January 1, 2024.

It's a new year.

On the first day of each year, the four empires held ceremonies and conventions in the imperial capital that lasted for dozens of days, in addition to welcoming the New Year, and commemorating the hard-won peace that followed the signing of the peace agreement, which has been a tradition for 2,000 years.

And now, early in the morning, a large number of commoners and merchants gathered in the largest square of the Grecoian Empire, waiting for the appearance of people from the royal family.

Moreover, today is even more special for the people of the Hippoian Empire.

Although Her Royal Highness the Empress has always been the one who has delivered a New Year's speech since the death of the first emperor, everyone knows that today is a very special day.

This should be the last time the Empress will give a speech as a princess, and a new Empress will be born in February.

And in the crowd near the podium, people from various families were also waiting there, and as the aristocratic forces of the empire, there was already a clear line.

Lord Chen looked around, except for a few families in those meetings, the people of the other families were all clustered around the Qiu Long family, while the Hu family was its own faction and no one cared.

It's already so obvious.

Thinking of this, Master Chen showed a somewhat self-deprecating smile and shook his head slightly.

And over there at the palace.

"This young lady, you can't go in. ”

Two enemy guards stood in the doorway, blocking a young girl.

"I'm going to see your second princess, I hope you will inform me that she will meet me. ”

The girl with the giant sword on her back had a headache.

She had been waiting here for a while, but she couldn't even see the side of Princess Hui'er.

The reason is that these guards are not even willing to report.

"No, our order is to forbid anyone to approach Princess Hui'er, this young lady should please come back, if we stay any longer, I'm afraid we will have to say sorry." ”

Xiao Qian frowned, and her right hand had already touched the giant sword behind her back.

Are you going to break in?

The strength of the two guards is not very strong, and it is about level 5 strength, and the stronger ones may go to the vicinity of the square.

It's nothing to deal with these two people, and Xiaoqian is worried that if she creates a meaningless conflict, it may add to the accident.

"What are you doing here?"

At this time, a voice sounded, which made the girl breathe a sigh of relief, and her slightly raised right hand was also put down.

Princess Hui'er and a little maid appeared behind the two guards.

"Your Highness!"

Seeing the princess appear, the two guards hurriedly lowered their weapons and saluted.

"Miss Akane!"

However, Princess Hui'er completely ignored the two guards and greeted Xiao Qian instead.

Then she walked directly past the two of them, walked in front of Xiao Qian, took her hand and walked towards the palace.

"Your Highness, she's still armed..."

"Your Highness, you can't..."

Seeing this scene, the two guards immediately wanted to stop them, but they were glared back by Princess Hui'er.

"I'm a princess, who else will listen to you when I want to see?"

Looking at the three backs of the departing, the two guards could only scratch their heads and couldn't say anything more.

"Just now, Xiaoying saw Miss Qian being stopped outside, so she hurriedly came to inform me, but fortunately she didn't let those guards do anything out of the ordinary. ”

As she walked, Hui'er touched the little maid's hair, she really loved this little maid even more now.

"Thank you. ”

"Oh, by the way, what about Your Excellency Lu Fan?"

Bringing Xiaoqian to her bedroom, Princess Hui'er couldn't wait to inquire about Lu Fan's whereabouts.

"Sir... Sir, he's gone looking for the base of the 'Rose' organization, and it's been 3 days since he left. ”

When it came to Lu Fan, the black-haired girl's expression was inevitably a little lonely.

Sir hasn't had any news for 3 days.

"This..."

Seeing the girl's lost appearance, Princess Hui'er didn't know how to comfort her while she was lost.

"But don't worry, Princess Hui'er, I believe sir, I will always be by your side to keep you safe until he returns. ”

However, Xiaoqian didn't need to be comforted, she was confident enough in Lu Fan's strength, but she also comforted Hui'er.

The girl's assuring appearance patting her chest is a little cute in the eyes of Princess Hui'er.

"Then please, Miss Akane. ”

And the appearance of the princess, in Xiaoqian's opinion, is completely different from the original rude lady.

That's what it feels like to be royal.

It didn't take long for a maid to come and inform Princess Hui'er that she was going to attend the New Year's ceremony with the eldest princess.

Xiao Qian, who had already changed into a guard's clothes, naturally followed Princess Hui'er and went to the Grand Ceremony Square together.

Today's weather is not bad, and the bright sunny day drives away the coolness of winter mornings.

And the patriarchs of the family who were doing a good job in their seats, as if they had seen some signal, stood up one after another and looked in a certain direction.

Yes, the Grand Empress is coming from a distance with several attendants.

And Princess Hui'er was not far behind this group of people, with a few people following closely.

It's just that many officials showed surprised looks when they saw Princess Hui'er.

