World's First Traitor System (450)

Chapter 450 - A Trio's Outing

Fan Li managed to persuade Xiang Ning, yet curiosity lingered within her heart.

While Great Chu and Great Ming had yet to clash in true warfare, the battle for public opinion, it seemed, had already begun?

As the Emperor of Great Chu, how could she know so little about these developments? A profound interest in these newspaper offices and bookstores suddenly bloomed within Xiang Ning!

However, although Times Monthly, the Mortal Post, and the Rulin Bookstore were Fan Li's enterprises, they had first been established in Great Ming, making them essentially foreign products. Xiang Ning wished to learn more, but the formidable obstacles hindering border trade prevented her from easily satisfying this wish.

"Your Majesty," Fan Li smiled. "Actually, my newspaper offices and bookstores operate as chain businesses. Furthermore, the Rulin Bookstore received approval from the Great Ming court just last month, allowing it to open branches in other nations."

Xiang Ning's eyes lit up upon hearing this!

"You mean..."

"The first branch of the Rulin Bookstore in Great Chu opened for business just yesterday, right here in Peng City. If Your Majesty is interested, perhaps you could disguise yourself, and allow your subject to take you for a look?"

Fan Li genuinely wanted to broaden Xiang Ning's horizons.

However, half an hour later, he would deeply regret his words.

"Excellent!" Xiang Ning exclaimed joyfully. "Wait for me! I'll change immediately, and I'll bring Han Yue along too."

Fan Li smiled. "Of course."

Leaving the palace was a rare event for Xiang Ning. She found it especially novel to go without the imperial procession or her usual emperor's attire.

In no time at all, Xiang Ning made a sparkling entrance, dressed like an unmarried young maiden in a pink dress and skirt!

"Fan Li, do you think I'm beautiful?"

Xiang Ning's face beamed with excitement. She lifted her skirt hem and twirled twice on the spot, her youthful energy infectious even to Fan Li.

"Beautiful, cough, Your Majesty is exceedingly beautiful."

As Fan Li spoke, his eyes wandered somewhat disloyally. One moment they rested on Xiang Ning, the next they shifted uncontrollably to Han Yue beside her, clad in white like frost and snow.

"You truly are too beautiful."

Fan Li himself wasn't even sure if he was praising Xiang Ning or Han Yue. Both women blushed simultaneously, the corners of their lips curled slightly in a sweet smile.

"Fan Li!"

"We're travelling incognito this time, we must keep a low profile, do you understand?"

Xiang Ning delivered this instruction with mock seriousness, leaving Fan Li unsure whether to laugh or cry.

Low profile?

How could they possibly maintain a low profile?

The appearance and bearing of the three alone made them stand out remarkably among the common crowd.

Moreover, while Xiang Ning and Han Yue might manage it – one being an empress imprisoned in the Pure Land for years, the other a Sage Ruler perpetually in secluded cultivation, neither recognized by ordinary folk – Fan Li's situation was entirely different.

As the de facto ruler of Great Chu, Fan Li had made numerous public appearances. Furthermore, holding the position of Headmaster at Luming Academy, his portrait hung permanently within its walls. While not every scholar in Chu could recognize Fan Li at first glance, many could guess his true identity after a second look.

"Let's go!"

Xiang Ning dashed ahead, eagerly slipping out of the Great Chu Imperial Palace.

Left behind, Fan Li and Han Yue walked out at a steady, unhurried pace, rather like parents.

"You..."

Fan Li looked at the woman walking beside him. Her snow-white hair always gave him a sense of unease.

Yet Han Yue's complexion seemed excellent, leaving Fan Li momentarily unsure whether he should express concern.

"What is it?"

Han Yue smiled.

She resembled an unsheathed precious sword.

Her beautiful appearance was like the inlaid jade and gems on a scabbard, its splendor making one forget the sharpness within, capable of slicing gold and severing jade.

"It's nothing." Fan Li averted his gaze, hiding the worry revealed in his eyes.

"Strolling the streets... the last time we did this was ten years ago," Han Yue said softly. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if, in the next ten years, we could also stroll and enjoy ourselves like this?"

"Of course, we can!" Fan Li blurted out.

Strange.

Why did Han Yue's words carry a hint of melancholy?

What worried her?

Was she afraid Emperor Jiajing was too powerful, that Great Chu and the Fan Clan would eventually be destroyed by him? Or perhaps, she lacked confidence in her own feelings for him?

Fan Li actually knew. Han Yue had forcibly carved her mark into his heart; such coerced affection was like the proverbial 'melon picked before its time.'

Even common folk knew such a melon wouldn't be sweet.

As time passed, the mark in Fan Li's heart was fading.

But did Han Yue know that while the forced trace vanished, genuine affection had taken root through their long association, and true feelings had already begun to blossom?

"Han Yue, you really don't need to..."

Just as Fan Li was about to say something more, a gentle touch reached his hand.

It was Han Yue; she had taken his hand.

Great Chu's customs were relatively open; couples and partners showing affection in public did not violate propriety or morality. After all, the love story of Great Chu's founding monarch, the Overlord who dominated his era, and the beauty Yu Ji had been told for millennia.

"Is holding hands okay?" Han Yue's voice was slightly softer; clearly, she felt a little unsure.

"Of course!" Fan Li replied without hesitation.

What was merely holding hands?

Fan Li would gladly embrace her if he could.

Hand in hand, they walked on, unknowingly leaving the Great Chu Imperial Palace behind.

As for the numerous palace maids, eunuchs, and guards who witnessed King Jin and Sage Ruler Han Yue's intimacy along the way, not a single stray thought dared enter their minds; they pretended they had seen nothing.

However, it wasn't just the palace staff playing deaf and dumb.

There was also Xiang Ning.

Bouncing ahead excitedly, she glanced back subconsciously, only to find the pair behind her holding hands, the romantic atmosphere so thick it felt like honey mixed with oil, leaving absolutely no space for her.

"Hmph."

Xiang Ning felt a slight sting in her nose but held back her feelings.

She knew that during those years in the New Pure Land, she wasn't the only one who missed Fan Li day and night. Han Yue, outwardly calm and detached, simply buried all her emotions deep within.

"Sister Han Yue has truly given too much for this bad man," she thought.

"I won't argue with Fan Li today, as long as he can make Sister Han Yue happy."

"Hmph!"

"I'm being so understanding. Does Fan Li even know?"

Xiang Ning sniffled, adjusted her mood, and put a bright, sunny smile back on her face.

…

Peng City, the Rulin Bookstore branch.

The store bustled with customers, mostly scholars by their attire, but also servants and retainers from noble families, clutching book lists as they came to purchase volumes.

As soon as Xiang Ning stepped inside, the interior stunned her.

Though called a bookstore, its scale rivaled that of a side hall in the Imperial Palace.

Within the extremely spacious interior, hundreds of bookshelves groaned under the weight of tens of thousands of books!

Xiang Ning felt, with just one glance, that the collection in this single Rulin Bookstore branch was more than she could ever read in a lifetime.

Was this the scale of Fan Li's business?

And this was merely one branch of a chain?

"Fan... cough, Brother Li, is it necessary for a bookstore to be this big?" Xiang Ning stammered.

Since they were travelling incognito, the three naturally needed to adopt different forms of address.

Fan Li became Brother Li, Han Yue became Sister Yue, and Xiang Ning, naturally, was Little Sister Ning.

"Learning is boundless, after all," Fan Li smiled.