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“What are they?” A puzzled Qin Yining walked up to Pang Xiao.
He reached out to fling an arm around his shoulder and headed inside. “Zuo Jinwei angered His Majesty yesterday. He’s been caned thirty times in front of the rest of court and divested of all of his titles. He’s now resting at home with nothing to do.”
The Qin fourth miss smiled, having no comment.
She’d long since anticipated that a good ending wasn’t in the cards for Zuo Jinwei. With how paranoid the Zhou emperor was and the inconsistencies with Zuo Jinwei’s reports, it’d resulted in the large spectacle in front of the city gates and blowing wide open a struggle that had been veiled in the shadows.
The emperor was deeply shrewd and liked to keep his cards close to his chest. He’d been forced to show some clues and hints this time and had lost face. How would he possibly tolerate Zuo Jinwei after all that?
Even if Zuo Jinwei was an unparalleled talent, the emperor’s suspicion of him spelled the end of his future.
Pang Xiao was both gratified and delighted to see that his darling wasn’t surprised at all. He rubbed her nose with his index finger and said fondly, “Your calm reaction gives me no satisfaction of achievement at all. When I left the study just now, Sirs Xu and Xie hailed you as a demigod who can predict anything that’s to happen. I was so proud to hear them say that, but I couldn’t very well strut around in front of them. I kept it to myself with great difficulty, but you don’t even give me a chance to preen in front of you!”
“Well, that’s strange. We knew it would happen, so what’s to be happy about with that?”
Pang Xiao waved a hand to dismiss Xianyun and the others. He pressed down on Qin Yining’s shoulders and had her take a seat on the heated platform next to the window. He bent down to peer at her radiant face, happily placing a kiss on her forehead.
“Anyways, I’m very happy. Not just because to the Valiant Tigers, I’m still their commander, but more because my darling is so wonderful. You don’t know how highly they praise you now. I just knew that my dearest had the ability to conquer them all. You’re so wonderful that even if someone is biased against you, they’ll like you after spending some more time with you.”
Qin Yining’s cheeks burned from the compliment and she pushed lightly on his shoulders.
“Alright, alright. They’ll laugh at you for being so proud.”
“Laugh? They’ll be too busy being jealous and envious!” Pang Xiao sat down next to her.
“So that’s one piece of news, didn’t you say there was another?”
“Mm,” the prince responded. “His Majesty has sent men to collect the scattered Great Yan entourage. They’ll be in the city tomorrow morning.”
“So they’ve found my father and mother!” Qin Yining rose with surprised delight.
However, Pang Xiao wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her down again. He comforted, “This is what I wanted to talk to you about. Everyone in your family has been located, but there’s no sign of your father, mother, or auntie in the group.”
It felt like a bolt of lightning had struck Qin Yining. She stared off blankly, all of the suppressed worries over the past few days rushing through, like waters through a broken dam. The onslaught made her dizzy and confused.
“How can that be? How can my parents not be with them? Our family was to the rear of the entourage that day, and Auntie Cao knows martial arts. There are also guards and followers with my father, so how could they have not found them?”
“Don’t panic, my darling, don’t panic.” Pang Xiao’s hand around her shoulder, he patted her cheek. “You just said so yourself that the Marquis of Anping has guards with him and nĂ©e Cao. He’s safe without a doubt, but held up by something. Be at ease, I’ve already sent people out to search for him. They’ll start from the ambush site and work their way forward. They’ll find your parents.”
Qin Yining closed her eyes, still recovering from the news that all of her family sans her parents had been found.
Pang Xiao had his arm around her slender waist while she leaned dazedly into his embrace. She rubbed her head against his shoulder, like a kitten showing affection. His heart overflowed with so much pity and sympathy that it wanted to melt.
Mega sorry, half chapter. 3:30am, I'm dead. @@