Chapter 656 He's already the Prince of Lanhai at the age of thirteen?

Li Qingluo noticed that something was wrong with him, and quickly cupped Duan Rongshi's face in her hands, full of concern.

Duan Rongshi couldn't help but rub his face against her palm: "I just missed you."

"Luo'er, please don't leave me again, okay?"

He wanted to hold her tightly, but considering the child in her womb, he could only hold her carefully.

Li Qinglu blushed slightly.

Why are you becoming more and more like a child?

"Ashi, is it really true that nothing else happened?"

She even felt a little uneasy: "Do you have other women in your backyard?"

"Ah Shi, has someone arranged a concubine for you?"

"If that happens, I won't let you off the hook!"

Having experienced the influence of her master, Li Qingluo understood even more what 'cherishing' truly meant.

Cherish the people in front of you.

Cherish the genuine affection that others long for but cannot obtain.

Cherish those who are truly sincere to you.

She wasn't worried that Duan Rongshi had changed his mind.

But I've heard plenty of stories, those about people seeking favors through merit, only to ask to have their daughters sent to the lord's harem.

Duan Rongshi is currently riding high, and it's likely that many of his fierce generals have already set their sights on him.

Duan Rongshi was both amused and exasperated.

"What are you thinking?"

"Anyone who dares, I'll chop them up!"

He gently tapped Li Qingluo's forehead with his fingers, his tone earnest.

"Luo'er, I, Duan Rongshi, will never be a heartless man in this life."

"If I were to do such a thing one day, it would be because someone else has possessed my body, not because it is me."

"When the time comes, you can just kill me."

Li Qinglu chuckled.

"You're really tough on yourself."

"Of course I believe you, it's just that you've been so nervous all night, that's why I'm overthinking things."

Duan Rongshi: "It's because I dream about you every night."

"And now that you've come back, I still think it's all just a dream."

"Luo'er, promise me."

"From now on, nothing is more important than yourself, including me."

"Stop risking your life for others."

"I don't want to be alone anymore... This is a nightmare!"

Li Qingluo gently patted Duan Rongshi's shoulder, comforting him, "How could you be alone?"

"Now that you have me, you have family on my side."

"Moreover, you now have your own bloodline, your own children."

"Ah Shi, you... Hey! He moved again!"

Li Qingluo was overjoyed and immediately took Duan Rongshi's hand and placed it on her bulging belly.

Do you think he knew that Father was right next to him?

"The amount of movement today will be more than in previous days."

Duan Rongshi's eyes widened in disbelief: "Really?"

Li Qingluo: "Of course it's true."

"Ah Shi, do you want a daughter or a son?"

She stared at his face and asked seriously.

Without hesitation, Duan Rongshi replied, "Daughter."

"It's fine if you're like me or I'm like you."

Li Qingluo: "I'd rather be like you."

“You are just like your mother.”

When they talked about their mother, they exchanged a smile.

"If Mother knew, she would be very happy."

Li Qingluo: "I wonder if Mother still comes back to visit us occasionally."

"Perhaps Mother has gone to a better place?"

"However, Ah Shi, speaking of Mother Consort, there is still one thing I haven't gotten an answer to!"

"Did you know that Anar and her mother look about 70% alike!"

"And the Queen of Loulan and my mother also bear some resemblance. Are they both of Lanhai blood?"

Duan Rongshi was not surprised.

Although he had never met Anar and the Queen of Loulan, he had already guessed it after Nangong Di asked Li Qingluo for the portrait to take to the Western Regions.

"Would Luo'er like to hear my story with Lan Hai?"

Li Qinglu nodded quickly: "I want to know! I want to know exactly how you became the King of Lanhai!"

Duan Rongshi glanced at the food on the table, then took her hand and said, "Eat your fill first, then I'll tell you slowly."

"Eat."

Li Qingluo was indeed still hungry.

He quickly shoveled down a few more bites, then wiped his mouth and said hastily, "Just tell me already. How can I eat if you don't tell me?"

Duan Rongshi patted her head and stopped teasing her. Finally, he slowly began to speak: "When I was thirteen years old, I came to the border."

"The martial arts master who taught me back then was someone my mother had left for me when I was a child."

“He called me my master, but for many years he has treated me as a master and servant.”

“If I showed him even a little respect, he would distance himself from me even more, so later I got used to a distant relationship with him.”

"Luo'er, I envy how well you and Mr. Nangong get along, like a father and daughter."

"Perhaps it's because of my personality that I find it hard to get truly close to anyone."

"Besides you, I can't bring myself to truly open my heart to anyone else and confide these past experiences."

"But when I was thirteen, I wasn't like that yet; I still had a bit of boyish innocence."

“My master brought me to the border with the army. When we were resisting the Western Region army, he deliberately led me away from the army and headed towards the foot of the Kunlun Mountains.”

"On the way, he revealed his true identity to me."

"So, he wasn't from the Central Plains."

"But he is not from the Western Regions either."

He is from Lanhai.

“They are the descendants of the guards who accompanied my great-grandmother when she came to the Central Plains.”

