Chapter 492: Unexpected
Translator: DavidT Editor: Rock, DavidT
“Ah?? Empress?!” Ling Chen was astounded, “How can it be? I… I am only a maid. I… I have never thought about that… I only want to be by my young noble’s side and even being young noble’s concubine is a status far beyond my reach! How can I be the Empress?…” In agitation, Ling Chen began stuttering and completely lost her cool!
Li Xue chuckled and said with mysterious wisdom, “Because of Ling Tian’s profligate behavior when he was young, there aren’t many ladies by his side and there are also far too few ladies capable of moving his heart. Up until now, you are the only one who truly moved his heart. As for BingYan, Shui QianRou, Xiao YanXue, Princess JiaoYue, or at the very most Wei XuanXuan; however, Wei XuanXuan is too far at the borders and she can be ignored. Of these few people, who would have the right to become the Empress?”
Li Xue then let out a warm smile, “The title of Empress is not the same as the status of being the First Wife. If you are just marrying an ordinary aristocratic family disciple, your status will probably be of concern and could result in obstruction. In fact, it may even be a stain in your life in the future. However, things are completely different when it comes to being an Empress of a new empire. The Empress is the mother of the empire and this status has a huge meaning to the situation of the world.”
“Yu BingYan has the background of the Yu Family, Shui QianRou has the background of the Shui Family, Xiao YanXue has the background of the Xiao Family and JiaoYue has the background of the previous Sky Bearing imperial family. Regardless of how virtuous any of them are, none of them have any hope of becoming the future Empress! Even though any one of them has the status to become Ling Tian’s First Wife, none of them can become the Empress of a new empire! Thus, there are no suitable candidates other than you. Even if you aren’t willing to become the Empress, you will definitely be pushed onto the throne after Ling Tian unites the continent. This is something that I am absolutely sure of! If not, why would he not hand over the Courtyard to anyone else but you? Do you still not understand his intentions?”
“Then… even if BingYan and the rest aren’t suitable, there is still you. How can this little sister fight with elder sister?!” Ling Chen said carefully. She wasn’t trying to be pretentious but she was truly apprehensive of the title and didn’t think that she had the ability to be the mother of the continent.
“Me?” Li Xue burst out laughing, “You are probably unaware of this. Even if you give Ling Tian a thousand guts, he would never dare to make me his Empress! Even the background of the four added together would not make Ling Tian as wary as my background! As long as Ling Tian is willing to keep me by his side, I will be satisfied!”
“Ah…” Ling Chen covered her mouth in shock. To think that my elder sister Li Xue has such a terrifying background! However, what kind of a background could she have? There doesn’t seem to be such a power in the world! Even more frightening than the four of their backgrounds combined… my goodness! What kind of a background would that be?! Ling Chen took in a breath of cold air. However, even after running through her memory plenty of times, she could not think of any power capable of rivaling the four families added together!
“Haiz, no matter what, all of these are things for the future. Victory and defeat are not determined yet and it is far too early to talk about it! Let us go. It seems like the NanGong Family isn’t ready yet. We have probably overestimated their strength.” Li Xue ended this pointless conversation.
“Oh,” Ling Chen recovered from her shock and immediately remembered the NanGong Family’s plans. Her mind regained clarity and she said, “Perhaps not. Even though we pretended to conceal ourselves when coming out, the NanGong Family must have definitely received news of us. The chess piece that young noble had planted half a year ago is finally exhibiting its use. Thus, I estimate that the NanGong Family has already begun their operation and are on our return journey route.”
Ling Chen said with absolute confidence.
“If NanGong Yu is truly wise, she would choose to stop this operation right now and insist on the retreat of her NanGong Family. She should hide in the deep mountains to recuperate and build up the strength of her NanGong Family. In the eyes of the ignorant, we would be seemingly letting our guard down but if one thinks through things carefully, a big loophole would immediately be spotted. Why is it such that our defensive net was previously so tight, but after the NanGong Family decided on their plan, our defenses became so loose? With such an obvious opening, how can there not be a trap hidden?”
Li Xue analyzed calmly and accurately pointed out the flaw of Ling Chen’s plan, “It is as though there was a pillow magically appearing when you want to sleep, and your enemy stretching his neck out for you when you want to kill him. Aren’t things going too smoothly? If it was you, wouldn’t you find it dubious?”
