CH 57

The majestic procession went out the mansion gate. The commoners on the street had never seen this scale of royal procession before, so they stopped to watch. 

In the hustle and bustle, Li Yuanmin stood at the gate of the mansion, looking at the small remaining shadow in the distance. He slightly lowered his eyes. The cold wind of the winter afternoon blew on his face, a few strands of soft hair danced, extraordinarily beautiful and dignified. The good for nothing just now seem to be two different people from this dignified appearance. 

Ni Ying stood beside him, her face no longer as bright as before, but with a bit of obscurity.

Li Yuanmin finally took his eyes back and met Ni Ying’s. He startled slightly then smiled: “We’ve been tired for half a day, let’s go back.”

Ni Ying’s eyes suddenly turned red.

Li Yuanmin sighed, wrapped up her with his cloak belt to comfort her: “This is nothing more than a play.” 

Acting? It’s more than just acting.

This was the first time she had seen him as humble as an ant. Looking at the appearance of the noble guest from the capital, how could she not know that this was his previous situation in the palace… How can it be just acting?

She had vaguely heard that Her Highness Gege had a bad childhood in the palace but she hadn’t thought much about it before, after all, she was eight years old. She was deeply involved in the Jiaofang Division and had a bad life, but this did not prevent her from completely abandoning the past and indulging in enjoying the present day. And now, she suddenly understood that Her Highness Gege was different from her, he had never completely escaped the past, and Lingnan was only a temporary shelter, temporarily giving him some peace.

There were more than a thousand people in the whole of Guang’an mansion. Although they were not all rich and noble, there were none who were not carefree and reckless. To think that this tranquility was pressed on such a slender and thin body, Ni Ying couldn’t help but feel sour and bitter in her heart–this kind of non talkative His Highness Gege, behind the invisible eyes of everyone, he carried a lot of invisible hardship.

Growing up is almost like an instantaneous matter.

The more distressed she was, the more afraid she was for the other party to discover something. Ni Ying did not show her heart on her face, and quickly accepted the expression just now. She grinned: “Your Highness Gege acted really well earlier, even Ah Ying was almost fooled by you.” 

Li Yuanmin smiled, wanting to touch her head as usual, but suddenly realized that the girl in front of him was fourteen years old and no longer a child.

He coughed softly, put his hand down, and said softly: “In the morning, you have been busy with your work, and I have not seen you eat. I asked the kitchen to prepare a bowl of almond yogurt for you, eat it and then go to rest.”

“Your Highness will accompany me to eat something, right?” Ni Ying suppressed the sourness in her heart and threw herself at him as usual.

Although he didn’t have much appetite, Li Yuanmin was used to pampering her, so he nodded his head dotingly: “Okay.”

Ni Ying looked happy and immediately prepared to go to the backyard.

When the girl’s back disappeared around the corner, Li Yuanmin’s face was a little sadder.

This year has been too chaotic.

When he first heard that Xue Zaixing had died at the hands of water bandits remnants, his first reaction was shock, mixed with a bit of joy at escaping from danger, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong.

The majestic first rank governor in the Jiangbei camp with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, would actually be robbed and killed by a group of unconventional water bandits? Was Xue Zaixing’s luck too bad, or was there some hidden plot of treachery?

Now that even the Grand Prince had come to the south, not knowing what he wanted to do and remembering the killing mechanism in his letterhead, Li Yuanmin could only take the opportunity to pretend to be stupid in front of him. He didn’t know how much he believed. At present, he was more worried about Ni Lie, he did not know whether he would be involved in this matter.

Remembering that cold face, he sighed again. Ah Lie had not replied to him for many days. Because of this incident, it’s not good for Li Yuanmin to send a letter to Jiangbei Camp again. In ten days, it will be Chinese New Year’s Eve. He does not know whether the man will be able to return in time, but he suppressed the uneasiness in his heart and touched the tiger’s head jade pendant in his bosom. The feeling of longing became more and more intense.

