Chapter 290 – Princess of the Prairie Rules the World – Fun in the Snow (15)
Tuoba Jingyao ended his meeting early today. When he returned to the tent and couldn’t find anyone inside, he panicked.
“Tang Tang…” Tuoba Jingyao searched all around the tent, but still couldn’t see anyone. Standing in the snow, he shouted loudly, “Tang Tang…”
Gong Na, who happened to pass by and saw the panicked look on the chief’s face, said, “Chief, are you looking for Tang Tang? He’s up ahead having a snowball fight…”
Before Gong Na could even finish his sentence, he felt a gust of wind rush past him—Tuoba Jingyao had already vanished from sight.
“Watch this~” Bai Tang squatted down and scooped up some snow.
Just as he finished forming the snow into a ball and was about to throw it, a shadow suddenly loomed over his head. Everyone around him also paused what they were doing.
Bai Tang suddenly had a bad feeling. Could it be… just as he feared?
He didn’t dare turn around. Rong Ningjing, who was standing directly in front of him, gave him a smile that looked worse than crying.
Xiao A said, “Be confident, Host. Drop the ‘could it be’—it is exactly what you think it is.”
Hearing that, Bai Tang grew even more terrified. It’s over—it’s over—Ah Yao found out.
Qiu’er: “Don’t be scared, Tang Tang. I’m here. The male lead wouldn’t dare do anything to you.”
Bai Tang tried to fool himself. As long as he didn’t turn around and see Tuoba Jingyao’s face, that meant Tuoba Jingyao hadn’t caught him sneaking out.
Bai Tang could wait. But Tuoba Jingyao couldn’t.
A deep, familiar voice suddenly sounded from behind him, stretching the final syllable dangerously: “Tang—tang—”
Bai Tang slowly turned around, forcing a stiff smile. “Ah Yao… what a coincidence~”
“Not a coincidence. I came here to find you.”
Tuoba Jingyao suddenly swept the boy up into his arms sideways. Amid the surprised gasps of the onlookers, he carried the young man away.
Aqi asked Rong Ningjing worriedly, “The chief looked really angry—Tang Tang’s not going to be in trouble, is he?!”
Rong Ningjing watched the two figures walking away in the distance and replied, “Whether or not Tang Tang’s in trouble, I don’t know. But we definitely are.”
She turned to Aqi. “You were the one who brought Tang Tang out. I was the one playing with him. We’re doomed.”
The two of them looked into each other’s eyes and saw the exact same thing reflected back: one big, flashing ‘we’re screwed’.
The other children, who didn’t fully understand what was going on, were still asking, “Bai Tang’s gone? That means we’re one player short again.”
“Ah, to be a kid…” Rong Ningjing sighed as she gently patted one child’s cheek. “Look how cold you are—go drink something warm. We’ll go check on Bai Tang and come back to play later.”
Rong Ningjing, with her beauty, kindness, and easygoing nature—not to mention her mastery of games—was beloved by all the children.
After hearing her suggestion, the other kids obediently went back to change out of their snow-drenched clothes.
Meanwhile, Bai Tang was still being carried back by Tuoba Jingyao. Along the way, the passing tribespeople cast them ambiguous looks. The chief and his consort have such a loving relationship, they all thought.
Bai Tang fidgeted restlessly in Tuoba Jingyao’s arms. After getting swatted twice on the butt—not too hard, but definitely not soft either—he blushed furiously and buried his face in his husband’s chest in utter embarrassment.
Getting spanked in public?! Even if Tuoba Jingyao had been discreet and likely no one noticed, Bai Tang still felt humiliated to death.
When they got back to the tent, Tuoba Jingyao actually started undressing him.
The boy’s face was flushed—whether from embarrassment or the chill outside, it was hard to say. With his head lowered, he muttered softly, “Don’t… wait till tonight…”
How could his boy be this adorable?
Tuoba Jingyao’s smile reached his eyes. He leaned in close, gave Bai Tang a kiss, and teased, “But I want to… so what now?”
