Wrapped In Golden Branch - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Did it also happen in reality?

Li Kangning lowered her eyes, hesitating whether to tell her dream last night. However, when she thought about what happened to them in her dream —

Forget it. She quickly calmed down. It was unlucky to say these things so early in the morning.

When Empress Kang saw her daughter’s face change repeatedly, she was full of suspicion. Yet she didn’t want to discuss it in detail, so she didn’t ask any more questions. She secretly took this matter to heart, thinking she had to order someone to recheck the prospective son-in-law, Pei Yujin.

At noon, the Emperor, who had come back for lunch, also saw that his daughter was a little absent-minded. He raised his eyes to look at his wife; his cold and heroic eyebrows showed confusion.

Empress Kang blinked at him quickly; she didn’t know what was happening!

Perhaps her blinking action was too funny and cute, so the Emperor pursed his lips, and a hint of a mischievous smile flashed across his eyes rapidly. Empress Kang realized that he was laughing at her and glared at him angrily.

“Ahem!” Li Kangning coughed twice deliberately and concisely reminded them, “I’m still here!”

Regardless, she couldn’t hide her smile, and the dimples on the corners of her lips loomed.

Empress Kang blushed with shame and hurriedly changed the subject. “Your Majesty, I heard that the generals who suppressed the rebellion of the Eleuth tribe have set off to return to the court. Are they returning to the capital or reporting their works at the palace?”

Only the Crown Prince and his wife stayed in the capital, and most of the princes and ministers of the royal family came to the Rehe Palace with their families to escape the summer heat.

“They will come to the palace and should arrive today or tomorrow.”

As the Emperor spoke, he peeled a chilled lychee and fed it to his wife. He rem*mbered to reach out to catch the core she spit out without changing his face, and his movements were highly skillful. Empress Kang was a little embarra$sed in front of her daughter. She deliberately spit the lychee pit into her Su-embroidered handkerchief and ignored the man beside her. The Emperor chuckled helplessly, peeled another lychee, and handed it to his daughter.

“There is a deputy general named Pei Yizhi who helped suppress the rebellion this time. He seems to be the brother of the son-in-law?”

“Pei Yizhi risked his life to lead 500 elite soldiers to travel more than a thousand miles in the desert, and suddenly annihilated the rebel leader and recovered the north and south of Tianshan Mountain in one fell swoop. I have issued a decree to confer him the t*tle of General of Cavalry.”

The General of Cavalry is a second-rank official with a gold seal and purple ribbon. In the military, this position is only lower than that of the Zhenguo and Fuguo generals.

“Pei Yizhi?” Li Kangning was stunned for a moment.

Her future husband, Huai’an Marquis’s Heir Pei Yujin, did have a half-brother named Pei Yizhi. However, no one took him seriously. In the past few years, Huai’an Marquis threw him into the military camp to train and serve as a soldier transporting food and grass. In the dream, he had made outstanding military achievements in suppressing the Eleuth rebellion and received the title of General of the Cavalry.

Did it happen in reality? Li Kangning felt like she had fallen into an ice cellar. Her father and mother said something else, but she didn’t hear it. After leaving in a daze, she stopped at the Qianqing Lake.  

The lake was rippling lightly, and the breeze blew her snow-blue skirt. The lotus on the shore was in full bloom, and the elegant fragrance came to her face.

Li Kangning took a deep breath. At this time, there was a sound of footsteps behind her. She turned sideways and looked back, only to see a handsome and tall young man walking around the corridor and approaching her.

“Your Highness.” His handsome face was smiling, as warm as spring.

“The wind is strong by the lake. If Princess wants to appreciate the lotus, move to the waterside pavilion next to it. The scenery is the same. Instead, it’s more interesting.”

Li Kangning felt confused. How could such a dignified, gentle young man be so hateful in her dream?

After a moment of silence, Li Kangning nodded slightly and strolled into the waterside pavilion not far away with him. Zhi Lan and Pei Lan smiled at each other behind them. The Prince Consort was considerate, and they would be in harmony after marriage.

Carved beams on three sides decorated the waterside pavilion, and one could overlook the lake and mountains by the railing. Li Kangning sat leisurely on the sandalwood bench inside the railing.

“By the way,” she mentioned casually, “Does Heir Pei have a half-brother named Pei Yizhi?”

Upon hearing this, a trace of panic flashed across Pei Yujin’s eyes. Could the Princess discover something?

No, it’s impossible. There is no third person in the world who knows that.

“Replying to Princess, my brother’s name is indeed Yizhi.” After a slight pause, he continued, “But my brother is perverse and eccentric by nature, and my father specially sent him to the military camp to train, saying that he wanted to temper his character.”

Li Kangning smiled: “I heard from my father that your half-brother has greatly contributed to suppressing the rebellion this time and was appointed General of Cavalry.” As she spoke, she observed the man’s expression in front of her.

As expected, the smile in his eyes froze for a moment. However, he soon recovered and bowed slowly, “Thanks to the Emperor’s kindness. I want to thank the Emperor for his grace on behalf of my brother.” As soon as he finished speaking, he calmly looked at the girl before him.

Li Kangning looked like her mother, gorgeous and dazzling, like a lotus. The charming look in her eyes would make anyone’s heart beat fast. She was indescribably noble because she was born as a princess of a country, and her every move had an indefinable nobleness and pride.

Pei Yujin felt a little warm in his heart. Two months later, the marriage would be as scheduled, and this precious Princess would be his wife. Then, he would be the official Emperor’s legitimate son-in-law. Even if his father learned the truth in the future, he won’t be able to change anything.

*

At the same time, the victorious soldiers who returned to the court had been resting at the post station around the palace. Outside the post station, a tall and handsome young man in armor with a red-tasseled helmet was as straight as a pine. When he raised his head slightly, countless towering palaces and pavilions appeared. He pursed his lips lightly; his eyes were dark, and there seemed to be a burning desire in his chest, and even his fingertips trembled slightly. He came back alive to see her.

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