549 That Person Back Then
In the Queen Manor, two carriages stopped outside the main entrance of the manor one after another. The first carriage was luxurious and exquisite. The second carriage did not look eye-catching, but it was very spacious. However, it was black and vaguely emitted a terrifying aura.
“Is Big Brother back?” As soon as the carriage stopped, the Little Commandery Princess, who had been waiting for a long time, pounced over like a swallow.
The curtain of the carriage was gently lifted by a slender hand. Immediately after, a handsome figure slowly alighted from the carriage. The guards at the side lowered their heads, not daring to look at this proud son of heaven.
Everyone called the courtesan, Dong Xian’er, the number one beauty in the Capital, but they did not know that the person who was really at the top of the Nanzhao Beauty List was the elegant young master from the Queen Manor.
!!
He was extremely beautiful, but he had an otherworldly temperament. Wherever he went, the entire city lost its beauty. Even his sister, who had grown up with him, could always be stunned by her brother.
“Big Brother!” The Little Commandery Princess threw herself into his arms.
Nangong Li reached out his slender and strong arm and gently wrapped it around his sister. His cold palm stroked her forehead and he said softly in a gentle voice, “I haven’t seen you in two years, Xi’er has grown taller again.”
The Little Commandery Princess looked at her brother’s face and said, “Big Brother has also grown taller!” In the past, her head could still touch her brother’s chin, but now she could not reach it.
Nangong Li smiled. “How are you at home?”
“Not good! Not good at all!” The Little Commandery Princess stomped her feet.
Nangong Li looked at her sister dotingly. “What’s wrong?”
The Little Commandery Princess said angrily, “Everything is wrong!”
Nangong Li helped his sister up from his arms and brushed the hair off her cheeks. He said meaningfully, “Brother is back. All the bad things will slowly become better.”
“Okay!” The Little Commandery Princess hugged her brother’s arm. She inadvertently glanced at the second carriage and walked over. “What’s inside? Is it a gift you bought for me?”
A powerful killing intent surged out.
Nangong Li grabbed his sister’s wrist. “The gift I gave you is here.”
The Little Commandery Princess was called back. She looked at the small box that Nangong Li had taken out of nowhere and happily took it. After opening it, she said, “It’s a jade pendant!”
Nangong Li said dotingly, “There’s only one Cold Mountain Warm Jade in the world.”
The Little Commandery Princess played with it lovingly.
Nangong Li looked at the carriage that had almost been knocked over by the Little Commandery Princess and then at the group of guards who were so shocked by the killing intent just now that blood flowed from the corners of their mouths. He held his sister’s hand expressionlessly and entered the manor.
The siblings went to the Queen’s courtyard.
The Prince Consort had already rested. The Queen was sitting in front of the desk dealing with government affairs. Although she had been grounded, she was still the only Queen of the Nanzhao Nation. Many memorials would still be sent to her. After she went through them, she would be presented to the Emperor.
“Your Highness, the Commandery Prince has returned to the manor!” The maidservant outside the door reported.
The Queen stopped writing and looked in the direction of the door.
“Mother!” The Little Commandery Princess could not wait to pull her brother in.
A happy smile appeared on the Queen’s face when she saw her son, whom she had not seen for two years. Nangong Li walked forward, lifted his hem, and was about to kneel. The Queen hurriedly supported him. “Get up! Did you have a hard journey?”
Nangong Li looked at his mother and said, “I was wrong for not coming back in time.”
The Queen smiled. “You didn’t deliberately delay the time. What crime is there? I’m relieved that you came back safely.” As she spoke, the Queen looked at the Little Commandery Princess. “Didn’t Xi’er prepare a welcoming gift for your brother? Hurry up and get it.”
This meant that she was sending her away.
How could the Little Commandery Princess know? Thinking of the gift she had left in her room, she patted her head and went to take it without a word. However, this time, she would probably take a long time to find it, long enough for the mother and son to reminisce.
“All of you, stand down,” the Queen instructed in a deep voice.
“Yes.” The maidservants left respectfully.
When there was no one else in the room, the Queen shed her proud expression and revealed a tired expression. She walked to the window, supported herself on the table with one hand, and pressed her sore forehead with the other. “You’ve heard everything that happened in the manor?”
Nangong Li said with heartache, “Mother has suffered. Father…”
The Queen sighed and said, “He’s fine for the time being. The medicine for the past two days has been a little heavy. He rested early. Go greet him tomorrow.”
“Alright,” Nangong Li said.
The Queen turned around and sat down on a chair by the table. Nangong Li also sat down and looked at the Queen quietly.
The Queen said with a complicated expression, “It’s fine if I suffer a little. It’s just that your grandfather found out about the holy artifact. He suspects that the holy artifact never recognized me as its master. However, I denied it and he didn’t have any evidence, so he did not deal with me seriously.”
Nangong Li comforted her. “After all, Mother is Grandpa’s biological daughter. No matter how suspicious Grandpa is or how angry he is, he will ultimately stand on Mother’s side.”
