When Zhao Yelan went out, Xia Gao had subconsciously followed him. He said he was going to look for Gu Niaonaio, and after sending Xiao Gao away, he went alone. Instead of going to the Hongxiu Building openly, he walked into the small house used for communication, then walked through the tunnel and knocked on the door.

After a while, it opened to reveal Gu Niaonaio wearing a thin robe with her shoulders exposed, yawning as she stood there: “Is it good for you to run to me right after returning to Beijing?”

Zhao Yelan glanced at the scene inside the house.

“Come in, ba, there’s no one else.” After waiting for him to enter, Gu Niaoniao closed the secret door and told the surrounding maids and servants to retreat, then went back to the room to pour a cup of tea and light a stick of incense. “I haven’t seen you in a few months, but you still came back alive. You have good fortune, ah.”

Zhao Yelan took a sip of tea, then took out a bag of spices and a pearl hairpin, setting them on the table.

“You still know to bring me something? Then I won’t be polite.” Gu Niaoniao sat down with a smile and picked up the hairpin. She examined it for a while, then said, “It’s very unique, you even know women’s styles so well?”

“I found it in passing.”

Seeing Yin Pinglu stare at this hairpin for a long time, Zhao Yelan asked Yan Mingting to buy it for her, and bought a second one while they were there.

“You just don’t want to admit it, ba.” Gu Niaonaio smiled and inserted the hairpin into her hair, looking into the bronze mirror with great satisfaction. She picked up the spice packet and smelled it: “This is nice. We can put it in Qingyan’s room, the patrons will like it.”

Zhao Yelan twirled his fingers and remained silent.

After a long while, Gu Niaoniao put away these things with a sigh, and her expression gradually sank: “You don’t think this will placate me, do you?”

Zhao Yelan looked at her.

“You’ve been preparing to fake your death for so long, and I almost snuck in to collect the corpse. You just suddenly canceled your plans, and the next day, you slipped away to Jiangnan by yourself to be lovebirds with Yan Mingting. Such a happy thing,” Gu Niaoniao said angrily.

“Sorry, it happened suddenly.”

Gu Niaoniao looked at him for a while, then waved her hand: “Well, since it’s your own choice, what can I say? How are you two doing now?”

“Fairly well.” Zhao Yelan took another sip of tea.

“Your fairly well should mean extremely well.” Gu Niaoniao observed his expression. “Tell me, you came to the door in person as soon as you returned, so what do you need me for?”

“The tattoos on Qingyan’s body, did you do them?” Zhao Yelan asked.

Some of the girls in the building wore flirtatious tattoos to tease the guests, and others had scars on their bodies that could be covered with tattoos. Of course, there were some who simply enjoyed them.

“Yes, ah, I did the tattoos on all the girls. It’s a special skill that I learned.” As Gu Niaoniao spoke, she glanced at him in surprise and her expression turned strange. “Are you thinking about getting a tattoo as well?”

Zhao Yelan nodded calmly.

“You two…..are progressing very fast,” Gu Niaoniao teased. She paused again, shook her head, and said, “No, no. Does that mean that he hasn’t seen your back yet?”

“En.”

Gu Niaoniao was suddenly in awe of Yan Mingting, and sighed: “Wait a minute, I’ll go get some tools.”

About a quarter of an hour later, Gu Niaoniao came in with a big box: “Take off your shirt and lie down on the bed.”

Zhao Yelan watched as she unfolded a cloth bag with practiced movements. Inside were silver needles of varying thickness, and there were several boxes of paint next to her. She lit a candle, took out a needle, and heated it on the flame.

Gu Niaoniao noticed his gaze lingering on the needle, and said: “The process is quite painful, aren’t you most afraid of pain? How about I get you a sleeping draught? By the time you wake up, it will be over.”

Zhao Yelan thought for a moment before agreeing. Then he slowly removed his shirt, lay down on the bed, and asked: “How long will it take?”

“If you take the medicine, you won’t feel the pain, and I’ll be able to work faster. About half an hour,” Gu Niaoniao said.

“Try to be as quick as possible.” Zhao Yelan glanced at the sky outside. If he stayed too long, Yan Mingting would definitely look for him everywhere.

Gu Niaoniao put down the needle, ready to go prepare the sleeping draught. Unexpectedly, she was stunned as soon as she opened the door, and slowly retreated back into the room.

“What’s wrong?” Zhao Yelan asked.

Immediately afterwards, he saw Yan Mingting appear in the doorway, walking in step by step. He gave Gu Niaoniao a sharp look, then turned his head to look straight at him.

Zhao Yelan was startled, and suddenly realized that he had taken off his shirt. This scene seemed easy to misunderstand. He immediately sat up and donned his clothes, frantically tying his belt, but after a long time, he failed to do so and asked self-deprecatingly: “Why did you come?”

Yan Mingting passed by the table and glanced at the tools on it, then walked to the bed, his face darkening: “Come back with me.”

Zhao Yelan looked up at him. Those eyes that were always smiling were frosted over, frozen into ice. There was even an undercurrent of force in his tone, which was quite different from the usual Yan Mingting, and made him feel a little flustered.

He awkwardly explained: “This isn’t what it looks like, I just……I just have some business with her.”

“What business requires you to strip naked?” Yan Mingting asked.

“I didn’t strip naked…..” Zhao Yelan muttered. There was a sudden pain at his waist as Yan Mingting grabbed his belt and fastened it tightly.

He grunted at the suffocating pain. Yan Mingting looked up at him and relaxed his grip.

“Take your time talking, I’ll leave first.” Gu Niaoniao didn’t want to get involved in this, so as not to make the scene more complicated. After closing the door for them, she asked someone to conceal the news of Yan Mingting’s visit to the brothel.

Zhao Yelan glanced at this person who was still seething, and slowly held the other’s hand. He raised his head and said: “I really have nothing to do with her.”

“Then why were you undressed? You’ve never undressed so easily in front of me.” Yan Mingting looked down at him, sullen and jealous. “Is your heart on her instead of me?”

“How could this be?” Zhao Yelan stood up and kissed his lips. “How can she compare with you?”

Normally, whenever Zhao Yelan took the initiative, Yan Mingting would be as excited as a dog in heat. But at this moment, he was cold and unmoved.

Zhao Yelan kissed him several times in succession, then kissed his cheek and neck, but the other party didn’t respond. Frowning imperceptibly, he knew that this was not ordinary anger.

“What do I need to do for you to believe me?”

“Take off your clothes and show me.” Yan Mingting looked at him coolly.

Zhao Yelan gazed at the other silently for a long while, then pulled off his belt, taking off his outer  and middle layers. When he hooked up the belt of his inner layer, he couldn’t move his hands for a long time. His eyelashes trembled slightly, and there was a broken light in his eyes: “Can we stop here?”

“We can.”

Zhao Yelan was stunned, a little in disbelief. He couldn’t conceive that the other party had compromised so quickly, and was even more flustered. But after careful study, he realized that there was a feeling of disappointment.

Yan Mingting was disappointed in him.

“You can stop whenever you want. If you don’t want me to look, then I won’t look. You can always do whatever you want with me. I, who was tempted first, will admit defeat first.” Yan Mingting gave a self-deprecating smile, but it was a little wan and weak, and didn’t reach his eyes.

Zhao Yelan’s heart trembled. He pulled hard, and the last layer of clothing fell to the ground. His skin was white like jade porcelain, and his waist was as thin as an easily-broken willow branch. The only small imperfections were a finger-long scar on his right breast, as well as a shallow mark on the waist and abdomen that was very long and wrapped around to the back.

“Turn around,” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan’s face immediately turned pale. He took two steps back unconsciously, shaking his head over and over: “No, I can’t, how about in a few days?”

Yan Mingting took a step closer and stood in front of him, lowering his head. He stroked his cheek and spoke in a tone that brooked no argument: “Mengting, show me your back.”

Zhao Yelan hugged his neck helplessly, kissing and biting at his lips with abandon: “Next time? I’ll show you next time…..”

Just when Zhao Yelan thought he was trying in vain, Yan Mingting finally responded. He hugged his waist and kissed him hard, leaving marks on his lips aggressively and vindictively. Zhao Yelan tasted a bit of rust, but didn’t say anything. He even felt a sense of relief, and thought it would be nice if this could help him vent some of his anger.

At this moment, he suddenly noticed that the other party kept rubbing his thumbs on his back. Then he heard Yan Mingting ask in a hoarse voice: “Is it because of this? The word ‘slave?’”

Zhao Yelan seemed to be drenched in a basin of ice water. It was as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. He froze, and even the sound of his heartbeat seemed to have stopped. His eyes were vacant, staring in the direction of the void as the past suddenly appeared in front of him.

He faintly heard Yan Mingting’s voice: “I saw the word when I bathed you. I didn’t say anything, because I was waiting for you to take the initiative to tell me. I’ve been waiting, but you would rather undress in front of others than show it to me.”

Zhao Yelan looked at him blankly.

“I believe that you and her are innocent, but I just can’t figure it out. Why would you rather trust her than me? Am I not the person you trust most? Are all the things you said before false?” Yan Mingting asked in a rough voice.

After a while, Zhao Yelan’s eyes refocused and he slowly looked at him, only to find that the other’s eyes were a little red, as if he had been wronged to the breaking point.

It was the first time Zhao Yelan had seen him wear such an expression, and his heart seemed to have been tightly grasped. He was a little out of breath, and soreness filled his chest, gradually spreading to his eyes. He shook his head: “No, it’s not like that.”

“Then why?”

Zhao Yelan stroked his cheeks with trembling hands and said: “Because you are Yan Mingting, ah, you were born different from others.”

You have been blessed by the world since you were born. The most heroic person was your father, and the most virtuous and kind lady was your mother. Every step you take along the way is a solid step, an admirable step. You are free and easy, bright and radiant, with righteousness in your mind and the nation in your heart. You deserve to be praised by all people, and your name will go down in history.

How can I be compared with you?

Even my name is false, and my past cannot be mentioned. Even though I now have power and countless gold and silver, the brand on my back always reminds me that I crawled out of the darkest and filthiest place, and I am not even comparable to the common people. I am nothing more than a slave.

Under the surface of his lofty public appearance lay the deepest inferiority complex. He could usually deceive himself and everyone else, but once someone cared, a needle stuck into his heart, slowly torturing him.

The more they got along, the more he wanted to show a perfect version of himself. He didn’t want Yan Mingting to see the scars and brand marks on his body, and didn’t want him to know about his past.

However, Yan Mingting had already discovered it, and never said anything. 

Perhaps he had guessed his inner thoughts, but it seemed like he didn’t care about the brand, and that these results made him far less upset than the fact that he had asked Gu Niaoniao to tattoo him.

“Aren’t you curious about how Gu Niaoniao and I met?” Zhao Yelan said shakily, “We…..met in a prison cell.”

Yan Mingting froze, then pulled him into his arms and took a deep breath, the gloom in his heart disappearing instantly. As long as the other party gave him an explanation, he would believe him unconditionally.

He naturally knew how unspeakable this brand was for someone as proud as Zhao Yelan. No matter how deliberately arrogant and self-reliant he was, it was all to cover up the humbleness in his bones.

For this reason, he didn’t take the initiative to expose it. But when he found that Zhao Yelan would rather take his clothes off in front of an outsider and let them see, only then was every bit of him in a mess. Waves of jealousy spread from his heart, almost immersing him in a twisted desire for control, to take him back and imprison him in the mansion where no one else could see him. But this was only a fleeting thought, because he could never treat Zhao Yelan cruelly.

He loved him so dearly, how could he bear to hurt him?

“All right, I understand.” Yan Mingting looked up at the things on the table. “Are you getting a tattoo? I can also do this, let me tattoo you.”

Zhao Yelan was surprised: “You can?”

“En, I have tattooed many soldiers loyally serving the country.” Yan Mingting packed those things away. “Let’s go home first. It will be night soon, and guests will come here.”

Before Zhao Yelan had time to sort out his feelings, he was dragged to the door by him. He hurriedly called for him to stop, and led him out through the secret door.

The hidden passage was dark and damp, full of rot and mold. Zhao Yelan covered his nose with one hand, leading Yan Mingting with the other, and felt for the first time that walking this distance was not so difficult.

After returning to the General’s Mansion, the two headed straight to the bedroom. Zhao Yelan watched him carefully choose the needles, and then fully believed that he really knew how to give tattoos.

“Why didn’t you mention you can do this?”

“You didn’t tell me you had a brand, ah,” Yan Mingting said self-righteously.

Only now was Zhao Yelan free to settle an old score with him: “You peeked when I was in the bath.”

“You took advantage of me when you were drunk and ate my tofu.”

“……”

“All right, take off your clothes,” Yan Mingting said.

It wasn’t until he lay down on the bed that Zhao Yelan actually came to his senses. Unexpectedly, he had actually exposed the brand on his back in front of him. However, when the other party approached, he still inevitably flinched and buried his head, not wanting to face the other person.

But emotions were contagious. Yan Mingting didn’t seem to care, and only teased that he had a good-looking back and wanted to kiss it.

Zhao Yelan relaxed a little, and just ignored him.

A kiss fell on his back. Hot and humid breath hit his skin, and Zhao Yelan felt shivery, his skin trembling. He looked back, only to be kissed again, this time right on the brand mark.

“What pattern do you want?” Yan Mingting asked.

Zhao Yelan was taken aback by this question. He didn’t think about these details before he went, just thinking that Gu Niaoniao had a lot of experience and should be able to tattoo him straightaway.

“Don’t you have experience? What do you recommend?”

“Let me see, ah.” Yan Mingting repeatedly rubbed and examined the brand mark. The heat from his fingertips spread to Zhao Yelan’s skin, making him nervous as well as restless, as if deliberately provoking his desire. But when he looked back, Yan Mingting had an upright expression. It seemed that he was just thinking too much.

“I’m not very familiar with patterns such as flowers and plants. I’m better at tattooing words,” Yan Mingting said.

“Tattooing words?”

“En.” How about we add a character before and after this one?” Yan Mingting suggested. “Nian (念) in front and Jiao (娇) in the back?”

“…….Nian Nujiao?”^[1]

“Yes, if you like, I can also tattoo the whole poem on your back. Wouldn’t it be fierce?”

“… … … …”

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[1] Combining these two characters with the character for slave (奴) forms the name of the songstress in Yuan Zhen’s “Poem of Lianchang Palace.” ⮐

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Chapter Sixty-Nine <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Seventy-One

When the private plane landed at the Beijing Airport, Zhao Yinhe was already waiting outside.

All transfer procedures were completed and experts were waiting at the hospital. Li Chengyuan was directly snatched from the airport for a checkup, and couldn’t even go back to his house.

As soon as Zhao Yinhe saw him, he said like rapid gunfire: 

“I almost thought I wouldn’t see you again, how dare you fucking scare me like that!”

“It’s good thing your little ChiChi is so amazing, his CPR was comparable to a professional’s!”

