly came from behind Zhou Jinyu, interrupting your conversation.
"Great Qing should not have negotiated peace. The Junior Guardian should have struck straight at Huanglong Prefecture."
For a moment, the entire scene was stunned.
You followed the voice and looked over!
PS: Tonight's update came too late. It is a little late, so I will correct some typos and revise a few sentences later.
The pace is picking up. This plot probably will not appear later on. Thank you all for pointing out the typos!
Before you continue