Chapter 989 Showing Affection (Xinyang VS Xiao Jifan)

After taking the antidote, Xiao Ming finally woke up on a dark and windy night.

To his utter bewilderment, the vast military camp was completely empty, without a single person in sight!

...That's outrageous.

Has the Dongyi people already occupied the border? Have they killed all the soldiers in the general's camp?

It couldn't be that all the soldiers had been mobilized.

There has never been such a precedent in history.

Just as he was racking his brains trying to figure it out, a strong, dark figure flashed into his tent, picked him up along with his bedding, and swiftly and quickly left the camp!

It's Long Yi.

They only remembered that they had forgotten about the poisoned Xiao Ming in the military camp after they had gone quite a distance.

He came back and took Xiao Ming away.

Long Mengmeng isn't the evil Dragon Shadow Guard who eavesdrops; he has cotton stuffed in his ears!

...

The soldiers in the military camp were allowed to return to the camp after wandering outside for three whole days. During these three days, they could not return to the camp, nor could they really wander around aimlessly outside, so they went to rob the Dongyi.

As Chang Jing and the Eastern Yi prince's forces were locked in fierce combat, a terrifying torrent of armored soldiers surged forth with unstoppable force.

Just as Chang Jing raised his longsword to stab the second prince of Dongyi, someone knocked the sword away.

He turned around and found that it was one of his own people.

It cannot be triggered.

Chang Jing's face darkened.

Xiao Ming's poison was cured, and Xiao En and Xiao Ze also escaped danger. The Dongyi people no longer had any means to restrain the Zhao Kingdom. The soldiers vented their frustration of the past few days and their morning grumpiness at being woken up in the middle of the night and kicked out of the camp on the Dongyi.

The Dongyi were utterly defeated and surrendered in no time.

The Dongyi people looked at the Zhao army, which was not going to "return to the capital" at all, and thought to themselves, "We have already surrendered and signed the oppressive treaty that we were supposed to sign, so why are they still not leaving?"

The soldiers suffered in silence.

...

Xiao Ji was injured, and although he had taken the medicine from the Holy Maiden Palace and was recovering very well, even excessive indulgence still had an impact.

Not to mention how badly the wound split open, I also caught a cold.

Princess Xinyang wasn't much better off than him; she was the one who gave Xiao Ji his cold.

Achoo!

Inside Xiao Ming's tent, Xiao Ji sneezed loudly.

Xiao Ming looked at his older brother with a complicated expression: "Big brother, I'm not trying to criticize you, but you're not a virgin anymore, so why are you so unrestrained? Look at your injuries and illnesses, people who don't know the situation would think something's wrong with you."

Xiao Ji's nose was stuffy, and with a heavy nasal tone, he said boastfully, "You don't understand the joy of being newlyweds."

Xiao Ming: More than twenty years of newlywed life, haha!

Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!

Inside another tent, Princess Xinyang, wrapped in a quilt, sat on the bed, sneezing incessantly.

Yu Jin felt so sorry for her, and quickly handed her the ginger soup on the table: "Drink it while it's hot, and sweat it out."

Princess Xinyang raised her hand to take the ginger soup, but found that she didn't even have the strength to move her arm.

Yu Jin sighed, "What's going on here?"

She shook her head, picked up a spoon, and began to feed her princess spoonful by spoonful. As she fed her, she said with a hint of resentment, "The Marquis is really something. He knows that the princess has little experience in human affairs. He should know how to be restrained."

Princess Xinyang lowered her eyes, drank her medicine, and mumbled an "Mmm".

She should feel a little guilty.

After all, he wasn't the only one who lacked self-control.

...

A great victory at the border.

Xiao Ji released the King of Dongyi, but he himself was not capable of handling the situation. He fell seriously ill a few days later and passed away before he could issue an edict to pass on the throne.

After facing external threats, the Dongyi people began to fight amongst themselves.

The princes argued fiercely, but the final outcome surprised everyone—the new queen was actually a holy maiden from the Eastern Yi.

Her husband was the son of a powerful nobleman from the Zhao Kingdom.

"What a brilliant plan, Qin Fengwan." On the carriage back to the capital, Xiao Ji crossed his arms and looked at Princess Xinyang with a leisurely air.

Who says women are inferior to men?

Qin Fengwan has no interest in court politics; otherwise, she could have been a regent princess.

That day, everyone thought Qin Fengwan had drugged the Holy Maiden, but that was not the case. Qin Fengwan clearly gave the Holy Maiden two choices: one was to be drugged and forced to submit to her; the other was for them to make a deal, with both sides getting what they wanted.

When the Holy Maiden heard that Qin Fengwan was willing to exchange the throne of the Eastern Yi King for the opportunity to marry Xiao Ji, she thought Qin Fengwan had gone mad.

Qin Fengwan wasn't crazy; she just felt this man was worth it.

Her proposal was based on multiple considerations. The saintess was ambitious and capable, and she could easily rebel no matter which prince succeeded to the throne.

Rather than doing that, it would be better to go with the flow and put the Holy Maiden on the throne, with one additional condition—the Holy Maiden must marry into the Zhao Kingdom.

She will decide who is chosen.

...

After Xiao Ming awoke, he recognized his daughter. From then on, there was no longer a little princess of Dongyi, only Xiao Zhen'er, the daughter of the Xiao family.

Xiao Zhen was to be added to the family genealogy, so she returned to the capital with Xiao Ji and Qin Fengwan.

A small incident occurred the day before departure.

Xiao Ming gripped his longsword and chased Long Yi around the military camp more than a dozen times.

"You, you, you stop right there!"

He couldn't beat him in a fight, nor could he catch up with him. Long Yi's face wasn't red and he wasn't out of breath, but he was already panting so hard he was about to faint.

