Chapter 986: Brother-in-Law, Bow Your Head First

The carriage kept moving, but the rhythm outside seemed to change.

A large group of mounted guards surrounded it. Only one person could silently make those loyal escorts withdraw and spread out without raising alarm.

Xiong Liqing lifted the carriage curtain.

Outside, she saw a man in a python robe riding a Pixiu.

Zheng Fan happened to turn his head at the same moment.

Husband and wife looked at each other.

And smiled.

The curtain fell again.

Zheng Fan waved for the procession to keep moving. They were still some distance from the command tent.

But then the beauty emerged from the front of the carriage.

The Princess spread both arms.

The wind streamed through her hair.

Though already a mother, at that moment she revealed the innocent, carefree manner of the young girl she had once been.

Ironically, the Regent Prince—who had always considered his face thicker than the walls of Zhennan Pass—felt a little embarrassed.

Years ago, he had taken her by the hand, walked with her up the golden steps of the Great Yan imperial palace, and faced the late Emperor and all the civil and military officials.

But now they were an old married couple.

Showing affection this openly somehow felt... a little hard to let himself do.

Still, Zheng Fan did not make his wife wait long.

The Pixiu beneath him needed no command. It sped up on its own.

Zheng Fan reached out.

Caught Xiong Liqing’s hand.

And with one pull, brought her into his arms so the two of them rode together.

“Woooo!”

The Princess shouted happily.

Zheng Fan did not join her in singing anything about keeping each other company through the mortal world and living free and unrestrained.

But he was smiling too.

After indulging herself for a while, the Princess settled back into the posture of a little wife.

She turned slightly and leaned against Zheng Fan’s chest, looking up at her husband.

“Husband, you’ve gotten a little darker.”

“It’s cold now, so I’ve been spending more time in the sun. You had a hard journey.”

“Not at all. The moment I thought about going home to visit, I felt like an arrow already flying toward home.”

“Heh.”

“Oh, right, Husband. About Lin’er...”

“Siniang told me. It’s fine. He won’t starve. Keeping him locked up for a while is probably good for wearing down some of the viciousness in him.”

Then the Prince changed tone.

“The one who has really suffered is my daughter. She has to keep that brat company the whole time.”

“Big Girl is his elder sister. That is only right.”

The procession continued forward.

Xiong Liqing did not return to the carriage.

She remained in Zheng Fan’s arms the entire way.

Only when they entered the military encampment did she instinctively begin to rise.

She knew military rules were strict.

Zheng Fan pressed one hand down on her.

“It’s fine.”

Inside the camp, many soldiers unconsciously stopped whatever they were doing and turned to look.

On what had once been Chu soil... their own Prince rode a Pixiu while holding a Princess of Chu in his arms.

The sight caused something inside these grunts to begin surging uncontrollably.

Zheng Fan had not done it deliberately.

He truly had simply been too lazy to bother with the inconvenience.

After all, within Great Yan’s military he had already become something close to a god. He had long since stopped caring about “adding more bricks” to the image others held of him.

Unfortunately... the clear breeze meant nothing by it.

The ripples rose all the same.

Once you became accustomed to your own identity, whether you still wore a mask or not no longer changed the person others saw when they looked at you.

“Greetings, Your Highness! Greetings, Princess Consort!”

“Greetings, Your Highness! Greetings, Princess Consort!”

Amid wave after wave of bows and kneeling, Xiong Liqing stared at her husband with wide eyes.

Her husband merely waved casually.

Not the slightest trace of smugness appeared on his face.

Her mother had once told her that when a woman chose a man, all that talk before marriage about liking or not liking him meant very little.

You might hear that he was talented.

That he was romantic and elegant.

But hearing was never the same as seeing.

Only after you truly married him, bore children, and settled into the long years of ordinary life could you understand anything.

Then one day you would look up at him.

And if, in that moment, your heart still did not dislike what it saw... that was already a remarkably fortunate marriage.

After entering the command tent, Xiong Liqing did not see Siniang.

She could not help asking:

“Where is Elder Sister?”

“She went to Sansuo Commandery. That area needs to begin agricultural settlement first, so Siniang went to take overall charge.”

There were certain advantages to a commandery that had been smashed apart.

Once the old structure had been stripped away, Prince Pingxi Residence possessed much more room to rebuild and redesign it from the ground up.

