Chapter 683: Side Story: Nanping and Po Feng 01

Year One of Longshi, Greater Yue's Manto City.

They say I am Nanping.

Some call me Princess, but others call me Miss Nan.

The beautiful warlord grandmother and the white‑haired grandfather call me Ping girl, and only one person is not like the others.

He calls me, Little Your Highness.

"Po Feng, aren't you unhappy?"

"Also, why do you call me Po Feng? It's a broken, shabby, not very auspicious name."

Po Feng is the lord of Manto City.

He is always busy with state affairs, handling urgent matters within the city and the border region hundreds of li away, so I rarely catch sight of him.

But whenever he finds a moment of leisure, he comes to see me.

I am happy, and I chat with him, sometimes sharing meals.

Po Feng's brows and eyes show helplessness as he picks food for me and replies, "Little Your Highness, my name means 'unbroken and established, to oppose the wind and move forward.'"

"Also, I am not unhappy."

I simply act, poking Po Feng's mouth corners with my finger to lift them upward.

"Then why have you never smiled?"

Since Luo sister… oh no, Luo aunt and their companions left Manto City, Po Feng's gaze has grown increasingly somber.

I can feel his loneliness.

He, like me, can't bear to let them go, right?

My action startled Po Feng.

He panicked, grabbed my hand, and with a slight force withdrew my both hands.

He tells me, "Little Your Highness, you must not do that."

I ask curiously, "Why? Aunt Luo once said we have known each other since childhood. You would care for me like an elder brother; as long as I wish to stay here, even a lifetime you would never despise me."

"Since we are siblings, even such an act is forbidden?"

"Po Feng is really petty."

Po Feng merely pats my head, "Because men and women should not have intimate contact."

"Moreover, I cannot overstep my rank and offend you."

I must say, Po Feng is a responsible and capable lord.

The citizens of Manto City are so happy that they even worry about his marriage.

I hide in a corner of the lord's council hall, eavesdropping on their endless quarrels over this, and Po Feng, besides a face of impatience, has a deep resistance in his eyes.

It seems he is unwilling to marry?

But when the sister called Que'er married Sha San, wasn't the whole city bustling, everyone's faces filled with joy?

Moreover, I heard that a few days ago Nan'an City sent Po Feng an invitation.

The person called Leng Dian is about to vie for the princess.

Princess, I am also a princess.

Will I ever marry one day?

I inadvertently make a sound, tugging the curtain and falling out of the corner.

Before I can get up, Po Feng hurriedly rushes over and scoops me up.

"This person is an honored guest raised by His Majesty and the Empress in Manto City, just injured and needs immediate care."

"All gentlemen, please step back for now."

"The matter raised today, do not bring it up again; I, the lord, already know, no need for you all to trouble me."

"If you are truly idle, perhaps you could first attend to General Zheng's affairs."

Having said that, Po Feng hoists me and strides away… oh no, strides away.

General Zheng, who had been standing with arms crossed watching the spectacle, instantly became the next target of everyone's eager gaze.

In panic he roars, "Po Feng—you're utterly unprincipled—!"

Po Feng turns a corner with me and disappears.

"You are righteous; you once led the Lotus Sect against us everywhere, yet now you can work with us—this is a great grace from His Majesty and the Empress."

"You still dare to watch my spectacle."

"Then we shall share the difficulty together, what else can we do?"

Po Feng's mouth corners hold a cold smile, his eyes filled with chill.

I can sense he harbors some hostility toward General Zheng.

Because I stared at him too absent‑mindedly, Po Feng thought he had frightened me.

He carefully places me on a low couch, then steps back, anxiously pleading, "I have just offended; please, Little Your Highness, grant me atonement."

I am not angry.

Instead my heart races, my cheeks uncontrollably flush.

I think I must be ill.

So I get up and dash to Grandpa Luo and Grandma Pei's courtyard, shouting in panic, "Grandpa Luo, help me— I think I have a fever—"

I hear a clanging sound behind me.

It sounds as if Po Feng fell while carrying something.

But I dare not stop, sprinting onward.

Grandpa Luo says I am not ill.

After I explained why my heart raced and my cheeks flushed, he and Granny Pei laughed so hard they could barely catch their breath.

"Silly girl."

"You've got it—a strange illness that causes visions whenever you get near Po Feng."

"So you still don't want to see Po Feng anymore?"

I couldn't help twisting my fingers, repeatedly nodding: "I… I want to see Po Feng."

"Oh well, what about men and women not being intimate? I just like playing together with Po Feng."

I quickly figured it out.

"Every time I'm with him, I feel really happy."

"He makes me feel that in Mantuo City I'm truly not alone!"

So let the strange illness be just that.

I happily ran back to look for Po Feng again.

However, Po Feng had already gone out onto the street.

So I also left the City Lord's manor.

