The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 993 - 993 468 Spirited Xiaoqi (First Release)

Chapter 993: 468 Spirited Xiaoqi (First Release) Chapter 993: 468 Spirited Xiaoqi (First Release) After Marquis Xuanping got into another carriage, the coachman asked where he wanted to go, but he did not speak.

His mood was terrible as well, which was why he had no wish to reveal his emotions in front of Princess Xinyang when getting off the carriage.

He was a man, and no matter how angry he was, he could only endure it himself and could not vent it on a woman.

The coachman didn’t have the nerve like Chang Jing to make his own decision to take him to the Princess Residence or Marquis Residence, so he just wandered aimlessly around the Avenue, circling the Imperial City over and over again until both horses almost saw stars, before at last, a calm voice finally came from inside the carriage.

“Go to Bishui Alley.”

The coachman breathed a sigh of relief.

It was almost dark, and at last, he wouldn’t have to keep driving until dawn.

Marquis Xuanping’s mood indeed gradually calmed down.

When the emperor arranged his marriage with Qin Fengwan at first, he was actually quite astonished, his sister had already entered the palace as the empress, and the Xiao family was firmly bound to the emperor’s ship, so there was really no need for the emperor to add kinship on top of kinship.

Moreover, his reputation was not great, and for a princess to marry down to him, it was an affront to her.

The emperor didn’t tell him at the time everything was the late emperor’s will, and after thinking it over, he speculated whether the princess had actually taken a liking to him?

It was not impossible, after all, he was handsome.

He had grown up in a military camp, mixing every day with a bunch of rough men, and his father had never taught him how to be kind to his wife, but he vaguely knew that his mother had not been happy.

So many concubines in the family set rules around his mother, who looked imposing but was actually suffering inside.

He had seen Princess Xinyang, and as a man looking at a woman, to say that he didn’t look at the face would be false, especially at first glance.

Princess Xinyang was very beautiful, indescribably so, and no man would be unmoved by such a woman.

He had genuinely intended to marry her and bring her home. When they were bowing at the altar during their wedding, he was even happily thinking that from now on, he, Xiao Ji, would also be a family man.

He wore a bright red wedding robe, joyfully lifting her veil with full anticipation, yet she pointed a cold dagger at his heart…

“Damn it!”

The emotions that Marquis Xuanping had finally quelled surged up again, and he pulled at his collar in frustration, a trace of irritability crossing his brow, “Haven’t we arrived yet?”

The coachman was startled by the seemingly calm tone laced with hidden anger and quickly replied, “Soon, very soon, we’re almost there!”

“Don’t go to Bishui Alley anymore,” Marquis Xuanping said.

“Ah? Then where to?” You’re changing your mind too quickly, aren’t you?

It was not that Marquis Xuanping didn’t want to see Xiao Hen, but his mood was somewhat irritable at the moment, and he feared he might frighten his son.

After some thought, he decided to look for the old monkey Gu Chao, maybe have a fight or something.

Only when he arrived did he learn that the old monkey had gone on a long journey, and he hadn’t told his family where he went; it seemed like he was off enjoying the scenic hills and waters.

Enjoying the scenic hills and waters was impossible, not in this lifetime; the old monkey must have been sent by the emperor on some errand again.

Marquis Xuanping thought about it and went back to his residence obediently. He called Liu, the steward, and had Liu recount all the major recent happenings in Capital City.

The matter of King Ning had already been mentioned by Princess Xinyang.

He heard about Consort Jing’s issue from the steward Liu.

Consort Jing had publicly declared that she had died suddenly, but the steward had connections with Kunning Palace and naturally knew the inside story.

Consort Jing was a remnant of the previous dynasty, and the poison that afflicted Xiao Hen as a child was orchestrated by her, she concocted the discord between the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, and the marital arrangement of Princess Ning An was also her doing.

“Poor Princess Ning An, to fall into the hands of such a viperous mother,” the steward Liu sighed deeply.

Consort Jing’s death had caused a stir in the Capital City for a while, but now the fervor had cooled down a long time ago, and this was the first time Marquis Xuanping heard about it, and he should have felt immensely shocked, but because he had noticed before leaving the city that the old Libationer was targeting Consort Jing, he could almost guess that she was not as simple as she seemed on the surface.

But he did not expect her to be implicated with the remnants of the previous dynasty.

Based on the information revealed by Empress Xiao, Consort Jing had been in close correspondence with the border regions over the years, and everyone thought she was communicating with Princess Ning An, but in reality, she was likely in contact with the remnants of the previous dynasty.

The emperor decreed Tang Yueshan as the imperial envoy to the border, ostensibly to visit Princess Ning An, but in actuality, he led troops to eradicate the remnants of the previous dynasty.

“This achievement should have been my brother’s, but unfortunately, my brother was not in the Capital City, so His Majesty appointed Tang Yueshan,” said Empress Xiao directly.

Marquis Xuanping had no interest in the achievement; his expertise in warfare did not mean he enjoyed it. Some things were duties, missions that had to be shouldered.