Large-scale migration was impossible.

Eastern Jin itself was not yet fully populated.

But before spring arrived, reestablishing the local system of production and social relations was still extremely important.

From a military-strategic perspective, once that was done, the armies stationed here could depend on local logistical support.

From the perspective of ordinary governance, setting the people who had only just changed from “Chu subjects” into “Yan subjects” back to orderly work and production would drastically reduce the burden of ruling them.

Among the states of All Xia, accents differed, but people still fundamentally spoke the same language.

The scripts used in different states had their own stylistic preferences, but not enough to prevent people from understanding one another.

Set aside the aristocracy of Chu.

The true common people rarely cared whether the thing flying high in the sky above them was a Fire Phoenix... or a Black Dragon.

“Husband, when are we going to meet them?” Xiong Liqing asked.

“What, that impatient already?”

“Not exactly. I just want to help Husband as soon as possible.”

“Three days from now. Nian Yao went ahead quite early to make contact. The Blind Man is with him. They’ll arrange everything properly.”

Liu Dahu brought in a washbasin.

Xiong Liqing washed her hands.

While wringing out the towel, she asked him:

“Can I bathe here at the command tent?”

Liu Dahu nodded.

“Princess Consort may rest assured. This humble officer will arrange it immediately.”

“Good.”

There was already a bathing place.

Whenever conditions allowed, the Prince did his best not to mistreat himself in matters of daily comfort.

A second tent was attached behind the command tent.

A bathing barrel was kept there.

Liu Dahu led Xiong Liqing to the entrance.

“Princess Consort, please wait a moment. This humble officer has sent someone to bring your personal maids. They will be here shortly.”

The command area was the most heavily guarded part of the entire army.

Entry and exit were strict even for soldiers.

For unrelated outsiders, it was naturally far more difficult.

“No need. Don’t make trouble. I’m already making enough of an exception by coming in here as Princess Consort. If you bring my maids inside too, what would that look like? I can manage myself.”

“Yes.”

Liu Dahu saluted and withdrew.

Xiong Liqing entered the tent.

The hot water had already been prepared.

Everything from towels to soap was ready beside it.

...

“Your Highness, tea.”

“Mm.”

“This humble officer will go distribute the memorials I have on hand. I also need to represent Your Highness at the Military Discipline Office.”

“I know.”

“This humble officer takes his leave.”

Zheng Fan continued reviewing memorials while reaching for his tea.

He took a sip.

Then looked down.

Goji berries floated in the cup.

At that moment, Xiong Liqing walked in.

The Prince continued reading his memorials.

She moved behind the command chair and began kneading his shoulders.

The distinctive fragrance of a woman fresh from a bath drifted from her body.

Then...

Xiong Liqing bent down.

Pressed her cheek against Zheng Fan’s.

And whispered:

“This is Chu territory.”

Zheng Fan put down his brush.

“Yes.”

Xiong Liqing breathed gently against his ear.

“Little Zhengzi, then why aren’t you hurrying to serve this Princess and take off my shoes?”

...

After nightfall... several spells of rain came and went.

By dawn, the sky had gradually cleared.

The forces of Jin Shuke and Li Chenghui stationed in Moya Commandery and Wenqiu Commandery withdrew their camps fifty li north.

At the boundary between the two spheres of control, along the northern edge of Shangyang Commandery, an obscure little county town that had never been worth mentioning gradually became busy.

The Yan army had withdrawn.

At the same time, however, a force of roughly three thousand soldiers entered the county town and took up positions there.

Outside the town, ten thousand Chu Imperial Guards made camp.

Neither side probed the other.

No clash occurred.

Everything looked remarkably peaceful.

Two days later... the Yan troops withdrew from the county town.

The Chu forces shifted their encampment south.

Both sides deliberately emptied the town again.

On the third day... a force of roughly one thousand Brocade-Clad personal guards arrived and entered the county town to establish security.

From the Chu encampment in the south, one thousand Imperial Guards also entered.

The tiny county town was divided evenly between them.

At noon... the Blind Man led a group into the selected residence to inspect it.

The Chu side sent the commander of the Phoenix Nest Internal Guard to do the same.

Men from both sides crossed through one another’s areas, searching everywhere, each confirming that the other had hidden no traps or secret arrangements.

In the afternoon... two carriages entered the county town.

One came through the north gate.

One through the south.

