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nHis burning hands and the hot temperature lingered along the edge of Qin Yunuan’s collarbone and came gradually down and deeper into her sensitive and fragile parts. Leng Changxi was rusty but repeatedly kneading her tender breasts without stopping the kiss. He leaned Qin Yunuan against the wooden stakes and lowered his head. The other vacant hand was slightly pinching Qin Yunuan’s small but full chin. The touch of his fingers brought her euphoria.

n“Did you blame me for risking you?” it took a long time before Leng Changxi let go of Qin Yunuan, but still, the messy clothes kept reminding the two of them what had just happened.

nQin Yunuan lowered her head and whispered back, “I know that you never do things that you are not sure about.”

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nLeng Changxi’s eyes flashed, and then he took Qin Yunuan by the arm. His little hedgehog always understood him so much. He lowered his head and kissed Qin Yunuan’s smooth forehead, which was cold like the midnight wind.

nLeng Changxi’s voice was darker than the night, “In the past, I wasn’t afraid of anyone. That was because I had nothing left behind. I acted courageously because I had no worries. But now, I have you. I can’t make you like me. I want to pave the way for you. The Emperor found Lu Jinghua’s relationship with the Dou Family as early as nine years ago when she just had entered the palace. Still, the Dou Family was the founder of this country, and the old Master Dou had students everywhere which made it uneasy. Nine years, it took the emperor and me nine years to slowly wipe the Dou Family out from the royal court and leave only our men.”

nQin Yunuan raised her head slightly and happened to meet Leng Changxi’s deep and dark eyes. In the cool summer breeze, the sparks of those meeting eyes vanished in a flash. Nine years ago, Leng Changxi was eleven years old. Since then, he had been drawn into Qi’s complicated political struggles. He was doing things as a child that some adults couldn’t have accomplished.

nLeng Changxi smiled gently. He only needed one glance and hardly any thoughts about it to understand the meaning in Qin Yunuan’s eyes. His little hedgehog was worried about himself. Leng Changxi reached out his hand and touched the scattered hair on Qin Yunuan’s temple. His slender fingers arranged those sparse hairs gently to the back of Qin Yunuan’s ears.

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n“The Dou Family had always been a serious problem for the emperor and Queen Mother,” Leng Changxi continued, “I wanted to take the opportunity and plant you in. On the one hand, I can make you close to me. As you may know, you are definitely a hundred times safer in Xiangguo Temple than in the Qin Family tonight. On the other hand, I could also take the chance and ask for marriage approval from Queen Mother.”

nQin Yunuan lowered her head, “Well.”

nLeng Changxi grinned, his fingers kept kneading Qin Yunuan’s soft little hands, “In fact, if I had done it in my usual temper, nobody would have stood in the way of my marriage. But Queen Mother is a woman that I extremely respected. Furthermore, I want a grand wedding for you, and I won’t stop before our love becomes the common knowledge of the whole city.”

nQin Yunuan snorted, giving a weak punch in Leng Changxi’s heart, “I used to think that you were a Cool Face General who didn’t care many mundane affairs, but I didn’t expect you to love the grand shows now.”

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nLeng Changxi lowered his head and bit the tip of Qin Yunuan’s nose gently. His voice was tender and endlessly lingering on her ears, “That’s because I haven’t met you. Now I want to knock on every family’s door, saying you are going to be my wife, the only wife of Leng Changxi.”

nQin Yunuan leaned on Leng Changxi’s chest. After so many incidents and disasters, they didn’t need too much language to understand each other. She nodded, and her voice was low, “Well, the only.”

nThe next day, when the carriage took Qin Yunuan back to her family, it confirmed the sentence of Leng Changxi that Xiangguo Temple was indeed a hundred times safer than the mansion of Grand Commandant.

nAlmost overnight, many of the mansions in the Royal City were suddenly attacked by masters. The people who came seemed to be explicitly aiming at the officials of the third-grade or higher, and the purpose was obvious. They all came directly to the officials’ residence. They sneaked in, killed them with a stroke, and ruined the corpse.

nThis is the last stubborn resistance of the Dou family. It’s a pity that Sima Xiu and Leng Changxi had already prepared for a long time. They strengthened the defense in the Royal City and secretly renewed the security around the ministers’ mansions. However, five ministers went for wine in the brothel together and stayed out all night. When they were finally found, the bodies looked terrible after being soaked overnight in the ancient well backyard of the whorehouse.

nWhen Qin Yunuan returned to the Qin Family, it was already in a mess.

