by N/A
“Mistress, you’ve finally returned.” Xia Yuan was just leaving Beiling Yu’s room when she saw Du Xiaoli and hurried to welcome her. Seeing that Du Xiaoli was completely unharmed, Xia Yuan’s tense heart finally relaxed.
“How’s Princess Yu’s condition?” Du Xiaoli asked as she walked.
“She only complained of pain once yesterday evening. But after drinking the medicine, she said it didn’t hurt anymore,” Xia Yuan answered.
“Did the pain last for long? And what was the level of pain?”
“Not long, but the pain was quite severe. She nearly fainted.”
Du Xiaoli had just arrived in front of Beiling Yu’s room. When she heard Xia Yuan’s words, she paused for a moment before reaching out her hand to knock on the room door.
Beiling Yu’s servant girl very quickly opened the door. Seeing Du Xiaoli and Beiling Yicheng, the servant girl greeted the prince hurriedly.
“7th Prince.”
“Where’s my younger sister?” Beiling Yicheng asked.
Beiling Yu was currently bored in bed. When she heard Beiling Yicheng’s voice, she immediately sat up and stretched her neck out to look at the room’s doorway. Seeing Beiling Yicheng, Beiling Yu waved her hand and yelled, “Elder Brother, come over here quickly. Where have you been? You said you’d just be gone for a day or two. In the end, it took you so long to return. You’re too late to participate in the competition.”
I've finally finished setting up the team! So, there will be more changes happening with the terms etc. For the more specific ones, they will be noted in the footnotes. We have decided to make a general name format change from the normal Chinese format to the more common format of Surname + Given names combined, e.g. Du Xiao Li -> Du Xiaoli. Hope this doesn't cause any confusion!
Hi all! We now have a donation page if you'd like to donate. The bonus releases may not come that quick during this setting up period, but we'll try to release them as soon as we can!
$12 per bonus release. If you want to support the team, please donate here.
Ch. 090.2 – Attack! (2)
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This is bonus release 1 (of 2). The second one will likely be some time next week.
When Du Xiaoli and Beiling Yicheng entered the room, Du Xiaoli could tell with one glance that there was something abnormal about Beiling Yu’s complexion.
“7th Prince, let’s have the princess take the medicine first.”
Beiling Yicheng nodded and took a small bottle from his chest pocket. He poured out a pill from the bottle and had the servant girl bring over a cup of water.
Looking at the murky black pill, Beiling Yu tilted her head and asked, “Elder Brother, what medicine is this?”
“This is what Miss Du and I went to a very far place to get for you. Take it quickly,” Beiling Yicheng said. In front of Beiling Yu, he had once again become that warm and gentle older brother.
“Okay.” Beiling Yu drank some water but kept it in her mouth. Then she picked up the pill that was on Beiling Yicheng’s hand and tilted her head back. Placing the pill in her mouth, she swallowed it with the water. After taking the medicine, she asked, “Elder Brother, what medicine did I just take?”
To ask what medicine it was after already taking it… Du Xiaoli didn’t know how to describe the relationship between the pair of siblings. She supposed it was also a kind of blessing to be able to trust wholeheartedly and be trusted in return,
“Didn’t you fall sick? This illness is quite severe. But after taking this medicine, you’ll be fine,” Beiling Yicheng said with a smile.
“Really? I was still in pain yesterday evening, but you weren’t around then. You have no idea how much pain I was in!” When Beiling Yu thought of the sharp pain she’d felt the previous night, she still had some lingering fears about it returning. “Will I really be fine after taking this medicine?”
“Yes, Princess Yu. After taking this medicine, you won’t be in pain anymore, and it won’t affect your competition later. Let me check your pulse again.” Once Du Xiaoli finished talking, she came to the bedside to check Beiling Yu’s pulse. After a while, she withdrew her hand and said, “Your condition has already started taking a turn for the better, but time will be necessary for the medicine to display its effect.”
“Thank you, Miss Du. You’re way better than your second oldest sister!” Beiling Yu said with a laugh.
