Fan Xian felt a little uncomfortable, retreated a barely perceptible half-step, lowered his face slightly, and quickly scanned the hall with his peripheral vision.

These ministers of the Qi court were nothing out of the ordinary. What intrigued him most was the swaying beaded curtain next to the dragon throne high above. The beads reflected the clear light from the pond behind the ministers, appearing incomparably beautiful.

He knew that the Empress Dowager of Northern Qi, the one with real power, was behind that curtain.

……

……

After a long while, the emperor on the dragon throne yawned, seemingly tired of listening.

"The envoys have come a long way and worked hard, you may retire to rest." The young emperor waved his hand. Relieved, Fan Xian knelt again with a smiling face, bowed repeatedly to the dragon throne with his subordinates, and prepared to leave to find the officials in Northern Qi who actually handled affairs, to quickly get the pitiful Yan Gongzi out.

But the development of things always exceeded expectations.

"Fan... Gongzi?" The corners of the Northern Qi emperor's lips seemed to curve into a slight smile as he looked at Fan Xian and called out softly, "Stay a while and chat with Us."

The ministers were slightly surprised, thinking that in the court, His Majesty actually addressed the chief envoy as Gongzi instead of his official title, which was somewhat inappropriate. Fan Xian didn't think about these things, but was greatly surprised. Did this young emperor know something?

He quickly saluted and replied, "This foreign minister has just arrived and does not know how to behave in front of the palace, I am truly afraid."

"It's alright, it's alright." The young emperor seemed easy to talk to, smiling and saying, "We were extremely pleased to learn that it was Gongzi Fan who came. We must let Gongzi Fan know that We often recite 'Ban Xian Zhai Poetry Talks,' and even Grand Tutor Zhuang praises Gongzi's talent. Now that state affairs are concluded, Gongzi Fan should accompany Us for a casual stroll. We have been looking forward to Gongzi Fan's arrival for a long time. And also, let Gongzi Fan see the scenery of Our dynasty's palace."

Having said this much, Fan Xian, as a foreign minister, dared not say more. He was just slightly moved. The Grand Tutor of Northern Qi was Zhuang Mo Han's son. Zhuang Mo Han had been made to look embarrassed in the Qing palace by him. How could he be praising his talent?

The envoy departed from the hall. Lin Jing looked at Fan Xian with a hint of worry. Fan Xian nodded slightly to signal that he would be careful.

After the Northern Qi ministers had also retreated, the entire hall seemed even more empty and spacious. One could faintly hear the sound of fish tails hitting the water in the pool beside the long platform, and the gentle footsteps of the palace maids behind the gauze curtain.

The young emperor, who had been sitting on the dragon throne, seemed to relax at this time. He stretched lazily, smiled at Fan Xian, jumped straight down from the dragon throne, took the towel handed over by the eunuch and wiped his face haphazardly, and patted Fan Xian's shoulder, saying, "Let's go, I want the poet of the Southern Dynasty to see our Northern Kingdom's immortal palace."

Fan Xian secretly groaned. Who would have expected this Majesty to still be a child? Just as he was preparing to follow him towards the back of the hall, he heard a cough coming from behind the beaded curtain he had been secretly watching.

The Northern Qi emperor paused slightly, turned his head with a pained expression, and bowed to the beaded curtain, saying, "Mother Empress, your son was overjoyed to see Fan Xian, hence my impoliteness. I hope Mother Empress will forgive me."

A palace maid slowly pulled open the beaded curtain. The sound of the beads colliding rang out crisply. A noble lady walked out from behind the curtain.

Fan Xian quickly lowered his head, not daring to look closely, but his acutely perceptive eyes still looked at the foot below the beaded curtain.

The noble lady was wearing a pair of embroidered golden silk flower shoes, seemingly casual, but incomparably luxurious.

What shocked Fan Xian even more was that, closely following these silk flower shoes, another pair of feet also stepped out of the beaded curtain - who in this world would dare to sit behind the beaded curtain with the Empress Dowager of Northern Qi, listening to the emperor's conversation with the foreign envoy!

That pair of feet wore cloth shoes, the soles densely sewn with layers of cloth, a very common craft in the countryside. The shoe openings were black and white, with only a trace of festive floral cloth visible at the slender and tender heels. These kinds of cloth shoes were usually seen in the countryside during the New Year, but their appearance in the Northern Qi palace seemed unusually strange.

Fan Xian guessed who the owner of the cloth shoes was. He looked up in astonishment, no longer caring about etiquette, his eyes calm, but secretly vigilant as he looked at her, at Haitang Gu Niang (Haitang Girl), who still had a floral cloth scarf tied around her head!

He didn't expect Haitang to come out from behind the beaded curtain with the Empress Dowager!

……

……

Fan Xian's and Haitang's gazes collided as if they were tangible. The air in the Northern Qi palace became somewhat uneasy. It was only a fleeting moment, and Fan Xian had already withdrawn his gaze, kneeling towards the noble lady beside Haitang, saying, "This foreign minister, Fan Xian, greets the Empress Dowager."

The Empress Dowager glanced at him, frowning slightly, thinking, how could this Qing official named Fan Xian be so beautiful? He was practically bewitching! No wonder Duo Duo insisted on secretly coming to the hall to see him today. Could it be that this girl beside her... She dismissed these thoughts, nodded slightly, and then said to the emperor, "Your Shigu (martial aunt) has returned. Since you want to take Grandee Fan for a stroll in the palace, then go with your Shigu."