Because Princess Hui'er has never participated in the New Year's ceremony.

The second princess has always had a stubborn personality and never cared about anything related to the royal family. At various ceremonies, ceremonies, and banquets, when will she be there?

And now, she actually appeared here and attended this special New Year's ceremony, which inevitably made some people care.

And some guys who have ghosts in their hearts have more inner thoughts.

Princess Hui'er walked to her seat and sat down, and along the way, she had a full view of the strange eyes and whispers of some people.

Sitting in the royal position, looking at the sister who was in a higher position and dressed more gorgeously, her mood was a little complicated, and her right hand couldn't help but hold the necklace around her neck tightly.

Xiao Qian stood behind Princess Hui'er, and found that her body was trembling slightly, and she could only sigh softly, and there was nothing she could do.

With the arrival of everyone, after the reading of an old man, the New Year's ceremony officially began.

Xiao Qian also watched several New Year's ceremonies with her father when she was a child, and the ceremonies of the Usa Empire are not very different from here.

Huge performances, all kinds of songs and dances, dramas, or martial arts competitions are all performed for everyone in the imperial capital.

Officials and royalty watched live, while the people on the periphery would have a huge magic crystal screen for broadcasting.

In the same way, for such a grand gathering, the surrounding protective forces are naturally very tight.

As the main members of the guards, the enemy family sent a large number of clan disciples to patrol closely near the ceremony.

Lord Chen looked at the singing and dancing on the field, but his mind was always on the side of the Hu family.

The eldest son of the Hu family, Hu Wei, was sitting at the front, and his parents, including the old man, did not appear in the crowd of the Hu family.

And the Qiu Long family is much more relaxed, for them, this ceremony is just a statement of a fact that has been settled.

On the one hand, he was full of pride, and on the other hand, he was a long-time prepared strategy, but Master Chen always felt that there was something critical that he had overlooked.

In this trance, the performance on the field was coming to an end, and when a group of people were still unsatisfied, a man in gorgeous costumes walked onto the stage.

It's time to get started!

Lord Chen sat up straight, he knew that from now on, there would be major changes in the course of the Hippoian Empire.

First, there was a rambling New Year's greeting, and as this person handed over the microphone to the eldest princess, the atmosphere on the field instantly became a little serious.

"When I was young, the death of my father put a lot of burden on the shoulders of the emperor, that is, my mother, and she died a few years ago due to overwork. ”

The Grand Empress took the microphone and stood up from the highest seat.

"In the years that followed, I had to learn from my mother and take on these burdens little by little..."

Looking at her sister who was giving a serious speech, Hui'er leaned back in her chair, but her mind recalled the time when she was with her mother before.

"Mom, try this!"

A tired woman looked at the girl who was so excited that she pushed the door in, and couldn't help but show a reluctant smile and took the plate in the girl's hand.

"Hui'er, got into trouble again today?"

The girl's face froze slightly, and then she said a little embarrassed: "Mom, how do you know..."

"Whenever you take the initiative to curry favor with me, I know that you must be in trouble again. ”

The woman touched the girl's black hair, and although it was a reproachful word, it was full of doting.

This second daughter of mine is playful, the eldest lady has a temper, and many ministers have reported the trouble she caused to herself.

But as her own daughter, how could she not know what her daughter's character was like?

Thinking of her father's grief-stricken face, and remembering her empty eyes after the accident, the woman's heart ached.

"Mom, I just accidentally kicked that little ghost from the Long family into the river..."

Looking at her daughter's coquettish actions, the woman only felt that if she could go on like this, what if she was more stubborn.

"Oh, why do you want to do that?"

"He... He bullied one of the students in our class, saying that she was a broken nobleman, a child that no one wanted, and I was so angry that I had people throw him into the river. ”

Hearing Hui'er's words, the woman shook her head lightly and didn't say anything more.

"Mother won't blame me, will she?"

However, the girl thought that her mother was angry, and she spoke with honorifics.

"How so?"

The woman patted the girl's face, remembering that since she began to take over some of the rights, she had hardly taken the initiative to see her eldest daughter, and her heart couldn't help but feel a little gloomy.

"You won't blame me, I bought this dim sum on purpose, a shop recommended by Brother Qiu, my mother should also try it!"

The girl's heart that had been carrying it finally relaxed, and she hurriedly handed the pastries on the plate to the woman.

Brother Qiu?

The woman picked up a pastry with her hand, put it in her mouth, and looked at the necklace around the girl's neck when it was exposed, so she smiled and stretched out her other hand and put the necklace back into the girl's clothes.

"This necklace, don't show it casually, I've said you a few times, but I still can't remember it. ”

The uncomfortable girl who was uncomfortable with the cold necklace twisted her body a few times, and said glutinously: "I know..."