Chapter 666: The More Defeats They Suffered, The Braver....
They Became
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Xiao Jin finished his work earlier today.
After coming out of the Imperial study, he went to the Conjugal Phoenix
Palace.
During the time Su Ying wasn’t around, he had been staying in the Conjugal Phoenix Palace. Occasionally, when he was very busy, he would rest in the Imperial study. He almost never returned to his own sleeping chamber.
Su Ying liked to be left alone, so there weren’t many people serving her in the
Conjugal Phoenix Palace.
When Zhou Qing saw Xiao Jin walking over, she hurriedly went forward to pay
her respects.
“Greetings, Your Majesty.”
Xiao Jin nodded slightly and entered the inner hall without stopping.
Zhou Qing looked at Xiao Jin’s back profile and wanted to say something. However, when she recalled Su Ying’s instructions, she swallowed the words that were about to come out of her mouth.
“Does Your Majesty wish to take a bath now?”
Xiao Jin gave an affirmative murmur.
Zhang Shuming went forward to help him change.
After he had taken his bath, everyone excused themselves.
The door to the inner hall was closed, and Xiao Jin walked toward the bed.
However, just as he reached the bed, his eyes darkened.
There was a pair of men’s shoes by the bed, but judging from the size of the shoes, they were not worn by a man.
Xiao Jin’s expression turned ominous, and a swift and ferocious palm strike slashed over.
Su Ying had heard Xiao Jin’s movements long ago, but she was feeling playful and wanted to scare him when he came over. To her surprise, he attacked as soon as he arrived!
“Xiao Jin, it’s me!”
Su Ying sat on the bed and drew the bed curtains aside.
Upon hearing Su Ying’s voice, Xiao Jin withdrew his palm strike and backed away quickly. However, the impact from his internal force repelled his body half a step back. It was obvious that his earlier strike was meant to be lethal.
Just as Su Ying was about to get off the bed, a firm embrace collided with her. When she smelled the familiar scent on his body, her tensed nerves instantly relaxed. She leaned quietly in his arms and listened to his strong heartbeat. She could feel her entire body relaxing.
“Xiao Jin, I’m back.”
Xiao Jin hugged her tightly. He feared that he was dreaming and that she would disappear again when he woke up.
“Su Ying, you are incorrigible!”
The deep voice was filled with uncontrollable longing.
“I miss you.” Su Ying rested her chin on his shoulder and tilted her head to look at his Adam’s apple, which was bobbing slightly. She began feeling hot all over.
Xiao Jin tightened his grip on her. In the next moment, the two of them rolled into the soft blanket.
Zhang Shuming was standing outside the door. When he heard the commotion in the inner hall, he was very shocked.
Just as he was about to ask, Zhou Qing pulled him aside.
“Miss Zhou Qing, is something the matter?”
“Eunuch Zhang, don’t disturb His Majesty and Her Imperial Highness.”
“Her Imperial Highness?” Zhang Shuming asked in surprise.
Zhou Qing nodded. “Her Imperial Highness returned today. She has been resting in the inner hall after visiting the Princess and the First Prince.” Zhang Shuming suddenly understood. He was wondering why the sound of movements in the inner hall seemed wrong.
“So Her Imperial Highness is finally back,” he said with a smile.
During this period when the Empress was not around, the Emperor was much harder to serve than usual. Now that the Empress had returned, Zhang Shuming could finally get a break.
The commotion in the inner hall only quieted down late at night.
Xiao Jin got up and put on his clothes.
Su Ying didn’t want to be laughed at by other people on her first day back, so she also got up after Xiao Jin.
-If you’re tired, just lie on the bed. I’ll get them to bring the food in.” Su Ying rolled her eyes at him. “It is said that the ruler of a kingdom is extremely busy every day dealing with thousands of state matters, but you are so full of energy that you seem to have consumed the Great Complete Tonic
Soup.”
Xiao Jin smiled with immense satisfaction. “I’ve been saving up my energy for you.”
He then went forward with a dress and helped to dress Su Ying.
After they were done tidying up, Xiao Jin allowed Zhou Qing in. “Your Majesty, Your Imperial Highness, do you wish to have dinner?”
“Let them serve it.”
“Where are Ling and Ji? Are they back?”
“Your imperial Highness, the First Prince and Princess have already returned. They had dinner earlier and are already washing up and preparing to sleep.” Su Ying stood up and walked out. “I will go take a look at them.” The two little ones stayed in the side hall. They had just washed up and were about to lie down on the beds when they saw Su Ying walking in.
“My precious ones, Mother is back.”
When the two little ones heard the noise, they dashed out of the inner rooms and stuck their heads out from behind the doors.
“It’s Mother! It’s really Mother!”
Ling was the first to rush to Su Ying and throw herself into her arms.
“Mother is back. Sob, sob… Mother is back.’
Ji also jogged over to Su Ying and stared at her with eager eyes.
Su Ying also carried him up.
“Gosh! All of you have grown fatter. I can’t even lift you two up anymore.” “Mother can never not lift us up. Mother can kill an ox with one fist. Hahaha…” Ling hugged Su Ying’s neck joyfully and kissed her hard on the cheek twice. Ji simply leaned on her shoulder and expressed his longing for her silently. “Mother, we miss you so much.” Ji’s soft voice rang out in her ear.
“I miss you guys too. It’s getting late. If there’s anything to talk about, we can talk tomorrow. Go to sleep first. You still have to go to class tomorrow, okay.” The two little fellows couldn’t bear to part with Su Ying and they were not willing to get off her body.
Su Ying had no choice but to carry them back to the inner hall.
“Why don’t you have some food with Mother?
The two little fellows agreed with a nod just so that they could spend more time with Su Ying.
Su Ying didn’t want them to eat too much at night, so she only ladled half a bowl of porridge each for them.
“Mother, when did you come back? Why didn’t anyone tell us?”
-I just came back today. I wanted to tell you two, but you two were having classes at that point. I didn’t want you two to be distracted, so I didn’t let anyone tell you.”
“Mother, you won’t leave again after coming back this time, will you?” Ling moved closer to Su Ying. She didn’t want to be separated from her mother anymore.
-I won’t leave for the time being. Mother will accompany all of you.”
“Yay, yay! I can stay by Mother’s side again.”
Xiao Jin had been sitting quietly the entire time. From time to time, he would put food into Su Ying’s bowl and watch her chat and laugh with the two children. Even if he was just watching, he felt extremely contented.
After they were full, Su Ying let the two little ones sit with her for a while before sending them to bed.
The two little fellows were still reluctant to part with her, but with Xiao Jin’s deterrence, they eventually went to sleep.
“Did you receive my message?” Xiao Jin reached out and swept the stray hair on her forehead back. His dark eyes were filled with gentleness.
Su Ying cleared her throat and replied, “Yes. Chu Yun brought it to me.” She couldn’t have received that letter in Sky Alpha City. Otherwise, there was no way to explain how she had returned to the capital city in such a short time. “Huh? You have already left the northern wilderness at that point?” Su Ying nodded with a straight face. “Yes. I have already left. The matters there were almost in order, so I wanted to come back as soon as possible. That’s why I hurried on my journey back day and night. What’s going on with the Nan State and Jin State? Are they really going to join forces?”
When he saw that she had changed the topic, Xiao Jin didn’t probe further. Those things which she didn’t want to tell, she would never tell, no matter how much he pressed her.
Mm-hmm. The Nan State has already made their move.”
Su Ying sat up straight when she heard this, but she was pulled back by Xiao Jin into his arms.
“The more defeats they suffer, the braver they become..”