Chapter 57: Finale
In May, the world was stabilized, and Jiang Shuiping ascended to the throne as the emperor. The country was named Zhou, with the capital established in the imperial city.
Jiang Shuiping became the emperor, and her original husband, Liu, naturally became the rightful empress. The position of crown princess was also determined, naturally going to the meritorious Jiang Qingzhou. The crown princess’s husband was Qin, and her secondary husband was Fu Yue.
The ascension ceremony was complex and time-consuming, with much preparatory work. Jiang Shuiping specially sent people back to Lingnan to bring Liu and the entire Jiang family to live together in the imperial city. Liu was overjoyed, probably never imagining that in this life, besides being an obedient noble husband, he could also become the empress father to the world. For a time, he was so happy he couldn’t even pretend otherwise.
On the contrary, Qin’s every move was still that of the once unflappable Qin, but Jiang Yang could see that his eyes couldn’t hide his joy.
Ancient men had always prided themselves on their ‘virtue of assisting’, and helping one’s wife achieve great things was the greatest honor in a man’s life. Jiang Qingzhou became the crown princess, with no powerful competitors around her, and her future inheritance of the throne was a certainty. The great glory of being empress would one day shine on his head as well.
Bearing the title of crown princess’s husband, Qin became even more virtuous, even treating Fu Yue and Yinzhu Yinyu better. The outside world often praised Qin for being virtuous and treating the secondary husband Fu Yue like his own brother, saying how fortunate the crown princess was and so on, which greatly annoyed Fu Yue.
Liu packed quite a few things and went to the imperial city for a promotion with the people Jiang Shuiping sent, in a grand procession. Qin, Fu Yue, and Jiang Yang and Chi Mei naturally had to be together, after all, it was a grand occasion like the ascension ceremony, and their whole family had to be present.
But Jiang Yang gently stroked Chi Mei’s increasingly round belly, her brow furrowed with worry.
Chi Mei had entered the expected delivery period, and it was unknown when he would give birth. These days, he slept more than he was awake, and the child in his belly was much more active than when Fu Yue was pregnant.
Now he was lying softly on Jiang Yang’s lap, his breathing shallow, his lips moving slightly in his sleep, muttering something unknown in his dreams.
Jiang Yang pushed open the carriage window, her gaze looking out at the green waters and mountains, her long, lustrous fingers tapping lightly on the window frame, calculating that the time should be about right.
*
“Report! A letter from the Crown Princess for the Second Princess to read.” The urgent message, delivered by fast horse, was handed to Jiang Yang, who finally breathed a sigh of relief.
This was what she had been waiting for.
She couldn’t take Chi Mei away from the large advancing procession alone; it had to be Jiang Qingzhou who sent her away on official business. This way, Liu and Qin wouldn’t be suspicious.
Moreover, the fact that Fu Yue and Chi Mei were brothers was known to everyone in the Jiang family. If people discovered that Chi Mei was a merman, then Fu Yue naturally couldn’t escape either. This was why Jiang Qingzhou was willing to help her.
“Present it!” Jiang Yang took the letter, pretending that something very urgent was written in it, her brow visibly furrowing.
Liu’s carriage stopped beside her, opened the door, and asked worriedly, “Yang’er, what’s the matter?”
Jiang Yang sighed gravely: “Although the world has just been stabilized, there are still some remnants of the previous dynasty causing trouble in this area. Elder sister has written to me saying I must pacify these remnants of the previous dynasty, so that mother can hold the ascension ceremony with peace of mind. Father, this place is dangerous, so you should take elder sister’s husband and leave first.”
Liu nodded with concern: “Alright, then… shall I take your little attendant with me as well?”
“No, he’s far along in his pregnancy and could give birth at any time. Taking Chi Mei along won’t help you, he’ll only burden you and elder sister’s husband.”
“What’s there to hinder or not? He’s carrying your child in his belly,” Liu said, looking at the drowsy Chi Mei.
Jiang Yang said indifferently: “What’s a mere unborn child? Nothing is more important than your life, father. The situation is urgent, father, don’t delay, leave quickly.”
“Yang’er, you must be very careful,” Liu said, both moved and afraid of really hindering Jiang Yang’s progress in suppressing the remnants of the previous dynasty, so he left with Qin.
Watching Liu’s procession move further and further away, the stone in Jiang Yang’s heart finally settled. She took the carriages back to the city, while arranging for a group to go to Qingqi Mountain to suppress bandits. This was something she and Jiang Qingzhou had planned early on – first pretending that scouts had brought back false information about remnants of the previous dynasty hiding in Qingqi Mountain, allowing Jiang Yang to take Chi Mei back to the city, away from Liu’s sight, to give birth peacefully.
The Jiang family’s masters who could leave had all left, leaving only a few loyal servants to keep watch. They never imagined that Jiang Yang would suddenly return. She was now the only master of the Jiang family, and naturally, no one dared to disobey her words.
When Chi Mei rubbed his eyes and woke up, he found himself still in bed. His sleepy eyes immediately widened in surprise and panic, until he saw Jiang Yang standing guard beside him, and this panic gradually subsided.
He snuggled up to Jiang Yang, habitually hugging her and said, “You scared me to death, I thought you had left me behind and gone to the imperial city by yourself.”
Jiang Yang laughed and said, “Why don’t you ask why we’re not in the carriage now, but in our old courtyard?”
“It doesn’t matter where we are, I don’t care, as long as you’re by my side,” Chi Mei shrugged indifferently and said, “But have only we come back?”
Jiang Yang nodded.
Chi Mei smiled and said, “That’s great, now even if I really give birth to little fish, we don’t have to worry… but that’s not right either. If I really give birth to little fish, where should we raise them? When the little fish grow up, they’ll still have to return to the sea to inherit the family business and lead the merman tribe.” Chi Mei rambled on.
Jiang Yang hugged him and laughed out loud, “Don’t worry, if we really give birth to little merpeople, of course we’ll have to let them return to the South Sea. They are also of merman royal blood, naturally they should go back to inherit the throne.”
*