It sounds like there are still six months to go, but the Crown Prince's wedding is a grand national event involving many aspects such as royal etiquette, preparation of betrothal gifts, and personnel arrangements. Six months is already the earliest possible time.
Xie Tingzhou previously thought the time was too long, but now he feels it's just right. Half a year is enough for him to beat Xi Yue so badly that she won't dare to make a mistake again.
"I just can't spend the New Year with you."
This is Ye Zhen's first year after her rebirth, and also their first year of falling in love.
Xie Tingzhou felt regretful and guilty.
Ye Zhen looked up at him and said, "Then I'll punish you by making you spend every year of the rest of your life with me, until you're a hundred."
The two were reluctant to part.
In the palace, Prince Ning lingered by the Empress's side, saying, "Mother, what should I do? I can't bear to leave you, but I also want to go to the border town to see you. I'm so torn."
The Empress smiled, “When a fledgling eagle grows up, it will eventually leave its parents and spread its wings. Ning’er, you deserve your own place in the world.”
Your mother will not force you to become a great person, but she also wants you to go out and see the world, to see the hardships of the common people, and to see the bravery of the soldiers of my Great Yuan.
Perhaps your mindset will change, and you'll know how to walk the rest of your life. After the war ends, you can return with the Marquis of Loyalty and Valor.
The Empress affectionately patted Prince Ning's head.
Although he was not her biological son, she had raised him for twenty years and saw him every day. In her heart, Prince Ning was no different from her own son, and he was even more caring than her two older brothers.
The emperor once joked with her that it would be nice if Prince Ning were a little princess, but unfortunately he wasn't.
If he were a princess, she could let him do whatever he wanted, choose a good husband for him, and live a peaceful and happy life.
But he is a prince, a prince of the blood. The Prince of Yun has been deposed. The Prince of Ning should shoulder the responsibilities of a prince of the blood and help his elder brother, the crown prince.
Moreover, after experiencing the incident with the Prince of Yun, she broke free from her mother's mindset and realized that the third son was not truly incompetent; he was more likely trying to avoid suspicion.
The Empress feared that if this continued for too long, Prince Ning would also harbor resentment, so she had to give the child a chance.
But then Prince Ning said, "Isn't Your Majesty afraid that once I've seen the vastness of the outside world, I won't want to come back?"
The Empress scolded him and slapped him on the head. "Children speak without thinking, don't talk nonsense. Your parents are still in the capital. How can a child not go home?"
His hands trembled slightly.
Prince Ning buried his head in the Empress's lap, "Your Majesty, I was just joking with you. How could I bear to leave you, Mother?"
The emperor happened to walk in and saw that he was still acting like a child, clinging to the empress despite his age. He was so angry that he kicked him in the butt.
"Get up! That's my wife. Aren't you ashamed?"
Prince Ning jumped up, hid behind the Empress, wrapped his arms around her neck, and said coquettishly, "Mother, please control your man."
When he looked at the emperor, he stuck out his tongue and made a face.
The emperor was so angry that he chased after him and beat him, while Prince Ning ran around the empress. The two of them were in a chaotic situation, with one chasing and the other dodging, causing chaos in the palace.
Prince Ning continued, "Father, you're getting old. You can't even keep up with your son. Why don't you ask the Crown Prince to take a look at you?"
"You've gone too far! How dare you act so disrespectfully towards me! I'll catch you and give you a good spanking!"
The emperor failed to catch up, because Prince Ning had run out of the palace.
"Father, I'm not playing with you anymore. Mother, I'm leaving. Please remember to think of me often."
Unseen by anyone, tears streamed down the face of the running person.
Once a person pays attention, they will always find a way to know something. Besides, the emperor and empress doted on him so much that they didn't guard against him at all.
Only then did he realize that he was not the emperor and empress's biological son, and that he was not a royal prince.
He should have started learning martial arts and military strategy as soon as he learned to walk. He should have been like his brothers, holding a spear and going to the battlefield at a young age, enduring hardships to protect the country.
That's how all the men of the Helian family have come through.
But he was lucky; he was switched at birth and placed in the royal family, enjoying the privileges of a superior person and receiving the emperor and empress's favor.
They were luckier than the emperor and empress's three biological children. So how could he pretend not to know anything and do nothing?
After running out of Fengyi Palace, Prince Ning stopped and slowly turned his head to look back at Fengyi Palace.
He silently thought to himself, "I cannot fail to repay the kindness of my parents in raising me, nor can I forget the kindness of giving me life. Father and Mother, please take good care of yourselves. I will repay you after I have done what I should do."
He then strode away.
With a seventy-year-old grandfather above him and a ten-year-old younger brother below him, how could this good man in his twenties be a coward?
Xie Tingzhou was unaware that Prince Ning had planned to keep Helian Qing at the Helian family's residence until he came of age and inherited the title before returning to the capital.
After discussing his plans with Ye Zhen and arranging everything, he took Ye Zhen to stay at a manor outside the city for two days before setting off.
This manor was the one where Ye Zhen was tricked by Liu Shi, and it can be considered the place where their relationship began.
Having arrived here, they naturally had to go to the mountain where the two had reunited.
Standing where he was ambushed by assassins, Xie Tingzhou pointed to a large tree and said, "You hid here to help me back then, didn't you?"
Ye Zhen's ears twitched, and he laughed, "Yes, I was standing right here at the time, using pebbles as projectiles to hit the assassin."
She winked at Xie Tingzhou and smiled mischievously, "Want me to demonstrate for you and show you how powerful I am?"
Xie Tingzhou bent down and picked up a handful of pebbles. "We'll see."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Zhen grabbed the pebble from his hand and flicked it to the right front. A painful groan rang out, and then more than a dozen men in black appeared from all directions, surrounding them...
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