Chapter Thirty-One
"General, General Yang, the initial training phase is over. The rest is in your hands. I, Liu, will take my leave now!" The first phase of training has come to an end. The next phase is to have these two hundred men disperse into small groups and go to the Wuzhou Army to train them as new instructors. In this way, the strength of the Wuzhou Army will be greatly improved.
"Thank you, Your Highness!" Cen Jin said to Yang Ying.
"If war breaks out in the future, the Wuzhou army will fight to the death to protect the people here." In the past six months, Xiao Liunian prepared medicinal herbs and improved versions of secret manuals. Xiao Liunian also gave Cen Jin and Yang Ying a copy. The two broke through their bottlenecks after many years and entered the ranks of the top masters in Jinling.
"You two are truly righteous, and the Wuzhou army is truly righteous!" Xiao Liunian clasped his hands in a salute. His entire family of five had risked their lives to seek peace and security for the people of the Northern Border—truly admirable and worthy of respect!
"However, we two have another request, and we wonder if Your Highness would be willing to grant it?" Yang Ying asked.
"Please speak!" Xiao Liunian vaguely guessed what it was about.
"I wonder if we could have a friendly spar with Your Highness?" The two of them had wanted to fight Xiao Liunian during the martial arts tournament in Wuzhou, but they failed. Next, they had another six months of closed training in the special operations battalion, and they didn't want to disturb him. But if they didn't bring it up, they would miss Xiao Liunian for a long time after he left. It's human nature to be eager to fight.
"Let's do it today!"
The three arrived at the largest training ground in the Wuzhou army. At first, it was just the three of them, but later, for some reason, it was rumored that Instructor Liu wanted to compete with General Yang. Gradually, more and more people joined in, and those who had to stand guard sighed inwardly.
"Please, gentlemen!"
"Instructor Liu, please!"
After both sides clasped their fists in greeting, the sparring officially began!
The result was a draw, but Xiao Liunian stopped short of winning, while Cen Jin and Yang Ying went all out.
The cat in the space shook its head. Its host was gradually unlocking its former power. In the past six months, the speed of its leveling up was like a rocket. It had already returned to level 10 and estimated that it would reach the level of its previous life in another six months.
After sparring with Cen Jin and Yang Ying, the two of them left Wuzhou, found a secluded spot, and activated their teleportation ability. Their destination: Chang Le Palace.
After Xiao Liunian left, the Wuzhou army camp was filled with a buzzing and noisy chatter as everyone discussed things enthusiastically.
"Instructor Liu is amazing!"
"Even if the General and General Yang joined forces, they could only manage a draw!"
"However, the Great General and General Yang are also very capable!"
Have you ever seen anyone who could fight Coach Liu to a draw?
"I heard that the General and General Yang have already reached the first level of reversal!"
"Complex first-order?"
"Yes, I heard from the special operations battalion members that this is a new level."
"From level one to level eighteen, it's unknown what level it will be after that!"
Inside the general's tent of the Wuzhou army.
"Ah Ying, half a year has passed. What are your thoughts on this princess?" Cen Jin asked.
"Didn't you already make up your mind?" Yang Ying asked instead of answering.
"It's so hard to be lazy when you're old and still have to participate in the power struggles of the imperial court!" Cen Jin sighed.
"That's incredibly shameless!" Yang Ying said.
"General! General!" Cen Rou shouted loudly from outside, referring to the military rank of the general in Wuzhou.
"Go in!" The two exchanged a glance, and suddenly an idea struck them.
"Arou, come here!" Cen Rou suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Do you dare to go to Kyoto?" Cen Jin asked.
“Why wouldn’t I dare?” Cen Rou answered instinctively.
“Alright, I will submit the memorial immediately. You prepare accordingly, and we will depart for Jinling City in a few days,” Cen Jin said.
“No, Father, why do we have to go to Jinling City?” Cen Rou realized.
“Go see your brother. He’s all alone in Jinling City. Are you worried about him?” Yang Ying said.
“Father, Mother, it can’t be that simple, can it? You must have other plans.” Cen Rou said with certainty. If you were really worried, you would have arranged for her and her younger brother to go to Jinling back then, instead of waiting until now.
“If you go to Jinling, you might meet someone, and after you meet them you will know why,” Cen Jin said.
“Okay, all mysterious.” Cen Rou agreed and then left the tent.
Cen Rou thought that this princess was too charming, and her parents had already decided to take sides. In that case, she should go to Jinling City.
The three siblings of the Cen family, the second daughter has two sides: outwardly she is straightforward, and inwardly she is cunning and scheming.
——
Jinling City, Changle Palace.
"This bed is so comfortable!" The system rolled around on the bed. The bed in Xiao Liunian's camp in Wuzhou was a bit hard and not friendly to cats at all.
"Greetings, Princess!"
"Your Highness, the refreshments and fruits are ready!"
"Meow!" Mumu, you're so sweet!
"Let's go get some snacks!" Xiao Liunian led the system away from the soft bed.
"Meow!" Delicious! This was the exclamation of the system cat, who was busy eating without even looking up, taking a moment to utter.
Xiao Liunian remained silent, then picked up her chopsticks and placed a small piece of fruit into the cat's bowl.
"Meow!" The system, sprawled on its round belly in the chair, exclaimed, "Life is so comfortable!"
