Misty Rain of the Old Times

Soon the vast capital city appeared beneath his feet. However, after witnessing the giant city in the underground world, Chen Xuan felt that this capital city, which was originally quite magnificent, was somewhat indescribable.

Then they went to the large courtyard they had purchased in the capital.

Ever since Chen Xuan sent Xiao Gao to the capital for the imperial examinations, he has never followed the proper procedures to enter or leave the city. He always sneaks in and out by climbing over the walls. Back in his hometown, this would be considered a factor of social instability. Well, it seems there's no difference here either.

After a quick look around, Chen Xuan realized that the decoration of the large courtyard he had bought for a bargain of five thousand taels was nearing completion. It seemed that the Ministry of Works was quite efficient, working overtime to finish the final details. The next step would be the decorations and furniture. It would be more than enough to be completed before the wedding, and there would even be extra time to modify any parts that he was not satisfied with.

Tsk, when it comes to decorating Princess Fuyao's wedding room, which department in the Ministry of Works wouldn't go to great lengths? Who would dare to be perfunctory?

When I arrived, it was afternoon, and the mansion was quite lively. In addition to the busy craftsmen from the Ministry of Works, there were also many people from the Princess's residence. The palace maids were busy cleaning and tidying up inside and out.

Chen Xuan immediately sensed the little princess's presence. She was actually here, which saved him the trouble of searching for her. The seafood he brought had to be fresh to taste good.

Upon seeing Chen Xuan and his entourage appear, the surrounding craftsmen and palace maids were initially taken aback by their sudden appearance. However, everyone here recognized them; if they didn't know this lord, they could retire early. So, they all bowed in greeting.

With a smile and a nod in response, Chen Xuan continued to carry the large water sphere toward the little princess's location.

This isn't Yang County's home, so Chen Xuan can't be as approachable to them as he was to Du Juan and the other two. This is under the emperor's nose; being too polite to them would only make them uneasy and probably make them rack their brains wondering if they've done something wrong.

The little princess is in the backyard garden, which has been completely renovated and is probably used as her temporary stop when she comes here.

In springtime, the garden is lush and verdant, and the colorful flowers are in full bloom under careful care, a breathtaking sight. However, even the most beautiful flowers cannot compare to the little princess.

The weather has begun to warm up, and the little princess is wearing a purple dress that is simple yet elegant, which makes her stunning beauty even more charming.

Inside the pavilion, she leaned against the railing alone, resting her chin on her hand as she read a book. However, her thoughts were clearly not on the book, and a hint of resentment occasionally appeared between her brows. It had been almost a month since she had seen Xuan-gege. She dressed up carefully every day to come here, but she could not see him. She was so disappointed. How could this be?

Xia Mei, the captain of the guards at the gate, was about to bow when she saw Chen Xuan, but he nodded as a greeting and pointed in the direction of the little princess, making a shushing gesture.

Seeing this, Xia Mei was taken aback when her prospective son-in-law pretended to hold up a large water sphere containing some strange and living creatures. She then understood his intention and, without disturbing the little princess, signaled the palace maids who were waiting around that they could leave.

With the son-in-law around, they don't need them anymore. The young couple hasn't seen each other for many days. What if they do something intimate? Is that something they can bear to see?

Even Du Juan and the little maidservant wisely stayed outside the door, taking the place of Xia Mei and the others. They were Chen Xuan's people, and their status in this family was incomparable to that of Xia Mei and the others. After all, Chen Xuan was marrying a princess, not becoming a consort. From now on, this family would be led by him. If he were to become a consort, it would be a different story.

With nowhere to put the seafood inside the giant water sphere, Chen Xuan simply controlled it to float outside the door, which was a piece of cake for him. He then tiptoed inside and walked behind the little princess.

The little princess, who had her back to the door, seemed lost in thought. She quietly came up behind her, and Chen Xuan took a deep breath, thinking to herself that her little wife smelled so good, and that the scent was making her a little obsessed.

Just as Chen Xuan was about to surprise her, the little princess dropped the book in her hand, turned around abruptly, and said with a smile that was both surprised and aggrieved, "Brother Xuan, why did you take so long to come? Did you want to scare me?"

"It's not that I wanted to scare you, I couldn't bear to, I just wanted to give you a surprise," Chen Xuan thought to himself, then said with a wry smile, "Qian Ning, you knew I was here? I thought you were so engrossed in your book that you didn't notice."

