Chapter 670: This Life Is Spent Guarding the Frontier, Never to Leave!

Fangfang suddenly burst into loud crying.

Li Qingluo hurried over, scooped up Fangfang, and held her in her arms.

"Fangfang, don't cry; mother is here."

Fangfang pressed against the Empress's chest, feeling the Empress's warm skin, and then slowly sobbed as she closed her eyes.

Fortunately she was very young, so she couldn't understand what the Emperor and Empress had just been doing.

Duan Rongshi's expression on his face nearly split apart.

Li Qingluo looked up and couldn't help but let out a low laugh.

Duan Rongshi: …

It seems that seeing himself so embarrassed, his Empress is pleased?

In the end, the wet nurse and Zheng Mama lowered the little princess, and his complexion gradually returned to normal.

When Li Qingluo went to bathe and returned, she saw that all the curtains in the house had been drawn.

Li Qingluo couldn't figure out what he was doing, so she lifted the curtain and slipped inside: "Ah Shi?"

A large hand reached out from behind the curtain, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her into the tent.

"A brief spring night."

"Qingluo, during these days have you ever thought of me?"

A pair of silhouettes embraced tightly behind the curtain.

Li Qingluo tilted her head, cupped that nation‑toppling beauty, rose onto tiptoe and kissed her, as her answer.

Li Qingluo only learned the next day that Pei Qinghong and the Zheng siblings were in the accompanying army.

The three of them had been serving Duan Rongshi in DaLiang for several years.

When Duan Rongshi is not in DaLiang, they are his hands and his eyes.

Back then, after Duan Rongshi secretly allied with General Wan, General Wan returned to the border pass, awaiting Duan Rongshi's orders.

The Zheng siblings were also sent by Duan Rongshi to other troops; both were scheming and capable, so seizing important positions in the army was not difficult.

As for Pei Qinghong, he took command of the Shadow Guard that Duan Rongshi left in Jinling, stirring the waters there ever murkier, and also fanning the flames that made Crown Prince Duan Rongjue and Princess Xiyue increasingly at odds, a contribution not without his merit.

After the western campaign, forces from several sides gathered, and each has now earned distinct battle merits.

However, Li Qingluo heard that the Zheng siblings and Pei Qinghong were petitioning to leave.

"It seems the Zheng siblings are now in Old Lady's courtyard; Empress, shall you go have a look?"

Li Qingluo naturally wants to go!

The old grudges have never been settled; they want to just leave like that?

She rose with a cold air, ordered someone to set Fangfang down, and hurried to Grandmother's courtyard.

"Old Lady, the two of us owe you a debt of gratitude; we will never repay it in this life."

"If there is a next life, we will certainly repay you with all our heart!"

When Li Qingluo entered, the Zheng siblings were kowtowing to Pei Lao Furen.

Zheng Mama announced, "The Empress has arrived—"

Everyone in the courtyard immediately knelt and paid their respects.

"Welcome, Empress."

Except Pei Lao Furen.

Because Li Qingluo had proclaimed to the world that Grandmother Pei never needs to kneel before herself.

"Everyone, stand up."

"Qingluo has seen Grandmother."

Li Qingluo still, as before, first paid her respects to Pei Lao Furen.

Pei Lao Furen patted her hand: "Your status has changed now; don't again pay respects to Grandmother in front of others."

Li Qingluo: "Who would dare speak of it? Qingluo's greeting to Grandmother is always upright and proper, as natural as law."

Li Qingluo, now a mother, still must pay respects to Grandmother.

Pei Lao Furen looked at her with a face full of indulgent tenderness: "Now no one restrains you; if you return to the imperial capital and continue this willful behavior, will those old‑fashioned officials and civil officials impeach Grandmother?"

Li Qingluo felt aggrieved.

She said, the more one sits upon the world, the more one loses.

Pei Lao Furen paid no heed to her grievance, merely kept signaling to her repeatedly, making her glance at the other two standing beside her.

Li Qingluo knew they were the Zheng siblings.

So when she gave them a look, Zheng Lingzhou and Zheng Wanshou immediately knelt again.

"Empress, previously the sinful siblings wronged you; we have done many things that hurt you, and we know that no matter what we do we cannot make up the debt to you."

"If the Empress wishes to punish, the sinful two have no complaints!"

Pei Lao Furen did not know that the Zheng siblings intended to exchange Li Qingluo's life for Li Jingchuan's truth.

Therefore, she also did not know how much grievance Li Qingluo endured.

However, when Li Qingluo returned to her previous life and saw Li Jingchuan rather than kill himself than follow her mother's and uncle's wishes to harm his own blood‑related sister, Li Qingluo accepted Li Jingchuan in her heart.

As for the Zheng siblings, she had originally planned never to see them again in this life.

But since they have come, some matters and grudges, she feels that clarifying them can truly settle them.

"Zheng Lingzhou, what right do you have to resign and leave?"

"Do you think that having earned some battle merits can offset your crimes?"

"Back then, if you hadn't suddenly rushed out to block our way home, Sui'er wouldn't have been killed!"

Zheng Lingzhou's face was full of shame: "The sinful can sacrifice their lives!"

Speaking, Zheng Lingzhou drew the dagger he wore and prepared to take his own life.

Zheng Wanxiu let out a low cry and embraced him: "Lingzhou, don't be foolish!"

"If you're gone, our Zheng family will be completely cut off!"

Zheng Wanxiu, eyes reddened, turned and kowtowed to Li Qingluo.