“Many thanks for your praise, Princess Yu,” Du Xiaoli replied while smiling. “7th Prince, since Princess Yu is fine now, I’ll be heading back first. Having been away for two days, there are some matters that I need to attend to. I’ll come to have another look at the princess in the evening.”
Beiling Yicheng thought of the tough time Du Xiaoli had these past two days and said, “Thank you, Miss Du. Please do as you wish.”
“Goodbye.”
Du Xiaoli brought along Xia Yuan and returned to her own courtyard before telling the latter, “Go prepare some hot water. I want to take a bath.”
“Mistress, on the way back… did you run into some trouble?” Xia Yuan asked.
“How did you know?” Du Xiaoli didn’t actually have the intention of hiding this matter from Xia Yuan. She was just somewhat shocked that Xia Yuan already knew about it.
“There’s a faint scent of blood around Mistress and 7th Prince,” Xia Yuan replied. Thinking about what Fu Wansan had said before, she also asked, “Was it the work of Water Moon Paradise? Did they go find you? Mistress, did you get hurt?”
“How did you know the members of Water Moon Paradise would go looking for me?” Du Xiaoli stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Xia Yuan.
“It was Uncle Fu who said it,” Xia Yuan answered.
Soon after, she told Du Xiaoli about how Fu Wansan had come to find her. Then Xia Yuan asked, “Mistress, did Water Moon Paradise try to snatch away the secret book?”
“It wasn’t that. I’m very tired right now. I’ll tell you after I’m done with my bath,” Du Xiaoli said.
“This servant will go prepare it now.” Once Xia Yuan finished speaking, she left for the kitchen to prepare the hot water.
Han Mingxiang heard Du Xiaoli’s voice and left the room. When she saw the latter, she went up and pulled on Du Xiaoli’s hand and said, “You’re finally back! While you were gone these couple of days, I’ve been so terribly worried about you!”
“It’s been hard on Princess these two days.” Du Xiaoli pulled Han Mingxiang back to the drawing-room.
“What’s so hard about this? It wasn’t hard at all,” Han Mingxiang said. “It’s all for the sake of Feng Ming. Speaking of which, we—the royal family—should be thanking you.”
“You want to thank me? Hehe. Princess, why don’t you go to His Majesty the Emperor and request for him to reward me with some money?”
“You’re still lacking money? I think you’re pretty much comparable with the state treasury now!” Han Mingxiang said with a laugh. “I think a business proprietor like you must be way richer than a princess like me!”
“No way. I only have just a little bit of money!” Du Xiaoli let out a loud and aggrieved cry.
“Oh, stop that. As if we still don’t know you well enough!” Han Mingxiang glanced at Du Xiaoli. “I’m not going to argue with you about it. What have you been doing these couple of days? You just told me that you had something to do and needed to leave, so you had me come over to watch over your place for a few days. But I don’t even know just what exactly you’ve been doing.”
“I went to Mount Yin to find herbs,” Du Xiaoli replied.
She told Han Mingxiang about Beiling Yu getting poisoned.
“Xiaoli, you’re truly Feng Ming’s lucky star,” Han Mingxiang said with a sigh after hearing about the matter. On her face was an expression filled with gratitude.
The last time, it was Lu Junqi’s matter, and this time, it was Beiling Yu’s. If Du Xiaoli weren’t around, how many more catastrophes would have occurred
in Feng Ming?!
“Princess, you’re being too serious. Since I’m being paid an official’s salary, I must naturally do things wholeheartedly. Moreover, the country needs to be stable so that we ordinary people can open up our doors for business!” Du Xiaoli said. “Oh, right. How were these three days of the competition?”
“Speaking of which, I would like to congratulate you,” Han Mingxiang said.
“Congratulate me?”
“Yes. During the competition this morning, your older brother won fifth place,” Han Mingxiang said.
“My older brother won fifth place? That’s not bad at all!” Du Xiaoli was truly happy to hear this news.
In such a competition where the cream of the crop of every country had gathered, it was truly a piece of good news for the Prime Minister’s Manor that Du Xiuheng managed to rank at all!
“That’s right. Your father said previously that the moment your older brother gets a good achievement, he will go straight to Cabinet Minister Fu’s home to propose a marriage. So I reckon it will be soon. Yalan will soon become your sister-in-law!” Han Mingxiang said with a laugh.
