Chapter 463: Homecoming

“Is that Snow Sea Pass ahead?”

Xiong Liqing lifted the carriage curtain and looked forward. A mighty fortress rose there against the mountains.

Without exaggeration, Snow Sea Pass was far more towering and imposing than Zhennan Pass. After all, this fortress had originally been built by the Jin people to defend against the Savages, and the Savages had been the primary enemy targeted when the Marquis of Jin entered the lands of the Three Jin bearing the Great Xia Son of Heaven’s command.

A fortress this majestic represented more than military defense. It had also become a totemic symbol of the Jin people driving out the Savages and opening the lands of the Three Jin.

Of course, no matter how glorious or ancient a piece of history might be, it could never escape the fate of being weathered away by wind and rain. The great pass had first been broken by the Savages. Now the walls were covered in the Black Dragon banners of Great Yan.

“Yes. Snow Sea Pass,” Siniang answered from where she leaned against the carriage wall.

After reuniting with the Marquis of Jingnan, Count Zheng had followed him back to Fengxin City and remained there for a while. Scouts had already brought word that one of the forces that entered Chu had returned through a branch of the lower Wang River system.

The people who arrived were indeed Siniang and A’Ming.

Both were wounded. Siniang’s condition was somewhat better; she had suffered hidden internal injuries that would require time to nurse. A’Ming had already fallen asleep inside his coffin. Count Zheng had gone to look at him. Aside from a faint trace of red remaining on his lips, the rest of his body looked as though twenty layers of pearl powder had been painted over it.

During the escape, a Qu Clan retainer skilled in tracking had managed to stay on their trail. A’Ming chose to remain behind alone. Later, several more retainers caught up and surrounded him. After buying enough time for the main force to escape, A’Ming broke out by jumping from a cliff.

It was a method of escape that, aside from A’Ming, nobody else could imitate.

That was why A’Ming had ended up in his present condition. As Siniang described it, he had only a paper-thin sliver of his health bar left.

He would need a long period of quiet recuperation. Every three days or so, someone also had to pour a little blood over him the way one watered a succulent.

As for the others, at least within the group led by Siniang and A’Ming, casualties had not been severe. More precisely, aside from several dozen cavalrymen who deliberately sacrificed themselves to block pursuers, the only scattered losses came from people slipping and falling from cliffs while crossing mountain roads.

Hero Chen, Eunuch Zhao, He Chunlai, Chen Daole, and the others had all traveled with this group.

There were two main reasons the force had survived so intact.

The first involved the genuine Mr. Su Mingzhe, whose identity Count Zheng had previously borrowed.

At a Chu border town, Mr. Su recovered from the illness brought on by the unfamiliar climate and water. Knowing he could no longer reach the Princess’s wedding in time, he stopped trying. Yao Zizhan’s letter had already been entrusted to Hero Chen to deliver on his behalf anyway.

So the genuine Mr. Su Mingzhe began displaying his talents in that town instead.

Master Yao’s reputation was simply too resounding. His admirers were not limited to Qian; throughout all three eastern states, countless people loved his poems and lyrics. As for nobles and wealthy local magnates who could not actually understand literature, they were often even more enthusiastic.

Mr. Su carried forward the romantic flair of Yao Zizhan’s youth.

It was said that when Yao Zizhan had been young, he once spent three months indulging himself inside Rouge Alley in Jiangnan without paying a single coin. When he finally emerged, he was even carrying a box full of gold, silver, and jade ornaments. The story had become a celebrated anecdote.

Mr. Su, meanwhile, first made a name for himself through poetry in a city called **Dazhou**, then took two concubines born to noble households.

Those two noble houses naturally could not compare to the Qu Clan, but convincing two aristocratic families to give daughters to the same man as concubines was enough to leave Mr. Su flushed with success.

So while Count Zheng was using the identity “Su Mingzhe” to overturn the Princess’s wedding, the real Su Mingzhe was hardly losing ground in Dazhou.

Later, one of the first pursuing forces rushed through the region and was drawn directly toward the genuine Mr. Su Mingzhe.

Because they were the earliest pursuers, communication between them and the forces behind was naturally poor. Once they heard that “Mr. Su” had recently appeared in Dazhou, they immediately diverted there.

That first pursuit force being drawn away removed the greatest pressure from Siniang’s group as they returned through Mengshan.

The second reason was Xue San.

