"So you're saying they're targeting either me or Xiao Lanyi?"
Huo Xiaolong was still awake. When Da Nier came back and they reviewed the situation, the two girls were loudly plotting in front of the desk, one with her legs crossed and the other with her legs on the table.
Those who knew them would think they were discussing national affairs, but those who didn't would think they'd wandered into someone's private room.
"Yeah, they can't really mess with you. To mess with you, the Emperor would have to do it. As for Xiao Lanyi, don't worry about his safety. We have tons of medicine for him." Da Nier said, slumped in her chair.
"Then his only weaknesses are the Imperial Concubine and Sister Ruyi."
"right."
"Don't worry, Sister Ruyi. What could possibly happen if she stays at our house? It's just that the Imperial Concubine is a bit difficult to deal with."
It's not a matter of personal safety. Her mother can't go to the palace to accompany Xiao Lanhua every day now. In the palace, it's easy to dodge open attacks but hard to guard against hidden ones. If you're not careful, you can be thrown into the cold palace and given a cup of poisoned wine. There's no time to do that.
"Send a few secret guards to the Imperial Concubine first," Huo Xiaolong decided after a moment's thought.
"You even have bodyguards? I didn't even know that." Da Ni'er immediately stood up from her chair.
I really don't know, when did the Prince of Zhenbei start having secret guards? Aren't those secret guards all Lan Tingche and Xiao Lanyi's?
"Those people from Zhanchen Tower, I suppose."
"You're such a good employer. People are retired and need to enjoy their retirement, yet you make them stay up all night every day."
"What's wrong with staying up all night? Fifty taels a night, and you can come back to sleep during the day and rest all day. One night's work and one day's rest, isn't that good enough?"
Really?
Da Ni'er grabbed Huo Xiaolong's hand and said with a serious expression.
"Okay, I'll go, give me the money."
Huo Xiaolong couldn't bear to watch any longer, so he pulled his hand back and put it in his pocket, asking in confusion...
"You, the king of the grasslands, are you short of money?"
“I have to open a sesame seed cake shop, at least three in the capital. A shop in a good location costs at least three thousand taels of silver. I can’t afford that even if I sell my underwear. We’ve agreed, we’re best friends, I’ll make this money.”
The Prince of Zhenbei's head was buzzing, and he looked disgusted. Finally, he said helplessly.
"No, I'll give you money to open a shop. We're the Queen of the Grasslands, after all. The whole capital knows you're my best friend, Huo Xiaolong's best friend. We're inseparable. Why would you become a bodyguard for a little money?"
"That won't do. A person must have principles, just like you taught me."
"Can I become a shareholder?"
Da Ni'er sat there thinking for a long time, while Huo Xiaolong looked at the moonlight hanging high outside the window and sighed.
There's really nothing I can do; my sister's brain isn't working properly.
"Why are you sighing?" the dark-skinned girl asked.
"You think you're good, huh?"
"I also think I'm pretty good."
"..."
“I think you’re good too,” Dani’er continued.
Over the years, Wang Tianci had never expressed his feelings to Long'er directly. This was the first time, so Huo Xiaolong was a little curious and asked.
"What? What's so good about it?"
"When I came out of Honghua's place, I thought that if I didn't know you, I might have agreed to their request. But after thinking about it carefully, I still can't agree if I don't know you."
"How so?"
“As long as you’re here, in Pingyang County, it’s an impregnable city. You’ll still cooperate with me to conquer the grasslands, but maybe our relationship won’t be as good then.”
"But I still can't beat you."
Da Ni'er thought about a lot of things while she was on the way.
Long'er's wish is known to all: she wants people to no longer suffer from hunger and cold. This is the way of a benevolent ruler who cares for all people.
Therefore, she has the support of the people.
But most people have never seen Huo Xiaolong bravely fighting on the battlefield.
In other words, the phrase "hero kills the enemy" is an embellishment of her image.
He was indeed very brave, but he was always covered in blood after killing people, and he kept this a secret from He Yi and didn't tell anyone.
When the girl stood amidst the bloodshed with her knife in hand, Da Ni'er even felt that Huo Xiaolong was born for this kind of place—not a battlefield, but a hunting ground for madmen.
Normally it's fine, but whenever any of the sisters is injured or in danger, there will be piles of dismembered limbs and corpses under the red-armored girl's horse, which is chilling just to look at.
"Oh dear, I'm not as good as you say~" Long'er waved her hand playfully.
“You are very good. You can be a very, very good monarch and keep the Great Yan and the grasslands at peace for a hundred years. Your dream will definitely come true.”
I will help you, even if it costs me my life.
Dani didn't say these words aloud; she kept them silently in her heart.
She's been doing this for a long time.
That wild and numb wolf cub of the grassland has now become the queen of the grassland, shining on her place like the huge moon over the grassland every moment.
—Inside the palace.
"Your Majesty, the King of the Grasslands has relented today."
The head maidservant beside the Empress Dowager handed her a cup of ginseng tea, which was still steaming. The Empress Dowager glanced at it, then waved her hand, and a junior maidservant fed her the tea.
"She agreed to cooperate with us?"
The head palace maid shook her head, then said...
"No, they said they'd go back and think about it."
"but……"
Seeing the hesitant expression on the face of the person who had been by her side for many years, the Empress Dowager spoke:
"Speak your mind directly."
"The Grand Preceptor was killed by the King of the Grasslands."
Da Nier: Huh? Don't talk nonsense. I'm not bad at all. He's the one who can't think straight. I just won the battle and wanted to show off the things I had.
The Empress Dowager, supporting herself on the chair, clenched her withered right hand tightly, then relaxed it. After a moment, she sighed deeply.
"Fine, let's leave it at that."
"The grassland is in her hands now. As long as she is with us, everything is fine."
The head palace maid nodded and helped the Empress Dowager slowly walk towards her bedchamber.
She could clearly feel the old woman's body trembling and her unsteady gait.
"Your Majesty, I'll go and fetch a royal physician to examine you."
The Empress Dowager waved her hand, signaling her to leave.
The woman believed that decades had been enough to turn her into a cold-hearted monster; her son, husband, daughter-in-law, and even her own grandson were nothing more than pawns in her game.
She knew they were all getting old.
Birth, aging, illness, and death are the natural order of things.
But she still really wanted to ask if he suffered when he left. Given the Yalan family's character, he must have had a very hard time.
I'm not reconciled.
I'm really not willing to accept this.
The grasslands that the two of them had worked so hard for so long ultimately returned to the hands of the Yalan Royal Court.
Fortunately, I heard that things are peaceful on the grasslands now, and all the spies she sent back have never returned.
This means that the people of the grasslands are now united as one, unlike before when they clashed over beliefs, territory, cattle, and sheep.
You left a little too early. There's a saying among the people of the Central Plains called the Bridge of Helplessness. Once you cross that bridge, you'll forget your past. Could you wait for me on the Bridge of Helplessness, Hao Lianchen?
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