Chapter 230: Supreme Commander is an evil vixen
The first thing Ning Xiaoyao saw upon opening her eyes in the morning was Lou Zigui sitting by her bed. She grinned at him and said, “Supreme Commander, you came to wake me up?”
Lou Zigui bent down to examine Ning Xiaoyao. Although the girl had just woken up without washing herself at all, she looked perfectly clean and neat. Her cheeks were a little red from being under the covers, as if she’d been dusted with a light covering of blush. He reached out his hand to pinch them as he asked, “Are you feeling all better now?”
“Mhm,” Ning Xiaoyao hugged her covers as she rolled from the head to the foot of the bed, before suddenly recalling something. “Eh? Where’s my Black Tubby? That jerk, he abandoned me and ran away after we slept together?”
If I didn’t know Black Tubby was a cat, Lou Zigui thought, I’d push this girl down and teach her a thorough lesson. What in the world is she saying?
“Black Tubby?!” Ning Xiaoyao yelled.
“Miaow!” Big Boss Black’s meows came from the flower gardens outside.
“You’re still in the mood to worry about your cat,” Lou Zigui said as he pulled Ning Xiaoyao before him. “Looks like your mood really has improved.”
Ning Xiaoyao gave a lazy stretch. Of course she was in a good mood. After waking up, she remembered that there were no zombies to fight and free breakfasts to eat in this world.
“Come and get up,” Lou Zigui pulled her up to a sitting position. “We’re sending off Tao Yu and the rest later.”
“Mwah,” Ning Xiaoyao planted a kiss on his cheek before jumping off the bed. “When are General Tao and the rest leaving? Can I eat some breakfast first?”
Lou Zigui personally picked up the comb to brushed Ning Xiaoyao’s hair into a bun. Besides his young nephew Lou Nan, she was the only person he’d wait on this way.
“Supreme Commander, the empress, she---” Ning Xiaoyao suddenly stopped when she saw Lou Zigui’s reflection in the mirror.
“Mhm?” Lou Zigui waited.
“Nothing,” Ning Xiaoyao dug out a sugar bean and tossed it in her mouth. Let’s take car of the battle stuff first. It’s not like the empress will come along trying to kill me today.
Lou Zigui finished doing up a perfect bun on top of Ning Xiaoyao’s head. “After sending off Tao Yu and Prince Fu, we can go stroll about the streets a bit.”
As soon as she heard those words, Ning Xiaoyao’s spirits revived. She hastily nodded and said, “Sure, sure! We can eat out for lunch.”
“.....” said Lou Zigui. You haven’t even eaten breakfast yet but you’re already thinking about lunch.
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One hour later, Ning Xiaoyao brought the civil and military officials to the gates of the capital, along with the capital’s denizens, to send off Tao Yu and Prince Fu on their journey.
“You have to try your best,” Ning Xiaoyao told Tao Yu. “General Tao, you can definitely do it!”
Tao Yu was serious and solemn. “This official will never betray Your Majesty’s expectations.”
“Mhm!” Ning Xiaoyao patted him on the shoulder and turned towards Prince Fu. She thought it over before saying, “Uncle, ah, keep an eye on that bastard Xie Anji. And also, you have to survive.”
Prince Fu didn’t want to talk to her. With Tao Yu, it’s ‘you can definitely do it,’ but with me it’s ‘you have to survive?’ Am I that useless?
“What’s with your attitude?” Ning Xiaoyao asked as Prince Fu rolled his eyes at her.
Prince Fu replied, “Your Majesty doesn’t need to worry. This official will also use death to repay Your Majesty’s debts of gratitude.”
Ning Xiaoyao pouted. “You make it sound like I’m really sending you off to fight in the battlefields or something. Don’t fuss about. All you have to do is look after Xie Anji and figure out a way to come out of this alive.”
For the sake of saving Prince Fu’s face, everyone around Ning Xiaoyao simply pretended they hadn’t heard her words at all. Prince Fu himself glared at her but found himself unable to retort. It was true---he wasn’t fit for the battlefields.
“And also,” Ning Xiaoyao added after some thought, “Don’t cause trouble for General Tao, ah. When it comes to war, General Tao knows more than you. If you don’t know anything, then keep your mouth shut.”
