Chapter 667: Reunion with a Close Friend, Farewell to Pan Li!

He wants to make her position unquestionably proper.

Although the ceremony is simple, it is not rushed.

Moreover, the matter of her being crowned Empress was announced to the whole world without delay!

All the proper rites and procedures were almost fully observed.

Even the phoenix crown, phoenix robe, and the Empress's golden seal with phoenix emblem were hurriedly crafted overnight by Great Chu and sent urgently.

Every stitch on the phoenix robe was flawless.

It is only that, amid the frontier campaigns, the two of them are now thrifty, and everything they use is unpretentious.

After the coronation, Duan Rongshi only handles military affairs.

He lets Li Qingluo try to learn how to manage all state matters.

She truly does not understand, so she asks him.

One is eager to learn, the other is patient in teaching.

Soon she gets the hang of it, and she can gradually sort and handle all memorials and policies delivered to the frontier.

In any case, the amount of state business that reaches the frontier is not large.

It conveniently gives Li Qingluo a learning opportunity.

Even Po Feng seized the chance to hand over all city affairs to Empress Li Qingluo; he went on the western expedition, and neither Zhui Yu nor Po Feng missed a step, following along.

Therefore, now not a single personal guard of Duan Rongshi remains.

Duan Rongshi confidently entrusts the entire rear to Empress Li Qingluo.

Even if she claims kingship and dominance, he trusts her completely.

How could Li Qingluo ever disappoint her?

Everything remains orderly.

Moreover, all food supplies and military pay are dispatched promptly and continuously outward.

The person in charge is Qingyangzi.

He has also been absent from Duan Rongshi's side for a considerable time.

When he reappears, he brings Pan Li's family to the frontier for Li Qingluo.

At first, when she heard that Duan Rongshi, driven mad, massacred the entire princess's clan and, in a fit of rage, seized the three families of the Crown Prince, Li Qingluo was extremely worried about Pan Li.

After all, her current status is the great Crown Prince's niece!

Even if she hurriedly sent people back to Jinling to rescue Pan Li, the news she received was that Pan Li's family had already vanished.

Li Qingluo, of course, was extremely anxious.

Fortunately, Jinling replied quickly, saying Pan Li's family had long ago been quietly escorted away.

It must have been that someone sensed the danger in advance, so they covertly rescued Pan Li's family.

Not only Pan Li's parents, but also her husband's family.

As for the Pei family, because they were untouched by the disaster, and Shi Er Niang's biological father is an upright man who neither aligned with the princess nor the Crown Prince's faction, they escaped the court's purge.

Now Jinling is in chaos, and the court is in need of personnel, so the Pei family members stand out.

When Qingyangzi arrives, Li Qingluo's joy upon seeing Pan Li needs no words.

Qingyangzi: "I, a humble monk, went back to Jinling to attend to Your Highness, and knowing the bond between the Empress and Madam Pan, I took the chance to rescue them."

Li Qingluo knows that Pan Li's body contains Shi Er Niang's soul, but Qingyangzi does not.

So after an emotional reunion with Pan Li, when the two are alone, she whispers, "Did he notice any flaw?"

Pan Li shakes her head: "No."

"Everything is over; from now on we won't speak of the past."

"By the way, Luo'er, from now on you'll be the Empress."

"Seeing you doing so well, I finally feel completely at ease."

"You have no idea, these past two years I worried where you went, whether you were safe…"

"I didn't expect that upon meeting again you are already the Empress of Great Chu. Indeed, Luo'er, you were destined to be a phoenix."

"It was the Li family that hid your brilliance; back then they were blind, pining for that pig, causing you, Luo'er, a lot of grievance."

"Fortunately, Luo'er, you fought your way here. If your mother and that brother were still alive, they'd be so angry they'd spit blood."

Pan Li feels exhilarated recalling that.

Li Qingluo smiles lightly.

She hasn't thought of them for a long time.

So she doesn't care how they would be in the afterlife.

"Enough about me, how about you?"

"Since you married, has your husband treated you well? And your mother‑in‑law, your sister‑in‑law, are they easy to get along with?"

"You are my handkerchief confidante; from now on they should show you more respect."

Hearing this, Pan Li is naturally moved.

"Rest assured, my husband treats me well."

"Although my mother‑in‑law is a village woman, she, as a widow, has supported my husband's studies, so she knows a few characters and some reasoning."

"Moreover, my mother‑in‑law raised my husband into a modest gentleman, what more could I lack?"

"The first year was a bit uncomfortable, but now we all regard each other as family."

"My younger sister‑in‑law is also good, simple and kind, and has studied some books with my husband."

"Also, Luo'er, have you seen the little child my husband is holding in his arms?"

"It's my child, already two years old."

Li Qingluo, although she guessed the doll's identity, was still very delighted when she heard it.

"Nan Jia, knowing that you are doing so well, I can finally rest easy."

Their eyes were both moist as they looked at each other, and they embraced tightly once more.

Finally they spoke of each other's husband; Pan Li opened his mouth and said, "Indeed, Your Highness."

When I first heard that he fell in battle, I didn't believe it. Someone as formidable as him couldn't possibly have died so easily.

My husband wouldn't even allow me to discuss state affairs at home, saying that if others heard, the whole family would be doomed.

He, sometimes, is just too conservative, not bold enough.

