Episode 3

After experiencing the incident of being poisoned, Yue Ling had a deeper understanding of the dangers of the Beishuo court.She desperately hoped that Zhou Shiyu could stay by her side and provide her with protection.So, she exhausted her words of praise and finally made the request.She was worried that those who were behind the scenes would not give up until they achieved their goals and might take action at night.Therefore, she asked Zhou Shiyu to lay the floor in her room that night.Yue Ling muttered a few words and then fell asleep, while Zhou Shiyu recalled the previous meetings between the two in the dark, feeling a little guilty towards Yue Ling.He felt that he should not involve her in this complicated dispute.

At the same time, after several days of arduous journey, Xingyi finally found the Heqin Princess Mansion in Shangjing.Although his body had just recovered, after the torture of this journey, he had become like a beggar.Upon seeing this, Linmu hurriedly explained various situations to him, but Yue Ling saw that his brother was safe and sound, so he didn't pursue anything further.After a hearty meal, Xingyi asked Yue Ling about his plans.Yue Ling told him that Beishuo had many rules and the emperor might not summon her for the time being.Therefore, she cannot return home easily, otherwise it may cause war and cause her previous efforts to fail.

After Prime Minister Zhou Jingyuan learned what happened in the court, he rushed back to Beijing overnight.He directly went to court with a sword, and several confidants came forward to ask the emperor to allow the prime minister to wear a sword to visit the court from now on. The emperor had no choice but to agree.When talking about the marriage, Zhou Jingyuan believed that Dongyu was just a small country and was not qualified to make peace with Beishuo.He proposed to betroth the princess to Zhou Shiyu. Zhou Zhixuan originally wanted to fight for it, but the emperor finally complied with Zhou Jingyuan's wishes.Linmu found this unbelievable. In just one morning, Princess Heqin's betrothed partner had changed.Zhou Shiyu knew that the Prime Minister seemed to be favoring him, but in fact he had his own plans, and it would not take long for him to take action.

Lin Su, a counselor in the Prime Minister's Mansion, met with several confidants, and Zhou Jingyuan revealed a plan: if something happens to the princess in the North Prince's Mansion, Zhou Shiyu will not be able to escape the blame.In this way, they have one less stumbling block.Zhou Shiyu ordered Linmu to decorate the princess mansion according to Dong Yu's customs.When Yue Ling received the imperial decree and learned that she had been betrothed to King Bei again, she felt very helpless.Xingyi felt that this was a great shame and humiliation, because the status of the imperial concubine and the princess were very different.Yue Ling had considered escaping, but thought that there was no news about Ashina Zhu, and if war broke out between the two countries, the consequences would be disastrous.A few days later, Qianqian found Shangjing and brought news that Ashina Zhu had been settled.Yue Ling finally made up his mind to implement the escape plan.When Linmu brought snacks to Xingyi, he found him packing his clothes. When asked why, Xingyi just said lightly that he likes to be neat.Afterwards, Yue Ling walked into the room and Linmu left first.He hid outside the door and overheard the conversation between Xingyi and Yue Ling discussing their escape plan.

Zhou Zhixuan wanted to marry the princess, and Yang Xu gave him an idea: let him find an opportunity to get close to the princess. If the princess developed a liking for him and offered to marry King Nan, the emperor might change his mind.Just as Xingyi was pestering Yue Ling to take him to Fengyue Pavilion for shopping, Zhou Zhixuan arranged for a few gangsters to deliberately tease them on the road.Then he stepped forward and staged a drama of a hero saving the beauty.However, Yue Ling saw Zhou Zhixuan's extraordinary skills and offered to compete with him on a few moves.As a result, Zhou Zhixuan was beaten by Yue Ling until his nose was bruised and his face was swollen, and he was in a very embarrassed state.Afterwards, Zhou Zhixuan invited Zhou Shiyu to go to Fengyue Pavilion to enjoy the graceful dancing of the oiran Su Nian.Zhou Shiyu had no intention of arguing with Zhou Zhixuan, but after hearing Linmu talk about Yue Ling's possible escape, he decided to go to Fengyue Pavilion to check the situation before leaving.The Fengyue Pavilion was bustling with excitement, and Su Nian came on stage to perform a dance.Xingyi felt that Su Nian looked familiar. After thinking about it carefully, he realized that she was the female killer who gave him the antidote and humiliated herself on the way to get married.He told Yue Ling about this discovery, but Yue Ling didn't believe it at all and asked Xingyi to stop talking nonsense.After Zhou Shiyu saw the scars on Zhou Zhixuan's face, he couldn't help laughing.While wandering around, Yue Ling overheard two officials whispering about the account books of the North Palace, which caught her attention.