“I didn’t dare tell Mom about it, but she saw the news this morning and insisted on buying a plane ticket to find you. I said you’d be back soon, so she’s waiting at the hospital.”

After a pause, Zhao Yinhe finally slowed down and asked in a whisper: “Was it poison? Although the test results haven’t come back, I think your symptoms are similar to aconitine poisoning……don’t tell my mom, she’s faint-hearted.”

Li Chengyuan gave a slight nod.

Liu Xian had bombarded him on WeChat a while ago, asking why he had suddenly fallen ill. He only vaguely replied that he had not been feeling well.

As a result, he was inevitably given a worried scolding and told not to procrastinate the next time he felt unwell, and go to the hospital for an examination.

When he was poisoned as a child, Liu Xian had been terrified, and for a long time she had looked at everyone as if they wanted to kill this poor boy. Seeing that Li Chengyuan was sick, she suspected that he had been poisoned again.

As soon as he stepped through the doors of the hospital, Liu Xian, who had been waiting for a long time, came up anxiously.

First, she looked Li Chengyuan up and down. Seeing that although his face was pale, he was still in good spirits, she felt relieved. Then she turned around and joyfully hugged a dazed Xia Xingchi.

“Thank you for being there, Xiao Chi.” Liu Xian rubbed Xia Xingchi’s head fiercely. “Were you scared? My eyes are still swollen from crying, I’m not afraid to pat your head.”

Xia Xingchi had never been comforted like a child by an elder before, and instantly felt embarrassed. This was a rare moment when the thick-skinned person blushed and bowed his head.

But he was happy, and very willing to have his hair messed up.

Liu Xian comforted him for a while, then turned her head and said: “Xiao Yuan, you have to be good to Xiao Chi for the rest of your life. If you lose him, you will never find another child as good as him!”

Li Chengyuan smiled faintly and gazed down at Xia Xingchi for a moment, then nodded slightly. Xia Xingchi was even more embarrassed by his gaze, so he hurriedly looked away and pretended not to see it.

. . . . . . .

There were enough physical examination items to make a person dizzy. Xia Xingchi couldn’t help being dumbfounded by the sight of a whole stack of medical examinations that needed to be done, thinking that this was true manual labor.

He thought of what the doctor had told him before. Li Chengyuan couldn’t tire himself out walking around and needed to stay in bed to recuperate, so Zhao Yinhe had a certain person push him in a wheelchair.

Xia Xingchi immediately agreed, and took the initiative to grab the wheelchair and gesture for the villain to sit down quickly. It was worrying to see him standing.

Li Chengyuan was already long-suffering upon seeing those complicated physical examinations, but seeing that there were even more outrageous battles to fight, he couldn’t help but frown: “It wasn’t really a heart attack —”

Before he could finish, Xia Xingchi pushed him down into the wheelchair without warning: “Boss, if you don’t want to sit on this, I think the stretcher bed over there is also good? As long as you don’t find it embarrassing, I’m willing to borrow one to push you. Lying down is also a good thing!”

Li Chengyuan: “…….”

Zhao Yinhe nodded in agreement, and almost couldn’t help laughing when he saw Li Chengyuan’s helpless and resigned expression.

As expected, everyone had a weakness. There was finally someone who could control a certain person.

Furthermore, this was really not a big deal. Although Li Chengyuan’s heart was not so bad that he had serious arrhythmia, after walking through the gates of Hell, his heart may hurt temporarily.

A full set of reception staff were responsible for all the examinations. Li Chengyuan didn’t let Xia Xingchi follow him, and asked him to go back to the ward to unpack his luggage. Aunt Li would bring their dinner later.

As soon as Xia Xingchi entered the ward, he was stunned by the luxury. This was indeed the best private hospital in Beijing, and the ward was comparable to a five-star hotel.

Not only was it not a lifeless white, but it also came fully furnished. There was an independent bathroom and even large French windows with a panoramic view.

Simple daily necessities had already been prepared on the table. Xia Xingchi picked up a bottle and a can, and found that they were the mint candy that Li Chengyuan often ate, along with his favorite black tea.

This was such meticulous and thoughtful service. What was even more meticulous was that when he opened the closet, his shirts were actually hanging inside, and even the shower gel in the bathroom was the brand he usually used.

Zhao Yinhe stuck his head in, and seeing Xia Xingchi’s surprise, he explained: “This ward is reserved for Li Chengyuan, and no one else is allowed to stay in it except him – he used to be in poor health and spent most of the year in the hospital.”

Those years at the Li residence had broken down his already frail and sick body.

Moreover, when he successfully seized power, the entire Li Group was already in turmoil, and he had to deal with various affairs almost without sleep.

Once, he really couldn’t spare the time and had to have an IV drip while he was holding a meeting. As soon as he finished work, he fainted to the ground the moment he stood up.

Not to mention that his mental state was not very good at the time, and he had to take psychotropic drugs with severe side effects in order to stabilize his mood.

But it was this kind of desperate effort that finally saved the Li Group from going bankrupt and brought it back to life.

The more Xia Xingchi heard, the more distressed he became. He’d never thought that Li Chengyuan had been through such a difficult time before, and wished he could rush over to him and hug him hard.

After thinking about it, he couldn’t help asking: “Isn’t that too much? Treating money like it’s more important than his own life……from what I’ve seen, he’s not really a money-lover, ah?”

Hearing this, Zhao Yinghe immediately showed a strange and complicated expression.

He hesitated to speak for a long moment, and finally said: “Li Chengyuan left the Li residence once when he was a child. Have you heard about it?”

Xia Xingchi nodded. He’d heard it while that idiot Xia Yu was revealing Li Chengyuan’s private information in front of the camera. He had mentioned that he ran away from home.

“It wasn’t that he wanted to leave.” Zhao Yinhe shook his head. “He was in a stupor after being stimulated, and the vicious mother and son threw him out and pretended he had run away from home.”

At that time, Li Chengyuan had just witnessed his mother’s suicide. So day and night, he was tortured by the horrible scene of her frantically writhing as she hung from the ceiling, and lost his mind.

No matter how mature he was, he was still a mentally disturbed child, and was easily induced by the vicious new mistress to “run away from home” in the hopes that he would die of illness in some corner.

At that time, Li Chengyuan had a weak physique and could cough up blood even when the wind blew, and often fainted suddenly. But miraculously, not only did he fail to die, he survived until the countless people sent out by Liu Xian found him —

No one in the Li family actively looked for him, and didn’t even care about him as much as outsiders.

Liu Xian and Li Chengyuan’s mother were as close as sisters, and she had a heart for the only son left behind by her dead best friend.

In addition, since Li Chengyuan had been quiet and forbearing since childhood, Liu Xian always treated him like her own son.

“After coming back, Li Chengyuan’s spirit suddenly recovered a lot. He no longer acted mindless and dazed, but ever since, he was always thinking about finding someone.”

Xia Xingchi pricked up his ears when he heard these words. It appeared that Li Chengyuan had met his White Moonlight during that time.

Zhao Yinhe went on to say unexpectedly: “But this person……is probably someone he imagined, and doesn’t exist at all.”

In order to stabilize Li Chengyuan’s spirit and alleviate his condition, Liu Xian had worked very hard to find that person for him.

Back then, the Zhao family had the largest film and television group in the country, and had a wide network of contacts and financial resources. But after searching high and low, they couldn’t find the person Li Chengyuan was obsessed with. “He” seemed to have disappeared from the world.

In the end, Li Chengyuan was so sick that he barely had one breath left, and was in a stupor at that time. Everything was more like a dream woven by his brain to escape the reality of his torment and despair.

Xia Xingchi was taken aback upon hearing this. He never thought that he would be a substitute for a non-existent person, and it had never occurred to him that everything could just be a fantasy.

Zhao Yinhe: “But I kind of believe that such a child really existed.”

In order to fake that he ran away from home, the Li Shengrui mother and son had deliberately given him a lot of money. In any case, he didn’t have much desire to survive, and this crazy person was barely aware. He certainly wouldn’t spend money on medicine and treatment.

When Liu Xian found Li Chengyuan, he was already unconscious with a high fever, and didn’t have a penny on his body —

It really seemed that after someone cheated him of all his money, he was thrown into a small abandoned warehouse upon seeing that he was too sick to survive.

“Oh, but I’m getting off track! Getting back to the topic, the conclusion is that – Li Chengyuan doesn’t care about money, but the person he was looking for was very fond of it. He said that the person’s mind and eyes were full of money, and he wanted to use this method to catch the liar back.”

Xia Xingchi was utterly shaken.

Assuming that the White Moonlight existed, there were thousands of people who loved money in the world. He couldn’t assume that he was the right person just because of this common hobby, right?

What’s more, he was incapable of vicious things such as killing for money…..the one Li Chengyuan had been obsessed with for so many years was this kind of person?

As if he had learned some shocking secret, Xia Xingchi couldn’t help but feel uncomfortably sour, and didn’t speak for a long time after hearing those words.

Seeing the change in his expression, Zhao Yinhe immediately felt strange and sensed that he had said something wrong, but didn’t know what it could be.

Every time Li Chengyuan mentioned the “little liar” over the years, he gritted his teeth with a paranoid attitude, as if that person was his sworn enemy, and he wished to bring him back and imprison him and torture him severely.

Was Xia Xingchi…..jealous?

. . . . . .

When Li Chengyuan returned to the ward after completing various examinations, he noticed that Xia Xingchi’s mood was very strange.

This was a little hedgehog whose face couldn’t hide anything. Although it could be seen that he was trying hard to cover it up, there were still clues.

Xia Xingchi shook his head and took the wheelchair from the medical staff, saying nonchalantly: “How was it? Are the test results okay?”

Li Chengyuan nodded slightly and only continued to stare at him.

Xia Xingchi was already used to being stared at like this by the kitty cat, but at the thought that he had actually replaced a despicable little liar who might not even exist, he couldn’t help feeling even more sour.

“Aunt Li made some shredded chicken porridge for you.” Xia Xingchi pushed the wheelchair to the bed. “Does your stomach hurt? The nurse just brought your stomach medicine.”

Because his mind was still obsessing over the White Moonlight, his short-circuiting brain wasn’t functioning at all as he bent over and tried to figure out how to carry Li Chengyuan from the wheelchair to the bed.

Li Chengyuan gave him a mystified look. After a while, he pursed his lips and teased him by remaining silent, watching Xia Xingchi trying to lift him as if pulling up a radish.

Although Li Chengyuan looked thin, he was tall and heavy-framed. Coupled with his self-discipline in maintaining a good figure over the years, his muscled body was inevitably extra heavy.

Xia Xingchi tried a few times from various angles, but all of his attempts failed.

Feeling flustered, he couldn’t help but get distracted again, thinking that Li Chengyuan must have been easy to carry when he was a child. He must have been delicate and beautiful, like a porcelain doll.

It was a pity that he didn’t meet Xia Xingchi, but met a little liar with a bad character.

Thinking of Li Chengyuan being so young at that time, trembling and unconscious in a cold abandoned warehouse, waiting for a person who would never come back, Xia Xingchi felt very distressed.

And he felt even more sour, regretting that he couldn’t be the one who had met Li Chengyuan.

It wasn’t until Li Chengyuan was almost thrown from the wheelchair onto the ground by the absent-minded Xia Xingchi that he finally couldn’t endure it any longer. While Xia Xingchi was leaning over, he raised a hand to touch his furry head —

Then he stood up and sat on the bed.

Xia Xingchi: “…….”

Shit, he seemed to have forgotten that this person didn’t have a leg problem, he just had a weak heart and needed to walk less for the time being.

His reflexes were stunted, and it took Xia Xingchi a long time to remember to be angry:

“Li Chengyuan, how dare you play tricks on me! Believe it or not, I’ll take your food and let you starve to death here!”

Li Chengyuan’s face was expressionless when he heard these words, but a faint smile flashed in his eyes. He knew that Xia Xingchi couldn’t bear to starve him. After all, he would suffer from stomach pain and hypoglycemia when he was hungry.

Xia Xingchi also realized that he was being manipulated to death by this black-hearted capitalist, so he made a gesture like a sugar glider that was about to pounce on him.

Li Chengyuan had seen the depressed look on his face just now and purposely teased him, raising his arms to indicate that Xia Xingchi could throw himself into them.

While they were horseplaying, the phone suddenly rang. Xia Xingchi reached for it and found that it was the police calling.

Killing someone with poison was a major event, not to mention that the witnesses and suspects involved in the case were all public figures with great fame.

For this reason, the case immediately alarmed the upper echelons, and it only took a day for the report to be done. The hospital had already issued the test results, and jointly determined that this was deliberate poisoning.

The poison used was exactly the same as Zhao Yinhe had guessed, pure, highly-toxic aconitine.

While Li Chengyuan answered the police call, Xia Xingchi playfully sat in his wheelchair and looked down to see what was brewing on Weibo.

The big villain’s bad character was like a cat. After catching their prey, they didn’t kill it with one bite, but intentionally tortured it, constantly frightening it and destroying the opponent’s mentality to their heart’s content.

When he opened it, the hot search item of the young master of the Xia family being exposed was ridiculously popular.

Because it was filled with onlookers and abuse after Xia Yu completely collapsed in just a few days, it could be said to be quite lively.

What he didn’t expect was that when Xia Xingchi refreshed it casually, there was new shocking content on the hot search list:

#The Truth About Mr. Li’s Heart Attack#

#Police Confirm Deliberate Poisoning#

. . . . . .

[Oh my god, Mr. Li was actually poisoned, no wonder it was so serious all of a sudden]

[Thinking carefully, the suspect is either a celebrity or a staff member of the program team. Is a suspenseful case going to play out?]

[I have a wild guess – At that time, Xia Yu deliberately obstructed the first aid, and suddenly cooked porridge for Mr. Li. That was his brother’s fiance, he’s very strange]

[Bullshit! Li Chengyuan didn’t drink Xia Yu’s porridge at all! Are you framing and slandering him?!]

[That’s right, ah. Li Chengyuan himself said that he only eats food cooked by Xia Xingchi. He got poisoned because he drank Xia Xingchi’s porridge!]

[A pure passer-by. It is impossible for a person to poison the porridge he cooked, otherwise wouldn’t “I’m a murderer” be written on his face?]

[Maybe he thought the most obvious way was the safest, and he was just waiting for you to say that?]

The fans and anti-fans soon scuffled again. Previously, Xia Yu’s fans were numerous and had an overwhelming advantage.

But in just two days, his house had completely collapsed and he lost countless fans. On the contrary, Xia Xingchi had more and more fans, occupying an unprecedented dominant position with great momentum.

In the melee between the two sides, there were also passers-by who analyzed the situation rationally:

[There must be a motive for hurting someone. Such a meticulous and unnoticed poisoning plan can’t be someone suddenly wanting to kill a rich person.]

