The four of them, including Ming Zhitian, arrived at the gates of the Hongma Empire and encountered the princess consort. Xiao Mi Rui pleaded, "Take me with you, Ming Zhitian. I can't stay here for another moment."
Ming Zhitian looked at her with suspicion. "You are the wife of the Divine Cultivation King? What are you planning? Revenge for him?"
Xiao Mi Rui shook her head. "No, please believe me. I just want to leave this place of turmoil."
"I'll be your maid if you want me to be. If you tell me to go east, I won't go west. I can do laundry and cooking. I just need you to give me a bite to eat and a small place to sleep."
Ming Zhitian turned to Yan Ran Qing Cheng. "She is the Divine Cultivation King's woman. Do you think she would stab me in the back?"
The three women all nodded. "Yes."
Xiao Mi Rui's eyes welled up with tears. "How can I get you to believe me? I don't want to suffer humiliation anymore. For decades, the Divine Cultivation King has insulted me, slapped me. I don't want to bear this burden any longer."
Ming Zhitian said, "But the Divine Cultivation King is already dead."
Xiao Mi Rui said sadly, "There will be a second. I don't want to stay. Please..."
Ming Zhitian replied, "I'll speak to the Grand Tutor. I'll ask him to treat you well."
Xiao Mi Rui shook her head. "It's no use. If I stay in the Hongma Empire, the outcome will be me becoming the next princess consort. I've already thought of the ending. Isn't it pathetic? And then I'll continue to be caught in others' amusement, without freedom..."
"You only see the surface, unaware of the darkness and helplessness within, so tragic, so laughable."
"I know you are a good person, Ming Shen. Will you take me in? In my next life, I'll be your ox or horse."
Ming Zhitian shook his head. "I am not a good person, but not the worst either."
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt three inexplicable fires ignite, confirming the scorching gazes from the three women behind him. Ming Zhitian shrugged.
Seeing Ming Zhitian turn to leave, Xiao Mi Rui blocked him again. "What will it take for you to take me with you?"
Ming Zhitian sized her up. "I've heard women value their faces the most. Your skin isn't bad. How about this, I need an ugly maid."
Xiao Mi Rui understood. She immediately took a sharp dagger from her storage pouch and held it to her delicate face, drawing blood. Ming Zhitian grabbed her wrist, and the dagger clattered to the floor...
Ming Zhitian said, "Alright, I believe you. Come with us."
"Husband, you!..." Ouyang Ni Feng was unhappy.
Ming Zhitian glanced at her. "She can even abandon her only asset as a woman. I don't believe she would harm me. It's fine, we'll live together."
Xiao Mi Rui happily wiped away her tears and said cordially, "Hello to all three elder sisters, and hello to Ming Shen. Don't worry, I won't cause you any trouble."
Ouyang Ni Feng said grumpily, "Don't, don't call me that. Who knows who is older."
Xiao Mi Rui smiled slightly. "Then should I call you sister?"
Ouyang Ni Feng turned her head away, ignoring her. "Hmph."
Ming Zhitian said, "Let's go. Home."
Yan Ran Qing Cheng and Ren Xing Yao were indifferent. Ouyang Ni Feng stomped her foot, showing her displeasure.
Relying on the tracking talisman given by Qian Yang Xi Li, the five of them exited the True Forgotten Secret Realm, returned to the Forgotten Secret Realm, and then back to Zhang Tian Yue at Qishan.
Ming Zhitian stopped. Yan Ran Qing Cheng and the others were confused. Princess Consort Xiao Mi Rui, with her worldly experience, understood. "Are we going to visit an old acquaintance?"
Ming Zhitian shook his head. "Forget it. I still have things to do. Let's go home."
They tore open a spatial rift together and returned to the quadrangle courtyard in Huayang City, known as Absolute Peerless Family.
Buck immediately ran towards Ming Zhitian, rubbing against his legs. Sky Hawk circled in the air, cawing a few times, then landed with a joyful cry.
Ming Zhitian patted Buck and Sky Hawk's heads. "Good boy, good girl. Did any bad people come to the house? No, that's good."
Yan Li Xue was the first to rush into Ming Zhitian's arms. "Husband, you're back? It's been a year. Xue'er missed you so much...!"
Ming Zhitian awkwardly touched her hair. "Ahem... Xue'er wife, do you really miss me that much? But this isn't the time for intimacy..."