The courtyard was quiet again for a long moment. Bai Su was also silent with his thoughts for some time, unable to recover.

“Actually, although we are grateful to Bai-daren, we have no intention of asking the Second Young Master to explain these so-called truths,” Yuan Du said suddenly.

Bai Su was taken aback and looked at Yuan Du in confusion. It seemed as if what Yuan Du wanted to say next was the focus of the night. 

Everyone who was eavesdropping was also in a daze. There was more?

Huo Fenglie glanced at Liu Zhenqing, and Liu Zhenqing’s eyes flashed. They both thought of what Du Dongfeng had done secretly.

Yuan Du nodded toward Du Dongfeng.

Du Dongfeng turned around and went into a room. He came back out holding a pile of account books and placed them in front of Bai Su.

“We already live a comfortable life, and the officials involved in the original tax fraud case have been dismissed one after another. Only Magistrate Yao was considered a hidden accomplice at that time. He seemed to have a backer behind him, so he stayed in office, and after all these years, he was content with his lot. It was not convenient for my son Dongfeng to serve as an official, so he became a government servant. However, just two years ago, we discovered that officials in Tongmao Prefecture had begun to embezzle tax money again.” Yuan Du said this with great indignation. After all, it was due to this corruption that his family’s destiny was ruined.

“Embezzling tax money?” Bai Yu said in shock. 

He Lan and Qin Yu frowned to themselves. After all, the emperor had strictly managed this area in recent years. There were few such rumors, and the common people of Tongmao Prefecture seemed to be doing well.

“That’s right, even though they did it covertly, I still noticed that something was wrong. Therefore, I have been asking Dongfeng to secretly investigate the taxes and keep a record book to collect evidence of their crimes. Much evidence has been collected, but we don’t know who we can trust now. Who should it be given to? I knew that the Second Young Master was here to investigate the Imperial Examination fraud case, so I asked my son to secretly observe your character. We don’t believe in those other officials, but we believed in Bai-daren, so we can only leave these to the Second Young Master and hope that he can help.”

When Yuan Du finished speaking, he led his son to salute Bai Su.

Bai Su quickly supported Yuan Du and made a deeper salute himself.

“This junior is naturally obligated to take care of this. I would like to thank Yuan-daren for helping to clear up my confusion. I also respect Yuan-daren for working on behalf of Great Zhou even though he is not in his position.”

Yuan Du also cupped his hands in obeisance.

Bai Su raised his head and asked the last doubt in his heart: “I have one more question.”

“Please speak.”

“What about Prefect Cheng?” Bai Su asked at once. “Is he trustworthy?”

Yuan Du looked slightly uncomfortable. “I only know that Bai-daren appreciated his talent and regarded him as a confidant, so he wrote a letter of recommendation for him, which allowed him to directly serve as an official. The two could be regarded as good friends with close ties. At the outset, when Bai-daren was dealing with the corrupt officials here and secretly investigating the tax fraud case, he also knew about it. Then something happened to Bai-daren, and Cheng-daren stayed behind closed doors for a long time. He was probably mourning. Later, he became an honest official and can be said to have the best reputation in Tongmao Prefecture. This time, whether it was the corruption case we were investigating privately or the Imperial Examination case, he was uninvolved in it and extremely upright.”

Du Dongfeng also said: “I think he is a good official, but he seems to be quite prejudiced against Prime Minister Liu because of Bai-daren’s death. There is nothing that can be done. The reason why we didn’t hand over the evidence to him is because he is in poor health and seems likely to fall ill at any time. Moreover, his official position and background are not enough to suppress Magistrate Yao.”

With this said, everything made sense.

Afterward, Du Dongfeng quietly sent Bai Su back, promising that if he ever had any questions, he could come to him.

When Bai Su sat down, he said, “Come in, everyone.”

After a moment, He Lan and Qin Yu appeared in the house, as well as Huo Fenglie with Liu Zhenqing in his arms. 

Although Bai Su had no martial talent, he knew his brothers well and had an intuition that they must be there.

Sure enough, as soon as they appeared, Qin Yu and He Lan discussed with Bai Su what they had just heard. First the truth from back then, and then the tax fraud case that had appeared just now. As people from the Jinyiwei and Donchang, they naturally had a lot of suspicions to explore.

But Huo Fenglie and Liu Zhenqing focused all of their attention on the evidence brought back by Bai Su.

The two of them exchanged glances, and Lui Zhenqing smiled. They didn’t need to bother searching, as the evidence in their hands was nearly complete and took little effort to get.

“It seems that Yuan-daren is still as skilled as when he was young,” Liu Zhenqing said with a smile.

When Du Dongfeng recorded the ledgers at the beginning, he was probably going back to show them to his father.

“Hey, what’s going on with you two? Why didn’t you react at all to the matter of Prime Minister Liu?” He Lan had talked about it for half a day, but when he saw that the two key people didn’t respond, he couldn’t help but call out.

The two of them turned around. Bai Su looked at Huo Fenglie and kept silent.

Huo Fenglie said nothing and looked at Liu Zhenqing.

Liu Zhenqing smiled awkwardly and said: “I’ve lost my memory and I don’t know what to say, but it feels pretty good to know that my distant cousin was not as bad as everyone says.”

He Lan said speechlessly: “Don’t you want to clear his name?”

“What’s the point, he’s dead. He also doesn’t have any descendants who need his reputation. The only ones who were slightly implicated are our Imperial merchant Liu family, but we were doing fine before. Not only did the emperor not embarrass us, but he also took good care of us.” Liu Zhenqing said appropriately, “And didn’t Yuan-daren say it too? It’s difficult to exonerate his name.”

Everyone couldn’t help but choke at Liu Zhenqing’s words. This relative was so open-minded, and their entanglement seemed to be in vain.

“Let’s talk about this tax case.”

Liu Zhenqing and Huo Fenglie had originally been investigating it privately, but because of Du Dongfeng the case directly surfaced, which freed them from having to hide it and allowed them to act openly.

“This evidence is enough to convict those officials to death,” Bai Su said.

Qin Yu only glanced at it and frowned. “What a coincidence.”

Bai Su also nodded and said: “It is a coincidence.” 

“Why do you say that?” He Lan asked curiously.

“Other than Magistrate Yao, all of the corrupt officials are involved in the Imperial Examination fraud,” Qin Yu said with disdain. “Did you not even read the dossier?”

He Lan gave a hehe and said: “Come on, you just looked at it. But you’re right, it really is a coincidence. It can only be said that corrupt officials are greedy and will take money wherever they can get it.”

“But there are so many people.” Bai Su and Liu Zhenqing had a keen idea.

It seemed as if someone had deliberately switched the crime for them and pushed them out to be punished.

After all, even though the charges were different, they were both still capital crimes.

And another point, as for the money they embezzled, where did it go? The officials’ homes were searched after the Imperial Examination case, and the amounts found were completely inconsistent.

“I’ll interrogate them again,” Qin Yu said.

He Lan also said: “We must interrogate them meticulously. I didn’t expect these old boys to be so good at hiding. Even when they’re about to die, they don’t have any good principles.”

Perhaps it wasn’t because they didn’t want to speak, but that they didn’t dare to speak. These few people were unaware, but Huo Fenglie and Liu Zhenqing knew that there were rebels behind the tax case. It didn’t matter if they died, but if their families were implicated, it would be over for them.

Bai Su said: “Someone needs to keep an eye on Magistrate Yao.”

He Lan rolled up his sleeves for battle and said: “I’ll go and keep a good eye on that big fish.”

Huo Fenglie said: “I will contact the emperor at once and inform him of the situation here.”

At this point, at least the tax case could be closed, and if the same people were involved, the Imperial Examination case could be solved along with it. Once an Imperial Edict was issued, everything would be settled.

Bai Su suddenly looked at Huo Fenglie and said: “Zhanyuan, Yuan-daren’s family…..”

Huo Fenglie said directly: “The case is over, and rewards will be given based on merit. I will note down Du Dongfeng’s achievements. If they are willing, Du Dongfeng may enter the military camp and the Du family may return to the capital.”

It was not possible for the original family, but it was possible for the Du family. Joining the court was not a possibility, but they could be rewarded with enlistment in the army.

Then Du Dongfeng’s talents would not be submerged, and Yuan-daren could once more find his own place to shine in the Huo family army.

Hearing this, Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but look at Huo Fenglie with a smile.

The plan was decided, and everyone got busy. Although Bai Su still went to Cheng Xi to assist him, his focus had completely shifted.

“What has Yuzhou been busy with recently?” Cheng Xi asked straightforwardly.

Bai Su could only say vaguely: “Nothing, ah, I’m just a little curious about whether these officials have committed crimes other than the Imperial Examination fraud.”

Cheng Xi’s eyes flashed slightly, and when he was about to speak, he suddenly coughed again.

Bai Su was startled and quickly stepped forward to help settle him down, but in the next second, he saw blood overflow from the hand covering Cheng Xi’s mouth.

“Brother Cheng!” Bai Su exclaimed in shock. “I’ll go get a doctor!”

Cheng Xi grabbed Bai Su and said: “Yuzhou needn’t take the trouble. I know my own body.”

Bai Su said with a frown: “Brother Cheng, if you don’t look after your body well, my brother will scold you from the afterlife.”

Cheng Xi looked absent-minded: “It would be good for him to scold me.”

Seeing Cheng Xi’s infatuated look, although Bai Su was already clear on this, he still felt very uncomfortable. After speaking, he turned around to get Cheng Xi’s cloak, but found that it was damp and felt like crushed ice to the touch. In fact, he had noticed more than once that the cloak Cheng Xi wore was a bit strange.

Bai Su couldn’t help but say doubtfully: “Brother Cheng, your clothes are not warm at all. It shouldn’t be like this in early spring…..”

Cheng Xi said: “My residence is rather cold. Perhaps the servants haven’t been careful.”

“Brother Cheng, with your body, how can you stay in such a cold place? You had better rest for a few days. Perhaps…..perhaps things will be settled soon,” Bai Su couldn’t help but say.

Cheng Xi’s gaze gradually intensified, and he suddenly said: “Yes, it is time for me to rest. By the way, those paintings are nearly finished. I’ll send someone to invite you to pick them up when the time comes.”

Bai Su smiled lightly and said: “I’ll expect you at any time.”

Soon, news came from Qin Yu that those officials had been recruited. They had all followed Magistrate Yao’s instigation to embezzle tax money, but only scraped off a little bit, with Magistrate Yao taking most of it. After their arrests, Magistrate Yao had sent someone to insinuate that they could not disclose the tax fraud matter, or their families’ lives would be in danger. Thus, they didn’t dare to say anything.

That night, He Lan came back to Huo Fenglie and said: “Magistrate Yao is trying to flee.”

It was unknown if Magistrate Yao had sensed that something was wrong, but he had already arranged for his family to leave Yao Manor one after another. He Lan was worried that they would take away any evidence, and rushed back to report.

Huo Fenglie had already dispatched soldiers and horses nearby for this case, so upon hearing this, he sent people to arrest him.

Soon, everyone who left Magistrate Yao’s manor was captured. However, they hadn’t brought anything useful with them, and were unaware of what had happened. Magistrate Yao had just suddenly told them to leave.

There was no other way, so the soldiers immediately surrounded the magistrate’s manor overnight and captured Magistrate Yao.

An Imperial Edict was also sent from the capital to conduct a thorough investigation.

The next day, things changed in Tongmao Prefecture. The Imperial Examination case had hidden the tax fraud case, which was simply a shocking secret.

Magistrate Yao was placed under strict guard. After all, the lesson from Yanqiu Prefecture was still fresh in their minds. This time, Magistrate Yao could not be allowed to die inexplicably.

Far away in the capital, the emperor also issued a secret order and sent someone to take care of the current Minister of Revenue.

That’s right, the Minister of Revenue was Magistrate Yao’s backer.

However, when the emperor’s people set out, the Minister of Revenue had already committed suicide by poison. They were a step too late.

On the other side, Huo Fenglie was about to lead the others to interrogate Magistrate Yao. Bai Su initially intended to follow, but didn’t expect that Cheng Xi would send someone to deliver a letter at this time, asking him to pick up the paintings from his house.

Bai Su wanted to go another day, but the visitor said that Cheng Xi was unwell and feared that he would be unable to entertain him in the future, so he asked for Bai Su to go today.

Worried that Cheng Xi’s health was getting worse, Bai Su went to the appointment.

But as soon as he boarded Cheng Xi’s sedan chair, he noticed an aroma inside and gradually became dizzy.

When he woke up again, he found himself tied to a chair on the far side of a main hall.

Before he could react, Bai Su was shocked by the red silk decorations with the “happiness” character draped all over the main hall.

And what shocked him even more was that there was a person sitting paralyzed in the main seat.

The man was wearing wedding robes and a red veil. His face could not be seen, but it could be inferred from his body shape that he was male.

But cold air radiated out from his body, so cold that even Bai Su could feel it.

That man showed no response and remained motionless no matter how Bai Su shouted. There were only drops of water dripping from the chair he was sitting on.

Bai Su didn’t understand the current situation at all, and when he saw no reaction from that person, he began to look around. After a moment, he saw that the paintings decorating the walls of the main hall were his brother’s work, both the paintings and the calligraphy.

Just when Bai Su was dumbfounded, he heard footsteps. He turned back to look and saw Cheng Xi wearing a groom’s wedding clothes, walking in with a smile on his face. The expression on his face really was a smile, but it was also eerie.

“Brother Cheng…..what are you…..doing?” Bai Su had hoped at first that it was some kind of misunderstanding, but the moment he saw Cheng Xi, his disillusionment was shattered.

Cheng Xi was all smiles as he said: “I’m inviting you to our wedding banquet. I have no relatives left, but it would be best for his relative to be here.”

Bai Su regarded him in astonishment, then looked at the unmoving man. He suddenly had a chilling feeling.

Cheng Xi slowly walked up to the man and embraced him, trying to help him stand up.

But with this movement, the red veil slipped off.

At that moment, Bai Su’s pupils shrank and his entire body went cold.

At the same time, Liu Zhenqing and the others met Magistrate Yao.

Magistrate Yao had already come to terms with reality. He looked at the visitors and sneered: “What, the Second Young Master of the Bai family isn’t coming?”

Such abrupt words left everyone puzzled.

“Why are you asking about him?” Qin Yu took the lead to say.

“Isn’t it because of Bai Yu that Cheng Xi worked so hard to bring me to this point?” Magistrate Yao said sardonically.

It seemed that Magistrate Yao wasn’t aware of how he had ended up like this, and was completely convinced that it was Cheng Xi who did it. This statement made Liu Zhenqing suspicious.

Could it be that Cheng Xi was behind the Imperial Examination fraud case?

He Lan said contemptuously: “Old boy, it seems that you were also involved in Bai-daren’s death?”

Magistrate Yao suddenly burst out laughing. “Who says Bai Yu died that year?”

As soon as he said this, everyone in the cell went quiet and the expression on every face changed.

Liu Zhenqing felt as if his ears were ringing. This was an answer he had never expected. He took a step forward at once and said in a tone of disbelief: “He’s still alive?”

“Of course he’s dead.” Magistrate Yao’s words instantly extinguished the fire that suddenly rose in Liu Zhenqing’s heart.

“Just two years ago, he committed suicide in Cheng Xi’s residence.”

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Chapter Fifty << Table of Contents >> Chapter Fifty-Two

The forest land had long been dyed dark red by the blood of many. The fishy smell emanated from the depths of the earth, nearly solidifying into a wet, sticky substance in the air. It made every normal person in it feel like vomiting, but at the same time, it attracted a large number of similarly wet and rotten venomous snakes, which were eager to make a move. Their filthy mucus-covered heads emerged from their holes, green-eyed and fanged, spitting out saliva.

Peering through the looking glass, Gao Lin saw countless soft red bulges sprouting from the ground, densely packed like bamboo shoots. Goosebumps immediately appeared on his back, and he kicked his horse in the belly with one foot, rushing over. Although Liang Shu was wearing the poison-repelling powder prepared by Liu Xian’an, it seemed to be completely useless against these snakes. They first entangled themselves at Mu Zhe’s side, and then slowly climbed up his calves. At first glance, he looked as if he was wearing a wriggling suit of armor. 

Chang Xiaoqiu’s face paled, and he nearly vomited. Although there were many evil cults with evil ways, this scene was too disgusting. He stood up and went to step forward and help, but Cheng Suyue stopped him and said in a heavy voice: “You can’t evade those snakes. Go face the enemy in the west.”

“But the prince…..” Chang Xiaoqiu hesitated, but nodded in the end. “Okay.”

