Chapter 711: Envoy

Editor: Atlas Studios

On the first day of learning the horse stance, Little Bear hugged his mother’s waist and cried when he came back at night. When he slept, he kept hugging his legs and crying in pain. Just as Mu Yangling felt that he wouldn’t be able to hold on, he got up early the next morning. As he cried, he put on his clothes and held his father’s hand as they went to the martial arts hall.

Mu Yangling’s heart ached when she saw this. She almost couldn’t help but ask the child to stay, but her heart ached for Qi Haoran.

Now that Little Bear was practicing martial arts with Qi Haoran supervising and teaching him from the side, she was there to provide him with soup and water. Also, when he returned at night, she would personally soak him in a medicinal bath, and Qi Haoran would massage his legs. The two of them would coax the kid together.

When Qi Haoran was at this age, only Fan Zijin, who was also a child, was by his side. When he was practicing martial arts, no one did these things for him.

As for Madam Xia, Mu Yangling sighed. At that time, Madam Xia probably couldn’t even take care of herself, so there was a limit to how much she could take care of the two children.

Mu Yangling suddenly understood Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin’s brotherhood, as well as Fan Zijin’s attitude towards Madam Xia.

If Fan Zijin had not grown up with Qi Haoran by his side, he might have clung tightly to his mother who cared for him. However, it was precisely because Qi Haoran was by his side that Madam Xia’s waverings were glaring and her care was cheap. If he were an ordinary child, he might not have cared or would not have detected it at all. However, Fan Zijin was too smart and matured too early. The conflict between him and Madam Xia had never erupted, but it had always existed, resulting in the current situation.

Regardless, Fan Zijin still had his mother by his side. As for Qi Haoran, his mother was dead, and his father was like that. His elder brother could not even take care of himself…

Just thinking about it made Mu Yangling’s heart ache. In comparison, it seemed that her childhood had been pretty good. Although there were situations where she couldn’t eat her fill and couldn’t dress warmly, her father was responsible, her mother doted on her, and she had an obedient and cute younger brother…

At the thought of this, Mu Yangling felt extremely blessed, making her feel that Qi Haoran looked even more pitiful.

Therefore, when the father and son returned from practicing martial arts, they saw the starry-eyed and enthusiastic Mu Yangling.

The dining table was filled with the father and son’s favorite dishes and there was only one vegetarian dish. Qi Haoran held back his saliva and looked up at Mu Yangling. “Ah Ling, if you have anything to say, just say it. Don’t worry, no matter what happens, I won’t blame you.”

Little Bear was much more direct. He forked a piece of the braised lion’s head and placed it in his bowl, then looked up and said obediently, “Mother, I’m obedient. I’m a good child.”

After saying that, he stuffed the lion’s head into his mouth and wolfed it down. As he ate, he made satisfied sounds. Qi Haoran really wanted to throw this kid out.

Mu Yangling was still feeling sad, so she decided not to lower herself to Qi Haoran’s level. As she smiled gently at Little Bear, she picked up some of Qi Haoran’s favorite braised pork and said, “I’m fine. I just feel that you’ve worked hard recently, so I personally cooked a few dishes for you. Come and try them.”

Qi Haoran hesitated. “Are you really fine? Don’t worry, no matter how much trouble you caused, I can settle it for you.”

Mu Yangling couldn’t help but glare at him. “I told you to eat, so eat. Why are you talking so much nonsense? I didn’t cause trouble. My hands were just itchy and I merely wanted to cook, understand?”

Relieved to be yelled at, Qi Haoran picked up his favorite dishes with ease and started eating.

“…” Mu Yangling had never known that Qi Haoran had masochistic tendencies. So it turned out she had to scold him to make him feel at ease.

Just as Qi Haoran had predicted, the Dali envoys arrived outside the capital two days later. They stopped at the relay station outside the city to rest and wait for the envoys from Great Qi to receive them.

