Chapter 628 - 631: Familiar

Chapter 628: Chapter 631: Familiar

Early the next morning, Hua Manman’s group left the inn and met up with the Xiliang Delegation near the city gate.

Li Ji had disguised himself as a common, wealthy landowner with dark skin and plain features.

As the owner of the Cloud Crane Opera Troupe, he had to bring his family to pay his respects to the Prince of Xiliang.

As she stood up after bowing, Hua Manman stole a glance at the prince, wanting to see what the legendary male version of the "Returned Pearl Princess" looked like.

But she never expected to see a very familiar, handsome face.

Hua Manman couldn’t help but freeze.

’Th-that’s Ah Qi, isn’t it?!’

Back when she was kidnapped by Xiao Hong, she had unexpectedly met Ah Qi, and the two had almost gone through a wedding ceremony.

Later, Li Ji rescued her, and Ah Qi’s whereabouts became unknown.

She had thought she would never see him again in this lifetime, but she never imagined they would be reunited here.

What she expected even less was that the slave who had been at Xiao Hong’s beck and call back then had now transformed into the legendary Prince Huanzhu!

’I hope he doesn’t recognize me.’

Ah Qi seemed to sense someone stealing a look at him, and his gaze turned toward Hua Manman.

Hua Manman immediately averted her gaze and lowered her head, assuming a submissive and respectful posture.

Li Ji exchanged a few pleasantries, preparing to take his leave with his family.

But suddenly, they heard Ah Qi speak.

"Is this your wife?"

He was speaking the official language of Great Zhou, his enunciation perfectly clear, with almost no discernible accent.

Hua Manman was secretly astonished.

When she first met Ah Qi, he couldn’t speak a single sentence of the Great Zhou language. Later, she taught him some of it.

But because time was limited, she could only teach him common words, and he had only learned the basics. Whenever he spoke the Great Zhou language, he would always stumble over his words and had a very strong accent.

She never expected that he could now speak the official Great Zhou language so fluently.

’It seems he must have spent a lot of time and effort studying the official language of Great Zhou over the past few years.’

Li Ji responded meekly.

"Yes, this is my humble wife, Mrs. Li."

Ah Qi told Hua Manman to raise her head.

Hua Manman did her best to suppress the unease in her heart and slowly raised her head, revealing a delicate, fair, hibiscus-like face.

Li Ji quietly gripped the dagger hidden in his sleeve, his muscles tensing all over.

If the Prince of Xiliang showed any suspicion toward Manman, Li Ji would act immediately.

Li Ji would rather expose his own identity than let Manman fall into danger.

Fortunately, Ah Qi’s gaze only lingered on Manman’s face for a moment before he looked away.

He said flatly, "Alright, you may return to your group."

Hua Manman secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

’It seems Ah Qi didn’t recognize me.’

She curtsied to Ah Qi, then turned and left with Li Ji.

Ah Qi watched their departing figures, silent for a long time.

Seeing this, the military general beside him couldn’t help but ask in the Xiliang language.

"Your Highness, do you think there’s something wrong with those two?"

Ah Qi said, "I just find that lady somewhat familiar."

The military general was very curious. "You know her?"

Ah Qi shook his head. "No, I don’t."

’That young lady only bore a slight resemblance to Manman. But upon closer inspection, their faces were not the same at all. Anyone with eyes could see they were two different people.’

Ah Qi rode his horse forward. The delegation hurried to follow, with the Cloud Crane Opera Troupe’s procession trailing behind them.

Inside the carriage, Hua Manman hurriedly said to Li Ji.

"That Prince Huanzhu just now... no, I mean the Prince of Xiliang! I’ve met him before!"

She knew Li Ji had the Mind Reading Technique, so she definitely couldn’t hide what had happened between her and Ah Qi.

Rather than have him hear some of her thoughts and jump to the wrong conclusions, it was better to proactively explain everything clearly herself to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings later.

She explained the entire story of how she had met Ah Qi.

When she got to the part about agreeing to marry Ah Qi, Li Ji’s expression had already turned impossibly dark.

He questioned her grimly.

"You actually married another man behind my back?!"

Hua Manman said, "No, let me argue... I mean, let me explain! It was a stopgap measure. I was trying to find a chance to escape. I never actually wanted to marry Ah Qi. In the end, I wasn’t the one who went through the ceremony with him. Nothing happened between us!"

Li Ji gritted his teeth. "You should be thankful you weren’t the one who performed the wedding ceremony with him. Otherwise, you’d be done for."

Hua Manman quickly scooted over to hug him, nuzzling his cheek and pecking his lips, showering him with all sorts of sweet nothings as if they were free.

It took a great deal of effort to finally dissipate some of the dog man’s jealousy.

Li Ji gestured for her to continue.

Hua Manman first cautiously observed his expression. Seeing that he seemed relatively calm, she told him everything that happened next.

After she finished, Li Ji gave a cold sneer and said sourly.

"He knew the wine was drugged but was still willing to drink it. It looks like it’s true love. Weren’t you even a little bit moved?"

Hua Manman scratched her head, abashed.

"I was a little moved, of course..."

Seeing the dog man was about to fly off the handle again, she quickly tried to salvage the situation.

"But that’s a separate issue! Being moved doesn’t mean I was romantically interested. The one I’ve truly loved from beginning to end has only ever been you! To me, you are the electricity, you are the light, you are the one and only myth!"

She said it all in one breath and saw the anger value on Li Ji drop at a visible rate.

Hua Manman pressed her advantage, taking Li Ji’s hand and gazing into his eyes to say affectionately.

"You don’t have to question my love for you. What belongs to you, I will never share with anyone else."

As it turned out, everyone loves sweet talk, and the notoriously fearsome Regent Prince was no exception.

He was like a large canine whose fur had been smoothed, becoming completely docile. Even his gaze toward Manman turned as gentle as water.

Just as the two were leaning closer and closer, about to kiss, a loud singing voice suddenly rang out from outside.

The singing completely ruined the atmosphere.

The romantic ambiguity inside the carriage vanished in an instant.

Li Ji, having failed to kiss Manman, was quite annoyed.

He threw open the carriage window and roared irritably.

"Who’s singing?"

Hua Manman froze, then replied subconsciously.

"Wa-warming up the loneliness?"

Li Ji turned to look at her, his face a giant question mark.

Hua Manman: "..."

She was so embarrassed she could have dug an entire Imperial Mausoleum with her toes.

It was all that brainwashing song’s fault! It had become a conditioned reflex; her mouth had spoken before her brain could even catch up.

Fortunately, Bian Ziming rode up on his horse and explained that the West Liang people had gotten into high spirits and spontaneously broken into a Xiliang folk song.

Only then was Hua Manman freed from her awkward predicament.

She quickly changed the subject.

"No wonder I couldn’t understand it. So it’s a Xiliang folk song, hahaha."