"Your Majesty, there's good news from Marshal Shi!"

The morning after Xiao Ling wrote the letter and sent it to Western Xia, the battle report from the front line arrived in Yanxi City.

This battle report came from Shengjing. Chu Yi reported the good news to the empress as soon as he received the victory report.

"Victory news has arrived from the front lines. Northern Qi's Shengjing City has been breached. Emperor Changhe and the Empress Dowager have been trapped alive in the palace by earthworms. The war against Qi should be almost over."

After briefly introducing the contents of the military intelligence, he walked up to Xiao Ling and spread out the letter he brought on the table.

When Xiao Ling heard Chu Yi talking about the fall of Shengjing City, he couldn't help but stand up. After taking a quick look at the contents of the letter, he looked excited.

"Excellent! Marshal Shi is indeed my best general. Once Northern Qi is destroyed, Anguo will no longer face threats from the north, and will be able to develop stably."

"But apart from this incident, the Crown Prince Chen Luo of Qi has retreated north with the remaining subordinates. It will probably take some time to wipe out this part of the force." Chu Yi added from the side.

"Yes, I understand. However, since Shengjing City has been captured, the State of Qi is now in name only."

Xiao Ling replied, and suddenly thought of the matter of Xixia, and then asked Chu Yi:

"I've suddenly changed my mind. Since the war in Qi has reached the final stage of clearing up, it's better to focus on the management of Qi's land to avoid any unexpected changes. After all, there's no need to worry too much about the size of Western Xia."

"Your Majesty's idea is very good. Many of Qi's governing philosophies are slightly different from ours, and they do need to be rectified. We may be busy for some time to come."

Xiao Ling smiled, her expression somewhat charming as she fell into Chu Yi's gaze. "How could that be? I have capable ministers here. What in the world can't I govern?"

Chu Yi asked curiously, "Who is the minister your majesty is talking about?"

"Hmph, Chu thief, why are you pretending to be confused in front of me?" Xiao Ling raised an eyebrow slightly. "Isn't I just praising you? Who else could this Lord Chu be but you?"

The empress's beautiful face showed a hint of resentment. She put down the letter in her hand and walked towards Chu Yi.

Then, she stood on tiptoe slightly, put her hands on Chu Yi's shoulders, and looked up at his face closely.

The husband and wife looked at each other, each with different thoughts in their minds.

But soon Xiao Ling couldn't help but be stunned, then raised a hand and pinched Chu Yi's face.

"Is it my illusion? Why do I feel like you've aged a lot?"

This sentence almost made Chu Yi lose his composure, and he finally explained for himself awkwardly:

"Ahem... Your Majesty must have misunderstood. Perhaps it's the dry air in the north that's causing my skin to chafe. I'm an old man, but I don't get that fast."

"Oh, that's true." Xiao Ling was obviously willing to accept this explanation.

After thinking for a while, she suddenly pressed herself in front of Chu Yi and said softly:

"Actually... even if you've aged a little faster from worrying about state affairs, I won't despise you, right, my Lord Chu?"

Especially the last three words "Chu Ge Lao", her tone was particularly seductive, and even mixed with a bit of tenderness.

Chu Yi didn't like the sweet words that were supposed to be very intimate between husband and wife.

Thinking of something, he exposed it angrily:

"If I remember correctly, a few days ago, when the Empress Dowager was still in Western Xia, the Emperor of Xia sent a letter, asking Your Majesty to personally marry the princess. The two countries have been friendly for generations. You said that the Emperor of Xia is an old man, and it is simply wishful thinking for Your Majesty to marry the princess."

Thinking of this, Xiao Ling's face turned disgusted again.

"Bah, I'm not wrong. I know that Emperor Qingyuan is already over 40, and this old man is unaware of this. He covets my beauty and wants to use my mother's power to threaten me into marriage. This is simply wishful thinking. Why should I listen to this so-called letter from the emperor?"

"According to what Your Majesty said, I am already 26 years old this year. I am already 30 years old, so I am also an old man, right?" Chu Yi continued to dig holes.

"How could that be? You're different."

Xiao Ling blushed slightly at Chu Yi's loving gaze, but still explained seriously:

"Even though you are much older than me, I still think you are handsome and a perfect match for my youthful beauty. That is why I have such deep affection for you..."

"Then...what if I were a 42-year-old man?"

Chu Yi spoke again.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ling's face fell, and he said in disgust: "Forget it then, you can die as far away as you can."

Chu Yi: “…”

Although it makes sense, my heart suddenly hurts. What should I say?

However, Xiao Ling was obviously too lazy to dwell on such an assumption and quickly changed the subject.

"Husband, since there are no more threats from the north, why don't we just go to Beiyan?"

"Come to think of it, I miss General Shi a lot. I wonder how she and Chu Yan are living now that they're together. I'm really curious..."

I have to admit that Xiao Ling really likes to run around. He got bored after only being in Yanxi for less than a month.

Faced with this request, Chu Yi did not refuse.

Now that the war in Qi is almost over, there are some matters that require Your Majesty to go in person.

"That's fine. After all, Beiyan and Yanxi are not far apart. It might only take three days to get there."

"Okay! It's settled then."

Xiao Ling clapped her hands happily and couldn't help but snuggle closer to his arms.

"Every time I like the way you agree so readily. If it were any other minister, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to leave the palace."

"Sometimes, I even wonder if you haven't studied the Four Books and Five Classics since childhood. How come your actions are so different from those corrupt scholars?"

Although she said it calmly, the little empress was thinking about Chu Yi's behavior at bedtime that was even more inappropriate for his status, and her face couldn't help but feel slightly hot.

She didn't say any of this.

Feeling happy in his heart, Xiao Ling straightened up a little, then held Chu Yi's face and kissed her actively in a familiar manner.

Faced with the empress's deep affection, Chu Yi also cooperated very well.

Just then…

"Bang--"

A dull sound came from the door, startling Xiao Ling.

He pinched Chu Yi hurriedly, and then they separated and turned to look at the door at the same time, just to see Princess Tianfu standing at the door with a look of surprise and embarrassment on her face.

Princess Tianfu just stared blankly at her daughter standing on tiptoe in broad daylight to kiss Chu Yi, her minister and also her husband.

She suddenly regretted barging in.

How...how come I never knew that there would be times when the young couple couldn't hold back.

Really, if I had known that His Majesty and Lord Chu were busy with official business, I should have gone to take care of my granddaughter.

Seeing that her daughter and son-in-law had turned around and looked at her, Princess Tianfu came to her senses and turned around quickly.

"Ah...it's okay. Mother came at the wrong time. Ling'er...you guys...continue."