Seeing Xie Jingchen dazed and stunned, Ying Xu knew he had remembered, so in a tone that was both like accusation and like reproach, she said again,
“Liar, you leave.”
Four years ago, the late emperor established the crown prince, but the crown prince was not Xie Jingchen, whom everyone thought would naturally be sent to that position, but rather Xie Liu, who before this had not been particularly prominent.
Among the princes, the most outstanding Xie Jingchen was sent to the northwest.
At that time, Ying Xu once thought that Xie Jingchen would not just willingly be sent to a desolate place by Uncle Huang. And this was what everyone in Jinling City thought.
—At that time, Xie Jingchen held military power in his hands. In everyone’s eyes, the crown prince position, which should have been in his grasp, and the future throne were taken by other brothers. Xie Jingchen would surely not just let this go. He would definitely cause trouble, either force the palace or rebel; it was only a matter of time.
However, in reality, it shocked everyone.
With the sixth prince being appointed crown prince, the always favored young lady of the Ying family was given in marriage to him. Time passed, day by day, one, two, three days.
Yet everything remained calm, nothing happened, Xie Jingchen did nothing.
So in this calmness, on the fourth day after her marriage was arranged, when asked by insincere girlfriends whether she missed Xie Jingchen, Ying Xu just laughed clearly, her tone faintly disdainful, saying matter-of-factly, “He’s so useless, why should I like him?”
Ying Xu really thought Xie Jingchen was useless. The supreme emperor’s throne was within reach, yet he did not strive for it at all, obediently accepted the title of King of the Northern Frontier.
Worthless.
Useless.
Not at all like the person who had been her follower for years, not even a bit of backbone learned.
So for the next four years, Xie Jingchen, far in the northwest, had no news, and Ying Xu assumed he had died there.
However, Ying Xu felt no pity for this childhood companion.
The only feeling was summed up in two words: deserved it.
Who told him not to seize the throne?
When Ying Xu had said she had thought many times over whether Xie Jingchen had died, this was not some tsundere contradiction, nor arrogant prideful words, but truly the case.
She really considered Xie Jingchen dead.
And then… the person who had died suddenly lifted the coffin board in her heart, climbed out from inside, and appeared before her eyes.
From her memories, looking at him, still somewhat dazed, but now sitting upright, flustered and awkwardly explaining that he had thought she would never want to see him again, afraid of annoying her and making her unhappy, Ying Xu waved her hand and said:
“Enough, stop talking, stumbling and mumbling. I’m too lazy to listen, hurry up and get up, do you know what time it is now?”
Saying this, the beautiful girl directly reached out and pulled the blanket off him, startling Xie Jingchen, his body trembling instantly.
He awkwardly pressed the blanket corner with his hand, softly saying, “I’ll do it myself…”
Then, as if remembering something very important, he suddenly lifted his head, looking somewhat frightened at Ying Xu, stammering to ask her, “A-A Xu, can, can you… go out for a moment? I’ll change, change my clothes, you…”
His speech was in disorder, even confused about word order, which made Ying Xu feel speechless, commenting, “Xie Jingchen, can you stop acting like you’re some virgin girl whose purity has been ruined?”
“You’re wearing underclothes anyway, what are you shy about? A person from the army, and you still sleep this long? Hurry up and get up, stop being pretentious!”
Hearing Ying Xu’s words, Xie Jingchen obediently did not argue. Before today, he had not had a proper sleep for a long time.
This time, it was because he finally had an environment that allowed him to completely relax.
This was… Ying Xu’s home.
Then, under Ying Xu’s urging, Xie Jingchen leisurely, extremely shy, put on his clothes. After finishing, he walked to where Ying Xu was sitting at the table, like a newlywed bride waiting for her husband’s instructions, shy and obedient, endearing.
Hearing Xie Jingchen approaching, Ying Xu glanced up, hmm… clothes neat, hair combed tidy, presentable for going out. So she directly stood up and said, “Follow me.”
Hearing this, Xie Jingchen did not ask where to go, but obediently followed behind her. Just like that, the two left the room.
After getting into the horse carriage prepared in the residence, Xie Jingchen handed her a cloak he had taken with him earlier while leaving the Ying residence, which Ying Xu had seen the servants carry for her.
Seeing the neatly folded fur cloak, Ying Xu asked curiously, “Why did you bring it out?”
Xie Jingchen replied, “I’m afraid it will get chilly in the afternoon, so I brought a cloak for A Xu.”
“Oh.” Ying Xu nodded.
Then the beautiful girl said, “Aren’t you going to ask me where we are going?”
Looking at her with dependent puppy eyes, he obediently said, “No matter where, I’ll go with A Xu.”