The emperor looked troubled, seemingly unwilling to go with Haitang, but unable to defy his mother's orders, he could only smile wryly and say to Haitang, "When did Shigu return to the capital?"

Haitang moved her cold gaze away from Fan Xian's face, bowed slightly to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, this commoner returned to the capital yesterday. My master is worried that there are too many evil people in the capital recently, so he sent this commoner back to the palace."

Fan Xian smiled wryly. Evil people in the capital? This naturally referred to himself, who liked to use aphrodisiacs.

—————————————————————

Walking in the Qi palace, Fan Xian couldn't help but recall a long-forgotten idiom from his previous life: "The Blessings of a Qi Man." Because this palace truly deserved the young emperor's earlier description of "immortal palace". The noble people of Qi who lived in this palace were indeed very fortunate.

Tall green trees stretched out beside the palace buildings, whose overall color was simple black, like a calm and thoughtful woman fanning someone. Those verdant branches either playfully stretched out from under the simple black eaves to peek, or lay weakly and lazily on the green tiles to rest, or stretched lazily above the brightly colored flowers on the palace grounds, as if despising those delicate plants.

The entire palace was intertwined and reflected with the ubiquitous green trees, the green and black complementing each other, the strong and soft harmonizing, a sight to behold.

The palace complex was divided into several layers, built against a green mountain, making it appear particularly wonderful. The three of them walked forward under the service of a large group of eunuchs, bypassing the long corridor beside the mountain stream, and had already reached the second layer. Only at this time did Fan Xian calm down a bit and begin to carefully observe the scenery of the palace. He couldn't help but admire it. Although building the palace on a mountain was a somewhat foolish choice from a military or daily living perspective, looking at the clear water flowing slowly beside the long corridor and the refreshing colors and scenery filling his eyes, Fan Xian finally understood the real reason why people chose this place as a palace many years ago.

Beautiful, it was truly beautiful.

Unfortunately, Fan Xian was not a Qi person, and he didn't have the blessings of a Qi man at this time. He didn't have two stunning beauties accompanying him, only the supreme Emperor of Qi and the strongest master of the younger generation in Qi, Haitang Gu Niang, who had once made him crawl on the ground.

The emperor was wearing a black outer robe, with a golden silk jade belt tied around his waist, and wide sleeves, his attire quite ancient. He walked ahead with his hands behind his back, seemingly forgetting that he had forcibly kept Fan Xian behind.

Fan Xian followed the emperor somewhat restrainedly, occasionally glancing at Haitang beside him out of the corner of his eye. He had an even greater grudge with this woman. Although he believed that she wouldn't do anything to him in the palace, he still felt somewhat nervous.

But Haitang Duo Duo didn't even look at him straight in the eye, as if she had never met him, had never been poisoned by him, and had never heard his acidic words.

Fan Xian understood something, so he smiled gently and didn't say much. After a while, the young Emperor seemed to finally get tired of walking, pointed to a pavilion in an open space ahead, and gently tapped his finger.

In an instant, a large group of eunuchs "rushed" over without their feet touching the ground, and cleaned the pavilion spotlessly in a very short time. The handrails were wiped again and again, incense sticks were lit, and a pot of clear tea and cups were prepared.

Walking into the pavilion, the mountain wind carrying the moisture of the clear stream brushed gently. The emperor stood by the railing, with his hands behind his back, and said softly, "Clapping the railing, the forest flowers blow against my temples, the mountain wind is cold, the hearty song startles the floating clouds."

Fan Xian responded appropriately, "Good verses."

The emperor turned around, looking at Fan Xian with great interest with his clear eyes. After a long while, he suddenly said, "Flattering Us, flattering so casually, Fan Xian, you are the first person."

Fan Xian was embarrassed and didn't know what to say. He cupped his hands and said, "This foreign minister is afraid."

"Being afraid is fine, just don't be anxious." The emperor sat down, picked up a teacup, and took a sip. He suddenly saw Haitang and couldn't help but smile and say, "Little Martial Aunt, why are you so restrained in front of Us today? In the past, it was impossible to invite you, and you would only plant vegetables in the garden. Now that you have entered the palace, relax and enjoy the scenery." He sighed softly, "We always think that this palace is too beautiful, so beautiful that We don't even want to leave the palace."

There seemed to be some other meaning in these words. Fan Xian pretended not to understand. At the emperor's gaze, he sat down. A eunuch served him clear tea, and he sipped it slowly, wondering what this young emperor meant by suddenly deciding to keep him in the palace.

Haitang also took a cup of tea and sat on the railing outside the mountain pavilion, her gaze cast towards the flowing water beside the pavilion, not knowing what she was thinking about.

"Fan Xian, what do you think of the scenery in Our palace?"

Fan Xian paused slightly, thinking, how many times had the emperor repeated this topic today? After a little deliberation, he replied, "The palace is in the mountains, there are trees on the mountains, the trees are in the palace, the scenery is beautiful. The most amazing thing is that these layers of palace eaves seem to be integrated with the entire mountain scenery. First, the mountain scenery doesn't seem to swallow the palace's majesty, and second, the palace's prosperity doesn't weaken the mountain's desolate beauty. It gives people a feeling of harmony between man and nature. This foreign minister is truly amazed."

"Oh?"

Fan Xian's unintentional words seemed to surprise the Northern Qi Emperor.