"Mumu, I thought you would try to win over the Cen family on your way to Wuzhou and get them on your side to help you become emperor," the system transmitted.
"The Cen family has devoted their lives to the people. They are smart enough to make the right choice during their trip to Wuzhou." Xiao Liunian picked up the cat, preparing to digest his food.
"What if they're not smart and make the wrong choice?" the system wondered.
“If we’re wrong, then we’ll replace him. It’s not difficult to train another leader for the Wuzhou Army,” Xiao Liunian said.
The system remained silent, its mind racing: This is villainous behavior! Could it be that the system is actually bound to a villain?
After their meal, the two of them, Xiao Liunian and the cat, slowly digested their food in Chang Le Palace for nearly half an hour. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that Xiao Liunian was digesting his food while the cat was responsible for moving around in his arms.
After finishing their meal, the cat and the person were attracted by the soft bed again and went back to the bed to spread out pancakes.
"Mumu, let's go to the night market tonight, it's been so long since we've been!" The system cat, though half asleep and on the verge of falling asleep, still managed to make the request.
"Okay, go to sleep, we'll go when you wake up." Xiao Liunian gently patted her furry child's head, her method of putting him to sleep was quite unique.
Afterwards, Xiao Liunian slowly drifted into a dream with a fluffy smell. When she woke up again, it was dinner time. Since the system wanted to go to the night market, Xiao Liunian sent out a substitute to deal with the people in the palace, while she took the cat and disguised herself to go to the night market.
Today is also a day for the cat to make a wish and the cat owner to grant the wish.
The next day, according to palace regulations, was the day for the princesses to pay their respects to the Empress. There were only two princesses in the palace at the moment: Princess Chang Le, Xiao Liu Nian, born to the Empress, and Princess Ping Le, a concubine who had little presence in the palace.
After the greeting ceremony was completed, Empress Liu Furan offered a few words of routine concern and greetings before Princess Ping Le left first. Xiao Liunian did not leave, as she intended to have a talk with the Empress.
Empress Liu Furan has not had a comfortable life for the past six months, because she received a letter stating that Prince Xiao Jiuchen was not her biological son, and that her child had died at birth!
The letter also said that what the Empress did was like throwing an egg against a rock for His Majesty, and instead gave His Majesty a legitimate reason to punish the Liu family for treason, and then eradicate the entire Liu clan. If Miss Liu did not want the Liu family to be in trouble, she had better act cautiously, lest she cause the entire Liu clan to perish.
Even during her brief period of being love-struck, Liu Furan still retained a certain level of intelligence. Naturally, she couldn't completely believe a letter from an unknown source. Out of caution, Liu Furan secretly arranged for someone to investigate the letter. The result was that at least 70% of what was said in the letter was true, and the remaining 30% was just her own disbelief.
Meanwhile, Liu Furan's father, Liu Zheng, the patriarch of the Liu family, also received a letter. He arranged for someone to conduct a private investigation. For Liu Zheng, it was difficult to investigate within the palace, so he sent people to start from outside the palace. The investigation revealed that all those involved in delivering Prince Xiao Liuchen four years ago had died, some from natural disasters, some from man-made disasters, some from diseases, and some from accidents. Although the deaths seemed to follow a pattern, it was precisely because none of them survived that the result was suspicious.
Liu Zheng didn't dare to communicate with his daughter Liu Furan rashly. He only told her after verifying the information several times. After the two talked, they found that the father and daughter had received the same letter. The results of their investigation showed that the letter was highly authentic. While investigating the contents of the letter, Liu Zheng and Liu Furan also investigated who sent the letter, but they found nothing. So they had to stay put.
Inside the Empress's palace, only Princess Chang Le and the Empress remained. One was a silly princess who had always been favored, and the other was an Empress who was in perfect harmony with the Emperor and a model of virtue for the nation. Although they were mother and daughter, only the two of them probably knew how much true affection they had for each other.
Empress Liu Furan sat in the main seat, while Xiao Liunian sat in a chair to her left. After a while, Xiao Liunian asked, "Mother, have you been sleeping well these past six months?" Her tone remained flat, as if she were grateful for the somewhat silly persona created by her past substitute function.
Liu Furan was a little sensitive to the words "half a year," and a slight look of surprise flashed in her eyes, but only a little.
"It's so hot in the summer, it's really hard to get any rest!" Liu Furan said with a hint of helplessness about the season.
"Mother, have you ever heard the saying: 'A calm mind brings peace'?" Xiao Liunian said.
"Chang Le has a brilliant plan that can calm the Empress Dowager's mind. Would the Empress Dowager like to hear it?" Xiao Liunian asked.
"However, Chang Le only wants to tell the Empress Dowager about this method," Xiao Liunian requested.
"Get out!" Liu Furan waved her hand, signaling the maids to leave the hall.
After everyone had left, Xiao Liunian, having confirmed that everyone was out, didn't bother with any more subtle probing with Liu Furan and dropped a bombshell:
"Have you verified the contents of that letter?"
"You!" Liu Furan stood up instantly and quickly walked to Xiao Liunian's side.
“The Liu family and you are not so incompetent as to not be able to verify what happened back then after half a year.” Xiao Liunian remained seated in his chair.
"Who arranged for you to come here today to say these words?" Liu Furan was still somewhat incredulous that the letter was connected to the person in front of her.
Xiao Liunian remained silent, wanting to give the Empress some time to calmly reflect.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