Dragging his injured leg, he got on his horse and went to the west side. At the same time, he didn’t forget to look back, just in time to catch sight of Liang Shu’s earth shattering sword.

Powerful internal force swept across, shaking the whole mountain as if it was set aflame by fireworks. Small red snakes fell from the air with a pitter-patter, blood splattering. And this clearly angered the snakes even more. Without even needing Mu Zhe to urge them, they took the initiative to lunge toward Liang Shu!

“Your Highness!” Gao Lin arrived in a timely manner and swept away the rain of snakes with his sword. Mu Zhe, covered in poison, moved his feet and slowly walked toward the two of them. A stiff smile appeared on his face, as evil and abnormal as the powerful Baifu Sect he wielded. Liang Shu didn’t wait for the opponent to get close, and took the lead to attack with his sword. He looked like a swimming dragon, leaping and turning in the air, and the cold light in his hand slashed straight at Mu Zhe’s head!

With a loud clang, the sword in Mu Zhe’s hand was knocked away. His arm went slightly numb and his whole body flew backwards. His feet left deep grooves in the ground, and the moment he stopped, the snakes on his body shot out like sharp arrows in the opposite direction!

A new batch of snakes quickly climbed onto Mu Zhe’s body.

Gao Lin was forced to evacuate temporarily due to the overwhelming poison. Liang Shu cut down a small tree, rolled up the crown of the tree with the blade of his sword, and swept it in a circular motion. The tree was immediately covered in venomous snakes. He didn’t pause for a moment. After clearing the obstacles, he directly attacked Mu Zhe again. Two peerless weapons collided. Those venomous snakes took the opportunity to crawl along the body of the sword, and with a twist of his wrist, Liang Shu wrung them to pieces one after another.

Mu Zhe pushed forward violently!

A strange internal force penetrated the body of the sword, like an invisible sharp arrow heading toward the veins! Liang Shu did not retreat, but attacked head-on. His internal strength was so strong that he could almost destroy a huge cliff, and he would not be forced back by this old poison now. As expected, new blood oozed from the corners of Mu Zhe’s mouth, but he had also learned a new secret.

“You are still injured,” Mu Zhe said. He smiled dryly and sinisterly. “You are seeking your own death!”

As his words fell, his whole body shook. The Gu snakes understood his order and immediately straightened their bodies, lunging toward the opposite side! Liang Shu glanced from the corner of his eye and saw that there were at least a thousand identical Gu creatures on the ground. Killing them in batches was not an option, so he changed his strategy and stepped on Mu Zhe’s shoulder while dodging. With a swish, he removed one of the opponent’s arms.

The smell of blood instantly became stronger. Mu Zhe no longer felt pain. He opened his other arm and pounced on Liang Shu like a mutilated vulture, the Gu snakes following his blood closely. Finally, one wrapped around Liang Shu’s leg and bared its thin fangs.

“Your Highness!” Cheng Suyue warned loudly.

Liang Shu knocked it away with his sword, but was hit in the chest by Mu Zhe. The old wound to his heart combined with the new one caused a sweet flavor in his throat. When he landed, he nearly lost his balance and had to insert his sword deep into the ground.

Cheng Suyue and Gao Lin tried to come help, but were repelled by the snakes driven by Mu Zhe. Liang Shu raised his head with gritted teeth. Clenching the hilt of his sword, he used the last of his strength to swing hard!

Boom!

Rubble and dust rose up into the sky, obscuring the eyes of everyone present. Mu Zhe looked at Liang Shu among the snakes and continued to laugh hoarsely. He took out a jade whistle from his sleeve and was about to blow it, when his entire person made a bang, as if he had been hit by a huge boulder falling from the sky!

Feng Xiaojin dragged him, breaking countless trees along the way. Gu snakes crawled toward his body one after another, biting through skin and flesh, but Feng Xiaojin seemed not to notice the pain at all. The wind blew off his silver mask, and except for his beautiful fox eyes, his entire face was covered in blood and wounds. Mu Zhe stared at him with wide eyes. Blood gushed out of his mouth, and he roared in pain and disbelief, saying: “You….you are not…..”

Feng Xiaojin put his face close to his, foreign him to clearly see the ugly face dripping with blood, his smile pale and taunting.

“You will never have her again,” He said viciously. “Even when we get to the underworld, this face will be completely gone.”

Mu Zhe said in a panic: “No…..no!

He reached out his hand to heal the wounds on the other person’s face, but was pierced through the heart with a sword. At last, under the bloody gaze of his “lover,” he died.

Feng Xiaojin tossed his limp body to the ground and staggered away. Then he knelt on the ground, lowered his head, and died as well.

Cheng Suyue helped Liang Shu leave the group of snakes, while Gao Lin brought oil from nearby and lit the forest on fire.

The disgusting smell of roasting flesh spread far to the other side of the forest. Liu Xian’an looked up at the faint red light hovering above and was a little anxious. The Imperial guard very much believed in the abilities of his prince, but just as he was about to go up and try to persuade him, the silver-white war horse had already galloped away with only a shadow left behind.

“……”

“C-chase, chase him!”

Liu Xian’an galloped his horse and raised his whip, riding the war horse at a speed that was like riding a dragon. In a clearing, Liang Shu was regulating his breath with his eyes closed. His qi and blood were blocked, and his heart was in severe pain. He could hardly sit up straight until he heard Cheng Suyue’s words in his ear: “Yi, Second Young Master Liu?”

Thus, Gao Lin watched helplessly as his family’s prince, who had just been beaten to the point of vomiting blood, suddenly stood up calmly, not forgetting to take his sleeve and wipe his face with it.

“……” What kind of martial arts miracle was this?

“Your Highness!” Liu Xian’an dismounted and ran over hastily. “Why is there fire?”

“Mu Zhe attracted a lot of Gu, so we’re burning them all.” Liang Shu caught him and said, “Mu Zhe is dead. Feng Xiaojin is dead. Our battle is finally over.”

Liu Xian’an pinched his mouth open.

Gao Lin: “……”

Cheng Suyue: “……”

The Imperial guards: “……”

Liang Shu leaned back slightly: “How about we kiss when we go back.”

Liu Xian’an asked: “Did you vomit blood?”

Liang Shu raised his eyebrows slightly, trying to muddle through. He had wiped his face, but he couldn’t rinse his mouth.

Liu Xian’an took his wrist. The more he tested his pulse, the more frightened he became. He raised his head and looked at Liang Shu, who was still smiling indifferently: “Just kidding. I….. ahem…..might have a slight problem.”

He couldn’t tease anymore, and his vision went black. If not for Liu Xian’an’s support, Liang Shu would have fallen to the ground. But even though he was sitting down in disarray, Liang Shu did not forget to regain ground for himself, saying firmly with a frown: “The old injury flared up, it’s unimportant.”

“Unimportant?”

“Important, important.”

When it came to coaxing his wife, His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was very obedient. He even ignored that there was a circle of subordinates around him, buried his head in the other’s shoulder, and fainted in advance to avoid being scolded more.

Gao Lin was in awe: “Second Young Master Liu is still wearing his armor. Doesn’t our prince feel uncomfortable?”

Cheng Suyue: “Who knows, maybe he doesn’t mind.”

Liu Xian’an called for a stretcher and carried this person out of the dense forest.

The evil cult that had been entrenched in the southwest for many years was uprooted by the Yan army. This naturally didn’t mean that the war was over and that they could completely settle down. There were still many related matters that needed to be dealt with in the future, such as counting the property that the Baifu Sect had collected over the years, hunting down the remaining cult believers, and purging the southwest officialdom based on the list of these believers.

In short, there were many things that were messy, trivial, and required a lot of time and energy.

Gao Lin was really going bald. He grabbed his sister and discussed in detail whether the prince was actually injured so seriously. Although he looks extremely weak and haggard every time we go to visit, as if he couldn’t lift half a chicken, I saw that Second Young Master Liu doesn’t look very worried, ah. Do you think there is a possibility that our prince is just pretending because he doesn’t want to work?

Cheng Suyue replied: “I think so too.”

“Then this is too much.” Gao Lin complained with blood and tears, “It’s been two months. Our prince has been lying in bed for two full months. When he only had half a breath left in the northwest, he only stayed in bed for ten days. How can he leave everything to me now?”

“There was no Second Young Master Liu in the northwest,” Cheng Suyue said. “Forget it, the prince has been busy for many years and finally found some fun that isn’t fighting. You just be magnanimous and do all the work. Besides, the prince isn’t doing nothing. Didn’t he go to the warehouse in a wheelchair to count the money the day before yesterday?”

Gao Lin corrected: “That isn’t called counting money, but admiring money.”

He had only looked around, and then left with satisfaction.

Just as they were talking, Ku You happened to step through the courtyard door. Covering his eyes in a timely manner, he said: “I’m still afraid of light. I really can’t read words, so I’ll go ahead and go back to sleep.”

Gao Lin: “…..You get back here!”

You don’t have a wife, so what qualifications do you have to not work?

Liang Shu reclined in bed, carefully thinking about how to spend the money, and then quickly put on an ill appearance as soon as his sweetheart entered the room.

When he was in the dense forest that day, his qi and blood flowed backward, and his muscles were damaged. He had lost most of his life, but still had to hold on. Now that his injuries had been healed, he had become so delicate that he couldn’t be blown by a puff of wind. In the late summer and early autumn weather, he would recline in bed and cough a couple of times when he had nothing to do. In Gao Lin’s words, the palace empress did not have this sort of behavior after childbirth.

Liu Xian’an didn’t expose him, and was too lazy to expose him, because the injury was not fully healed yet. After watching him take medicine, he stuffed a candy into his mouth.

Liang Shu pulled this person over and fed him the bittersweet taste between his lips. He licked his darling again and asked indistinctly: “Are your brother and sister coming back soon?”

Liu Xian’an said: “En, counting the days, it should be soon.”

After the Yan army’s victory, Liu Xianche stayed by Liang Shu’s side until he was out of danger, and then went into the forest with his sister to study the various exotic flowers, grasses, poisonous insects, and fungi. The people of the Scimitar Silver Moon Tribe guided them, working diligently along the way. Liu Nanyuan asked secretly: “Ge, you’re not planning to marry another family’s girl. Isn’t it bad for us to do this?”

Liu Xianche said with a dignified expression: “Then you should work faster so that we can leave the mountain earlier.”

Liu Nanyuan, carrying a small basket on her back, said “oh” and quickly ran to continue collecting herbs.

She was determined not to waste this opportunity brought about by her elder brother’s good looks.

The disciples of Baihe Mountain Village also dug up herbs like crazy everywhere, endeavoring not to let their First Young Master be forced into marriage. In two months, sixty days, they collected hundreds of medicines and drew hundreds of illustrations. Then, under the leadership of their First Young Master, they respectfully said farewell to the people of the Scimitar Silver Moon Tribe. Because we have other things to do outside, we won’t stay as guests. Goodbye!

Their retreat was comparable to fleeing from a marriage.

Liu Nanyuan also ran with the team. As she ran, she thought, even Da-ge is like this. Sure enough, men are unreliable.

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Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Two << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Four

Mu Nanqiao’s body contained a light, woody fragrance, which mixed with the scent of vegetation on the hillside like a gentle breeze.

Lu Qi was not much shorter than him. Looking over his shoulder, he took a furtive peek and found that Mu Nanqiao’s parents and the engineers had magically disappeared. Mu Chuanbai’s helpless voice could be heard on the hillside road.

“Mrs. Mu, you’re speeding, please drive slower……”

Lu Qi’s ears burned, and he buried his head in the crook of Mu Nanqiao’s shoulder. He raised his hand and patted that broad shoulder. 

“Okay.” He reminded in a whisper, “Uncle and Auntie are still waiting below…..”

“En, hold me for a while longer.” Mu Nanqiao tilted his head slightly and gingerly touched his forehead to the other’s hair. “You gave me a hug and held my hand, so when will you become my boyfriend?”

Lu Qi deliberately pretended to be confused: “If it’s like this already, does it make any difference?”

Mu Naniqao let him go, but didn’t move away, looking at him with deep eyes. His gaze fell on Lu Qi’s eyelashes, the bridge of his nose, and finally his lips. His Adam’s apple moved as he said: “No difference? You ask what you already know.”

He looked away and raised his hand to rub Lu Qi’s hair: “It’s okay, I won’t force you. It’s fine if we reach the next level when the flowers bloom in the ruins next year.”

Lu Qi: …..

That might not be the case.

Lu Qi let out a long sigh and whispered: “I feel really sorry. It’s just that person back then…..”

Mu Nanqiao nodded understandingly, knowing he was talking about that idiot Lin Yuan.

“That guy had been pursuing me for two months, and I agreed to date him because he brought me food.” Lu Qi lowered his head as if he had made a mistake. “But if you compare him…..ah, no, humans can’t be compared to dogs.”

Mu Nanqiao laughed out loud and raised his hand to tap the other’s forehead gently. “Didn’t he say he’d cooked it himself and drove halfway across the city to deliver it to you, and how difficult it was? But you never considered it, and it wasn’t you who asked him to deliver food.”

He rubbed Lu Qi’s soft hair. “You’re so kind, Lu Qi. So good and easily held hostage by morality. So I’m actually very happy that you’re willing to start as friends with me.”

“Rather than impatiently taking you into my hands, I would rather gather your heart little by little until you feel perfectly content, so that you can run toward me with joy…..” He paused as if he was joking, but his fox eyes were full of firm tenderness: “You really need to think carefully. Once you take my hand, you can’t let go.”

“So you and Lin Yuan are different, ah…..” Li Qi’s small animal radar dinged a warning, and he murmured in a low voice: “When I was with him, I didn’t think too much about it. It was just a relationship, and if it wasn’t right, we would break up. But you…..”

Sometimes he couldn’t read Mu Nanqiao’s eyes.

They looked like a calm blue sea that could smoothly hold up a small boat and let it drift with the slow waves to any corner of the world.

But under the sea, where the sun didn’t shine, there were deep, cold currents constantly surging. This sea was actually bottomless.

Lu Qi was a slow person, but in some aspects, he was surprisingly sensitive. He was not afraid of diving into the deep sea, but he worried that he would not be able to accurately dig out the pearls buried in the sand on the seabed.

So he was moved, but also hesitated.

“That’s right, I haven’t looked at the birthday gift you gave me yet.” Mu Nanqiao looked at the small dark blue box in his palm and asked with a smile, “What is this? An engagement ring?”

Lu Qi breathed a small sigh of relief when he changed the topic. “It’s not. You open it and take a look.”

Mu Nanqiao opened the lid.

Inside was a pair of cufflinks.

With platinum as the base, two small paintings were embedded into the shiny metal. Mu Nanqiao carefully picked one up and inspected it in the sunlight.

One was the starry sky and the other was the ocean, in small miniature circles. Although the paintings were small, the details were perfect if one looked closely. Whether it was a hair-thin meteor or millet-like wave, they were all drawn with great care.

Seeing Mu Nanqiao staring intently, Lu Qi rubbed his nose with a bit of embarrassment. “I learned miniature painting with my senior in university, but I’m not very good at it…..”

What’s more, the birthday gift given by Mrs. Talia was too explosive, and couldn’t be surpassed by ordinary people.

But this kind of small, extremely detailed painting actually consumed a lot of effort. Mu Nanqiao fastened the small box and decided to wear them on the cuffs of his outfit during their wedding.

“Thank you, I like it very much.” He motioned for Lu Qi to go down the hillside with him. The two of them walked side by side down the stone hillside steps. Mu Nanqiao asked: “How long did it take to paint them? This is such a small thing, too tiring for the eyes.”

Lu Qi rubbed his eyes. “Fortunately, it didn’t take long.”

The final successful ones really didn’t take long, but there were several previous ones that failed before the layer was finally sealed.

The two descended the hill and saw Mu Chuanbai and Talia waiting below. Talia’s beautiful brown eyes stared at Lu Qi’s lips for a moment, and then she turned to her son and said: ““Дорогой, я немного в тебе разочарована”.”^[1]

Mu Nanqiao: ……

Lu Qi tugged on Mu Nanqiao’s sleeve in confusion: “What did Auntie say?”

“That you’re good-looking, and she likes you very much,” Mu Nanqiao said.

Talia rolled her eyes, wondering how much face she should save for her son, although she indeed liked this boy. She pushed Mu Chuanbai, who wore a half-smile, and said to Lu Qi in a friendly manner: “Xiao Lu, you must be hungry after working hard all morning. Auntie has prepared a lot of delicious food for you.”

