News that the Grand General will marry Lady Lila Pearce tomorrow quickly spreads throughout the Grand General's Residence and, by word of mouth from the servants, across the Qi Kingdom's current capital, Lingshui Prefecture.
Although Lady Lila Pearce is ranked among the Four Great Beauties, she is also considered an ill-omened woman.
She was born in the Kingdom of Sear, which was destroyed; married into the Kingdom of Soren, which also fell; then entered the Qi Kingdom, which was ultimately annihilated by Yan and Zhao.
Now, the Qi Kingdom has been reborn from the ashes—not only restored to its former glory, but advancing even further to become the strongest nation on the Shenzhou Continent.
Thus, the officials take pride in being Qi bureaucrats, and the commoners are proud to be citizens of the Qi Kingdom.
But now that the Grand General is going to marry the ill-omened Lady Lila Pearce, both officials and commoners are anxious.
The commoners have no chance to express their opinions to the Grand General.
But the officials do.
So, that night, all the officials gathered at the Grand General's Residence for one purpose: to persuade Ian Song to give up marrying Lady Lila Pearce—Qin Nongyu.
This was something Ian Song had not expected at all, and so he felt rather speechless.
However, his attitude remained as firm as ever.
Although every decision the Grand General has made has never been wrong—for example, the first decisive battle against the Yan-Zhao coalition, where he led fifty thousand against two hundred thousand and emerged not just victorious, but overwhelmingly so.
Even though Ian Song had made his stance clear, General Bruce Meng still pleaded bitterly, "Grand General, if you desire beauty, just say the word—surely every beautiful woman in the land would be willing to marry you. Why must you be so fixated on her?"
Hearing this, Ian Song's expression darkened. He snapped, "Absurd! The fate of a nation cannot be decided by a single woman! You idiots take state salaries, yet meddle in my private affairs—is your work so leisurely that you have nothing better to do? Now, get lost, all of you! Come back tomorrow if you want, but stop pestering me about my marriage!"
"Grand General!" Sean Song wanted to speak again.
"Get out!" Ian Song roared in fury.
"Grand General, you've misunderstood. I'm not here to persuade you—I'm here to congratulate you!" Sean Song smiled. When he first surrendered to Qi, Ian Song promised to reunite him with his family, and now his family has long since moved to the Qi Kingdom. So, he is deeply grateful to Ian Song; even if Ian hadn't enslaved him with Puppet Mastery, he would rebel or die for Ian at a word.
"At least someone gets it. Since you're here to congratulate me, did you bring a red envelope?"
Ian Song asked with a laugh.
"I did." Sean Song took out a red envelope from his robe and offered it with both hands. The custom of giving red envelopes was invented by Ian Song, so now, whether it's New Year's or a happy occasion, everyone exchanges red envelopes.
Sean Song is now the Governor of Lingshui Prefecture.
And since Lingshui Prefecture is the national capital of the Qi Kingdom, his position as governor carries far more weight than others, and his rank is two grades higher.
So, among the officials, Sean Song holds considerable authority.
Seeing Sean Song change his tune and avoid provoking Ian Song further, some others followed suit, switching from persuasion to congratulations.
General Bruce Meng could only sigh helplessly at this.
…………
The officials' attempt to persuade Ian Song soon reached Lady Lila Pearce—Qin Nongyu's ears, which only strengthened her resolve to control Ian Song.
Even the King of Qi wouldn't dare to tell all the officials to get lost the way Ian Song did.
Clearly, Ian Song's power in the Qi Kingdom has reached an unrivaled level. As for the king, Prince Daniel Jiang—that little brat, to be honest, she doesn't even consider him a threat. If Ian Song really died, it wouldn't be Daniel Jiang who controlled the government, but the officials.
So, rather than kill Ian Song, it would be better to control him.
That night, in Ian Song's bedroom.
The sound of heavy, breathless panting echoed from within, lasting for a full hour before finally subsiding.
Lily and Autumn lay unclothed on either side of Ian Song, their flushed cheeks showing they had yet to recover from the passionate entanglement just moments before.
After a while, Lily finally spoke softly, "General, do you really mean to marry that woman?"
Lily referred to Lady Lila Pearce as 'that woman,' clearly showing her prejudice.
Ian Song showed no sign of anger, but Autumn's expression changed slightly as she chided, "Lily."
"It's fine."
Ian Song understood Autumn's intention, but only smiled, "Lily's just straightforward and can't hide anything. That's exactly what I like about her."
Lily shot Autumn a defiant look and playfully winked, "Autumn, I've always said you're too cautious. The General isn't that petty!"
"Don't push your luck, young lady. Autumn's only looking out for you!" Ian Song tapped Lily's nose, then pulled both girls closer and said seriously, "You two are the closest people to me in this world, so there's no need to hide anything. Lady Lila Pearce approached me with an agenda, and used her enchantment arts to try to bewitch me. Since that's the case, I'll turn her scheme against her—and completely subdue her!"
"What? That foxy seductress actually dared to charm the General? I’m going to kill her!"
Hearing this, Lily flared up in anger, broke free from Ian Song’s embrace, and was about to jump off the bed.
Ian Song pulled her back into his arms, exasperated. "Why are you so impulsive? I have my own reasons for doing this. I’m telling you the truth so you won’t worry. If you mess up my plan, don’t blame me for punishing you with the family rules!"
The moment Lily heard the words ‘family rules,’ her weak body suddenly grew hot, and some hidden desire stirred within her. Her small hands unconsciously roamed across Ian’s chest as she pleaded in a coquettish voice, "General, I was wrong. Please punish me with the family rules!"
Faced with Lily’s request, how could Ian refuse? He flipped her over and gave her a few crisp smacks on her bare bottom.
Instead of showing pain at Ian’s punishment, Lily actually looked like she was enjoying it.
"General, that’s not enough. I want more!"
Hearing this, Ian was speechless. He secretly wondered if this girl had masochistic tendencies. Maybe someday he should try some real S&M with her.
As he pondered, his hand didn’t stop, landing again and again on her tender bottom.
Soon, the room was once again filled with the heated breaths and moans of a passionate man and woman.
In the royal palace, Jade Fox Hall.
It was already late at night. Princess Jade Fox sat before her dressing mirror, resting her chin in her hands, unable to sleep. Staring at her beautiful reflection, she felt a wave of sadness and murmured, "He’s going to marry someone else? Why isn’t it me?"
The next day.
The entire Grand General’s Residence was decked out in festive splendor, for today was the great day when Qi’s Grand General and Grand Tutor, Ian Song, would marry Lady Lila Pearce—Qin Nongyu, the Pear Blossom Lady.