His deep, magnetic voice was like a potent aphrodisiac. The warm breath brushing against Bai Tang’s neck made the boy’s body go weak.
Leaning back slightly, the youth quietly surrendered, accepting kiss after loving kiss from his husband.
Suddenly, he felt a chill on his body—followed by the warm touch of a hot towel gently wiping over his skin.
The boy’s eyes were drowsy and alluring, his innocent and confused gaze almost made Tuoba Jingyao transform into a ravenous wolf.
Unable to resist, he pressed a fierce kiss onto the boy’s flushed lips. Only when their lungs were nearly out of oxygen did he finally pull away.
Tuoba Jingyao wiped Bai Tang’s body thoroughly with warm water, then helped him get dressed.
Bai Tang felt warm all over. He leaned weakly against Tuoba Jingyao’s chest, breathing heavily.
“You went out to play dressed so lightly. If you get sick, don’t come crying to me about how bitter the medicine is.” Tuoba Jingyao pinched the boy’s delicate nose, earning himself a sharp glare from Bai Tang’s beautiful eyes.
“It’s my fault for keeping you cooped up in the tent too long. Drink some ginger milk first—then I’ll take you out to play again, all right?”
Tuoba Jingyao picked up a pot-warmed bowl of goat’s milk from the stove. It had ginger, red dates, and other warming herbs—perfect for driving out the cold, and ideal for Bai Tang’s condition.
The bowl was quite hot, and Bai Tang’s skin was tender—just a light bump or scrape would turn it red. So Tuoba Jingyao didn’t let him hold it. Instead, he brought the bowl to Bai Tang’s lips and watched as he sipped it in small, careful mouthfuls. His heart felt full to the brim, deeply content.
The ginger was a bit too strong, and the taste slightly overwhelming.
After about half a bowl, Bai Tang pushed it away.
People on the grasslands were used to drinking liquor and eating meat in large bowls. Even half a bowl from Bai Tang was about the same as a full one by normal standards.
Tuoba Jingyao didn’t press him further. True to his principle of not wasting food, he drank all the goat milk Bai Tang had left behind—drinking from the very edge of the bowl where Bai Tang had sipped.
“Why’s it so quiet in there? You don’t think the chief knocked Tang Tang out, do you?” Aqi and Rong Ningjing were crouched outside Tuoba Jingyao’s tent, straining their ears to hear any movement inside.
“I doubt it. The chief absolutely dotes on that cutie—he’d never bear to lay a hand on him.” Rong Ningjing had witnessed firsthand just how intense Tuoba Jingyao’s possessiveness and love for Bai Tang were. He’d rather beat himself to death than ever hurt Bai Tang.
“Then why is it so quiet? Maybe they’re not inside?” Aqi circled the tent, trying to listen in from different angles. The tent was pretty big after all—maybe their voices were just too soft to hear from the other side.
As Aqi trailed his hand along the side of the tent, he suddenly froze.
He had touched a pair of feet.
“Ch-Chief, hello… hahaha…” Aqi looked up and was met with Tuoba Jingyao’s handsome, sun-kissed face. He gave an awkward laugh and tugged at Rong Ningjing behind him.
Say something! I don’t know what to say anymore. Aqi silently pleaded for help from Rong Ningjing.
Rong Ningjing noticed that Tuoba Jingyao didn’t seem angry, so she asked, “Chief, is Tang Tang here? We came to ask if he still wants to play…”
In just one short hour, Bai Tang had already won over all the kids in the tribe. Everyone wanted to be on his team—after all, if you teamed up with Bai Tang in a snowball fight, victory was basically guaranteed.
“Come in,” Tuoba Jingyao said as he lifted the tent flap and turned back inside.
Rong Ningjing and Aqi exchanged a glance: Should we go in?
We should. The chief invited us.
Alright then.
As soon as they entered the tent, they were enveloped by the warmth radiating from the stove. Within moments, the snow on their clothes melted into water, dampening their garments and making them feel a bit uncomfortable.