Ling Chen pondered for a moment and could not help but be a little disappointed, “That’s right, while there aren’t any flaws in my plan, a plan without any flaw is the biggest flaw in itself. I was taking things for granted.”
Li Xue chuckled before saying, “Thus, I estimate that it is very likely for our plan to fail. If NanGong TianHu is the one in charge of this operation, then we will definitely succeed. However, NanGong Yu is probably rushing here right now to stop NanGong TianHu from acting rashly so it is unlikely for our plan to succeed.”
“Alright then, we can only make another plan in future.” Ling Chen smiled calmly, “There will always be chances.”
“Actually, it doesn’t really matter. So what if they give up their plan? Can’t we find them at their doorstep?” Li Xue sneered, “Don’t forget, NanGong TianLong was the one who attacked us first and we can use that as an excuse to take revenge. We will definitely be in the right and no family would possibly speak up for a declining NanGong Family!”
Ling Chen replied with a smile and walked out of their hiding spot. The two of them then got onto their horses and returned to the Ling Family Courtyard. For their meticulous plan to fail so easily, while the both of them seemed extremely casual on the surface, they could not help but feel a tinge of discomfort in their heart. It was as though their full powered fist strike had landed in midair. Thus, the two of them had a gloomy face and did not say anything on the way back.
After making a corner, the Ling Family Courtyard’s majestic buildings were in sight and they were only a couple of miles away from the Courtyard. Ling Chen then let out a sigh, “It seems that this NanGong Yu is truly intelligent. She is a worthy opponent indeed.”
Li Xue agreed, “That’s right, we have underestimated the intelligence of our enemy and it is our biggest mistake today.”
Before she could finish her sentence, Li Xue’s mouth was already wide open in shock as an unladylike curse could be heard, “F**k! What are they doing here? This is their intelligence?! Aren’t they too intelligent?!”
Ling Chen’s face turned red as she thought to herself, Everything is good about this elder sister Li Xue. Her graceful figure is like a deity and charming appearance like a fairy. However, why must she speak in such an uncouth manner? She then followed Li Xue’s line of sight and could not help but be astounded as well. An indescribable feeling rose in her heart and in excitement, she almost copied Li Xue, “F…” Before the word could leave her lips, Ling Chen swallowed it back with great difficulty! However, the expression on her face was an extremely odd one.
Because…
At the foot of the mountain in front of them, a large gang of troops stealthily appeared. There were more than a hundred men and they blocked the path completely. At the same time, there were plenty of figures moving about in the shadows and their rustling footsteps could be heard. It was apparent that another group of people was sprinting to cut off their escape route…
The person in the lead was a burly man with a full curly beard. His shoulders were broad but his tummy was round and he glared at Ling Chen ferociously… he was NanGong TianHu!
Behind NanGong TianHu were three well-built men, guarding NanGong TianHu like he was a precious treasure. They had a confident smile on their face and looked at Ling Chen with undisguised hatred. At the same time, there was another individual overflowing with enmity and killing intent; she was the intelligent person that Ling Chen had just praised: NanGong Yu!
Both Li Xue and Ling Chen never imagined that the plan that they originally felt was hopeless had actually succeeded. Furthermore, it was an overwhelming success and everyone who they wanted to draw out was right in front of their eyes. This huge and sudden surprise rendered both the ladies speechless with their mouth and eyes wide open…
But in the eyes of the NanGong Family members, the shock of the two girls looked like extreme fear!
“Miss Ling Chen, it has been long since we last met.” NanGong TianHu said with delight as though victory was already within his grasp. His tone was extremely lofty and he acted in a hypocritical manner. Seeing the look of shock on the faces of these two ladies, NanGong TianHu was ecstatic! It was impossible for them to be acting. If they were acting, then their acting skills were far too mystical!
“Secong Master NanGong, what are you doing? Are you trying to stop me from returning home?” Ling Chen was careful not to let her excitement show on her face, in case they would feel something was wrong and escape the trap.
NanGong TianHu laughed, suddenly feeling as though he was a big cat playing with two poor mice under his claws. In his eyes, Ling Chen’s was only trying to put on a brave front. He gave out a lascivious smile and said, “What do I want to do? What else do you think I will be doing? Could I be doing anything else?” He then obscenely moved his hands in a suggestive manner to indicate the outline of her body while following her curves with his eyes.