“Meow~” Xiao Sanhua, who had been left in the car, was frightened by the commotion just now and stretched her little paws in the carrier uneasily. Talia saw this and said with a smile: “Oh, and this little darling, bluefin tuna was delivered just this morning. I wonder if you like it.”

Lu Qi said to Mu Nanqiao in a low voice, a little embarrassed: “Um…..don’t give such good food to Xiao Sanhua. If she eats like this, she’ll become picky.”

“Okay.” Mu Nanqiao turned to Talia and told her.

Talia waved her hand nonchalantly: “Okay, then we’ll give it to you to eat.”

Mu Nanqiao: ……

Lu Qi: ……

On the way back, Mu Chuanbai got into the car with the help of his bodyguard. Seeing that Lu Qi’s eyes were full of concern that he didn’t dare to show openly, he gave a gentle smile: “I’ve made you laugh.”

“No way.” Lu Qi’s round eyes were earnest. “I watched your interview before coming here. You’re an amazing person.”

“Oh…..” Mu Chuanbai said with great benevolence and affection. “Good boy, there is not a word of truth in those interviews. Don’t believe it next time.”

Lu Qi: “You’re really…..humorous and witty.”

Talia and Mu Chuanbai got into Mu Nanqiao’s car. Lu Qi remained sitting in the passenger seat. As they passed by the ruined house, various heavy-duty construction vehicles drove in one after another to clean up the enormous amount of rubble.

Mu Chuanbai took out his mobile phone and recorded a video through the window, saying with a smile: “Getting rid of the old and welcoming the new. Your grandfather would stand up directly if he saw this video.”

Lu Qi: ……

He remembered that during a certain interview, Mu Chuanbai’s eyes reddened several times when he mentioned his paralyzed father…..

Yes, it was all an illusion.

However, Old Mr. Mu once ignored and even allowed his second son’s family’s bullying and abuse of Mu Nanqiao. The consequences of betrayal and separation were well-deserved. Lu Qi thought about it and felt rather relieved.

Mu Nanqiao lived in another villa community, in the opposite direction of the old Mu family house, with the longest straight line between them. This showed how much they disliked that place.

Lunch was indeed sumptuous. The long black slate dining table was filled with all kinds of delicacies—most of them cooked by a chef hired from a hotel. Mrs. Talia’s first creation was a Russian vegetable platter, consisting of radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers, and green vegetables that resembled Northeastern pickles. 

Mu Nanqiao whispered to Lu Qi, who was sitting next to him: “Russian food is heavy in oil and salt, and high in calories. My mom stopped cooking for many years in order to stay in shape. She personally cooked two dishes for you today, which is…..” 

Mu Nanqiao’s expression was difficult to describe.

Lu Qi whispered: “If Auntie made it, I will eat it even if my stomach is perforated!”

“Детка^[2], although your courage is commendable, what my mom did just doesn’t look good, it’s not sulfuric acid…..” Mu Nanqiao laughed in spite of himself. “There’s no need to act as if you’re facing a formidable enemy.”

Lu Qi blinked, and was about to ask him about the Russian word, but Mrs. Talia had already brought out the second Russian dish from the kitchen.

It was one black, burnt, short, fat cylinder.

Lu Qi at once earnestly picked up a small plate and said to Mu Nanqiao: “Ai, Auntie baked you a chocolate birthday cake? It looks good, ah……”

Mu Nanqiao took a deep breath. “It’s thousand-layer baked potato, with Spanish ham and cheese in it.”

Lu Qi: ……

Fortunately, the thousand-layer potato was just mushy. After cutting off the outer layer, the inside was still perfect. It was a delicious carbohydrate bomb.

Mu Chuanbai raised his glass in a graceful manner: “Happy birthday, son. Whatever your age, live a long, happy life.”

Mu Nanqiao didn’t buy it. “Where is your gift?”

“Oh, this…..” Mu Chuanbai thought, and then remembered something. “The shipment was late. But surprise, it’s always late.”

The father and son looked at each other, smiled, and clinked glasses gently.

Lu Qi felt like he was seeing two big foxes wagging their tails. And was the surprise from Mu Chuanbai just a delivery?

Mu Chuanbai returned to the company after lunch, but Talia had to perform as the lead of a dance troupe and would fly back to Russia in the afternoon. 

She stood on tiptoe and kissed the side of Lu Qi’s face, smiling enthusiastically: “My dear, will you go to my next show with Leonid next time? I will reserve the best spot for you.”

Lu Qi leaned down and hugged her with bright eyes: “It’s my honor.”

Talia turned and walked toward Mu Chuanbai.

Mu Nanqiao pulled Lu Qi away, but the little deer kept looking back: “Ah? Aren’t we going to send Auntie off?”

In his peripheral vision, Talia had already bent down, but then his vision dimmed. He was half-pulled into Mu Nanqiao’s arms, with his eyes covered. 

Mu Nanqiao half-pushed and half-hugged him to walk forward. The voice in his ear was low and smiling: “Listen to me, don’t look.”

Warm breath brushed against his earlobe, and Lu Qi blinked, his eyelashes brushing against Mu Nanqiao’s palm. 

He was a little unsure if he had been kissed just now, as light as a dandelion.

---

[1] “Darling, I’m a little disappointed in you.” ⮐

[2] Детка = Baby ⮐

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Chapter Twenty-Three << Table of Contents >> Chapter Twenty-Five

Under the Southwest Garrison’s attack, the dense forest was like a sieve leaking water everywhere. The believers of the Baifu Sect were washed away and scattered, and all of their checkpoints were utterly defeated. The ferocious beasts were repelled by Liang Shu’s giant crossbow, and the net of strange poisonous flowers and plants erected between the canyons was also removed by Ku You. Oil poured down like a waterfall, and with a boom, a sky-high flame was ignited!

The screams were endless. Liu Xian’an followed the military doctors who were moving the injured to a safe place in the rear. A-Ning said: “Young Master, you should go to the prince’s side. I will make arrangements here.”

“Okay.” Liu Xian’an handed him the medicine bag in his hand, mounted his horse, and turned around. He asked: “Where is the prince now?”

“Gray Jade Wall.” An Imperial guard said, “To the south. There is dense forest on the way, which may be dangerous. If you want to cross directly, you will need to be more cautious.”

Liu Xian’an ordered: “We’ll just go through the dense forest to save time.”

The silver-white war horse took him on its four hooves to lightly cross the withered vines and ancient trees in the forest, followed closely by the Imperial guards. The farther the group traveled in, the thicker the white miasma in the air became. Various poisonous insects, rats, and ants crawled away quickly into the fallen leaves. Venomous snakes coiled in the treetops, flicking their tongues with their big mouths open. Thick mucus flowed out of their mouths and they were greedy for prey, but after sensing the aroma of medicine on Liu Xian’an’s body, they all retreated and fled.

Ahead, a group of strange black birds were also frightened into flight.

An Imperial guard was keenly aware of the abnormality, and raised his hand to signal the entire team to stop. Liu Xian’an tightened the reins of his horse with a slight frown and listened carefully. There were people hiding in the woods, and they were not few in number. There were numerous rustling sounds, mixed together with the strange sound of the wind. Among them were the slight sounds of swords being unsheathed, and the deliberately suppressed heavy breathing of men.

Soon after, there were more footsteps, getting closer and closer!

The Imperial guards had a tacit understanding. They all drew their swords in unison, polished gold ringing with a cold light! At the same time, the people in the forest rushed out with a roar! This was a group of Baifu Sect followers. Perhaps they had been defeated and were trying to flee, or perhaps they were rushing elsewhere as support. In short, the two sides met on a narrow road in this quiet forest.

There were a lot of people on the other side. An Imperial guard stood guard in front of Liu Xian’an and asked sideways: “How will the young master deal with these people?”

Liu Xian’an let go of the horse’s reins and let the war horse take him two steps forward. Sunlight penetrated the ancient trees and fell on his silver-white battle armor, reflecting a halo of soft, shimmering light that made his whole person look more and more like beautiful jade. Those believers had never seen such a handsome figure, like an immortal in a painting. They stopped for a moment and hesitated to move forward. When one of them stepped back, he accidentally let go of the long sword in his hand, and it hit a large rock with a clang and startled him. His heart was tense, and his knees felt weak, so he simply knelt on the ground.

As soon as he knelt, the astute people around him who didn’t want to be beaten also knelt down with him. The worst thing that must be avoided while marching was the collapse of morale. Now the two sides had encountered each other for the first time, and before a word could be said, one side was already a head shorter than the other. What was there to fight for? Thus, another group of people abandoned their swords and surrendered. In the end, only those with hard bones and brains like elm wood were left still shouting “Baifu Buddha Mother,” but before they could finish the word “Buddha,” they were coldly cut off.

Liu Xian’an looked down at the other party in the sunshine and said with displeasure: “Not to mention whether your Buddha Mother really exists, even if she does, she is extremely greedy and ugly. From the moment she came into the world, she has disturbed the entire southwest, causing chaos and rebellion, deceived thousands of believers into neglecting work, and caused the originally fertile fields to be filled with weeds. Up to the destruction of the land and down to the disruption of four seasons, she is simply unethical and immoral to the extreme! Take a look at yourselves again. You are in your prime, but you have no families and no jobs, and spend your days cowering and hiding in the dense forest. Where are you still half a human being? The Baifu Buddha Mother should indeed bless you, because there are only so many fools in the southwest. As long as she has a bit of brains, she should know how to use you sparingly.”

His voice was as clear as a cold spring, his posture elegant when he cursed, and his words were as distinct as colliding jade. It was pleasant to the ear, but hearing it really took away a person’s breath. The Imperial guard raised his sword and pointed it at the last group of people standing, saying in a cold voice: “Surrender or die!”

In the end, everyone surrendered, because it was obvious that the Baifu Buddha Mother was no more like a god than the young man in silver armor before them, and they could not defeat the enemy’s elite soldiers.

“I have something else to do, and I don’t have time to take you away.” Liu Xian’an looked everyone in the face one by one and said, “Just wait here. The army will come to take over arrangements today.”

He pulled the reins of his horse and continued toward the other end of the forest, leaving the followers of the Baifu Sect to look at each other, dumbfounded. Why….why did he just go without leaving anyone to watch us? Only a fool would stay where he was and continue to wait. One person immediately stood up from the ground and took a step away. Liu Xian’an turned around and said: “If he runs away, I call on the remaining 421 people to stop him. If ten run away, it is up to the remaining 412 people to arrest them. If all 422 of you run away, you will all be punished according to military regulations.”

When he finished speaking, without further delay, he waved his arm and left the dense forest like a sharp arrow, and the wind blew his white clothes up high. The first priority of the Imperial guards was to protect him, so they naturally would not waste time on this group of believers. Everyone galloped to follow closely, thinking in their hearts, no wonder such a person can manage to make His Royal Highness Xiao Wang docile, ah. Very capable, very capable!

This was their first time seeing someone use words to defeat the enemy.

But perhaps there were not just words. After all, when Second Young Master Liu put on his battle armor, he truly looked like an immortal, overflowing with holy light from head to toe. Every move he made was filled with brilliant light, and he always appeared as if he was flying through the sky ninety thousand li away, which was quite intimidating. 

It was too scary, His Royal Highness Xiao Wang must be kept under guard.

And those believers also stopped their feet. Even they didn’t know how many people they had in total, so they counted each other first, and after counting four or five times, they finally discovered that there really were four hundred twenty two.

“T-Then, do we still go?”

“……”

There was silence.

Nobody mentioned leaving again, because everyone knew that His Royal Highness Xiao Wang’s military regulations were extremely strict. If they escaped and were found again, they would be parted from their skin even if they did not die.

Therefore, they just stayed on the ground honestly.

At the Gray Jade Wall area, huge boulders fell to the ground like rolling thunder, violent and earth shattering.

This was the Baifu Sect’s last barrier, and Dayan’s seven teams had also wiped out the surrounding areas. Many of the leaders were dead, injured, or had surrendered, leaving only Mu Zhe.

He normally kept to himself and only drove Wumeng Yunyou and others to kill people, and looked like a gentleman who had no knowledge of martial arts. Now, for the first time, he took out the weapons that had long been covered in dust—two long snake-shaped swords.

The first wave of the Yan army that attacked were knocked off the cliff. Liang Shu flew to catch a soldier and threw him into the crowd, then unsheathed his sword and walked straight to Mu Zhe’s door!

The other party dodged like a snake and sneered: “His Royal Highness Xiao Wang is indeed as the rumors say. He wields soldiers like a god and is ruthless and bloodthirsty.”

“For a wicked leader like you, even if you were given death by a thousand cuts and your blood sacrificed to the entire southwest, it would not be too much.” Liang Shu said, “This lord has come to take your life today!”

Mu Zhe didn’t want to die, but even if he must die, he wanted to drag the person in front of him into death together. The soil of the mountains and fields was dyed red with blood. Calls for the Baifu Buddha Mother had changed from the momentous roar at the beginning to a sparse cry now, and soon, even this sparse cry would be cut off by the spears of the Yan army. The time of the Baifu Sect had passed, and the great cause it had worked hard toward for more than ten years had collapsed, the glory and ambition of the past finally becoming an illusion.

He no longer had the next ten or twenty years to build a new undertaking. He couldn’t march straight into Wangcheng and sit on the coveted throne. He couldn’t regard his lover as the mother of the world. She was a despised prostitute when she was alive, and a despised prostitute after death. In the future, when people mentioned the name Ying Yuyan, they would always associate her with the business of selling one’s body, and their tones would carry scorn and obscenity.

She could no longer become the most noble woman in the world.

This knowledge filled Mu Zhe with overwhelming fear, and this overwhelming fear soon turned into overwhelming fury.

He looked at Liang Shu and said word by word: “All right, then I will kill you to avenge my A-Ying!”

With that last word, the two snake-shaped swords shook and roared as if they were alive. Gao Lin had never seen such an evil trick before, and quickly shouted: “Your Highness, be careful!”

Liang Shu clenched the hilt of his sword. He had witnessed the tragic scene of Tan Manor with his own eyes. How could it be summed up by the two words “corpses everywhere?” It was not just the Tan family who died at that time, but also many watchmen and Imperial guards. To be able to take more than a hundred lives in one night, the opponent’s martial arts should be exceedingly high.

What’s more, that had been ten years ago, and the murderer ten years later should only have become more unfathomable.

Mu Zhe swung his swords and howled, moving on behalf of his beloved. Like a wild beast with red eyes, he just wanted to completely tear apart the person in front of him who had broken his perfect plan into pieces. His internal strength swept across like a venomous snake. Liang Shu leaped out of the way, the cold light in his hand dazzling.

Boom!

The collison produced an earth-shattering sound.

Chang Xiaoqiu finished cleaning up the group of cultists in front of him, and without stopping for a moment, he also rode toward the mountainside. He originally wanted to assist Liang Shu, but before he could reach him, he was carried away by Cheng Suyue through the air. The frightened war horse fell down the mountain, breaking one of its hind legs, and immediately behind it was Mu Zhe’s terrifying sword, which penetrated into the place he had been with a thud.

The young man broke out in a cold sweat. Cheng Suyue had raised her hand to block with her sword, but the sword, clang, broke into two pieces!

Seeing that Mu Zhe was about to strike down with the second sword, Liang Shu arrived in time at the critical moment. His long sword pierced the sun, leaving a deep, bloody groove in Mu Zhe’s shoulder, but the other party seemed to have lost all sense of pain, and instead turned around with an eerie smile.

There was a soft rustling sound in the grass.

Like poisonous flowers spawning by the scent of blood, the entire land suddenly became unstable, as if something was about to bloom. Liang Shu frowned and sent Cheng Suyue and Chang Xiaoqiu to safety with one palm. At the same time, he struck backhand with his sword, and a venomous snake landed on the grass like a soft noodle.

Other snakes and insects immediately swarmed in and ate up their companion until only a pale, thin skeleton remained.

Gao Lin couldn’t see clearly from a distance: “What is that on the ground?”

He thought his eyes were blurry, so he took out his looking glass to see, and suddenly sucked in a breath of cold air.

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Chapter One Hundred Twenty-One << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Three

Bai Su was utterly confused. He couldn’t understand how a person claiming to follow Yuan Du had suddenly appeared. What he understood even less was why this person had come to identify himself.

Bai Su could not believe it easily, and didn’t know where to start questioning him.

It wasn’t until Du Dongfeng took out a letter that Bai Su became even more stunned.

“This is my brother’s handwriting. Did my brother have dealings with you when he was working here?” Bai Su felt like his head was going to explode.