Almost at the same moment, each passed through a different entrance into the chosen residence.

Zheng Fan descended first.

Then reached up and helped Xiong Liqing down.

From there all the way to the main hall...

Brocade-Clad personal guards stood on one side.

Phoenix Nest Internal Guards stood on the other.

The Brocade-Clad guards wore flying-fish robes and carried Embroidered Spring Sabers.

Every one of them was an elite tempered in blood.

By comparison, the Chu Phoenix Nest guards wore bright armor and carried themselves well.

But somehow... they still gave off the feeling that something deep inside them was missing.

It truly was only a feeling.

Because those sons of Chu were already doing everything possible to stand straight, lift their chests, and display their own killing aura.

But whatever equality existed inside this little residence could not change the larger reality outside.

Yan had achieved complete military victory and dominance over Chu.

Even so...

Xiong Liqing, who had effectively “run away from home” many years ago, felt her nose suddenly sting when she saw those Phoenix Nest guards again.

Only now... at this very moment... did she truly smell home.

Chu’s Phoenix Nest Internal Guard and Qian’s Silver-Armored Guard were not merely secret police.

They also handled much of the security and protection inside their respective imperial palaces.

Xiong Liqing had grown up inside the palace.

Naturally, their presence was deeply familiar.

When the Prince and Princess Consort appeared... the Brocade-Clad guards on the right raised the scabbards of their sabers across their chests.

Then each stepped outward in perfect unison.

The Phoenix Nest guards opposite them blinked.

They had no idea what they were supposed to do.

They wanted to respond with something equally neat and imposing.

Unfortunately, no one had prepared anything.

One could only say that Prince Pingxi Residence in eastern Jin had begun walking ahead of the rest of All Xia in such matters long ago.

And without the slightest exaggeration... when Great Yan’s Regent Prince turned his gaze toward them, those Phoenix Nest guards all felt tremendous pressure.

It was not that the Prince had nothing better to do and was deliberately releasing some sort of “tyrannical king’s aura.”

He had simply grown too used to looking at his own personal guards.

Seeing a fresh set was novel.

So he looked a little longer.

Then... the Prince turned toward Xiong Liqing and opened one arm.

Xiong Liqing smiled.

She was slightly surprised, but not reluctant.

She voluntarily reached out and looped her arm through her husband’s.

The two of them walked into the main hall together.

From the opposite direction... the Chu Emperor approached as well.

He too was supporting someone by the arm.

Not his Empress.

The Empress Dowager of Great Chu.

A smile rested on the old woman’s face.

She had always been an extraordinarily wise woman.

At least within the environment of the imperial harem, she had neither fought nor openly competed.

Yet all the while, she had quietly paved the road for her own son.

To a considerable degree, her son’s successful victory over his brothers in the succession struggle owed half its foundation to the favors and relationships she had accumulated.

Xiong Tingshan had been her foster son.

The Shi Clan had once received her grace.

The Qu Clan had once had a consort inside the palace who remained childless and unfavored, and it had been the Empress Dowager who quietly protected her from the harem’s cruel opportunism.

One matter after another... she had done far too much long ago.

And now, in old age... she had become even more broad-minded.

National war.

National war.

Chu had already lost two of them.

What could she do about it?

Surely no one expected an old woman like her to seize a saber and charge onto the battlefield?

In the end, Great Chu and its mountains and rivers belonged to the old Xiong family.

They had little to do with her now.

If the Xiong Clan ruined the whole thing, then they ruined it.

At her age... what she truly treasured more was simply the happiness of having her children around her knees.

That feeling was not an act.

Before the true principals arrived... the Blind Man stood inside the hall.

Opposite him stood Xie Yu’an.

The two did not exchange much.

The Blind Man reached into his sleeve, took out two oranges, and tossed one to Xie Yu’an.

Xie Yu’an caught it and held it beneath his nose for a sniff.

Neither man peeled his orange.

One glance was enough.

Neither liked oranges.

Since peeling them would only create fruit no one intended to eat... they could not be bothered.

At last... both principals entered.

The moment Xiong Liqing saw the Empress Dowager, she cried:

“Imperial Mother.”

“My girl!”

Xiong Liqing threw herself into the Empress Dowager’s arms.

The Empress Dowager patted her head.

One husband and one elder brother exchanged a brief glance.

Then each sat opposite the other.