Prince Fu told himself to endure. Now wasn’t the time to get in a life or death struggle with Ning Xiaoyao. “It should be the auspicious hour by now,” he said crudely to Lou Zigui. “Can we leave yet?”
Ning Xiaoyao looked towards one of the astrologers from the astronomy department. “Is it the auspicious hour yet? If not, then I want to chat a bit more with my uncle.”
Prince Fu immediately looked towards the astrologers.
“.....” went the astrologers. What’s the use of glaring at us when you can’t beat His Majesty in a verbal spar?
“General Tao, you have to take care, ah,” Ning Xiaoyao was now speaking to Tao Yu again. “I’ll take care of your wife and daughter in the meantime, but I’m telling you now, I can’t look after them for the rest of their lives. You have to take back your own life, ah.”
Tao Yu’s eyes turned a little misty as he nodded in assent.
“The auspicious hour is here!” Prince Fu shouted. [email protected]#!!*123(#!)$, I can’t listen to this anymore. The difference between us is too big, this prince just can’t take it.
“Your Majesty,” the head astrologer wanted to tell Ning Xiaoyao that Prince Fu was wrong.
“Alright then, set out!” Ning Xiaoyao waved a hand. Hearing this, the person in charge of setting off the cannons quickly lit the fuse and allow three successive booms to ring out loudly in the air. After that, the soldiers began to shout their war chant.
Tao Yu once more fell to his knees and kowtowed three times to Ning Xiaoyao. Meanwhile, the head astrologer decided to keep his mouth shut. Auspicious hour or not, it doesn’t even matter in His Majesty’s eyes!
Ning Xiaoyao bid farewell to the generals as they marched off into the distance. “When you guys come back victorious, I’ll be here waiting for your triumphant return!”
The scores of soldiers all chorused back with ‘ten thousand blessings’ to His Majesty. Someone, Xie Anji found this moments to sit up from the carriage in which he’d been confined. He knocked open the shuttered windows and stuck half his body out. One of Prince Fu’s guards saw this and quickly started to push him back inside.
Xie Anji wanted to shout. “FATHE---”
Fwoosh!
A wine cup flew straight into Xie Anji’s face, knocking him back inside the carriage. All of Prince Fu’s guards turned as one towards the force. Which heroic figure threw a cup at the Grand Preceptor’s son right in his face?
Ning Xiaoyao lowered her arm and said casually, “My hand slipped, hahaha.”
Nobody spoke. Or rather, everyone had no idea what to say in reply to her comment. (o(╯□╰)o)
“Grand Preceptor?” one of the Grand Preceptor’s faction asked for his opinion. If we’re going to save Xie Anji, we’ll have to stop the generals themselves.
Grand Preceptor Xie only shook his head slightly. His son would be fine.
Ning Xiaoyao was staring at Grand Preceptor the entire time so she could gauge his reaction. When she only saw him shake his head, she muttered to Lou Zigui, “The Grand Preceptor’s actually gone meek. What is this, a miracle?”
Lou Zigui chuckled. “Isn’t it good that he’s learned to submit? Let’s go on back.”
Ning Xiaoyao rubbed her chin as she narrowed her eyes. “Why do I feel like something’s going to happen? That old man couldn’t be hiding something bad, right?”
Lou Zigui pulled her away. “With Xie Anji in the army, Xie Wenyuan will at least hold back from harming Tao Yu and the rest.”
Ning Xiaoyao thought over Lou Zigui’s words and felt that they made sense. As long as Grand Preceptor Xie kept out of East Ji’s affairs, then she could fight him as much as he wanted in the capital. With this resolved, she stopped worrying as she asked with shining eyes, “Supreme Commander, where are you taking me out?”
“Where does Your Majesty want to go?” Lou Zigui asked.
“Urk,” Ning Xiaoyao scratched her head. She still wasn’t very familiar with the capital city. “Windy,” she said as she sought out Shadowgale. “What other places in the capital have tasty things that I have yet to eat?”
Shadowgale was currently shooting Lou Zigui an antagonistic look. We’ve just sent off the army to suppress the bandits and now he’s taking His Majesty to play in the streets? Is this the time for that? Does this man want to corrupt His Majesty?