Xue San had followed the original plan and taken several hundred cavalry toward Qishan. The Qishan range was extremely long. Part of its northern section pressed against the borders of the **State of Liang** and the **State of Zhao**, while part of its southern section bordered Qian.

Since Xue San intended to use Qishan to return to Jin territory, he naturally traveled through the northern section.

By extraordinary coincidence, the State of Liang had suffered a palace coup barely a month earlier.

On the accusation that the ruler had lost all virtue and violated one of the former ruler’s consorts, Liang’s Chancellor organized the current ruler’s younger brother and a body of armored troops. They stormed the palace, seized the ruler, and forced him to abdicate. The ruler’s younger brother then succeeded him.

That was the stated justification for the coup.

Whether it had truly happened because of that, and whether the former ruler had genuinely committed such an offense against human morality, nobody could say for certain.

The former ruler hanged himself three days after abdicating.

But the former ruler’s biological mother had been a Lady of the Imperial Clan from Chu. Though not a formal Princess, she was still a daughter of the imperial house. In other words, Chu imperial blood ran through the former ruler.

In truth, a cluster of small states stood around the borders where Qian, Chu, and Jin met.

The three great states treated the region as a strategic buffer. At most, they supported local rulers, infiltrated their courts, and manipulated them from behind the scenes. None had truly sent great armies to conquer the area, because doing so could very easily trigger direct conflict among the three powers.

Internally, those small states constantly attacked and annexed one another.

Externally, they behaved like grass atop a wall, swaying whichever way the winds from the great states blew.

Years ago, when the Marquis of Jingnan led Zhenbei Army and Jingnan Army cavalry through Qian territory to attack Jin, the Yan force had actually borrowed roads through two small states after leaving Qian. Naturally, that had been arranged in advance. Only afterward had the Emperor of Jin personally opened Tianmen Pass and allowed the Yan army into Jin.

The State of Liang lay closer to Chu.

The former ruler’s Chu imperial blood alone revealed the state’s traditional political alignment.

Unfortunately, the coup had already happened, and the former ruler was dead.

The new ruler was the dead ruler’s younger brother, but the two had different mothers.

Once the new ruler had enjoyed the thrill of sitting upon the throne for a moment, panic set in.

Together with his Chancellor, he immediately dispatched an envoy into Chu to explain three things.

First: *We launched the coup because the former ruler was outrageously immoral. He even dared violate a consort left behind by his own father. He was worse than a beast!*

Second: *The State of Liang remains Chu’s vassal and will continue following Chu’s lead in all things.*

Third: *Could Chu perhaps marry another woman of the imperial clan into Liang? I too would like to become a son-in-law of Chu.*

Naturally, the new ruler and Chancellor did not simply sit there stupidly waiting for a response.

What if Chu became furious, refused to forgive them, and sent an army to punish Liang?

So after sending the envoy, they began mobilizing every soldier in the state.

Liang’s entire regular army numbered only fifteen thousand.

Forget comparing it to Chu; even a single Qu Clan could have dispatched an Azure Luan Army formation and crushed Liang with ease.

Then came the agonizing wait.

And at exactly that time, Xue San arrived with several hundred cavalry while drawing a Chu pursuit force behind him.

Xue San plunged directly into the Qishan Mountains.

The Chu troops naturally refused to let him escape and followed.

The new ruler and Chancellor of Liang were already frightened birds seeing bows in every cup.

The moment scouts reported Chu soldiers appearing inside Qishan, the two men instinctively concluded that Chu had come to punish Liang.

To their credit, the State of Liang might have been small, but these two were genuinely men of action.

Aggressive men of action.

They did not passively defend.

They chose to attack first.

The new ruler personally led the campaign while the Chancellor managed the rear.

Liang’s ten-odd thousand regular troops, combined with hastily levied auxiliaries and militia, barely produced an army of thirty thousand.

That represented essentially everything the State of Liang possessed.

The several thousand Chu troops pursuing Xue San never imagined an ambush was waiting for them.

They marched straight into Liang’s trap.

Caught completely unprepared, the Chu force collapsed.

The new ruler of Liang achieved the first great victory of his war to defend the state!

The Chu troops were stunned.

Even Xue San was stunned.

Xue San’s first thought was:

*Holy shit. The Fan Clan is this powerful now? They can manipulate the governments of entire states?*

Believing these were allies, Xue San sent men to establish contact with the Liang force.