[Who is the beneficiary when Mr. Li dies? He and Xia Xingchi aren’t married yet and don’t share any property. He is only twenty-five years old, and it isn’t likely that he would make a will so young]

[I just went to patrol around the gossip squads and found that Mr. Li actually has an older brother! Informed sources broke the news that they are half-brothers]

[Pricking up ears to listen to the gossip of the rich and powerful, hurry up and talk, upstairs!]

[Wait, how do I remember that Mr. Li’s mother died young, and his father remarried……shouldn’t that be the younger brother?]

[The hell?!  How is the mistress in the top position, and the child of the mistress is older than the child of the original spouse?]

[Mr. Li was originally the first young master, but as soon as the mistress brought her illegitimate child into the home, he became the second young master. At that time, anyone who didn’t change their form of address was fired. A driver who made a mistake and got fired broke the news]

[But there’s still a problem with that, the illegitimate child didn’t participate in the show, ah, how could he poison him from thousands of miles away?]

[He must have bribed someone or had an insider]

. . . . . .

Xia Yu hadn’t closed his eyes and slept for two days and two nights. He fearfully read the analyses of everyone online, trembling with panic when the crime was revealed.

He wanted to call Li Shengrui, but after receiving the message, “We won’t have contact for now,” he was directly blocked by him.

Li Shengrui also had trouble protecting himself. While fearing that his crimes would be exposed, he was furious at being torn down by public opinion.

Just the words “illegitimate child” online pierced his sensitive and self-conscious heart, and his anger flared.

Xia Yu was clutching his cell phone, and panicked at the sound of a servant knocking twice on the door, trembling violently.

The servant said: “Young Master, why don’t you go downstairs and have something to eat?”

Xia Yu had no choice but to crawl downstairs with weak limbs, hoping to get some comfort from his cheap parents.

Unexpectedly, Xia Pingjian was looking at his phone with some admiration, and said to his wife delightedly:

“This kid Xingchi is really promising and determined not to fall short, ah! He’s actually so favored by Mr. Li, and became a big star.”

“I see that Mr. Li seems to want to get a marriage certificate, but Xia Xingchi doesn’t……this is playing hard to get, what a good boy! As expected of my genes!”

When he heard these words, Xia Yu felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

Ever since Li Chengyuan let everyone know of his affection in a high-profile way, Xia Pingjian liked Xia Xingchi more and more —

Even though he had been blocked and was never contacted, Xia Pingjian firmly believed that this timid son who would shine when given a little sunlight would definitely change his mind after a period of being angry.

He diligently bought a lot of gifts for Xia Xingchi, and sent them all to Li Chengyuan’s villa like a loving father.

However, his attitude toward Xia Yu became increasingly indifferent.

After all, Xia Yu failed to “marry” into a top wealthy family, and his only outstanding quality was that he was a popular idol – but now half of his future as a celebrity had been destroyed.

Xia Pingjian had always set a clear price for his fatherly love.

Just like how the original worthless “Xia Xingchi” never received any love and care at all, it was as if the current Xia Yu had no value anymore.

Xia Pingjian made an impulsive decision: “Xia Xingchi’s birthday is coming soon, and I plan to hold the biggest birthday party for him. It would be even better if Mr. Li can also come and honor him!”

Xia Yu almost broke the spoon in his hand when he heard this.

The two of them were born on the same day of the same year. Last year on his birthday, he received an unparalleled luxurious banquet with the banner “Happy Birthday to our baby Xia Yu.”

And Xia Xingchi, that bastard who couldn’t make the cut and was only worthy of watching from the sidelines, what qualifications did he have for his birthday to be celebrated?

. . . . . .

In the ward, Li Chengyuan ate half a bowl of porridge before shaking his head.

Xia Xingchi sat beside him and reached out to touch his upper abdomen: “Is your stomach uncomfortable? Shall I rub it for you?”

Li Chengyuan grabbed his wrist and sat up, saying lightly: “I’m going to take a bath.”

Upon hearing this, Xia Xingchi immediately refused: “No way! You’re not well now, what if you get dizzy again?”

It was a pity that these words couldn’t overcome a clean freak’s determination to take a bath. Xia Xinchi knew that Li Chengyuan usually took a bath or shower once a day, and sometimes washed up in both the morning and evening.

But he hadn’t showered since the accident two days ago, and the big cat who loved cleanliness had restrained his temper without getting immediately irritated.

The two stared at each other for a moment. Xia Xingchi couldn’t convince the domineering and rebellious boss, so he had no choice but to simply turn around and clean the bathtub before filling it with water of a suitable temperature.

At the same time, he voiced a condition: “I have to keep an eye on you in here. If you faint, I can fish you out in time.”

Anyway, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t already seen everything, or fished it out or touched it.

The idea was fine, but the reality was completely different.

Watching Li Chengyuan undo the buttons with one hand, revealing beautiful collarbones and the pleasing lines of his chest and abdomen —

Xia Xingchi suddenly felt that this matter was not only something he wasn’t accustomed to, but also more and more ambiguous and strange.

“Wait!” Xia Xingchi promptly stopped him. “You, you……”

Li Chengyuan frowned slightly, and turned to look at him with a little puzzlement.

Xia Xingchi could only say awkwardly: “Go on. I’ll bring a chair and sit down.”

Originally, the little part-time worker had planned to wash the hair of the big cat in person, but it really took actual combat to realize that he didn’t dare take a look, and blushed at the sight.

Xia Xingchi could only stare “soulfully” at the bottle of hand sanitizer on the sink, not daring to look away.

At this time, he heard Li Chengyuan say calmly: “I was awake that night and just couldn’t move.”

Xia Xingchi gave a hesitant “Huh?” but didn’t know which time he was talking about.

A few seconds later, he suddenly remembered that Zhao Yinhe had told him that Li Chengyuan had an incurable undiagnosed condition since childhood. He would faint suddenly and frequently, sometimes accompanied by severe dizziness and a headache.

Xia Xingchi had witnessed this matter with his own eyes. It was just like when he passed out in the bathtub the night he transmigrated, and then passed out again after being sober for a short time.

But the frightening thing was that he didn’t lose consciousness every time. Sometimes he simply couldn’t move his body, but his consciousness and perception were still functional.

After Xia Xingchi heard this, his hair stood on end. He was deeply suspicious of whether or not Li Chengyuan had been conscious the night he transmigrated. Did he know about the mysterious and supernatural process of him appearing out of thin air?

And now this person suddenly said that he was awake?!

Xia Xingchi suddenly became alert. He pricked up his ears to hear why Li Chengyuan had brought up this matter, but heard his train of thought take a leap as he said: “You didn’t recognize me on the day of the engagement party.”

He didn’t know what the other party had up his sleeve, but Xia Xingchi had a vague premonition, and had no choice but to bite the bullet and make excuses: “I have poor eyesight……I wanted to play hard to get and pretend I didn’t know you to draw your attention!”

Li Chengyuan spoke again: “A year ago, I met ‘Xia Xingchi,’ and he also met me.”

Xia Xingchi’s heart skipped a beat when he heard this, and his intuition of “something bad is going to happen” immediately reached its peak.

He just listened as Li Chengyuan continued: “He was not the man I was looking for. But now when I think about it again, the memory has changed – you know the reason for this, right?”

Something somewhere had tampered with everyone’s memories. Others had never seen the current Xia Xingchi, so the change of appearance in their memories would naturally not be noticed.

But the only variable was Li Chengyuan. Not only had he seen his appearance, but he had imprinted it in his mind. A year ago, he definitely hadn’t seen the person he was thinking about.

When Xia Xingchi heard Li Chengyuan’s straightforward statement, devoid of doubt, his hands shook involuntarily as if he had been struck by lightning again.

The bottle of bath salt that he was fiddling with in his hand fell to the floor with a bang, after which silence reigned.

---

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Chapter Thirty-Six << Table of Contents >> Chapter Thirty-Eight

When he was young, there were several girls of the same age nearby, and they loved to come and play with Zhao Yelan. He wanted nothing to do with them, and when he saw them chattering, he would return to the house with a straight face, pick up a book, and pretend to have business to attend to.

His mother would laugh, and she said to his father one night: “Our Mengting is really clueless, there’s no telling which girl he’ll like in the future.”

“How old is he, how can he understand these things? Right, Mengting?” His father glanced at him.

“En.” Zhao Yelan buried his head in the writing. “They’re too noisy.”

“So you like someone quiet?” His mother asked.

“En.” Zhao Yelan said without raising his head, “I like someone who is quiet, gentle, considerate, and cooks delicious food like you, Mother.”

“See, ba, and you said he doesn’t understand. He has a lot of thoughts on his mind,” his mother said with a smile.

His father also laughed and nodded his head: “Your mother is already mine, and you probably won’t find a wife as good as this one.”

“Nonsense, I will definitely find someone more gentle and virtuous!”

After dreaming of this for some reason, Zhao Yelan slowly opened his eyes and inwardly rejoiced that it wasn’t a nightmare this time. Then he looked over at the man beside him.

He was not gentle and virtuous at all, his cooking was unpalatable, and he was far from his ideal wife.

“What is it?” Yan Mingting noticed that he was not asleep, and before he opened his eyes, he reflexively pressed the other’s head into his arms, rubbing his back as he said semi-consciously, “Another nightmare?”

Zhao Yelan looked up at him acting like this and wanted to smile, saying: “Yan Mingting, when we return to the capital, come and meet my parents.”

“Okay, ah……what?!” Yan Mingting suddenly opened his eyes and looked at him in surprise, with a bit of bewilderment and uncertainty in his eyes. “Are you serious?”

Zhao Yelan simply said: “I lied.”

“Take it back,” Yan Mingting said stubbornly. “I’m going, you aren’t allowed to go back on your word.”

“Who is going back on their word?” Zhao Yelan said with a smile.

Yan Mingting chuckled: “Why did you suddenly ask me to see your parents?”

“People cannot conceal their defects forever.”

“…..You’re saying I have defects?”

Zhao Yelan remained silent.

Yan Mingting was also silent.

After a while, Zhao Yelan couldn’t help but ask, “Are you angry?”

Yan Mingting continued to remain silent.

“Petty.” 

Zhao Yelan pinched his waist and Yan Mingting burst out laughing. “Ticklish. I was just thinking about what to bring as a meeting gift, paper money is definitely not enough.”

“……Think some more. Where is your hand touching?” Zhao Yelan asked in a heavy voice.

“Wasn’t the right side of your chest injured? I’m seeing if there are any scars left,” Yan Mingting said shamelessly.

Zhao Yelan rolled over and sat on him, but the other took advantage of the opportunity to pull down his clothes. Yan Mingting sat up, kissing his lips and neck.

In the darkness, only a small bit of moonlight fell dimly through the window. Zhao Yelan’s breathing became heavier, and a thought suddenly occurred to him.

If he brought a grown man to meet his parents, would they be happy?

“Mengting.”

“En?”

“I miss you so much.”

“Am I not here?”

“I don’t know, I just miss you and want to see you.”

Yan Mingting raised his head and touched his cheek, rubbing their ears and temples together. “Can I?”

A moment later, a candle lit the room again. Yan Mingting could finally see his uncontrollably blushing face and his shortness of breath, and wanted to leave traces of himself all over his body.

Looking at the two shadows cast near the window, Zhao Yelan smiled contentedly.

His parents should not be angry.

Because he was very happy. This was the first time in more than ten years that he no longer needed such a grave reason to live. He just wanted to relax and be happy. As long as he thought about spending time with this person in the future, he would have hope in his life.

The next morning, as a group of people had breakfast downstairs, Li Yucheng stared at Zhao Yelan non-stop with a strange look on his face, as if wondering why he was fine, and then gave Yan Mingting a contemptuous look.

“If you don’t want your eyes, can I dig them out for you?” Zhao Yelan said indifferently.

It just so happened that Fu Qian was leaving the lobby at this time. Hearing him say this, he seemed to recall some terrible scene and backed away in fright, knocked his head on the door, and then slipped out in a hurry.

“It’s early in the morning, don’t talk of such bloody things.” Li Yucheng looked at the back of Fu Qian’s embarrassed figure and laughed.

Zhao Yelan gave Xiao Gao a meaningful look, and Xiao Gao put Li Yucheng on the ground with one kick.

Li Yucheng fell flat on his face but didn’t dare to resist. He just patted his buttocks and stood up, looking around. The two girls were whispering, Yan Mingting was serving Zhao Yelan food, and no one cared about his life or death at all.

How miserable.

He sat back down again, finally willing to behave himself and eat.

After staying in Wancheng for three days, they went shopping and bought all the necessities they needed. The soldiers were also rested, so they set off again. There was no delay for the rest of the journey. They essentially continued to travel after having a meal and a night of sleep, hurrying on their way, and finally arrived in Beijing half a month later.

The mighty troop passed through the city gate, causing many people to stop and watch. When they saw that the leader was Yan Mingting, everyone knew that it was Yan Mingting and Zhao Yelan who had returned.

Although the capital was far from Jiangnan, the distance did not hinder the spread of news. The two had first worked together to uncover a group of corrupt officials in Jiangnan, and then discovered a disastrous situation early and took timely measures to evacuate the refugees, reducing the losses to a large extent. Now the people in Jiangnan were singing the praises of these two people.

After the news reached the capital, everyone was talking about it, and their attitudes toward Zhao Yelan had undergone a qualitative change. In addition, some people had relatives in Zhizhou and Huaizhou, and felt even more fear regarding this matter. Without these two people and this group of soldiers, there would likely have been many more tragedies.

Human memory and emotions always changed over time. Zhao Yelan was not in the capital during this period, and everyone gradually forgot about this person. But when the news reached them, he had become a reborn parent in the mouths of the Jiangnan people, so this new image covered the original impression of treachery.

While some were skeptical, most looked at them with more friendliness and respect.

Housekeeper Qin heard the commotion outside and went to the door to take a look. Seeing that the two masters had returned, he excitedly ordered someone to clean up their room, and tasked the kitchen staff with quickly cooking a delicious meal.

“General, you’re back.” Housekeeper Qin looked into the carriage. “Where is our lord?”

Yan Mingting dismounted his horse and opened the curtain of the carriage.

Housekeeper Qin was a little surprised when he saw Zhao Yelan sitting inside with a girl, but saw that after General Yan helped Zhao Yelan out of the carriage, he left the girl alone. He was inwardly relieved, and it was Miss Zuo who went to lead that girl down.

“Are you in good health, ah?” Housekeeper Qin stepped forward and said with concern. He had heard that the drought was severe, and was very glad to see them return safely. “Come on in, ba, are you hungry? How about I go to the street now and buy something to cushion your stomachs?”

“No need, we just finished eating snacks,” Zhao Yelan said.

After Yan Mingting sent his subordinates back to their respective homes, he was the last one to enter through the gate. As soon as he stepped past the threshold, he heard Zhao Yelan order: “Go get some tea.”

“Yes.” Housekeeper Qin was about to go to the back room when he was stopped.