“Yes, we were under the care of First Young Master Bai eight years ago. Second Young Master, if you trust this letter and want to know the truth, please come with me. My father wants to see you. You should also be made aware of First Young Master Bai’s ultimate fate.”

There was no hesitation this time. Bai Su nodded at once. He wanted to know what was going on.

Du Dongfeng took Bai Su away quietly, and Qin Yu and He Lan followed.

On the roof, Huo Fenglie gently held Liu Zhenqing’s hand, bringing him out of his daze.

“Qing-ge?”

Liu Zhenqing looked at Huo Fenglie and said with a sigh: “It turns out to be that clever little child. I’ve actually seen him before. He’s grown so big. Time really does fly.”

Seeing that he looked all right, Huo Fenglie said: “Do you also remember why you gave a jade pendant to that person and permitted him to admire you?”

Liu Zhenqing choked and gave Huo Fenglie a helpless look, saying: “I really didn’t give it to him. But I did still wear a willow leaf jade pendant at that time, and wore the one you gave me since then.”

Huo Fenglie was slightly startled, and couldn’t help the blush at the base of his ears. He pretended to be calm and coughed, then raised his arms to carry Liu Zhenqing and fly toward Du Dongfeng’s home.

When they arrived, they saw the sick and weak Yuan Du kneeling shakily toward Bai Su.

“It really is him.” Liu Zhenqing sighed with complicated emotions.

Huo Fenglie had come here before and had seen Du Dongfeng’s father, but he didn’t recognize this man. This was not just because his appearance had changed with age, but because when Yuan Du was well-known, Huo Fenglie had also reached the age of majority and joined the military, so he was rarely in the capital.

The same went for He Lan. When he entered the capital, Yuan Du was no longer there. He could only ask Qin Yu next to him, who nodded. He had served in the palace when he was a child, so he naturally knew him.

Bai Su also recognized him and couldn’t believe it when he saw that this person was actually alive.

“Yuan-daren, please get up quickly, this junior can’t bear it!” Bai Su hastily helped him up. 

“I can bear it, I can bear it. If First Young Master Bai hadn’t protected me all the way, this old man would have died long ago. How could I have survived with my family for so long?” Yuan Du’s eyes reddened uncontrollably as he said, “I am fortunate to be able to see First Young Master Bai’s family again now.”

Bai Su’s eyes quivered. “What…..what on earth is going on?”

Du Dongfeng quickly helped his father sit down and invited Bai Su to take a seat. The old man slowly told the truth about that year.

“At that time, there was a serious tax problem in Tongmao Prefecture. People sent thousands of hand-printed letters to the capital to complain, and there was such a commotion that the Imperial court planned to send people to investigate the case in order to quell public anger. But back then, I was stubborn and opinionated, obstinate and against change…..”

Bai Su hurriedly said: “Don’t say that, Yuan-daren. Your reputation is still known to this day. People say that Yuan-daren is not afraid of the powerful, is upright, and petitions for the common people. He can be regarded as a role model for officials.”

Yuan Du smiled bitterly and shook his head: “Thinking about it now, many times I was just paranoid and didn’t know how to be flexible. Back then, I was angry that the government was hesitant about such an issue. Even Prime Minister Liu was unwilling to take action, as if he wanted to suppress the matter. So I took the initiative and vowed to root out the illness, so that the corrupt officials would not be able to hide, and also so that those ministers would feel ashamed of their inferiority. But I was wrong in the end.”

Bai Su said hesitantly: “There were rumors…..no, not rumors. After the subsequent investigation, there was evidence that Liu Zhenqing sent people to assassinate you right after you left the capital, and even slaughtered your entire family. This…..what is going on? Could it be that my brother secretly protected you?”

It was not surprising for Bai Su to think this way. After all, his brother later tried to collect evidence of Liu Zhenqing’s crimes, but was silenced by the remnants of Liu Zhenqing’s party.

When he thought of his brother’s character and what happened in Yanqiu Prefecture, he felt an indescribable sense of dissonance. 

Bai Su was full of doubts, and could only look at Yuan Du.

As a result, Yuan Du shook his head and said with a sad expression: “I didn’t expect that even the Second Young Master would misunderstand him like this. Everyone has wronged him.”

“Wronged…..who? Liu Zhenqing?” Bai Su said speechlessly.

“Exactly!” Du Dongfeng immediately said loudly and with agitation: “No one in the world understands how good Prime Minister Liu was. If he hadn’t arrived in time, our whole family would have died long ago!”

Bai Su stared at Du Dongfeng in astonishment and was speechless for a moment.

“Second Young Master, think about it, your brother was Prime Minister Liu’s right-hand man back then. If Prime Minister Liu didn’t okay it, would First Young Master Bai take action?” Yuan Du said with a sigh: “Back then, I was targeted just after leaving the capital. It was Prime Minister Liu who sent someone to pretend to intercept and kill me in advance, as well as give me medicine to fake my death. I watched the real assassins attack with my own eyes and rummage through my convoy. At the last moment, I died on the spot. After those people left, Prime Minister Liu’s people secretly hid me until my family could be sent over.”

Yuan Du couldn’t help but weep as he spoke.

Du Dongfeng said: “At that time, my father had just left and a group of men in black came to the house at night to kill us. My older brother resisted desperately and was killed first. The others were caught. I asked why they wanted to kill us, and they said that Father shouldn’t have overstepped his bounds, and that he deserved it.”

As Du Dongfeng spoke, he looked at his mother and younger siblings not far away. They all still remembered the terror of that time, and hugged each other with choked sobs.

“We were all in despair then. It was Prime Minister Liu and his men who suddenly appeared and fought with the men in black. Prime Minister Liu was even stabbed when he was trying to save me!”

When he said this, Du Dongfeng took out the jade pendant around his neck. Bai Su had also seen Liu Zhenqing wearing it, so he recognized it.

“At that time, this jade pendant was cut off by a knife and I picked it up. I will always remember that scene, the way he stood in front of me. He was the best person in the world.”

Bai Su looked at them in shock. This was far from what he knew.

On the roof, Huo Fenglie’s pupils quivered and he turned to look at Liu Zhenqing. He had not been with him at that time.

“You blocked a knife for him?”

Liu Zhenqing blinked. “That seems to be the case.” Seeing Huo Fenglie’s unhappy look, he quickly said: “It was just a flesh wound.”

In those days, there were so many injuries that a scratch was nothing.

Du Dongfeng continued: “Then Prime Minister Liu secretly sent our family away in the night, burned down the manor, and pretended that we were all dead. We met up with Father afterward. Then First Young Master Bai appeared and escorted us all the way south, gave us new identities, and settled us in.”

“Why? Why would he do this?” Bai Su asked in confusion.

“Because the tax fraud case was untouchable, and I had already touched it. All the common people knew. As long as I wasn’t dead, it would have to be investigated, but once I investigated it, our entire family would die in vain. This was the only way Prime Minister Liu could think of to save the lives of our family,” Yuan Du said bitterly.

“Why couldn’t it be investigated? It aroused public outrage!”

“So what if the people were outraged? The common people could only see their own lives, and couldn’t see that their country and their families were about to be destroyed. Even I couldn’t see through the situation.” Yuan Du gritted his teeth and said: “When First Young Master Bai came to pick us up, he said that he would also bow down and apologize on Prime Minister Liu’s behalf. But when he explained the reason, I was angry and ashamed.”

“Because behind the officials involved in the tax fraud were the ministers in the capital, cabinet ministers and veterans of two dynasties, all of whom held positions of power. But the emperor’s foundation was not stable, and the three kings were eyeing the throne. Once the emperor investigated the tax fraud case, it would be tantamount to attacking the veterans who stabilized the government.”

Bai Su’s expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and Yuan Du asked, “If this was the case, what do you think they would do?”

Bai Su felt a chill go down his spine. Back then, the new emperor had absolutely no voice, and those ministers were constantly keeping an eye on the situation.

Yuan Du said in a dark, cold tone: “They would abandon this new emperor and switch to one of the three kings. Whoever did not act against their interests was who they would follow, and the balance that Prime Minister Liu worked so hard to maintain would be broken. By then, many things were crumbling, and it was like walking on thin ice. Any wrong step would lead to an abyss. But my impulse risked the new emperor’s life.”

“I was self-righteous, thinking that everyone was drunk and I was the only sober one. That I was the only good official who worked hard for the emperor and the Great Zhou Dynasty. But I didn’t think that a single move would affect the whole country. If it was really because of me that those people defected to the three kings and the balance between them was broken, that would start a war. The Great Zhou Dynasty would certainly be devastated, and I would be to blame for the disaster.”

Yuan Du was so agitated that he couldn’t help but cough. Du Dongfeng on the side assisted him.

Bai Su was stunned by these shocking remarks. “He…..didn’t he have all the power and not take the new emperor seriously? Didn’t he commit all kinds of crimes that are too numerous to mention?”

“He was definitely not such a person.” Du Dongfeng spoke up in his defense again with red eyes. “Although…..although I don’t understand many things, I know that someone who was willing to protect a child like me was definitely not a bad person! After all…..apart from adding to his burden, was there any benefit to saving our family? Clearly, letting those people kill us was also a way to solve the dilemma, right?”

Bai Su could no longer argue at all, and just stared at the father and son blankly.

Yuan Du gave a deep sigh, and said after calming down: “Second Young Master, I dare not talk about other things. I can’t see through them with my block-headed brain. But this, at least, is the truth of our matter. Afterward, when news of my death came out, everyone thought it was Prime Minister Liu who did it, and he never defended himself. On the other hand, the emperor still had to explain the tax fraud case to the common people, so Prime Minister Liu suggested that First Young Master Bai come to investigate it. In fact, this was just to settle us down, and he delayed the investigation on the way in order to prepare for a real investigation once the emperor came into power. And in the capital, Prime Minister Liu reassured those ministers on the surface that this matter would be settled. At this point I understood. Everything Prime Minister Liu did was to draw the bow without releasing it. His patience and determination was beyond the reach of veterans like me.”

Bai Su’s eyes flickered, and many scenes of meeting Liu Zhenqing flashed through his memory. He only felt that this man was so high-ranking and powerful, and his every frown or smile seemed to have hidden meanings, making people not dare to peek.

Du Dongfeng said: “Actually, First Young Master Bai said that Prime Minister Liu promised to help us restore our identities and let us go home in the future, but…..” At this point, Du Dongfeng punched the table.

But after a long time, the three kings were killed one after another, the court was stabilized, and Liu Zhenqing died. The rumors about this late powerful official were not cleaned up. Instead, evidence of his crimes emerged frequently, nailing Liu Zhenqing to the sinners column on the Coiling Dragon Jade Pillar.

“Why did such a good person as Prime Minister Liu end up like this? The heavens are unfair!”

On the roof, Liu Zhenqing didn’t feel much upon hearing these words in his defense. On the other hand, Huo Fenglie’s expression became more and more fearsome, and his fists nearly made a cracking sound.

Liu Zhenqing was taken aback by the malevolent aura released by his body, and when he turned around, he saw the faint dark red in the other’s eyes. Although he didn’t understand, he still sensed that something was wrong and lightly nudged Huo Fenglie with his shoulder.

Huo Fenglie was startled, and looked at Liu Zhenqing as if he had just returned to his senses. Liu Zhenqing tilted his head and smiled at him, then raised his hand and scratched the other’s chin as if playing with a dog.

Then he leaned his whole body against him, indicating that he was tired from crouching and had no strength left.

Huo Fenglie’s eyes couldn’t help but take on a soft light, and he put his arms around Liu Zhenqing, letting him recline lazily against him.

Bai Su below no longer knew what to say. After all, Liu Zhenqing had long been a treacherous and powerful minister. Later, various pieces of evidence emerged, and his brother…..

Bai Su’s eyes flashed, and he asked at once: “Then what happened to my brother? Wasn’t he…..”

When he heard this question, Liu Zhenqing finally became interested. He also wanted to know what had happened to Bai Yu after his death. Although Bai Yu was indeed his subordinate at that time, the Bai family’s generations of Grand Tutors and Imperial teachers had a clean family background. Even if he himself had to be exposed and criticized, Bai Yu should have been safe. How could he have died?

In any case, one thing Liu Zhenqing was sure of was that he had no remaining followers at that time.

Yuan Du said: “I know this is completely contrary to the rumors. It just depends on whether the Second Young Master believes it or not. When the news of Prime Minister Liu’s death came and the court wanted to expose his crimes, we were quite shocked, so we contacted First Young Master Bai. He said that the situation wasn’t right, and asked us not to reveal our identities for the time being. Then he began to collect evidence to vindicate Prime Minister Liu. I also helped organize the evidence. After it was completed, First Young Master Bai set out to return to the capital. As a result, within three days, news of First Young Master Bai’s death came. Second Young Master, the First Young Master went back just for Prime Minister Liu, so tell me, how could he have been silenced by so-called remnant followers? The evidence we collected was clearly evidence that Prime Minister Liu was a loyal minister, so how could it have become evidence of his guilt! This was all…..”

Yuan Du couldn’t speak further. It had felt like there were countless hands covering their mouths in the dark of night, and the invisible and ubiquitous fear made them unable to resist. All they could do was tremble.

After listening to Yuan Du’s account of what happened back then, Bai Su felt as if he had lost all the strength in his body, and his back was soaked with sweat.

Bai Su had an intuition that what Yuan Du said was true, because that was his brother’s character. Bai Yu, Bai Wangshu, had admired Prime Minister Liu very much, so how could he trample on him after his death? 

Liu Zhenqing on the roof also understood, and sighed soundlessly. How could a person as smart as Bai Yu not know that something was fishy back then? He should have taken advantage of the situation to protect himself, but he just had to be stubborn. Bai Yu had followed him for many years, and he had also taught Bai Yu for many years how to behave tactfully. When you should be a villain, don’t be a gentleman, and when you should be cunning, don’t be upright. He had obviously learned well, but acted foolishly at the critical moment and lost his life. Liu Zhenqing was dead, so what was the point of peristing like this? It seemed that Bai Yu still hadn’t learned enough.

He hoped the other one wouldn’t be as foolish as Bai Yu, and would live well instead of dying somewhere.

Bai Su’s eyes gradually became moist. “Someone wanted Liu Zhenqing to be a treacherous official forever, so my brother, who had the truth and evidence and was determined to exonerate him, was a thorn in their side. Who was it? Who killed my Gege?”

“We don’t know. In the past eight years, there have been so many ministers in the Imperial court. Countless people have been convicted, resigned, or died of illness. Everyone I once suspected is gone, so I can’t verify it,” Yuan Du said. 

Bai Su’s thoughts received a jolt, and he said urgently: “Why didn’t you come out and tell the truth! Yuan-daren is an innocent person, so you could absolutely…..”

“Because someone was tracking us,” Du Dongfeng said. “Not long after the news of First Young Master Bai’s death came, someone went to Tongmao Prefecture to secretly search for us, just because the evidence from that year mentioned us. But it didn’t say that we were still alive. The identities that First Young Master Bai gave us were too perfect, and he had never exposed us to the outside world, so after investigating to no avail, they left.”

Yuan Du nodded and said: “We didn’t know what was going on, but we also realized that there were people who didn’t want Prime Minister Liu to be vindicated. We were helpless and didn’t dare take risks, so we could only survive until now.”

Bai Su asked in confusion: “But…..but eight years have passed. Didn’t you say that many ministers have been replaced? Now that the emperor is in power, no one can threaten you anymore, right?”

Now, Yuan Du and his son were silent.

The courtyard was quiet for a long moment before Yuan Du opened his mouth and said: “First Young Master Bai told us one thing before he left.”

“What was it?”

“First Young Master Bai said that if he failed to exonerate him, Prime Minister Liu would remain a treacherous official. We could go back, but we could never tell the truth. We could only say that we cleverly escaped when we were being hunted and kept our names anonymous. We could not speak for Prime Minister Liu until his reputation was restored. But this was not easy. After all, in the eyes of the common people, Prime Minister Liu clearly covered the sky with his hands, but still condoned the corrupt officials who were greedy for tax money.” When Yuan Du said this, his thin, hunched body almost shook.

He said with hatred: “We are already indebted to Prime Minister Liu, so how could we do this? If I were made to lie, I would rather be Old Man Du Yuan forever and not have an official position!”

“Right, we don’t care!” Du Dongfeng also said firmly.

Bai Su was shaken. Right, ah, it was the same in Yanqiu Prefecture before. In the eyes of the common people, although they had a fewest deaths, Prime Minister Liu had allowed corrupt officials to embezzle disaster relief funds. This was an irrefutable fact, and would be forever engraved in the minds of the people.

