Chapter 1886: Chapter 940: Dominant Long Yi (First Update)
It was the first time Little Yiyi encountered someone wanting to give her a hard sugar-coated fruit, and she didn’t even have teeth yet!
When Princess Xinyang and Yujin returned to the room from the flower room, Little Yiyi was being held in the arms of a young man in a black robe, her little hands holding a shiny string of candied fruit, licking it contentedly.
The nursemaid stood trembling at the side, not daring to make a sound.
She didn’t know this person, but she couldn’t overpower him either.
Yujin looked at the suddenly appearing young man in shock: “Chang Jing?”
…
“Lord! Lord!”
In the martial arts practice room of the Xuanping Marquis, Xiao Ji was instructing Shangguan Qing in horse stance training, when Liao Guanshi came rushing in with a hurried expression.
“What is it?” Xiao Ji glanced at him.
Liao Guanshi raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, panting and smiling as he said, “Chang Jing has returned! He’s at the Princess’s place!”
He used the word ‘returned’ instead of ‘came.’
In everyone’s heart, Chang Jing had long been considered a member of the Marquis Residence.
Shangguan Qing looked at his own father, Chang Jing? That young expert in black robes?
Xiao Ji maintained a calm demeanor, but his following words revealed his urgency. He said to his son, “Continue practicing the horse stance on your own. There’s half a shichen left, no laziness allowed. I’m going over there. Liao Huan, keep an eye on him!”
Liao Guanshi quickly said, “Yes, My Lord!”
Xiao Ji turned and left.
Shangguan Qing immediately withdrew his posture with composure and stood up calmly.
Liao Guanshi sighed helplessly, wondering if having him watch over the young master was truly pointless. How could he compete against this little sesame-filled dumpling?
Xiao Ji went to the Princess Residence.
Just upon stepping into the courtyard, he belatedly sensed something amiss: Chang Jing was back, he should have come to the Marquis Residence first, why did he go to the Princess Residence instead?
“Could it be that this kid is still thinking about Qin Fengwan?”
Chang Jing was drawn to the Princess Residence by Little Yiyi’s cries, but it’s true that Chang Jing also harbors thoughts for Princess Xinyang.
Princess Xinyang did not dislike Xiao Ji, nor did she dislike Chang Jing. Once, when Chang Jing was injured passing by the mansion on Vermilion Bird Avenue, Princess Xinyang saw him, called him in, and personally dressed his wounds.
Since then, he would often get injured passing by there, occasionally grabbing a meal after being bandaged before returning to the Marquis Residence.
About this, Xiao Ji had no idea.
Chang Jing had no mother, only seven sisters, and he felt a maternal power from Princess Xinyang. He really liked her.
When Xiao Ji entered the room, Little Yiyi had already been deprived of the sugar-coated fruit by her mother, her little hands washed clean, lying obediently in the cradle.
Chang Jing was sitting at the table eating Yangchun noodles, clearly hungry and devouring them quickly.
This wasn’t the focus; the focus was the few exquisite side dishes arranged in front of him, all catered to his taste.
Two possibilities: one, he requested them proactively; two, the Princess Residence prepared them for him.
If it was the first, he didn’t consider himself an outsider; if it was the second, he truly wasn’t an outsider since the Princess Residence was clear about his preferences!
Xiao Ji suddenly felt his family status was being challenged.
“You all chat, I still have some matters to attend to,” Princess Xinyang said, seeing he had arrived, and took Yujin to the flower room to continue tending to the newly purchased peonies.
The thunder had ceased, the sky was overcast, ominous clouds hinting rain was seconds away.
Xiao Ji first looked at his little daughter, who was playing happily alone, and then sat opposite Chang Jing.
In the half year they hadn’t seen each other, Chang Jing had grown taller, with a heroic spirit between his brows, youthful as ever.
“Did you run away from home again?” Xiao Ji asked blandly.
Chang Jing finished the noodles in his mouth before responding, “No, not this time.”
Xiao Ji observed him, previously inattentive, but today he suddenly noticed how well-mannered Chang Jing was when eating.
One could tell he was disciplined by Qin Fengwan.
Chang Jing ate the bowl of noodles, drank all its soup clean, and placed the bowl and chopsticks neatly.
Xiao Ji’s mood grew even more complex.
“I came to find you,” Chang Jing got to the point, “I thought you were dead, so I brought people to collect your body.”
Xiao Ji was taken aback and stammered: “Thank you very much.”
Chang Jing continued, “We arrived at the border pass of Yan Country and heard you returned alive.”
Xiao Ji said coolly, “And then your father agreed to let you come all this way to find me?”
Chang Jing replied, “No, he didn’t agree; I’m not supposed to leave the glacier plain.”
Xiao Ji looked at him with amusement: “And you said you didn’t run away from home? What’s this all about then?”
Chang Jing earnestly said, “I told my father that you’re my future father-in-law and you’ve betrothed your daughter to me, allowing me to bring people to propose.”
“I don’t have a daughter to give you—” Xiao Ji disdainfully cut himself off mid-sentence, his gaze suddenly shifting to Little Yiyi in the cradle, delighting in play with her little feet.
He stood up abruptly, grabbed the chair he had just sat on, “You dare have designs on my daughter!”