“Wait, I want that…..tea for guests.”

“All right.”

Yan Mingting didn’t sit down, but found a few people to move the things from the carriage, and stood at the hall’s front door, watching them being carried back and forth.

Presently, Housekeeper Qin came out with the tea and served Zhao Yelan and the two girls each a cup. Even Xiao Gao received one.

Xiao Gao looked at him with trepidation, picked up the tea, and drank it in one gulp. Then he found a corner and silently spit out the dregs.

Zhao Yelan picked up his cup and frowned slightly: “What kind of tea is this?”

“This is your favorite Mingquian tea, ah,” Housekeeper Qin said.

“What about theirs?”

“Theirs is the tea from our General’s Mansion.”

Zhao Yelan set the cup on the table, his eyes darkening: “Why is mine different from theirs?”

Both Zuo Ran and Yin Pinglu paused, and silently put their cups back on the table.

“My Lord, is it not because you do not drink the tea from the General’s Mansion?” Housekeeper Qin asked bemusedly. “I remember that you only love this Mingqian Longjing, and you asked me to put away the other tea leaves. Right, Xiao Gao? You are the one who speaks for your lord.”

Xiao Gao shook his head: “I don’t remember.”

Housekeeper Qin: “…….” You wrong me, kid!

“Go exchange it,” Zhao Yelan said.

“Exchange it for which kind?” Housekeeper Qin carefully confirmed.

“Go and exchange it for my mother’s tea.” Yan Mingting smiled, then stretched out a hand toward Zhao Yelan and said, “Come on, I’ll take you someplace.”

“Where?”

“You’ll know when we get there.”

When Zhao Yelan glanced around, Zuo Ran and Yin Pinglu tacitly lowered their heads. He looked at Yan Mingting again, held his hand curiously, and followed him to the back courtyard.

Xiao Gao followed as well, and when he had taken two steps, Zuo Ran pulled him back.

“Are we going to……see your chicken pen and the fish pond?” Zhao Yelan followed him as he walked farther and farther toward the back courtyard. When they passed the fish pond, the other party did not stop, but continued to move forward.

Zhao Yelan caught a glimpse of a white dumpling in the bushes and stepped forward, picking it up. He weighed it and said: “Hongshao is heavier.”

“It can be braised.”

Hongshao seemed to understand their conversation, and flinched in Zhao Yelan’s arms.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhao Yelan stood before a forest of trees. He stroked the rabbit’s head and said in surprise: “In the General’s Mansion……there is even a forest?”

“Yes, ah, the original mansion was too big. My mother said that there were few people in the family, so she simply opened the land up. It is connected to the mountain forest behind, and many trees have been planted.” Yan Mingting took his other hand and guarded him as they walked into the forest. “Be careful.”

Zhao Yelan bent at the waist to walk across the piece of land, and his field of vision opened up as small tea trees appeared on both sides. He looked around, and his attention was drawn to the tree in front of him again. There were bright red fruits hanging on it. He approached curiously, only to find that they were persimmons.

It was still summer when they left the capital, but it was already autumn when they returned.

Yan Mingting reached out to pick two of them, wiping them with his sleeve: “Want to eat?”

Zhao Yelan took a few glances and said: “It hasn’t been washed.”

Yan Mingting laughed and directly bit into it: “This was also planted by my mother. When she and my younger brother were at home, they came here to plant some trees when they had nothing to do. There are tea leaves in spring, apricots in summer, persimmons in autumn, and oranges in winter, fruits all year round. She always felt that there should be these things in the house, and that we could be happier and think of her when we ate them.”

Zhao Yelan nodded. Looking around, he realized that this was a big project, and said: “Perhaps she wanted to find something for herself to restrain her feelings of nostalgia while you and your father were at the border.”

“Yes, ah.”

Zhao Yelan turned his head to find that the other party had already eaten two, and he picked a third one.

“Are they so delicious?”

“Want to try?”

Zhao Yelan lowered his eyes and observed the persimmon for a long moment. Just as he opened his mouth, the other party suddenly came forward and stole a kiss before returning the persimmon to him.

After eating it, he felt it was a little tart and said: “My mouth is numb.”

“I’ll take a look.”

“……” Zhao Yelan said faintly, “Do you plan to look at it with your tongue?”

“Yes, ah, this trick is called knowing one’s self and knowing the enemy.”

“That is clearly a preposterous statement, mm……”

The rabbit escaped from Zhao Yelan’s arms.

When the two left, Yan Mingting said: “From now on, in spring, summer, autumn, and winter, we can come here to pick fruit.”

“En.” Zhao Yelan was still holding a freshly-picked persimmon in his hand, already looking forward to the oranges in winter. When they returned to the hall, Xiao Gao noticed something unusual.

“My lord, why is your mouth swollen?” Xia Gao asked in surprise.

Yin Pinglu and Zuo Ran covered their faces and snickered. Zhao Yelan glanced at him and tossed him the persimmon, trying to hide it by saying: “The persimmons are a bit tart. Want to try it?”

Xiao Gao took a bite and looked at Housekeeper Qin who was passing by, about to cry: “What do I do, is my mouth also swollen?”

“Go ahead and dream,” Housekeeper Qin said ruthlessly.

“ ? ”

Zhao Yelan was finally able to drink the tea from the General’s Mansion. It tasted ordinary, but it was indeed as Yin Pinglu said – because it contained the old lady’s sentiments, it was precious. He drank it with care, for fear of spilling it.

“Has the room been tidied up?” Yan Mingting asked Housekeeper Qin.

“It’s ready, just the same as before. It hasn’t changed at all,” Housekeeper Qin said.

“I’ll go have a look.” Yan Mingting left in high spirits.

Zhao Yelan asked Xiao Gao to take Zuo Ran and Yin Pinglu to the house in the north of the city, and then went to the bedroom. Just outside the door, he heard Yan Mingting asking from inside the room: “Uncle Qin, did you throw away the book I asked you to get rid of last time?”

“No, I kept it for you.”

“Great, bring it to me quickly.”

Zhao Yelan paused, then turned around and walked toward the study, wandering around restlessly for a long time.

The two of them had done a lot of intimate things secretly, but had not taken the final step. He also insisted on not taking off the last layer of clothes.

While traveling, he could use the excuse of making haste, but now that they had returned to the mansion, what excuse could he use?

Once or twice was fine, but after a long time, Yan Mingting may doubt his feelings or suspect that he wasn’t good enough for him. Then he was more likely to perceive and detect the real cause.

A person suddenly came to mind – Gu Niaoniao.

Yan Mingting remained in the bedroom for a while, but didn’t see Zhao Yelan when he came out. He searched around without catching sight of him, and only found Xiao Gao playing with the rabbit in the front courtyard. He asked: “Where is Zhao Yelan? Where did he run off to?”

“The brothel,” Xiao Gao said nonchalantly.

Yan Mingting turned pale with fright: “What? He went to the brothel right after returning to the capital?!”

---

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Chapter Sixty-Eight <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Seventy

Although the escort did not know the identities of this group of people, when away from home, the less trouble the better. He didn’t get angry, but just explained: “Gongzi, I fear there has been a misunderstanding. This is the best healing medicine.”

“It’s a healing medicine, but with the addition of red cinnabar flower. The red cinnabar flower will dissipate the energy and corrode the heart veins. If it is used for ten days in a row, no one can save him.” Liu Xian’an said, “And he is seriously injured besides, so it should be shorter than ten days.”

“This…..gongzi is a doctor?” Seeing that he spoke in a manner that made sense, the leader of the escorts didn’t dare to underestimate him, and personally brought the medicine bottle over. “We brought this medicine from home, so there should be nothing strange about it. Please take a closer look, gongzi.”

“There’s no use looking at it.” A-Ning blocked the man from getting too close. “Even I can smell it, which means that not only has red cinnabar flower been added, but there is a lot of it. You had best clean up the medicine powder and blood on his wound as soon as possible, then wrap it with a bandage and send him to Baihe Mountain Village for medical treatment immediately.”

“We were originally going to Baihe Mountain Village.” At this time, another guard stood up behind him. “In this case, we shouldn’t delay here. Let’s hurry up and leave.”

The leader couldn’t tell how credible Liu Xian’an’s words were, but he didn’t dare to treat a human life casually, and didn’t have time to judge where the wound medicine could have gone wrong. Fortunately, they were very close to Baihe Mountain Village, so after hastily thanking them, he ordered everyone to pack their bags and set off immediately.

The escorts lifted the stretcher again, and left the forest at a jog amidst a series of urging commands from the leader.

Gao Lin picked up his sword, called three guards with buckets, and went to the stream to fetch water.

Liang Shu didn’t speak until the surroundings became quiet again: “Since you have medical knowledge, why didn’t you cure him?”

“His Highness misunderstands. I am not a doctor, and have never treated anyone.” Liu Xian’an explained, “It is only that I can distinguish the smells of various medicinal materials.”

For the young masters and ladies of Baihe Mountain Village, this was a basic skill that everyone started to learn from the age of four or five. The only difference was that some people learned quickly and some slowly. But Second Young Master Liu learned too fast, so everyone thought he was cheating and playing tricks. Even if he got everything right on the exams, he would be denounced as a cheater by the adults.

Liu Xian’an didn’t explain himself. He was young at the time, and didn’t quite understand how the teacher had made that judgment. He just stared at that flying mustache and silently took two steps back, so as not to be sprayed with spittle. After being scolded for a while, he couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh with emotion. Sure enough, those with little knowledge were short-sighted, ah. What else could be said to this kind of person?

He looked up at the heavens and sighed.

Later, such things happened many times. At the beginning, Liu Xian’an tried to stand in the other person’s shoes and use their eyes to examine his behavior, in order to see if it was truly absurd and lazy. But when he thought about it, if people in the world used their own ideas as the standards for right and wrong, wouldn’t everyone have their own standard? Since everyone could have a standard, why should he follow their standards instead of his own?

Having thought of this point, Second Young Master Liu lay down on the soft couch again and let out a long, comfortable sigh.

In the following years, he let go completely, and drifted through life alone like an immortal. With one foot, he was imprisoned in a mortal body, and could only step through the mortal world with the fetters of family, relatives, and friends, witnessing life and death, sickness and pain. With the other foot, relying on indestructible thought and spirit, he stepped high atop the blue sky and indulged in traveling the world, often reluctant to return.

There was a white crane in this world that could carry the sun and moon anytime, anywhere.

But Liang Shu was his complete opposite.

The court was in turmoil, there was fighting on the battlefield, and the detritus of past events was enough to pile into a big fire, burning away all the innocent thoughts of childhood. In his memory, there was no crane, dew, and breezy pine forest, only schemes and slaughter, and a jar of strong wine in the long night.

Liang Shu still remembered that when he was a child, he met the Master of Baihe Mountain Village, who brought many disciples to the northwest to assist the army. War was like a drawn bowstring. He followed behind his master, leading batches of elite soldiers to battle day and night, and then used stretchers to carry back batches of wounded soldiers. The flames of war were ignited, extinguished, and re-ignited. Flesh and blood were torn, healed, and torn again. The dark red sunset hung above the desert, and every breath was like fire burning his throat. At certain moments of exhaustion, he even suspected that he had fallen into a tragic cycle that would never end.

A-Ning stirred up the fire a little more and poured out a few small, wrapped pills from a gourd: “Young Master, go to bed early after taking the sleep medicine.”

Liu Xian’an said: “I can’t sleep early tonight.”

When Liang Shu heard this, his eyebrows moved slightly. A-Ning didn’t understand, asking in a low voice: “Why? Could it be that the prince wants to talk with the young master? It shouldn’t be, I think the prince has been lost in thought, and he hasn’t taken the initiative to talk to us.”

Liu Xian’an said: “Another person is walking toward us, crying.”

A-Ning pricked up his ears and listened carefully. After a long while, the wind finally brought a ghostly cry.

Liu Xian’an’s hearing ability was almost comparable to that of Liang Shu, who had profound inner strength. Purely because he had no friends when he was young, during his long periods of lonely contemplation, he learned to catch every sound on the wind to keep him company.

Liang Shu asked: “Then do you know who is coming?”

Liu Xian’an shook his head: “I don’t know, but the injury should be extremely serious, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to make such a sound.”

Hoarse and exhausted, as if his throat had been torn to shreds, or perhaps all the bones in his body had been broken – but in fact, it wasn’t that bad.

Gao Lin walked out of the dense forest holding a rope in his hand, tied to which were a bunch of escorts with bruised noses and swollen faces. They were the same group from just now. The leader of the escorts, however, hurriedly carried the stretcher along with three soldiers. His arm was also injured and bleeding.

Liu Xian’an was a little surprised. The first surprise was that they actually had a problem, and the second surprise was, how did Gao Lin find out?

Gao Lin stepped forward and said to Liang Shu: “Your Highness’s guess was right. They didn’t go far before they tried to draw a knife and kill someone.”

Who did they want to kill? The leader of the escorts and the person lying on the stretcher. If Gao Lin hadn’t acted in time, there would have been two more corpses on the mountain.

“Many thanks to this righteous man.” The leader of the escorts was still in shock. He knelt down and kowtowed, regardless of his own injuries. “Please help me one more time and help send my young master to Baihe Mountain Village. If you can save his life, I, Chang Xiaohan, will definitely repay you in the future with my life!”

Seeing this man kneeling on a pile of rocks and knocking his forehead full of bloodstains, Liang Shu turned around and glanced at Liu Xian’an, who was sitting under the tree: “Can he be saved?”

Gao Lin was extremely confused. How could Second Young Master Liu know if this was possible?

Liu Xian’an stood and walked to the stretcher. Only then did he see the wounded man’s face clearly. He looked immature, at most fifteen or sixteen years old. His lips were blue and his pulse was disordered, which was worse than it had been before. So he looked up and asked: “He fell again just now?”

Gao Lin was shocked and a little impressed. He could really tell?

Chang Xiaohan nodded quickly: “Yes.”

“There’s no need to send him to Baihe Mountain Village. The poison reached his heart when he fell, it will be too late.” Liu Xian’an stretched out his hand. “A-Ning, lend me your medicine box.”

A-Ning jogged all the way to the carriage to get it.

Liu Xian’an sent Chang Xiaohan to boil water, rolled up his sleeves, straightened the injured person’s body, and raised his head slightly. Gao Lin saw that his technique was unfamiliar and his strength was not great. He was not at all like those famous doctors in Baihe Mountain Village who could reconnect arms and saw through legs with their bare hands, so he squeezed the words out between his teeth: “Your Highness, is this all right, ah? Don’t put people to death.”

Liang Shu said: “You don’t need to speak like a thief, Second Young Master Liu can hear it.”

Gao Lin: “…….ah?”

“If he isn’t cured, he will definitely die.” Liu Xian’an didn’t look up when he spoke, still observing the wounded. “I’ll give it a try. I guess it should be almost similar to what is written in the books.”