Very soon, he personally met the new ruler.

Then the new ruler, who had only moments earlier been basking in his magnificent victory, froze completely once he learned the truth.

What what had he just done?

Originally, he could have helped Chu block Xue San’s party and earned a tremendous merit. Chu might then have formally recognized his accession to the throne.

But now...

There was no point trying to seize Xue San anymore.

Liang had already attacked Chu of its own initiative.

Still, men of action remained men of action.

The new ruler immediately told Xue San that he was willing to “abandon darkness and embrace the light” by following Great Yan.

Meanwhile, once the Chancellor in the rear learned what had happened, he did not hesitate either. He immediately dispatched another envoy toward Nanmen Pass in Jin territory to contact the Yan troops there.

And so the entire matter developed in an extraordinarily bizarre and completely unexpected direction.

Chu began massing troops along one side of the Qishan Mountains.

From Chu’s perspective, the State of Liang had rebelled, and there was even a possibility the Princess had already entered Liang territory.

Liang might have been a small state, but it was still a state. It could put more than ten thousand armored soldiers into the field.

As a result, the later Chu pursuit forces had no choice but to change plans and begin concentrating there. Troops were transferred from various Chu frontier garrisons, and the Qu Clan, whose fief lay near this stretch of border, dispatched a formation of genuine Azure Luan Army regulars to join the campaign against Liang.

That removed enormous pressure from Siniang’s group.

It was precisely why her force had survived to such a degree and returned under Ruan San’s reception.

As for Xue San, a military report from Nanmen Pass stated that the new ruler of Liang had appointed him **Supreme General** and that Xue San was currently helping the State of Liang resist Chu.

Yan had no saying that “a general must be executed even after winning without permission.”

Great Yan had never feared war.

Not wanting to fight was one thing.

Fearing war was another matter entirely.

Besides, it had been the Marquis of Jingnan who forced Count Zheng to enter Chu in the first place. No matter what disaster Zheng Fan caused there, Tian Wujing would not blame him. He would shoulder the consequences.

So after the Marquis of Jingnan issued orders, the Yan garrisons in Quhe City and Litian City immediately detached forces and moved them toward Nanmen Pass.

The original Nanmen Pass garrison likewise sent several thousand cavalry into Liang to support the war.

Count Zheng had no idea when Xue San would finally return.

In any case, the moment Siniang and her group arrived, Zheng Fan immediately set out for Snow Sea Pass.

And on this day, accompanied by the Princess’s exclamation of admiration—

Snow Sea Pass finally appeared before them.

Count Zheng had already sent riders home to report the news when he first brought the Princess into the Marquis of Jingnan’s camp.

By now, the soldiers and civilians of Snow Sea Pass all knew that their Count had personally gone into Chu and brought back a genuine Princess.

The people in Yan territory had already gone wild with delight when the news spread, celebrating as though it were a festival.

For the people of Snow Sea Pass itself, the excitement was naturally even greater.

Beneath the city gate, civilians crowded in from every direction to welcome their Count home.

The road was packed solid with people.

Count Zheng did not ride in a carriage.

He sat on horseback at the front of the procession.

The moment the people saw their lord, men and women, old and young, knelt along both sides of the official road and shouted together:

“Long live the Count! Mighty is the Count!”

“Long live the Count! Mighty is the Count!”

Inside the carriage, Xiong Liqing was visibly shaken by the sight.

“He seems... deeply loved here.”

Siniang, sitting beside her, replied:

“Because the people here owe him their lives.”

The people’s eyes were clear.

They knew who had allowed them to survive.

They knew who protected them from humiliation.

They knew who had carried them through the brutal winter.

Winter had now passed.

During those months, some people around Snow Sea Pass had died from illness. Some had drunk too much and fallen through holes in the ice.

But not one person had frozen to death.

Not one person had starved.

That would have been difficult to achieve even in peaceful and prosperous times.

Yet here, in Snow Sea Pass, a land that barely a year earlier had been reduced to a wasteland by war, it had been done.

Count Zheng drew his saber and raised it high.

The people of Snow Sea Pass knew perfectly well how to cooperate with their Count.

And their Count greatly enjoyed cooperating with them.

So the moment the saber rose, the shouts became even louder.

Count Zheng held the blade aloft and released a long breath.

Ever since entering Chu, he had never truly felt safe.

Someone else’s territory.

