Simultaneous travel: I am rampant in the domestic area

Chapter 232 A Stunning Beauty
“It’s not just one person.” Russell smiled brightly. “Well, here you are.”

"I was just worried something had happened to you since I didn't see you in the main hall, so I came to check on you." The Empress landed gracefully beside Russell with light steps: "Where is the Commander of the Unruly Army?"

"Just left." Russell turned his head to look at the Empress. Under the bright moonlight, the Empress's beautiful oval face had a touch of gentleness.

Upon hearing this, the Empress hesitated for a moment: "Have I interrupted your serious conversation?"

"He's just venting to me. He's a lonely old man who's been alone for over two hundred years. Please be understanding."

Hearing Russell's uninhibited teasing of Yuan Tiangang, especially the words "lonely old man," the Empress couldn't help but smile: "You're probably the only one in the world who can tease the Bad Marshal like this."

"No matter how long you live, you're still just a human being," Russell said quietly.

Humans are social animals, and no one is an exception.

Russell also benefited from his future self's influence; otherwise, without this old acquaintance, Gangzi wouldn't have been so easy to talk to.

"And what about you?" the Empress suddenly asked.

"I?"

“Even the Grand Marshal needs someone to vent his pent-up emotions from the past century, so what about you? If you’re willing, I can be the one to listen.” The Empress also turned her face slightly, a few strands of hair falling beside her cheek, giving her an exceptionally soft and delicate appearance. A faint sorrow was hidden on her mature and beautiful face, paired with her charming yet heroic phoenix eyes, making her extremely captivating.

Just then, fireworks of various colors exploded in the sky, lit by the palace servants.

Her eyes were bright, reflecting a shimmering light like stars, as if ink had been applied to a clear river, or like the Milky Way painted by the Queen Mother of the West in legend.

"..." Russell was momentarily lost in thought. It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul, but what Russell saw in the Empress's eyes was the magnificent splendor of the world.

"What?" Russell's gaze struck the Empress as odd. She touched her face. "Is there something on my face?"

"No, I just think you're very beautiful." Russell looked away, and the Empress gently brushed a stray hair from her ear, pursed her lips, and remained silent, offering no response.

"What are your plans next?" After a long silence, Russell finally spoke up, breaking the silence.

The Empress's beautiful eyes flickered slightly: "Didn't we agree to go to the Northern Desert? Has your plan changed?"

“I just think you should take a rest.” Russell looked at the Empress: “You have worked hard for Qi Kingdom all these years. It’s not easy for the world to be at peace. Your brother has also returned. You can finally stop worrying about worldly troubles. There is no need for you to keep running around with me.”

"I'm not some delicate little girl." The Empress glanced at Russell, but a rare feeling of grievance welled up in her heart. She chuckled and pointed to the bright moon hanging high in the sky, saying softly, "Do you know, when my brother first left Qi Kingdom, the only thing that could keep me company was the moon in the sky."

"But what if it's cloudy?" Russell interrupted instinctively, immediately earning a glare from the Empress. He apologized repeatedly, embarrassed, "Please continue, please continue."

"Back then, I always felt lonely and wronged. I had to maintain the operation of the Illusionary Sound Pavilion, and at the same time, I had to change my identity and stabilize the Qi Kingdom's court in the name of my brother. Zhu Wen was powerful, and I tried to maneuver in many ways as the King of Qi, but my abilities were ultimately limited. Over the years, the Qi Kingdom under my rule had only been able to maintain its partial peace and had never shown much progress..."

As the Empress recounted her story, the sixteen years that Li Maozhen had been gone, the sixteen years that had taken her from princess to Prince of Qi, slowly unfolded in Russell's mind. He couldn't help but say, "In the torrent of worldly affairs, it is already extremely difficult to gain a foothold, let alone stand out from the crowd. In these sixteen years, the Tang Dynasty was shattered, the Liang Dynasty was destroyed, and Li Keyong and Li Cunxu died one after another, yet the Qi Kingdom remained as solid as a rock. You are second to none."

"I..." The Empress began to speak, but then realized what she meant and chuckled, "I told you that I would let you confide in me, how come it's suddenly the other way around?"

“It’s all the same.” Russell smiled, then suddenly seemed to remember something, looking at the Empress with a burning gaze.

"What is it now?" the Empress asked curiously.

