Chapter 39: Black and Fluffy

Logically speaking, a near-fallen ruler like Zhao Ji should indulge in all sorts of extravagant and decadent behaviors.

Just as feared, those damned Song people really did take advantage of our precarious situation, forcing us to voluntarily return the Yanyun territory.

With this realization, Luan Fei cooperated fully, obediently following behind Grand Eunuch Zhang with an expression of utmost trepidation.

"Mom, please help me boil the medicine and put it in the bathtub." Lu Xuan's face was flushed red, her veins bulging.

If there are some people you simply cannot afford to offend, the director might genuinely want to spew through his phone: Do you even know how to write a secondary surface? The department head was quite irritated by these calls and decided to leave the office for some peace and quiet.

However, from the fleeting glimpse in Mo Zun's eyes the moment he released her, Rong Qian could discern a trace of infatuation. His lips retained a glossy sheen, and his handsome, resolute face wore a rare, lingering tenderness... It left her unable to fathom whether that was merely a natural yielding to desire, or genuine affection born for her, for her very being.

Wang Jing leaned forward, pressing tightly against the horse's back, glancing back from time to time. He saw the Western Xia cavalry brandishing their curved sabers and shouting excitedly, kicking up massive clouds of dust in their wake.

Seeing that another fierce battle was about to break out, the muscles at the corner of Chang Qing's stern mouth suddenly twitched, lifting upward into an enigmatic smile.

He hadn't felt it before, but this time, when Gan Mingcong appeared before him, it was practically an eye-opener, giving him the pleasant surprise of "looking for something through iron shoes without finding it, only to obtain it effortlessly without any trouble."

Moreover, what he said was true. Two years ago, in order to retrieve the national treasure, the elite soldiers of the Azure Kingdom's Second Army went and never returned, genuinely harming the nation's strength. It was indeed a plausible excuse.

He dozed for a moment, and upon waking, found pairs of shining, terrifying eyes staring at him unblinkingly.

Thus, the three of them exchanged pleasantries for a long while, yet Madam Chu failed to extract any background information about their families. Across the way, the academy's bronze bell for the end of class had already chimed. Helpless, Madam Chu could only smile gracefully and bid them farewell.

He Yu sighed inwardly, but still handed a vegetable-flavored military ration to the mountain boy, signaling him to eat it.

"Then please speak your mind plainly, Prince Chao!" Yan Liu had no desire to make a detour to Prince Chao's estate and complicate matters. Right now, the most important thing for him was to return to the imperial palace to report on his mission.

By now, although no one uttered another word regarding Su Jinling and Prince Yu, everyone understood the score in their hearts. Today was Prince Qingning's grand wedding, yet Prince Yu had sent congratulatory gifts precisely during the wedding ceremony. One could only wonder what his intentions were.

Having fallen into a state of profound stillness, He Yu had no awareness of his current predicament; he was still observing the battlefield raging within his body.

During this period, while Shen Antong devised ways to probe for information and record it, Huangfu Li was likewise subtly "counter-probing" her. Striking first, he signaled Tantai Jing to hand the edited recording over to their mentor and report that "Shen Antong still retains her own thoughts and is not entirely under control."

The time spent waiting is always excruciatingly long, but no matter how long, it lasted no more than half ankes. The patrolling soldiers outside the Duke of Qin's estate stirred. Seeing eight squads of guards march into the estate, the scouting soldiers at the front waved at them, signaling them to move forward.

"Today, Shen has come for two reasons: first, to congratulate Your Highness Prince Rui on your enfeoffment, and second, to discuss some arrangements for the wedding half a month from now." Although the Ministry of Rites would handle the wedding preparations when the time came, the ceremony itself was to be held at Prince Rui's estate, so certain matters still needed to be discussed.

Along the way, everyone who saw the two of them wore expressions of astonishment, yet none dared to voice their surprise. Tang Ruyan felt somewhat unnatural, but upon seeing Jiang Ruixuan's expression, she grew composed. This man was simply not someone she could afford to provoke.

Zhao Kun's heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition suddenly enveloped him like a vast expanse of grey, gloomy clouds.

"How could you not see who it was? Liuyuan isn't home, and you were home watching the child—didn't you even know to cast a Soul-Binding Curse on the child?" A man suddenly materialized by Ming Yan's side. In the moonlight, Qian Qian could not make out his face, but his voice did not sound young, bearing a resemblance to the voice emitted by the ancient tree.

A low grunt laced with irritation drifted out through the crack of the door. Upon hearing the speaker's tone, the security guard's facial muscles twitched involuntarily, as if he harbored a deep dread of that voice.

Hearing this, not only the distracted Xu Li, but even Yue Bai—who had been sitting drowsily in the backseat—perked up. After shaking her head, Yue Bai craned her neck and joined the beauty Xu in looking ahead through the windshield.

"W-What??" Dark One instantly felt as though the world had turned surreal. Had his master taken the wrong medicine today? Why on earth would he want to eat coarse-grain flatbread? Dark One looked at the flatbread in his hand and thought silently: And it's even the one I took a bite of.

As the saying goes, misfortunes never come singly. Old Master Chen's current state filled Captain Qin with doubt, but connecting it to the Chen family's recent string of frequent misfortunes and cursed luck, he understood. Had he not noticed that Chairman Chen Shanluo had also aged and grown haggard, looking thoroughly rustic, practically indistinguishable from a nouveau riche parvenu from some remote village who had struck it rich overnight?

Seeing Zheng Yixiao act with such gravity, Qian Qian and Qu Li felt somewhat uncertain, yet they still invited Zheng Yixiao and the two young martial artists into Qu Li's room.

At some unknown moment, the person on the operating table had transformed into his master, his abdominal cavity soaked in blood. Slowly sitting up with his head lowered, he made a sound reminiscent of scratching against a wall, evoking a sensation most horrific.

From afar, he saw a crowd gathered around his doorway, pointing and gesturing inside. Frowning, he strode over, only to see someone stepping out of his house.

Xu Jie returned home that very day, summoned back by Old Master Xu. After all, the young master of the Xu family had just suffered the psychological threat of a kidnapping. Although Xu Jie himself was completely unharmed and bore no psychological shadow, the old man's heart simply worried for his son.

One token had already been given to the Shen family, and he intended to give another to the Wen family. As for the remaining one, he decided to take it to the marine police station... And so, lost in thought, Lin Tiansheng eventually drifted off to sleep.

"I will invest, because I am optimistic about your technology," Ike said earnestly, thinking that anyone who wasn't a fool would invest.

Under Guo Zhuochen's command, Wang Shitai and Wang Fugui led their security detachment to lure the enemy.

It was currently the afternoon, and gusts of cold wind swept across the grassland, blowing into the Golden Wolf tent and bringing a refreshing coolness to the space, which had been thoroughly warmed by charcoal braziers. The cool breeze washed over everyone, inducing a drowsy warmth.