My Wife Is A Sword Immortal
Chapter 523 - 346 Orphan and... Widow

Chapter 523: Chapter 346 Orphan and... Widow

Oh boy, stop that... Okay, you can touch, but no more pinching, spare this young master’s abs.

Zhao Rong, now plagued by little Qian’er’s blunder, felt some regret.

If he had known earlier, he would have turned these eight-pack abs into one big belly, returning to simplicity.

Not long after, Qian’er exploring this new discovery suddenly turned shy, and said in a coy tone, "Brother Rong’er, you... don’t move. I almost rubbed the wrong spot."

Zhao Rong, who was twisting slightly, suddenly became expressionless.

If I don’t move, your little meddling hands will break my guard.

Moreover, I was twisting side to side, and you were rubbing downwards. If you rub in the wrong direction and blame me?

Seeing Zhao Rong not speaking, Zhao Qian’er blinked, rolled her big peachy eyes upwards, glanced up at him.

The little girl then said in a faint voice, "Are you... are you mad?"

Zhao Rong looked at her without saying a word.

After they made eye contact for a while, she suddenly withdrew her mischievous left hand, quickly straightened out Zhao Rong’s collar with both hands, then hurriedly pulled back, hiding her hands behind her.

Zhao Qian’er’s little hands were twisted together behind her back, she looked down and bit her lip, appearing as if she had done something wrong.

Zhao Rong observed and thought for a moment.

After being quiet for a while, his tone softened a bit as he asked softly, "Qian’er, do you... like abs?"

Zhao Qian’er lifted her head swiftly to glance at him, then buried it again and whispered, "Hmm, I think so. I just didn’t know I liked them until I... touched them just now, and then I liked them."

A blush spread to her earlobes, resembling the most ardent piece of brilliant red foliage among the maple trees beside the road in autumn.

Didn’t know if you liked them before, but now you like them once touched?

Are my abs some ’touch-if-you-dare’ item?

Zhao Rong initially puzzled, was about to speak, but the next second, he lifted his eyelids and closed his mouth.

He got it.

He just didn’t know how to continue the conversation.

Zhao Rong gazed off to the side, silently watching the maple forest nearby, without a word.

The little girl, staring at her toes with crimson ears, was tugging at the hem of her clothes on both sides, also in silence.

The air grew quiet for a moment.

People around, even the dimmest ones, could probably tell something was amiss between the two of them.

Gu Yiwu, in particular, covered his mouth with a cough, turned his body away in a gesture of ’look not upon improprieties’, followed closely by Yun Niang.

A gust of autumn wind arose, scattering pieces of maple leaves past the statue-like Zhao Rong and Zhao Qian’er from beside their temples.

Above the clearing, there was only the rustling of the maple forest and the snorting of the Dragon Colt.

Zhao Qian’er, like a marble statue suddenly coming to life, turned and ran, leaving behind a stammering sentence in the wind.

"I’ll... I’ll go get you some water to drink."

"Wait," Zhao Rong suddenly looked up, took a step forward as quick as a rabbit, and reached out to grab the little fleeing deer.

The little girl disregarded the pain in her fair wrist from his grip, tossed her head back, and looked at Zhao Rong.

Her flowing hair and wide-open peachy eyes shone brightly, like the brightest star in the night sky.

Zhao Qian’er dared not blink, afraid of missing the subtle expressions on Brother Rong’er’s face, afraid of missing the words she had long awaited for in a moment of distraction—his words.

Zhao Rong gazed at her for a moment, faced with the expectancy in her eyes, he said earnestly, "Now that you like it, then, then let’s try it again later."

Zhao Qian’er’s peachy eyes immediately curved into crescents, her little hands grasping Zhao Rong’s, which were around her wrist, she shook his large hand gently and whispered, "Really, really?"

Zhao Rong pursed his lips and nodded, but without giving the little girl time to get excited, his expression changed, revealing a smile as he requested, "Ahem, I’m thirsty, thirsty. You little rascal, go fetch your master some water."