If he could not defend the lands, the country behind him would be ruined, and the family behind him would perish.

Empress Xiao might not know about the old marquis’s affair, but Marquis Xuanping could guess that himself, most likely he had gone north with Tang Yueshan.

Tang Yueshan was fond of great achievements, and he would only tolerate the old monkey accompanying him for one reason—the old monkey wasn’t going to fight.

“Is it to rescue Princess Ning An?” Marquis Xuanping mused as he touched his chin.

If the prince consort was also a chess piece of Consort Jing’s, then the situation for Princess Ning An was indeed not optimistic.

Thinking of Princess Ning An, the Marquis Xuanping couldn’t help but frown at the thought.

In the past, Empress Dowager Zhuang seemed to have intended to arrange a marriage between him and Princess Ning An, but that girl always behaved like a frightened little rabbit, which he disliked.

He, a man who knew not how to cherish the fairer sex, should not taint such a fragile creature.

“Alright, you may leave,” the Marquis Xuanping said tiredly.

“My lord,” Steward Liu smiled, “Will the young lord be brought back?”

The Empress Dowager had been in contact with the Marquis Xuanping through Steward Liu, so the steward was already aware of the illegitimate child who turned out to be the young lord.

The Marquis Xuanping glanced at him indifferently, “Haven’t you gone to receive him?”

Steward Liu was instantly rendered speechless.

He was supposed to pick him up from the countryside, but even after bringing the person to Capital City, he failed to bring him back to the Residence…

Not knowing he was the young lord before, Steward Liu had treated him with slight disrespect, and, thinking about it now, he was quite afraid.

Although the Marquis Xuanping had intended to rest, he now stood up and walked towards the door, “I have my own plans for this matter; you don’t need to interfere, and in the future, there’s no need to visit Bishui Alley either.”

“My lord, do you not plan to announce the young lord’s identity for the time being?”

“Hmm.” The Marquis Xuanping usually would have announced it by now, but this time he was unusually cautious.

He didn’t fear those people, but having lost Xiao Hen once, he could not afford to lose him a second time.

Having returned to the Imperial City, it was natural to report to the Emperor.

The Emperor, once again, expressed his sorrowful apologies for my son having killed your son.

After some thought, the Marquis Xuanping decided not to inform the Emperor.

The Emperor had previously taken his mining rights, and he was someone who held grudges.

Dusk enveloped everything.

Marquis Gu finally completed his official duties for the day.

The construction of the Residence ordered by Empress Dowager Zhuang was nearing completion and would soon be finished. In fact, everything that needed to be ordered had been ordered, so there was no need for him to supervise the work every day; however, with the recent increase in demand for bellows and the arrival of several agricultural tools from folk traditions—water wheels, threshing machines, and winnowing machines—

The Ministry of Works was busy learning.

Having learned from the experience with the bellows, the Ministry of Works was no longer pretentiously superior and humbly sought teaching from farmers who came from the people.

It’s strange to say, but are all those who farm the land now so formidable?

The water wheels they built were far more powerful than the government’s. Zhan Country’s water wheel technology had also been introduced from Liang Country, which had the most advanced tube wells and axles, combined with ponds, to achieve a certain level of low-to-high water flow to some extent.

However, these folk water wheels took the advantages of the vertical and horizontal wheels to their extremes, significantly increasing the lift of water, and even in steep terrains, they could achieve a higher delivery from lower water sources.

Marquis Gu spent the whole day today studying this.

He had not yet had time to look at the threshing and winnowing machines.

No one knew which gifted individual from the people had created such impressive devices, but the Ministry of Works had already dispatched people to investigate.

Marquis Gu entered the Courtyard to find that his family seemed to be out, leaving only seven chickens working in the vegetable patch to catch bugs.

“Not even a gatekeeping old woman is present; I said to hire a couple of servants, but they insisted against it…”

Marquis Gu ranted for a while.

After ranting, he noticed a chicken strutting up to his feet.

He stopped and looked at the chicken.

The chicken looked back at him.

This was Xiaoqi.

However, Marquis Gu didn’t recognize it, as in his eyes it was just a chicken, the same as the others.

It’s funny to think about it, who brings their own chickens when coming to Capital City? Is it that Capital City lacks chickens for sale or what?

Thinking of such stingy behavior made Marquis Gu feel especially embarrassed.

This daughter had been raised poorly in the countryside, unbecoming of her status, and the son-in-law was no better. He truly worried that Yanyan and the child in the Yao Family’s womb would also be led astray by them!

Thinking of the soon-to-be-born little one, Marquis Gu couldn’t help but feel a rare touch of good mood.

He looked down at the chicken at his feet.

He thought the chicken was about to peck him, but it remained motionless for a while.

After a moment, it strutted away pompously.

Then Marquis Gu discovered, to his dismay, that it had left a plop of chicken dung on his shoe!

Marquis Gu: “…!!”

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