The charming widow of the Marquis's mansion: The stable boy carries the flag and raises the dra

As night fell, the lights in the palace began to illuminate the night.

He stood in the courtyard for a while and then saw Ye Niannu, Xu Wanyun, Qin Minglan, Murong Qing, Luo Hanyi, and Qin Jiaojiao come out one after another.

Wang Long's gaze slowly swept over each person, finally landing on Luo Hanyi's smiling face.

"Let's go, His Majesty is waiting for us."

The group left the mansion and walked along the street towards the palace.

A gentle evening breeze carries the coolness of dusk and the scent of grass and trees.

Pedestrians and vendors on the street stopped and bowed when they saw Wang Long and his group from afar.

Someone recognized Qin Minglan and Murong Qing and whispered, "The prince's wives are all so beautiful," their voices filled with kind admiration.

Qin Jiaojiao walked at the front, skipping and hopping. Every now and then she would turn around and call out, "Dad, look, there are people selling candied hawthorns over there!" Then she would run back to Luo Hanyi's side and reach out to support her arm.

When they arrived at the palace gate, Murong Yuan was actually waiting for them inside the gate.

He was accompanied by Murong Hao, both of them dressed in casual clothes and smiling broadly.

"Coming, coming, come in quickly!"

He smiled and waved to the crowd, his gaze pausing for a moment as he swept over the figures.

This was quite a grand display, but Murong Yuan was very pleased, as it meant that the foundation of the Great Qian Dynasty was even deeper than he had imagined.

The banquet was held in a warm pavilion in the Imperial Garden, surrounded by gauze curtains. The evening breeze wafted through the gaps in the pavilion, bringing with it the fragrance of the garden's flowers and plants.

The table was already laden with a variety of dishes, including a rich soup made from spirit beast meat, steamed spirit fish, honey-roasted spirit birds, and several plates of exquisite pastries and spirit fruits.

Murong Yuan invited Wang Long to sit down next to him, and then invited everyone to sit wherever they pleased.

Don't be shy, Ye Niannu said, smiling as she sat down next to Luo Hanyi.

Xu Wanyun sat on the other side of Wang Long, while Murong Qing sat next to Luo Hanyi, occasionally adding a piece of food to Luo Hanyi's plate.

Qin Jiaojiao's eyes had long been drawn to the plate of osmanthus cake on the table, but she still remembered to turn her head and glance at Luo Hanyi first.

Seeing his mother nod, he reached out and took a piece, eating it in small bites.

Little Chick also got a small dish of nuts and was perched on Qin Jiaojiao's shoulder, pecking at them intently.

Murong Yuan picked up his wine cup, looked around at the rare lively scene, and finally his gaze landed on Wang Long.

"Wang Long, I respect you, for the sake of the Great Qian Dynasty, and for you as well."

Wang Long also raised his glass and gently clinked it against his.

"Your Majesty is too kind. I am honored to have Your Majesty's hospitality."

The two drank their drinks in one gulp, and laughter filled the room, creating a warm and harmonious atmosphere.

Murong Hao sat at the lower end of the table, holding his wine cup and watching for a while. He then stood up and raised his cup to Wang Long.

"Uncle Wang, your nephew also respects you."

Qin Minglan couldn't help but laugh, then turned to Ye Niannu and whispered.

"Look at how His Highness is holding this cup of wine; he seems more nervous than if he were getting married himself."

Ye Niannu covered her mouth and chuckled softly, without replying.

In the midst of the lively atmosphere, Murong Yuan suddenly put down his wine cup, looked at Wang Long, and spoke with a touch of emotion and solemnity.

"Wang Long, I'd like to offer you another toast."

"Not for matters of state, not for rewards, but solely for the sake of my country, to have someone like you serving me is truly a blessing!"

Wang Long looked at him, a slight thought crossed his mind, raised his wine glass, clinked it with his, and drank it all in one gulp.

Murong Yuan is a man of strong emotions!

After several rounds of drinks and five courses of food,

The atmosphere in the warm pavilion was delightful, with the aroma of the spirit fruit wine mingling with the fragrance of flowers and herbs in the evening breeze.

