
Upon arrival at Hongwu Palace, Long Ji Man and Li Anlan were greeted by the worried faces of Xiao Biqi and the Queen Mother. Ever since the mother knew her son had gone to Linghua Forest to save his wife, he could not calm down. Long Ji Man whom he had known all this time was a man who was cold towards women and tended to ignore them. He doesn't care about harem. However, ever since she found out that her son was on good terms with a lowly concubine named Li Anlan, Empress Dowager Han Yuemei began to feel oddities. This woman in Long Ji Man's arms was like a fairy bewitching her son. Even Long Ji Man raised her to be the Noble Empress.
As a mother, Empress Dowager Han Yuemei felt happy and worried at the same time. She was happy because her son seemed to have started to have an interest in women. On the other hand, he was also worried in case Li Anlan only used his son's heart to gain a high position in Dongling Kingdom. But, seeing the interaction between the two that he was investigating secretly, the worry slowly dissipated. Li Anlan seemed to have no motive and bad intentions for her son.
“Your Majesty, what happened to the Royal Empress?” asked Xiao Biqi.
“He only fell asleep.”
Long Ji Man laid the sleeping Li Anlan in his carriage onto the bed slowly. All the way from Duanrou Fort to the palace, this woman continued to fall asleep. In the horse carriage as well. Long Ji Man's shoulder was already very sore holding Li Anlan's head. Li Anlan squirmed slightly as her entire body was laid down.
The Queen Mother who was in her son's bedroom looked a little worried. For almost two days he waited. When Xiao Biqi said that Long Ji Man had gone to look for Li Anlan, he returned to the Harem Palace to escort Empress Jin to her residence. Then at night, he returned to Hongwu Palace waiting for his son to return home.
Li Anlan's peaceful face awakened a warm feeling in Empress Dowager Han Yuemei's heart. Seeing a beautiful face asleep, Empress Dowager Han Yuemei seemed to see her own biological daughter, Long Ji Man's younger sister who died in the womb several years ago. This woman is a little different from the others. Even the way he sleeps is very different. Women usually sleep gracefully, but Li Anlan is far from the word. He wriggled then turned his body, turning his back on the three people.
“Is my daughter-in-law okay?” the Queen Mother asked, which made Long Ji Man and Xiao Biqi surprised instead of playing.
“Me..Son-in-law?” xiao Biqi said slowly.
“Man’er, is he okay?”
“Yes, Mother. The noble Empress is just exhausted.”
“Biqi, quickly call the Taoist Physician!” the Queen Mother's Order. Long Ji Man had yet to spend his shock, but his mother instead made him even more shocked.
Li Anlan's sense of hearing did not fall asleep. The woman squirmed, then muttered something very slowly.
“Ja..Do not.”
Long Ji Man brought his head closer to Li Anlan, trying to listen back to the murmur that felt less clear.
“Do not call that shaman..”
The turn of Empress Dowager Han Yuemei who was shocked. Did this woman just call the great Taoist Physician a shaman? He didn't hear wrong, did he? Wow, that's amazing! Since when did the great healer switch professions to become a shaman? Since when did this woman interact with the royal physician?
“It's okay. No need to call Tao Zhun.”
The Empress Dowager Han Yuemei, Long Ji Man, and Xiao Biqi then walked out of the sleeping room. The mother-daughter couple sat in oversized seats, while Xiao Biqi stood not far from the two. Empress Dowager Han Yuemei gulped down a cup of warm tea, then poured the tea into another cup and thrust it at her son.
“My son, what really happened?” ask the Queen Mother.
Before answering his mother's question, Long Ji Man took a breath, then exhaled slowly.
“Bandit Fort Duanrou kidnapped him and took him to headquarters.”
“Bandits? You mean the one who built the base on the slopes of Feiyun Mountain?”
Long Ji Man nodded. His body felt sore after a long trip. For almost two days, he had not rested at all.
“They almost married the Grand Empress to the son of a bad bandit leader.”
“What? How dare they force my son-in-law to be their son-in-law?”