Try, guess, should, almost. None of the four elements were lacking, Gao Lin thought. This young master from whichever sect might be finished today. His subordinates were spies, he was injured and fed poison, he rolled off a stretcher during a fight, and now he had met a half-baked doctor. Such bad luck, truly unlucky.

He should plan out his next life, ba.

“Young Master.” A-Ning opened the medicine box. Liu Xian’an sterilized the silver needle, located the acupuncture point, and slowly pushed it in. He only hesitated a little when administering the first needle, and then he became more and more agile, his technique so smooth that the head in front of him was pierced like a hedgehog in a short while.

An-Ning took a handkerchief and wiped the fine sweat on his forehead.

After the water was boiled, Chang Xiaohan stood to the side at all times. Although he stared intently, he didn’t realize that this was Liu Xian’an’s first time giving acupuncture. He also thought that he looked very confident, and that his young master’s life should be saved. So the heart hanging in his throat slowly returned to its original position, and he asked A-Ning: “I don’t know what to call this doctor?”

“My family’s young master is surnamed Liu.”

“Liu, surname Liu?” Chang Xiaohan was taken aback. “Could this be someone from Baihe Mountain Village?”

“Yes. Your voice should be quieter,” A-Ning reminded. “Don’t disturb the young master.”

“Okay, okay, I won’t talk.” Chang Xiaohan nearly cried with joy, murmured heaven’s blessings, and sat down on the ground, no longer nervous at all.

Gao Lin stood to the side with the knife in his hand, thinking to himself, it’s still hard to judge whether heaven has blessed him or not. Didn’t you see that your young master has already vented his breath but not breathed in? If that person is really gone, it has nothing to do with us.

Just as he was thinking this, the unconscious man on the stretcher suddenly coughed up a big mouthful of black blood. A-Ning at once said happily: “Young Master, he’s about to wake up.”

Gao Lin: “ ? ”

Liu Xian’an pulled out the last silver needle and slowly exhaled: “It’s really not difficult.”

“Yes, Liu-gongzi has excellent medical skills, so it must not be difficult.” Chang Xiaohan bowed deeply to him again, unaware that “not difficult” here actually meant “acupuncture according to the books is really not difficult.”

It was also not difficult to prescribe a prescription according to the books.

The Liu family’s medical books were all compiled by their own people. All kinds of symptoms, pharmacology, and elemental balance methods were written in great detail, which was also very convenient for Liu Xian’an. He quickly gave two prescriptions for the symptoms, one for external application and one for oral administration.

Taking advantage of this spare time, A-Ning also took out the bandages, wanting to treat Chang Xiaohan’s arm injury. He first wiped away the blood with a clean cloth, but before he had time to apply the medicine, he seemed to have discovered something strange again, so he sniffed carefully and frowned, saying: “You yourself were poisoned, didn’t you notice? After the red goose vine is dried and lit, if you inhale too much of the aroma, it will result in a weak body and inability to concentrate and raise qi. If it is used all year round, it is no different from taking poison.”

“Me?” At his warning, Chang Xiaohan felt in a daze that he had experienced these symptoms lately. 

The escorts of the Wanli Escort Agency had to inspect their things for poison before going out, but they didn’t check the wound medicine and room incense when they went to bed. If a rat wanted to attack, there were indeed opportunities.

Thinking of all the time they spent together along the way, another layer of cold sweat broke out on his back in the aftermath.

“But you are in good health, so it’s not a big deal. Just wait a few months and you’ll be fine.” A-Ning wrapped the bandage and continued, “Most of your young master’s poison has been purged, and the rest can be flushed slowly with medicine. After arriving at Baihe City, you can go to the east of the city to find Doctor Zhang from Kangtai Medical Center. He can give you lodging, and also help suture the wounds and decoct medicine. As for Baihe Mountain Village, it always receives patients from all over the country rushing to save their lives, so there is no need to fight for a seat.”

“All right, the genius doctor says it’s fine, so we won’t compete with others.” Chang Xiaohan nodded repeatedly.

Gao Lin couldn’t figure it out. What just happened? This Second Young Master saved a life so quickly and easily? Even the little servant at his side could open his mouth and say a lot, yet he was said to be the most incompetent, useless son of the Liu family in any generation. The requirements of Baihe Mountain Village were too high.

The breathing of the person on the stretcher gradually became smoother. Chang Xiaohan came to thank Liang Shu and Gao Lin again, and at the same time asked if he could buy a small carriage from them, or just a horse.

This sort of extravagant escalation of requests really should not be, but out in the wilderness, he honestly could not find another way, so he could only open his mouth brazenly.

Chang Xiaohan continued: “This one is an instructor of the Wanli Escort Bureau, and the injured is my family’s young master, Chang Xiaoqiu. We were originally escorting a batch of goods to Qingjiang under the orders of the head instructor and didn’t expect to be ambushed in the Fuhu mountain area. I wondered at first how we could meet a group of bandits, but now it seems that this trap involving internal and external collusion may have been planned long ago.”

Liang Shu glanced to the left.

Most of the escorts brought back by Gao Lin had passed out from the pain, and the few who had not were writhing there half dead. Chang Xiaohan didn’t know how to deal with these people for the time being. Logically speaking, he should march them to the escort bureau for interrogation in order to discover the ins and outs of the situation, but he was really out of resources at such a difficult time. Then he heard Gao Lin say: “I will give you a carriage, and leave some people with you. We are also going to Fuhu Mountain. If they really have dealings with bandits, we can still interrogate them then.”

Chang Xiaohan naturally had no reason to refuse. He had already sensed that the other party was unwilling to reveal his identity, so he didn’t ask any further questions, but judging by his clothing and demeanor, he could guess that he must be from a distinguished family. In addition, he had saved his life and could also walk at the side of a young master from Baihe Mountain Village, so he should be trustworthy. He said: “In Mulan City near Fuhu Mountain, there is also a branch of the Wanli Escort Bureau. If it is convenient for these righteous men, can they be sent there to be imprisoned after interrogation?”

Gao Lin made no comment, but ordered the guards to pack up a small carriage and had Chang Xiaohan drive it to take Chang Xiaoqiu to Baihe City first.

Liu Xian’an did not care about the traitors at all, and paid no attention to the conversation next to him. He tidied up the medicine box and washed his hands thoroughly. Feeling a little hungry and faint, he took some snacks from his bag and ate them slowly while standing beneath a tree. The group of filthy, bloodied people nearby did not seem to affect his appetite in any way.

Lieutenant General Gao turned his head to the side, crossed his arms, and whispered to his family’s prince: “He is a man of great talent.”

Liang Shu’s expression did not change, but his fingers moved just slightly.

Whoosh! A ray of rapid silver light sank into the underbelly of a escort. His eyes opened wide, and black blood spurted from his throat.

It made a mess on the hem of Liu Xian’an’s robes.

“Young Master!” A-Ning hurriedly pulled him back.

Gao Lin was dumbfounded. He slowly held his forehead, unwilling to watch any further.

Although his prince had always been shameless, could this sort of shameful thing be done less in the future?

Liu Xian’an didn’t have much of a reaction. He wrapped up half of the snacks and asked A-Ning to hold them for now while he went back to the carriage and changed clothes, then repeated the steps of washing and drying his hands and took the snacks back, continuing to eat.

He never even said a word.

Gao Lin was once again taken aback by his reaction.

Liang Shu stared at his leisurely snacking for a long time and finally discovered one point.

This man didn’t seem to get angry.

---

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Chapter Three << Table of Contents >> Chapter Five

When Xia Xingchi woke up, he saw that the wind direction online had reversed in an instant. He became relaxed and happy at once, naturally knowing whose handiwork this was.

This feeling of “my family will bully them back for me,” no matter how many times he experienced it, always filled him with joy. The corners of Xia Xingchi’s mouth almost raised toward the sky, and he lifted his head to look at Li Chengyuan.

This person still had a calm look on his face, as if he had taken care of an ordinary and trivial matter. Xia Xingchi’s gaze made him a little uneasy, so he reached out to hold his head and made him turn his face away.

Xia Xingchi had no choice but to continue looking at his phone.

While everyone was shocked and disgusted about Xia Yu’s true face, and full of speculation about Xia Xingchi’s true identity, Li Chengyuan’s fans were most concerned about their male god’s body:

[Xingchi baby, wuwuwu tell us how Mr. Li is doing, okay? We’re so worried, ah]

[Please let there be nothing wrong! Handsome guys can’t die!]

[I’m sure he’s alright. You can see by the speed of his public relations team that Mr. Li used his ability to withdraw the black hot searches for Xia Xingchi]

[Hopefully. But I still want a definite answer. It’s really worrying, sudden cardiac arrest is so serious, I’m so scared]

[Is he really okay? Could they be whitewashing it for peace and security? So nervous, so nervous, how come there’s no statement that he’s been rescued?]

[I private messaged the medical staff that claimed to be involved in the rescue, but I didn’t hear back]

. . . . . .

No wonder they were worried. Although Xia Xingchi’s black hot searches had disappeared, the prediction, “Li Chengyuan dead after rescue failure,” was not far from the top of the hot search list.

Seeing this collection of words made a certain person uncomfortable, and Xia Xingchi said unhappily: “Why didn’t you withdraw this too? It’s too inauspicious, ba.”

Li Chengyuan glanced at the phone screen indifferently. He obviously didn’t care, but there was a smile in his tone: “Xia Xingchi, you care too much about your boss.”

He seemed to emphasize the word “boss” intentionally or unintentionally. The implication was obviously that someone not only treated him as a boss, but also had additional feelings. 

Xia Xingchi was taken aback for a moment, and after realizing what he meant, he inexplicably felt the panic and embarrassment of being exposed and automatically denied: “I don’t care, ba! I’m just afraid that your fans will be sad……I’ve been exploited all my life by you black-hearted capitalists, I’ll only be free when I die!”

Li Chengyuan smiled faintly and didn’t try to expose the “I want to continue working” expression that couldn’t be hidden on Xia Xingchi’s face, but said: “You can tell your fans everything is okay.”

Xia Xingchi decided to take a photo or a short video of Li Chengyuan.

He was just thinking about what angle would look the best so that everyone could appreciate their broken and beautiful male god together, but Li Chengyuan stretched out a hand and said succinctly: “Just come and shoot the rings together.”

It was only then that Xia Xingchi realized that the pigeon egg ring could no longer be worn around his neck because the string had been torn. The ring must have long legs to be able to run from the bedside table to his middle finger.

Li Chengyuan probably did it while he was asleep.

Xia Xingchi stared helplessly at the ring on his hand, thinking that the villain had finally gotten his wish —

Not only did he take the initiative to speak loudly about his marriage contract in front of the camera, but now it was finally time to show their conjugal affection in front of the whole country.

Li Chengyuan’s fingers were very long, with beautiful and well-defined bones, and his cold, fair complexion didn’t even need a whitening filter.

In order to not leave fans guessing whether or not he was still in a coma, Xia Xingchi decided to take the lead, and made a silly heart-shaped gesture with their hands. Then Li Chengyuan grasped Xia Xingchi’s hand and took another picture.

He simply left a sentence telling everyone not to worry and that Li Chengyuan was fine, and it caused a wave of heat as soon as it was sent out:

[Oh my god, that’s so great, wuwuwu I’m finally relieved]

[Waaaa are all handsome guys’ hands so pretty? Their hands are so perfect]

[The rings are in the same frame! Who stuffed me with dog food!]

[Hehehe Xia Xingchi finally admitted it and stopped pretending not to know him and calling him Boss Li?]

[I don’t want to see rings, I want to see people! You two haven’t been in the same frame yet! Asking for a group photo and some sugar!]

Xia Xingchi tilted his head. He also couldn’t figure out why Li Chenyuan didn’t want to show up on camera.

The big villain had been born so good-looking that it couldn’t be hidden, and he still looked good when ill. He didn’t care about his useless image anyway, so why wouldn’t he take a video and show his face?

Sure enough, someone would find fault and poke holes in the story:

[Just a photo of a hand? Who can prove whether this hand is Li Chengyuan’s?]

[It’s so suspicious, ah. After filming a reality show, he wants to keep a low profile and not show his face now? Is he really alive?]

[Anyone familiar with wealthy dog-blood families should understand. Could it be that Li Chengyuan is gone, and Xia Xingchi is lying to stabilize the situation?]

[Enough, you guys. This is Mr. Li’s hand, okay? Hardcore fans can easily recognize it]

[I don’t believe it. There are so many people in the world whose hands look alike. Even if he had six fingers, as long as he has money, he could find a replacement]

. . . . . .

The more Xia Xingchi watched, the more confused he became, and he suddenly felt that Li Chengyuan had done this on purpose just to make people wonder if he was dead or not.

As expected of a big villain, when it came to having bad intentions and scaring people, one veteran could do the job of two recruits. One didn’t need to ask to know that he was trying to scare Li Shengrui and Xia Yu.

It worked really well. In an unremarkable hotel, Xia Yu was talking to Li Shengrui in a panic:

“Who knows if he’s really alive or if Xia Xingchi is playing tricks! Maybe he’s already dead, and Xia Xingchi is just using him as a shield to intimidate people!”

The news of Li Chengyuan’s successful rescue was like a bolt from the blue to these two people, and what followed would be endless troubles.

But this news had appeared in such an uncertain way, which caused them to be bewildered and full of doubts.

“It’s probably true that he’s not dead.” Li Shengrui said after some thought, “Did you really put the whole package of drugs in there? Are you sure there was no problem?”

“Of course! I’m more fucking afraid the poison didn’t kill him than you are!” Xia Yu said angrily, “Now you think it was my mistake? It’s because your drugs were unreliable that we’re both screwed!”

Li Shengrui was a little angry when he heard these words. No one liked to be unjustly accused.

If he really wanted to figure out how Li Chengyuan didn’t die, it was better to suspect that Xia Yu’s nervous hands shook a little than to think the problem lay with that high-purity aconitine, which was highly toxic and lethal.

Furthermore, he had clearly warned him not to poison Li Chengyuan while he was having stomach problems.

Li Chengyuan had a sensitive constitution and a shallow stomach. When slightly stimulated by poison, he could even vomit to the point of dehydration. Obviously, Xia Yu hadn’t chosen the right time.

Unexpectedly, before Li Shengrui had time to open his mouth and censure him, Xia Yu suddenly said:

“I don’t believe that Li Chengyuan isn’t dead. Li Shengrui, did the police really not contact you? Or are you lying to me?”

Even if Li Shengrui was just a cheap illegitimate half-brother, he was still Li Chengyuan’s nominal “brother” in the end, and the police might call him if he died.

“They didn’t!!” Li Shengrui was accused and doubted again and again, and said angrily, “He must still be alive!”

In fact, Li Shengrui himself was unsure. Although their relationship was bad, he and Li Chengyuan had grown up under the same roof.

He knew exactly how cold-blooded and ruthless Li Chengyuan was. How come the first thing he did after waking up was to send an affectionate message and hold hands sweetly to take pictures?

