Translator: Sissy That Walk

The next day after the affair about Princess Qingbi, Xia Houqi conferred the title of Concubine Qing on her. Since that day, Princess Qingbi had been consigned to limbo. In the 10 years thereafter, she spent the rest of her life in an abyss of misery. She never met Xia Houqi again.

No one from the North Qing bothered to see her. But the alliance between North Qing and Da Xia had, due to their nominal marriage, lasted for nearly 10 years.

Then Xia Houqi grew more powerful and a riot broke out in the North Qing. Da Xia grasped the chance to annex the North Qing.

On the afternoon of Princess Qingbi’s conferral, Xia Houqi agreed to let Ye Lingyue resign as the Cauldron Holder but retained her title of Marquis Yue. Moreover, Ye Lingyue was given a vast area from the east to the south of Xixia Plain including the Ancient Forest as her territory.

“Your Majesty, I do appreciate it.”

In court, Ye Lingyue’s voice was quite clear. The man sitting on the throne was at a total loss after having the imperial edict announced, losing all the joy on his handsome face.

He slowly closed his eyes and did not say anything.

All the officials were in silence and then left one by one.

They knew that the emperor felt quite lonely and disappointed at the moment.

“Thank you, Xia Houqi.”

Ye Lingyue said gently. She was the last one to leave.

When she walked out of court, Xia Houqi opened his eyes abruptly. He felt as if his heart had been taken out when he found no one else in court.

Ye Lingyue was just like a wonderful dream in the life of Xia Houqi.

Now he had to wake up.

Outside the palace, the sunlight was so favorable. Ye Lingyue drew a deep breath and there was a big smile on her happy face.

After resignation, Ye Lingyue had more spare time suddenly.

After destroying the Hong Manor and the Buddhist Monks Sect, the Ghost Sect developed quite well in the Xia City.

Moreover, Ye Lingyue made a big fortune in the gambling house. Then it seemed she spoke much louder than others.

Considering that Ye Lingyue would go to her territory, Yan Che and L’ai Gu began to transfer the properties of the Ghost Sect.

After Ye Huangyu got married to Nie Fengxing, she discussed with her daughter Ye Lingyue before deciding to stay in Da Xia and assist Nie Fengxing in military affairs.

Ye Lingyue did not try to change Ye Huangyu’s mind since the most important thing was that her mother could live a happy life.

At first, Ye Huangyu felt reluctant to let her daughter go to the faraway Xixia Plain. But then she agreed since Ye Lingyue could not make full use of her talent here in Da Xia.

Several days later, members of the Ye family arrived in the Xia City and prepared to settle down.

But Ye Liuyun decided to go back to the sect and continue learning after the imperial contest.

Earlier, Ye Liuyun was not familiar with Ye Lingyue. However, the imperial contest brought the two closer. They got on well and became good friends since they had similar age and personality.

When Ye Liuyun was about to leave, Ye Lingyue and Ye Yinshuang accompanied her to the city gate.

“Sisters, you can stop here.” Ye Liuyun smiled and paused.

“Lingyue, if you really want to improve your martial skills, the best way is to join a sect. I heard from my master that all sects and factions, including the 3 major sects, enroll new learners every year. You can keep an eye on this if you feel interested.” Ye Liuyun’s sect did not rank among the best.

But even such a second-class sect had enabled Ye Liuyun to develop martial kills that were far better than those of her peers.

Earlier, Ye Liuyun relied on a rare opportunity to join the sect.

“Thank you for reminding me, sister. But I love freedom and there are too many rules in the big sects. So they may not be suitable for me. I had better be the female feudal lord.” Ye Lingyue smiled.

Everyone had their own way of living. Seeing that Ye Lingyue had already made the decision, Ye Liuyun did not try to persuade further. Then Ye Liuyun bid farewell to Ye Lingyue and Ye Yinshuang before they parted at the city gate.

Ye Lingyue and Ye Yinshuang went back to the Xia City and happened to find a fair where there were a lot of people.

Ye Yinshuang loved the hustle and bustle and then dragged Ye Lingyue into the crowd.

Unfortunately, the two were dispersed soon since there were too many people.

Several steps further, there was a noise and a large number of people gathering together, seeming to quarrel on something.

“Lass, you have beaten somebody and then want to leave?”

Ye Lingyue had intended to leave all this alone. But she heard a familiar voice and recognized the person as Yunsheng.

On the night of the wedding banquet, Ye Lingyue was so busy catering to the guests that she did not have time to attend to Yunsheng. When Ye Lingyue thought of Yunsheng, she had already disappeared

The two seemed like old friends. Ye Lingyue regretted not having asked the dwelling place of Yunsheng in Xia City.

Ye Lingyue and her mother had been saved by Yunsheng. So Ye Lingyue should pay a visit to Yunsheng.

Unexpectedly, Ye Lingyue met Yunsheng once again. Then she moved forward.

The place where the quarrel happened was a restaurant with luxurious decoration.

The quarrel attracted a large crowd before the restaurant.

The situation was a little chaotic. A 4-year-old child was held by a woman and they were both in rags, looking like beggars in the Xia City.

The woman was in tears and the child had a serious wound on the head.

Yunsheng stopped a woman.

That woman looked familiar to Ye Lingyue. Then it turned out that she was the maid of the Dan Palace accompanying Xue Pianran outside the Feng Manor that night.

It seemed that the maid had wounded the child.

“Humph! The child has stolen something from Sacred Maiden. I have just spanked him slightly. Who knows that he is so weak? He wounded his head himself and then put the blame on us.” The maid raised her head quite high, looking like a proud peacock.

She took pride in being a member of the Dan Palace and looked down on the commoners in Da Xia.

“My child did not steal anything. He was just too hungry. Since the steamed bun has already fallen onto the ground and you did not want to eat it anymore, he picked it up.” The woman holding the child cried out.

The child in her arms was thin and weak and in his hands was still the half steamed bun.

The steamed bun was dirty. Obviously, it had already been bitten and thrown away.

“Bah! He could pick up something to eat. But why did he dirty the clothes of our Sacred Maiden? Do you know how expensive the clothes are? You cannot buy them all your life.”

“How much? I will make it up to you for him.” Yunsheng looked angry.

She was not a good-willed person in all cases. As a doctor, however, she could not see others bullying the weak.