Someone else’s soldiers.

But now he was home.

Here, he was safe.

He did not need to fear a foreign army suddenly attacking, because beneath his command stood the Snow Sea Cavalry and countless people willing to fight to the death for him.

Nor did he need to worry about some strange peak expert coming to assassinate him. Sha Tuo Queshi lay beneath his residence. True, he had not awakened yet. The Sword Saint lived next door. True, he had not fully recovered.

But that was already enough to let Count Zheng sleep peacefully.

This was the home he had painstakingly built.

No.

It was his own **nest.**

...

After entering the city, those who belonged in military camps went to the camps, and those who had homes returned home.

Only the remaining group continued by carriage directly into Count Pingye Residence.

The carriage stopped inside the residence courtyard.

Eunuch Zhao, who had not forgotten his original profession, immediately dismounted from the horse beside it and hurried over to help the Princess descend.

Whether Count Zheng could actually make the thing between Zhao’s legs grow back or not, Eunuch Zhao knew one truth very clearly.

He remained the Princess’s servant.

Besides, perhaps because he had grown accustomed to being castrated or perhaps because he had personally witnessed Qu Peiluo’s miserable experience from extremely close range—

Eunuch Zhao had suddenly begun feeling that being a man was not particularly meaningful anyway.

With everything clean below, life actually seemed fairly comfortable.

A great many worries and desires simply disappeared.

Xiong Liqing lifted the carriage curtain.

But she did not take Eunuch Zhao’s hand.

Instead, she turned around and personally supported Siniang.

“Careful, Elder Sister. The step is rather high.” Then Xiong Liqing snapped, “Useless slave, why aren’t you kneeling?”

Zhao Cheng understood immediately.

He dropped flat to the ground.

The Princess supported Siniang as she stepped on his back and descended from the carriage.

“Elder Sister must be tired. Let me take you to rest first.”

From the moment she reunited with Siniang, the Princess had immediately lowered her own posture.

She was intelligent.

And intelligent people generally shared one characteristic.

Self-awareness.

Siniang gently patted the back of Xiong Liqing’s hand and shook her head.

“No hurry.”

There truly was no hurry.

Because Liang Cheng, the Blind Man, and Fan Li were standing ahead.

The three walked toward Zheng Fan and bowed together.

“Congratulations on Master’s triumphant return!”

“Congratulations on Master’s triumphant return!”

Zheng Fan nodded, stretched lazily, and sighed.

“Finally home. Home really is best. Next time, no matter who calls me, I’m not going anywhere.”

Every time a person returned from a long journey, home suddenly smelled so wonderful that it felt impossible to imagine ever leaving again.

The Princess leaned slightly toward Siniang and whispered:

“Elder Sister, I want to see the Pixiu.”

The Pixiu.

The living totem of Great Yan.

Chu’s Imperial Beast-Taming Directorate was skilled in raising demon beasts as well, and Fire Phoenix Essence Blood held enormous attraction for them.

But the Fire Phoenix itself had long since gone extinct.

Yan, however, had successfully preserved the Pixiu bloodline generation after generation.

True, ninety-nine percent of the descendants were merely Pi Beasts. Genuine Pixiu were extraordinarily rare.

Only four living Pixiu were currently known beneath Heaven.

One belonged to the Marquis of Zhenbei.

One to the Marquis of Jingnan.

One to the First Prince.

And one to Zheng Fan.

It was said Zheng Fan’s Pixiu had been obtained because the Marquis of Jingnan directly asked the court to give him one.

At the time, the court had been desperately trying to convince the Marquis of Jingnan to take command of the Eastern Expedition. Two eunuchs sent to proclaim imperial decrees had already killed themselves by smashing their heads against the ground.

When the Marquis of Jingnan finally made this request, the court agreed immediately.

Siniang smiled after hearing the Princess.

“Master, Little Sister wants to see the Pixiu.”

Siniang was in quite a good mood now.

This Princess was clever and knew how to behave.

A piece of fine uncut jade worth carefully shaping.

If she had genuinely been a fool, then even if she were a Princess, Siniang probably would not have bothered. There would have been no sense of achievement and no interesting response.

Siniang was wounded at present, however.

Training Little Sister could wait until she recovered.

Zheng Fan heard her and asked:

“Where’s that fellow?”

As though it heard Zheng Fan calling, the Pixiu immediately bounded out from the rear courtyard.