Was it really Xia Xingchi bluffing to maintain peace, or was Li Chengyuan deliberately scaring people to make them lose their heads?

The more Li Shengrui thought about it, the more fretful he became. On the other end of the line, Xia Yu was still accusing him in a fluster, seeming more and more vicious and stupid.

In contrast, Xia Xingchi was better than Xia Yu in almost everything, much more likable than him in everything from appearance to personality.

This idea caused Li Shengrui to be unable to maintain his mental balance. Since he was a child, he had developed the habit of comparing himself to Li Chengyuan. 

His unglamorous status as an illegitimate child made him feel inferior and gradually warped him. Even the occasional servant calling Li Chengyuan “Young Master” instead of “Second Young Master” would make Li Shengrui instantly suspect that his identity had not been acknowledged.

Even worse was that Li Chengyuan was better than him at everything, with outstanding abilities and excellent grades, winning various awards when he was a student.

And he even looked extraordinarily good. Clearly he was a half-dead sick seedling with a cold and arrogant personality, but he was still sought-after and admired by everyone.

Even though everything Li Chengyuan owned was robbed from him later, and he suffered so much that it looked like he would go completely insane.

Who could have known that he could put up a struggle again and even succeed in seizing power, multiplying his family power countless times.

Li Shengrui became more and more irritable as he thought about it, and the fact that he couldn’t even find a partner as good as Li Chengyuan’s made him dislike Xia Yu even more.

But he could only continue to hypocritically appease Xia Yu, and at the same time coax him:

“How about this, A-Yu, we will get the marriage certificate as soon as you return to Beijing.”

“……But in order to keep the police from suspecting you, we must first destroy all evidence.”

Xia Yu finally calmed down when he heard the word “marriage,” and a calculating look appeared in his eyes.

He compromised at last and said coquettishly:

“All right. Then I’ll delete the recordings and come back, you can’t lie to me!”

— Deleting the recordings was impossible. A backup copy must be made in order to hold onto Li Shengrui.

– – –

It was already past one o’clock in the afternoon when Xia Xingchi finally finished making a clean sweep of the takeout. Ever since Li Chengyuan entered the emergency room, he hadn’t felt like eating, but now he could almost eat a cow.

It was a pity that he sat at the table to eat, but Li Chengyuan, as a patient, could only sit on the side of the bed and watch until his millet porridge cooled and he could take a few sips.

— His stomach had bled slightly when he vomited, so the doctor had told him that he could only have some cool liquid food today.

Xia Xingchi said in distress: “I’ll make some delicious food for you when we get back, guaranteed to be better than those chefs’!……Speaking of which, when are we going home, ah?”

Hearing this, Li Chengyuan was stunned for a moment at the words “going home.” Clearly pleased by this sentence, he then smiled lightly: “We’ll leave after you finish your meal.”

Xia Xingchi let out an “Oh.” It sounded like a casual joke, but he knew Li Chengyuan was serious.

While he was lying on the hospital bed and trying to get a little more sleep, he heard Li Chengyuan instruct Secretary Ye on the phone: “You don’t need to come, go and inform Xiao Wu to get the plane ready. I’m returning to Beijing today.”

Then he received a call from Zhao Yinhe, who actually acted like a serious doctor: “The transfer procedures have all been taken care of for you. Send me the results of today’s checkup, and I’ll see if I can come meet the plane.”

He was thousands of miles away, after all. Not being able to see it, Zhao Yinhe doubted the quality of the medical equipment in this remote small town, and wanted to come see for himself.

However, he was so busy that he couldn’t spare the time. As soon as he heard about the accident yesterday, he immediately ran around contacting the top experts in the cardiovascular field, and completed all the transfer procedures today.

After Li Chengyuan was out of danger and able to be moved, he hastened to transfer him back to his hospital as soon as possible, so that he could give a comprehensive examination and uncover why a healthy-looking person fell ill so suddenly.

Xia Xingchi naturally wanted him to return to the capital as soon as possible. He was unfamiliar with this place and dared not even hire a nurse, for fear that some unscrupulous person would come in and poison his big cat.

. . . . . .

When Lin Meng heard the news that they were leaving, she had just finished the work at hand and connected with the program team for various follow-up tasks.

The filming of the reality show almost had such a horrifying accident. Coupled with the collapse of Xia Yu’s character design and the exposure of Xia Xingchi’s identity, it was impossible to continue filming under the circumstances.

Fortunately, the ratings and popularity instantly climbed to the peak level in the nation, so although the broadcast was temporarily suspended, there was no major loss.

Xia Xingchi pricked up his ears. He was happy to hear that money hadn’t been lost – after all, he still remembered that Li Chengyuan had invested in this reality show.

Li Chengyuan smiled upon hearing this, thinking that it was nothing more than spending a little money to entertain Xia Xingchi, but his little money-grubber had firmly remembered it.

Thus, he coaxed this person in a low voice: “The surplus of this investment will be transferred to your salary card.”

Xia Xingchi was touching everything within reach on Li Chengyuan’s private jet, but when he heard money being mentioned, he sat up and said excitedly: “Really? I won’t be polite and refuse if you say such a thing!”

Seeing that he was so easy to coax, Li Chengyuan thought he looked cute with his dimpled smile and couldn’t help but raise a hand to pinch Xia Xingchi’s soft, warm earlobe with his cool fingertips.

Xia Xingchi’s whole body immediately trembled when he was pinched. He had clearly stated before that this place was not allowed to be touched. When his sensitive spot was stimulated by this kind of action, his whole body went weak.

But the big villain didn’t change his ways after repeated admonitions, and couldn’t help stretching his claws out to pinch.

“Why are you doing this again!” Xia Xingchi wasted no time getting angry.

If he hadn’t just received a reward from his wealthy benefactor, he would have definitely pounced on Li Chengyuan and crushed him to death, because he suspected that Li Chengyuan was doing this on purpose.

But now, for the sake of his future income, he decided not to lower himself to Li Chengyuan’s level, and jumped up to grab a drink while hiding far away.

Lin Meng, who was sitting nearby and trying not to be a third wheel, saw this flirtatious scene and was stunned. There were only the words “knock CP” left in her mind.

She had always been a member of the CP fan army, but compared to other sisters who were happy to eat sugar, Lin Meng wanted to eat sugar but always felt awkward — 

Thinking about the two of them being together for monetary and stand-in purposes, she couldn’t help but weep over the sadomasochistic relationship.

Although it was said that in dog-blood sadomasochism plots, the boss would always fall in love with the double, the texts also said that the aloof White Moonlight would come back at that time.

When Xia Xingchi was asked earlier, “Are you in love with President Li?” he still insisted that he wasn’t.

Now there was no need to even ask. Sitting at the door of the emergency room and crying with snot and tears, it was obvious that the little stand-in had fallen in love without knowing it.

Li Chengyuan turned his eyes slowly, and abruptly asked with a blank expression: “Did he tell you that he was a stand-in?”

Lin Meng was startled.

Although she knocked CP, when the boss suddenly spoke to her and asked such a terrifying question, she immediately panicked and dared not speak. She thought to herself that Li Chengyuan was too sharp, being able to tell what she was thinking just now at a glance.

“You don’t have to be nervous,” Li Chengyuan said lightly, taking a sip of warm water. “This little fool thinks he’s just a stand-in, but he’s the one I was looking for. He just forgot.”

Lin Meng’s spirit of gossip immediately broke through the fear, and she was quite shocked by this enormous information bomb.

Heaven knew how many times the script in her mind had changed. One moment it was a sadomasochistic love triangle between a beautiful boy, a wealthy old man, and a handsome driver, and the next moment he became the stand-in lover of a scumbag gold master. Unexpectedly, the male lead stamped him with the label of a silly lost sweetheart with amnesia?

The stand-in sadomasochism script in her hands suddenly had a strong taste of sugar.

“I gave him a ‘salary’ just to make him happy, but in fact, all of my property was given to him.”

Not only was it all given to him, but it was also earned for Xia Xingchi from the very beginning.

After all, more than ten years ago, Li Chengyuan knew that Xia Xingchi was a little money-grubber.

No one could have imagined that a business legend like himself had no interest in money, but worked specially to earn so much only because he thought a certain person would like it.

Then, he waited every day for the little liar who cheated him of all his money and ran away irretrievably to fulfill his promise and return to him.

In fact, if Li Chengyuan had really died in the emergency room, the property would not go to Li Shengrui according to the legal order of succession – he had already made a will and left it all to Xia Xingchi.

In the distance, Xia Xingchi was studying the plane’s ice cream machine, happily tasting a strawberry-vanilla mixed cone, and would not be coming back for a while. He couldn’t hear the conversation between the two.

Lin Meng was hit hard on the head by this shocking lump of sugar, and after a long moment of bewilderment, she asked cautiously: “But……Mr. Li, haven’t you already married the young master of the Xia family?”

As everyone knew, the Xia family only had one young master, and that was Xia Yu.

Li Chengyuan pursed his lips slightly, then raised his hand to signal Lin Meng to take a look at her phone.

Confused, Lin Meng took out her cell phone and looked down. While she was shocked that there was WiFi on the plane, she also found that the hot search had ushered in a new round of earth-shaking bombs:

#Xia Xingchi: A wealthy young master on the run#

#Jack-of-all-trades is a low-key noble son#

#Xia Xingchi: This is real self-reliance#

#A deeper look into Xia Xingchi and Xia Yu’s relationship#

. . . . . .

Lin Meng could hardly believe her eyes.

She never imagined that the poor boy beside her who was so impoverished that he could barely afford to eat was also a rich second generation from a wealthy family, and that he belonged to the same family as Xia Yu, who always flaunted his wealth in flashy ways.

[My god, isn’t Xia Xingchi a vegetable seller from the countryside? How is this possible?]

[But those photos are indeed real. If he’s really a son of the Xia family, how could this happen?]

[Who can give an explanation? Why is it that Xia Yu spends money like water to show off his wealth every day, but Xingchi is impoverished and able to be bullied by everyone? Xia family, are you fucking sick?”]

[Damn, Xia Yu is still marketed as “the rich second generation who doesn’t rely on family support” all day long, so what is our Xingchi? Clenching fist hard]

[Real self-reliance VS fake self-reliance]

[Understood, you want to grab your brother’s boyfriend, right? @ Xia Yu, you’re a fucking disgusting green tea]

[Not only that, ah, but he bought black hot searches and made the company suppress Xia Xingchi. The internet doesn’t forget]

[No wonder Mr. Li didn’t let that bitch Xia Yu get close. This kind of person is really disgusting. He’s an “innocent young master?” (Li-style Cold Shoulder.GIF)]

. . . . . .

The hot search set off turbulent waves. Xia Yu stared at the phone and read the comments one after another, gnashing his teeth with hatred and horror.

What he cared most about was his face and reputation. He had used these despicable methods of wanton bullying all these years, and no one had ever dared to contend with him.

Therefore, it never occurred to him that Xia Xingchi, the most inconspicuous piece of trash, would actually make him kick an iron board.^[1]

The more he looked at him, the more he trembled with anger and resentment. Xia Xingchi never should have existed in the first place.

He had been the only young master of the Xia family all these years. How could such a shitty charity-case deserve to be compared with him?

How could he take away his status and all the reputation he was proud of? Why should this bastard be equal to him?

– If there was no Xia Xingchi, I would have married Li Chengyuan.

– I would definitely be able to receive his unparalleled protection and favor, and obtain the most enviable status and wealth.

But now it was all gone. Now there were only endless negative revelations and the constant terror of being discovered by the police for his crime of poisoning.

What scared him the most was that once everyone discovered the truth about the true identities of the true and fake young masters, then his identity as an illegitimate child would lead to endless insults.

Everyone would find that he was just a pheasant occupying the phoenix’s nest. Everything would be returned to its original state, and his previous character marketing would become an eternal laughing stock.

The more Xia Yu thought about it, the more terrified he became. The scene was unimaginable, and he shuddered all over, wishing he could go mad and rush out to cover everyone’s mouths.

Li Chengyuan had always been ruthless. Since the villainous big boss had restrained his temper due to finding the person whom he thought about night and day, he didn’t lose his mind, but his style of behavior remained nasty and villainous.

He didn’t immediately reveal the truth that Xia Yu most wanted to hide, the truth that he least wanted to be discovered by others, but instead released it bit by bit.

Waiting for death was more terrifying than actually dying, especially when there was no way of knowing when the blade of the guillotine would suddenly fall.

This fear almost made Xia Yu unable to sleep. Even if he accidentally dozed off for a moment on the plane back to the capital, he would instantly wake up trembling from nightmares of his life experience being revealed.

. . . . . . 

The more Lin Meng looked at the phone, the more shocked she became. No matter what, she had never imagined that the two could be “brothers.”

She asked cluelessly: “But Xia Yu has been marketing his character as an only child, saying that he wants to go back to inherit the family property, ah. How could Xia Xingchi…..”

Li Chengyuan said calmly: “The Xia family indeed has only one child – and it is not Xia Yu.”

Xia Xingchi finally squeezed out a perfectly shaped ice cream and happily forgot about who had pinched his ear just now, excitedly holding up the ice cream to show off to Li Chengyuan: “Look! Doesn’t it look very artistic?”

Waiting for his answer, he turned around and saw Lin Meng, who was numbly digesting a huge amount of information.

“Sister Mengmeng? What are you thinking about?” Xia Xingchi tilted his head slightly in confusion.

Lin Meng came back to her senses, looked at the two people who were a perfect match, and finally let out a sincere cry from the bottom of her heart: “I’m thinking, Yuanchi CP is real!”

Xia Xingchi: ? ? ?

Li Chengyuan, that bastard, what new distorted facts did he tell Sister Mengmeng?

---

[1] If you kick an iron board (踢到铁板), you’re used to kicking wooden boards that break easily, and unexpectedly kick an iron board that hurts your foot. ⮐

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Chapter Thirty-Five << Table of Contents >> Chapter Thirty-Seven

Before Yan Mingting could make a move, Li Yucheng couldn’t wait to leap into action, and addressed Fu Qian excitedly: “I’m following orders, do you dare to fight back?”

Fu Qian didn’t dare, so he was punched several times until his face was bruised and swollen.

“Most beautiful man in the capital, go back and see what you look like now.” Li Yucheng laughed with his hands on his hips.

Zhao Yelan bought another set of shiba dumplings and turned around to enter the inn next door, then began to enjoy the food.

Fu Qian had already fled in despair.

“That person is the most beautiful man in the capital?” Zuo Ran asked curiously. “Who gave him that name?”

“Himself.” Li Yucheng picked up a dumpling and stuffed it into his mouth, his eyes immediately lighting up. “What is this thing, it’s so delicious!”

The taste was truly pretty good. The skin was thin, and the stuffing was rich. One bite into it and you could smell the fragrance first, then the smooth, tender stuffing burst in the mouth with sweet and salty flavors that were perfectly intertwined. The unique taste was very novel. Zhao Yelan, who was accustomed to delicious food, couldn’t help showing an expression of surprise.

