The 3 of them look at each other as they stand there, in awkward silence.
In the end, it was Liu Luo Yi who was the first one to react. She stepped forward to help Wei Chi Li up, then lowered her head, too nervous to raise it again.
While Wei Chi Li neaten her messy clothes, coughed softly with her hand over her mouth, then walked a few steps forward. Because of the pain she felt when she had fell, her walking posture was a little weird.
Greet, greetings to Royal Father.” Wei Chi Li said, feeling as anxious as Liu Luo Yi. The Northern Territory King stood in front of her with his hands behind his back, making him looked very dignified, presumably not as foolish as Wei Chi Die and the others.
So, after a round of polite greeting, she never dared to speak again.
The Northern Territory looked away and waved his hand without saying a word, then turned around and strode away. The tall and huge figure quickly disappeared at the door. Wei Chi Li’s heart tightened as she looked back at Liu Luo Yi nervously, then slowly followed him out.
Forget it. What should come will come. She gritted her teeth.
The Northern Territory King led the way, and Wei Chi Li followed behind with her head lowered. The 2 walked along the long path in the palace, and the servants on the side of the road whispered to each other, guessing that the 2nd princess was so wilful that she was basically seeking trouble, and now that she has returned to the palace, she will definitely be punished.
As the Northern Territory walks, he turned his head back, and those servants scattered helter-skelter. In the huge garden, only father and daughter were left. Wei Chi Li looked around nervously, suddenly feeling that her mouth was a little dry.
“Do you have nothing to say?” The Northern Territory suddenly asked as he looked up and down Wei Chi Li. His gaze was dignified.
Wei Chi Li wanted to speak but hesitated for a moment. Upon seeing this, the Northern Territory King snorted and said: “Forget it. Since young you have been like this, you would rather be beaten than give in. I have heard a lot about your affairs in Yan Country. That scoundrel with the surname of Lu bullied you and even if you cannot deal with it, you should have sent someone to pass a letter to the Northern Territory. If this news about a dignified princess of my Northern Territory was bullied by such a vile person, my Northern Territory will lose its dignity.”
What could Wei Chi Li say? She could only nod repeatedly, indicating that her royal father was right and reasonable.
The Northern Territory said as he got more and more agitated. He walked quickly towards Wei Chi Li, reached out and pointed at her nose, exasperated that she does not live up to his expectation: “Wei Chi Li, I let you go because I felt that with your character, you would not suffer much no matter what. Who knows….”
When he said this, he resisted from saying the following words. He sighed and dropped his hands.
It was not for anything else, it was because he was worried that if he says anything more, Wei Chi Li would quarrel with him again.
However, after waiting for a long time, Wei Chi Li did not say anything. Instead, she stood in front of him in a very well-behaved manner, with her hands in front and her facial expression was obediently calm.
At that moment, the Northern Territory King does not know what to say. He looked at Wei Chi Li’s for a moment in doubts, then looked away and changed the subject, taking the opportunity to find an excuse for Wei Chi Li: “But this time, seeing your desperate effort to lead people to save me, I will stop preaching. You have already suffered, and you even had the audacity to sever the relationship between father and daughter for a man. There is no next time!”
When Wei Chi Li heard this, she could not help feeling a little guilty. The reason why she rushed in so anxiously and desperately was mostly because of Liu Luo Yi. She was too anxious and scared at that time that it seemed that she had almost forgotten that the Northern Territory King was also inside the forest.
Feeling guilty, the expression in Wei Chi Li’s eyes became more humble making the Northern Territory King uncomfortable.
“Fortunately, you have not forgotten your martial arts, even though you have been in the Yan Country for a long time. Starting tomorrow, you will continue to practice every morning, understand?” the Northern Territory King said angrily.
“Yes, Royal Father.” Wei Chi Li nodded.
The Northern Territory King pointed at Wei Chi Li then put his hand down and sat weakly on the stone bench by the roadside, feeling sorrow in his heart. Wei Chi Li looked a lot thinner and paler. She must have suffered a lot in Yan Country, where women do not leave the house. He does not know how she has endured it, because since young, she loves to ride the horse on the grassland.
Seeing because how cautious she was now; she must have been under subjugation for a long time that even her temperament has changed.
The more he thought about it, the sadder he was. The Northern Territory King could not help feeling upset and turned his back. He began to reflect in his heart, whether he should not have taught her some lesson back then because she was too wilful.
“Fortunately, Die’er is there. Die’er thinks a lot and is mature in dealing with things. She must have helped you a lot. This time, you should be nicer to her, and do not act childishly again. Such a huge Northern Territory will be handed to you sisters in the future and now that the 2 countries are in conflict, you should learn how to take care of it. In the future, when I am no longer here, you can handle it on your own.” The Northern Territory King slowed down his speech and persuaded.
“I have seen the letter you have sent via pigeon and have immediately sent someone to Yan Country. It is just that at that time the war at the border had already begun, and I was overwhelmed at the border. You all know what happened afterwards. Zhou Qing was indeed cruel, and I have underestimated him.” The Northern Territory King sighed as he spoke, with a vicious look in his eyes.
“En….” Wei Chi Li finally spoke. She hesitated and asked, “So, Zhou Qing is really a spy from the Northern Territory?”