And as for Yuan-daren and his family, they knew that they could not change the opinions of the world, so they could only choose to use the clumsiest method and stick to their inner conscience.

---

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Chapter Forty-Nine << Table of Contents >> Chapter Fifty-One

It must be said that Lu Qi did have the intuition of a small animal. After that day, he never mentioned showing his belly to Mu Nanqiao again.

Mu Nanqiao felt it was a pity, but wasn’t particularly disappointed. He was always patient when doing things, and his patience for Lu Qi was endless. Fortunately, Lu Qi happened to like men, which was one of the few blessings in his life. Otherwise, it would have been an unimaginably long road.

He knew that he should plan the matter slowly.

For him, Lu Qi was the warm sunshine that he had longed to catch when he was a boy, the prayer he could not forget despite wandering astray for many years. He originally had no intention of finding that little butterfly that flitted by back then. If he couldn’t extract himself from the past, he shouldn’t drag another person into the quagmire with him.

But Lu Qi happened to appear. Even though Mu Nanqiao didn’t know at first that he was the butterfly that flew through the broken window, he was still drawn to him, chasing the sunlight like a wild plant.

Those turbulent emotions were as strong as wine that had been brewing for many years. Within them fermented many unknown yet unforgettable dreams, gradually flowing throughout his chest. 

But to Lu Qi, he was just a friend he had known for less than a year. Of course Lu Qi liked him and appreciated him as a friend, like a gentle breeze with drizzle. If not for Lin Yuan, this level of liking might have made Lu Qi accept a relationship, but after stepping into Lin Yuan’s snare, the reckless little deer learned to be cautious, and wanted to be more sure of his heart before accepting his love.

There was nothing wrong with this.

But Mu Nanqiao had to restrain himself. Those turbulent emotions, once released from their shackles, would be like a wild beast breaking out of a cage, scaring the deer into hiding far away.

This couldn’t happen. As soon as a few hints were revealed, he would begin to shrink his head.

. . . . . . . 

Mu Nanqiao’s birthday was on Monday. Although it was a working day, everyone who was invited could freely decide their working hours, so this was no problem.

Lu Qi got up very early that day, waking up even before the alarm rang. He had something on his mind, so he couldn’t sleep well. After he got out of bed and washed up, he caught Xiao Sanhua, dewormed her, and then tied a big bow on her.

“Meow?” Xiao Sanhua had not yet woken up and didn’t know what this was for.

“He can be considered half your master.” Lu Qi grasped Xiao Sanhua’s paws and rubbed the warm little pads. “He even sent you an invitation. It’s his birthday today, so how about you dress up nicely?”

There were two invitations in total, one with a deer and one with a kitten, both hand-drawn by Boss Mu.

The drawings were a bit ugly, but the calligraphy was beautiful, flowing but not messy, the writing sharp and elegant. Lu Qi clipped them into a small magnetic photo frame.

Xiao Sanhua didn’t understand, and just accepted the bow. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have worn a bow for that canine. That canine didn’t really mean to be nice to her. It simply had other motives, she could tell by smelling it.

After cleaning up Xiao Sanhua and putting her into the carrier, Lu Qi changed out of his cat hair-covered clothes and took out the shirt he had ironed the day before.

Lu Qi was a little nervous about going to Mu Nanqiao’s house today.

He felt it would be perfect if Mu Nanqiao had family and friends on his birthday, and he was the only friend who received an invitation.

Thinking about it, Shanghai hadn’t left Mu Nanqiao with any good memories. His only friend here might be Lu Qi.

So even though he was a little uncomfortable, Lu Qi still agreed. He was visiting someone else’s home, and there would be elders there, so he couldn’t dress too casually. Bright colors were excluded first, and he finally chose a loose casual shirt which was neither too formal nor too lively and frivolous.

Finally, he brought a gift and prepared to leave, cat in hand. He had bought a bouquet of sunflowers in perfect bloom at the flower shop downstairs to give to Mu Nanqiao’s parents.

When he went downstairs, he saw the Maybach again. This time, Boss Mu no longer had to pretend to be the driver. Coincidentally, he was also wearing a casual white shirt with vertical striped sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He raised his eyes and smiled when he saw Lu Qi coming over. “Are the flowers for me?”

Lu Qi was a little embarrassed: “They’re for your parents…..”

“Oh.” Mu Nanqiao went with the flow and smiled. He turned around and opened the door for Lu Qi. “They’ll like them.”

Whether the flowers or the person, they would like them.

Xiao Sanhua was placed in the familiar back seat, and Lu Qi sat in the passenger seat. He was surprised to find a small deer neck pillow. The Christmas deer was wearing a red scarf and had a chubby body. It had a unique cuteness and an exaggerated expression, its four hooves running wildly.

When he looked around, he saw that only the passenger seat had one, which really made him think further.

Lu Qi was too embarrassed to ask. His ears turned slightly red, and he turned to Mu Nanqiao and said: “Your birthday gift is in a bag in Xiao Sanhua’s carry case. It’s…..”

“Shh…..” Mu Nanqiao took out a hawthorn fruit stick with the outer packaging peeled off the side and handed it to Lu Qi’s mouth. “Don’t tell me, I want to see for myself. Eat this first to whet your appetite, there is lots of delicious food prepared at home.”

“Oh.” Lu Qi ate obediently and thought it tasted good. He spread out the wrapping paper to take a look: high-end food supplement.

Lu Qi: …..

It was difficult to imagine Mu Nanqiao’s mental state when he bought this.

Midway through, Mu Nanqiao answered a call and was summoned back to the office first to pick up a document.

Mu Nanqiao didn’t quite understand what his old father was doing at first. As far as he knew, the contract was neither urgent nor important, and it was completely possible for an assistant to deliver it. It wasn’t until he took Lu Qi into the lobby on the first floor that he had a sudden realization.

On a Monday morning, everyone but the boss was dressed appropriately and ready to work. And the boss, holding sunflowers in his arms and carrying a little kitten, was truly eye-catching and hateful as he walked through the hall.

Behind the boss was a little beauty. It was suspected that they were wearing couple’s clothing, and they had come through the special elevator together.

The group of melon-eaters practically exploded.

But everyone was of professional quality, didn’t want to lose their jobs, and wouldn’t just send out photos of the boss’s life. There was only one person of this sort – a person arranged by the Lins – who secretly took photos and sent them to Lin Yuan.

It couldn’t be helped. The upper floors were airtight after being purged by Mu Chuanbai and his son, and he couldn’t get close at all. He was a small leader at the mid-lower level and couldn’t even see Mu Nanqiao, let alone have access to company secrets.

But he was being urged anxiously by the Lins, so he panicked a little. Finally having caught something new, he immediately took a photo and sent it to Lin Yuan, also sending along a complacent message. 

[Boss Lin, take a look at this boy. He looks outstanding and noble, is he the young master of some family? Could it be that he’s here to discuss cooperation with Mr. Mu? Do you want me to try digging it out?]

It was difficult to say what happened to surnamed Lin that day, but according to people familiar with the matter, strange howls came from the CEO’s office in the middle of the night. The Lin family was haunted by bad feng shui, so rumors of a recent stock price plunge intensified.

Lu Qi was unaware of this. He was immersed in the confusion of “who am I, where am I?” Next to him were an extremely good-looking exotic couple and their handsome son.

And the four of them were standing in a pavilion halfway up a mountain. The beautiful Mrs. Talia was communicating with the engineers holding the diagrams.

When Lu Qi first met Mu Nanqiao’s parents, he was immediately impressed by how good-looking this family was. 

At that time, Mu Nanqiao had parked his car on the main driveway of the manor. Holding the flowers, Lu Qi got out of the car and saw a woman in a mint green skirt in the distance. She was standing beside a wheelchair, leaning forward to say something to a refined man.

When Lu Qi and Mu Nanqiao approached side by side, the woman raised her head.

She had long golden-brown hair that draped over her shoulders, and her face was small and delicate. She wasn’t tall, but her body proportions were excellent, and even though her son was so grown, she still had a girlish charm about her.

And as for the man next to her, the more Lu Qi looked at him, the more familiar his features were. When he finally remembered where he’d seen him before, he hit Mu Nanqiao in the waist with his elbow and gave a low harrumph, “Isn’t this your boss?”

“He’s indeed my boss.” Mu Nanqiao lowered his head and asked softly, “He’s the chairman, so isn’t that my boss?”

Lu Qi: ……

This was true, but he still felt that this person was twisting his words to force the logic.

Mrs. Talia showed great enthusiasm for his arrival. She no longer had an accent as she spoke with Lu Qi in Chinese. While they walked, she asked Lu Qi his age and the major he studied, acting like a traditional Chinese parent while Mu Nanqiao was relegated to the back, pushing Mu Chuanbai’s wheelchair.

Mu Chuanbai held out the bouquet and raised his phone to take photos in a satisfied manner. “These are the flowers I received for two bowls, I must post them on my Moments…..”

Mu Nanqiao: “Give them back to me after sending it, I want to take them.”

Mu Chuanbai: ……

This good child was stingy.

Lu Qi liked this kind of family very much. He thought that the next step would be to sit down and have a meal together, perhaps sing a birthday song for Mu Nanqiao, and he also planned to learn from Mrs. Talia how to say happy birthday in Russian.

This was the first time he had seen such a private house outside of TV dramas. The house covered a large area, and there was a courtyard and a scenic view in the back, even small hills. But the overall style was very confusing, with a bad combination of traditional and foreign styles, which Lu Qi didn’t like very much.

It was impolite to criticize other people’s homes. It wasn’t until led by Mama Mu to the viewing pavilion that he realized this wasn’t Mu Nanqiao’s home. This was the traditional old Mu family house that was about to be blown up.

Lu Qi: “S….Seriously?”

Mu Nanqiao put the helmet on him and lowered his head to tighten the strap with focused eyes, feeling a little helpless. “It seems they’re serious.”

On the other side, after discussing with the engineers, Talia finally confirmed everything and signed the consent form. She walked over gracefully, raised her hands, and hugged her tall son.

“Happy birthday, darling Леонид……” She kissed her son on the cheek. “You’re going to love this gift.”

Lu Qi vaguely felt that the Russian word sounded familiar. However, as the countdown began, he didn’t think about it carefully. He held his breath nervously and looked at the three-story villa not far away.

Mu Nanqiao stood beside him with a complicated expression. When the countdown reached three, he asked Lu Qi in a low voice, “Can I hold your hand?”

Lu Qi didn’t hesitate this time, and took the initiative to hold his slender hand.

“Three, two, one…..detonate!”

Boom—

The sound of the explosion was still a bit deafening even from such a distance, and then a large amount of dust spread with the wind. The majestic building collapsed into the dust, and the ground beneath their feet shook slightly.

That building was once so tall when Mu Nanqiao knelt at the door, shrouded in its shadow, as if he couldn’t escape no matter how far he ran. 

But now it had become a ruin, and in the settled dust, the deformed and broken reinforced concrete inside was exposed.

Mu Nanqiao just remained silent, and Talia couldn’t understand the emotion in his eyes.

When his arm was tugged, Mu Nanqiao returned to his senses and looked at Lu Qi, who was still holding his hand.

“I seem to understand that Russian…..” The little friend was slow to react, his eyes widening. He repeated with an accent, “Леонид…..Leon…..id?”

Mu Nanqiao: ……

His internet identity was discovered without warning. The birthday party was about to turn into a fan meetup.

As Mu Nanqiao had said himself, his skin was thick, but it wasn’t crocodile skin. It was still embarrassing to be exposed like this. He coughed with burning ears, and was about to say something when Wife Xiao Lu waved his hand and snorted softly. 

“Forget it, for the sake of your birthday, I won’t argue with you.” He took a small, dark blue box out of his pocket, handed it to Mu Nanqiao, and separated the hands they were holding.

Mu Nanqiao frowned, but before he could feel disappointed, Lu Qi smiled again and a slight dimple appeared on his left cheek.

“Happy birthday, Mu Nanqiao!” He pointed toward the ruins below, his eyes bright and curved: “When it’s your birthday next year, the ruins will be filled with wildflowers.”

Lu Qi had already taken off his helmet. His hair was so flattened that he looked particularly cute, like a marshmallow, sweet and soft, wrapping around Mu Nanqiao in strands.

He wanted to hug the marshmallow.

It was his birthday today, so he could be a little more unbridled.

Thus, Mu Nanqiao stepped forward and pulled the marshmallow into his arms.

---

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Chapter Twenty-Two << Table of Contents >> Chapter Twenty-Four

Liu Nanyuan also wanted to go out with the army, but was severely prohibited by Liu Xianche and had to stand by the road that day and watch the army leave. Then she turned her head and asked in a strange tone: “What are you happy about?”

The little maid replied with a flushed face: “The prince and our Second Young Master are a perfect match, ah.”

“…..It’s not the first time you’ve seen them.”

“But they haven’t worn armor before.”

He had previously not been wearing battle armor, but ordinary luxurious clothes. In the eyes of the little maid, His Royal Highness Xiao Wang wearing battle armor immediately turned into a grim god descending to earth. His whole body was filled with turbulent chills and thunderstorms, and wherever he went, black clouds stretched over the mountains and sun, making people feel endlessly terror-stricken. As for Second Young Master Liu wearing armor, although he didn’t have any murderous intent, good-looking was truly good-looking. Even Liu Nanyuan questioned the exquisite silver light armor on her Er-ge that looked quite expensive at first glance. Did it have any defensive functions, or was it just for show? Otherwise, why would he not even wear a helmet, just a silver hairpin stuck casually in his dark hair? How could anyone go to war so loosely?

The only thing that could be related to “war” may be the white war horse. Even this was a last-minute decision made by Liang Shu, because if not for the fact that the fat little red horse had short legs and had never run in the dense forest full of dead vines, Liu Xian’an would be seriously prepared to charge into battle with it and advance and retreat together.

“Never mind, let him do what he wants,” Liu Nanyuan said in the tone of someone with experience. “Anyway, the prince will definitely protect Er-ge. We’ll just wait in the military camp.”

The Silver Scimitar Moon Tribe’s troops divided into seven groups, leading the Southwest Garrison through the dense forest to quietly approach the center point. 

. . . . . . .

Wumeng Yunyou turned over and dismounted. The disciples at the door were stunned to see him coming back in such a hurry. They stepped forward to inquire, but Wumeng Yunyou had already vanished from everyone’s sight like a gust of wind.

“Quick, go and report to the Leader!”

It was still extremely quiet in the forest at this time, and the early morning mist had not yet dissipated. Wumeng Yunyou ran all the way to his sister’s residence, but stopped on the way: “…..Master.”

Mu Zhe looked at him: “I heard from A-Le that you went to kill Liu Nanyuan.”

Wumeng Yunyou said leisurely: “Yes.”

“Did you accomplish it?”

“No.”

“Then why did you return?”

“Because I heard…..I heard that A-Le….” Wumeng Yunyou clenched his fists. He really couldn’t say the dirty words he had heard along the way, and only said, “I want to see her first. Where is Uncle?”

Hearing him mention Feng Xiaojin, Mu Zhe’s expression changed visibly, but Wumeng Yunyou interpreted this as a sign that something was wrong with his sister. His heart felt empty, and he disregarded everyone to rush to the back courtyard. Mu Zhe was not willing to allow him to be so unbridled. He waved his sword and struck him with a sword glare, making him stagger forward two steps and nearly fall down. 

The other disciples rushed forward. Wumeng Yunyou drew his sword out of its sheath and swept the area around him, causing people to scream in pain. Seeing this, Mu Zhe’s eyes became more and more gloomy. He flew forward and grabbed the back of the other’s neck. He picked him up like a chicken, slammed him against a sturdy branch, and shouted angrily: “Presumptuous!”

Wumeng Yunyou was hit so hard that his eyes were filled with stars, and he felt that all his bones were about to be crushed. Blood oozed from the corners of his mouth. Just as he was dizzy and in agony, his ears picked up a long whistle coming from out in the forest!

It was sharp and harsh, an alarm for incoming enemies.

The sound was close, only a few li away. All the disciples were shocked, and even Mu Zhe turned around to look. Wumeng Yunyou took the opportunity to break away from him and continued to run desperately toward his sister’s residence.

Mu Zhe ignored him this time, because someone had already dismounted their horse to say in a hurry: “Leader, the Yan army…..the Yan army is invading!”

“Where are they now?”

“White Incense Grove. By the time we reacted, they already…..seemed to have fallen from the sky!”

“What about the beasts in White Incense Grove?”

“It took less than a cup of tea to force them all back.”

“Impossible!”

