…

The next morning, Leng Xi brought Yu Qiaoqiao to the gate of the Qianqing Palace and bowed three times to the emperor.

The emperor presented him with three cups of wine, just as he would a soldier going to war. When he picked up the cup, he looked at him seriously.

"Fifth brother, you must have worked hard on this journey. I hope you return victoriously soon. When you do, I will welcome you back."

Leng Xi raised the wine glass high, then slowly lowered it, looking at him with a firm gaze.

"Your Majesty, rest assured. This humble servant will definitely help the people of Mianzhou escape their suffering as soon as possible. I hereby pledge my loyalty. If I cannot ensure that the people of Mianzhou have enough food and clothing, I am willing to die in Mianzhou."

His words moved Leng Yu. This younger brother whom he once hated actually took the initiative to put on armor and go to war to ease his burden when he was worried about the disaster in Mianzhou. At this moment, no matter how many wrong things he had done in the past, they now seemed insignificant.

Leng Yu nodded solemnly, and together with him, he raised his head and drank the wine in his hand. Then he took two steps forward and patted him on the shoulder.

"Fifth brother, have a safe trip and come back soon."

Leng Xi breathed a sigh of relief and nodded with a relaxed look on his face.

"Fourth brother, there are some things I've wanted to tell you for a long time. I'm leaving today. No matter whether what I say is right or not, you can't blame me."

Leng Yu nodded.

"Just say what you want to say. At this moment, Fourth Brother feels that you are still the Xi'er who liked to follow Fourth Brother around and play."

Hearing this, tears flashed in Leng Xi's eyes.

He pursed his lips tightly, nodded, and said with a wry smile:

"Fourth brother, now I realize how good it is to be a good person. I feel relaxed and stress-free. Fifth brother, I am truly grateful to you and the Empress Dowager for putting aside past grudges and raising my daughter Xiao Min, allowing me to stop my wrongdoing in time. From now on, I hope you can continue to take good care of An An. I've made up my mind. Whether she recognizes me as her father or not, the blood flowing in her body is my blood..."

Leng Yu looked at him and patted his shoulder again. Yu Qiaoqiao glanced into the distance and hurriedly stepped forward to remind him.

"Lengxi, look over there..."

Leng Xi and Leng Yu looked in the direction Yu Qiaoqiao was looking, and saw An An standing there uncomfortably, looking at Leng Xi with clear eyes.

The moment he saw An An, Leng Xi's eyes turned red again. At this time, An An raised her hand, waved to him, and said goodbye to him.

Although An An didn't say a word, Leng Xi felt very satisfied to see her come to see him off.

He raised his hand and waved in her direction, then looked at Yu Qiaoqiao beside him.

"It's getting late, let's get going."

Yu Qiaoqiao nodded and smiled at him, then looked in the direction of An An and smiled.

Leng Xi shook his clothes heavily, turned around and walked towards the palace gate, with Yu Qiaoqiao following closely behind him.

Looking at their backs as they left, An An had a faint smile on her lips.

After thinking about it all night, she decided to come and see Leng Xi off. Just like her mother said, even if she didn't say a word, as long as he saw that she was here, that would be enough.

Leng Xi walked a long way and looked back again. When he saw An An still standing there looking at him, he raised his mouth and smiled, and gestured to her to go back. Only after seeing An An turn around did he hold Yu Qiaoqiao's hand, unable to suppress the joy in his heart.

"Qiaoqiao, did you see that? An An came to see me off? She smiled at me..."

"I see. She's happy about your change. When you return from this trip, she'll definitely call you daddy. You must not let her down."

"Don't worry, no matter how difficult it is, I will persevere. For my fourth brother's instructions and for An'an's call of 'Dad'..."

A lively breeze blew across his face, blowing up the scattered strands of hair on his forehead, but he wasn't annoyed at all, instead a faint smile spread across his face...

…

Qixia Palace

Ever since Xingnan sneaked out of the palace and came back, he has been locking himself in his room. Yongping was so anxious that he didn't know what to do.

The girl just came back from a visit and after entering the house, she shook her head.

"I just knocked on the door, and Princess Xingnan said she wouldn't see anyone except someone named Ning. She also said..."

"What else?"

Yongping felt that her heart was about to be crushed by this girl. Yongning's matter was enough to make her anxious and angry, and now Xingnan was crying and making a fuss here. She really didn't know what to do.

Seeing the girl blushing and not daring to speak out, she instantly became furious.

"Hurry up and tell me."

"Yes, Princess Xingnan said that if she doesn't see Master Ning again, she will...she will die."

"What?"

This sentence frightened Yongping so much that she stood up from her chair. She walked around the room several times, muttering non-stop,

"What should I do? What should I do?"

At this time, Daji came back from outside with a dejected look on his face. After entering the house, he said directly:

"Sister-in-law, what should we do about Xingnan? We can't just watch her starve to death!"

"How should I know what to do? I don't know what kind of magic potion that Ning gave her. She actually said... she even said she would die if she couldn't see Ning. Tell me... tell me, isn't this just trying to force me to death?"

Daji sat down on the chair and took a long breath.

"If I had known that coming to Daning would cause so much trouble, I would have stayed safely in Nanping. At worst, I could have agreed to a marriage with Beihai. But what should I do now? If anything bad happens to her, not only you, the Emperor's sister-in-law, but I, too, will be implicated."

"What should we do then? Why don't you go and persuade her, and we go back to Nanping Kingdom tomorrow?"

"Go back to Nanping Kingdom? What about the little sister-in-law? Just leave her here and ignore her?"

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!