The Gilded Cage - Chapter 193

One Year Old (2) This chapter is all about the cousin! (7)

“Although I have such a title, my life is probably worse than that of a ninth-rank official in Changan.” Xiao Kezhi sneered, a bit of mockery flashed in his dark eyes, but he still stared straight at her, “I wanted to take you out of Changan, but just now, according to your wishes, the East Palace also intends to rescue you. How do you choose?”

Chu Ning frowned and looked at him, not knowing whether this strange man who suddenly appeared was a good guy or a bad guy, but for some reason, in her eyes, his appearance was actually more reassuring than Xiao Yu’s elegance and modesty.

“What will happen if I go with you, and what if I don’t go with you?”

“If you come with me, we will go to the frontier to endure hardships, where the wind and sand in a day are more than that in Changan in a year. If you don’t come with me, I will send someone to take you to the East Palace.”

It sounds like he believed she would choose to go to the East Palace.

But Chu Ning bit her lip and asked, “If I go with you, what will I do if you leave me?”

She always has some doubts about the prince, and if the person in front of her was really what he said, just because of this little care in her father’s letter, regardless of whether he came to rescue her from a distant frontier, he should be extremely reliable.

What’s more, in the letter, her father really appreciated this man.

Xiao Kezhi was stunned, and the strangeness in his heart was suddenly magnified, and even his heart trembled inexplicably.

“No.” He stood up straight, took a step closer, and looked down at her solemnly, “If you come with me, I will never leave you.”

Chu Ning looked at him and was silent for a moment, while a sergeant was urging him to leave quickly, and Cuihe called to her nervously.

She gritted her teeth and said suddenly, “Then I’ll go with you.”

Xiao Kezhi opened his mouth, both in surprise and inexplicable joy that was hard to restrain.

“Good.”

He suddenly picked her up and put her into the prepared carriage with a rare bright smile on his face.

“Sit tight, let’s go.”

Under the bright and warm sunlight in early winter, with the sound of hooves and rolling wheels, they ran across the wide loess road and galloped towards the wilderness in the northwest.

…

“Your Majesty, it’s time to go back to Ganlu Hall.”

In the Taiji Hall, Liu Kang’s voice came, waking Xiao Kezhi from his sleep.

He struggled to open his eyes, rubbed the space between his brows, slowly sat up straight, and looked at the familiar layout around him. Only then did he realize that it was just a dream of his own.

That dream seemed to be to make up for the regret in his heart that he hadn’t met his wife earlier.

If he had acted earlier and taken her away before Xiao Yu, would everything have been different?

He also asked himself in his heart, and today, it seemed that he already had the answer.

“Your Majesty has been busy working on river embankments these past few days, and it’s been too much work. Her Royal Highness specially asked everyone to go back earlier.” Liu Kang brought his boots to the side of the couch.

“Well, I’ll go back now.”

Xiao Kezhi didn’t say much, lowered his head and put on his boots, then got up, left the house, and walked in the direction of Ganlu Hall.

After walking for a while, a woman’s gentle and melodious voice mixed with the lively and immature laughter of children.

He looked up and saw a pair of children jumping and playing in the corridor, while the children’s mother was sitting in the corridor laughing and talking to them from time to time.

“Your Majesty is back.”

As soon as she turned her head, she saw him. She immediately stood up and stepped down the steps, bringing the two children to them.

“I was about to send someone to visit. I’m afraid Your Majesty is busy and forgets the time.”

Xiao Kezhi looked at the face in front of him that was similar but not exactly the same as in the dream, and his heart suddenly throbbed.

The different ending that he didn’t see in the dream flooded into his mind like a tide?…

Because of that impulsive adventure, the power he tried so hard to hide was finally discovered by Empress Dowager Qi’s party a year later, causing a storm in the court.

As a last resort, he had to raise troops hastily and attack from Ganzhou all the way to Changan.

During this period, Xiao Yu wanted to join forces with him, but when he refused, he became furious and sent someone to Beirong to release the news, leading the Beirong people to attack from behind.

In desperation, he didn’t want to see his people displaced, so he had to lead his troops back to drive the Beirong away.

At that time, the Ganzhou army was not yet fully mature. After several tosses, their vitality was seriously injured, and they finally repelled the Beirong but were finally suppressed by the imperial court’s reinforcements.

In the end, they were desperate and died on the battlefield…

At that time, he was still powerless to protect the person he wanted to protect.

Fortunately, at that time, he hadn’t really met her yet.

“A’Ning.” He stretched out his hand to hug her into his arms, put his head on her shoulder affectionately, and said in a low voice, “It’s not too early or too late to meet you. That’s great.”

Chu Ning was stunned for a moment, and then seemed to sense his emotions and said nothing, but silently wrapped her arms around his back and stroked him gently.

The two children looked eagerly at the intimacy of their parents, and smiled and imitated their father’s words, “Oh, oh, that’s great!”

A family of four, with a son and a daughter. This life was really great.

<END>