This time we were taken by Qingyangzi; my husband had originally sworn to die and refused to leave, but after learning that General Wan Lao had seized control of the court and dispatched troops to the Western Regions, he stopped resisting and said he would not go back.

Otherwise, even at the risk of death, he would probably still go back to fight.

Li Qingluo blinked and asked, "So, whom did your husband originally support?"

Pan Li placed a hand on her hip and said, "With me here, of course I support no one! Now, I support you all."

Pan Li blinked, and Li Qingluo poked her forehead, saying, "Do not speak rashly about state affairs!"

After a long conversation, Li Qingluo finally took Pan Li to see Nan Ping.

Nan Ping, under Luo Fan's treatment, has now improved considerably.

She just still cannot recall most of the events.

Seeing Pan Li, she has no memory of her at all.

"Who are you?"

"You're quite good-looking, and why do I feel a bit like you?"

"But still, you're not as beautiful as Sister Empress!"

"Sister Empress, may I go find Fang Fang to play?"

Lan Ting is now Nan Ping's best friend.

She immediately stepped forward and pulled Nan Ping away, saying, "Nan Ping, be good."

"If you obey, Empress Dowager will let you play with the princess."

Nan Ping instantly raised a finger and shushed herself.

Then, with a naive face, she said, "Nan Ping, be good, I want to play with Fang Fang."

Pan Li saw this scene, and tears "swoosh" down in a rush.

She couldn't believe the truth before her: "Why is this happening?"

"Nan Ping shouldn't have met such an end!"

"Can she still be okay?"

"Nan Ping... the things Nan Ping went through, could they all be true?"

"She should still be that cute and naive princess!"

Li Qingluo merely sighed wistfully.

The rest was left unsaid, except for, "Now she has improved a lot."

"My grandfather said that perhaps one day, when she is willing to recall, she will fully recover on her own."

"Now this is because the original trauma was too deep."

"Actually, being like a child in this way isn't bad at all."

"I will arrange for trusted people to care for her for life."

Although Pan Li does not know exactly what happened to Nan Ping, she can imagine that Li Qingluo rescued Nan Ping from the Western Regions and now keeps her in Mantu City, where the hardships are far beyond what a few words can reveal.

She herself was also rescued from Jinling and escaped a family annihilation because of her.

She felt a sudden emotion: meeting a friend like Li Qingluo in this life is truly the greatest blessing for her and Nan Ping.

Moreover, Nan Ping's experiences in the Western Regions were deliberately sent by the Western Imperial Court to DaLiang.

It was to humiliate DaLiang, to humiliate the Central Plains.

Now, the entire Central Plains knows that Nan Ping, the marriage alliance princess, was imprisoned in a sheep pen for humiliation.

Only no one in the world knows that the foolish girl in the Mantu City Lord's residence is that pitiful marriage alliance princess.

Pan Li said sadly, "It's also fine not to remember anything."

"Thus, we won't know the outcomes for her mother, father, and two younger brothers..."

At the thought of this, Pan Li again became unbearably upset.

The Grand Marshal is Pan Li's paternal uncle.

He loves Pan Li just as much as he loves Nan Ping.

I have been reborn in Pan Li's body, receiving a lot of his affection.

But now, though I can eke out a meager life, I cannot save him and my two cousins out of the Princess's mansion...

Because of that coup, this uncle tragically died under Duan Rongjue's sword of vented anger... is it not also a human tragedy?

Pan Li's family temporarily settled at the border pass.

Now Li Qingluo handles state affairs, and Pan Li's husband Shen Anyu assists beside her, truly contributing a lot.

But actually, at first, this top scholar, upon learning that the Empress Dowager of Great Chu would handle state affairs for Prince Su, was not only shocked but also filled with incomprehension.

He studied the sacred sages' texts.

He was educated at the Confucian University.

Therefore, he could not accept women involving in politics.

DaLiang produced a Crown Princess, which threw the court into chaotic disorder, leading to the tragic palace coup.

Will this Empress never have ambitions in the future?

But he quickly realized, this is the Empress of Great Chu!

And he himself remained a subject of DaLiang.

Although he now drifted to Mantuo City, barely scraping by, he still wanted to return to Jinling as soon as possible.

But after merely living in Mantuo City for a month, Shen Anyu's inner self underwent a tremendous change.

Mantuo City, absolutely not just a remote border town!

It thrives, though amidst war, yet the people live in peace and prosperity!

Moreover, every household's people can eat their fill and wear clothes, and there are even schools for women!

Not only that, here everything is orderly, with light corvée and low taxes, emphasizing agriculture and commerce, and urban construction is continuously expanding.

Shen Anyu could imagine that, in the future, Mantuo City would not be inferior to Jinling's prosperity on that day!

And this, surprisingly, is the result of the Empress's governance.

She, a woman raised in the countryside, actually matches those princes and princesses who studied imperial arts from childhood and learned how to govern and pacify the state.

Only those who sincerely serve the people and harbor the world in their hearts, regardless of gender, can indeed prosper the nation and secure the state.

From then on, Shen Anyu also stayed at ease, considered to have taken refuge with Prince Su, and sincerely assisted Li Qingluo in handling government affairs.

Upon receiving Duan Rongshi's letter, Li Qingluo immediately opened it to read.

After reading it carefully twice, she burst out laughing heartily.