***

Xiling Camp.

Ni Lie had been living peacefully these past few days. He had been reviewing all sorts of changes that had happened over the years in the main tent, trying to adapt himself to this identity in a short period of time.

With the assistance of Cao Gang, a powerful military counselor, Ni Lie quickly returned to normal in the eyes of everyone – playing “himself” was naturally not difficult. Although the tracking fate of these two lives had changed too much, the nature of the two was not much different. They were just different circumstances. Today’s Ni Lie was a little more sophisticated and fierce than the original eighteen-year-old soul, there was also a little more invisible pressure in temperament.

The Lingnan generals naturally did not know that their commander had already changed his core, but they only felt that their commander daren had become more powerful. They had become more scared and on edge when faced with him.

The Jiangbei camp has really not been quiet these days. A huge group of majestic armies came from the capital. All the generals have been called over to inquire, and all kinds of investigations have been made, making everyone panic at the slightest move. Everyone’s faces were grave. 

Ni Lie was naturally called to be interrogated, but at the time of the incident, the Lingnan Army was still in jiangjing dealing with the aftermath. The murder of the governor and the robbery of the prison carraige naturally was not counted on him.

In the face of these subordinates from the previous live, Ni Lie was very calm. From start to finish, the examiner asked questions in an arrogant manner but there weren’t any doubtful points, so he was excused. 

As soon as things passed, there was no doubt about Xue Zaixing’s robbery and murder, but they found out the problem of military expenses in the Governor’s mansion to suppress bandits. Only in the future did they have time to follow through the clues. The carriage of the Grand Prince, Li Yuanqian, had also arrived at the Xiling camp.

With Li Yuanqian in front, the investigation officials naturally had to give the prospective crown prince some face. So all the main works were entrusted to him to supervise. Originally, it was thought that this grand case would be worked on for a long time but unexpectedly, under Li Yuanqian’s intervention, this matter was soon determined — The water bandits’ remnants retaliated against the imperial court. In the end, Wei Yan, the commander of the western Yunnan County garrison, was stripped of his position as commander due to the inability to protect the prisoners, and his official title was demoted to the third rank. In addition, the three armies jointly allocated a force of 100,000 elite troops, led by Li Yuanqian himself, to suppress the remnants of water bandits in order to comfort the spirit of governor Xue in heaven. As for the military expenses problem, naturally it was left unsettled.

Xue Zaixing’s death was suppressed this way.

Now more people were concerned about another matter, the position of governor of these two rivers and three provinces can be regarded as vacant, and it wasn’t known who can take over nearly one-third of the troops of Bei’an.

However, Li Yuanqian did not take a stance, and kept it on hold, only ordering the deputy officials to temporarily take charge of the affairs of the governor’s mansion, and took over his power to administer the armies. Since then, the authority of the governor’s mansion has been greatly reduced, and the three armies of Lingnan, Western Yunnan, and Liangguang were no longer under the command of the governor’s mansion.

The original two-month Shuiyan, in this storm, ended prematurely in less than 10 days.

Because in a few days it was Chinese New Year’s Eve, the Lingnan army returned home in advance.

The closer he got to Lingnan, the more dignified the look on Cao Gang’s face became.

Ni Lie couldn’t see what he was worried about. He sneered: “Rest assured, I will act as this slave properly.”

A leader is flexible, and now he is no longer the lord of the world who ascended to the top in his previous life. He will not look to die easily until he grabs back the authority he had in his previous life.

Cao Gang reluctantly smiled.

However, when the party arrived at the territory of Lingnan, they received news from King Guang’an, who had set off for Xiling camp under the protection of a large number of soldiers to send out troops for the grand prince to suppress bandits. It was only a one day difference but the two people had missed each other.

Cao Gang was greatly relieved.

Ni Lie didn’t care much, his face was as usual, leading the army to the camp.

As the commander of the Lingnan County garrison, Ni Lie naturally also had his own mansion, which had only been deserted there. Now he could only live in the Guang’an mansion as before, not to mention that Ah Ying was also there.

