Chapter 1081: Ah Xuan Is Back
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
In the Qianqing Palace, Princess Hui An saw Emperor Jing Xuan.
Princess Jingning was also there.
After all, the two of them had b.u.mped into each other halfway, so Princess Jing Ning came over to join in the fun. “Hui An greets Father.”
Princess Hui An bowed respectfully.
Emperor Jing Xuan sat behind the desk and looked at her with a dark expression.
Princess Hui An suddenly looked up and met her father’s sharp gaze.
Her heart skipped a beat and she hurriedly lowered her head.
Emperor Jing Xuan asked, “Did Su MO escort you back?”
“Yes.”
“Just him?”
“And the Su family’s army.”
Emperor Jing Xuan looked at Princess Hui An deeply. “I heard from the minister of Honglu Temple and your second brother that you left the marriage alliance team and entered the capital of the Southern Wilderness in advance?”
Princess Hui An’s eyes flashed as she said in her usual tone, “I went to look for my sidekick.”
Emperor Jing Xuan frowned. “Who’s your sidekick?”
Princess Hui An said, “Qin Su.”
It was true that she had gone to look for her sidekick, but she had not fled the marriage team halfway. She had fled in the capital.
Emperor Jing Xuan questioned, “Who brought you there? Your second brother said that he encountered a powerful masked expert. Who is he?”
Princess Jingning looked at Emperor Jing Xuan in surprise and quickly lowered her eyes to continue.
Princess Hui An said seriously, “It’s a secret guard arranged by Imperial Grandmother. I’ve stayed with Imperial Grandmother in the nunnery for so long. When I heard that I was going to marry far away in the southern border, Imperial Grandmother was worried that I would be bullied in the southern border.”
Emperor Jing Xuan asked suspiciously, “Didn’t your third brother give you the guard?”
Princess Jingning paused.
Princess Hui An mustered her courage and met Emperor Jing Xuan’s scrutiny. “It’s not Third Brother, it’s Grandmother! If Father doesn’t believe me, you can send someone to the nunnery to ask Grandmother if there’s such a thing.”
She had already gone to the nunnery to inform her grandmother. She was not afraid that her grandmother would not back her up.
Emperor Jing Xuan asked about the reason why the marriage was canceled.
Princess Hui An’s words were not much different from those of the envoys— the person who was to marry Princess Hui An was Zong Zhengming’s third prince. After Zong Zhengming was executed, his children were all demoted to commoner status.
Zongzheng Wei did not have any children and did not have a suitable marriage partner for the marriage alliance.
Emperor Jing Xuan also asked about the Wei family and if Zhuge Qing was Wei Qing.
Princess Hui An pretended to be stupid.
Emperor Jing Xuan thought that this daughter was innocent and that it was not difficult to hide things from her, so he had no intention of continuing to question her.
After coming out of Emperor Jing Xuan’s bedroom, Princess Hui An hung her head dejectedly.
“What happened?”
Princess Jingning asked calmly, “Aren’t you happy enough after going out to play for a few months?”
Princess Hui An said bitterly, “Father asked me so many questions just now, but he didn’t care how I was doing, if I was sick, or if I ate well. He didn’t ask if the journey was hard.”
Princess Jingning was silent.
After a while, she said in a low voice, “Father is not the same father as before.
He has changed.”
“It’s still a little uncomfortable, ” Princess Hui An whispered.
Emperor Jing Xuan questioned, “Who brought you there? Your second brother said that he encountered a powerful masked expert. Who is he?”
Princess Hui An said, “I’ll go pay my respects to Mother.”
Princess Jingning looked at her. “You’ve learned your etiquette after going out for a while. There’s no need. Mother has rested. Go back to Qi Xiang Palace.”
“Send me back,” Princess Hui An said.
Princess Jingning glared at her and followed her.
“It’s too late. I’m not going in.”
“Wait for me!”
With that, Princess Hui An quickly entered Qi Xiang Palace. Not long after, she carried out a heavy wooden box.
“Jingning, this is my little vault. I’ve saved up for so many years. My favorite treasures are all here.”
“Showing off your vault to me?”
“There you go.”
Princess Jingning was confused by this action.
Usually, if she wanted to take a look, this girl would not give it to her.
Princess Hui An said sincerely and carefully, “If, if I do something wrong to you one day, please forgive me on account of the small vault.”
Although Princess Jing Ning did not think that an idiot like her sister would do anything to let her down, it would be a waste not to accept a vault that came knocking on her door.
“Then it’s settled!”
Princess Hui An returned to Qi Xiang Palace in a good mood.
“Mother!”
She threw herself into Consort Xian’s arms.
Imperial Concubine Xian sat on the chaise longue and was knocked into by her. She wanted to be angry, but when she thought about how she was a daughter who had been lost and found again, she was only left with relief and heartache.
“Were you frightened when you went to the Southern Wilderness? Let Mother take a look and see if you’ve lost weight.”
She didn’t lose weight and even gained some.
Princess Hui An snuggled into Consort Xian’s arms and hugged her waist. She said softly, “Mother, I miss you so much.”
Consort Xian said, “Hmph, why did you escape from the capital when you missed me?”
Her son did not hide her daughter’s matter from her.
Princess Hui An said righteously, “Wasn’t that to avoid the marriage?”
A mother knew her daughter best. Consort Xian did not fall for her tricks. “Who took you away?”
Princess Hui An said, “It’s a guard left for me by my sidekick!”
This was not a lie. Su Xuan was the guard left for her by her sidekick!
Consort Xian’s expression darkened.
Princess Hui An hurriedly said, “Mother, don’t blame her. If not for her arrangements, I would have been captured and married to the Third Prince of the Southern Wilderness long ago. I wouldn’t have been able to wait for the real King of the Southern Wilderness to take back the throne and cancel the marriage.”
“You.” Consort Xian tapped her forehead with her fingertip.
It was good that her daughter had returned safely. Consort Xian did not want to pursue the matter.
Consort Xian hugged her daughter in her arms and sighed. “You’re not young anymore. I’ll quickly marry you off so that your father won’t keep thinking about letting you marry.”
She had dodged the Western Jin last time and the Southern Wilderness his time. Who knew if there would be Wei and Northern Yan next time?
His Majesty’s personality was becoming more and more unpredictable. Her methods of inviting pets were no longer very useful to him. Princess Hui An’s eyes flashed. “Jingning isn’t even married yet.”
Consort Xian said, “She’ll be soon.”
Princess Hui An was stunned. She sat up straight in Consort Xian’s arms. “Has her marriage with Su Xuan been set?”
Consort Xian asked strangely, “Who told you it was Su Xuan?”
Princess Hui An said awkwardly, “Doesn’t the Empress… like him?”
Consort Xian said calmly, “At first, he was quite liked, but he clearly won first place in the examination, but he suddenly fell ill and couldn’t partic.i.p.ate in the subsequent palace examination. The Empress asked around and found out that Su Xuan had been weak and sickly since he was young. The Empress didn’t want her daughter to marry a sickly person, so she didn’t mention Su Xuan anymore.”
Princess Hui An stood up and walked out angrily.
Consort Xian extended her hand. “Hey… it’s so late. Where are you going?”
Princess Hui An clenched her fists. “Jingning! Return my little vault to me!
After Su MO sent Princess Hui An back to the palace, he returned to the Marquis of Zhenbei’s Estate with his two brothers who were disguised as the Su family’s soldiers.
Everyone in the family had rested, and only the oil lamp was still lit in the Old Marquis’s study.
Su Li did not dare to see his grandfather for fear of being beaten up again.
Su Xuan entered the study calmly..