Chapter 20 Joy begets sorrow

  "Mulang, fetch another bucket of water."

  "Ah, this big bucket of water isn't even enough for Dalang to wash with?" Mulan looked at the large bucket of water in confusion. It's not easy to boil a bucket of water late at night, and this brother-in-law really loves to make trouble for people.

  Qinglian finally pulled his hand out of the bucket, and before leaving, he didn't forget to wash it a few times in the water bucket, washing away that sticky and slippery feeling. Then, with his head down, he went to call someone to fetch water.

  This made Lingyun feel emotional, Xiao Mulan was a natural fool, and Qinglian was precocious and sensible.

  Lingyun had just finished the most refreshing and stimulating hot bath of his life, and was thinking about whether to take advantage of the opportunity to "educate" the two future residents of the house. However, he saw his new wife, Gao Qianshuai, entering the east courtyard. Having just stolen a glance at someone, he felt a bit guilty when he saw his wife appear. When greeting Gao Qianshuai, his expression was somewhat unnatural. Although in theory, Mulan and Qinglian were already his legitimate household members, even if he had given them some small benefits or even taken them to bed, Gao Qianshuai would not have blamed him for it. However, Lingyun still felt a bit uneasy at heart.

  "Husband, I have something important to tell you." However, Gao Shanshuo didn't notice anything unnatural about Lingyun and Qinglian, but Mulan seemed completely normal, unaware of what had just happened between her master and the man.

  "What!" Lingyun, who had been kneeling on the mat with a guilty conscience, couldn't help but exclaim in surprise after hearing Gao Qianshu's words. His eyes were wide with incredulity. The information was too much for him to handle, and he didn't dare believe it. Just now, Gao Qianshu had told him that she was the emperor's daughter, which meant that Gao Qianshu was a princess. And he had just married the princess.

  Marrying a princess and reaching the pinnacle of life, such things are too legendary. However, after the shock, he immediately thought of another important thing, the current emperor is Yang Jian, but Gao Qianxue's surname is Gao, so?

  Gao Qianxue's next words suddenly put Ling Yun in a state of confusion.

  Gao Qianxue was indeed a princess, but not of the Sui Dynasty, rather she was a princess of the fallen Northern Qi state, and the daughter of the last emperor of Northern Qi. The Northern Qi had been destroyed for over twenty years now, and even Gao Qianxue's father couldn't be considered an official emperor of Northern Qi. Damn it, Ling Yun didn't feel any excitement about marrying a princess at all; on the contrary, he was worried that as a fallen state's princess, she wasn't noble at all, and his situation as the husband of this fallen state's princess was even more dire.

  This news is really too big, so big that Lingyun thought Gao Qianxue was joking with him at first. But looking at Gao Qianxue's serious eyes, Lingyun told himself in his heart that this wasn't a joke. No one would make such a joke, and if they were going to impersonate someone, it should be a current princess, not some fallen country's princess. In this era, being a fallen country's princess isn't easy.

  With Lingyun's memory of this era's history, he recalled that after Chen was destroyed by the south, those southern Chen princesses were basically all divided up among the Sui dynasty emperors, princes, and national dukes. Like the beautiful Xuanhua Madame, wasn't she a Southern Chen princess? And in Yang Su's estate, that concubine who had reunited with her husband after being separated, was also a Southern Chen princess. Even in the estates of high-ranking officials like Yang Guang, Yang Yong, Yang Xiu, and He Ruobi, which one didn't get one or two princesses or county ladies?

  As for the fate of the Northern Qi's fallen country princess, Lingyun is not quite clear. The Qi state was destroyed by the Northern Zhou, and the Yuwen family of the Northern Zhou that destroyed the Qi state was also eliminated by Emperor Yang Jian of the Sui dynasty. However, he can be certain that being a fallen country princess would not be a good thing, and her life would definitely not be easy. Otherwise, Gao Shanshuo would not have hidden her identity and stayed in the suburbs of Jiangnan's Yangzhou as a small landowner.

  "You're telling me your identity, aren't you afraid I'll leak it out?" Lingyun asked with a bitter smile, rubbing his still damp hair. Although the Northern Qi had fallen many years ago, he believed that the imperial court would definitely not want these former royal family members to secretly hide and be active. Even if they wouldn't wipe them out completely, they would definitely want to control them more firmly. If it weren't for this, Gao Shanshu wouldn't have needed to hide their identities either.

  Gao Qianxue had been observing Lingyun's reaction since she entered the house.

  After she revealed her identity, she observed Lingyun's astonishment, but it was only astonishment, without any other reaction.

  "We are already husband and wife, so I have no reason to hide my identity from you anymore. Of course, if you want to report me to the imperial court, that's your freedom. But I believe you won't do that."

  "Why?"

  "If you really want to confess, your husband just wouldn't say it. I didn't misjudge you, although I haven't found out who you are yet, but you're a responsible man."

  Lingyun smiled wryly, "I'm already your husband, and now you want to expose the truth? Won't that just drag yourself down too?" It's not worth it to harm others without benefiting ourselves. Besides, since Gao Qianshuang and the others have been living in hiding for twenty years, they can just be more careful from now on. What's the point of being a princess or a prince consort? He really doesn't care about that. All he wants is to live a relaxed life here; whether it's as a princess or a small landowner, isn't this kind of life good enough?

  Gao Qianxue's face broke into a smile, and she had made many bad plans before coming here, but now they were all unnecessary. Ling Yun's reaction was beyond her expectation, which was the most desirable result.

  She let out a long sigh of relief, smiled at Lingyun and said: "Thank you, it's great to have met you." Then she turned to Mulan and Qinglian and said: "Mulan, Qinglian, pack up the valuable things in the house, we'll be leaving soon."

  Lingyun was taken aback for a moment, "Leave? Where to?"

  "Go to a safe place." Gao Qianxue said, "It's not convenient to talk to you in detail now. We've encountered some trouble and our identities may have been exposed. The officials may be here soon. We must leave before they find this place and move to a safe location."

  Like a_clap_of_thunder_in_Lingyun's_mind, it almost blew his mind. He was still reeling from the shock, thinking that even if Gao Shanshuo was the last princess of Northern Qi, she had lived for 20 years without incident. But who would have thought that the next moment, he would be told that their identities had been exposed and they were facing a manhunt by government troops? This turn of events was too sudden! Why did Gao Shanshuo live in peace for 20 years, but as soon as he arrived at Gaoshanzhuang, trouble started brewing? Was it because Gao Shanshuo was an unlucky person or was he a jinx?

  "Gao Ding didn't run into bandits, but rather people from the imperial court, right?" Ling Yun suddenly thought of Gao Ding, the leader of the Gao team he had just rescued yesterday.

  Gao Qianxue nodded to him, "Things are not clear yet, but in case of any unexpected situation, we must leave here immediately."

  Lingyun nodded vaguely, his mind a jumbled mess. He had never thought that he would encounter such trouble. Originally, he chose to stay in Gaoliang Village just to avoid the troubles of this body on the outside, but who would have thought that even staying behind, he still couldn't shake off the trouble. And this time, if things didn't go well, the trouble would be even bigger. Damn it, what kind of boat had I gotten on?

  No matter what he thought in his heart, Lingyun had no other thoughts or choices at this time, and could only follow behind his new wife with a difficult expression, walking towards the outside of the manor under the dark night sky.

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