"Oh, oh."

The little girl’s voice was both sweet and crisp.

Zhao Qian’er, beaming and dainty, hopped forward and hurried off to fetch water for Brother Rong’er to drink.

Zhao Rong watched her joyfully leaving silhouette and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He had to maintain a balance, and at the same time, he couldn’t hurt the young girl’s heart.

Qian’er had just made herself so clear, he could only take a small step forward now.

Zhao Rong immediately raised his hand to straighten his collar, paused in his movements, realizing Qian’er had already done it for him; her scent was still lingering on his collar.

Alas, he was all muddled up because of her.

Zhao Rong then patted his sleeve and turned his head to look around.

Everyone turned back.

Just as the previously silent clearing had been swept by his gaze, it immediately burst into a variety of lively sounds.

Zhao Rong shook his head and walked towards Gu Yiwu who had been waiting.

Zhao Rong narrowed his eyes and said, "Come on, let’s go talk over there."

Gu Yiwu nodded, gave Yun Niang a cautious glance, and the latter hurriedly followed.

The three of them went into the Fenglin woods...

Under a certain maple tree, the first thing Zhao Rong asked Yun Niang about was the matter of the Emperor Li.

This was what he had been most curious about these past days.

The Sealing and Sacrifice Ceremony was an ancient ritual.

In the political system of the secular dynasties, the ceremony was the most grand, yet also the most controversial of rites.

Through the ages, it had been a matter of grandeur and extreme reverence in the eyes of the emperors from the kingdoms below the mountains.

In the hearts of the commoners below, it was no less so, sacred and magnificent.

In all Nine Provinces, only emperors who dared to visit the Confucian Academy and request Confucian Scholars to preside over the ceremony would be.

It would either be a founding emperor who had unified and established a large dynasty, with great achievements and a freshly established kingdom, brimming with vigour and grandeur.

Or it would be a monarch who revitalized the nation, who had annexed other countries and expanded territories, with the kingdom’s power rising by the day, enveloping everything like a tiger swallowing miles.

Or it would be a new emperor like a hidden dragon who emerged at a time when the dynasty’s fortunes were declining, the country teetering and in peril, yet who managed to uphold the ancestral foundation, reigniting the flame of the nation’s destiny by adding fuel to the fire.

And so on.

These emperors from below the mountains, with remarkable achievements, ruled over kingdoms that dominated the surrounding dozen nations, with none daring to touch even their tassels.

Even some not-so-small Mountain Immortals were unwilling to provoke such a sharply prominent Imperial Family.

Therefore, only emperors from down below that met these criteria and were considered "once-in-a-millennium wise monarchs" would get the Academy’s nod, sending out a Confucian Scholar to preside over the Sealing and Sacrifice Ceremony for them.

This symbolized that the emperor received his mandate from heaven, and through this, he would report peace to the heavens, express gratitude for the protection provided, and proclaim the emperor’s illustrious achievements.

For an emperor, what mattered most were the immense political capital and popular support brought about by the ceremony, which solidified the imperial rule and the royal power to an unshakeable extent.

Even more so, if by a stroke of extreme luck, he received a heavenly omen of good fortune during the ceremony and was thus blessed,

such an emperor would command the attention of everyone in Half Continent, Wangque,

regardless of whether they were from the mountains above or below.

Therefore, the Academy’s tacit approval of the current Emperor Li performing the Sealing and Sacrifice Ceremony intrigued Zhao Rong about what kind of monarch he truly was.

Thus, he started with a smile by asking Yun Niang first. She, demure and obedient, began to explain softly.

He listened quietly for a while, and at a certain moment, his eyes widened slightly. What Zhao Rong had never expected was...

He was to perform the Sealing and Sacrifice Ceremony for a child not even ten years old.

An orphan at that.

Well, to be exact...

An orphan with a widowed mother.

——————

PS: Brothers, have you thought of it?～