Chapter 258: Plane War (I)

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  "What? Is she Diao Chan?" Liu Bei suddenly blurted out in surprise.

  "What? Does Liu Bian know Diao Chan?" Empress He saw Liu Bian's gaze shine towards Diao Chan, as if he had found some treasure, and she couldn't help but get a headache. She thought her son was no longer as frivolous as before, but it turned out he still had the same nature.

  "I've heard Shidao mention that the Empress Dowager is extremely fond of a palace maid named Diao Chan, so I'm somewhat surprised to see her now."

  "Hehe, Diaochan, come and pay your respects to His Highness the Prince."

  The Empress He saw her son Liu Xuan staring at Diao Chan without blinking, and couldn't help but sigh. She hastily called Diao Chan over to pay respects to Liu Xuan, who took the opportunity to carefully examine Diao Chan.

  She was only about twelve or thirteen years old, with a good-looking melon-shaped face and a pair of bright big eyes that turned lightly, although her figure had not yet emerged, but she was also a beautiful girl.

  Diao Chan has seen His Highness the Crown Prince.

  Diao Chan's voice was soft and pleasant to listen to, she wasn't afraid of Liu Bei at all, and similarly raised her head to carefully examine Liu Bei, with a curious expression in her eyes.

  "As expected, it's a good Diao Chan."

  Liu Bian sighed, this was the Diao Chan who later became one of the Four Beauties in history. Relying on her weak woman's body, she made Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu kill each other, temporarily relieving the crisis of the Han dynasty.

  However, the Han dynasty was too corrupt, and although Diao Chan sacrificed herself, she did not bring peace to the world. Although history gave her a beautiful name, she suffered too much.

  "This pearl pendant is for you."

  Liu Bian reached into his bosom and pulled out a green jade hairpin carved in the shape of a phoenix head, its wings spread wide as if about to take flight, so lifelike that it made all the palace maids around him reveal envious expressions.

  "Ah, this is too valuable, thank you for your kind intentions, Your Highness, but I cannot accept it."

  Unexpectedly, Diao Chan gazed at the phoenix hairpin with shining eyes but didn't take it. Instead, she shook her head at Liu Bei, which made him feel even more affectionate towards her: "Don't decline, I'm rewarding everyone today when I return to the palace, and they all received something. This phoenix hairpin suits you the most, so just accept it."

  "Jiao Jiao, the prince has sent this for you, take it." Empress He also spoke up, in fact she too had some interest in this phoenix hairpin.

  "Diao Chan thanked the Empress Dowager and the Crown Prince."

  Diaochan bowed again, just about to take the phoenix hairpin, but Liu Bian stopped her and personally inserted the phoenix hairpin into Diaochan's hair, slanting it upwards, making Diaochan look even more delicate and charming.

  "Debater, since you like Diaochan so much, why don't I let her serve you instead?" Empress He said with a smile.

  "If the empress can let Diao Chan come to my palace, I would really thank you. Don't worry, I won't let her suffer." Liu Bian took the opportunity to express his gratitude, which made Empress He feel that she had been taken advantage of by this young man.

  As for Diao Chan, she didn't say anything, but she could feel a protective light in Liu Bei's eyes towards her, so she was also willing to serve the imperial son Liu Bei.

  Of course, she didn't know what Liu Bian was thinking, but she didn't want her to repeat the mistakes of history again, so she wanted to protect her, lest her fate would be as tragic as in history.

  "Her Majesty is informed that His Imperial Majesty has decreed that Her Highness and the Crown Prince will proceed to the Imperial Garden to enjoy themselves with the officials."

  At this time, the eunuch Zhao Zhong arrived, bringing with him a message from Emperor Ling. He also wanted to see how Crown Prince Liu Bian was doing, but what he didn't know was that Liu Bian had long been wanting to meet this infamous eunuch as well.

  Zhao Zhong, a eunuch in his fifties, wore a deep red official uniform, with a tall hat on his head and a few strands of white hair exposed. He had a round and plump figure, and his voice was as sharp as a rooster's crowing. Several small eunuchs followed behind him, making quite a spectacle.

  "It turned out to be Lord Zhao, and it's a trouble for you to come in person."

  Liu Bian stood up, smiled and went to help up Zhao Zhong, the middle eunuch, then took out silver coins to give to the little eunuchs behind him, but did not give any to Zhao Zhong.

  "Then let's set off."

  The Empress He also got up, and the Empress's retinue was naturally much larger. She pulled Liu Bian's hand to lead the way, with several palace maids leading the way in front of her, and more than a dozen small eunuchs and palace maids following behind her. The eunuchs and palace maids along the way immediately knelt down on the ground as soon as they saw them, respectfully sending them off.

  Before long, they arrived outside the Imperial Garden. At this time, a group of people came from another road. Although the scale was not as large as that of Empress He's side, there were also many eunuchs and palace maids.

  The Empress He grasped Liu Bian's hand and stopped him, a smile on her face: "Imperial son, let us wait for that lowly woman."

  Liu Bian looked over and saw that the eunuchs and palace maids were surrounding a young woman, 27 or 28 years old, who was slender and elegant, with a willow waist and a snake-like body, obviously a seductress.

  Although Liu Bian had never seen her, he knew that the person who was pulling a 7 or 8 year old boy must be Wang Mei Ren, who was competing with Empress He for favor, and the child should be Crown Prince Liu Xie.

  At this time, Wang Meiren also found He Huanghou outside the gate of Yu Huayuan. Her face was stunned for a moment, and then she showed a brilliant smile, because she believed that today would be a good day, her son should become the crown prince, and she happened to show off in front of He Huanghou.

  "Oh dear, isn't this Her Majesty the Queen? What a coincidence! Zuo Er, pay your respects to Her Majesty."

  Wang Meiren walked over with a gentle and elegant gait, smiling sweetly at Empress He, while simultaneously performing a curtsy. At the same time, she instructed Crown Prince Liu Xie who was standing beside her.

  Liu Bian has seen Wang Niangniang.

  However, Liu Bian took a step forward and bowed to Wang Meiren before turning to Liu Xie: "This is the imperial brother Xie, big brother has a gift for you."

  Liu Bian handed a string of candied hawthorns to Liu Xie, and after glancing at Wang Meiren, he finally couldn't resist the temptation and took the candied hawthorns. At the same time, he bowed to Empress He and Liu Bian, saying: "Liu Xie has seen Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, thank you, Imperial Brother."

  "Haha, no need to be polite, everyone has gifts too."

  Liu Bian smiled and took out various pearls and jade ornaments from his bosom, one by one, and presented them to the eunuchs and palace maids standing beside Wang Meiren. Although Wang Meiren's face didn't look good, those eunuchs and palace maids still accepted Liu Bian's gifts.

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