As long as he could be with her, where to go didn’t matter.
Seeing him so obedient, Ying Xu’s mood improved slightly, her lips slightly upturned, and she actively told him the carriage’s final destination, “To the palace.”
“The palace?” Xie Jingchen was somewhat shocked, asking, “A Xu, didn’t you say before you didn’t want to go back there?”
“Yes.” Ying Xu responded, then said, “I really don’t want to go back there, but I suddenly remembered, there are still some of my things in the palace, I need to take them back.”
What Ying Xu was going to collect was naturally not gold, silver, or silk. Setting aside that Ying Xu did not care about gold, silver, or jewels, with her status, she had no need to care about such things. Even the rarest jewels and treasures, for someone who grew up with precious treasures, were just so-so.
Even if these mundane things needed collecting, it was not worth Ying Xu personally going all the way to the Weiyang Palace to sort them out.
Moreover, she had already promised Xie Jingchen that after he ascended, she would marry him and become his empress.
So these palace items were even less necessary to collect.
Ying Xu now specifically returning to the palace was mainly to retrieve some items her parents had left her while alive.
Indeed, she would return here in the future, but the items left by her parents had a special meaning to Ying Xu. She needed them nearby to feel at ease.
As soon as Ying Xu finished speaking, Xie Jingchen immediately understood her meaning.
So he immediately obediently said, “I’ll help A Xu carry them.”
Hearing this, her beautiful phoenix eyes immediately glared at him, harshly saying, “I asked you to go with me, it was originally to have you carry things.”
On the handsome young man’s extraordinarily handsome face immediately appeared a harmless obedient smile.
Then, just as Ying Xu leaned against the carriage roof feeling uncomfortable, asking Xie Jingchen to come over, suddenly the carriage jolted. The unprepared Ying Xu fell forward, luckily Xie Jingchen’s quick eyes and hands caught her in his arms, saving her from hitting her head.
Leaning in Xie Jingchen’s arms, in that instant, Ying Xu could feel his heartbeat racing, thumping like a little deer, knowing it was because of her.
Besides his heartbeat, Ying Xu could also feel Xie Jingchen’s body stiff, tense, barely moving, probably out of shyness.
Then, her beautiful phoenix eyes slightly lifted, and from this angle, she could see Adam’s apple moving slightly, uncontrollable.
Ying Xu, for some reason, reached out and lightly pressed it down. As expected, she heard a muffled groan.
However, just as she wanted to press a second time, suddenly a soft hand gently grabbed hers. Ying Xu looked up, her gaze meeting him.
The previously roughened handsome face was now flushed red, like a boiled shrimp, cooked completely.
Xie Jingchen’s slightly hoarse voice, puppy eyes moist and pleading, pitifully said, “A Xu, don’t bully me.”
“…Then, I will die.”
Interrupted, the girl pulled her hand back, staring at him for a long moment, then suddenly reached up and tugged his still-red cheeks, in a fierce, villainous tone said, “Then you just—” die.
However, her words were interrupted by some noisy voices from outside, seemingly arguing about something.
Always the one to interrupt others, never being interrupted herself, Ying Xu could not bear this injustice.
So, still a bit shaken from the earlier scare, Ying Xu immediately released her hands from Xie Jingchen’s cheeks, then turned, pushed open the carriage door, without looking outside, and scolded at the source of the noise, “What is going on? Don’t you know, according to the laws of Da Qi, making a ruckus in public disturbing the people gets you imprisoned! Shut up, one more word and I’ll have you sent to the Dali Temple!”
Hearing this, the loudest male voice among the ones shouting turned the anger at the beautiful girl in the carriage, “I’m teaching my own wife at my doorstep, do you have a say? Dare to meddle in my business, do you know who I am? You—”
The man’s curse was cut off by a woman next to him, who had been arguing loudly, suddenly raising her voice, looking at Ying Xu, voice full of disbelief,
“—Ying Xu?! How are you here?!”
Author’s Note:
Pushing the newly opened pre-release, title: “Born Emperor Fate”
Synopsis ↓
Ying Hao, at birth, was predicted by a master to be born noble, with limitless future potential.
Later, in a chaotic era, with warlords vying for supremacy, any prince or noble with ambition for the supreme throne would inevitably set their sights on Ying Hao, the young lady famed for “born empress fate,” hoping to marry her and ascend the throne.
From a young age, Ying Hao pondered a question: why does everyone think she should rule the world? If she is born noble, shouldn’t she naturally be emperor?
—Under heaven, is there any land not the king’s? Along all shores, are there any subjects not the king’s?
—In this world, besides the emperor, who has the right to claim nobility?