When the army settled down and handed over the matters clearly, Ni Lie took Cao Gang and a few personal guards back to the Guang’an mansion early.

The simple and majestic mansion stood on a long street, and the soldiers of the mansion lined up to greet him.

Ni Lie grabbed the reins, his eyes narrowed in one place. A beautiful young girl stood there, the cold wind blew, she frowned, and then revealed a bright smile. She raised her hand and shook it sharply.

“Elder brother!”

Ni Lie didn’t move, but kept looking at the girl.

The crowd did not understand, so they could only follow their leader and stay still. 

When Ni Ying saw this, the butterfly of spring smiled and jumped down, running to the horse, and took the saber in his hand: “Elder brother, why did you stop here?”

Under the warm sun, Ni Lie looked at the young girl who was shrouded in sunlight in front of him. The violent agitation in his heart gradually subsided, turning into an unprecedented tenderness. His throat moved, and he said softly: “Ah Ying, Elder brother Ah… I haven’t seen you in a long time. ”

Ni Ying slightly stared at him blankly before revealing a bright smile to him.

Since returning from Shuiyan, Ni Ying obviously felt that her brother was much gentler, although others were more and more afraid of him.

What surprised her most was that brother’s indulgence in her was almost at an unbelievable state. Even when she complained that she could not be as free as a boy, he did not say a word, and personally took her to dress as a man to the military camp for training.

These two days, no matter where Ni Lie went, he had to take Ni Ying with him. Although he still had that cold look, Ni Ying could see the infinite pampering under his eyes.

If it weren’t for the original face, Ni Ying simply felt that the person in front of her was His Highness Gege in disguise.

That’s great.

Looking at the tall youth on the slope, Ni Ying sighed in her heart. She shouted elder brother aloud before she squeezed on the horse’s belly, and ran towards him.

***

The night was as cold as water, Ni Lie eyes gradually fell into the dreamland.

A slight footstep sounded, and Ni Lie immediately woke up alertly.

The moonlight was hazy, scattered on the ground, and the light danced softly.

A slender and thin figure came to his side, he walked hurriedly, but very lightly.

Ni Lie first smelled a faint cold incense, and then, with a heavy weight in his arms, the man pounced on him. Holding his face, his forehead against his, his voice was dreamy: “Ah Lie…”

Under the moonlight, the vigilant gaze turned into surprise in an instant, and the word ‘sister’ almost came out.

His heart pounded. He squeezed his thighs hard, and stared straight at his face.

The appearance of the little palace maid in his memory also gradually became clear.

Similar but also not similar.

Ni Lie looked at “her” as if he had been struck by lightning.

But “she” touched his face affectionately, and then raised his chin. The cold fragrance became clearer, Ni Lie only felt a warmth on his lips, and a wet, soft thing was attached to him.

When the other party put his hands around his neck, Ni Lie trembled like he had just woken up from a dream.

The cold air gradually invaded.

No, it’s not her, his palace sister had died a long time ago.

Died in that deep palace, died in front of the crushing imperial power, died like an ant without a sound. She could not wait for his salvation for two lifetimes.

The confusion in his eyes gradually dissipated, he became clearer and clearer.

The person who could appear on his bed at this hour could be no one but the spoiled beauty.

The other party’s hair brought along the cold air from the outside, fluttering on the wings of his nose, with the cold fragrance he smelt earlier.

“Ah Lie….Did you miss me…” The person in front of him spoke like he was talking in his sleep.

He pressed his lips again.

In the night, Li Yuanmin could not detect the change of the other party.

He just wrapped his arms around his neck tightly and kissed his beloved lover.

The author has something to say: I will say something in advance. Although it is very incredible, the Red Tiger King, who has been emperor for several years, is indeed still alive.

There will be an explanation later for the little palace maid’s question, not that the Red Tiger King is blind – of course, the changes are indeed very large.