I've finally finished setting up the team! So, there will be more changes happening with the terms etc. For the more specific ones, they will be noted in the footnotes. We have decided to make a general name format change from the normal Chinese format to the more common format of Surname + Given names combined, e.g. Du Xiao Li -> Du Xiaoli. Hope this doesn't cause any confusion!
Hi all! We now have a donation page if you'd like to donate. The bonus releases may not come that quick during this setting up period, but we'll try to release them as soon as we can!
$12 per bonus release. If you want to support the team, please donate here.
Ch. 090.3 – Attack! (3)
“Ha, that’s right. Later, I’ll go urge my father to hurry up and propose the marriage!” Du Xiaoli clapped her hands together and decided she would talk with Du Yunhan the next time she saw him. “Who won first place for that competition?”
“First place was Mo Yang. Second place was Northern Yuan’s Wen Ze. Third place was Eastern Li’s Shen Yizhi. Fourth place was Northern Yuan’s Man Baichuan. Fifth place was your older brother. Sixth place was Northern Qi’s Beiling Fu. Seventh place was Shui Xiefan,” Han Mingxiang listed all the people who ranked in the top 7. Then she sighed emotionally, “You didn't get to see them, but today's finals were really exciting! Every participant was exceptional, and there was only a slight gap in skill level between each ranking. However, it was fortunate that this year’s scores involved your method of adding a decimal point after the score. There were two or three people whose scores differed by that extra little bit after the decimal point!”
Du Xiaoli took the chance to say, “Those who are able to represent their country in a competition are certainly their country’s most incredible!”
“If Beiling Yicheng could have participated in the competition, the ranking would definitely be different!” Han Mingxiang said with a sigh.
“Since all of them are so exceptional, I wonder if our Princess Changle’s heart was moved by any of those elegant gentlemen?” Du Xiaoli teased.
“What are you talking about? How could I fall for any of them?!” Han Mingxiang denied it adamantly.
“I know, Princess. You definitely haven’t fallen for any of them. You, Princess, don’t like delicate men of this sort. Our dear princess likes the kind of man who is valiant, amazing at martial arts, and can defend the country. For example, someone like Liufeng-gege, right?” Du Xiaoli moved till her head was right in front of Han Mingxiang and gazed at the latter with wide-open eyes.
Du Xiaoli’s sudden mention of Ji Liufeng made Han Mingxiang blank out for a moment. Then when she saw Du Xiaoli’s teasing eyes, Han Mingxiang used the handkerchief in her hands to cover Du Xiaoli’s face before saying, “What nonsense are you talking about?!”
“Did I speak of any nonsense?” Du Xiaoli said as she took down Han Mingxiang’s handkerchief and returned it to her. “Princess, Liufeng-gege is pretty good. Although he may seem a bit fickle, he’s actually very devoted when it comes to love. He’s similar to General Ji in this aspect.”
Ji Lun was a noble and important general who held a governmental post of the highest rank. Despite his great prospects, he never actually remarried after his wife—the mother of Ji Liuxia and the others—passed away. So he could be considered as being affectionate to only one person.
“How did you end up talking about him?” Han Mingxiang shot a glare at Du Xiaoli.
“I’m just praising Liufeng-gege!” Du Xiaoli said with a grin. “Princess, this is the scent of someone who is revealing what she intends to hide [1]?”
“What ‘revealing what she intends to hide’?!”
“I saw it that day,” Du Xiaoli said while winking. “Princess, you like Liufeng-gege, don’t you?”
Han Mingxiang was silent for several seconds before finally letting out a sigh. She said, “Liuxia and the others all haven’t figured it out. I didn’t expect that I would actually be seen through by you.”
“That’s because Liuxia-jiejie’s personality is too carefree. She simply wouldn’t notice this. If it were Jiangzhuo-jiejie and Yalan-jie, they would definitely have figured it out long ago,” Du Xiaoli said with a pout. “From what I saw that day, it doesn’t seem like Liufeng-gege is uninterested in you, Princess. So why don’t you ask His Majesty to request a marriage for you?”