Yan Mingting gave up on verbal praise and dug in wildly, eating five or six in the blink of an eye without fear of choking.

Zhao Yelan ordered a few sweet soups from the inn and placed the extra two bowls in front of Yan Mingting.

“Aiyo, I say, why are you not fat if you can eat so much?” Li Yucheng looked incredibly envious. Yan Mingting’s figure was the type he coveted the most. It seemed that no matter how much he ate, he wouldn’t get fat, and it would automatically turn into muscle. He looked very strong, and the broad shoulders gave one a great sense of security!

“It’s just that you came back to Beijing too late, otherwise what would have happened to that kid Fu Qian? He wouldn’t be called the most beautiful man in the capital, ba,” Li Yucheng said with a sneer.

“How did he come to be called that?” Zuo Ran asked.

“Among the children of noble families, compared to the others with big bellies and short hair, he is considered a little more attractive. One day when he drank too much, he embraced a woman in a restaurant to show off, and said that he was the most handsome man among the children of the noble families in the capital. After word spread, it became abbreviated somehow,” Li Yucheng said.

“But…..even if the General wasn’t in the capital, wasn’t there still Zhao-daren?” Zuo Ran turned her head to look at him. “How come no one mentioned Zhao-daren?”

“Hey, how can ordinary people see him, ah, most of them don’t know what Zhao Yelan looks like. Moreover, those who knew him were afraid of death, so how could they dare to judge him for being beautiful or not? In the case that someone grew angry and tossed them into prison for the rest of their lives, would they dare?” Li Yucheng said.

Zuo Ran was startled: “My lord is not so scary.”

“You don’t know much, ba. Didn’t you see how afraid Fu Qian was when he saw him? To be honest, I used to be afraid of him too.” After Li Yucheng spoke, he glanced over furtively and saw that the other party didn’t seem to be listening to him at all, and was tilting his head to whisper to Yan Mingting. He couldn’t help but sigh and shake his head. “I also never expected that I would see him so intimate with another man…..”

Suddenly, a sharp look shot over at him from Zhao Yelan. Li Yucheng was startled and ducked his head like a quail, behaving himself: “Zhao-daren and General Yan are the best match.”

Zuo Ran and Yin Pinglu exchanged a look, then lowered their heads and suppressed their smiles.

The group of people tasted several other delicious things. When they passed a silk shop, Zuo Ran and Yin Pinglu’s footsteps slowed a bit. They wanted to go in and have a look, but were too embarrassed to tell these big men.

Just when they were quietly discussing plans to come back at night, Zhao Yelan swaggered in front of them and entered the shop, followed by Yan Mingting, who seemed free of pressure and could even be said to be used to it.

Dumbfounded, the two of them immediately followed them in. They saw that Zhao Yelan had already begun to shop, and became dazzled at the sight.

Zhao Yelan bought a lot in one go. It had been so long since he came to Jiangnan, and he had yet to spend money to his heart’s content. He was going back to the capital soon, so why not buy more things he liked before returning?

In one afternoon, Zhao Yelan bought a lot of things.

Yan Mingting’s arms were full of silk, and he was carrying some pastries in his hands. There was also a small pouch of shortbread hanging on his scabbard, which could be said to have reached the greatest extent of its use.

“I’ll go back to the inn and put these things away, ba.” Yan Mingting was holding so many things that he almost couldn’t see the street.

“Fine.” Zhao Yelan pointed to a restaurant not far away, “We’ll wait for you there.”

“All right.” Yan Mingting wobbled back to the inn.

The others had things in their hands, but they hadn’t bought as much as Zhao Yelan. After all, the two girls didn’t have much money, and Li Yucheng had already reaped a lot of things from his uncle’s house.

“Waiter, serve up your most delicious dishes and two pots of good tea,” Li Yucheng called.

The group sat down in a private room. Zhao Yelan perched by the window, looked at the sunny weather, and wondered if it was still raining in Huaizhou and Zhizhou.

“This tea is pretty good, I want to take some to the capital.” Yin Pinglu took two sips. “My lord, do you want to taste it too?”

Zhao Yelan casually took a couple of sips. Although it wasn’t the best tea he had ever tasted, it was still a bit sweeter than ordinary tea. He nodded and asked the waiter to prepare some tea to be taken away.

“It’s a pity that a rough person like me can’t tell the difference between good and bad tea.” Zuo Ran drank the tea in one gulp, then spat out the dregs. “The last time I went to the General’s Mansion, Housekeeper Qin said that the tea made for me was good tea, but I can’t tell it apart from this one, ah.”

Zhao Yelan raised his eyes and looked at her while maintaining his composure.

“Hey, it’s not your fault.” Li Yucheng waved his hand. “His family’s tea is not expensive at all, it’s just picked from ordinary trees. If someone says it’s delicious, it must be for the sake of politeness.”

Zhao Yelan looked at him coolly: “Have you drunk it as well?”

“I drank it, ah, it was when my father and I came to the General’s Mansion,” Li Yucheng said.

Yin Pinglu smiled gently: “The General’s tea is not rich in variety, but rich in affection. The tea tree was planted by the old lady herself, and since he was at the border all the time, he sent letters back asking Housekeeper Qin to take care of it for him.”

Zhao Yelan finally couldn’t control his expression, and said a bit stiffly: “Haven’t you never been to Beijing? How did you come to drink his tea?”

“My lord doesn’t know, but although the General was at the border, Housekeeper Qin sent someone every year to deliver some dried tea leaves to him. I was fortunate enough to taste it once,” Yin Pinglu said.

Zhao Yelan nodded his head slowly.

“So that turns out to be the case. He must place much value on family and friends.” Li Yucheng sighed, then looked at Zhao Yelan with a laugh. “It’s such a pity for you. With such picky tastes, you have to drink his family’s tea every day.”

The other two also laughed.

Zhao Yelan was silent, unable to tell them that he had taken a sip himself and then was never able to drink it again.

“Hey, the General is here.” Zuo Ran pointed outside the window.

The group turned their heads to look out. It happened that Yan Mingting raised his head and nodded at him. He was just about to enter the door when he accidentally bumped into a girl.

“Are you all right?” Yan Mingting asked.

The people upstairs could clearly see that the girl had bumped into him on her own.

“It appears that Yan Mingting, this guy,  is loved by others,” Li Yucheng said gloatingly. “It’s not surprising. Yan Mingting is taller than most of the men in this city, not to mention handsome and dashing, with an air of nobility. Which girl wouldn’t be tempted?”

After speaking, he specially took a glance at Zhao Yelan, wanting to see if he was angry. But unexpectedly, the other party was just waving his fan calmly with a slight smile in his eyes, looking at the scene outside calmly, as if he didn’t care at all.

……Wrong! Li Yucheng’s eyes fell on Zhao Yelan’s hand. Although he was waving the fan calmly, the joints and veins in his hand were bulging as if he wanted to crush it.

Sure enough, no one could completely ignore this sort of thing, even Zhao Yelan.

The girl blushed and asked, “I’m fine, sir, thank you. May I ask what your name is and where you’re from?”

“You’re really okay?” Yan Mingting reconfirmed.

“I’m fine.”

“If you’re fine, how could you bump into someone?” Yan Mingting pointed to both sides of the road. “The road is so wide, yet you can still bump into people. Do you have eye problems or dizziness? Don’t you need to find a doctor to figure out what’s causing it?”

The girl’s face grew increasingly redder. After stamming for a long moment, she suddenly stomped her foot in frustration and turned to run away.

When Yan Mingting walked into the private room, this group of people still hadn’t stopped laughing. Especially Li Yucheng, who laughed so hard that he nearly fell off his chair.

“What are you laughing at?” Yan Mingting asked, mystified.

The group was stunned for a moment, and Zhao Yelan said: “He really doesn’t seem to know what we’re laughing about.”

“Save me, that’s even more ridiculous, ah!” Li Yucheng collapsed laughing on the chair.

Zhao Yelan laughed softly. Half of his face was obscured by the fan, and only a pair of star-like eyes were exposed, which were really beautiful when bent in a smile.

Yan Mingting was stunned for a moment, staring into his eyes. The mood was infectious, and he also laughed after a while.

After the meal, Yan Mingting learned the reason from Li Yucheng, and couldn’t help being surprised.

He really just thought that girl had an eye or head disease, and that was why she had bumped into him. After all, he wasn’t arrogant enough to think that everyone would like him, and his thoughts were all on Zhao Yelan, so he didn’t have time to pay attention to others.

But what could he say, hearing about Zhao Yelan’s angry and jealous look, he still felt a surge of joy in his heart. But it was only a moment of secret joy that soon turned to worry.

Jealousy was sometimes a good thing, and sometimes not. For example, at this time, he stood outside the door at the inn and knocked for a long time: “I have something to discuss with you, let me come in and talk…..”

He immediately put on a serious face when someone passed by, and waited before they disappeared before knocking again: “I’m begging you…..”

After a while, Zhao Yelan opened the door: “What’s the matter?”

Yan Mingting stared in a daze, seeing that he had changed into brand new clothes. The thin, emerald green shirt with fluttering sleeves made him seem to transcend worldly affairs, unstained by dust. His eyes lit up: “So beautiful.”

Zhao Yelan gave him a haughty look and turned sideways to go out.

“Where are you going?” Yan Mingting followed along.

“Just for a stroll.” Zhao Yelan walked to the market. It was rare that he could wander around at will, so he wanted to take a look.

Tonight, Yan Mingting seemed to be having sudden spasms as he followed at his side. Whenever a passing woman took a look at Yan Mingting, he would raise his hand vigilantly to prevent her from approaching: “Sorry, I’m married.”

“I have a wife.”

“Don’t look at me, I’m a family man.”

The women passing by regarded him as if they were looking at a handsome but brainless idiot.

Zhao Yelan pressed his forehead and opened his fan to cover his face, not wanting to be seen with him.

“General Yan! It’s really you!” An old woman walked over with joy, her eyes shining.

“Sorry, I’m really married.” Yan Mingting stopped her.

Zhao Yelan: “……”

“Of course I know you’re married, and you’re married to Zhao-daren.” The old woman said with a smile.

“You know us?” Yan Mingting asked.

“En, I’m from Huaizhou, and I was sent here by your people to join my relatives. I’m staying at my brother’s house now, and I’ll go back in a while.” The old woman smiled kindly and enthusiastically handed over a basket. “These are the tomatoes planted by my younger brother and sister. They’re very sweet. My lords should take a taste.”

Yan Mingting couldn’t refuse, so he smiled and took two: “Many thanks, we just had dinner, so these two are enough.”

“I’m the one who should thank you, our family survived only because of you. I heard that many people died in droughts in previous years. This time it is all thanks to you discovering it early that more losses were prevented.”

After returning to the inn, Yan Mingting washed the bright red tomatoes and handed him one: “Try it?”

Zhao Yelan lowered his head and took a bite of it from his hand. He nodded: “It’s pretty sweet.”

Yan Mingting was stunned, staring at his face for a moment. After a while, Zhao Yelan lowered his head and took another bite. His thick eyelashes fluttered, his skin porcelain-like before the other’s eyes. Yan Mingting felt his heart beat harder, and his hands shook imperceptibly.

The tomato tasted sweet and was very juicy. When Zhao Yelan raised his head, there was a lot of juice at the corner of his mouth, which flowed down to his jaw.

Yan Mingting also had some of it on his hands but couldn’t bother with it, watching him first stick out his tender red tongue to lick the corner of his mouth, and then take out a brocade handkerchief to wipe other places.

“Don’t you want to try it?” Zhao Yelan asked.

Yan Mingting stuffed the remaining half of the tomato into his mouth in one breath, then stretched out his hand in front of him and beckoned for him to wipe it.

“The handkerchief is already dirty,” Zhao Yelan said.

What a pity, Yan Mingting thought to himself. The next moment, Zhao Yelan took his hand and leaned down to put his juice-stained finger into his mouth, raising his eyes to look at him.

A fuse seemed to have ignited within Yan Mingting. As if on fire, his face was redder than the tomato, the blush spreading to his neck. His whole body was scorching hot, all of it like a bright red ripe tomato.

“Is this all right?” Zhao Yelan let go of his hand.

“All right, all right!” Yan Mingting nodded hard, wishing he would do it a few more times, preferably every day!

He had eaten so fast that he didn’t even realize there was a little bit of juice at the corner of his mouth. Zhao Yelan took a few glances, and then leaned over and licked it away. Just as he was about to retreat, the other party hooked his neck and irresistibly pried open his lips, tasting the sweet tomato juice again.

It was not until footsteps sounded outside that the two parted with unfinished business.

“Let me tell you, Fu Qian is just a gift!” Li Yucheng traipsed in happily and sat down on the other side of the table, saying, “Guess what he did today?”

The two didn’t answer his words at all, and he continued on his own: “He bought a lot of things today, all of which you bought! Whichever clothes you bought, he immediately followed and secretly bought them, as well as sachets, teas, calligraphy, and paintings, ah, none of these were spared. I think he just wants to learn from you, and is mimicking you but making a fool of himself!”

After he finished speaking excitedly, he found that the other two did not respond, and asked: “Why aren’t you speaking?”

“Have you finished?” Zhao Yelan asked. “Since you’re done, get out. Don’t disturb our business.”

“It’s so late, what business could you do, ah?” Li Yucheng asked without thinking.

Zhao Yelan turned his head to the side, kissed Yan Mingting on the lips, and then looked back at him gravely: “This kind of business.”

Caught off guard, Li Yucheng fell off his stool in fright: “Ex, excuse me, goodbye!” Saying this, he ran out as if about to piss his pants in terror, then turned back in a flash and closed the door. “Don’t mind me, please continue.”

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Chapter Sixty-Seven <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Sixty-Nine

Zhuang Zhou^[1] once dreamed of becoming a butterfly so vividly that he didn’t remember who he was.

Second Young Master Liu also had a dream. He dreamt of ascending to the sky and swimming in the void, floating above all things.

In fact, he didn’t actually sleep well, and slept especially lightly during the day. Even though his eyes were closed, he could almost always hear the movement around him, so why couldn’t the servant shake him awake? The main reason was that Second Young Master Liu didn’t want to wake up. The world in his mind was too big. The sun and moon shined with color and beauty, and he would often accidentally step into the void, so it was normal to not hear the boy’s calls.

The carriage was a little bumpy on the way. Liu Xian’an kept his eyes closed and changed his position again. His attire was not as luxurious and exquisite as Liang Shu’s. Since he was going away to travel, he wanted to be as comfortable as possible. A loose, thin old robe with a half-open neckline might be outrageous for anyone else to wear, but when worn on him, it seemed to lend him a bit of an immortal air, lightly floating like a cloud above verdant bamboo shoots.