Murong Qing leaned against Luo Hanyi, her cheeks slightly flushed, as she peeled a spirit orange.

Qin Minglan clinked her wine glass against Ye Niannu's, said something, and they both laughed.

Xu Wanyun sat quietly beside Wang Long, occasionally adding a piece of food to his plate with her chopsticks, her movements natural and skillful.

Qin Jiaojiao had finished her third piece of osmanthus cake and was leaning on the edge of the table.

Using the tip of her chopsticks to poke at a dish of fermented soybeans, Xiao Qiu perched on her shoulder, tilting her head as she intently watched her poke.

Murong Yuan put down his wine cup, his gaze falling on Wang Long. His smile faded slightly, replaced by an unusual seriousness.

"Wang Long, besides the rewards and the family banquet, there is something else I want to tell you today!"

Wang Long was holding a piece of honey-glazed chicken wing when he heard this, so he put down his chopsticks and looked up at him.

"Your Majesty, please speak."

Murong Yuan remained silent for a moment. He glanced around and saw that Ye Niannu, Xu Wanyun, Luo Hanyi, and the others had all stopped what they were doing.

All eyes fell on him, and even Qin Jiaojiao put down her chopsticks, blinking her almond-shaped eyes as she listened quietly.

"Do you know why the Puppet Spirit Sect has infiltrated the Great Qin? And why the Great Zhao has suddenly harbored such intentions towards my Great Qian?"

Wang Long's expression hardened, and his gaze darkened.

"I've always found this strange. It's true that the Great Zhao has the support of the Myriad Swords Sect, but the Myriad Swords Sect is just a second-rate sect in the Southern Territory. They shouldn't have gone to such lengths without a greater incentive."

"Exactly!"

Murong Yuan nodded and took out a yellowed silk scroll from his sleeve. The edges of the scroll were worn and frayed, indicating that it was very old.

He gently placed the scroll on the table, not unfolding it immediately, but pressing the edge of the scroll with his fingertips, his voice lowered.

"I found some things in the secret compartment of the royal library."

"Those books were personally sealed away by the founding emperor back then, and I only discovered them by chance recently while sorting through old archives."

"It mentions that a celestial treasure exists within the Great Qian territory!"

Upon hearing this, the air in the warm pavilion seemed to freeze for a moment.

Ye Niannu paused slightly in the hand holding the wine glass, her peach blossom eyes narrowing.

"A celestial treasure?!"

Luo Hanyi also looked up at Murong Yuan, her gaze filled with inquiry, clearly having never heard of this rumor before.

Xu Wanyun put down her chopsticks, her long eyelashes drooping slightly.

As if rapidly flipping through something in his mind, he spoke in a low voice after a moment.

"The Immortal Treasury... that's a legendary treasure left behind by immortals, said to surpass even the Emperor Realm. I always thought it was just an ancient legend..."

Qin Minglan put down her wine bowl and stared wide-eyed.

"Wow, in a small place like ours, our ancestors were so wealthy? Did they hide some kind of magical treasure?"

Murong Yuan couldn't help but chuckle at her appearance, then turned serious and said.

"I dare not determine whether it is true or false, but the records left by Emperor Taizu are very clear."

He said that at the beginning of the Great Qian Dynasty, a mysterious old man visited the palace and left a message saying, "There is a destiny to immortality in this place, but only those with the right destiny can obtain it."

"Emperor Taizu sent people to search for it, but they found nothing."

"The old man never appeared again, and the matter gradually became a royal secret, only preserved in the oral tradition of successive emperors."

"If it weren't for this great chaos, I wouldn't have gone through those old files, let alone discovered this map."

As he spoke, he slowly unrolled the scroll.

The silk scroll is about two feet square, and it depicts the course of mountains and rivers. The ink has faded somewhat, but the lines are still clear.

The mountains rise and fall, the rivers meander, and ancient characters mark the landscape. Wang Long recognized several place names among them.

The map shows the current prefectures of the Great Qian Dynasty, but the terrain of the mountains and rivers on the map is not quite the same as he remembers.