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nQin Zhi started his career with the help of the Dou Family, but finally, he sent Dou Qing’e to the Psycho Tower. The Dou Family would definitely send the most skilled killers for Qin Zhi’s head. Although Leng Changxi added guards here, after the chaos last night, the courtyard was a little messy, leaving many traces of fighting. When Qin Yunuan entered the yard, she saw a servant in the porter went out, holding his bloody arm.

nQin Zhi stood in the yard, looking at the empty yard where the antiques and pots of bonsai were shattered. His hair seemed to have turned gray overnight.

n“Father,” Qin Yunuan greeted softly.

nQin Zhi slowly lowered his eyes and looked at Qin Yunuan under the steps. His eyes were gray with no vitality at all, completely unlike the shrewd Grand Commandant Qin on weekdays.

n“You are back.” Qin Zhi’s voice lacked the majesty he had in the past. For the first time, he sounded like a father when he talked to Qin Yunuan. He knew in his heart that if it had not been Leng Changxi’s care for Qin Yunuan and her family, the assassin’s sword would have killed him as fast as lightning. He could never have the chance to stand here still.

nFor the first time, he relied on a daughter of his concubine to survive. He had just received the news fortunately that the Dou Family had all been conquered. The Dou Family’s power was cleaned out from the Royal City and Hangzhou almost at the same time overnight, like pulling up radishes in the fields with mud. Having heard about what happened to the family, Dou Qing’e hanged herself in Psycho Tower.

nFinally, Qin Zhi had nothing to do with the Dou Family, and no one could threaten him again. The end of the Dou Family was a signal, suggesting that his days of relying on women to seek power had gone forever. Thinking of this, he smiled. The corner of his aged lips raised, he seemed worn and weary.

nQin Yunuan just glanced at him lightly and bowed down, “Father, I’ll go back first.”

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nAfter all, Qin Yunuan didn’t feel much paternity and affection from Qin Zhi. Qin Zhi loved himself so much that he couldn’t give out his love to care for his family genuinely.

nQin Yunuan was most concerned about Baochuan, nurse Liao, Ting Xue, and Concubine Chang, who had helped her.

nOnly two places in the Royal City weren’t affected. One was Prince Ning’s Mansion, and the other was the Fuxi Courtyard.

nManer ran in front. The gate of the Fuxi Courtyard squeaked open before knocking. Ting Xue was the one who opened the door. Her eyes were red, looking like she had cried. Tears that once had stopped came down again at a glance of Qin Yunuan.

n“Third Miss, you came back finally.” Ting Xue, who had been so calm, choked for the first time, “Last night, I was distraught. Come in.”

nImmediately, nurse Liao came out along with Concubine Chang, who temporarily hid in the Fuxi Courtyard last night. Seeing Qin Yunuan was safe, all the lifted hearts dropped down.

n“Sister!” suddenly, Qin Baochuan flew out of the house and into Qin Yunuan’s arms with a crisp sound. His little hands wrapped around Qin Yunuan’s calf and refused to let go, fearing that Qin Yunuan would run away again.

nQin Yunuan suddenly felt that all the upsets and thrills she had experienced were worth it.

nQin Yunuan squatted down and hugged Baochuan tightly, stroking Baochuan’s head and comforting him, “I am back and fine. It is my fault to have scared you, Baochuan.”

n“No,” Qin Baochuan raised his head, holding back his tears though his eyes turned red. His sister taught him that boys don’t cry, so he must not cry, “I am worried about you, sister.” Qin Baochuan wiped the tears on Qin Yunuan’s face and said, “I am a man and should have protected you. But unfortunately, I couldn’t do anything except studying. I think I am too useless. I have decided to live in the future like my brother-in-law. Not only will I study hard on books of poems and art of war, but also I will exercise my body to learn martial arts. I won’t let anyone bully my sister.”

n“Brother-in-law?” Qin Yunuan stunned slightly. Was Baochuan referring to Leng Changxi? She thought that Baochuan was too young to change the title “brother-in-law” freely.

n“Third Miss, you don’t know yet,” Concubine Chang handed Qin Baoduan in her arms to the wet nurse, taking Qin Yunuan into the house and smiled, “On your way back, Queen Mother sent her decree, saying that Third Miss was beautiful both outside and inside and that she had good character. She bestowed on you the title of Infanta Ping of the fifth-grade of rank. Furthermore, a date should be picked for your marriage to General Leng.” After that, she smiled, “I think the Infanta title isn’t enough for you. After Third Miss getting married, another honorary title conferred by imperial mandate might land on your head.”

nConcubine Chang’s inference was reasonable. Leng Changxi was the High General, and he had made outstanding achievements taking down the Dou Family. Qin Yunuan had also provided a lot of important clues. The rewards were indispensable for them.

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nQin Yunuan lowered her head and smiled shyly. What she was happy about was not how much the rewards were, how honored she was. What made her happy was that everything went so naturally.

nSure enough, the Queen Mother’s decree and the emperor’s arrived successively at the Qin Family at noon.

nInfanta Ping of the fifth-grade of rank meant that people without classes, like Qin Linfeng and Qin Yunzhuang, must salute when seeing Qin Yunuan. Kneeling at the side, Qin Linfeng and Qin Yunzhuang’s faces turned cold. Qin Yunuan smiled weakly and took over the decree in the eunuch’s hands. She heard the flattering chuckle of the eunuch who delivered the order again, “Queen Mother would hold a feast in the palace tomorrow in celebration of recovering from a serious illness. You are specially invited. Third Miss, you are a lady from now on. Don’t forget to help me when in need. I’ll rely on Third Miss Qin.”

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