“Mother, relax. Huang An is smart, he can buy time until I come to save him. Also..”
“Also what?”
“She, she broke the egg of the bandit chairman.”
The Queen Mother could not help her laughter. Only a free-spirited woman would dare to kick the forbidden area of a man. Long Ji Man then recounted how Li Anlan's expression as he came, how the bandits reacted, and how Li Anlan behaved when a sword stuck to his neck. In such a desperate situation, the woman was still calm, even negotiating with the bandit chief to let go.
Long Ji Man also recounted when Li Anlan shifted the sword from his neck, turned around then kicked the forbidden area of the bandit leader and ran towards him. When fighting with the bandits, the woman was still relaxed as if it was an opera performance.
“Then what about those bandits?”
“I've already ordered Wang Tianshi to capture all of them and destroy his headquarters.”
“Sgratitude.”
Feeling that there was nothing to worry about anymore, Empress Dowager Han Yuemei then said goodbye. The still beautiful middle-aged woman disappeared in the darkness of the night with her ladies. His heart was no longer as narrow as it was yesterday. His son seems to be fully grown now.
After the death of Empress Dowager Han Yuemei, Long Ji Man returned to the bedroom to look at Li Anlan. The beautiful and beautiful face that Li Anlan had became even more beautiful as the woman fell asleep. Li Anlan probably had no idea how worried he was when he heard that he was missing and that all of his guards were killed in Linghua Forest.
Long Ji Man couldn't wait anymore when he knew his wedding ceremony was starting. The Dongling King ran down the forest towards Duanrou Fortress as fast as he could. While in front of the fortress, Long Ji Man deliberately shouted as loudly as possible so that he could delay the ceremony time. Long Ji Man could sigh in relief when he found out that the ceremony that was about to finish was delayed due to the small commotion he created.
She did not lie when she said that she did not like to see Li Anlan side by side with another man while wearing a bridal suit. His entire body was burning as he watched scene after scene of the wedding ceremony in the bandit lair. I don't know, Long Ji Man himself was confused by his heart. He simply disliked and displeased as Li Anlan disappeared from his sight. He was more dislikeful and more unsettled when the woman didn't show up for a day.
“Why do I always feel like you're not from this world?”
Long Ji Man touched Li Anlan's sweaty forehead. Her red dress has not been replaced. This red color was now hated by Long Ji Man. She was eager to tear off the dirty clothes that almost made Li Anlan the wife of someone else and burn them and throw the ashes into Lake Houchi to dissolve in the water. But he realized he was a man. Men and women cannot see each other's bodies.
Long Ji Man may not have been fully aware that he was a legal missile to touch Li Anlan.
He would wait until this woman woke up and fully recovered. Li Anlan is not a stupid girl. Long Ji Man was sure he knew something while at Duanrou Fortress. Li Anlan usually used the opportunity in narrowness to dig deep into the information.
The night is getting late. The wind at the end of spring blows. Outside, the guard soldiers were standing guard tightly guarding Hongwu Palace. Xiao Biqi endured the drowsiness that struck his eyes.
“Biqi!” call Long Ji Man. Xiao Biqi who was about to fall asleep was back awake.
“Ya, Your Highness.”
“Ask Xie Roulan to bring clothes and change the dress of the Royal Empress!”
“Good, Your Highness.”
Xiao Biqi took a quick step, leaving Hongwu Palace. He crossed the beautiful Houchi Lake bridge at night. Under the moonlight, Xiao Biqi continued walking nonstop. The moment the eunuch reached in front of the gate of Xingyue Palace, he directly entered. Xie Roulan who was asleep at the side of his master's bed immediately woke up when he heard the sound of the door being opened.
“Sim Bi, I guess Madam.”
“Take a change of clothes and bring them to Hongwu Palace!”
“Nyonyaku is back?”
Xiao Biqi nodded. Xie Roulan cheered happily. The servant girl ran to the closet, then picked up a set of simple hanfu that her employer used to wear. He was happy, very happy because his beloved employer had returned safely. All his worries for these two days disappeared instantly.
...***...