Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
Advance chapters available for patrons on Patreon. And a chapter can be sponsored by buying me a ko-fi.
….
After a long pause, Lu Huan glanced at her and spoke first in a low voice, explaining, “If she wants to go to the capital; she has legs of her own, it has nothing to do with me.”
Su Xi: “Oh.”
Su Xi also glanced quickly at him on the screen, and when he looked up, she immediately pretended to look away: “…I’m tired of watching movies, so I didn’t agree, but shadow puppetry…I’ve never seen it before.”
“Heh, is that so?” Lu Huan smirked, a forced smile.
He suspected that if he hadn’t stopped her, Xiao Xi would have accepted the man’s invitation.
Su Xi: …??? Kid, haven’t you been a bit too arrogant lately?!
The boy on the screen had a slight smirk, a hint of jealousy still lingering on his face, though he hid it well. His dark eyes stared fixedly ahead, as if gazing at her across millennia.
Su Xi looked down at the screen, and for a moment she even felt like she was making eye contact with him—
Su Xi suddenly felt a tightness in her chest.
….
She was almost certain that he could see her from his side! Otherwise, the strange things that had been happening to her so frequently during this period— the 800-meter race incident, the fish soup incident, and so on— would be inexplicable.
Besides, when she zoomed in on the screen to look at his other hand behind his desk, he seemed to sense it, and his dark eyelashes twitched almost imperceptibly.
He should be able to see not only her, but also the screen of the phone in her hand?
Su Xi had gradually realized that this was not just a game, but a way to connect two real worlds.
She should have realized why, after reaching 100 points, the little one inexplicably and forcibly transformed from a cute little dumpling into a teenager. Perhaps this wasn’t some kind of game gift package, but rather the little one spending silver to switch to this form.
—So, could the so-called 100-point gift package actually mean that the kid also got a phone screen that could let him see her?!
….
Su Xi had never considered that the kid might already be able to see her, so she didn’t think much of it when the screen happened to switch to his front and their eyes met.
But now, with the thought “maybe he could see me a long time ago” running through her mind, when Su Xi met his gaze again, she felt as if she had been electrocuted. The current crackled and surged through her blood to her brain, and goosebumps rose on her skin!
She found herself in the bustling modern world, while he found himself in the war-torn Yan Kingdom.
His gaze was deep and focused; he was looking directly at her— the sense of being separated by a screen suddenly vanished, as if he were about to break through the screen and appear before her in the next second.
Su Xi’s heart suddenly started beating a little fast, as if she had been infected by the redness of his earlobes. Gradually, Su Xi’s face also started to burn, and she looked away in a bit of a panic.
Damn it, Su Xi thought, this kid is too good at hiding things. During this time after completing 100 points, he must have laughed at her for not washing her hair many times in his heart!
Thinking of this, Su Xi suddenly lost the courage to question him.
Gu Qin, who was next to her, was holding her arm and didn’t notice what she was doing on her phone, because Gu Qin herself had taken out a thin comic book and was looking at it while laughing like a lovesick fool.
Su Xi glanced at her, and after seeing what she was looking at, her face turned pale instantly, and she slammed her phone screen shut.
Lu Huan: “…”
Then, Su Xi quickly closed the erotic book with two little people taking off their clothes in Gu Qin’s hand and tossed it into her schoolbag.
She then glanced at the sky, her face turning red.
Gu Qin looked completely bewildered: “What? I can’t even watch some p*rn after the final exams are over?!”
Before she could finish speaking, Su Xi covered her mouth and said in a frantic voice, “Don’t look at it when I’m around in the future.”
Gu Qin couldn’t understand, “Xi Xi, didn’t you ask me to lend you some last time? I didn’t lend it to you, so you won’t let me—”
Su Xi continued to cover her mouth.
Su Xi was completely bewildered, thinking, “It’s over, my mother’s face is completely ruined.” The son she saw on the screen was always diligent in his studies, tireless, impeccably groomed, polite, and skilled in both academics and martial arts.
While what the kid saw of her from that side might be a homebody who didn’t wash her hair if she didn’t have to go out, lay on the sofa in her pajamas with no proper posture, ate potato chips without restraint, and read BL comics with her best friend until her face was bleeding red.
Gu Qin also loved reading erotic comics. If one day the kid suddenly got the urge to take a closer look at what Gu Qin was reading, then she would be in big trouble. The future ruler of Yan Kingdom would be corrupted by her!
Su Xi felt utterly hopeless and didn’t even have the courage to turn on her phone screen again.
The trip to see the shadow puppet show in the northern market was temporarily canceled, because after Su Xi turned off her phone screen, Lu Huan received an imperial edict from the capital, ordering the victorious army to return to the capital as soon as possible, and that the palace would hold a celebration banquet for them.
