Chapter 250: I’ll Call You Duoduo
After eating and drinking her fill, Nan Xun started chatting with the big boss.
“My lord, could you stop calling me ‘girl’? I have a name,” Nan Xun said.
Gong Mo Ran paused. “Nineteen?”
Nan Xun immediately corrected him. “Not Nineteen. It’s Li Yunduo. Could you call me by my real name? Yunduo or Duoduo is fine.”
Thinking of something, she explained, “My lord, it’s not that I dislike the name you gave me. It’s just that when you call me by my original name, it feels more intimate. My parents used to call me Duoduo. My lord… I miss my parents.”
Regarding Nan Xun’s performance, Little Eight was utterly confused. “Why are you placing the big boss on the same level as your parents? If you talk like this, won’t the big boss start raising you like a daughter later?”
Nan Xun didn’t reply to Little Eight.
Gong Mo Ran frowned slightly. “If I call you Duoduo, wouldn’t that make you think of your parents often and only make you sad?”
Nan Xun thought for a moment, then shook her head. “My parents are already gone. They live in my heart. But my lord is different—you’re alive. From now on, in my eyes and my heart, there will only be you. You’ll be the person closest to me.”
The faint discomfort that had just arisen in Gong Mo Ran’s heart instantly dissipated. He nodded slightly. “From now on, I’ll call you Duoduo.”
“Holy—!” Little Eight suddenly howled. “The moment the big boss called you Duoduo, his malice value dropped by another five points! It’s now seventy-eight! We hit the jackpot today!”
An overexcited Little Eight immediately admitted fault. “Darling, I was wrong earlier, okay? I shouldn’t have doubted you. Even though it’s unbelievable, the big boss’s malice value really dropped a lot today, hahaha!”
Nan Xun: …
She hadn’t noticed it before, but now she realized Little Eight was actually the fastest one to change faces.
Because the annual Heaven-Worship and Blessing Ceremony of Southern Yun Kingdom was approaching, the streets had clearly changed. The atmosphere grew increasingly solemn, the commoners more devout, and even the cries of shopkeepers were quieter than usual.
Nan Xun and Gong Shiba disguised themselves and went out to purchase a medicinal herb. Although the imperial pharmacy had it, Mo Ran Hall needed it fresh.
Gong Mo Ran worried the little apprentice might get bored, so he sent Gong Shiba to leave the palace with her to handle the purchase.
Gong Shiba was still feeling smug. “Seventeen really wanted to come out, but in the end my lord chose me. Hehe—Nineteen, don’t you think my lord especially values me?”
Nan Xun didn’t answer him. She heard the sound of synchronized footsteps—something only well-trained soldiers could produce.
When the sound drew closer, Nan Xun indeed saw a troop approaching.
Gong Shiba followed her gaze and said casually, “Envoys from the three nations have been arriving these past two days. The envoys from Northern Wu and Western Desert are already here. This last group must be the Eastern Lin delegation.”
Halfway through, Gong Shiba suddenly exclaimed, “That’s strange. The other two nations’ envoys all came in carriages—why is there no carriage in Eastern Lin’s group? Could it be… that the young general at the front is actually this time’s Eastern Lin envoy?”
Envoys were almost always civil officials—eloquent negotiators. Military officers were usually too blunt and rough for diplomacy.
Yet this troop numbered around two hundred men, cavalry in front and infantry behind, all elite soldiers. There was no carriage in sight.
Nan Xun immediately spotted Qi Hengqing at the head of the group.
Only a few months had passed, yet he seemed like a completely different person.
When she first met him, he was a refined and scholarly handsome man. Now, his aura was cold and sharp, thick brows like unsheathed blades, lips pressed tight as if holding thin ice.
The current Qi Hengqing was like an ice sculpture soaked in a freezing pool—every inch of him radiated “keep your distance.”
Nan Xun frowned and asked Little Eight, “Did something happen in Eastern Lin during this time?”
Little Eight cried out, “You can tell that just by looking? Wow. Well—he’s the Chosen One, after all. As the saying goes, a sword’s edge comes from grinding, plum blossoms from bitter cold. This is all part of his path to success.”
Nan Xun cut it off. “Get to the point.”
Little Eight complied. “Three months ago, after the Chosen One returned to Eastern Lin, his mother consort died. She was framed to death by Consort Chen, the birth mother of his rival, the Fourth Prince.”
Nan Xun nodded. “I see.”
Little Eight sighed again. “I’m not done yet. After his mother died, his fiancée also broke off their engagement. Friends who used to be close to him avoided him when he needed them most. He schemed for a long time just to obtain this envoy position. On the way here, he encountered three groups of assassins who wanted him dead—but he evaded them all.”
At the end, Little Eight couldn’t help but marvel, “Tsk—worthy of a Chosen One.”
Nan Xun didn’t ask anything further. After glancing at Qi Hengqing a few times, she withdrew her gaze and said to Gong Shiba, “Eighteen, let’s go. There’s really nothing worth watching.”
Just as the two turned to leave, the man on the tall horse suddenly glanced in her direction.
Nan Xun’s retreating figure caused a fleeting ripple in Qi Hengqing’s eyes, but it quickly vanished as he resumed his forward stare.
The arrival of the three nations’ envoys didn’t attract as much attention as the National Preceptor strolling through the streets. The people were already used to it—this was the pride of a great nation. As soon as the old emperor recovered, envoys from other countries hurried to offer congratulations.
Congratulation was false. Probing was the truth.
The prolonged illness of Southern Yun’s old emperor was common knowledge among the other three nations. They had all been waiting for his death and the ascension of a new ruler—a time of political instability ripe for maneuvering.
Yet no one expected that the old emperor, already half in his coffin, would suddenly recover, shattering their hopes.
They wanted to see with their own eyes whether the old emperor of Southern Yun was truly healed.
On the second day after all three envoys arrived, the old emperor hosted a banquet in their honor. The mysterious National Preceptor of Southern Yun did not appear.
Not only did they fail to see the elusive National Preceptor, they also personally witnessed the old emperor—full of vigor and radiant health. For a moment, each envoy harbored different thoughts.
Qi Hengqing was the first to step forward, cupping his fists with neither servility nor arrogance. “Our emperor has long worried about Your Majesty’s health. However, affairs of state prevented him from visiting in person. Upon hearing that Your Majesty has recovered from a serious illness, our emperor specially instructed this humble envoy to present gifts in celebration of Your Majesty’s restored health.”
With that, Qi Hengqing signaled his attendants to bring forward a chest.
When the chest was opened, what lay inside made everyone present gasp in shock.
