"Your Majesty, are we just going to let them go like this?" The eunuch behind him asked in a low voice, bowing.
Wu Xiyu's gaze was sharp, and the eunuch trembled. "Otherwise what?" he said with a half-smile.
"Although I am now the new emperor, the Wu Prince's Mansion only sent congratulatory gifts and did not mention Li Mingke at all. The Li family only sent the master of the house and asked for people right away. Neither of these families has expressed their opinion, which shows that they are dissatisfied with me."
He turned around, his cloak fluttering in the wind. "Tell me, do they think I'm not good enough for her?"
The eunuch knelt down with a thud, trembling, "Under the whole heaven, all land belongs to the king. It is His Majesty's honor to take a woman's eye..."
"Ha." He sneered, "But what I want is precisely what I can't have." His fist clenched so tightly under his sleeves that it cracked.
...
Li Mingke heard the rhythmic sound of horses' hooves. She slowly awoke, and upon seeing the person before her, she exclaimed excitedly:
"father!"
She threw herself into Wu Xilan's arms.
Wu Xilan hugged her daughter, "My Mingke!"
The swaying boat finally reached the shore and settled in a safe harbor.
"Dad, I miss you so much..." She buried her head in her father's arms and began to sob softly.
"Waaah..."
Wu Xilan didn't say anything, she just quietly stroked her hair.
Li Mingke cried louder and louder.
"Are we going home?" she asked in a muffled voice.
“Yes, come home. Your mother and sister are waiting for you! Your mother cooked your favorite dishes herself, and Yue’er carved a pen holder for you by hand. She’s been saying she wanted to give it to you!” Wu Xilan’s voice was gentle, and Li Mingke cried even harder.
Wu Xilan let her daughter cry her heart out, then wiped her little face clean with a handkerchief. "It's rare to see Mingke like this! Girls are definitely cuter, maybe she'll be..."
Huh? Li Mingke looked up. Does this mean he doesn't have to pretend to be a man anymore?
Wu Xilan simply smiled.
Perhaps her father has a way, and maybe she will be able to dress as a woman soon! That's what she thought.
"By the way, Father, to obtain the Suihou Pearl at Fengchan Mountain, we need the blood of Emperor Wu and the Dragon's Roar. The Fourth Prince has the bloodline of Emperor Wu, but why do I have the bloodline of the Dragon's Roar?"
Wu Xilan was stunned for a moment upon hearing this.
Heh, now I finally understand why his deadbeat father, Prince Wu, insisted on sending Mingke. Looking across the entire world, probably no one is more suitable than Mingke! And if she and the Fourth Prince spark a romance, the old man's mouth will be splitting with laughter!
The Li family originally only intended for Li Mingke to go through the motions. Due to the search for the thief by Immortal Venerable Jinyun, the entire Immortal Sect was under lockdown. Fearing that something might really happen and they wouldn't be able to help Mingke immediately, the Li family negotiated with the Immortal Sect, using this as a pretext to get him out. Who could have imagined that so much would happen!
No wonder the fourth prince insisted on keeping Mingke no matter what!
The fourth prince has the demeanor of the First Emperor and married the daughter of the Dragon King. Who wouldn't praise him? History books would probably write about it in detail!
Wu Xilan sighed softly, "In my parents' hearts, Mingke has always been a child, someone who hasn't grown up yet. They always felt that there were many things that weren't suitable for you to know. However, now that Mingke has asked in person, then I have no choice but to tell you..."
It all started from the very beginning.
The Longyin Clan lives on the Immortal Island of Yingzhou, where women are revered and outsiders are not allowed to enter.
This tribe has a unique marriage system called "walking marriage," in which women from the tribe go out of the island to find a good husband, become pregnant, and then return to the island to give birth to their children.
The island's owner is called the "Holy Lord," while the successor is called the "Holy Daughter."
Long Yin Xi Xi was a saintess at that time.
Among thousands of people, she took a liking to the First Emperor, who was then a nobody, and helped him become a regional hegemon and ascend the throne. Later, she became pregnant and gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl.
The specific agreement reached with the emperor is unknown. All that is known is that she left the boy behind, took the girl away, named her Longyin Zhenzhen, and then never returned.
Li Mingke's maternal grandmother is a descendant of Long Yinzhenzhen, and is also the current Holy Lord.
When she was young and still a saint, she met her first love on the island, who was Li Mingke's maternal grandfather and the head of the Li family at the time.