Han Mingxiang smiled bitterly for a moment before saying somewhat mournfully, “Liufeng and I… It’s impossible for us to be together.”
“Why?” Du Xiaoli didn’t understand.
“It’s because I have been burdened with the fate of getting married for an alliance,” Han Mingxiang said helplessly.
Thinking of how Meng Jiangzhuo had once mentioned about a marriage alliance, Du Xiaoli asked, “Didn’t you say previously that there were no further developments regarding this? Why do you still need to get married for an alliance?”
“Previously, the matter of a marriage alliance did indeed quieten down, so I too thought that I would no longer need to get married for an alliance. However, a month ago, Elder Brother received documents from Northern Yuan, and an intent for a marriage alliance was mentioned inside them. No envoy was sent over here for negotiations, but from what Elder Brother said, he seems willing to use the marriage alliance in exchange for peace. After all, Feng Ming has already experienced so much war. If a marriage alliance can be used to exchange for peace, then it is something everyone will be willing to see happen.”
“But you’re not willing to do so, are you?”
“As the only princess of the royal family who is of appropriate age to get married, what right do I have to disagree?” Han Mingxiang said in a pained tone.
“Then what about Liufeng-gege?”
Thinking of Ji Liufeng, the emotions in Han Mingxiang’s gaze became somewhat blurred, filled with sadness as well as love. “Liufeng—he too knows it’s impossible for the two of us. Back then, I was still young, and he said he wanted to lay down an achievement first. Now, he has succeeded, but I am no longer that young girl from back then!”
Reaching out to hold Han Mingxiang’s hands, Du Xiaoli said encouragingly, “But the marriage has yet to be set. Isn’t that so? If you still have a chance to fight for it, you should do so. After all, this is a matter that affects the rest of your life.”
“Mm, I will.” Han Mingxiang nodded. “Okay, okay. Let’s not talk about me anymore. You should hurry up and grow older. Then when you marry into my family, I can be like my 6th elder brother and call you my little sister-in-law!”
Hearing the words ‘little sister-in-law’, Du Xiaoli felt a drop of cold sweat run down her face. It seemed that this Han Mingyuan had already been calling her that since a long time ago.
At this moment, Xia Yuan walked in and said the bathwater was ready.
“You should go have a bath first. I’m sure you haven’t had a good rest
these past three days, so rest well after your bath. I’ve already asked His Majesty to let me help you manage this competition, and he has agreed to it. So I’ll be staying here for this period of time. I just hope you won’t say that I’m annoying.”
“Great! With you here, we can chat when we’re free,” Du Xiaoli said happily. “Then I’ll go have a bath first.” Once she finished talking, she began to leave.
Hi all! We now have a donation page if you'd like to donate. The bonus releases may not come that quick during this setting up period, but we'll try to release them as soon as we can!
$12 per bonus release. If you want to support the team, please donate here.
Ch. 090.4 – Attack! (4)
“Xiaoli,” Han Mingxiang suddenly called out to stop her.
“Mm? What is it?” Du Xiaoli turned around to ask.
Han Mingxiang smiled and said, “Nothing. Just wanted to say… the earlier the marriage between Yalan and your brother and Yalan can be set, the better it will be... so as to avoid whatever unforeseen events that may occur later!”
It was just like with Han Mingxiang and Ji Liufeng. If Ji Liufeng had been able to take that step two years earlier, the two of them wouldn’t be in their current situation.
“Mm, I will,” Du Xiaoli affirmed while nodding.
Upon reaching her own room, Du Xiaoli undressed and realized her clothes reeked of blood. It was just like what Xia Yuan said earlier.
“Mistress.”
For a while, Du Xiaoli had been immersing herself in the bathwater while holding her breath. Then the very moment she emerged, she found Xia Yuan standing opposite and staring right at her.
“Okay, okay. I’ll tell you. The members of Water Moon Paradise did indeed come to find me,” Du Xiaoli said as she used her hand to wipe away the water on her face. Then she leaned against the side of the tub and continued, “But they didn’t come to snatch the secret book. Instead, they came to find me, and in passing, they saved my life.”