The Queen said earnestly, “I understand this logic, but being a disappointing daughter is naturally not as good as being a daughter that you’re proud of. I shoulder the fate of Nanzhao. If anything happens to me, it won’t only chill Father’s heart, but also the people in the country.”
Nangong Li said firmly, “Mother is the destined person. You will definitely be able to continue the fate of Nanzhao.”
The Queen waved her hand. “Let’s not talk about this anymore. Your grandfather can find the holy artifact. There’s no need for me to worry too much. On the other hand, did you gain anything from your trip to the Ghost Clan?”
Nangong Li smiled faintly. “The Ghost Clan is really difficult to find. It took me more than a year to find the place with the map you gave me. However, the heavens did not disappoint those who work hard, so I still found it. Mother, guess what I found out in the Ghost Clan?”
The Queen exclaimed, “I’m exhausted from my work. Don’t beat around the bush with me.”
“The Eldest Princess is missing,” Nangong Li said.
“What?” The Queen was stunned.
Nangong Li smiled faintly and said, “To be precise, the Eldest Princess fled the marriage.”
“Fled the marriage? Whose marriage?” The Eldest Princess’s wedding was eighteen years ago. The Queen firmly believed that she had long been married, so she was stunned when she heard that she had escaped marriage.
Nangong Li snorted. “Of course it’s the Ghost King’s marriage. The Ghost Clan’s news is really tightly sealed. If any princess escaped marriage in Nanzhao, it would spread to the entire world in less than a day, but the Ghost Clan forcefully hid it for so many years. Even though there are rumors in the pugilistic world, they still don’t have any evidence.”
The Queen was puzzled. “Why did she escape marriage? Is she unwilling to be the Queen of the Ghost Clan? It’s already lucky that a jinx like her can marry out, yet she still learned to escape marriage! Where did she go after escaping marriage? Also, the Ghost Clan doesn’t have a bride, yet they didn’t come to Nanzhao to ask for it?”
If the Ghost King tried to pressure Nanzhao and asked them to send troops to arrest her, wouldn’t it be much faster than him looking for her himself?
Nangong Li said, “The Ghost Clan disdains to interact with outsiders. Losing the Queen is their clan’s business. If they want to find her, they should find her themselves. It’s not the outsiders’ turn to interfere.”
“Hmph, obstinate,” the Queen said disdainfully.
Nangong Li smiled and did not comment.
“Then… where did the Eldest Princess escape to?” The Queen asked again.
“She escaped to the Great Zhou,” Nangong Li said.
The Queen asked, “How do you know she went to the Great Zhou?”
Nangong Li looked at the endless night and said, “Because I’ve seen her daughter.”
… .
After saying goodbye to Wan Feng, Yu Wan boarded the carriage back to the carriage.
“Nangong Li… Nangong Li…” Along the way, Yu Wan repeatedly thought of this name. It clearly made her feel familiar, but she could not remember where she had heard it before.
“Young Master, we’ve arrived!” The coachman’s voice came from outside the curtain. Yu Wan returned to her senses and realized that they had already been outside the carriage for a long time. The coachman could not wait any longer before reminding her.
Yu Wan nodded and lifted the curtain to get off the carriage. “How much?”
“Six hundred copper coins. Just pay the shopkeeper,” the coachman said.
Yu Wan entered the lobby of the carriage shop and found the shopkeeper. She took out a tael of silver for him.
“Wait a moment.” The shopkeeper gave her the money.
While Yu Wan was waiting, there was a commotion outside the door.
“This is the commandery prince’s calligraphy. It’s worth a hundred taels! It’s more than enough to cover the fare!”
“How dare you call for a carriage without money! Do you think our carriage shop is for fun!”
“Young Master, your silver.” The shopkeeper handed the silver to Yu Wan.
Yu Wan accepted the silver and glanced outside the door. “What’s going on over there?”
“Ah,” the shopkeeper said with disdain. “A peddler from the countryside rented our carriage, but he didn’t have any money to pay the fare. He took a piece of paper and lied that it was the commandery prince’s calligraphy and wanted to use it to offset the fare. Hmph, did he think we’re stupid!”
“Which commandery prince? From the Queen Manor?” Yu Wan asked.
“That’s right,” said the shopkeeper.
“How much money does he need?”
“One tael.”
Yu Wan gave the shopkeeper one tael. “I want that calligraphy.”
The shopkeeper wanted to say, “Young Master, don’t fall for it.” The commandery prince’s calligraphy wouldn’t fall into the hands of a vendor so easily, but he held back his words. If this young master didn’t fall for it, their carriage would suffer a loss.
Yu Wan took the calligraphy and left.
The vendor puffed up his chest. “I knew it! That’s really the commandery prince’s calligraphy! The commandery prince drank my tea! He didn’t bring any money! So he gave me a calligraphy piece!”
After that, the vendor shouted something else. Yu Wan could not hear him clearly. She found a deserted place and spread out the calligraphy.
The handwriting was so familiar that she suspected that she had seen it wrongly. She pulled off the hairpin on her head and wrote a line of words on the ground. It was exactly the same as the handwriting on the calligraphy.
Her handwriting… was taught by this person.
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