When it had first come into Zheng Fan’s hands, it had not yet reached adulthood.

After several months apart, it had grown noticeably larger and stronger.

It had missed Zheng Fan too.

But now that it had matured somewhat, it was no longer as innocent as before.

At the beginning, it had thought Zheng Fan was merely another pitiful man enslaved beneath the Demon Kings’ claws, just like itself.

Now it had at least learned to understand its own place.

“Wow.”

The instant the Princess saw the Pixiu, she involuntarily stepped forward.

A Pixiu was not a pet.

It possessed a temper.

But it was not stupid either.

It could tell this woman had an intimate relationship with Zheng Fan.

So while it did not actively fawn over her, it also did not reject her when she approached and stroked its mane.

After several strokes, however, the Pixiu lowered its head in confusion.

It smelled something on the girl that it instinctively loathed.

Yet at the same time it also wanted to approach that presence.

The disgust came from the deep hostility between the Pixiu bloodline and the Fire Phoenix.

The desire for closeness came from the fact that, in the end, they belonged to the same broad kind of existence.

At that moment, Jiang Hu and Gongsun Ling entered the residence with the Green Python.

When passing through the city, the two had deliberately kept farther behind with the snake.

Fortunately, the people of Snow Sea Pass had merely found it novel.

The Tianduan Mountains in Jin territory produced many demon beasts, so ordinary people here possessed a certain tolerance toward strange creatures.

Their own Count had also frequently ridden a Pixiu through the city in the past.

So the Green Python’s arrival caused no panic.

Since the Princess would be living inside Count Pingye Residence, the Green Python naturally had to live here as well.

Count Zheng did not mind adding another guard to the household.

But some accounts still had to be settled.

Count Zheng had never been a magnanimous man.

Quite the opposite.

He could be remarkably petty.

He clearly remembered that from their very first meeting onward, this Green Python had always looked at him with a lofty, disdainful attitude.

When Jiang Hu saw the Pixiu, naked longing immediately appeared on his face.

As a former man of the Imperial Beast-Taming Directorate, he possessed an instinctive fanaticism toward a species standing at the very summit of the world’s demon beasts.

It was like a swordsman suddenly seeing a peerless sword manual.

The Green Python, meanwhile, immediately lowered its head upon seeing the Pixiu.

It chose submission without hesitation.

It did not dare compete with the creature.

Naturally, if the Princess forcibly ordered it to fight, it would still attack the Pixiu.

But no such command had been given.

Count Zheng looked at Liang Cheng.

Then very bluntly tattled:

“This thing looked down on me the whole way home.”

Liang Cheng understood.

He walked toward the Green Python.

For a great zombie like him to personally appear over something this petty did feel slightly beneath his dignity.

But since Master wanted it then Master would have it.

Fan Li walked over as well.

Soon, Liang Cheng and Fan Li stood directly before the Green Python.

The snake stared at the two men in confusion.

Because their bodies blocked its view of the Pixiu, the old coldness and contempt gradually returned to its eyes.

Then Liang Cheng’s eyes began glowing green.

His fangs emerged.

The bloodline aura of an ancient zombie rolled outward.

Fan Li slammed both fists against his chest and released a low growl.

A terrifyingly primal aura erupted from him.

Nearby, the Pixiu was still being stroked by the Princess.

When it saw this scene, obvious schadenfreude appeared in its eyes.

It had experienced this same horror once.

Now someone else could enjoy it.

The Green Python went completely rigid.

Its body actually began shedding skin.

It had been frightened so badly that it was starting to molt.

The Princess turned around.

Seeing her Green Python terrified into this state, she hesitated for a moment but said nothing.

Her man wanted to vent his anger.

Naturally, she would side with her man rather than a beast.

Liang Cheng and Fan Li quickly returned to normal.

They turned around and walked back as if nothing had happened.

Count Zheng approached the Green Python.

At this moment, there was nothing left in the snake’s eyes except fear.

The terror was several times stronger than what it had shown before the Pixiu.

No.

There was no comparison at all.

“Still arrogant?”

**Thump!**

Count Zheng kicked the snake.

“Still acting high and mighty?”

**Thump!**

Another kick.

“Think you’re something special?”

**Thump!**

He did not use much strength.

He was simply venting.

“Tsk. Now that you’re shedding, you really do look disgusting. Right, I heard snakeskin can be used in medicine. Have someone from the dispensary come collect it later.”