"Brother Xuan, do you think I'm stupid? Don't you know how conspicuous you are holding up such a huge water balloon? I saw it from far away. Only a few people like you can do that, and even if they could, they wouldn't be as high-profile as you, Brother Xuan," the little princess rolled her eyes slightly, then threw herself into Chen Xuan's arms, hugging his waist tightly and whispering with her eyes slightly closed, "Brother Xuan, I missed you so much. You've been gone for so long, you promised to come see me every few days."

As expected of my wife, although her martial arts skills are practically nonexistent, her keen senses in details are unparalleled.

He raised his arm to embrace her, gently resting his chin on her head, and said apologetically, "I miss you too, I think about you every day, but I've been held back by trivial matters. Qian Ning, please forgive me?"

"I don't blame Xuan-gege. It's just that I feel empty if I don't see you for a day. Now that I'm with you, that feeling has long since disappeared," she said, raising her head slightly with joy. Her eyes were full of the man she would spend her life with, and there was no room for anything else.

With his young wife so close, their breaths clearly audible, Chen Xuan couldn't resist lowering his head and kissing her. Her delicate body trembled, and she responded by slightly closing her eyes.

After separating a moment later, the little princess seemed a little reluctant to part. She looked at Chen Xuan with feigned reproach, but actually pouting, and said irritably, "Brother Xuan, you always bully me!"

He pulled her into his arms and sat down, putting his arm around her waist. Chen Xuan teased, "It's hard not to be moved. My wife is so beautiful, how could I bear to bully her? Besides, Qian Ning, aren't you enjoying it too?"

"Oh dear, Brother Xuan, how dare you say that? Aren't you ashamed? Who's your wife? We're not even married yet!" she protested, giving him a light tap with her little fist.

"Qian Ning, don't move, or you'll say I'm bullying you again," Chen Xuan said awkwardly, gently tightening her waist. With his sweet and soft body in his arms, sitting on his lap, it was quite a thrill for him, a young man full of vigor, to twist and turn like that.

The little princess wasn't completely clueless. Her cheeks flushed red, and she lightly punched her again, huffing, "Brother Xuan, you're so mean! But who can I blame? We haven't even had our wedding ceremony yet. We can't do that. Even if I'm completely willing, the imperial family's reputation can't be compromised. Otherwise, Father will beat me to death. And I even offered to arrange two concubines for you to spend the night with, but you refused. They were just part of your dowry."

Continuing this topic would be awkward, so Chen Xuan wisely changed the subject, saying, "Let's not talk about that. How's Qian Ning doing lately? How's her new book coming along?"

"Sometimes I really don't understand you, Brother Xuan. You have the desire and the courage, yet you manage to control yourself. I'm not a jealous, wicked wife. How many children can I have by myself? You'll have to marry several more to continue the family line. As long as Brother Xuan treats me well, that's enough," the little princess said, gently shaking her head. Then she added, "Normally it's just the same, but I miss you when you're not around. Everything seems meaningless then. The new book has received a very good response, surpassing any of my previous works. It's mainly because the subject matter is good. Brother Xuan came up with the idea; the so-called Western fantasy genre has pioneered it, and there are already imitations appearing."

"It's all my fault for neglecting you. I won't do it again. Now there are copycats? Isn't that stealing our money? Why don't we order all those copycat works banned?" Chen Xuan said apologetically, but also with a fierce and serious tone.

Covering her mouth and laughing, the little princess said, "It's just a copycat story, not a banned book. There's no reason to ban it. I'm not that petty. Besides, it's just borrowing, so the reasoning is untenable."

"Just kidding, don't take it seriously. One flower alone does not make a spring, but a hundred flowers blooming together make a garden full of spring. Anyway, we've enriched the public's entertainment life, which is a good thing. It's not acceptable to keep everything to yourself," Chen Xuan said with a smile.

She nodded and asked, "Brother Xuan, what have you been busy with lately?"

As she spoke, she used her slender fingers to pick up a piece of pastry and feed it to Chen Xuan.

Chen Xuan took a bite and chewed, saying, "Just busywork, doing this and that, but actually not much. I went to Wanku Mountain, spent some time as a ground rat, and even went to a magical underground world."

"I've heard a little about it in the capital. Is there really such a place where everything becomes incredibly huge? Brother Xuan actually went there in person. Could you tell me about it in detail?" The little princess asked with great interest. She had been involved in creative work since she was a child and was particularly interested in these bizarre and fantastical things.

After spending several days alone together, Chen Xuan began to sweetly tell her, "Let me start from the beginning. Originally, I planned to collect geomagnetic essence as a material to try and research array formations..."

After Chen Xuan described it in detail, the little princess said with longing, "There really is such a magical place! There are trees hundreds of feet tall, huge beasts everywhere, and giants over ten feet tall. It is located underground but you can see the sun, moon and stars. There are also the Netherworld Clan whom I have never seen before. It is unlike the human world. The key is that it is just a cave space attached to our world."