With guards following behind, and Mantuo City being safe now, I quickly found Po Feng thanks to the directions of the locals.

"Po Feng—"

I lunged forward and grabbed Po Feng's arm.

On the main street, Po Feng couldn't just shake me off directly.

He unnaturally reddened his ears, clenched his fist, gave a light cough, and softly reminded me: "Little Your Highness, everyone's watching us; perhaps you should let go of me first?"

After finally finding him, I'm not letting go.

So I very seriously refused his request!

Since I rarely go out, I acted spoiled and insisted Po Feng take me around.

I used to be very afraid of crowds.

I also feared being stared at by others.

But lately this situation seems to be decreasing.

Because the locals' gazes toward me are full of kindness, even if I go out without guards, they'll feed me and entertain me along the way.

Because they all like Aunt Lu'er and Royal Uncle.

So I also like them very much.

I pulled Po Feng and we ran all over the street.

For a moment we looked at exquisite jewelry.

For a moment we bought a whole candied hawthorn stick and gave each guard, including Po Feng, a string.

For a moment we bought buns.

For a moment we bought clay figurines.

For a moment we wanted to buy ready-made clothes, and for a moment we wanted to go to a restaurant to eat.

Although everyone knows Po Feng is the City Lord, along the way he still scattered his money everywhere.

He seems not to be annoyed by my trouble, and shows no impatience at all for my fuss.

Besides the guards already being loaded down with stuff, his hands ended up full of boxes.

However, after the meal, Po Feng had the guards take back everything they'd bought today.

He then took me to the night market again.

There we watched many splendid performances.

I was extremely happy.

Holding Po Feng's hand, I bought lanterns and put on a mask.

Finally, we went together to release river lanterns.

"I hope Po Feng becomes happier day by day, and someday can laugh 'hahaha' loudly just like me!"

Po Feng seemed quite surprised that I would make a wish for him.

"Is this the Little Your Highness's wish?"

I naturally replied: "Of course!"

"Po Feng, it's your turn to make a wish! Hurry up and wish—what will you wish for?"

"Is it that Royal Uncle and Aunt Lu'er will come back to see you… or that you can return to their side?"

"Or do you want a heavenly beauty to fall from the sky and become your wife?"

"Or…"

The more I guessed, the more excited I got.

Unexpectedly, Po Feng's mask on my face snapped back hard.

"No wild guessing."

I pretended to be angry: "Well then you, insolent subordinate—what crime deserves punishment?"

Po Feng ignored me.

He softly made a wish to the river lanterns: "May South Screen… be happy and healthy, free of worry for a lifetime."

"Not the Little Your Highness, but South Screen?"

My heart felt like it skipped a beat.

And I grew even more curious whether his wish was sincere.

So I leaned in, turning my head toward him, wanting to see his true expression.

But I forgot that we were by the river, so when I leaned to the side I almost fell into the river.

Fortunately, Po Feng was quick-eyed and quick-handed, grabbing me in one pull and drawing me into his embrace.

Our masks thus collided with each other.

I thought, I kissed him through the mask.

After that night, I grew ever fonder of seeing Po Feng.

Whenever I had a free moment each day, I wanted to go find him.

Seeing him made the whole day happy and fulfilling.

Otherwise my heart would always feel empty, as if something remained undone.

He would also often bring back little toys for us to play with.

The time he spent keeping me company while eating also grew more and more.

Our relationship grew ever closer, but just then my mother arrived.

Upon seeing her for the first time I knew she was my mother.

I remember her; she always appears in my dreams.

Mother held me and cried so hard she nearly fainted several times.

She embraced me, calling me her dear heart, calling me Nanping, saying I was her life, saying it was good that I was still alive.

How strange, of course I'm still alive.

Why "good that I'm still alive"?

I also cried.

I don't know why, but seeing Mother like that made me a little sad.

However, I still couldn't recall anything else.

They all say that not remembering is better, so I would live just as happily as I do now.

But after Mother arrived, she was not very friendly toward Po Feng.

I even saw twice that she rebuked Po Feng, just as she would scold a servant.

She warned Po Feng, forbidding him from approaching me again.

I was very angry.

Angry at Mother's attitude toward Po Feng, angry that Mother had come just to drive Po Feng away.

"Mother!"

"Nanping doesn't like you treating Po Feng this way!"

"Po Feng watches over me and keeps me company like an older brother; if it weren't for him, Nanping wouldn't be this happy!"

Mother wasn't angry; instead she smiled and asked me, "You regard Po Feng as an older brother? Really?"

151】 "Ping'er, although he is not worthy, Mother is very glad to hear you say that."

Having said that, Mother gave him a meaningful look.

Po Feng's expression turned grim.

At that moment my heart also felt heavy.

He clasped his fists and kept stepping back.

Then, turning around, he left decisively.

"Po Feng..."

I don't know if I said the wrong thing.

But from then on, I never saw Po Feng again.