Pampered Consort of the Fragrant Orchard

“Ha!” Leng Yi and Leng San couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Even Han Mingyi’s cold stare, fixed directly at them, didn’t managed to wipe the smiles off their faces.

“Princess, you can rest assured on this point; Master can definitely make that happen. We’ll bring up the matter of the monthly allowance when that time comes then?”

“No problem.” Du Xiaoli propped her chin on her hands and said, “If you two truly end up following me, it’s not impossible. But the prerequisite is that you both survive tonight. Good luck to you. Hmm, Xia Yuan has finished preparing dinner; I’m off to eat. You all continue.”

With that, she rose slowly and left.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly felt a bit scary. Han Mingyi tapped his thigh with his fingers, staring at the two men without speaking.

“Ahem, Master, shall we continue with our report?” Leng San couldn’t stand the silence any longer and spoke up first.

Han Mingyi waved his hand to stop him and said, “We’ll discuss that later. First, tell me what’s going on here.”

“Rock-paper-scissors,” Leng Yi said.

“What were the stakes this time?” Han Mingyi asked.

“Whoever lost had to tease Master and the Princess Consort,” Leng Yi continued.

So that was why. No wonder Leng Yi was acting so out of character today, talking to Du Xiaoli like that—it turned out he’d lost a game of rock-paper-scissors.

“Who was in on it?” Han Mingyi asked.

“The seven of us,” Leng Yi replied.

Upon hearing Leng Yi’s words, Leng San pressed his hand to his forehead, as if trying to shield himself.

Leng Yi was truly too honest! He had just ratted out all six of them in one go.

They’d only set him up to lose because he’d spent the most time with Han Mingyi. They never expected him to so “honestly” spill the beans on all of them.

“Very well. Your taking bets has even landed on this Prince’s head,” Han Mingyi said with a nod.

“Master…” Seeing Han Mingyi’s expression, Leng San felt a chill run down his spine. How long had it been since they’d seen him look like this?

The moment he saw that look, he knew they were in for it this time.

Sure enough—

“I hear a band of bandits has emerged outside Xuan City. The seven of you will go and deal with them. I’ll give you one day. Let this Prince see what you’re capable of,” Han Mingyi said casually.

But his words left Leng San inwardly groaning in despair. There were hundreds of bandits outside Xuan City, and he was sending just the seven of them—with only one day to do it.

“Master, is this really a good idea? It takes half a day on horseback just to get from here to Xuan City!”

“Master, there are so many matters to attend to right now. If we don’t handle the aftermath properly, it will cause major complications.”

They had just endured a fierce battle, and they hadn’t had much rest today. Rushing off to Xuan City to suppress bandits now would kill them.

“Those matters aren’t your responsibility anyway. I’ll discuss them with the Emperor and the others tomorrow. You’ve all been exhausted lately, so I’ll allow you to go now,” Han Mingyi said.

“This subordinate obeys.” Leng San wanted to say more, but upon seeing Han Mingyi narrow his eyes, he quickly replied.

Any further haggling, and they would likely end up even worse off.

“This subordinate will go gather the others,” said Leng Yi.

“Go ahead. This Prince will be waiting for your good news,” Han Mingyi said as he stood up. “Go see what Li’er is having for dinner tonight—might as well tag along for a meal.”

Leng San rubbed his stomach. Sigh, he’d better just grab a quick bite later. If they didn’t make it back by this time tomorrow, their fate would be even worse.

Soon, someone presented Han Mingyi’s token to the city guards, who opened the gates. Immediately, seven swift horses galloped out through the city gates, heading toward Xuan City.

“Yi, you’re such a jerk. You actually ratted us out.”

“Exactly.”

“Yi, and we thought you were a man of honor.”

Facing the complaints from the others, he said indifferently, “Better to sacrifice my friends than me. If we’re going to die, we die together.”

Han Mingyi had already set his sights on him. If he didn’t betray them, he would die a truly gruesome death—after all, making fun of one’s Master leaves no room for survival!

So from the very beginning, he had already prepared himself to drag his brothers down with him!

“Yi, you’re the one who got us into this mess, so you’d better kill a lot of people once we get there,” Leng San said with a heavy sigh.

“Ugh, just thinking about it makes me exhausted. We haven’t had a proper rest lately—why can’t Master show us a little consideration?” Leng Qi was the youngest, and with his baby face, he looked as if he hadn’t quite grown up yet.

“Just thinking about having to kill so many people makes me lose even the will to eat,” said Leng Liu.

“Who said we have to do all the killing ourselves?” Leng Yi said indifferently.

“Huh? One, do you have a good idea?” Leng Wu asked, his eyes lighting up.

“Master only said to take care of those bandits; he didn’t say it had to be just the seven of us,” Leng Yi said.

“Ah, you mean…? Haha, that’s a good idea,” Leng Si immediately caught on and laughed heartily.

“What’s the plan?” asked Leng Qi.

“We have Master’s token. Once we get there, we’ll have the county magistrate send troops to wipe out the bandits,” said Leng Si.

“But didn’t Master mean for just the seven of us to go?” asked Leng Qi.

“Master didn’t say that explicitly. ” Leng Yi said.

“Ha, Yi, you’ve gone bad,” Leng Qi said with a laugh.

“Have I?” Leng Yi didn’t think he’d changed at all!

“Yes.”

“Speaking of which, Er, why are you so quiet today?” Leng Si asked, looking at Leng Er.

Wasn’t he usually the liveliest one?

Leng Yi turned his head to look at Leng Er running beside him and said, “He’s pondering the big questions of life. He’ll probably stay like this until he figures it out.”

Leng Er shot Leng Yi a glance but said nothing; his tightly pursed lips revealed his current foul mood.

That woman—she actually said Mu Shan was better and more capable than him? If he hadn’t been dragged in at the last minute to handle this matter, he would have definitely gone head-to-head with Mu Shan, defeated him, and shown that woman who was truly the better man!

Under the moonlight, the seven men and their horses raced forward, crossing the plains and the darkness, heading toward dawn.

Du Xiaoli was in the middle of her dinner when Han Mingyi, without a second thought, showed up to scrounge for a meal.

“Does even the imperial chef’s cooking not suit your taste? Here you are, scrounging for food at my place.” Du Xiaoli looked at Han Mingyi and teased him.

“The food here is better,” Han Mingyi said, shamelessly.

“Ha! Does His Royal Highness find the young lady so delightful that even the most unappetizing dish becomes fragrant just by her presence?” Xia Yuan said with a laugh as she served Han Mingyi some rice.

“Xia Yuan is excellent at guessing,” Han Mingyi said.

“Nonsense!” Du Xiaoli shot Han Mingyi a glance and asked, “Where did you send off Leng Yi and the others to be neglected?”

Han Mingyi’s mouth twitched slightly. Neglected?!

“I sent them to Xuan City to suppress bandits,” Han Mingyi said, then added, “They have one day.”

MoonWhisperer, skyrise's Thoughts

tl note: hihi the raws seem to skip a chapter and i have scoured the internet but been unable to find the missing chapter... hopefully this one is still interpretable and enjoyable!!

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