Chang Jing darted to the doorway and explained, “I didn’t know you really had a daughter! I was just speaking offhandedly!”
Chang Jing had left Zhan Country with Xiao Ji, and neither of them knew that Princess Xinyang was pregnant, nor was the joyous news of the princess giving birth to a daughter able to reach Dark Night Island in ancient times without information technology.
Chang Jing purely found a strong excuse to fool his dad and seven sisters.
Xiao Ji didn’t care; he was angry, very angry!
He grabbed a chair and chased Chang Jing through half the Residence.
Two hours later, the big and the small stood breathlessly in the Garden, keeping a distance of about ten steps.
Xiao Ji had a back injury and couldn’t chase anymore, while Chang Jing was already bruised and swollen.
Xiao Ji glared at him breathlessly, threw away the chair, and turned back to the Study Room.
Chang Jing pouted aggrievedly, limping and following him.
Xiao Ji barely sat down in the Study Room before getting up and going to the Princess Residence, picking up Little Yiyi from the cradle, and solemnly saying, “You can only get married when you are eighty, got it?”
Little Yiyi: “???”
Xiao Hen had just had his measurements taken, as the court was to make him a Junior Mentor’s official robe. Everything would be ready for him to accept the appointment in court formally.
When he returned to the Marquis Residence, he heard that Chang Jing had returned and was chased and beaten by Xiao Ji. Gu Jiao was free at that time, so he went to the Marquis Residence with Gu Jiao, coincidentally running into Xiao Ji coming from the Princess Residence.
“Father,” Xiao Hen greeted, “I heard Chang Jing is back.”
His father missed Chang Jing and must be very happy at the moment.
Unexpectedly, his father’s eyes weren’t eyes, his nose wasn’t a nose, and he snorted coldly: “Humph!”
Xiao Hen: What kind of reaction is this?
“Is he angry with me?” Xiao Hen asked Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao said, “I think he’s angry with Chang Jing.”
“Why?” Xiao Hen was puzzled, he just returned and didn’t know the details.
Gu Jiao pointed to the stacks of thick gifts in the Courtyard: “Those, your sister’s betrothal gifts.”
Xiao Hen: “???”
Chang Jing was joking, but Chang Kun took it seriously, not only letting Chang Jing return to Zhan Country but also having Uncle Li, who watched Chang Jing grow up, bring generous betrothal gifts to show sincerity.
This was a huge misunderstanding.
…
They finished fighting and scolding, next was to ask about serious matters.
The four sat in the Study Room.
Chang Jing sat on the other side of Gu Jiao, using Gu Jiao to shield himself from Xiao Ji’s killer gaze.
Xiao Ji was still fuming and practically didn’t want to talk to him.
Xiao Hen began to speak.
He asked, “Chang Jing, did you run into General Xuanyuan and Liao Chen on your way back?”
Chang Jing was puzzled: “Why would I have run into them?”
Xiao Hen said, “They went looking for Jianlu, traveling by water, leaving last month. You happened to come from that direction.”
The Jianlu’s base was also on an island, not far from Dark Night Island.
Chang Jing shook his head: “I took the Official Road, didn’t run into them.”
Because he carried valuable betrothal gifts, he feared the boxes would get damp if he took the water route, so he chose the Official Road.
Chang Jing pondered, “Are they going to Jianlu to avenge the Shadow Division? If that’s the case, they might have gone for nothing.”
“Why do you say that?” Xiao Hen asked.
Chang Jing said, “Jianlu has already been annihilated.”
Xiao Ji raised his eyes and impatiently glanced at him: “Who told you that?”
Chang Jing said seriously: “No one told me; I saw it with my own eyes. My dad, after spring, took me to destroy Jianlu, the real Jianlu.”
Jianlu thought they were well-hidden, but Dark Night Island had long known their exact location. However, Chang Kun, not being ambitious, didn’t provoke Jianlu unless they were attacked first.
Xiao Ji frowned: “Why did your dad want to destroy Jianlu?”
Chang Jing said aggrievedly: “Isn’t it because of you? My dad died on the icefield because of you. To make me feel better, he agreed to destroy your enemy—Jianlu.”
Strictly speaking, Jianlu wasn’t Xuanping Marquis’s enemy, but Jianlu repeatedly acted against the Xuanyuan family and Shangguan Qing, and Gu Jiao, so Xuanping Marquis indeed wanted to destroy them.
“Continue,” Xiao Ji said.
Chang Jing continued, “When we of the Dark Night Gate arrived at Jianlu Island, we found corpses everywhere, not a single living soul. Someone had already annihilated them before we got there. The weather wasn’t hot, and the bodies weren’t badly decomposed. According to Uncle Li’s estimation, they were probably killed three days ago.”
Gu Jiao made a sound: “Who is so powerful?”
Jianlu’s actions were arrogant, and it was not strange they had enemies, but what enemy could annihilate the entire Jianlu?
Chang Jing said, “The wounds on those people were all the same. My dad and Uncle Li both think they were killed by the same person’s sword.”
Gu Jiao widened her eyes: “You mean, one person… annihilated the entire Jianlu?”
Xiao Ji and Xiao Hen fell silent.
A name simultaneously flashed in the minds of the father and son.
Xiao Hen focused his gaze and said, “Long Yi.”