1456 She Was Still A Child
Lin Qingyuan quickly brushed his hand off of her. “I know. I was just thinking aloud.”
“You’re not allowed to even joke about it.” Long Xuan warned her. If such words reached his Royal Uncle’s ears, he would end up in a rage.
“I know.” Lin Qingyuan knew how serious this was.
It was only then that Long Xuan finally stopped worrying about this.
The envoys from Southern Xinjiang were unhappy with Princess Man Li’s murder at the hands of Chu Qi after they had calmed down. They submitted a complaint to Long Yang.
Long Yin had informed Long Yang about Man Li’s death before the envoys had entered the Palace.
That was why Long Yang already knew the details.
“Do you think that Princess Man Li should not have been killed?” He sat behind the imperial table, marking the Palace Memorials. He shot them a grim glance.
The Southern Xinjiang envoy was initially full of rage, but the Emperor’s gaze instantly made them cower.
“Princess Man Li might have done wrong, but…but she doesn’t deserve death. She is our princess, after all, and she was killed just like that. Your Majesty, you…you need to give us an explanation for this.”
One of the envoy members finally took the courage to speak up after a while.
“Give you an explanation?” Long Yang looked indifferent, but a casual glance from him scared the entire envoy into keeping silent and their knees began to buckle.
“No matter what, Princess Man Li came here as a representative of Southern Xinjiang, but General Chu Qi killed her without a second thought. This is much too disrespectful to Southern Xinjiang. We ask for His Majesty to punish him.”
“Based on what you’re telling me, did our Princess Ji’er deserve to be insulted by your Princess Man Li?” Long Yang flung his brush to the side. There was a murderous look in his eyes and the envoys looked like dead men to him.
The Southern Xinjiang envoy was paralyzed by fear. It felt like a sword was hanging above their heads and they did not dare make any sudden movements.
Long Yang’s expression relaxed slightly after a while. “Considering Princess Man Li has been punished for her crime, I will not pursue this any further. I have received the tribute from Southern Xinjiang. You are free to make your return to your country.”
The Southern Xinjiang envoy was greatly relieved when they heard this. They no longer dared make any mention of Princess Man Li and stopped demanding an explanation.
“Thank you, Your Majesty. We will take our leave now!”
“Please do.” Long Yang now looked quite friendly compared to his murderous look a moment ago.
A chill went down the envoy’s spine and all of them quickly retreated.
Shortly later, Chu Qi entered the Palace.
He knelt on one knee in front of Long Yang. “Your Majesty, I request to be sent to the West Water Frontier. I hope you will approve this!”
His request was very sudden. Long Yang thought he must have heard wrong. “What did you say?”
Chu Qi repeated himself. “I’d like to be sent to the West Water Frontier. I hope Your Majesty will approve my request.”
This time, Long Yang heard him clearly. He contemplated this for a while before asking, “Is this because of what Princess Man Li said?”
Chu Qi was silent.
Long Yang sighed. “There is no need for you to do this. Your innocence will be proven with time. You do not need to take this to heart.”
“I have made up my mind. Please approve my request, Your Majesty!” Chu Qi pressed his lips firmly together and suddenly prostrated in front of Long Yang.
Long Yang pressed his fingers on the spot between his eyes. “Lil Qi, I know very well what kind of man you are. Why would you need to…”
Chu Qi lifted his head and looked at Long Yang determinedly. “Master, I just don’t want Ji’er to be hurt by any rumors.”
Even though he had always treated Ji’er as a younger sister, rumors would still be a potent weapon.
He might have killed Man Li, but he could not deny that her words and the way she said them had hurt him.
Chu Qi had never harbored any ulterior motives toward Ji’er. She was still a child.
Aside from the pain he had felt, he also realized that moving out of the Palace had not been enough.
As long as he was in the imperial capital, he could never cut ties with Ji’er, and he could never be hard-hearted enough to stay away from her forever.