The Tyrant's Beloved Empress

70

Edited and Proofread by KitKat

An Chang Qing had never been this embarrassed. He gulped down his tea cup by cup while his mother and sister, together with their guards, listened to the storyteller with great amusement.

The group continued to listen as the storyteller raved about the love-hate triflings between the God of War and the Demon Fox King for half an hour. Afterwards, the storyteller hammered his gavel on the table, took a sip of tea and said, "If you want to know what happens next, come to the next session. Ladies and gentlemen, please come again tomorrow."

Being served with a cliffhanger, the audience were left disappointed and began to leave. An Chang Qing was sitting in the back so no one seemed to notice him.

An Xian Yu then commented, "Yanzhou's script is bolder and grittier compared to Yejing's. It's indeed a place where the people are more open."

"What other scripts have you read?" An Chang Qing asked her in surprise. His little sister was always disciplined and reserved. Most of her time spent at home were either on reading or needlework, to think that even she had read these recreational scripts, An Chang Qing found it incredulous.

An Xian Yu realized that she had made a slip of the tongue and quickly diverted, "It's getting late, shouldn't we leave soon?"

An Chang Qing was indeed distracted by her urging. They had been outside for too long, it was almost time for dinner. As such, the group got back on the carriage and headed home.

Back at the manor, Xiao Zhige had already returned and was having tea with his subordinates. Upon seeing An Chang Qing's arrival, Qi Wei and the others stood up and saluted.

Xiao Zhige and An Chang Qing simply exchanged greetings and did not say much, it was Qi Wei whose eyes lit up the moment he saw An Xian Yu and brazenly approached to introduce himself, "I've heard that Madame and the Young Miss have come to Yanzhou to stay. We are here to pay our respect. I'm Vice Lieutenant Qi Wei, from the Bo Ling Qi family and have yet to be..."

Before he could finish, Xie Ling gave him a hard kick on the leg. Qi Wei glared back at him disgruntled but he did not continue speaking.

Seeing the several dignified-looking youngsters greet them with sincere courtesy in due respect towards An Chang Qing and Xiao Zhige, Lady Yu reciprocated with a smile and bowed humbly.

Since everyone took the time to visit, it was customary to invite them for dinner.

The kitchen had already prepared the meals. Traditionally, the ladies would be seated separately but since Lady Yu and An Xian Yu were the only ladies and the people of Yanzhou were always lax with social rules, the group dined together at one big table.

Because there were ladies present, the usually uncouth army men were more refined with their eating and speaking mannerisms. After the meal, Lady Yu and An Xian Yu excused themselves and left for the backyard.

Qi Wei took a deep breath and slyly approchaced An Chang Qing. "Since we're all acquaintances, I'll be straightforward with Wangfei, has your sister already been betrothed?"

An Chang Qing was taken aback. He squinted his eyes and said doubtfully, "Not yet. What's wrong?"

Qi Wei rubbed his hands and snickered, "Isn't that just perfect? Since both sides have not made any marital arrangements, why don't we join our two families through this marriage..."

Xie Ling at the back gave him another hard kick, "Whoever has proposed his own marriage before? How improper."

Qi Wei almost fell to the ground. He turned and stared angrily at Xie Ling and said, "A fake gentleman like you deserves to be single! I'm discussing this with Wangfei first. If Wangfei agrees, I'll send a letter to my family and have them propose this marriage."