At that time, the Li family was at the height of its power, and the maternal grandfather was especially charming and debonair, completely captivating the naive and clueless maternal grandmother, who was utterly smitten. Before long, under the grandmother's extreme seduction, they consummated their relationship.
Grandma was stunned when Grandpa proposed.
Marriage? What is that? It's a thing that binds people! We women of the Dragon Roar Clan don't care for it!
Then, without saying a word, he abandoned his responsibilities and ran off with the ball.
Grandpa was furious when he saw that the person had been deceived both physically and mentally, and he insisted on bringing the person back! But when they finally found the person again, the person was eating candied hawthorn skewers at a food stall!
This infuriated him. That wretched woman ran away without saying a word, and he finally caught her!
Later, when he found out that the child had already been born, he was so angry that he felt like his soul had ascended to heaven.
Okay, then let's catch them all, big and small!
My maternal grandmother, who should have returned to the island to give birth, concealed her pregnancy because she was drawn to the outside world and gave birth elsewhere. As a result, no one on the island could help her, and she was no match for them.
So, without lifting a finger, Grandpa packed up the adults and children and took them back to the Li residence.
The grandmother named the child "Longyin Qingqing," which was Li Mingke's mother, Li Zengqing.
Grandma couldn't stay at the Li family's house for more than a few days. She ran away again, intending to take Longyin and Qingqing with her, but the Li family discovered her along the way. With no other option, she figured it was better to stay alive than to run away again, so she abandoned the children and ran off on her own.
Later, somehow the news reached the people on Yingzhou Island, and the Holy Lord sent people to snatch the child. But the maternal grandfather was too powerful at that time. He fought ten people at once and drove the people from Yingzhou back.
The people from Yingzhou realized this wouldn't work; they couldn't win. "Let's retreat first and find another opportunity to capture them later."
As a result, the Li family guarded their position like an iron barrel, preventing the people of Yingzhou from finding an opportunity. The grandfather specially changed Long Yin Qingqing's name to Li Zengqing, and never remarried, designating this only daughter as his heir.
Did Grandma finally calm down? No!
Not long after she ran away from the Li family, she took a fancy to the owner of the Wind and Rain Pavilion. The owner of the Wind and Rain Pavilion was extravagant and spent money like water. He was also good at sweet talk. Before long, Grandma fell into the sweet trap he set.
Within a year, the second bowl of rice was ready.
This time she gave birth to a boy.
She asked him, "Do you want this child?"
The owner of Fengyulou was dumbfounded. "My own child, why wouldn't I want it?"
After receiving an affirmative answer, Grandma ran off again.
Of course, she didn't forget to bring her child this time, but she was caught up with again.
Unlike his grandfather's domineering style, the Lord of Fengyu Tower clung to his grandmother's leg, resorting to all sorts of tricks, from crying and making a scene to threatening suicide. But his grandmother said that she was a woman of the Dragon Roar Clan and would not stay for anyone, so his crying was useless.
The owner of Fengyu Tower had no other choice but to say, "Then give me the child. Anyway, your Dragon Roar Clan values women and doesn't care much for boys. It might be better for him to stay with me. He will become the new owner of Fengyu Tower in the future."
Grandma thought it was indeed a good idea.
Then they just dumped the child on him.
This poor child is Wang Jingyuan's father, Wang Laiyang.
The name was given by the owner of Fengyulou, because when Grandma saw that it was a boy, she didn't even think of a name.
Although the name Longyin Qingqing comes from the fact that the little blanket wrapped around her was blue, it's still better to have it than not.
Grandpa and the owner of Fengyulou once hugged each other and cried, crying for their runaway wives.
Perhaps it was because they shared a similar plight, and also because their children had the same mother, that the relationship between Fengyulou and the Li family grew increasingly close.
Li Zengqing and Wang Laiyang also addressed each other as brother and sister, having grown up together since childhood.
“So, if your mother is still Longyin Qingqing, then you are the purest Longyin daughter in terms of blood endurance,” Wu Xilan said to her daughter, who had completely lost her mind.
Li Mingke's brain was completely incapable of thinking.
"Wait, my grandmother didn't bring her two children back to the island, so what about her..."
“Oh, you mean that? Once your mother and I went to Yingzhou for some reason. Your maternal grandmother was already a Holy Lord, but she had a daughter who was revered as a Holy Maiden.”
"And her father is..."
"I don't know. Your maternal grandmother suffered twice before, so when she found out she was pregnant this time, she ran away and gave birth to your aunt on the island. As for the child's father, she kept quiet and never said a word."
"You might meet your aunt someday!"
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