Chapter 138
Si Yanmo felt sorry for him and reached out to wipe away his tears with her fingertips. "Why does Your Highness cry so easily? You weren't like this when we first met."
"When we first met, I didn't know that you would be the rest of my life." He held the person in his arms, his movements were very gentle, yet it was as if he had already integrated the person into his bones and blood.
"Amo, do you remember when I told you about how my master took me to see 'The Legend of Yun Ji' when I was a child?"
"I remember, what's wrong?" Si Yanmo leaned naturally on his shoulder.
“When I was a child, my master told me that no matter what happens, as long as I have good intentions, Yun Ji will come to save me no matter how great the danger is.”
She chuckled as she listened, "It seems even the kings of the pre-Qin period could deceive children."
“No, he didn’t lie to me.” Zhou Yanqing gently pushed her away and reached out to tidy her messy hair. “I saw Yun Ji.”
"Huh?" Si Yanmo tilted her head, puzzled. "You've seen it before? When?"
"On that very day, when I was fighting that old bastard Qi Rongyu."
"You're just trying to fool me. I didn't see anything." Si Yanmo felt that this person was definitely talking nonsense again.
He replied earnestly, "I saw it and I heard it."
Si Yanmo was even more confused.
“I heard her bells ring and saw her riding her horse toward me.”
“Bells? Horse?” she muttered, frowning, recalling the scene from that day. “That wasn’t me…”
Thinking of this, Si Yanmo's brows relaxed, and she knew that this person was lying to her again.
"Zhou Yanqing, you lied to me again!" She angrily grabbed his ear, but quickly remembered that his injury hadn't healed yet, so she let go.
Zhou Yanqing wasn't annoyed. He chuckled and pulled her hand to his lips, kissing it lightly. "I didn't lie to you. You're wearing bells and a light green dress, don't you look just like Yun Ji?"
The man's gaze was filled with love as he looked at her. "My wife can tell fortunes, has a photographic memory, and is incredibly intelligent. She's been given a second chance at life; perhaps she really is a goddess descended to earth to save all living beings."
"A goddess descending to earth should sever all love and affection. Are you willing?" Si Yanmo teased, pouting.
He shook his head decisively, "Of course I don't want to. So, Madam is not Yun Ji, but my goddess alone is enough."
Si Yanmo was amused by him, her forehead pressed against his, her breath spraying on his skin, carrying the scent of jasmine. "If I belong only to you, you're hindering the goddess from saving all living beings."
“Can’t you still do divination, Madam? Let’s work together to help the people of this world.” Zhou Yanqing put his arm around her soft waist. “But Madam might be a little tired. Please take more time to help your husband.”
"Since I've been so busy with all this, shouldn't Your Highness, King Qin, grant your goddess a title?"
He actually pretended to be thinking seriously, "I think the name Mo Li is very good, Madam. How about we write it in the Divine Chronicles in the future?"
"You really dare to think of anything." Si Yanmo playfully tapped his nose. "I think I married a madman."
"Then didn't I also marry a little madwoman?" With her prodding, Zhou Yanqing seemed to have a fire ignited inside him. He couldn't hide the love and longing in his eyes. He lightly pecked her lips again and again. "My wife and I are a match made in heaven."
Si Yanmo tried to back away, but he grabbed the back of her head again, and it took her a while to free herself. "Ugh... Zhou Yanqing... what are you doing?"
A sly smile played on the man's lips as his calloused hands loosened her sash, the rough texture sending shivers down her spine.
"Can't you see, madam?" He breathed a warm breath on her neck. "It's blasphemy..."
Si Yanmo was held captive by him and couldn't push him away no matter what she tried. "Zhou Yanqing, you're thinking about that kind of thing as soon as you wake up! Your injuries haven't healed yet!"
"It's alright." He chuckled, gently touching her collarbone and looking at the mark he had left with satisfaction. "Perhaps Ye Shengge still has some residual poison; we can try to neutralize it further."
"Nonsense... Ugh..."
As the man continued his actions, Si Yanmo gradually lost her chance to speak.
This person is talking nonsense. The effects of that night's revelry only lasted for six months, and the poison has long since worn off. There's no residual poison left; it's clearly just an excuse...
Zhou Yanqing's injuries were not serious, but Si Yanmo still made him rest for several days. Chen Wu and Si Yanmo handled most of the military affairs together.
He felt like he was going to degenerate from lying down, and he wanted to find something to do every day.
When he heard that Zhou Junsong had arrived, he finally had a reason to leave the bedroom and took him to find Si Yanmo.
Inside the study, Si Yanmo, wearing a light green jacket and with only half of her hair pulled back, was intently reading the books and reviewing the documents in her hands. When she heard the knock on the door, she simply responded with a faint "Come in."
"My wife is so busy every day, yet she leaves her husband alone in this empty room?"
Zhou Yanqing's teasing voice came from behind her. She didn't look up and skillfully coaxed, "Isn't it because I have too many things to do?"
"So busy that you don't even have time to see your sister?"
The familiar, gentle laughter reached her ears, and Si Yanmo suddenly looked up, meeting a pair of almond-shaped eyes.
"Sister!" She put down the folded paper, stood up, and rushed towards Si Yunyun, hugging her tightly. "Are you alright?"
These past few days, Si Yanmo has been worried about her sister. Ever since the incident with Nanhou, Si Yunyun has completely disappeared without a trace.
That day, Zhou Junsong went further into the palace, but still couldn't find the person.