"Back then the traitor also kidnapped the Empress Consort repeatedly, trying to harm her; if the Empress wanted to kill, she could kill the traitor—"

Pei Lao Furen's eyes grew increasingly puzzled.

"What exactly have you done to Qingluo?"

She knew her granddaughter was not truly a petty person.

Today, to argue with them like this, someone must have deeply wronged her first; otherwise her Qingluo would never have forced them.

Li Qingluo did not want her grandmother to learn those distressing matters again.

So she let out a low sigh, her eyes already full of impatience: "Enough!"

"Don't make it seem as if I am some wicked person!"

"Zheng Lingzhou, back then your father and your Zheng family died because of the mother consort. Now your family's grievances have not yet been cleared; if I were to take your life, how could I report to Your Highness, how could I answer the late mother consort?"

"As for you, Zheng Wanxiu. You are the birth mother of my second brother; if I forced you to death, wouldn't that cause hatred and alienation between our siblings, separating our hearts from then on?"

The Zheng siblings, faces turning pale, replied: "The two traitors have no such intention. It is we who have wronged the Empress; now we leave it to the Empress to decide!"

Li Qingluo first asked: "Disposition? If you truly await my disposition, then why are you eager to leave? Are you planning to use this military merit to completely offset the past, assuming I won't hold a grudge?"

Li Qingluo flicked her hand, and Zheng Lingzhou and Zheng Wanxiu bowed their heads even lower.

"The traitor has no face to meet the Empress."

Zheng Lingzhou replied bitterly, "Now Jingchuan is still alive, and has even married and borne a daughter. The two of us siblings have no regrets any longer."

"We just wish, before fully atoning to the Empress, to go together to Rongle to catch a glimpse of Jingchuan and the little niece."

Li Qingluo: "Enough! I don't want to hear your nonsense any longer. Moreover, do you think I would still believe a single word of what you say now?"

"Listen, Zheng Wanxiu may leave."

"From now on, to the ends of the earth, wherever you wish to go, no one will block you; from this point I grant you restored freedom."

"As for you, Zheng Lingzhou, I want you to guard the border for the rest of your life, never to leave."

How could the Zheng siblings disobey the order?

After thanking one another, they all withdrew together.

When they reached an uninhabited spot outside, Zheng Lingzhou comforted the red‑eyed Zheng Wanxiu: "Alright, sister, this is already the best outcome for us."

"Back then we plotted to take Qingluo's life; if it weren't for Your Highness considering our father's situation, we would have died long ago."

"Now Qingluo… now the Empress has also spared us, hasn't she? You can go see Jingchuan, our Zheng family's grievances are about to be cleared, and Lingzhou has no regrets left."

Zheng Wanxiu shook her head and said: "I'm not sad; I'm ashamed."

"This child, clearly spared us, yet deliberately spoke so harshly. She resents us, but for Jingchuan, for her grandmother, and also for Your Highness…"

"So, she had no choice but to set aside her hatred toward us."

"Lingzhou, it's fine for you to stay; this is the sin we must atone for to the Empress."

"If Jingchuan's health improves, when summer comes we can all return to Mantu City to reunite with you."

Zheng Lingzhou then fully understood Li Qingluo's intention.

She wanted him to guard the border forever, which was not truly a punishment.

Rather, it was a mercy toward him, the best… retreat.

He turned his head toward the direction where Li Qingluo stood, and the feelings he had hidden in his heart, never spoken, now poured out from his eyes.

He knew he would bury this secret in his heart for the rest of his life, never letting anyone else know.

Zheng Wanxiu grabbed him: "Let's go!"

After the brother and sister walked away, it was a while before Li Qingluo finally waited for Duan Rongshi.

"Grandmother, I have come to fetch Qingluo."

Pei Lao Furen appreciated that Duan Rongshi did not put on airs before her.

"Go ahead, go ahead."

"By the way, later have the nanny bring Fangfang to my side to play; watching her makes me happy, and I can eat an extra half bowl of rice."

Li Qingluo deliberately sighed: "Now that Fangfang is here, Grandmother no longer wants Qingluo."

Pei Lao Furen laughed until her stomach hurt.

"Look, now that she's a mother, she's still jealous of her daughter."

"Your Highness, you must keep a good watch on her."

Duan Rongshi laughed: "Yes, the grandson‑in‑law will obey Grandmother."

After the two held hands and left, Pei Lao Furen still watched their backs with a smiling face.

Suddenly she sighed again: "In two more days, let there be peaceful good days. When they start quarreling, you two will have a headache again."

Zhang Mama, puzzled: "Old Lady, how could they quarrel? The Empress and Your Highness have such a good relationship; they will never argue in this lifetime. Why do you say that?"

Pei Lao Furen gave Zhang Mama a cold stare.

"When did I ever say the two argued? I was referring to Great Chu and DaLiang!"

"Now the war is over, do you think they are quarreling?"

Li Qingluo, on the way back, told Duan Rongshi about her arrangement for the Zheng siblings.

Duan Rongshi: "Qingluo, I know you truly held back out of concern for me and your half‑brother."

"Regarding the Zheng family, indeed it is my mother consort and I who owe them."

"So, thank you, Qingluo."

After the Zheng family is vindicated, because of Zheng Lingzhou's military merit and the Zheng family's past protection of the Mother Empress, I will still confer upon him the rank of General appointment official.

But as you said, he will not leave Manduo City a single step in this life.

Li Qingluo: I also owe the Mother Empress a debt of gratitude, so I will not intervene in this matter any further.

From now on, you need not bring up his affairs to me again.

By the way, A Shi, how exactly did you decide?

After this is settled, are we returning to Nan'an… or to Jinling?