“They used a strange kind of crossbow. When it was cocked, it could fire countless arrows, and the sound it made was like a rattlesnake. When the beasts heard this, they panicked and fled.” The disciple held an arrow in his hand and said, “This is it.”

Mu Zhe took it in his hand. The arrow was hollow, something he had never seen before. But now was obviously not the time to study the opponent’s weapons. He turned around and commanded: “Fight!”

“Baifu Buddha Mother, bless the common people! Victory in every battle!” 

Cult believers poured out from everywhere like leeches.

In the forest, Liang Shu praised: “The crossbow made by Song-xiansheng is indeed easy to use, worthy of being the first in the world.”

Song Changsheng tightened his horse’s reins. “Your Highness is joking. If not for Second Young Master Liu providing the prototype for the weapon, I wouldn’t be able to perfect it, let alone see this giant weapon that only appeared in ancient times.”

In the beginning, it took a lot of manpower and material resources to restore this giant crossbow. Everyone thought it was unreliable, because Second Young Master Liu only drew less than twenty strokes. However, the person in question said: “Try it.”

Liang Shu also thought they could give it a try. He thought liberally that if the attempt failed, he would use his own salary to make up for the shortfall, and after making up for it, he would go to Baihe Mountain Village to make an honest living.

As the attempt was successful, even in the current situation with all the beasts running away, the army under the cover of the giant crossbow could ignore the enemy’s defenses and continue to advance straight in. 

“Baifu Buddha Mother, bless the common people! Victory in every battle!” 

Cries resounded from every direction in the dense forest.

Gao Lin led his troops to attack from the other side and caught up with the chants. He dodged to the side to avoid a stray arrow and said: “It actually looks like a normal army.”

“This group of people has been rooted in the southwest for many years, after all.” Chang Xiaoqiu gripped the Pojin sword, kicked the horse with one foot, and charged bravely toward the enemy.

The sounds of killing shook the sky, and the land around was in complete disorder.

The only relatively quiet place was the few remaining back courtyards surrounded by ancient trees.

Wumeng Yunyou panted as he ran wildly, hoping against hope that A-Le hadn’t done such a thing, that she had not become the person the believers said she was. He swung his sword, killing the two maids who came forward to stop him, and kicked the courtyard door open without saying anything. He saw a strong-bodied man walking out of the bedroom with his clothes wide open.

“Yun—”

As soon as the other party spoke a word, his head was already soaring into the air, and the bloody mist fell onto Wumeng Yunyou’s body like a waterfall. His eyes were dyed as red as a ghost’s, and the blood on his sword’s edge dripped to the ground. Still unable to vent his anger, he simply continued to swing his sword, chopping the headless corpse into a pile of meat. Then, panting, he staggered toward the house. 

“Ah!” The maid in the front hall screamed in fright, and for a moment, she didn’t recognize the person covered in blood before her. The Nanyang woman opened the bed curtain with both hands and looked at the terrifying Wumeng Yunyou standing at the door. She was also shocked, and immediately covered her chest, calling “Gege” with tears in her eyes.

Wumeng Yunyou asked word by word: “What have they done to you?”

The Nanyang woman just cried and sobbed, refusing to speak.

Wumeng Yunyou really didn’t want to believe everything in front of him, and gritted his teeth as he asked: “Where is Uncle?” He didn’t understand. His uncle had clearly said that he would protect A-Le. How could he allow this to happen?

“Uncle, Uncle, he…..” The Nanyang woman covered her face and howled loudly. Wumeng Yunyou felt a sharp pain in his heart and bent down to pick up the cloak on the ground. He stepped forward to give it to his sister, but there was suddenly a cold, numb feeling in his abdomen.

And then hot blood flowed out.

He lowered his head in disbelief to look at the dagger inserted into his body and the white hands with red nails holding the handle.

The Nanyang woman looked at him with a smile and suddenly twisted her hand! The sharp blade twisted his internal organs to pieces, and blood flowed from Wumeng Yunyou’s mouth. He looked straight into her eyes: “You…..you aren’t A-Le!”

“Why do you disown me so quickly, Gege?” Holding the knife, the woman moved out of bed and forced him to retreat step by step. “I haven’t had enough fun. Who allowed you to come back and ruin my good deeds?”

“Yunle…..Yunle…..”

“Didn’t I tell you long ago that she eloped with Ku You to the Dayan military camp? You didn’t want to believe it.” The Nanyang woman said, “You can’t blame me for this.”

A-Le. Dayan military camp.

Wumeng Yunyou recalled in a trance the girl in red who died by his venomous snake, and fear immediately took over his entire face. A-Le…..she was in the Dayan military camp.

“You’re afraid?” The Nanyang woman touched his bloody face with her fingers. “It’s a pity that at such a good age and with such good looks, you’re here today in such a broken and filthy state. I can only look but not eat.”

As she spoke, she tried to stab him again, but Wumeng Yunyou held her wrist and twisted it back, causing the bone to give an obvious crack!

Unprepared, the Nanyang woman screamed and was thrown to the ground by him. The blade penetrated deeper into Wumeng Yunyou’s body, but it was as if he didn’t feel the pain at all. He just used all his strength to strike her hard in the face with his hand!

The hidden Gu weapon penetrated the mask deeply, and also cut through the original skin beneath the mask. Wumeng Yunyou’s hand slowly moved down, opening the bloody groove deeper, and blood also gushed from his own mouth in large quantities. He said with a ferocious expression: “Give A-Le’s face back.”

“Ah!” The Nanyang woman tried her utmost, but still couldn’t break away from the murderous lunatic on top of her. She twisted the dagger in his hand randomly, and finally escaped just before her throat could be slit. The fury of her appearance being ruined also turned her mad. She pulled out a venomous snake that had been raised in a jar, and with a curse, she pinched Wumeng Yunyou’s mouth open with one hand. As she was about to put the snake in, she was suddenly knocked into the corner by a huge force, almost breaking all her bones.

Wumeng Yunyou was dying. He gazed at the silver hair of the person in front of him and grabbed his wrist with all his strength: “A-Le…..A-Le…..”

“She is with the Dayan army,” Ku You said. “She is very safe.”

“In the Dayan army…..safe?”

“Safe.”

“Good. Then you…..protect A-Le.” Wumeng Yunyou lay in a pool of blood, repeating over and over again in despair, “Protect her.”

He knew what he had done.

But he didn’t want to know.

Ku You raised his hand and closed the boy’s eyes.

The Nanyang woman in the corner was half-mad by now, holding her bloody face and screaming with vicious fury. Ku You picked her up by the collar, dragged her out of the room, and threw her onto the horse.

“Ya!”

. . . . . .

“Baifu Buddha Mother, bless the common people! Victory in every battle!” 

There was so much noise that one of Dayan’s lieutenant commanders felt dizzy. This team was originally part of Ku You’s troops, and were considered some of the best soldiers in the entire southwest garrison. Therefore, Liang Shu had ordered them to act alone to attack the most difficult and dangerous line. Not to mention the high density of the forest in this area, there were muddy swamps all over and not even a few spacious paths to be found. However, the cult believers on the opposite side still had very high morale. They pushed two walls of archers to guard the front, and there was a strong intention to counterattack and advance.

“Baifu Buddha Mother, bless the common people! Victory in every battle!” 

“Stop your damn howling!”

Two voices sounded at the same time.

The cursing came from the lieutenant commander.

Thud, something was thrown in front of him. 

With wounds all over her face, the Nanyang woman was tossed into the crowd of cultists, causing an uproar. She continued to scream as poisonous Gu roamed around her body, which looked extremely terrifying. This horrified all the believers. They could not comprehend that the saintess who was entrusted by the Baifu Buddha Mother could be harmed by mere mortals. Thus, they all retreated in a panic. Their faith collapsed, and nobody was willing to rush forward to kneel and kiss her as they normally would.

“You, you…..You‘re not the Holy Maiden! You’re not!”

Ku You jumped back on his horse, silver-haired and golden-eyed, and stretched out his hand: “Sword.”

The lieutenant commander was overjoyed when he saw who had come. He quickly ordered the soldiers to bring his sword, saying happily: “No wonder His Highness asked us to carry the commander’s weapon!”

Ku You raised his arm and shouted: “Kill!”

The Dayan army moved with grand momentum, but there was no one on the side of the howling Baifu Buddha Mother.

A-Ning followed the army with a medical kit in his arms. When he saw Chang Suyue riding past, he quickly reminded her: “Cheng-guniang, please remember to help find A-Chang!”

Cheng Suyue agreed, thinking to herself that since the commotion was so loud, anyone with a bit of brains should know to hide or run out by himself.

The truth was as she thought. A-Chang was indeed hiding quite safely. Not only was he safe, but he was also eating steamed buns, at the same time not forgetting to give Feng Xiaojin a bite or two. 

The sweet smell of food spread in the dark room. Reclining on the bed, Feng Xiaojin asked: “Do you hear the sounds outside?”

“I hear it.” Liu Hengchang said, “It should be that the Yan army has already invaded.”

“Then why don’t you leave?”

“I need to eat something first, otherwise I’ll be dizzy if I go out hungry and be unable to help.” Liu Hengchang drank over half a cup of water in one breath. During this time, he had been detoxifying Feng Xiaojin. Although he was hanging onto life, it was only by a thread. He said: “My family’s Second Young Master will definitely be able to figure out a way to detoxify you.”

“My poison does not need to be cured,” Feng Xiaojin said. “Even if it is cured, according to Dayan law, nine generations of my family should be killed.”

Liu Hengchang knew of his theft of disaster relief funds. Although his words were correct, as a doctor, he must try his best to give the patient the will to live. So he comforted him: “Young Master Feng gave Commander Ku a lot of secret information. Merits offset the demerits…..anyway, don’t think about it too much.”

“I had enough of life a long time ago.” Feng Xiaojin said, “If it weren’t for Yunyou and A-Le, I would have long since died. I should have died when he made me an immortal monster.” He closed his eyes and said, “I robbed that batch of silver and grain just because I wanted to make the man surnamed Tan miserable. As for the deaths of the victims, I didn’t care at the time, and I don’t care now either. Tell me, do people like me who are born evil deserve to die?”

Liu Hengchang was silent for a moment, then said: “Disaster victims are always innocent.”

“So, you deserve to live, but I don’t.” Feng Xiaojin gave a wretched laugh. “But Yunyou and A-Le, they are still young. Perhaps…..perhaps they still have the chance to see the world through the eyes of normal people. Even if they only see it once, and die after seeing it, they will be a thousand times better than me.”

As he spoke, he turned his head to Liu Hengchang: “Thank you for what you’ve done during this time.”

“It is me who should thank Young Master Feng,” Liu Hengchang said truthfully. “Otherwise, I’m afraid my identity would have been exposed long ago, and I would have been thrown into a trap with thousands of Gu. Although Young Master Feng claims to not know good and evil, and slaughters people, at least he truly helped me in this matter.”

“Then for the sake of me helping you, treat Yunyou and A-Le kindly.” Feng Xiaojin sat up and took a bottle of medicine from his sleeve. Liu Hengchang was taken aback when he saw this and asked: “What is this—”

Before he finished speaking, Feng Xiaojin had already drunk the contents of the bottle. Then he stood up and walked out stiffly and strangely.

Shocked, Liu Hengchang hurriedly caught up: “Young Master Feng!”

Feng Xiaojin waved his hand back and flung him to the side.

Liu Hengchang was beaten to dizziness, and asked with difficulty: “Where is Young Master Feng going?”

Feng Xiaojin opened the mechanism door and gazed at the dazzling sunshine outside: “I’m going to collect the debt Mu Zhe owes me.”

---

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Chapter One Hundred Twenty << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Two

At noon, there was the sound of the door opening, accompanied by the smell of fish. Huo Fenglie whispered: “Qing-ge?”

A casual response came from behind the bed curtains. Huo Fenglie stepped forward and opened them. He saw Liu Zhenqing lying in bed and reading a book, chewing on dried fruit comfortably.

“Qing-ge, it’s time to eat.”

Liu Zhenqing raised his hand and threw a book toward Huo Fenglie.

Huo Fenglie caught it at once, not understanding. But Liu Zhenqing suddenly turned sideways and held his head with one hand, his long black hair hanging down as he raised his eyebrows and smiled with a charming look.

Huo Fenglie was stunned.

Liu Zhenqing’s eyes immediately narrowed. He raised his leg and stepped on Huo Fenglie’s strong waist and abdomen.

Standing beside the bed, Huo Fenglie immediately tensed up and looked at Liu Zhenqing in shock.

“Qing-ge?”

“Er-gou, what do you mean by finding this kind of book for me? Could it be that you…..” Liu Zhenqing narrowed his eyes seductively while moving his foot along the undulating texture.

Huo Fenglie wanted to retreat, but didn’t dare move, and his body grew even more tense. He knew that Liu Zhenqing’s actions sometimes had no meaning and just came from restlessness, so Huo Fenglie didn’t think much about it at this moment and just endured it. However, for some reason, the picture that caught his eye made him instantly feel like his whole person had fallen into hellfire.

Huo Fenglie’s pupils shrank and his hand unconsciously exerted force, causing the entire book to crack.

“No, Qing-ge, this is a misunderstanding. I didn’t know this book was in the pile. I…..” Huo Fenglie tried his utmost to explain as he threw away the burning hot book in his hand.

This was the first time Liu Zhenqing had seen Huo Fenglie in such a panic since they had met again. He was completely different from usual and seemed to be quite frightened.

Liu Zhenqing held back his laughter, and said in a tone that made his feelings unclear, “I’m not angry, why are you nervous? It’s just such a coincidence, and I don’t believe it.”

In fact, Liu Zhenqing had figured it out just now. Because there was such a short time to collect them, Liu Zhenqing guessed that Er-gou must have gone to a street bookseller. No matter what was there, he packed it up and brought it back. After all, he didn’t like poetry much, and preferred more miscellaneous books, so the books at this kind of informal little book stall were the most suitable for him. Only, he didn’t expect that the boss was carrying contraband. He had probably disappeared before the boss had time to explain it to his customer, which led to this absurdity.

Before, Liu Zhenqing felt that he had been teased by Er-gou, which made him think of some strange images. Therefore, he couldn’t help but bully Er-gou to regain his position and make himself feel more balanced.

Liu Zhenqing looked at Huo Fenglie when he spoke, and the other already looked quite embarrassed. He even deliberately slid his toes down, almost reaching his lower abdomen, but Huo Fenglie suddenly reached out and grabbed him.

“Qing…..Qing-ge, it’s really a misunderstanding.” Huo Fenglie lowered his head and his voice shook, as if he was really afraid of Liu Zhenqing misunderstanding him.

Huo Fenglie’s mood swing was so great that Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but tease him.

“Really? That’s a pity. I was going to say that if it wasn’t a misunderstanding, I really want to try…..”

Huo Fenglie instantly raised his head with wide eyes. He looked at Liu Zhenqing in disbelief and almost stuttered: “Try…..try what?”

Liu Zhenqing raised his face slightly and moved his eyes up and down Huo Fenglie’s tall body, saying: “What do you want to try?”

He felt Huo Fenglie take a deep breath, looking very stimulated.

Feeling that he had teased him enough, Liu Zhenqing nearly choked to death holding in his laughter. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly saw Huo Fenglie’s eyes shift, and the other party captured his foot with sudden force.

Just then, there was movement at the door. “Brother Liu, are you there? Ai? What book is this? Why is it thrown on the ground?”

That was Bai Su’s voice.

Huo Fenglie suddenly flashed out, and Liu Zhenqing heard Bai Su say in surprise: “Zhanyuan? What are you doing?”

Liu Zhenqing looked curiously and saw tiny pieces of paper scattered in the sky like falling snowflakes, having been shattered by internal force.

This was almost to the point of destroying a corpse and eradicating the traces.

Before Huo Fenglie could explain to Bai Su, Liu Zhenqing was already laughing so hard that he hammered the bed board. Such commotion naturally attracted the attention of the two people at the door.

Bai Su didn’t understand, but Huo Fenglie’s expression was ever-changing. Seeing Liu Zhenqing laugh like this, there was still something he wasn’t clear about.

“What’s going on?” Bai Su had thought that Liu Zhenqing was in a bad mood, so he came back to visit him at noon. Unexpectedly, he saw Huo Fenglie acting strange as soon as he came in, and Liu Zhenqing was laughing so hard that he was about to burst into tears.

Liu Zhenqing sat on the bed and said while laughing: “Brother Huo found an interesting book for me.”

Bai Su asked in confusion: “What book? The one that was just destroyed?” Why destroy it if it was interesting?

Liu Zhenqing looked at Huo Fenglie with a smile and said: “Now you can only ask Brother Huo about that book.”

