Free Web NovelChapter 1046: Chapter 250: Acting
"The throne, do you want it?"
When she heard this question, the heart of the Princess of Chu suddenly trembled.
This sentence from Lord Zheng Fan truly struck a nerve.
Xiong Liqing asking about her child’s future was essentially asking about her own future as a "mother".
Do you want power?
Do you want real authority?
You are a princess. Even if you don’t marry into the Qu Clan, you will never have a day when you mother the world,
but,
I will give it to you!
Whatever you want, I promise to you, after all, it’s just a promise.
"The throne of the Chu State?" Xiong Liqing unconsciously asked.
Zheng Fan smiled and shook his head.
"The throne of the Yan State?"
"What is the Chu State, what is the Yan State?
What is a great state?
Even the entire East, what does it matter?
One day, I will lead my iron cavalry and carve out a vast territory!"
Lord Zheng Fan spoke with resounding conviction and power.
Simply put,
since things had come to this point,
it’s no longer as simple as wanting to stop or go on a vacation,
This time, I must win, losing would not only mean loss but would likely cost me my life.
Moreover, he must make a decisive move, a heavy-handed one, to tip the scales in the heart of the Princess of Chu completely in his favor, leaving her no room for hesitation.
Because each moment of hesitation on her part is like his own hovering between life and death.
"I regard Lord Jingnan as an elder brother, and he regards me as his heir. His son is raised with me, I am his godfather. It’s possible that one day the Jingnan Army will bear my surname Zheng;
For now, my territory is only Xuehai Pass, but in the future, I might take over the Jingnan Army and control more than half of the Three Jin lands directly!
I am not a loyal and good general; I am only loyal to myself. Now, facing some people, I have to bow and scrape, but in the future, I will definitely pull them all down one by one. I want to sit in a place where I can look up and see no one above me.
On the day of the grand wedding, you come with me;
I can’t promise you stable wealth and glory, nor can I give you a long-term guarantee;
Either,
I lose, my family is executed, and you, as the ’legitimate wife’, will also be exiled, perhaps even follow me to the market and face the blade;
Or,
I win, and you can wear the phoenix crown, you can mother the world, and the sons you bear will inherit... inherit my throne."
Xiong Liqing opened her mouth to say something,
but Lord Zheng Fan quickly continued:
"Maybe what I just said sounds like bragging, like fantasy, like the ravings of a madman, but you must know, a few years ago, I was just a small innkeeper in a small town in Beifeng Prefecture;
Now, I can already hold the noble Princess of Chu in my arms and discuss the future with her.
In another three, five, ten, or twenty years,
who knows?
Now, you have the opportunity to offer timely help in my hour of need, and I will always remember this bond. Trust me, when you look back ten or twenty years from now, or when you’re old, you will be glad you made the right decision.
Who knows,
when your sons fight for the throne in the future,
you might even scold them,
Why fight,
You are brothers,
Knowing this, I wouldn’t have followed your father back then, seeing what you’re fighting for now!"
"Pfft..."
The princess laughed.
Zheng Fan slightly exerted himself, held her tightly, and buried his face once more in her hair, taking several deep breaths before softly saying:
"Give yourself a chance, give me a chance, I often go to the battlefield, and I often get injured. You should take good care of yourself, live a life of ease;
If things go as expected, you should end up with the chance to rule from behind the curtain."
"You, you’re going further and further off track."
"Also, after our wedding on the Lantern Festival..."
"Our wedding?"
"Qu Peiluo is a good person, he will help us to the end, and I think he will be willing;
Anyway, after the Lantern Festival, you will be my woman, stop thinking about that brother of yours, I will be jealous."
"So domineering?"
"Yes, I am domineering." Zheng Fan paused, then continued: "Besides, being my woman, is that unfair to you?"
The princess didn’t answer.
Zheng Fan reached out,
"Smack!"
A slap, with some force, very loud.
"What are you doing!"
"Smack!"
"Stop fooling around!"
"Smack!"
"That hurts!"
"Say something nice."
"Zheng Fan, don’t push your luck!"
"Ha."
Zheng Fan directly lifted the princess and carried her to the canopy bed in the sleeping chamber.
"Then today I will show you what it means to truly push your luck."
So what if this is the royal villa?
So what if Qu Peiluo just left?
So what if there are a large number of Qu Clan officers and over ten thousand troops outside?
Lord Zheng Fan carried her with great strength and walked strongly to the bedside.
Xiong Liqing looked at the face of the man holding her,
breathing heavily,
with her hands resting on his shoulders,
she said very seriously:
"Put me down."
"Your body, it’s been examined, right?" Zheng Fan asked.
Xiong Liqing pounded Zheng Fan’s chest with her hand, cursing:
"You scoundrel!"
"And I’ll be even more of a scoundrel later!"
"Zheng Fan, can you give me some more time?"
"What do you think?"
"Lord Pingye, can we wait until after the Lantern Festival?"
"What do you think?"
"I’m not ready."
