Chapter 457: with translation of chapter title

Donglin Emperor was stunned, then gave a helpless smile.

"Those are things of the past."

"As a man, who wouldn't like such a splendid and gorgeous woman?"

"Even as the ruler of a nation, he would be no exception."

Ye Qingran nodded, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

The Donglin Emperor returned a faint smile.

Watching her receding figure, he seemed to see again the woman who had dazzled him in his youth.

"Huu~"

He let out a long breath.

"This is fine; my task can be considered completed."

The old eunuch smiled with relief, "Your Majesty, Yun Grand General has borne a fine daughter."

"Yes, the student surpasses the teacher!"

"Are you going to the Divine Province Academy?"

Yun Zhi looked at Ye Qingran in surprise.

"You didn't mishear. Are you going with me, or do you have other ideas?"

Yun Zhi pondered a moment, then refused: "I won't go with you. Yun Lan failed last time; she will surely send people to watch you. If I go with you, it'll be easy for her to notice."

Ye Qingran gave no comment.

But since she asked Yun Zhi that, she naturally had her own plan.

"Fine. Then will you stay here, or do you have somewhere else you want to go?"

Yun Zhi thought: "Where I go doesn't matter; it's you—why suddenly think of going to the Divine Province Academy?"

Ye Qingran also didn't hide the news of Yun Sui Feng: "My mother might be there."

"What?"

Yun Zhi sprang to her feet, excited.

"You mean Aunt is at the Divine Province Academy?"

"'Aunt' is the term of respect Yun Zhi's generation uses for Yun Sui Feng."

"Mm."

"She isn't... dead? How could she be at the Divine Province Academy?"

"She isn't dead."

This time Yun Zhi was so shocked she couldn't speak.

After a moment, she suddenly burst into loud laughter.

"Hahaha~"

"Aunt isn't dead! She's still alive! Yun Lan, Yun Lan, you've ended up drawing water with a bamboo basket—all for nothing!"

She could already imagine the uproar if the Yun household learned of this.

Even the entire Nan Yin Zhou would be turned upside down!

Moreover, Aunt is bringing a daughter back with her.

By then, what would Yun Lan amount to?

"Why don't you directly inform the Yun household of this news?"

"Let's find my mother first; after all, empty words lack proof."

Besides that, she actually has another concern: back then, Yun Sui Feng clearly had both talent and ability off the charts, so how did she end up in such a state?

Also, why, after leaving home, has she been unwilling to return to the Yun household for so long?

Is it that she has broken with the Yun household, or does she have some hidden hardship?

Compared to the first guess, she leans more toward the latter.

"But what exactly is her hardship?"

Ye Qingran silently wondered in her heart.

No one could answer her.

Only by finding Yun Sui Feng and asking her directly could she know the answer.

Yun Zhi nodded, "Indeed. Back then, the family head, devastated by Aunt's disappearance, lost his drive and these years has had no heart to manage the Yun household's affairs big and small. Your three uncles—one is crippled, one is obsessed with cultivation, and one simply followed Aunt's example and left home—so many matters have been delegated to Yun Lan. This woman has many tricks; she has the branch families under her thumb, and the entire Yun household is her eyes and ears. Toppling her is no simple task."

Speaking, she lifted her gaze to Ye Qingran and said solemnly, "On this journey you must stay alert at all times; Yun Lan might move against you."

After speaking, she thought of something, smiled, and said, "Besides, you have the Emperor Sovereign of the Peak of Contending for Deer; you need not fear her."

"Don't mention him; we have no chance."

"???"

"Let's go!"

Ye Qingran didn't want to mention him further, rose, patted Yun Zhi's shoulder, and strode out.

Left alone, Yun Zhi stood there, dumbfounded.

"No chance?"

"What's the situation?"

It was night.

A carriage slowly drove out of Xiliang City, entered the endless night, and soon vanished from sight.

Inside the carriage.

The two children, after extreme excitement, had already fallen asleep.

Leng Yue tucked the blankets for them.

Han Xing carefully asked, "Miss, we're just leaving like this, without even saying goodbye, is that okay?"

"Yeah, he is at least the child's father."

Leng Yue wore a worried expression.

Ye Qingran withdrew her gaze from the night, looked at the two, "Why didn't you say hello? Didn't I leave a note for him?"

The two looked at each other, feeling that just leaving a note wasn't good enough.

"What's the point of thinking so much? Sleep!"

Ye Qingran disagreed, and after speaking, closed her eyes to feign sleep.

The next morning.

Fu Hanxiu arrived at Ting Yu Xuan, but heard no sound.

Fu San behind him also sensed something amiss.

The two came to the courtyard, but saw no one.

Fu Hanxiu thought of something, his face suddenly sank, he flashed into Ye Qingran's room, and found it already empty.

Fu San was dumbfounded.

"Miss Ye, this is..." He left?

Fu Hanxiu's already heavy aura became even heavier.

His gaze swept over the room, discovering a letter pressed under the teacup on the table.

He strode over, snatched it up, and tore it open.

After reading it, he was consumed by rage.

"Your Majesty, where did Miss Ye go?"

Fu Hanxiu clenched the letter, his chest heaving, his voice almost squeezed from between his teeth: "Shenzhou Academy!"

Shenzhou Academy?

"Why would Miss Ye suddenly go to Beimingzhou?"

He looked puzzled.

"Go have someone ask the Donglin Emperor what Miss Ye Qingran asked him yesterday."

Yes!

"However, Your Majesty, should we pursue? They've only been gone less than a day; we can definitely catch up."

Fu Hanxiu naturally thought of catching that woman and then punishing her properly.

"Her audacity is truly growing—she actually took advantage of his unpreparedness to lure away his child and make a clean getaway?"

But thinking of the pile of misunderstandings between Ye Qingran and him, he still shook his head.

Not long after, Fu Hanxiu's people inquired at the Donglin Emperor's and learned that Ye Qingran went to Shenzhou Academy because Yun Sui Feng might be there.

"Let's go, let's head to Beimingzhou first."

Fu San's eyes flashed with an unusual light.

Beimingzhou, Shenzhou Academy.

It's about to get lively!

Beimingzhou lies to the north of Xuanmiao Continent.

Shenzhou Academy is located at the center of Beimingzhou.

Setting out from Donglin Country, heading to Beiming, one must first travel seven days overland, then three days by sea to reach Beiming.

If heading to Shenzhou Academy, there is still another seven days' journey.

One month later.

Spring warmth and blossoms.

A carriage stopped before Shenzhou City.

The carriage curtain lifted, a figure stepped out, gazing at the city gate ahead, a smile appearing on her face.

"Miss, we've finally arrived!"

The carriage curtain was lifted again, and a stunning woman walked out with two children.

"Mother, will we be able to see Grandma soon?"

Xiao Hu's innocent, naive appearance.

Ye Qingran rubbed his head, "As long as we search for Grandma's whereabouts together, you'll see her soon!"

The two children showed happy smiles.

Ye Qingran lifted her gaze to glance at the city wall.

The three large characters "Shenzhou City" are several zhang high, with dragons flying and phoenixes dancing, extremely magnificent.

Along the way, they went and stopped, taking nearly a month.

But what surprised her was that Fu Hanxiu hadn't come after them!