Chapter 128: Chapter 124: Hold Your Fire, We’re All on the Same Side

“Song Yun is truly useless.” Aunt Qiao angrily threw the teacup in her hand onto the floor, making a loud noise, “Doesn’t do clean work, only uses some despicable means in the inner house, a concubine’s daughter really is of no great use.”

The servants had already been dismissed, and the room seemed to have only Aunt Qiao, but unexpectedly, a voice suddenly came from the dark corner of the room, carrying a bit of flippant disdain, mocking, “Aren’t you also using the despicable means of the inner house, and isn’t your son also a concubine’s son.”

Aunt Qiao immediately reacted as if she had been poked in the tail, screaming loudly, “My son is a legitimate son! I am now the mistress of the General Mansion!”

The voice was clearly uninterested in Aunt Qiao and not afraid of her fury, “Oh, it has nothing to do with me.”

“Shi Wang, don’t forget what your master promised me, you must do this well.”

“Understood.”

There was no change in the room, but Aunt Qiao knew that Shi Wang had already left.

This person is difficult to control, but cooperating with him is beneficial, so for now, she must not act rashly.

Aunt Qiao’s nostrils flared as she took two deep breaths.

Wait and see, as soon as her son inherits the General Mansion, the first person she will kill is Shi Wang.

…

Not long after handing Song Yun over to Song Yan, Song Yan moved out from Yi Fen Palace, explaining that her leg had recovered and it was inappropriate to trouble the Princess further.

Thus, Yi Fen Palace returned to its solitary state.

Shen Jingxian returned to school at the Imperial College, asking her father for guidance whenever she encountered difficulties, and rapidly made progress, especially developing her own ideas on the so-called path of balance.

Shen Jingxian now receives letters from Wen Ranchen every month, each containing different little gifts, which is something she looks forward to.

The letter sent recently mentioned that Wen Ranchen had adapted to life over there, and even had followers.

Shen Jingxian couldn’t help but marvel at the protagonist’s blessed life.

Since the poetry meeting, the prince of Fang Yao Country, Gong Yu, would occasionally find excuses to appear before Shen Jingxian. Initially, Shen Jingxian would exchange a few courteous words with him, but it later became so annoying that she directly asked him to leave, which only made Gong Yu come more frequently, and if Shen Jingxian couldn’t hold back from saying something sharp to him… The scene would become too fantastical to describe.

Every time, Gong Yu looked at Shen Jingxian with a face full of anticipation and slight shyness, which was enough to make one’s skin crawl.

Somehow, Gong Yu even managed to follow Shen Jingxian to the Imperial College, but fortunately, the students there weren’t easy to deal with; not only did Gong Yu fail to achieve his goal of approaching the Princess, but he ended up being further away from her due to the heavy protection of the students.

Nothing major happened to Bai Lun for the time being, only minor incidents, such as being set up by someone, and it was Shen Jingxian who bailed him out—overall… very foolish.

Many things happen every day, yet, to Shen Jingxian, it’s as if nothing is happening; the days are too tranquil, so tranquil that she always feels as though something is waiting for her.

Shen Jingxian thoughtfully pondered the so-called “big event” in her mind.

The female protagonist has toppled the Duke Mansion… in some sense, that’s already accomplished.

Defeated the malicious sister… accomplished.

Subjugate emperors of various countries…

Shen Jingxian suddenly realized that it might be time for Song Yan to subdue Gong Yu in the narrative, so she adjusted her mindset, ready to enjoy the spectacle.

And then, the Emperor’s birthday arrived.

Unlike other countries, the tradition in Yunyi Country is to hold grand celebrations for the birthdays of the Princess and the Empress, while the Emperor’s birthday is kept simple.

The officials are already accustomed to it, except for Gong Yu, who stared at the simple meal in front of him, falling into contemplation.

In the past, his mother always told him how splendid the Princess’s birthday was, celebrated nationwide, with singing and dancing, the Imperial Palace feasting on delicacies and witnessing the finest performances, the most beautiful dancing girls, and talented scholars composing poetry and painting—nothing is unattainable, only unimaginable; one time, someone even went to great lengths to please the Princess, creating a spectacle of a phoenix descending as a divine sign!

Though it was later proven to be fabricated with some sort of device, it didn’t detract from the phoenix miracle becoming an unreplicable classic!

And now…

Where are the delicacies? The songs and dances? The beauty? The paintings? The poetry? The classics?

None, not a single one.

There were only ministers gathered together, loudly singing Happy Birthday to the Emperor—Happy Birthday~~

Someone’s voice was particularly shrill, making Gong Yu’s scalp tingle; he just wanted to rush over and grab that chaotic person to tell them: we’re all in this together, no need to raise your voice!!!

But the Emperor’s face was full of happiness, so Gong Yu dared not say anything further.

Gong Yu didn’t know that the Emperor’s happiness had nothing to do with the ministers, only with the Princess and the Empress.

Ah, my daughter singing to me is so adorable!! I will always love Yi Fen!

Ah, my wife’s affectionate gaze is so alluring, I will always love my wife!

As for the ministers, they had already been selectively ignored, yet they didn’t realize it; some were even moved to tears of wisdom by their own singing.

At this moment, Gong Yu didn’t know whether it was he who was mistaken, or the world that was.

After the ministers finished singing, the Emperor gave a few symbolic words, then everyone began presenting gifts.

Everyone knew the Emperor’s birthday should be low-key, valued for the sentiment rather than the price, as long as the Emperor was happy.

Thus, Gong Yu once again witnessed a scene he would never forget.

“Your Majesty, this is a sachet meticulously crafted by my wife, using over a hundred selected herbs according to Shi Jiu’s pharmacology, to wear and calm the mind, steady the nerves, and help with sleep!”

Gong Yu’s eyes widened; this person doesn’t want to live anymore, right? On the Emperor’s birthday, he presents a sachet—such sachets can be bought for a few hundred with one or two pieces of silver on the street—for the Emperor, it’s truly a joke, let him wait for death.

“Very thoughtful.”

Gong Yu: ?

The minister who successfully presented his “treasure” received envious stares from everyone—damn, he was first!

Gong Yu hadn’t figured it out yet when he discovered that not only that minister, but many ministers presented gifts related to calming and sleep; whenever these were presented, the Emperor praised them.

Yunyi Country… really strange.

Yunyi Country’s Emperor, even stranger.

Gong Yu was baffled, but Shen Jingxian understood perfectly.

Recently, she had a nightmare, dreaming of events in the novel and casually complained to the Emperor that she hadn’t been sleeping well; unexpectedly, today’s outcome came about.

No need to watch.

But it couldn’t be denied that watching the Emperor receive these not-so-expensive gifts with a smiling face warmed Shen Jingxian’s heart.

After the gift-giving, came the food, the drink, and the traditional procedure.

Only then did Gong Yu somewhat get the feeling that the Emperor was celebrating his birthday.

Shen Jingxian was always waiting, waiting for the plot of Gong Yu and Song Yan, but the two seemed completely indifferent to each other!

How did the two originally meet in the story again… Oh, there was a war, Gong Yu lacked money, then he came to know Song Yan.

Suddenly, Shen Jingxian had a foreboding feeling, a feeling that hadn’t surfaced for a long time.

Sure enough, not long after, news came from outside.

“Hasty dispatch from 800 miles away! Northern border invasion! Dongwu leading thirty thousand troops in a surprise attack on Jiangkou Town!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep