Time flew by in the blink of an eye, and soon came the day when Qi Rong was to go on a military expedition.
Since this battle was crucial to the survival of the Liu Kingdom, not only did Emperor Qi Hong come in a carriage to see him off in person, but the long streets were also crowded with the people of the capital on both sides.
Yun Xi, as a family member, stood beside Qi Rong, reluctant to part. According to the custom, she should have tidied his clothes and sent him blessings. However, Qi Rong blocked her hand and pointed at Wushuang behind her.
"Come here, Wushuang."
Wushuang, who was named by Qi Rong, brightened up. She immediately pushed Yun Xi aside and glanced triumphantly at Yun Xi, whose face had turned deathly pale.
"What do you mean by this?"
Yun Xi didn't understand, yet she vaguely did.
At this moment, Qi Rong suddenly threw an envelope at her and said coldly and mercilessly,
"I'm bored with you. Take your divorce letter and get back to the Prime Minister's Mansion!"
As soon as Qi Rong said this, an uproar broke out among the crowd. And Yun Sheng, who was standing among the ministers, flew into a rage. He quickly walked up to his daughter and scolded Qi Rong angrily,
"Scoundrel! Even though you're a prince, you shouldn't insult my daughter in public like this!"
Then Yun Sheng held his daughter's slender arm and said in a deep voice,
"Xi'er, come back with father. From now on, we'll cut all ties with him and find you a good match!"
Rather, he had been looking forward to this day for a long time, and it had finally come!
Yun Xi didn't move, nor did she cry or make a scene. She just stared fixedly at Qi Rong and said,
"Have you thought this through? Don't regret your own decision."
Hearing Yun Xi's words, a flicker of hesitation flashed across Qi Rong's eyes, but it was quickly suppressed. He said in a cold and mocking tone,
"Can't you understand what I'm saying? I'm bored. Why should I regret it? Do you like being humiliated so much?"
"Shut up!"
Prince Qi Yu and Jing Yao, who had just rushed over, said in unison and immediately protected Yun Xi behind them.
Jing Yao glared at the prince. The next moment, he manfully pulled Yun Xi into his arms and challenged Qi Rong,
"Yun Xi, some people are blind and can't see the treasure in front of them. I'll protect you from now on and never let you get hurt again!"
Jing Yao's powerful oath shocked the people around him at the audacity of this handsome young man.
Qi Rong tightly pressed the sword on his waist. In the end, he managed to hold back the impulse to kill. He turned around, leaped onto his horse, and never looked at Yun Xi again.
Qi Rong's extreme way of divorcing Yun Xi made her the laughingstock of the capital.
After returning to the mansion, Yun Xi opened the letter Qi Rong had given her. There were only eight words in it:
Leave the capital and wait for my return.
Yun Xi gave a bitter smile and tore the letter into pieces.
On the battlefield, Qi Rong was as imposing as a rainbow. He struck first, occupied strategic locations, and launched a surprise attack on the unprepared army of the Li Kingdom. He not only burned several of their granaries, cut off their food and supply routes, but also killed several of their generals and hung their heads on the tower where the two armies were fighting, which greatly intimidated the Li Kingdom.
So within half a year, Qi Rong fought his way through all obstacles, recovered the lost territories, and good news kept arriving in the capital.
However, after all, the Li Kingdom had been preparing for twenty years. Even though they were being beaten back step by step by Qi Rong and their decline was inevitable, they still fought stubbornly.
Knowing that victory was in sight, everyone in the Liu Kingdom praised Qi Rong, which made the emperor uneasy.
He found an excuse to recall the already small number of troops and only left Qi Rong with 30,000 defeated soldiers to fight against the remaining over 100,000 elite soldiers of the Li Kingdom.
Moreover, the emperor planted people in the army to stir up conflicts, and even cut off the food and supplies for Qi Rong.
The emperor was willing to lose two cities just to ruin Qi Rong's reputation as a war god and leave his life on the battlefield!
Yun Xi was originally angry that Qi Rong had underestimated her. In order to protect her, he even deliberately abandoned her in public, which made it impossible for her to stand by his side and fight shoulder to shoulder with him openly.
However, even so, she still mobilized all her strength to send food and supplies to the battlefield. She asked the Zhen family for help. The Zhen family, who had a sense of national righteousness, naturally disliked the emperor's despicable actions. They secretly sent reinforcements, and Zhen Yuanfeng, the third son of the Zhen family, led the troops himself.
On the other hand, Yun Xi had also laid a backup plan early on.
With the help of her maternal grandfather and the Jing family's influence, she monopolized the iron mines of the Li Kingdom, which made it impossible for the Li Kingdom to manufacture weapons and severely damaged their economy.
Finally, with Qi Rong leading the army and the assistance of various forces, the Li Kingdom was forced to ask for a truce and sign a treaty, ceding some of its land to the Liu Kingdom.
The people of the Liu Kingdom almost regarded Qi Rong as a god, and even all the civil and military officials in the court praised him!
Seeing the situation, the emperor actually sent people to kill Qi Rong openly. Qi Rong then joined forces with the Luo family's army and successfully rebelled. He beheaded the tyrannical and fatuous Emperor Qi Hong to console the spirit of the previous emperor!
The Luo family's army wanted to kill Prime Minister Yun Sheng because of the death of Duke Luo, but Qi Rong stopped them.
This was because before Qi Rong left the capital, Yun Sheng had voluntarily handed over the tiger amulet and confessed that he had been entrusted by the previous emperor back then.
He had endured humiliation and bided his time for this very day!
From the time Qi Rong set out on the expedition to the time he returned in triumph and killed Qi Hong, it took a total of two years. During this time, Yun Xi not only expanded and strengthened her business empire but also gave birth to a pair of twins without Qi Rong's knowledge.
When she saw the shocked and even terrified expression on Qi Rong's face when he saw the children, she felt really relieved.
But when Qi Rong asked Yun Xi to marry him, Yun Xi pushed the two chubby babies towards him.
"The children can recognize their father, but I don't recognize you as my husband!"
Then, Yun Xi glanced at the ministers who were anxiously waiting for Qi Rong to ascend the throne behind him and said coldly,
"Moreover, I have no intention of entering the harem."
"Who said I'm going to be the emperor? I'm just getting rid of the traitor for my father. Whoever wants to be the emperor can be it!"
Qi Rong retorted. All he could think about was marrying his wife, loving her, and spoiling her. He simply didn't care about anything else.
Qi Rong's words almost gave all the civil and military officials in the court a heart attack. They exclaimed in a hurry,
"Your Majesty, the Liu Kingdom can't be without a king for a single day!"
Since Qi Hong was executed, the empress dowager had committed suicide by taking poison, the queen had become a nun, the prince had left far away, and even the young second prince had been secretly taken away by Concubine Yu to another country...
Qi Rong was the people's choice and should rightfully ascend the throne and become the emperor!
Under the expectations of all the officials, Qi Rong smiled and walked towards Yun Xi. He, who would rather die than lose a bit of his dignity, now knelt on one knee in front of her with a flattering smile and said,
"I'll listen to my wife from now on."
Qi Rong's actions scared all the civil and military officials. Immediately, there was an uproar,
"Your Majesty, you can't do this!"
"You're going to be the king of a country. How can you kneel?"
Yun Xi was shocked, but someone took the opportunity to threaten her,
"If you don't forgive me, I'll kneel here forever."
So, under the angry and condemning gazes of all the ministers, Yun Xi felt her scalp tingle. In the end, she took this troublemaker in.
Epilogue
During a grand coronation ceremony, Yun Xi became the queen of the Liu Kingdom.
She became the "evil queen" recorded in later generations who "bewitched the wise king of the Liu Kingdom into dismissing all his concubines and neglecting the morning court ever since".
Little did people know that she was the one who really worried about the Liu Kingdom!
If it weren't for her earnest pleading, this man who only wanted revenge at first but didn't want to shoulder the responsibility of the country, how would he have obediently sat there to approve memorials and become a diligent and capable emperor?
If it weren't for her constant urging, this lecher who always wanted to pester her to have children and even compete with the children for her favor, how would he have governed the Liu Kingdom so well that it became prosperous and strong, creating a peaceful and prosperous era of "The nine heavenly gates open wide to the palace halls, and officials from all countries come to pay homage to the emperor"?
Wasn't it because he spent half of his time talking about the country's affairs and the other half showing off his wife in front of all the civil and military officials every day?
That's why she was condemned by those ministers who were stuffed with dog food?
What was her fault? She just wanted a peaceful life!
But this man just blocked her way!
Moreover, this man even shamelessly leaned his face over and asked her,
"Wife, who made you angry? Tell me, and I'll beat him up for you!"
In private, he always liked to address each other like an ordinary couple, saying that it made them seem closer.
"You! It's you!"
She was extremely angry and pointed at this man's nose and scolded him.
"Have you finished approving the memorials? What are you doing in my palace again?"
"I'm hungry!" He said it so confidently.
It was as if if she drove him away, she would be inhumane.
"I just sent a maid to bring you food a moment ago! How could you be hungry?"
She immediately exposed him, but this man just blinked his eyes and pretended to be innocent. He shamelessly got closer to her little by little and said,
"Only you can satisfy me."
(The End)