She couldn't help but think of the destiny she had seen that day, and sent someone to go with Zhou Junsong to look for it, but the other party had not returned for a long time, and her heart could only hang in suspense.
With the throne still undecided, the Qi army to deal with, and Zhou Yanqing still injured, she relied on her daily busyness to keep herself from thinking about those bad possibilities.
Seeing her sister standing safely in front of her now, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if she were in a dream.
Seeing that her eyes were red, Si Yunyun gently patted her back, "Don't worry, I'm fine."
She recounted her whereabouts over the past few days to the others—initially, the Queen did indeed bring in a witch doctor to treat her as agreed, but while she was recovering, the Queen locked her up with Consort Shu.
Only then did she realize that Qi Tingyun wanted to force Zhou Junsong to cooperate with her.
It's called a cooperation, but it's really just about finding a suitable puppet. Even if he ascends the throne, he'll be tied to this "Empress Dowager" and obediently follow her orders.
On one hand, she worried that if the woman became desperate, Zhou Junsong would be doomed; on the other hand, she worried about whether her sister could still escape back to Qin.
She was not one to sit idly by and wait for her fate; she worked with Consort Shu to find a way to escape.
Consort Shu had always managed things well in the palace, and even the Empress's people never made things difficult for them. She used this as a breakthrough and bribed an official to send her a sleeping potion.
Before Xi'er went to kill Qi Tingyun that day, she sent people to deal with them first. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Si Yunyun used a sleeping potion to knock out the assassins and fled with Consort Shu.
They originally wanted to find the secret passage from back then, but because of Xi'er's actions, the Southern Emperor sealed off all exits, including every secret passage in the palace, to prevent Qi Gu's spies from escaping.
Helpless, the two could only hide in the back garden for the time being. By chance, they discovered the secret passage in the middle of the Emperor's statue and hid inside.
However, this secret passage did not lead to the outside, but rather to every palace within the palace, seemingly used by the Southern Emperor to monitor everyone in the palace.
After Qi Tingyun's incident, the Southern Emperor was thrown into chaos. The secret passage seemed to have lost its purpose, but it made it convenient for the two of them to travel through it and find food and tools for self-defense.
Unaware of the situation outside, the two remained hidden in the secret passage, too afraid to venture out.
Hearing that Qi troops had entered the country unexpectedly made him even more panicked, and he didn't dare to leave the secret passage for several days.
If it weren't for the severe shortage of food, and Si Yunyun's desire to try her luck, Zhou Junsong probably wouldn't have been able to find her for several more days.
After hearing her sister's story, Si Yanmo couldn't imagine how she and Consort Shu had managed to endure those days in the secret passage. Her heart ached terribly, and she held her sister's hand, saying, "It's all my fault for making you suffer."
Si Yunyun chuckled and patted her head. "How can I blame you? I'm actually glad you escaped. Otherwise, it might really be the Prince of Qi's domain now. At that point, it wouldn't matter whether I was in that secret passage or outside."
Speaking of this, Zhou Junsong, who had been silent, looked at Zhou Yanqing and said with a hint of probing, "A country cannot be without a ruler for a day. Qi Rongyu is not worthy of the throne. I wonder what the Prince of Qin thinks?"
"Judging from this, the Third Prince is still not giving up," Si Yanmo said first upon hearing her words.
Zhou Junsong did not answer, but asked again, "I was just wondering if Mo Wubu still remembers what he said back then?"
Fearing the other party might have ill intentions, Zhou Yanqing stepped forward to block Si Yanmo, but Si Yanmo pushed her away, indicating that everything was alright.
"I think times have changed, haven't they?"
"I thought Mo Wubu was not the kind of person to break his word."
Seeing that the two were about to start arguing again, Si Yunyun quickly stopped them, "Alright!"
She looked at Zhou Junsong, her tone slightly reproachful, "Husband, didn't we just agree on this?"
Zhou Junsong curled his lips and suppressed his arrogance, "I just wanted to tease my aunt."
Si Yanmo and Zhou Yanqing finally breathed a sigh of relief. In their minds, Zhou Junsong was the most troublesome and unstable person.
Because of Si Yunyun, he couldn't really kill her, but this person wasn't a completely bad person, just too cunning, and talking to her was exhausting.
But this time, Zhou Junsong had come to a realization.
Regardless of his fate or how many times he had been persistent, he could see that the entire Great South was already on a new path.
He cannot be that guide.
Moreover, Zhou Yanqing's ascension to the throne is already a foregone conclusion, both in terms of the people's support and the support of the feudal lords. Why should he rush headlong into a fire and strain the relationship between them?
When he couldn't find Si Yunyun, he had a thought: in the past, he had lost too much and taken advantage of too many people for the sake of power and profit, so much so that in the first twenty years of his life, he had no friends and no place where he could feel happy and relaxed.
During the time until Si Yunyun gave birth, he, Si Yanmo, Zhou Yanqing, and Zhong Zihe seemed to have no grudges among themselves. They just chatted and laughed occasionally, looking forward to the birth of the child.
Later, they worked together to help Tan Muhe, pooling their wisdom and setting aside their wariness towards their common enemy.
These are probably times he'll look back on when he's old and feel they were wonderful times.
Since everything was already predetermined, he still wanted to make things a little easier.
“We’re friends, aren’t we?” He raised an eyebrow at Si Yanmo.
The other person shook their head, making his heart tighten. "No."
"They are family."
Family, what a beautiful word!
It seems he can finally experience family affection that is completely free of any self-interest...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com