This imperial edict was expected, because the emperor would not allow a general who had won a battle to remain on the battlefield with his troops. Naturally, he was eager to recall the army, retrieve the military tally, and then reward the generals for their merits.
However, at this time, some rumors began to circulate in the capital.
It was said that the emperor had a ninth prince who had been frail and sickly since childhood and had been living in Changchun Temple outside the palace. Many of the good things that had been done recently were done by the ninth prince, including saving people at Yong’an Temple in the capital, providing food relief in Fengzhou and other three places, and raising food supplies before this great battle. Moreover, the ninth prince was now in the Zhenyuan army and had made great contributions.
The news had only just reached the North, but it had already caused quite a stir in the capital.
In fact, the news was not spread by Lu Huan; the only thing he did was write a letter to Changgong Wu.
However, he guessed that after the assassination attempt in Yunzhou, the emperor must have ordered an investigation into his true identity while also sending people to keep an eye on him in the army. Therefore, this letter must have passed through the emperor’s hands before reaching Changgong Wu.
Once the emperor learnt that he was actually the owner behind those farms, he would definitely make a big fuss about it.
First, the war in the northern border had been won decisively, and the people attributed the victory to the Zhenyuan Army, which had nothing to do with the royal family. The emperor must inevitably be worried that the Zhenyuan General would gain popular support through this victory. Therefore, at this moment, the royal family must perform some meritorious service that would make the people grateful and remember them.
The things Lu Huan had done before, such as the assistance in the Yong’an Temple, the disaster relief in Fengzhou, and the procurement of grain and fodder, all fit the bill. Now that it had been revealed that the Ninth Prince was behind it, it could at least calm the people’s hearts and tell them that the royal family was not inactive.
Secondly, the emperor had previously been wary that General Zhenyuan had found a successor and might rebel with his troops.
However, when he discovered that the heir to General Zhenyuan was also a member of the royal family, he was overjoyed. He believed that bringing back Lu Huan, who had been living abroad, as the Ninth Prince would catch General Zhenyuan off guard.
General Zhenyuan didn’t have much time to search for another successor.
Third, in the court, the Crown Prince and the Fifth Prince were now locked in a power struggle, with one relying on the Empress and the Emperor’s brother-in-law, and the other relying on his own efforts.
The emperor had always wanted to support the second prince to ascend the throne, forming a stable three-way power struggle that would make it easier for him to manipulate the situation. However, the second prince was never able to rise to power, so the emperor actually needed a new, capable prince to fill the vacancy.
Coincidentally, the assassination attempt in Yunzhou brought the Ninth Prince, whom he hadn’t seen for sixteen or seventeen years, right to his doorstep.
For all these reasons, Lu Huan didn’t actually need to do much. He only needed to figure out the current emperor’s mindset, deliver what the emperor wanted to him, and make the emperor think that he had cleverly discovered it himself, making him think that he was the one playing the game. Then he could effortlessly wait for things to settle down.
Now that the news had reached the military camp, it must be a test from the emperor. A test to see if Lu Huan already knew his true identity, how much Lu Huan thought about the Ninth Prince’s identity or even the throne, and just how ambitious Lu Huan truly was.
Therefore, upon hearing this news, Lu Huan displayed the appropriate reaction.
He silenced the whispering soldiers and officers, then returned to his tent with his hands behind his back and a furrowed brow, as if deep in thought.
His behavior, in the emperor’s eyes, was a sign that he was “unable to keep secrets and not very shrewd,” making him easier to control. This would allow the emperor to trust him more, and he would be able to get closer to his own goals.
At this moment, Su Xi was completely unaware of Lu Huan’s calculations.
When he was an official, managing his subordinates was fine; so Lu Huan liked to stand by her side through thick and thin. However, when it came to these kinds of intrigues and schemes, Lu Huan didn’t want her to see too much of it.
After all, she was in her home, and she seemed to get along so well with her parents. Although her parents liked to bicker, they seemed to have a very warm relationship and loved her very much.
If she were to see the dynasty he lived in, with even brothers fighting and fathers and sons distrusting each other, it would be like seeing the dark side of the world, and Lu Huan didn’t want her to see those things.
Upon receiving the imperial edict that day, the army returned to the capital.
Snow was still falling in the north, leaving a vast expanse of white. The people who had survived the war lined the streets to see him off, kneeling all the way to Yinzhou.
Guys, ads are my only source of revenue, so please do not turn on the AdBlock when you are accessing this website…. Thank you, this would be a great help…
You can buy me a ko-fi and sponsor a chapter on: https://ko-fi.com/midnightrambles
Or become a Patron and access advance chapters on: https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=45665005
If you support me, I would be able to provide more chapters….
Previous • Table of Contents• Next