“Yes, Master,” the Blind Man replied, committing the order to memory.

Siniang turned toward the Princess.

“Little Sister, I’ll show you around the residence. There are certain places and certain people here that you need to meet.”

“All right, Elder Sister. I’ll trouble you.”

Every time Zheng Fan watched Xiong Liqing and Siniang treating one another with such perfect courtesy, he had the strange feeling that he himself was the unnecessary third person.

Still, men generally seemed less resistant to discovering that their partners were attracted to women too.

At the very least, it allowed room to dream about getting two birds with one arrow.

Count Zheng was broad-minded about such things.

“All right. Everyone go handle your own business. I’m going to bathe. Blind Man, we’ll hold a meeting after dinner.”

“Yes, Master.”

Zheng Fan left the others and headed into the rear courtyard.

Here, he felt incomparably safe.

Because everyone knew their Count would return today, the bathing pool in his rear-bedroom suite had been filled long ago.

The water temperature was perfect.

Count Zheng removed his clothes and stepped into the pool.

He had originally intended to toss the Demon Child in as well so father and son could enjoy a parent-child bath.

But the instant the Demon Child was released, it shot away with a **whoosh**.

Clearly, it had gone to find Tian Tian.

Only then did Count Zheng remember that he had returned home without even going to see his godson.

He could do that later.

First, he wanted to close his eyes for a while.

He soaked quietly.

After some time, footsteps approached.

A woman.

Not Siniang.

Siniang did not walk like this, and she carried a distinctive fragrance.

Not the Princess either.

The Princess should still be beside Siniang. There was no chance she would come alone right now to tease him.

She would not dare.

Then Madam Ke?

The woman came behind Count Zheng.

She picked up a bathing cloth from the side and began scrubbing his back.

After a little while, Zheng Fan realized something was wrong.

Madam Ke had scrubbed his back before.

But the woman behind him now was obviously inexperienced.

Her hands were trembling as well, as though she were deeply embarrassed.

Count Zheng opened his eyes in confusion.

He turned his head.

Their eyes met.

And he discovered, to his astonishment it was **Liu Ruqing** from the Fan Residence.

In truth, after the Princess was first captured and brought into the Fan Residence, Count Zheng had never seen Liu Ruqing again.

Fan Zhengwen had directly ordered people to escort Liu Ruqing through Mengshan and into Jin territory.

Once she entered Jin, they contacted the Sixth Prince’s people, who safely delivered her onward to Snow Sea Pass.

Because Liu Ruqing had left so early, the later pursuit triggered by the Princess’s abduction never affected her.

Meanwhile, after stealing the Princess, Count Zheng had hidden his identity and traveled slowly through Chu before leaving near Zhennan Pass. He then spent additional time waiting for Siniang in Fengxin City.

So Liu Ruqing had actually been living inside Count Pingye Residence for quite a few days already.

One could only say that when Fan Zhengwen handled matters he did them properly.

When the Demon Kings who remained behind heard that someone from the Fan Clan, meaning the Sixth Prince’s side, had been sent to the residence, the Blind Man personally inspected her first.

He confirmed that the woman possessed no martial arts and was not some Silver-Armored Guard or similar infiltrator.

That cleared the first threshold.

Then, after learning that her husband had died years ago the Demon Kings immediately understood.

The entry requirement was the entry requirement.

They simply let Liu Ruqing move into the residence.

Only after entering Count Pingye Residence did Liu Ruqing learn Zheng Fan’s true identity.

She spent several days stunned beyond belief.

As for why she had been sent here, and what she was expected to do after entering this residence she was not some untouched, foolish young girl.

Naturally, she understood.

So when she learned Count Zheng had returned, she was too embarrassed to come out and greet him.

But once Count Zheng entered the rear courtyard to bathe, she also understood that certain things could no longer be avoided.

So she came.

She had spent countless days and nights preparing herself mentally.

Yet now, beside the bathing pool, standing face-to-face with a completely naked Count Zheng—

Liu Ruqing’s face still flushed instantly.

It looked as though sunset clouds had stained her skin.

Or like a peach ripened until it was ready to burst with sweetness.

In the end, Liu Ruqing could not endure Count Zheng’s continued stare.

With a mixture of embarrassment and coquettish reproach, she finally cried:

“Uncle...”

————

[End of Chapter 463]