Chapter 30

Qin Xiyi met Cheng Mozhi ten *li* outside the capital of Liang.

A week had already passed since Cheng Mozhi won the historically famous Battle of the Capital.

This famous battle, where the few defeated the many, was written into the history books. It also became the strongest piece of evidence for those who argued he was a military commander in the future debate over whether the legendary Cheng Mozhi was ultimately a civil official or a military general.

When she saw Cheng Mozhi, he had grown thinner and tanner. Stubble had sprouted on his chin; he was no longer the fair-skinned scholar of the past, but now carried the rugged, masculine air of the military camp.

With just one look, Qin Xiyi’s eyes welled with tears.

Ignoring the entourages on both sides, she leaped off her horse and threw herself into his arms. She hit him with such force that Cheng Mozhi stumbled back a step.

With a sharp intake of breath, a soft hiss of pain escaped from the corner of Cheng Mozhi’s mouth.

“Are you hurt?”

Qin Xiyi panicked, pulling open his outer robe to search frantically. “Where are you hurt? Is it serious? Does it hurt? Let me see…”

Just as Qin Xiyi’s hands wandered toward a certain sensitive area, Cheng Mozhi suddenly grabbed her wrist. Cheng Mozhi, who hadn’t flinched in the face of multiple enemy onslaughts, now looked a bit exasperated.

“Empress—oh, no… Your Majesty, Empress Regnant of Zhao, is it really appropriate to tease your subject like this in broad daylight?”

A smile played at the corners of his lips, and the tenderness in his eyes seemed to melt into a pool of spring water, rippling out from his handsome face and straight into her heart.

Qin Xiyi brushed away her tears with her sleeve. Muttering a defiant “Who cares,” she wrapped her arms around his neck, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him deeply.

As their lips met and their hearts drew infinitely close, they finally believed.

She was alive.

He was alive.

How wonderful it was to have found each other again.

Though the kiss was ill-timed, it was passionate and fierce, as if even the collapse of heaven and earth could not tear them apart.

The soldiers and attendants they had brought with them had long since turned their backs, not daring to look at such a scandalous display.

It was a child’s babyish voice that finally interrupted them.

“Are Imperial Mother and Daddy done kissing? … Ying’er wants a hug from Imperial Mother…”

Qin Xiyi quickly let go of Cheng Mozhi. Looking down, she saw Liang Ying, dressed in a miniature imperial dragon robe, covering her eyes with her chubby little hands—though she had deliberately left a gap between her fingers.

“My Ying’er!” Qin Xiyi scooped the child up, kissing and nuzzling her cheeks over and over.

At first, the child was tearfully happy, but faced with her mother’s smothering kisses, she quickly began to protest.

“Daddy said Ying’er is the Emperor now and must maintain imperial dignity. Imperial Mother, you can’t kiss me like this…” But then, feeling she might have been too harsh on Qin Xiyi, she leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“But when no one is looking, Imperial Mother can kiss me as much as she wants. And Ying’er wants to sleep with Imperial Mother tonight…”

Only later did Qin Xiyi learn that when Han Su sent Liang Ying out of the capital, she had been rescued before she even reached the State of Zhao.

Her rescuers were all secret agents Cheng Mozhi had planted in Zhao.

Because of this, Qin Xiyi would often bring it up later to settle scores, complaining that he hadn’t kept her in the loop.

“Since I sent you back to Zhao, of course I had to ensure the safety of my wife and child! Your Majesty, did you really think I, Cheng Mozhi, was just a useless, book-smart pretty boy who lives off women?”

During her rebellion, apart from her mother’s former loyalists, Cheng Mozhi’s network of secret agents had also played a crucial role.

Since Cheng Mozhi didn’t boast about it, Qin Xiyi played along and pretended she didn’t know.

Cheng Mozhi never mentioned the perils of breaching the city gates either. He merely said that Ying’er’s arrival had been perfectly timed; to those loyal to Liang Shi, putting her on the throne was seen as a compromise and a concession.

But this was exactly what Cheng Mozhi had wanted all along, and he was more than happy with the outcome.