The story begins when Long Yi and Xiao Zhen'er went to the Holy Maiden Palace to find Xiao Ji and Qin Fengwan.

Xiao Ji was drugged, and the drug took effect on Long Yi. To prevent the drug from becoming more potent, Qin Fengwan asked Zhen'er to take Long Yi to another room to stay for a few nights.

Who could have imagined that after searching the entire Basilica of Saintess, there was only one room that was both close to the inner sanctuary and untouched by anyone?

Zhen'er hesitated several times before speaking, but seeing how inseparable her uncle and his wife were, she couldn't bear to separate them, so she stayed in the house with Long Yi.

But she swears to God, there's really nothing between her and the big guy!

Long Yi doesn't fall asleep easily in unfamiliar places. He stayed on the roof beam, keeping watch for any movement from the Holy Maiden's Palace all night long.

Long Yi was simple-minded and didn't think much of it. Zhen'er also thought it was not worth mentioning, and that it was best to keep the matter to themselves.

Little did she know that she drank a few extra mouthfuls of mare's milk wine that night, and then accidentally let it slip, which her father overheard.

Xiao Ming firmly believed that Long Yi had ruined his daughter's reputation and wanted to kill Long Yi, that scoundrel.

As Long Yi ran, he kept glancing back, which infuriated Xiao Ming.

After Xiao En and Xiao Ze recovered, they went to pay their respects to Qin Fengwan.

"Princess." The two bowed respectfully.

As far as I can remember, Princess Xinyang did not accept their father, and naturally, she did not accept his children either.

Qin Fengwan did not force them to change their address to "Mother," and she made two sets of clothes for them.

This was the first time in their lives they had ever received a gift from her, and they were both a little stunned.

Qin Fengwan said gently, "You're both grown up now, it's time for you to get married. Do you have a girl you like? If so, I'll go and propose marriage."

The two men stared at her in disbelief.

Qin Fengwan continued, "If not, I will choose one or two for you. Of course, they must suit your tastes before I go and propose marriage."

Has the princess... accepted them?

Qin Fengwan looked at them and said, "I heard from your second uncle that you will be able to return to Beijing by the end of this year. That's perfect, Qing'er and Yiyi haven't met their two older brothers yet."

A lump rose in their throats, and they bowed deeply, holding the clothes she had sewn herself.

...

At the end of April, Xiao Ji and Qin Fengwan's carriage arrived in the capital.

"Walk on the busiest street."

"Open all the windows."

"Lift the curtain as well."

Xiao Ji gave the orders in a bold and decisive manner.

Chang Jing, driving the cart, asked in confusion, "Why do we have to do this?"

Xiao Ji dusted off his wide sleeves and said in an incredibly irritating tone, "This lord is so handsome, let the people see more of him."

Chang Jing: "..."

Xiao Ji didn't want the people to see his face, but rather his affection for Qin Fengwan.

Don't people all say that he and Qin Fengwan are not on good terms?

He told them to open their eyes and see.

"Go around one more time," he instructed Chang Jing.

Chang Jing was speechless: "We've already gone around three times. The entire capital saw you riding in Princess Xinyang's carriage!"

“I didn’t see that person,” Xiao Ji said, pointing to a beggar by the roadside.

Chang Jing said expressionlessly, "Because he is blind."

Xiao Ji: "Then go and talk to him."

Chang Jing: "..."

After circling three more times, it was already dark when Xiao Ji finally let Chang Jing end today's parade, satisfied.

"Go back to the manor?" Chang Jing was exasperated by the question.

Xiao Ji raised an eyebrow: "No, enter the palace."

As soon as the two arrived at the palace gate, they were taken away by Eunuch Wei, who served the emperor, and Eunuch Su, who served Empress Xiao, respectively.

In the imperial study, the emperor hesitated several times, as if he wanted to speak but then stopped.

Qin Fengwan glanced at him calmly and asked, "What is it, Your Majesty?"

The fear of being dominated by my elder sister has arrived.

The emperor silently wiped the sweat from his forehead. She was clearly his younger sister, but when she was serious, he always felt like she was his elder sister.

The emperor finally spoke, sighing, "Xinyang, I've heard you've found a new male favorite."

Qin Fengwan asked curiously, "What makes you say that?"

The emperor raised his hand: "Don't hide it from me anymore. It's all over the palace. They say you went to the border, stumbled upon Xiao Ji's romantic affair, and in a fit of rage, found a gigolo who looked just like Xiao Ji and paraded him around the capital for a whole day to humiliate him."

Qin Fengwan's lips twitched. Had she been swimming all day for nothing?

How did Xiao Ji become her gigolo?

In Kunning Palace, Xiao Ji was also subjected to Empress Xiao's probing questions: "Brother, tell me the truth, are the rumors outside true? Did you really bring a strange woman back to the capital? And let the entire capital see it! Have you finally had enough of that woman and decided to rise up in rebellion!"

Xiao Ji frowned. What was all this about?

Empress Xiao, being Xiao Ji's younger sister, naturally sided with him. She readily agreed, saying, "That's right. She's treated you so badly all these years; you should have taken another concubine to spite her long ago! How about her status? If it's not high enough, I'll elevate it for you, ensuring your beloved becomes a noble concubine!"

Xiao Ji looked at his younger sister with great concern.

If you make Qin Fengwan your concubine, aren't you afraid she'll give the emperor a hundred concubines?

They painstakingly tried to show off their affection, but ended up creating a mess, leaving the couple feeling quite frustrated.

They actually wrote another extra chapter for the extra chapter, I'm laughing so hard I'm crying.

PS: A new beginning! Please vote with your monthly tickets!

(End of this chapter)