Huo Fenglie looked embarrassed and said: “It’s nothing. Yuzhou, you and Brother Liu have a meal. I have something else to do, so I’ll leave first.”

Bai Su just thought there was some small secret between them and didn’t delve into it. Seeing how Huo Fenglie left in a hurry, he looked at Liu Zhenqing.

Liu Zhenqing shrugged and got out of bed to greet Bai Su and eat. However, as soon as his feet touched the ground, he felt a slight residual pain. Liu Zhenqing was taken aback. Er-gou had grabbed him rather hard that last time.

Bai Su saw the things on Liu Zhenqing’s bed and looked at him helplessly.

Liu Zhenqing smiled and said: “I really have nothing to do, so I can only lie down to kill time.”

Bai Su said with a sigh: “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing to me?” Liu Zhenqing said. “Is Cheng Xi okay?”

“He coughed for a while and took medicine before getting better. Then he kept working,” Bai Su said with a frown.

Liu Zhenqing sat down and took the food out of the food box. It was hot, and the grilled fish had all the bones picked out. How had he done such a difficult thing?

He imagined Huo Fenglie picking fish bones and said casually: “Is he still angry?”

Bai Su looked a little unnatural. “He just cares so much about my brother.”

Liu Zhenqing raised his eyebrows and said: “It’s not that simple.”

Bai Su was a little embarrassed, and said: “You saw it too? To tell you the truth, my brother was indeed interested in Cheng-daren, and now it seems that Cheng-daren is also…..”

Bai Su said with some envy in his eyes: “Their friendship was so deep, but they missed the opportunity. It is a pity that they were not destined.”

Liu Zhenqing recalled Bai Yu’s disposition. He didn’t know if it was just that he was emotional after being treated with hostility, but Liu Zhenqing felt that Bai Yu wouldn’t have been happy with Cheng Xi. Looking at Bai Su now, Liu Zhenqing frowned slightly.

Liu Zhenqing still had an impression of Bai Su as a child. Bai Su admired Bai Yu very much and regarded Bai Yu’s hobbies as his own. He liked to be close to Bai Yu in everything. In fact, his nature was more lively when he was a child, but now Bai Su lived like Bai Yu in every aspect.

Seeing Bai Su like this, Liu Zhenqing suddenly said: “Forget it, let’s not talk about this. That’s right, I read a lot of interesting story books today. The love stories were very beautiful and enviable. They made me want to fall in love.”

Bai Su’s attention was diverted by this interesting statement, and he said with a smile: “Really?”

Liu Zhenqing said with unclear implications: “Sometimes when I read them, I really wish I was the hero in the book and could enjoy the same love.”

After speaking, Liu Zhenqing happily began to eat, but the person across from him didn’t pick up his chopsticks for some time. It wasn’t until Liu Zhenqing urged him that Bai Su started eating.

When Huo Fenglie returned in the afternoon, Bai Su had left and the bed curtains were lowered. Liu Zhenqing seemed to be asleep inside.

Huo Fenglie brought another pile of snacks. Even in his confusion before, he had noticed that the snacks had been finished off. He didn’t try to open the curtain, but just reached inside.

He was silently placing the snacks on the edge of the bed when his hand was suddenly grabbed.

Huo Fenglie’s expression didn’t change. When he saw the bed curtain open, he just whispered: “Did I wake you up?”

Liu Zhenqing tilted his head and looked at Huo Fenglie with a smile, saying: “What? Are you angry with me? Don’t you want to have dinner with me anymore?”

“I’m not. I’m going to keep an eye on that person.” Huo Fenglie didn’t raise his head to look at him. He tried to pull his hand back, but didn’t dare to use too much force.

Liu Zhenqing tightened his grip and said: “Sorry, Qing-ge went too far. I shouldn’t have teased you like that. Please forgive me, I’ll never tease you like this again.”

Huo Fenglie’s furrowed brow didn’t loosen. He just raised his head and looked deeply at Liu Zhenqing. Liu Zhenqing couldn’t make heads nor tails of the complicated look in his eyes.

Huo Fenglie reached out and pushed Liu Zhenqing’s hand away, his expression gradually turning to normal as he said: “Qing-ge, I’m really not angry with you. That you could tease me means that you’ve regained your spirits, so that’s good.”

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help feeling guilty. He moved closer and touched Er-gou’s head. “Er-gou is still magnanimous.”

Er-gou was so good, and yet he still teased him like this. This was really not good, and he needed to reflect on it.

But Huo Fenglie’s eyes gradually dimmed with such an embrace.

Afterwards, the two got down to business. Having rested all morning, Liu Zhenqing felt full of energy.

“So Du Dongfeng has been acting very normal, and it doesn’t seem like there is anyone else behind him?”

“I suppose we’ll have to wait until evening.”

“En, I had better go to Qin Yu’s place to have a look in the afternoon.”

Soon after, Huo Fenglie sent Liu Zhenqing to the interrogation room. Qin Yu and He Lan were both there, and were a little surprised to see Liu Zhenqing come over.

He Lan said: “Is it appropriate for a young master like him to be here? Lao Qin’s methods are so twisted. After seeing this, he will have nightmares.”

Qin Yu glanced at He Lan coldly.

He Lan immediately apologized with a smile.

Huo Fenglie looked at Liu Zhenqing.

Liu Zhenqing shook his head and smiled. “Don’t worry, I have a strong tolerance.”

Everyone thought he was just worried about his family and wanted to find the truth quickly, so they accepted his presence.

Once Huo Fenglie left, Qin Yu said to Liu Zhenqing: “There is no information about your Liu family.”

He Lan sat directly on the table and crossed his legs in an unceremonious manner, saying: “I was just wondering, what does your Liu family have to do with the Imperial Examinations?”

Liu Zhenqing said: “I don’t know either. I’d like to start with the personal information of the officials. Do you have anything on them?”

Qin Yu pointed to the bookshelf beside them and said: “The information and confessions have been preserved. Take a look.”

Liu Zhenqing finally got what he wanted, and checked them one by one against the list in his memory.

The afternoon passed by, and He Lan received a shock. He spoke in Qin Yu’s ear: “Look, he’s so calm, ah. He hasn’t even raised his head despite so many screams. Could it be that he’s as vicious as you deep down?”

There was a snap as soon as he finished speaking, and He Lan gave an aiyo, touching the leg that Qin Yu had whipped. He could only grit his teeth and say: “You wait, sooner or later, I’m going to whip you hard too…..”

Qin Yu’s narrow phoenix eyes swept over, and He Lan immediately shut up.

Liu Zhenqing nearby didn’t notice their quarrel at all and calmly turned a page.

He didn’t go back in the evening and just had dinner here. Facing the smell of blood and the cursing in the room, Liu Zhenqing felt nothing and thought about what he had read.

He had noticed two strange things.

Firstly, the First Princess had come here with Rong Shiming two years ago. Officials including Magistrate Yao and Cheng Xi had participated in the reception. And the Imperial Examination fraud model had begun almost two years ago.

Secondly, the list of officials involved in the Imperial Examination fraud had a high degree of overlap with those who may have been involved in the tax money corruption case, except for Magistrate Yao.

Although it seemed normal to say that corrupt officials would do all kinds of wicked deeds, there was one thing that was very strange. There were very few officials in the capital who were involved in the Imperial Examination fraud. After all, such a model didn’t require the participation of many officials at all. As long as there were exam questions, just one was enough. The focus was on the academy and the candidates. But so many officials were involved in the south, as if they had all heard about this and were roped in to get a share of the pie.

Was this a plot by someone behind the scenes?

Magistrate Yao was not among the officials who committed fraud. Could it be that he was plotting against these officials behind the scenes? Why? He was already the local boss, and others couldn’t shake him at all. Even in the tax fraud case, they were all grasshoppers on the same string, so why bother?

Or were these people just well-informed and trying to make money?

Huo Fenglie suddenly came over at this time. Seeing his expression, it was obvious that Du Dongfeng had made a move.

Huo Fenglie didn’t say much, and picked him up directly.

He Lan had originally wanted to complain to Huo Fenglie about his hard work, and thought that everyone could go out to drink and relax together in the evening. But as soon as he turned around, that person was gone. Their work had come to an end, so he took Qin Yu and went to find people to drink with.

As soon as they went out, they saw Huo Fenglie and Liu Zhenqing walking along the eaves, but they were heading toward the courtyard where they were staying.

What were these two playing at?

He Lan was immediately nosy, and took Qin Yu to fly up to the roof and watch the fun.

In the end, they saw them land directly on Bai Su’s roof and lay down.

Qin Yu, who was forcibly dragged over, couldn’t help but become curious. After all, he also stayed in that house.

When the two got closer, Huo Fenglie naturally discovered them. When he saw them descend, he didn’t chase them away, but just shushed them and indicated that there was someone in the room.

The two understood at once and lay down to observe.

Liu Zhenqing was still confused. Weren’t they going to watch Du Dongfeng?

Why did they come to Bai Su’s residence?

Did Huo Fenglie mean that Du Dongfeng was in Bai Su’s residence? What for? To attack him?

After a while, Bai Su returned, looking preoccupied.

Huo Fenglie raised his head and glanced at Qin Yu and He Lan. In order to discover the purpose of the person in the house, it was inconvenient to warn Bai Su, but they also couldn’t put their brother in danger, so the two of them landed at different windows and continued to observe the situation inside. This way, under the siege of three people, Bai Su would be protected no matter what.

Bai Su returned to the house and lit the candles in a daze. He heard movement after a moment, and turned around suddenly to see a figure rushing over.

Startled, Bai Su stood up quickly. Just as he was about to shout, he saw the person kneel on the ground with a thud.

“Greeting Second Young Master Bai!”

Bai Su was taken aback. He saw that the person who was kneeling sincerely was an acquaintance, and couldn’t help but say in surprise: “What…..what are you doing? I remember that you’re Du Dongfeng, a government servant?”

“No, my real name is not Du Dongfeng. In fact, my surname is Yuan. Ten years ago, my father was Yuan Du, a third-rank official in the Imperial court.”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was stunned.

Bai Su was even more shocked. “Yuan-daren? Wasn’t Yuan-daren’s entire family……”

One of the evil deeds of the treacherous minister was to levy excessive taxes in the south. The problem was serious, and a good official was recommended to investigate but was assassinated by Liu Zhenqing. In the end, even his family members in the capital were wiped out.

This rumored good official was Yuan Du, who was known for his integrity!

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Chapter Forty-Eight << Table of Contents >> Chapter Fifty

Wumeng Yunyou relied on his familiarity with the terrain and various hidden weapons designed in advance to shuttle through the dense forest like a dexterous ape. Seeing that the other party was fleeing farther and farther away, the guards of Xiao Wang Palace waved their hands and ordered everyone to bend their bows into full moons. For a time, the arrows were like heavy rain. Wumeng Yunyou’s steps seemed to stagger slightly due to this, but he did not stop, and instead quickly rolled down a short cliff.

He escaped without a trace once more.

Liu Xianche in the military camp also sighed upon hearing the news of Wumeng Yunle’s death. After a good while, he ordered: “Have her remains cremated, otherwise the Gu in her body will be buried deep in the ground, which will inevitably give rise to other poisonous Gu.”

Liu Nanyuan nodded: “Okay.”

The girl whose life was ruined by the Baifu Sect finally turned into a wisp of slim and graceful smoke. Swept by the summer wind, it disappeared into the dense forest in all directions, leaving no trace.

In the middle of the night, a heavy rain fell across the entire southwest. The rumbling thunder practically tore through the sky, and the loud noise rolled into Second Young Master Liu’s dreams. He trembled in shock, and the Three Thousands Worlds turned into dancing butterflies. Liang Shu tightened his arms. “Were you frightened awake?”

Liu Xian’an was semi-conscious, and replied without losing his principles, I wasn’t frightened awake. I can still sleep a bit more.

Liang Shu lowered his head and rubbed his chin, which rubbed his sleepiness away. The night rain in the dense southwest forests was actually very beautiful. It hit the roof of the bamboo building with pattering sounds, soaking the surrounding areas with moisture and greenness, and the air was also filled with the fragrance of flowers. But it was still not as fragrant as the beauty in his arms. He took advantage of his person’s sleep to pull open his robe bit by bit, like peeling a tender fruit hanging on a branch. It trembled when you poked it, and when you took a bite, even the skin and flesh were sweet.

Liu Xian’an somewhat reluctantly reached out to pull his sleeping clothes, but it was obvious that he couldn’t hold onto them. Liang Shu smiled and turned over to embrace him, whispering in his ear: “No sleep allowed.”

In the middle of the night, everything was quiet. Even the chirping of the insects had subsided, but he couldn’t sleep. Liu Xian’an felt that there was no such principle in the world, so he opened his mouth and responded with an “Mm, wu,” and at the same time crawled toward the corner with his hands and feet, trying to shake this person off him. However, Liang Shu leaned over and pressed him down, biting the small red mole on his snow-white neck with his teeth. Liu Xian’an was really sleepy, but he couldn’t sleep. Half-conscious, he had a dream full of philosophical thoughts about sacrificing his life to feed a tiger, and was finally bitten awake.

After waking up, the current situation was no better than the dream, because at least the tiger in the dream could not catch up with the white crane in the clouds thirty thousand li away. But in reality, there was only a thin, creak-creaking bamboo bed for the two of them. Its sturdiness was worrisome, but His Royal Highness Xiao Wang seemed to have taken the wrong medicine. He bit and licked, grasping that soft waist with his big hands, and there was also moist water vapor in his voice: “Don’t move.”

Liu Xian’an: “……”

Liang Shu rubbed the side of his face with his thumb: “Don’t close your eyes. Look at me.”

Liu Xian’an didn’t want to cooperate, mainly because if he looked again, he might not be able to sleep later. So he immediately closed his eyes, stretched his hand forward, and managed to deal with what must be dealt with. And because of this, he felt confident enough to sleep for an extra half hour the next morning.

He wanted to sleep more, but was unable to, because the entire military camp was currently pretending to be sick, and this required the cooperation of many doctors to pretend. Even Liang Shu himself held his chest and coughed twice. The aunt in charge of cleaning was frightened when she took out two bloodstained handkerchiefs.

“What illness does the prince have?”

“He isn’t ill, it’s just a cough!”

With a gloomy look on his face, Gao Lin ordered the aunt to burn the handkerchiefs and not say anything more in the future. But the news eventually spread, and even Yuan Yu heard about it. He asked probingly: “Why haven’t I seen the prince in recent days?”

“He’s ill.” Gao Lin didn’t hide anything from him. He sat on a chair and complained, “I don’t know where this strange disease came from. It’s not the plague, and it isn’t just the prince who is sick. Didn’t you notice when you were walking these past few days? There are coughs everywhere.”

“Is there nothing Baihe Mountain Village can do?”

“Baihe Mountain Village has doctors, not gods,” Gao Lin said. “I came to tell you that you should not go out in the next few days to avoid getting infected. I’ll get someone to spread lime around your house later.”

“Okay, I’ll stay here,” Yuan Yu said. “I’ll just stay here and wait.”

He thought he had successfully accomplished his goal, and was very proud of himself. He would just wait for Mu Zhe’s next move.

At the same time, the Holy Maiden of the Baifu Sect began to wander around the southwest lands. 

Different from the coldness and aloofness of the past, this time the saintess was finally willing to step down from that high platform and allow many believers to worship her amazing beauty more closely. They knelt on the ground, their faces flushed with excitement. Like loyal but stupid dogs, they crawled forward, vying to kiss those bare white toes.

The Nanyang woman giggled and raised the face of one of them with her toes: “Let me see your loyalty.”

The man quickly took a cloth bag from his sleeve, and after opening it, a heavy amount of silver rolled down all around. The Nanyang woman turned to look at the other person: “Where is yours?”

The other person also took two gold bars out of his sleeve. He offered them devoutly and nervously, saying: “This is, this is what I got for selling my wife, daughter, and ancestral property!”

“Good, very good. Gold.” The Nanyang woman stepped lightly on the gold and silver on the ground. “With such sincerity, the Baifu Buddha Mother will protect you from illness and disaster.”

As she spoke, she glanced around the room, but not every believer had gold and silver, and they feared punishment from the Baifu Buddha Mother. The Nanyang woman turned around to sit on the high platform, taking the initiative to comfort them: “It doesn’t matter. Without gold or silver, you can also receive blessings if you kill demons with only your strength. Who is a demon?”

“Liang Shu!” They shouted in unison.