Bai Tang was sitting on the bed while Tuoba Jingyao helped him brush his hair. Once his hair was tidied, he put on a fluffy hat, bundled up in warm layers, threw on a cloak, and finally slipped into his fuzzy boots. Fully geared up—mission accomplished.
Smiling, Bai Tang said to them, “Let’s go. I’m all ready now. We can start the snowball fight!”
Before the two could even express their delight, the boy added a sentence that sent a chill down their spines: “Ah Yao is coming with us too~”
Aqi: No… no way.
Rong Ningjing: Oh crap.
The two looked at Tuoba Jingyao in disbelief. “Chief… you’re joining us too?” Their smiles were stiff and uneasy.
“Yes,” Tuoba Jingyao replied calmly. “I’m quite interested in this snowball fight of yours.”
A snowball fight—true to its name—was a battle in which both sides used snow as their weapon.
Tuoba Jingyao suddenly thought of a great way to train his tribe even in winter: snowball fights. It could help improve their reaction speed and adaptability.
Everything starts small and grows—Tuoba Jingyao didn’t expect anyone to learn real combat skills just from playing snowball fights. But while the snowfall was still light, he saw it as a good opportunity for physical training.
With Tuoba Jingyao joining the game, everyone wanted to be on his team. After all, if you followed the chief, you were guaranteed to win.
Seeing this, Rong Ningjing realized their team was losing its advantage. To balance the two sides, she quickly pulled Bai Tang onto her team. With Bai Tang around, Tuoba Jingyao would surely hold back a little—at the very least, he wouldn’t dare throw snowballs at him.
Rong Ningjing had received a higher education in the modern world—she might not have mastered all of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, but she knew a few.
She placed Bai Tang in front of the final stronghold, convinced that Tuoba Jingyao wouldn’t have the heart to knock him down.
And sure enough—her strategy worked.
Tuoba Jingyao had devised a thorough battle plan, assigning roles to each person and methodically breaking through Rong Ningjing’s defenses. But when he reached the stronghold, he hesitated.
The rules of their snowball fight were simple: if you got knocked down and fell into the snow, you were considered “eliminated” and out of the game.
Even though the snow was thick, lying down in it was still freezing cold.
While Tuoba Jingyao hesitated, Bai Tang had already started shaping a large snowball and hurled it straight at him.
Caught off guard, Tuoba Jingyao took a direct hit.
Since he hadn’t fallen yet, a second and then a third snowball flew at him.
Tuoba Jingyao laughed as he dodged, slowly advancing toward Bai Tang.
Just as Bai Tang finished making another snowball and was about to throw it, Tuoba Jingyao suddenly vanished from sight.
He looked around in confusion—then suddenly, a hand grabbed the wrist holding his snowball.
Tuoba Jingyao had somehow appeared right next to him. “Ah Yao’s breaking the rules~”
“The rules didn’t say you can’t grab people…” Tuoba Jingyao replied, snatching the snowball and tossing it aside. Then he scooped Bai Tang up and took off running.
Meanwhile, Aqi, the squad leader of Tuoba Jingyao’s assault team, shouted to the children behind him, “Charge——!”
On Rong Ningjing’s side, their strongest defender had been abducted by the enemy chief. The stronghold fell, and Rong Ningjing and Bai Tang’s team was defeated.
“Alright, alright, we lost. Give Bai Tang back!” Rong Ningjing called out.
Tuoba Jingyao carried Bai Tang back to his team’s base and declared, “Nope. You lost. Tang Tang is going to be my camp wife now.”
Aqi, not wanting to back down, shouted foolishly, “Wait—can we do that? Let’s go again! This time I’ll be the decoy! I want Tang Tang to be my camp wife!”
Tuoba Jingyao narrowed his eyes. “Denied. Snowball fight’s over. Game’s done. Everyone go home for dinner.”
Without waiting for a response, Tuoba Jingyao grabbed Bai Tang and ran off, leaving the others stunned before they finally burst into laughter.
“The chief’s jealous, right? He totally is, right?!”
Author’s Note:
Tuoba Jingyao: Tang Tang is mine.
Bai Tang (munching on the nuts his husband gave him): Mhm~