Qi Haoran was released. He took the books that he had copied previously and handed it over. Qi Xiuyuan flipped through it and knew that these were the copies that had been handed in last time. The corners of his lips twitched as he looked at his younger brother, who was seriously lowering his head and admitting his mistake, and ultimately did not say anything. He only threw the books aside and said, “Since you’ve interacted with the Crown Prince of Dali and have done him a favor, this time, you and the Tributary Affairs Bureau will receive him together. The Crown Prince will be conferred on the 12th of September. You can discuss with them if Consort Xian’s conferment will be held before or after. The Empress and I have no objections as long as the two events are not too closely spaced.”

Qi Haoran agreed.

After some thought, Duan Siwen decided to set the time before the Crown Prince was conferred the title.

All the feudal officials of the Great Qi returned to the capital to participate in the crowning ceremony. Compared to the conferment of the Crown Prince, Dali becoming a vassal state appeared much lighter. After the crowning ceremony, they definitely had to return to their posts and could not stay to participate in Consort Xian’s crowning ceremony.

Since that was the case, it was better to set the time ahead. Even if it was to warm up the Crown Prince’s conferment, it was better than being covered up by the grandness of the conferment of the Crown Prince.

However, they definitely could not choose September. Duan Siwen thought for a moment and chose August 25th, which was just right, among the few auspicious dates sent by the Imperial Astronomer.

In two days, it’d be the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet.

Qi Haoran sent Dali and the others to the Tributary Affairs Bureau to settle down before leaving. Meanwhile, because the Dali envoys had entered the capital, there was a frenzy in the capital. Those whose attention had been placed upon Little Treasure and Little Bear previously all diverted their focus away.

The position of the Eldest Prince’s Crown Prince had long been secretly decided a year ago when the Emperor delayed the selection of consorts for his sake, thus people weren’t much interested in that. What piqued people’s interest was that there was a Virtuous Consort among the Dali envoys.

Currently, there was only one Empress in the harem. As soon as this Virtuous Consort arrived, she broke the phenomenon of the Empress dominating the harem for more than a year. Though, it was yet unknown if she could change the situation of the Empress being solely favored by the Emperor.

Hence, everyone set their sights on the Tributary Affairs Bureau. They really wanted to see this Virtuous Consort’s appearance in advance.

Those who were well-informed and quick-witted knew that Princess Consort Rong had once saved her and she had lived in the General’s Residence in Qiannan for a long time. No one dared to ask Princess Consort Rong about it. (Mu Yangling was also baffled about this. All along she thought that she’d always appeared gentle and generous to the outside world. Why was everyone so afraid of her? Mu Yangling felt that she had been implicated by Qi Haoran, and Qi Haoran’s answer to this was to give her a smack to the back of her head.)

Back to the topic, no one dared to ask Princess Consort Rong about it. Instead, they went to ask Little Madam Xia, who was also in Qiannan back then and lived right next door.

Little Madam Xia had a good personality and could not bear to reject the visits of those who were older than her. However, she was pregnant and it was inevitable that she would be tired from entertaining guests. It had only been two days, but the fatigue was already apparent on her face. Furious to see this, Fan Zijin called the butler to close the door and refuse all guests.

This way, they would inevitably offend someone. Coincidentally, Qi Haoran was around. He waved his hand nonchalantly and said, “Why go through that suffering? Just pack your things and move to my place. Anyway, there’s no one in your house to take charge of things. When Cousin-in-law delivers, would you have to go back to look for Aunt? Let Ah Ling take care of her. Imperial Physician Wang lives at my place, so you can be rest assured. It just so happens that Ah Ling has been very free recently. Royal Sister-in-law is busy with the Mid-Autumn Night Banquet and Consort Xian’s conferment, so she doesn’t have the time to chat with Ah Ling. Just let Ah Ling accompany your wife.”

Fan Zijin looked at Nanny Xia with a deep gaze. Nanny Xia immediately knelt down and said, “I’ll go back and pack up now.”

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