Seeing this, Chen Xuan smiled and said, "If Qian Ning is interested, I'll take you to experience it for yourself later. It's very interesting."

Nodding and then shaking her head, she restrained her impulse and said, "Let's go later. Right now, the main thing is to prepare for the wedding. Everything else has to wait." Indeed, life's most important event cannot be taken lightly. Chen Xuan felt a little embarrassed when this topic came up. He hadn't really taken care of the wedding before, which was quite irresponsible of him.

Realizing this, he took it to heart and a somewhat incomplete idea began to form in his mind. He decided not to tell the little princess for the time being and subtly changed the subject, saying, "By the way, I went to the underground world and brought you a gift."

"What gift is it?" she asked excitedly. Actually, it didn't matter what the gift was, as long as it was from Chen Xuan, she would like it. No matter how good other people's gifts were, she wouldn't be interested.

With a wave of his hand, Chen Xuan summoned the box from Du Juan's hands outside the door. He opened it and said, "Qian Ning, don't you like collecting leaves? These are from the underground world. You probably haven't seen them before, have you? There are over eight hundred varieties. I was busy these past few days, so some moisture has been lost. Don't mind!"

"Brother Xuan, what are you saying? I'm so happy! Wow, I've never seen anything like this before. I'll definitely treasure it and keep it safe," she exclaimed with delight. She really loved collecting leaves, and even left Chen Xuan's embrace to examine them with great joy. The more she looked, the more she liked them, and each different leaf brought her a surprise.

My wife is too easily satisfied. She doesn't care about power or wealth; she just has a little hobby of collecting leaves.

Although she longed to carefully examine each leaf, the little princess's heart and soul were with Chen Xuan. Not wanting to neglect him, she returned to his embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck and saying, "I'll look at them later when I have time. Thank you, Brother Xuan. I really like them. Mmm, kisses."

"One kiss isn't enough, Qian Ning, aren't you torturing me? I'm going to kiss you as much as I want," Chen Xuan said, taking advantage of the situation, and started kissing her neck.

"Ouch... Waaah..."

Chen Xuan only let go after kissing her until her body went limp. Leaning against Chen Xuan's chest, she shyly and playfully scolded, "Brother Xuan, you're so naughty! You kissed me and then hit me! You've messed up my clothes, luckily no one saw."

"It was subconscious. Qian Ning, you really make me love you so much that I can't hold you in one hand at all," Chen Xuan said, slightly embarrassed, as if he still wanted more.

Not daring to look up at him, she lightly punched him, clutching her collar and grumbling, "Brother Xuan, you still dare to say that?"

Girls are shy, even if they've already made advances, they won't say anything. Chen Xuan stopped teasing her, otherwise he'd be the one suffering. Instead, he asked, "By the way, when we parted last time, Qian Ning said you wanted to surprise my brother. What kind of surprise was it?"

Her heart skipped a beat. Thinking of the surprise she had prepared for Xuan-gege, the little princess pretended to be nonchalant and said, "If I don't tell you, what kind of surprise is it? You'll find out naturally when the time is right, Xuan-gege."

Quite mysterious, Chen Xuan didn't press for details, then suddenly laughed and said, "I don't know why, but I feel a chill down my spine. Could it be that while you and Qian Ning are being all lovey-dovey here, Old Deng is on his way with a knife? I've come all the way to the capital, and I haven't been deliberately hiding. How could he not know where I am?"

"Hehe, Brother Xuan, are you scared? Then how dare you bully me?" The little princess smiled, then pouted and said unhappily, "What 'Old Deng'? That's Father Emperor. Brother Xuan should call him Father-in-law."

"I didn't mean to disrespect him, but every time we meet he finds fault with me. I don't know what I did that displeased him. Oh well," Chen Xuan said helplessly. In fact, he understood that he had taken away the beautiful young woman he had raised for more than ten years, so it was no wonder he wouldn't give him a good look.

The little princess knew perfectly well that her father only treated Chen Xuan that way; others would beg for it. She smiled and said, "Brother Xuan, you should be content. But thank you too. Father is getting old, and meeting you has given him a rare moment of relaxation."

This was a rather heavy topic; everyone knew the old man didn't have much time left. Chen Xuan said, "I haven't seen him in a while. I brought some seafood today; please invite him over to have some with us later."

"Brother Xuan, you're so kind. Father will be very happy," the little princess smiled, not thinking about the future. Then she sat up and looked at Chen Xuan with narrowed eyes, saying, "Brother Xuan, are you dating someone behind my back?"