The Northern Territory placed his hand on the stone table, tapping lightly and said: “Zhou Qing and Yang Zhen were both my study companion when young and both has good backgrounds. Their families were loyal ministers of the Northern Territory for generation and so I value both very much. When I succeeded the throne right, the relationship between the 2 countries was unstable. Although on the surface, we were maintaining peace, Yan Country had long wanted to swallow the Northern Territory, so they have suppressed the Northern Territory both overtly and secretly, interrupting the commercial trade between the Northern Territory and other countries. At the same time, provoking us several times. So, I decided to send my closest friends to infiltrate into Yan Country to make arrangement and to know the enemy’s movements in advance. It happened that the 2 of them took the initiative to ask for it and I have agreed.
“Now, a few decades have passed, the friction between the Northern Territory and Yan Country has increased. Emperor Yan is extremely ambitious, but he is very timid and a coward, so he had only provoked us and did not really send out the troops. Hence, I did not think much about it. Who knows that, Zhou Qing would use the people I have placed in Yan Country to incite the dispute between the 2 countries in advance and caught me by surprise.” The Northern Territory King said. The hammering force on the table became stronger as if he were about to break the stone table.
True. Betrayal by a trusted person was an extremely furious thing.
“I met Yang Zheng when I was in Yan Country. He seemed to be an extremely loyal person and even committed suicide in the prison to help me.” Wei Chi Li said and had a guess in her heart. Yang Zheng was deliberately removed by Zhou Qing just to prevent his own affairs from being discovered.
“He is dead?” There was a hint of surprise in the Northern Territory King’s tone, then he was silent. After a while, he wiped the corner of his eye with his thumb.
Wei Chi Li looked at his figure that stooped down as soon as he sat down and felt a little depressed in her heart.
“But why did Zhou Qing do this? What good is it for him to incite a dispute between the 2 countries?” Wei Chi Li could not help but ask again.
For Zhou Qing, as long as he does his job properly and honestly, he would still get a high official position with no worries about food and clothing. If it not for money, then it was for power. But his position was not profitable for a third party to incite a dispute between the 2 countries, and even just to gain Chen Hao’s trust, why take such a huge risk?
“I believe that it is not Chen Hao that he wants to seek refuge from.” The Northern Territory King slowed down and said word for word clearly.
“Not Chen Hao? Could it be….” Wei Chi Li’s eyes widened. She suddenly remembered what she had heard and seen in Yan Country and some vague guesses raises in her heart.
If that was the case, then everything makes sense.
“Alright. I will not say anymore. Go back to the room and have a good rest. You must be exhausted from the long rush. I am still here to handle these, and so it is fine. The border gate has been strengthened, so you don’t have to think too much about it.” The Northern Territory King stood up, raised his rough big hand, wanting to pat Wei Chi Li’s shoulder, but hesitated in mid-air.
He finally put down his hands in embarrassment and turned away.
Looking at him like this, Wei Chi Li suddenly wanted to laugh and was inexplicably moved. When she was in Yan Country, she was accustomed to shouldering everything on her own, and so at this time, her identity suddenly became a daughter who had not grown up when a father suddenly appeared.
It was as if suddenly there was a haven.
Suddenly, Wei Chi Li was feeling a little scared. If she did not save the Northern Territory King today, would he have died just like in the original book? In the book, the original owner could not even take care of herself, how could she have the time to care about his royal father, whom she has severed the relationship with.
If such a good father just die like this, it was not worth it.
The Northern Territory King turned around and wanted to leave, but Wei Chi Li suddenly opened her mouth and said: “Royal father, I’m sorry.”
As the current Princess Wei Chi, she apologised for the original Princess Wei Chi. When a person lives in this world, momentary confusion and mistakes were not a big deal. The most important thing was to distinguish who was the one who really loved oneself.
The Northern Territory King stopped abruptly. He was a little suspicious of his hearing. He wiped his big hands on his waist as if he were wiping off his sweat, only then did he turn around slowly. His lips moved but did not speak out for a long time.
He has waited for these words for a long time.
“Good, good.” The Northern Territory King smiled with difficulty and finally put his hand on Wei Chi Li and pat it hard, his eyes were slightly wet.
“The youngling you brought back was not bad too. I will hold a banquet for the whole city one day, invite her too and I will have a good chat with you all.” The Northern Territory King seemed to be unable to bear it, so after saying that, he hurried away. After turning a bend, he sniffed and the corner of his mouth could not help curling and punched the wall next to him.
The shock causes the wall covering to fall off.
His baby girl has finally grown up and knows how to admit her mistake which was really rare. The haze of these days seemed to have disappeared and he seemed to remember something again, so he turned around and walked back quickly to stop Wei Chi Li who was about to go back.
“Li’er, since you are back, isn’t it time to arrange for your consort? A lot of young talents have recently come up. You can choose whoever you want and pick whoever you want during the city banquet. You can even pick a few!” The Northern Territory King said as his beard trembled in excitement.
When Wei Chi Li heard this, her knees softened. After standing firm, she waved her hands repeatedly and was so scared that she could not speak.
“I wanted a grandchild for a long time. You and Di’er have grown up and I only have you 2 daughters. So produce a small prince for the Northern Territory as soon as possible, so as to inherit the next position!”
Looking at the mighty and serious Northern Territory King as he smiled happily while talking about this, Wei Chi Li does not know how to refute, and he had already left. Her face pales.
Why was she unable to escape the fate of being urged to get married anywhere? As for grandchildren, she was afraid that for her and Wei Chi Die, they are……
Powerless.
HeftyChonk Translation 