Neither man spoke.

They allowed mother and daughter to reunite first.

At the beginning... their reunion was genuinely emotional.

But both women had come from the deepest halls of an imperial palace.

Their level was high.

They knew how to control themselves.

After the first outpouring of genuine feeling, the continued stream of household chatter was actually deliberate.

Both wanted to warm the atmosphere further... to prepare a better setting for the conversation that would soon take place between the two men.

Only after a long while did mother and daughter finally sit down together at the side, still holding hands.

The Empress Dowager stroked Xiong Liqing’s hand.

Then glared irritably at her Emperor son.

“Thank goodness the girl had a mind of her own and did not follow your arrangement. Look at her. Look what a good man she found for herself.”

Then... the Empress Dowager turned her gaze toward Zheng Fan.

“Before this, I still worried. Now that I have seen the girl in front of me, I understand. She has lived comfortably.”

Too many women had entered and left the palace over the years.

The Empress Dowager could tell at a glance whether a woman’s life had gone smoothly or not.

Zheng Fan did not stand.

But he did lean forward slightly.

“That is only as it should be.”

“Imperial Mother, Prince Pingxi Residence in eastern Jin is very peaceful. If you are willing, come back with me and stay for a while. Your daughter’s home is still a home, isn’t it?”

Hearing that, the Empress Dowager deliberately looked at Zheng Fan again.

“Oh? Since when do mothers go live in their daughter’s home while their sons are still alive?”

“Common families still visit one another and stay with relatives, don’t they? Besides, I have no father-in-law or mother-in-law over there. Why should we have so many rules? Big Girl keeps clamoring that she wants to meet her maternal grandmother.”

“Aiya, that is true. Why didn’t you bring Big Girl with you this time? I truly want to see my precious granddaughter.”

Naturally, Xiong Liqing could not directly explain that her granddaughter was currently camped outside an underground prison at home, effectively “visiting an inmate.”

She only smiled.

“Imperial Mother does not know how ridiculously our Prince treasures that daughter. He’s afraid she’ll fall if he holds her in his hands and afraid she’ll melt if he keeps her in his mouth. How would he dare bring her anywhere near a battlefront?”

“Ai. That is true.”

Xiong Liqing looked toward her imperial brother.

“Imperial Brother, can Imperial Mother come stay with me for a while?”

Unexpectedly... the Chu Emperor nodded immediately.

“Yes. It would be good for Imperial Mother to go out and clear her mind.”

“Imperial Mother, look. Even Imperial Brother agreed.”

“I’m telling you, your mother has saved up all kinds of private treasures. I could not even bear to give them to your Empress sister-in-law. I kept thinking I would save them for my granddaughter. You are not allowed to compete with her.”

“Your heart has gone all the way out to sea. What, you no longer expect Imperial Brother or me to care for you in old age? You expect Big Girl to do it?”

“Why not? In her letters, Big Girl told me she is practicing the sword now. In the future, she’s going to take me flying through the sky while standing on a sword.”

“She is just talking nonsense like a child.”

“What nonsense? My granddaughter is a spirit child. A genius.”

The Empress Dowager sighed.

Her free hand rested over her chest.

“Tell me. We are obviously one family. Among ordinary people, if one household had trouble, the relatives would absolutely send people over to help. So how did we end up fighting a war? Families live together. Friction is unavoidable. A word goes wrong, something irritating happens. That is normal. What big household avoids such things? But in the end... relatives remain relatives. Family remains family. The next generation still carries the blood of both households, doesn’t it? Forget saying that even broken bones remain joined by tendons. At the very least, when flesh rots, it ought to rot in the same pot. There is no sense in one family beating itself bloody only for outsiders to pick up all the benefits. That would be the real loss. Isn’t that so?”

Zheng Fan did not answer.

He silently accepted a cup of tea from the Blind Man.

Xie Yu’an also offered tea to the Chu Emperor.

The two men quietly drank.

Zheng Fan put down his teacup.

Both hands came to rest on the arms of his chair.

Then he spoke.

“Brother-in-law. Since we’re all family, let’s stop talking like two separate households.”

The Chu Emperor set down his teacup as well.

He nodded slightly.

“That is only proper.”

At that moment... the Blind Man and Xie Yu’an both unconsciously straightened.

“Then bow your head first.”

“To whom?”

“Me.”

[End of Chapter 986]