"You’ll never be ready for this."
"Just wait a little longer, a little longer, eventually I’ll be yours."
"That’s good, it’s almost evening, and I can keep going until morning."
"You rogue, stop it!"
Zheng Fan stopped his actions, the princess’s brocade robe was already half undone.
Then,
Zheng Fan personally helped the princess dress again, gestured for her to lie down inside, and he lay down afterward.
Seeing that Zheng Fan had calmed down, the princess voluntarily curled into his arms, resting her head on his arm.
"Upset?"
"No." Lord Zheng shook his head.
Timing, timing.
Lord Zheng never intended to finish things here, especially not with the princess resisting.
Getting to this point was actually enough, it showed a wild side, but then stepping back kept room for maneuver.
Everything in moderation.
Lord Zheng suddenly felt a bit of sympathy for the protagonists in those X-rated films he watched in a previous life. Maintaining a clear mind in such situations to act was indeed no easy feat.
The two lay down, chatted a little more, though it wasn’t really anything specific, probably just to make it less lonely lying together.
Finally,
Lord Zheng got out of bed, tidied up his clothes.
The princess lay on her side on the bed and asked:
"Will you stay here until the Lantern Festival?"
"Maybe, maybe not, there are still many arrangements to make. I want us to return safely and smoothly, without any accidents."
The princess listened, nodded, with a smile in her eyes.
"I’m leaving, should I have that eunuch lead the way?"
Zheng Fan turned and walked toward the bedroom door.
If at this moment there was a camera angle, pulling out a shot from in front of Zheng Fan, capturing the princess’s face through Zheng Fan’s neck perspective,
one would find,
Lord Zheng and the princess’s originally gentle smile, almost simultaneously, withdrew, replaced with a chilling calmness.
After Zheng Fan walked out of the bedroom doors,
the princess lying on the bed slowly sat up,
and with a wave of her hand,
a Green Python slowly poked its head out from under the bed, flicking its tongue.
In Chu, there is a Great Swamp, and within the Great Swamp, there are demonic beasts.
The Yan royal family has raised Pixiu for generations, while the Chu royal family, having lost the heritage of Fire Phoenixes, has always been committed to developing demonic beasts of the Great Swamp.
This Green Python is spiritual and can recognize its master.
Originally, it grew up accompanying the princess, but last time, while visiting the night market in Xiayong City, it was inconvenient to bring it along.
And this time, after returning, the Green Python had stayed mostly under the princess’s bed because winter arrived, it was mostly dormant, so much so that even the newly arrived serving maids and eunuchs didn’t know their master’s bed had a big snake underneath.
The princess reached out,
gently stroked the Green Python’s body, soothing its slightly irritable mood.
The Green Python slowly calmed down, began withdrawing back under the bed.
The princess propped her chin,
muttered to herself:
"Indeed, I can’t find a reason to refuse."
...
"Why so slow?" Eunuch Zhao looked at Zheng Fan with a calm face, asking.
"To report to Eunuch, the princess was dissatisfied with the old style of Eastern Pearl strands and wanted to select a new one. To not delay the princess’s wedding, I discussed it with her for a while.
Some finished strands might not be in Xiayong’s main branch, so we might have to send someone to other prefecture branches to fetch them, so it’s important to decide properly.
Besides, earlier, while General Huwei chanted and recited about snow in the courtyard, the princess was standing at the door listening, forbidding me to speak, so there was a delay midway."
"Understood, understood, ah, by the way, this humble one has a sister, who has suffered grievances with me since young, and naturally owns no jewelry and such items.
So, come with me, I want to order some silver and white items for my sister."
"Yes, Eunuch."
The two walked out of the inner courtyard while talking, those serving at the Qu Clan’s Censorate just saw them, made no further inquiries.
Zhao Cheng took Zheng Fan to his room in the servants’ quarters after demoting, his sister was also there, but as soon as Zhao Cheng entered, he sent his sister to the inner room.
Then,
Zhao Cheng knelt in front of Zheng Fan,
"Servant greets Master, wishes Master good fortune."
Lord Zheng knew, this was to express loyalty. It’s hard on him, having to switch sides between himself and Xiong Liqing repeatedly.
Sitting down on a chair, Zheng Fan looked at Zhao Cheng kneeling on the ground, once a young lad, now a young eunuch.
"Hate me?"
Zheng Fan asked.
"Servant dares not, servant has to thank Master’s grace for promotion."
"Heh."
Zheng Fan didn’t believe this statement.
"Do you know what you should do?"
"Please, Master, enlighten me."
"No, I won’t say it clearly, you decide for yourself, but once successful, I shall reward handsomely."
"To serve Master is this servant’s duty, I dare not speak of reward!"
"A reward deserved is given."
Zheng Fan pointed at Zhao Cheng,
said:
"For instance, in the future, you might be able to regain what was lost."
"..." Zhao Cheng.
————
Already two Chapters updated during the day, none at night, will sleep soon, aiming to adjust my schedule back.