“What are you looking at Supreme Commander for?” Ning Xiaoyao asked after following Shadowgale’s gaze. “Supreme Commander is still really handsome today, ah.”
Lou Zigui smiled.
“Supreme Commander, where do you say we should go?” Ning Xiaoyao defaulted to him again.
Shadowgale’s gaze on Lou Zigui turned even more unkind. “Evil vixen!” he cursed under his breath.
“........” Hearing their big bro curse, the other Dragon Guards could only remain speechless. So men can be ‘evil vixens’ too?
Ning Xiaoyao looked at Lou Zigui, who was walking shoulder to shoulder with her. Evil vixen? Mhm, she nodded, His looks are like an evil vixen’s for sure. If my willpower wasn’t strong enough, I might really fall to Supreme Commander Lou’s whims and turn out to be a fatuous, self-indulgent ruler. (Author: Where’s your so-called ‘willpower’ to begin with? (￢_￢))
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One hour later, Elder Li stood in front of the palace staring at Shadowgale. “You mean to say, Lou Zigui took His Majesty to stroll around the city?”
“Yes,” Shadowgale braced himself as he nodded.
“Is now the time for that?” Elder Li asked.
“Elder, it was Supreme Commander’s suggestion,” Shadowgale immediately pushed all the blame onto Lou Zigui. In any case, His Majesty’s definitely a wise and brilliant ruler!
Elder Li looked at Shadowgale.
“His Majesty has been tired these days, too,” Shadowgale said.
“The army’s just left and their victory is still uncertain,” Elder Li said angrily, “But Lou Zigui’s simply treating this like no big deal?”
Shadowgale didn’t say a word. He would never speak up for a man who was trying to corrupt His Majesty.
Elder Li stared at the palace gates before suddenly giving a curse. “Evil vixen!”
“......” said the rest of the Dragon Guards. So men really can be ‘evil vixens.’
--
Currently, Ning Xiaoyao was standing in the lane, watching a street vendor make sugar figurines. She cradled two bags of snacks in her hands while her mouth was stuffed with goodies that made her cheeks puff up. Even so, Ning Xiaoyao tried to speak to Lou Zigui.
“Have him make a lion, it’s got a solid center! That’s more worth it than getting the dragon!”
The sugar figurine seller had never seen someone so stingy about her snacks. He raised his head and said, “This is a qilin, not a lion.”
“Then I want the qilin!” Ning Xiaoyao shouted, nearly spitting out her mouthful of snacks.
Lou Zigui nodded and lightly pushed the needle on the wheel of goodies available for making into candy. Both Ning Xiaoyao and the Dragon Guards held their breath as they watched it spin around the circle. As it gradually slowed down, Ning Xiaoyao stared fixedly while it went past Rat, Peach, Basket of Flowers, Monkey, Face Mask, and past Qilin before going another circle.
“It has to be the qilin, ah!” Ning Xiaoyao exclaimed.
Now Lou Zigui was getting a little nervous. It was almost as if he’d let Ning Xiaoyao down if he didn’t get her chosen animal.
The needle slowly approached the qilin again before stopping just short of it.
“......” said Ning Xiaoyao.
“......” said Lou Zigui.
(⊙_⊙ ;), went the Dragon Guards. It’s over. If it’s not a qilin, will His Majesty cry?!
The peddler exhaled and said, “It’s the basket of flowers.”
“Achoo!” Ning Xiaoyao took this chance to sneeze at the wheel, causing the needle to move forward two spaces until it stopped on the qilin.
“It’s the qilin!” she cheered.
“If it moves after stopping again, it doesn’t count,” the peddler shot back immediately.
Lou Zigui took out two copper coins and handed them to the peddler. “This is the money for this turn.”
“Mhm,” Ning Xiaoyao looked at the vendor with a very serious face. “One basket of flowers and one qilin. I never take advantage of people.”
The peddler was utterly floored. You can even do things like this?!
Meanwhile, all of the Dragon Guards shifted back slightly, feeling a little shame-faced...
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Just for fun, here's a video of how a vendor makes spun sugar dragon candy!
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5-5iSNb0rM[/embed]