“It just suddenly occurred to me that, according to the bet between me and the Prince of Qi, the Huan Yin Fang should be mine now.” Russell said meaningfully.

"Not bad." The Empress nodded. She was present at the bet that day, and Russell had indeed won. "When we return to Fengxiang, I will summon the Nine Holy Maidens to hand over the reins to you." "What I mean is, since the Illusionary Sound Pavilion is all mine, shouldn't you, the Empress of the Illusionary Sound Pavilion, also belong to me?" Russell revealed his true intentions.

"..." The Empress opened her mouth, wanting to refute, but was surprised to find that she had no rebuttal to offer.

After all, the Huan Yin Fang belongs to the Qi Kingdom, and the Qi Kingdom belongs to the Qi King. The original Empress was the Qi King, so it naturally had nothing to do with her. But now the Empress is just the Empress, and the Qi King is the Qi King. The two are separated. Logically speaking, it is indeed as Russell said.

"Yes." After a moment's thought, the Empress finally agreed, because she wanted to see what Russell was planning to do.

“In that case, I would like to ask the Empress to dance a song for me alone. Is that too much to ask?” Russell said with a smile.

"Here?" The Empress looked around. The surrounding environment was quite nice. Although the pavilion was not large, it was secluded and quiet, and no outsiders would come. However, without the accompaniment of musical instruments, she felt that she could not dance freely: "Without the sound of silk and bamboo instruments, I'm afraid my dance will not look very good."

“That’s easy.” Russell flashed back and when he returned, he had a bone flute in his hand.

That's right, it's the one that the Corpse Ancestor Hou Qing had on his waist.

Hou Qing's aesthetic sense was a hundred years ahead of that of the ancients. Russell had long wanted the flute in his hand, and he took this opportunity to ask for it.

“So…” Russell shook the disciple in his hand, looking at the Empress with a questioning expression.

"What does Mr. Li want me to dance?" Although she already knew Russell's real name, the Empress still habitually addressed Russell as Mr. Li.

"Whatever, you can dance whatever you want." Russell said, gently placing the bamboo flute to his lips, channeling his energy, and the melodious flute music flowed slowly through the night sky like a gentle stream.

As the melody played, the Empress moved with the flute music, her skirt billowing and her kingfisher feather hairpins swaying. The moonlight in the pavilion seemed to shatter into silver fragments as she danced freely and joyfully.

The moonlight was cool and clear. In the pavilion, the sound of a flute drifted softly as a beautiful woman danced.

This is a world that belongs only to the two of them.

"Good taste."

On a covered bridge far, far away from the pavilion, the Corpse Ancestor Hou Qing, carrying his sister's bag, looked back at the direction from which the flute music came and nodded secretly, thinking, "He truly is my master."

"Just like that, you're leaving?" Ying Gou said coldly. "I was hoping to find an opportunity to have a good fight with them."

"There will always be other opportunities in the future. Right now, saving Master is the priority." Hou Qing weighed the bundle on his back, signaling Ying Gou to retract it, and then it was time for him to set off.

"Why not tell the Emperor? With his help, many things will be much simpler." Ying Gou ignored him and continued to ask. She didn't really want to leave because she felt that Russell should have a way to help her deal with her sister.

“He’s too busy to take care of himself right now, so I won’t bother him. I have a lot of friends in Raojiang, so nothing serious will happen.”

"One last question," Ying Gou also looked towards the direction from which the flute music was coming from, "this new Grand Preceptor has plans to go to the northern desert. Should we inform the old woman?"

"Oh? How did you know?" Hou Qing asked curiously.

"They didn't hide anything from you, Sister, when they were chatting," Ying Gou replied. She had spent a considerable amount of time with Russell and the Empress, and had been exposed to more intelligence than even Ji Ruxue, who was trying to investigate. Who would be wary of an innocent-looking girl?

"Is that so? Then let's send a message to Jiang Chen via carrier pigeon. I'm sure she'll come over on her own without me having to say anything more," Hou Qing said softly. "After all, she won't give up any opportunity to accomplish that."

“That’s right.” Ying Gou nodded, her eyes suddenly becoming wise. She looked around; the deep palace was empty, cold and desolate. A gust of wind blew by, and she shivered, then shrank back into her pack with a whoosh.

(End of this chapter)