"The Kingdom of Nalanhai is located at the junction of the Western Regions and the Central Plains. It is a tiny country at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains. It is so small that neither the Western Regions nor the Central Plains cares about it. For hundreds of years, it has never belonged to either side."

"And they have lived comfortably in the cracks for no less than five hundred years."

"But by my great-grandmother's generation, the royal family and the Lanhai people had become very few."

"My maternal grandmother was the eldest daughter of the King of Lanhai. In order to find a way out of Lanhai, she traveled thousands of miles alone to the Central Plains."

"Seeing the prosperity of the Central Plains, she was envious and devoted herself to studying, but she also fell in love with a man from the Central Plains."

"But she never forgot the heavy responsibility she was shouldering, so after becoming pregnant unexpectedly, she still got married and gave birth to my maternal grandmother, and then faked her death and returned to Lanhai Kingdom."

Li Qinglu was astonished upon hearing this.

She thought to herself in surprise: Her great-grandmother was truly decisive and efficient; she was an admirable woman.

Personal feelings may have a place in her heart, but compared to the heavy responsibilities of the country and the burdens on her shoulders, she can still more decisively choose the path she should truly take.

She truly possesses the demeanor befitting a princess.

It's just that my maternal grandmother is so pitiful.

Having lost her mother at a young age, although she heard that her stepmother treated her well and even raised her to be a noble lady of Nan'an, her maternal grandmother went to the Eastern Palace, and her stepmother's own two daughters married into families with impeccable family background, character, and even family tradition because of their status as the Crown Princess's younger sisters.

Later, my maternal grandmother died of illness in despair, amidst the coldness of the late emperor and the desolation of the palace.

Is it also because her family no longer has anyone to support her and make decisions for her?

Duan Rongshi seemed to know what Li Qingluo was thinking.

He rubbed Li Qingluo's vest without pausing, and continued, "Later, some political upheavals occurred in Lanhai. My great-grandmother went through a lot of hardship and time before she regained power and became the King of Lanhai."

"Because of her injury, she was only able to give birth to a sickly son."

"When she wanted to find her maternal grandmother again, her maternal grandmother had already died in the Chu Palace."

"She was filled with remorse, but it was too late to undo the damage."

"So later they sent trusted people to stay by the side of the Empress Dowager and the Emperor of Chu."

“My master is the bodyguard who grew up with my mother since childhood, which is why he has always considered himself a servant.”

"Later, he took me to Lanhai Kingdom, where I met my sickly maternal uncle."

Li Qingluo: "The sickly maternal uncle? Is he still alive?"

Duan Rongshi: "He is no longer in this world."

“But he was indeed alive back then. Because he was born when his great-grandmother was thirty-six years old, he was physically weak from a young age.”

"Because he was constantly fed with medicine, he lived for quite a few years."

"However, he never had any children of his own, so the throne was coveted by the collateral branches for a long time."

Li Qingluo: "And then what happened? What happened next?"

Duan Rongshi: "He passed the throne to me."

Li Qingluo's mouth was slightly open, her face full of surprise.

"You were only thirteen years old when you were already the Prince of Lanhai?"

"Ah Shi, you're really good at keeping things to yourself! You've never told me about this before!!"

"you--"

Li Qingluo felt a little angry, but even more curious: "You said you were the closest blood relatives, but why didn't it pass on to the Chu Emperor's children, or even the Chu Emperor himself, but to you?"

"After all, the mother is a daughter, while the Chu Emperor is a son. Does the Lan Hai Kingdom really not value that sons are more likely to inherit the bloodline?"

Duan Rongshi: "Let me answer your questions one by one."

"Firstly, the Kingdom of Lanhai does not discriminate against women because the royal family has produced queens for several generations, so they value ability more than gender."

"Secondly, because my master took me back to Lanhai Kingdom first."

“Back then, my great-grandmother sent guards to protect my mother and the Chu Emperor, and each of them carried a martial arts manual.”

"Whoever first trains someone to master the art will be able to return to the Kingdom of Lanhai."

"Later, I went there."

Li Qingluo thought of the princes of the Zongzheng clan and shook her head in disdain.

Sure enough, none of them can compare to Ah Shi!

Li Qingluo found it very strange, as if she were listening to a story.

She asked many more questions, such as whether Lanhai Kingdom was beautiful and what its customs and traditions were.

Duan Rongshi patiently answered each question: "It's a beautiful place."

"The legendary picturesque scenery and paradise on earth are nothing special."

"As for the local customs and traditions, the people there are more simple and persistent than those in the Central Plains, and they are also more honest and kind..."

"Luo'er, I'll take you there to see it."

"If you'd like, we can live there permanently..."

Before falling asleep, Li Qing mumbled a reply to him, "Okay."

"Let's go and take a look at that secluded Lanhai..."

Soon, her even breathing reached Duan Rongshi's ears.

After carefully settling her on the bed, Duan Rongshi gently kissed her forehead and lips.

"We have a long future ahead of us."

"In the future, it won't just be Lanhai Kingdom, but also the Five Sacred Mountains, the beautiful scenery... Wherever you want to go, we'll go together and explore slowly."