Chapter 315: Loyal Words Are Jarring To The Ear
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Emperor Kangze’s good mood disappeared in an instant.
He was already wary of Xiao Jin, to begin with. Now, Xiao Jin had a formidable Consort like Su Ying. If Su Ying entered the battlefield, would her opponent still be able to survive?
If the opponent was someone else, then so be it. What if Emperor Kangze himself was the opponent?
At the thought of this, Emperor Kangze’s expression turned even more unsightly.
The Empress looked at the change in Emperor Kangze’s expression and lowered her eyes in satisfaction.
After the place was cleaned up, Emperor Kangze clapped his hands and the dancers entered gracefully.
For a while, the hall became lively again.
Su Ying had one round of exercise, and the little bit of food in her stomach had already been digested. She picked up her chopsticks and started eating without any break in her pace.
Emperor Kangze kept casting fleeting glances at Su Ying.
Su Ying naturally sensed the change in Emperor Kangze’s gaze, but it had nothing to do with her.
After eating and drinking her fill, Su Ying put down her chopsticks. “We can’t leave yet?”
“If you want to leave, we can leave now.”
As soon as Xiao Jin finished speaking, Emperor Kangze stood up. “Princess Consort Qi, follow me.”
Su Ying once again became the center of attention in the hall.
Su Ying handed the little ones in her arms to Xiao Jin. “Keep an eye on the children. I’ll be back soon.”
“Be careful,” Xiao Jin said with a grave expression.
Su Ying murmured a reply and followed Emperor Kangze out of the hall.
Emperor Kangze led Su Ying to the Imperial study.
As soon as they entered the study, Emperor Kangze signaled for the others to leave.
Only Su Ying and him were left in the study.
“Su Ying, tell me honestly. When did you learn these martial arts skills?”
Su Ying replied, “I met an expert on my way to exile, and he taught me everything he had learned in his life.”
“What expert? What’s his name?” Emperor Kangze asked.
“I don’t know. He’s already dead.”
Emperor Kangze’s eagle-like eyes stared at Su Ying icily as if he was searching for a flaw in her face. Unfortunately, Su Ying’s expression was as calm as ever, and he couldn’t see anything odd.
“You are indeed formidable. 1 am extremely gratified to have a daughter-in-law like you. If there is a war in the future, 1 will let the two of you, husband and wife, go to the battlefield together to ensure the peace of our Great Chu State.”
Su Ying gave a soft snort. As if it wasn’t enough to enslave Xiao Jin previously, now he even wanted to brainwash her? What a joke.
“What are you laughing at?” Su Ying’s expression made Emperor Kangze extremely annoyed. It was the kind of annoyance that came from being despised.
Su Ying adjusted her expression. “I can fight in brawls but 1 don’t know how to fight in battles.”
“Why? Don’t you want to render your service to the Great Chu State? Or did Xiao Jin already have thoughts of disloyalty?”
Su Ying felt that there was something seriously wrong with this guy. “Since Your Majesty doesn’t trust His Highness, why did you ask him to come back? You want Xiao Jin to risk his life for the Great Chu State, but you’re afraid of that little bit of real power in his hands. Surely that’s not good, Your Majesty?” “What are you saying? Are you humiliating me?”
Su Ying shook her head and said, “1 just want to tell Your Majesty this. If His Highness had any ill intentions towards the Great Chu State, he wouldn’t have returned.”
Emperor Kangze glared at Su Ying icily. If Su Ying had always been submissive to him and was always flattering him, he might have become more suspicious of the couple. However, Su Ying’s words were so forthright and clear-cut that he felt more at ease.
“Su Ying, don’t think that just because you brought glory to the Great Chu State tonight, 1 won’t punish you for your earlier arrogance and rudeness.”
“Loyal words are jarring to the ear, Your Majesty.”
Emperor Kangze gave a scornful snort. “Fine. Go, go, go.”
After Su Ying left the Imperial study, Emperor Kangze’s expression clouded over. Su Ying was as difficult to control as Xiao Jin, which made him feel very uneasy.
Emperor Kangze summoned the Grand Steward of the Imperial Palace. “Go investigate. Find out how is the relationship between Princess Consort Qi and Prince Qi.”
The Grand Steward responded in a low voice before excusing himself.
After Emperor Kangze left, the banquet was as good as over. Su Ying didn’t return to the banquet hall but asked a palace maid to pass a message to Xiao Jin.
Before long, she saw Xiao Jin walking out with the two little ones.
“Mother, give me a hug.”
Ling wriggled her body out of Xiao Jin’s arm and ran to Su Ying with outstretched arms.
Su Ying bent down and picked her up. “Let’s go home.”
“Let’s go home, Mother. 1 don’t like the palace.” Ling whispered as she leaned on Su Ying’s shoulder.
“Why?”
“They all want to bully Mother and speak ill of Father!”
Su Ying pinched her little face. “It’s one thing for them to think about it, but whether they can do it is a different issue. Don’t take the words of unimportant people to heart.”
“Mother is so, so, so awesome today.”
The family of four chatted and laughed as they left the palace.
Xiao Jue watched them leave, his brows so tightly knitted that his forehead formed the Roman numeral III.
“Su Ying, if you had revealed your true colors earlier, I would never have placed you by Xiao Jin’s side!”
As soon as they returned to Prince Qi’s Manor, Xiao Jin told Aunt Zhao to carry the two children away to wash up before he closed the door.
Su Ying turned her head and saw Xiao Jin standing behind her. Before she could speak, Xiao Jin swept her up in a hug.
Su Ying frowned but didn’t immediately push him away. “Xiao Jin, don’t act stupid and tell me you’re cold again.”
Xiao Jin tightened his grip on her. “Su Ying, 1 regret it.”
“What are you regretting?”
“I regret letting you return to the capital.”
Xiao Jin raised his head and looked at Su Ying with a profound gaze. “When 1 saw you confronting those people, at that instant, 1 became afraid. I was afraid that you would get hurt, afraid that something would happen to you. 1 regretted even more not stepping forward when the people from the Nan State spoke up and letting you deal with those people instead.”
Xiao Jin spoke extremely seriously, so seriously that Su Ying felt a strange feeling in her heart. It was as if her heart was being scratched by a cat’s claw, and it made all the hair on her body stand on end. “You want to protect me?”
“I do,” Xiao Jin said solemnly.
Su Ying’s eyelashes quivered. This was the first time she had heard someone say such words to her. When she was young, she was like a rootless dandelion. If she wanted to survive, she had to find a way to sprout.
However, the seedling was too fragile. It was so fragile that it would never be able to recover after a light puff of air from other people. Therefore, she worked hard to grow and trained madly. She was able to rise above others in round after round of extremely cruel training camps.
All she knew was that she had to fight for what she wanted. She had to tear apart those who tried to violate her.
Her battle comrades said that she was too brutal. She was so brutal that she was like a killing machine.
People were afraid of people like her, yet Xiao Jin said that he wanted to protect her.
This feeling was really damn amazing.
“No. Xiao Jin, 1 don’t need you to protect me under your wings. I prefer to fight side by side with you. I’m not a parasitic twining flower that needs to cling to you. Quickly settle your business while I am still in the capital.”
Xiao Jin’s eyes changed slightly. “You’re leaving?”
Su Ying realized that she had let the cat out of the bag, so she decided to tell him her plan. “I’ve already taken most of the dowry. Once 1 settle the real estate matters, 1’11 be done.”
Previously, Xiao Jin had used the dowry of the late Madam Jiang to coax Su Ying into returning to the capital.. Now, she was really going to leave after getting the dowry!