The word "love" was something Chen Xuan used when he talked to her; there was no such concept here before.

Hearing this, Chen Xuan was taken aback, and for some inexplicable guilt, he said, "Qian Ning, what are you talking about? I don't understand."

No, I haven't been having an affair behind my little princess's back, so what's there to feel guilty about?

The little princess pointed at Chen Xuan's chest with her finger and snorted, "Whether or not you have Brother Xuan, you know in your heart. Don't think I don't know that two vixens have traveled thousands of miles to find you. Where are the beauties? Brother Xuan, aren't you tempted?"

"He Hongyi and Guo Qingxue? I thought it was something serious. Qian Ning, you already know about this?" Chen Xuan said, both amused and exasperated. He suddenly perked up, thinking it was something serious. He was completely innocent and not flustered at all.

With a smile, the little princess said, "Brother Xuan, don't misunderstand. I didn't deliberately have anyone investigate you. It's just that you admitted to that Yang Guo's identity at the Tai Xuan Sect. The news spread, and countless people are paying attention to your every move. So when they went to find you, of course some people noticed, and the news quickly reached my ears."

"So what? I'm doing nothing wrong, it's not like I'm doing anything shameful. A bunch of guys are just bored and have nothing better to do. Let them pay attention if they want, as long as they don't cause me any trouble or spread rumors," Chen Xuan said nonchalantly. Then, as if possessed, he added, "Qian Ning, don't talk nonsense. I'm innocent with them. They have no say in where they go.

"Brother Xuan, why are you in such a panic?" The little princess looked at her with a half-smile and said.

Chen Xuan said confidently, "I wasn't flustered."

"Alright, alright, just keep being stubborn. I don't mind. It's perfectly normal for Brother Xuan to have a few close female friends. I'd love for you to find more. But if you do find someone, I hope you'll let me know. Not just anyone can come into our family. We have to be careful. I'm afraid they might have ulterior motives for getting close to you," the little princess said earnestly, already starting to think about the future.

Her father had a bunch of concubines, and her brothers all had a bunch of wives in their harems, so she really didn't mind that Chen Xuan had other women. However, as she said, not every woman is qualified to enter this family. If she is devoted to him, that's fine, but you can't see into someone's heart. Who knows what those women are after when they approach Chen Xuan?
Chen Xuan glanced suspiciously at the little princess in his arms. He couldn't read minds, so he shook his head and said, "Do you think I'm that easy to fool? Qian Ning, do you think I'm stupid?"

"You think you can fool Brother Xuan? You think you can win him over?" the little princess asked smugly.

Raising an eyebrow, Chen Xuan said, both amused and exasperated, "It was clearly you, Qian Ning, who I tricked into getting me, okay?"

"Oh, right, even at eleven years old, you're already good at fooling little girls," the little princess said, covering her mouth with a smile.

Chen Xuan said speechlessly, "Back then, how would I have known that you, Qian Ning, were just a little girl? We were exchanging letters but never met in person. I thought you were some old geezer."

"You're the old geezer! By the way, Brother Xuan, you'd better watch out, or trouble will be coming for you soon," the little princess said seriously, her smile fading.

A thought struck him, and Chen Xuan realized he hadn't offended anyone. He asked, "What do you mean?"

"What else could it be? Blame yourself, of course. He Hongyi is recognized as one of the top ten beauties in Yuhua Kingdom, right? Even I know that I went to you to fawn over you, so how could others not know? There are plenty of people who admire her. As far as I know, some of her admirers in Yuhua Kingdom are already on their way to cause you trouble. So, Brother Xuan, do you need my help to deal with this?" The little princess had an expression of enjoying the show. It wasn't that she was really gloating; she just found this kind of thing quite interesting. Jealousy and rivalry were things she had only written about in storybooks, but she had never actually encountered them herself.

"That's how relationships are," Chen Xuan said speechlessly, "What did I do to deserve this? I'll deal with it myself. Hopefully, those guys will know what's good for them; they've had enough of this already."

"Alright, then I won't interfere. Brother Xuan, you can't let yourself be bullied. It seems that one of the people causing you trouble has a Grandmaster background. At worst, I'll ask Father to send an army to back you up," the little princess said earnestly.

Chen Xuan waved his hand and said, "It's not that serious, I can handle it myself. Hmm, why do I feel a chill from the younger generation?"

The next moment, an angry voice rang out from the doorway: "You brat, let go of your fangs! How dare you bully my daughter! Where's my stick? I'll beat you to death!"

...(End of chapter)