The Nanyang woman covered her mouth and smiled. She reclined slightly and leaned her head on one hand. With her clothes half-undone, she pointed her polished toes at the man who sold his wife and daughter: “You, come up.”

The man was overjoyed, and climbed all the way up the steps on his knees, stretching out his hands tremblingly.

Wind filled the entire room, whimpering and wailing, like the sharp, wanton laugh of a demon.

. . . . . . .

Wumeng Yunyou removed the bandages and looked down at the wound on his shoulder. He was injured by a stray arrow that day in the forest and gritted his teeth, fleeing to a secret contact point of the Baifu Sect. However, he was no longer being tracked by the officials. After being nursed for so many days, the arrow wound had finally scarred over. 

He had no intention of going back. At least, not until he killed Liu Nanyuan.

“Uncle Qian.” Wumeng Yunyou asked the middle-aged man in the courtyard, “How is the matter I asked you to inquire about?”

“Everything is normal in the Dayan military camp.” The middle-aged man lowered his voice. “There is no news that anyone important has been killed, though there is a bigger fuss about the plague. I heard that even Liang Shu is ill. Doctors kept running to his room all day long, but nothing could be done. Those are doctors of Baihe Mountain Village.”

Wumeng Yunyou said leisurely: “Where is Liu Nanyuan?”

“Busy treating everyone’s illnesses.” The middle-aged man said, “But she will only practice medicine in the military camp now, and will not go to other places to visit patients. If Young Master Yunyou intends to kill her, I fear it will take a lot of effort. In my opinion, it would be better to just wait until she falls ill too, and save the trouble.”

“She provoked A-Le. I will definitely kill her.” Wumeng Yunyou glanced at his sword. “Never mind. Uncle Qian, help me send a letter to A-Le first.”

“This…..I’m afraid it won’t be easy to send, ah.” The middle-aged man felt awkward. “The Holy Maiden’s whereabouts have been uncertain recently. She is in this city today and will go to that city tomorrow. I have not received news for three to five days. My guess is that she went back to the sect.”

“Isn’t she in Shuhua City?”

“She was originally going to Shuhua City, but there was some trouble there.” The middle-aged man said, “It is said that there was a believer who wanted to stay at the Holy Maiden’s bedside, but couldn’t assemble the money, so he cut off his own finger to show his loyalty, which finally alerted the government—”

“Wait.” Wumeng Yunyou frowned. “What do you mean he wanted to stay at the Holy Maiden’s bedside?”

“That’s right, that’s right…..Young Master Yunyou, don’t you know?” The middle-aged man hesitated. “The saint’s touring activities this time are…..very different from the previous ones. I thought Young Master Yunyou had known this for a long time.”

“Those men stay in A-Le’s room?”

“Yes, yes, ah.” The middle-aged man nodded. “There are many people, including our shop’s Wang Zhu. He has worked hard for the holy religion for seven or eight years, and this was the Holy Maiden’s reward for him…..Young Master Yunyou, Young Master Yunyou!”

Wumeng Yunyou descended from the eaves of the back courtyard as leisurely as a vulture and grabbed the man by the collar: “Did you go to see A-Le?”

“Yes.” Wang Zhu grinned, looking a little simple and embarrassed. He said: “The Holy Maiden was very satisfied with me, and said she would reward me next time.”

Wumeng Yunyou stood there for a moment as if struck by a thunderbolt, then staggered and ran out.

He swung onto a fast horse, passing through the town and forest like lightning.

At that same time, the Dayan army was also ready to go. 

Liu Xian’an tried to place Liang Shu’s armor, but he was not very good at the job. The result was not a majestic general, but a dissolute prince who didn’t look like he could win a battle. In the end, he simply gave up and said: “Do it yourself.”

Liang Shu shook his head and sighed. Alas, I have a bad fate, and did not find a virtuous and capable person.

Liu Xian’an raised his leg and kicked him.

Liang Shu quickly ducked aside. He straightened his clothes and opened his hands again: “Come here and give me a kiss, one kiss before we leave. The army is still waiting.”

Liu Xian’an hugged his waist. His hands touched a part that was cold and icy, and he frowned slightly.

Liang Shu wanted to play the scoundrel: “How about it? Does it feel as good as it did last night? I say, I shouldn’t have put on clothes.”

Liu Xian’an’s eyelid twitched slightly. He didn’t want to think about last night. Liang Shu picked him up with a smile and told him softly: “The Imperial guards will protect you. Don’t run around, just stay with the team, understand?”

“I understand.” Liu Xian’an held his face, lowered his head, and kissed him. “There’s no need for you to worry about me. It is best not to use your attention on me.”

“En, I won’t get hurt, and I won’t worry about you.” Liang Shu led him out and said, “Just watch the fun and be a comfortable lazy person. But you must remember the details of our victory very clearly, so that when we return to the Three Thousand Worlds in the future, we can speak in detail to those white-bearded old men for three days and three nights.”

“They won’t want to listen.”

“Not listening is beyond their control!”

Liu Xian’an: “…..Okay, ba. That is also fine.”

In any case, you are the only one in that world who has a very long sword and a grumpy face, and no one dares to provoke you.

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Chapter One Hundred Nineteen << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Twenty-One

From this indirect and step by step approach, one could also catch a glimpse of Mu Nanqiao’s cunning in the business world.

In any case, the goal was achieved. Boss Mu still pushed and pulled reservedly, answering with slight hesitation: “Yes, do you want to see them? They’re not very good.”

Lu Qi held Xiao Sanhua and thought for a moment. Not very good.

If he had known, he would have taken a good look last time when Mu Nanqiao took off his clothes in the bathroom. He was too embarrassed back then, but now that he thought about it, he was regretful. He opened his mouth and was about to tell him to forget it, but Mu Nanqiao had already put his hands on the hem of his clothes.

Boss Mu, who almost lost his chance, remained calm on the surface: “If it’s just you, it’s okay.”

Since the other person said so, of course Lu Qi sat down in a well-behaved manner, bright-eyed and ready to “learn.”

Seeing him like this, the originally calm Mu Nanqiao became a little embarrassed. He coughed, grabbed the hem of his black housecoat with slender fingers, and lifted it up a little.

Lu Qi: Wow!!

First-rate male beauty! Golden quality!

He had never liked very deep and exaggerated muscle lines, which were very stiff, but the mermaid lines and abdominal muscles in front of him were just right, smooth and beautiful. The sweatpants hung loosely at his hips, and the lines that tucked into the waistband had an unspoken sex appeal.

Lu Qi found another red mole below the concave dimple of his belly button on that cool white skin. This spot was simply eye-searing, unable to be described…..

He had taken the initiative to ask to see his muscles, but now he was blushing. Xiao Sanhua in his arms was still nudging him, making coquettish little chirps, and seemed dissatisfied that his attention was trained on the canine.

Lu Qi quickly covered Xiao Sanhua’s eyes.

Xiao Sanhua: “Meow?”

But the clothes weren’t lifted up enough, and the muscles on the sides of the ribs couldn’t be seen.

Mu Nanqiao pulled them up a little more.

Lu Qi suddenly recalled that he had once cooperated with a Taobao store and drew several sets of game fanart. The store later mailed him a set of samples. On a palm-sized card, the silver-haired character was half-kneeling, hands tied behind his back, and he was wearing a sleeveless black high-collar outfit.

At the time this sort of card appeared, Lu Qi still didn’t understand. He had clearly not drawn a shirt for the character. Then he received a friendly reminder from the store that the specially-coated clothes were temperature changing, and could be “taken off” by using hot air from a hair dryer.

Why did he think of this thing?

Because the man in front of him was also wearing a black short-sleeved shirt, and the process of lifting up the black material really seemed to make it fade like the temperature change card.

The muscles on the sides of his ribs extended smoothly upward. Lu Qi pursed his lower lip and looked up at Mu Nanqiao: “Can…..I…..touch it?”

“That won’t work.” Mu Nanqiao looked down at him with slightly raised eyebrows: “That’s another price. It’s only for a boyfriend to touch.”

“Okay…..” Lu Qi glanced at it reluctantly a few more times and murmured softly: “En, it seems I do still have room for improvement.”

“Have you seen enough?” Mu Nanqiao put down his shirt and asked in a low voice: “Are you satisfied? Does it look good?”

Lu Qi nodded like a chicken pecking rice. “En, en, en, exceedingly good!”

He actually raised his hand and touched the corner of his lips. Of course there was no drool, but this small gesture was so cute that Mu Nanqiao’s Adam’s apple rolled and he looked away with difficulty.

Otherwise, he was truly afraid that he would lose control and push this person down on the sofa and kiss him.

It wasn’t time yet.

“As long as you’re satisfied. Remember to give me a five star rating.” Mu Nanqiao rubbed his soft hair. Refraining from touching him was like drinking poison to quench his thirst, and his voice became imperceptibly hoarse. “I’m going to change my clothes. You should get ready too.”

“Okay.” Lu Qi agreed and stood up.

Xiao Sanhua, who had her eyes covered for no reason, jumped away with a miwu sound, and her foot tripped over the cord of the desk lamp. With quick reflexes, Mu Nanqiao leaned over to hold the desk lamp and shook his head with a smile. “There are some decorations in the apartment that need to be put away. Let’s replace the desk lamp.”

This was indeed the case with cats. Xiao Sanhua loved to push things off the table. In these past two days, there was the paintbrush Lu Qi put on the table, the keys to Mu Nanqiao’s Maybach, and her own kittens…..none of them could escape the claws of this devil with pink footpads.

Lu Qi acquiesced to the idea of changing the desk lamp and nodded, but saw something extraordinary from the corner of his eye.

Mu Nanqiao’s ears were red.

They were really red. Because he had leaned down to adjust the lampshade, he was close to the light source. A bit of light shone through the shells of his ears, so his red-hot ears and earlobes were particularly obvious.

It was as if Lu Qi had discovered a comet that had never been recorded before, and he stared for a long moment. It wasn’t until Mu Nanqiao finished adjusting the lampshade that he exclaimed: “Mu Nanqiao! Your ears are red! You can also be embarrassed!”

Mu Nanqiao: …….

He couldn’t bear it, and raised a hand to flick Lu Qi’s forehead.

Lu Qi yelped and covered his forehead.

“What are you talking about, ah, Wife Xiao Lu? I have a thick face, not crocodile skin. You’ve been staring at my belly for so long, so why can’t I be shy?” Mu Nanqiao said: “Stop flirting with me, and change clothes quickly.”

Lu Qi: ? ? ? 

Who was flirting with whom? It was obviously him who was flirting!

But Mu Nanqiao didn’t give Lu Qi a chance to refute, and turned around to walk out in a hurry.

The door closed behind him and he exhaled, leaning his back against the cold outer door. The charming flash of heat moved by emotion was given a shock by the cold metal behind him, and finally ceased clamoring.

There was only his heart beating in his chest.

Across the door, Lu Qi hummed songs one after another, in a good mood. They gradually became smoother, like Tchiacovsky’s “Dance of the Reed Flutes.”

Bright, lively, like a little sparrow that disturbed people without knowing it.

Leaning against the door, Mu Nanqiao raised his head. Slender fingers lifted up the hair on his forehead, and his eyelashes halfway concealed his pupils.

They also covered the surging emotions in his eyes.

Silly little deer.

Having red ears was sometimes more than just shyness.

. . . . . . .

Fortunately, Sichuan cuisine was not just red peppers. Mu Nanqiao ordered carefully, and strategically avoided the peppers when picking up the dishes, ultimately saving his face as a Boss.

When he looked up at Lu Qi, there was a bit of sweat at the tip of his nose, and his cool white skin was flushed, but he continuously moved his chopsticks.

This Sichuan restaurant wasn’t too big, but the price was affordable and the menu was friendly. You could see the bright fire in the kitchen through the transparent glass, and the hygiene was relatively guaranteed.

Both Mu Nanqiao and Lu Qi were wearing casual short sleeves and sweatpants. The shopkeeper thought they were students from a nearby university and gave them a small cold dish as a gift.

Mu Nanqiao was not warm toward the aunt who served the food, but he still smiled politely and thanked her. He took the plate and put it down with both hands, then poured Lu Qi a glass of water and handed it to him.

Although it was a bit unlucky, Lu Qi still thought of Lin Yuan, who was also a company boss. That dog was very particular about ostentation when he ate. There were many times when Lu Qi went to take the drunk Lin Yuan home. He went to all those star-rated hotels, and even restaurants that refused to let people in casual clothes enter, and they had to show a membership card.

The last time, Lu Qi was treated as a substitute driver. En, the waiting room for drivers and others was also beautiful and luxurious, and there were unlimited fruit and drinks. Ignoring other people’s gazes, Lu Qi ate enough mangosteen before going home by himself, and never picked up Lin Yuan again from then on.

Some people’s upbringing and temperament were not just about eating delicacies from the mountains and seas and wearing high-end, luxurious, limited-edition clothes.

Mu Nanqiao was sitting in the bustle of the mundane world with an upright look. When he saw him looking over, he smiled warmly. “Are you full?”

He couldn’t describe what it was, but he just seemed very at ease. This person could wear a suit and leather shoes, elegant and proud at a banquet, or he could dress casually and blend into the hustle and bustle of a roadside shop without being obtrusive. 

Well, not obtrusive, but his face was still a bit eye-catching.

Lu Qi smiled. There was a small corner of his heart that, after being soaked in warm water for a while, was actually very soft. It just needed an opportunity. If given a light touch, it would open up slightly and grow a small bud.

He smiled very brightly, eyes bent, and answered happily: “I’m done eating.”

“You really like this restaurant?” Mu Nanqiao gave him an amused look. “You’re smiling so happily after eating?”

He didn’t even know how beautiful his smile was. The pear dimple on his cheek was filled with sunshine.

“I’m not smiling just because I’m full, ah.” Lu Qi wiped his mouth with a moist tissue. He suppressed his smile slightly, but his eyes were still bright. “I’ll get the check!”

Mu Nanqiao didn’t argue with him about this. He asked the waitress for a to-go box and packaged the remaining dishes.

When Lu Qi returned from scanning his WeChat, he had everything packed up. Standing at the door of the restaurant with the to-go box in hand, he lowered his head and clicked on a WeChat message.

A woman’s voice came from the receiver. It was very gentle, but compared to the average woman’s voice, it was a little deeper, and it could be heard that she was not of the same age.

Lu Qi subconsciously stopped. Mu Nanqiao was a CEO, after all. Who knew if there might be any trade secrets on his phone? But it was already too late, and he heard the lady saying:

“Come home for your birthday next week, Mom has prepared a surprise for you. We’ll blow up the old house. The procedures for declaring it a dilapidated building have been completed. How about we enjoy the blasting together when you come back?”

Mu Nanqiao’s expression was dumbfounded.

Lu Qi: ……

Could Mu Nanqiao’s childhood composition be “My Mother From a Fighting Nation?”

But Lu Qi heard the key information. On the way back when they were walking to digest, he asked Mu Nanqiao: “It’s your birthday? Then I want to give you a gift. What would you like?”

Mu Nanqiao’s fox eyes looked at him with a smile that wasn’t a smile: “The gift I want is very simple. What you did to me today, I want to do to you. Is that okay?”

His original intention was just to make a small joke, so he kept walking forward carelessly and said casually: “Actually, you can give me anything. I’ll like whatever it is…..”

Realizing that Lu Qi hadn’t followed, he stopped and turned to look in confusion at the young man who was lagging behind.

Lu Qi had followed for two steps before stopping. As if he had come to a decision, he said with a knitted brow: “Then is it too late for me to exercise now?”

He gave a sheepish cough. “I seem to have gained weight recently.”

Lu Qi felt that this seemed fair. They were both grown men, and just looking at their bellies. 

Upon further thought, Mu Nanqiao was the one at a disadvantage. After all, the five-star scenic spot under his clothes and the small park next door could not be compared.

It was just embarrassing. There wasn’t much meat on his waist, but it was soft when pinched and a bit unpresentable, ah.

He waited for a moment, but Mu Nanqiao didn’t reply.

When he glanced up, the other person’s eyes were heavy. There was no smile on his face, and inexplicable emotions surged in his eyes. There was a hint of fierceness hidden in his already deep and handsome features, mixed with a bit of softness. 

Lu Qi blinked and instinctively wanted to run away.

“Lu. Qi.” He actually called him by his first name, and chuckled after calling him. Those complicated and turbulent emotions in his eyes vanished, as if it had all been Lu Qi’s imagination.

He said jokingly: “I’m not a good person. I can’t help but bully you when you’re so so sincere to me.”

He wanted to lock him up and bully him until he cried.

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Chapter Twenty-One << Table of Contents >> Chapter Twenty-Three