Liang Shu sat opposite him. His eyes slid from the other’s eyebrows to the small sesame seed mole on the jut of his throat. He knew that his second sister always liked to collect beautiful things. In the princess’s manor, everything from the cups, plates, and chopsticks to the maids and guards were beautiful, and there was not even one common weed in the flower garden. Since she had to choose the best-looking things in the world, it was not difficult to understand why she cried and fussed a while ago and insisted on marrying the sleeping immortal in front of him.

The curtains blocked the light and made the space inside the carriage seem more enclosed. The sandalwood fragrance on Liang Shu’s body was originally faint, but then gradually became a bit thicker. The odd smell finally made the wandering Second Young Master Liu twitch his nose a little, vaguely feeling that something was wrong with today’s dream.

His eyelashes fluttered slightly, and it looked as if he was struggling to wake up, but at this moment, the wheels suddenly jerked up! The sudden shift in balance made Liu Xian’an roll forward, and he opened his eyes with a short cry! At the critical moment, Liang Shu turned his long sword with one hand and blocked the opponent’s shoulder with the hilt, pushing him back into his seat again.

Liu Xian’an had still not recovered. Unfinished wild dreams disturbed the dim space in front of him, and he didn’t come back to his senses for a long time. He only felt his heart beating and his brain buzzing, and what was even more shocking was that after the dreams dissipated, he found a sword suspended beside his neck.

A very long sword with a red-black hilt and a mottled scabbard.

Looking forward, there was a person holding the sword.

The flickering lights in the carriage made this scene even more unreal. Most of Liang Shu’s face was hidden in the shadows. His pupils were lighter than ordinary people’s, like some kind of ferocious sand beast, and although he was dressed in fine clothing, Liu Xian’an was still keenly aware of the murderous aura on the other’s body. It had soaked in the battlefield for many years, wrapped in the rough wind and sand from the Northwest, so bloody that no amount of thick sandalwood could suppress it.

“……Your Royal Highness.”

Liu Xian’an withdrew his gaze, and was about to stand up and salute, but the carriage coincidentally bumped again. Liang Shu used the hilt of his sword once more to push back the man staggering toward him: “Sit down.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.” Liu Xian’an held onto the armrest. He didn’t quite understand why no one had informed him of their departure, and also, did the prince not prepare another carriage? Why did he crowd into this one, and where did his servant go?

Liang Shu’s world did not exist in the Three Thousand Avenues of Second Young Master Liu, so he was confused for a moment. The two just sat opposite each other in the moving carriage, each of them silent. Liu Xian’an couldn’t help but think of his uncle and aunt who had seemed to be in perfect harmony during the family dinner on New Year’s Eve last year, but planned to split up after the family property was divided.

Liang Shu was in no hurry. There was still at least ten days’ journey from Baihe City to Fuhu Mountain, and he had plenty of time to leisurely relieve his boredom.

Just because the other party chatted in a teahouse, he took the person away by force. This kind of behavior could not be considered good, but His Royal Highness Xiao Wang  had been doing bad things since he was a child. Those white-bearded veterans in the court still talked about the past with solemn and sorrowful expressions, so this trivial matter did not rank near the top.

The carriage continued on, swaying, creaking, and dim.

In this hypnotic environment, Liu Xian’an’s eyelids began to sink again and his head also bobbed forward from time to time, his whole body swaying. Liang Shu glanced out the window and saw that the vehicle driving ahead had stopped at a tea shack by the side of the road, so he also got up and left the carriage.

Seeing this, the coachman pulled the reins: “Whoa —”

The horse’s hooves stopped on the spot, and the carriage still jumped forward a bit due to inertia. Liang Shu heard a “bang” from inside the carriage, as expected, and then the sound of someone gasping for breath.

“Yo, Young Master!” The coachman hurried in to help him up. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” Liu Xian’an’s forehead was very red, and he didn’t understand how he had fallen into such a sprawl. The coachman helped him out of the carriage and said, “Young Master, drink a cup of tea here and have a rest.”

Liang Shu had already stepped into the tea shack first, and when the servant boy saw the prince leaving, he ran over quickly and asked in astonishment: “Young Master,  what happened to your head?”

“I accidentally bumped it.” Liu Xian’an glanced around. He saw that there were only three carriages parked on the mountain road and that there were not many soldiers in the tea shack, so he asked, “There are only these people?”

“When we first set off from the city, there were quite a lot of them. Later, we divided them into different routes,” the boy servant said. “Lieutenant General Gao said that the prince doesn’t want to make too much noise, so he wants to travel discreetly.”

Liu Xian’an asked again: “You have been with Lieutenant General Gao all this way, what else did he say?”

“Nothing more,” the boy replied truthfully. “After he talked about traveling discreetly, Lieutenant General Gao asked me what my name was. I said A-Ning, and he asked which Ning. I just told him, nothing is created, nothing is destroyed, nothing is accomplished, this Ning,^[2] the young master personally chose it for me. And then Lieutenant General Gao didn’t speak again.”

Liu Xian’an patted his head: “If someone asks you again in the future, just say it’s the peaceful Ning. Let’s go and take a rest.”

The two picked clean chairs and sat down. Tea and food were already prepared on the table. Naturally, there would not be any good things on the mountainside. There was a big pot of rough tea and sesame seed cakes that were as hard as stones. When fighting in the Northwest, this kind of food was considered the staple food of the army, and Gao Lin had long become accustomed to it. But he felt that for a wealthy gongzi like Liu Xian’an, it would be impossible to swallow it, so he glanced at the next table in a good mood.

It was true that Liu Xian’an could not bite into it, but he didn’t toss it aside. Instead, he broke off a piece and dipped it in tea, chewing it slowly. The servant to the side also followed suit, eating in a polite manner. The master and servant simply sat in the shade under mottled sunlight, and finished the two big cakes.

Lieutenant General Gao was dumbfounded, and even had doubts about the food at Biahe Mountain Village. He thought it was possible that this group of people usually chewed dry medicinal herbs for their meals, so they could eat anything without objection.

Liang Shu also stared blankly. He had only brought these people out for a bit of fun, and now that the fun was gone, he began looking for trouble: “Did this prince ever say that he wanted to rest here?”

Gao Lin was very wronged. He had originally only arranged to drink tea and rest here. Who insisted on eating and asked the stall owner to make a bunch of overnight cakes? In the end, he saw that Second Young Master Liu was quite happy to eat them.

In order to prevent his prince from continuing to find fault and make even more trouble, Gao Lin took the initiative to change the subject: “Do you want to stay in Xiaomian Village tonight? I’ll send someone to make preparations in advance.”

“No need.” Liang Shu set the teacup on the table. “It is critical that we hurry, we can stay wherever.”

Gao Lin: “…….”

What did it mean to stay wherever? Aside from Xiaomian Village, this road was full of tall trees and deep forests. It was difficult to even find a flat open space. Eating hard cakes, sleeping in the woods, such methods of teasing were comparable to the four-year-old bear son of Old Zhao in the palace. After being beaten up by a girl, he held back for three days and then pulled her hair out. It could even be said that he yielded an astonishing profit.

Liang Shu glanced at him: “What are you thinking?”

Gao Lin shook his head: “I’m not, I’m not thinking about anything.”

After Liu Xian’an finished eating the sesame seed cakes, he was forcibly dragged out by his servant for a walk to digest the food. The two of them stood together and rubbed their stomachs in circles. Gao Lin had never seen this sort of authoritative health maintenance routine before, so he followed suit a few times, looking delighted. A-Ning didn’t hold back his snicker, and Liu Xian’an also smiled. When he did so, his appearance was remarkable. Gao Lin said in a low voice: “Huh, no wonder the princess insisted on marrying him.”

Liang Shu declined to comment on the matter. He strode out of the tea shack, mounted his horse, and said: “Let’s go!”

A-Ning helped Liu Xian’an into the carriage. He planned to get acquainted with Lieutenant General Gao in the future and see if he could request a pony for the young master to ride, so that he could move around and not always go to sleep after eating.

Just as he was thinking this to himself, he turned around to find that Liu Xian’an had found a napping position again.

For Second Young Master Liu, it didn’t make much difference whether the prince or A-Ning was sitting in the carriage, because nobody could delay his dreams of flying birds and swimming fish. He was soaring in the sky this time instead of in the void, entirely free and unchained.

He was very comfortable all the way until twilight fell.

The carriage stopped deep in the forest and four or five campfires were lit. The food was better than at noon. The guards went to hunt pheasants in the forest, which were roasted fragrant and oily in a short while, and there was also a large bag of sweet and sour wild fruits.

Gao Lin brought some food to A-Ning. Seeing that he was in high spirits, looking around nonstop, he asked: “What are you looking at?”

A-Ning replied: “The woods.”

Gao Lin learned his lesson from the heavenly scriptures in the afternoon. He didn’t continue to ask about the woods, but just gave a light nod to show politeness, so as not to bring shame on the palace.

Liu Xian’an was also gazing at the woods. This was his first time sleeping outdoors. The ancient trees were tall and dense, and the breeze was refreshing. The scenery was as open and lofty as a painting.

The sages used the beauty of heaven and earth to realize the truth of all things. Thinking about it, this situation should be the same.

He wrapped the blanket loosely around himself with a sigh, feeling very comfortable.

Gao Lin vaguely felt that his prince’s plan seemed to have failed again.

Because this young master didn’t seem to feel dissatisfied about sleeping in the forest. On the contrary, he looked very comfortable.

Who could reason with him?

Liang Shu said: “If you continue to shake your head there, I’ll twist it off.”

Gao Lin’s neck immediately stiffened. No shaking, no shaking.

Liang Shu closed his eyes again: “Someone is coming.”

Gao Lin stopped poking fun and took a long knife from a guard, turning to look at the other side. After a while, there were indeed rustling footsteps and intermittent groans one after another in miserable pain. In the setting of a wild forest deep at night, it was eerie, almost as if they were being haunted.

A-Ning quietly asked: “Young Master, by the sound of these voices, is someone injured?”

Liu Xian’an nodded: “Yes.”

A group of people emerged from the woods with a “crash.” They were dressed uniformly in black clothing, and should be from some escort bureau or martial arts sect. Four of them carried a wounded man on a stretcher, and one who looked like the leader stepped forward to salute Gao Lin in a respectful manner: “This brother, if it is convenient, let us stay here tonight. We really can’t find a good place elsewhere.”

“There is an open space nearby, help yourselves. Don’t disturb my master.” Seeing that there was still some wild game on the fire, Gao Lin asked the guards to give them some. The escort thanked him repeatedly and moved to the side to start a fire. He tore up the roast meat, and added bread and water to make a bowl of meat paste, then fed the wounded man a few mouthfuls.

A-Ning stretched out his neck to look: “He is seriously injured.”

His body was covered in blood, his pupils were out of focus, and the sound coming from his chest sounded like someone pulling the bellows. After the group of escorts finished eating, they dug out wound medicine from the luggage, uncorked the bottle, and tried to change his bandages.

A breeze blew past, and there was a faint, bittersweet scent in the air.

Liu Xian’an abruptly said: “That is poison.”

His voice was not loud, but it wasn’t low either.

There was a sudden silence all around. The escort also stopped his movements and looked his way in astonishment.

Liang Shu raised his eyebrows slightly: “Poison?”

---

[1] Zhuang Zhou is an ancient Taoist author. ⮐

[2] The character “Ning” (宁) means peaceful/at peace, so I suppose Liu Xian’an’s interpretation of peace is this nihilistic version? ⮐

---

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Chapter Two << Table of Contents >> Chapter Four

Zhao Yelan clarified the situation according to what Wang Guisheng had said.

When Magistrate Yin realized that Yan Mingting was having an affair with “Fu Qian,” he sent someone to Beijing to inquire about the man, so this matter spread to the capital.

But by coincidence, Fu Qian had gone out to play with two or three friends, so it couldn’t be verified for the time being.

The interrogation of Magistrate Yin after he was brought to the capital was a serious matter. No one came to ask him about this affair, and he thought that the court knew in advance about Zhao Yelan pretending to be Fu Qian, so he only confessed his own crimes.

In this way, the matter became a mystery, but the rumors had not stopped. After the rumor spread, everyone chewed on it and added vinegar for taste, and when it was spat back out, it no longer resembled the original version.

There were only doubts at first, but later on, everyone began to believe it.

“So, this matter……is it true?” Wang Guisheng asked cautiously.

After listening to this, Yan Mingting fed the medicine to Zhao Yelan’s mouth and said: “Quickly drink the medicine, and then return my innocence.”

“……” Zhao Yelan was forced to finish a large bowl, and felt that it tasted bitter. As soon as he frowned, Yan Mingting placed a small bag of candied fruit in his hand.

Zhao Yelan took the candied fruit and said: “It’s false, I am that Fu Qian.”

“I see. I thought it seemed strange, how could the General let go of you and see Fu Qian instead? Perhaps the rumors stopped after I left Beijing.” After Wang Guisheng received his answer, he grasped the key point and went to take care of things outside with a smile.

Yan Mingting watched him leave and pursed his lips: “Listen to this kid, he seems to like you a lot?”

“Which of your ears heard such a thing?” Zhao Yelan chewed on the candied fruit and reached out a hand to pinch his ear. “I think this ear is useless.”

“Aiyo, ouch, take it easy.” Yan Mingting yelled, and when he heard footsteps outside, he immediately gave him a meaningful look. “Please give me some face, Zhao-daren, please give me some face.”

Zhao Yelan released his grip and regarded Yin Pinglu and Zuo Ran with his usual expression when they walked in: “What is it?”

“My lord, Kuang Sheng rushed over. He said that it’s raining not only in Pi County, but also in several other counties,” Yin Pinglu said happily.

“That’s good.” Zhao Yelan breathed a sigh of relief and asked, “Where is Li Yucheng?”

Li Yucheng had not gone to Zhizhou with them, but had evacuated Huaizhou with the Cheng family and headed for Quzhou.

“A letter came from him just now, saying that he will wait for us in Wancheng.”

Wancheng was in the north of Pi County, and was also a necessary place to stop on the way to Beijing. If he rushed over from Quzhou, it would take a few days’ travel.

“Then we’ll rest here a few days before leaving,” Yan Mingting said. “It won’t be too late to leave after you recover.”

“All right.” Zhao Yelan still wanted to stay and watch the aftermath.

Fortunately, Wang Guisheng was not a man who kept to theory without finding practical solutions. It happened that Yan Mingting had brought many people with him, and with enough help, the city’s infrastructure was quickly restored. Letters were sent to other distant officials so that they could send their people back.

On the day of departure, half the city’s population had returned.

Seeing that Wang Guisheng was handling things steadily and practically, Zhao Yelan felt relieved. The two exchanged political opinions while walking outside the gate.

Yan Minging was a few meters behind with his hands crossed in front of his chest, staring at their backs expressionlessly.

Zuo Ran and Yin Pinglu stood behind him, one on the left and one on the right. Zuo Ran didn’t notice anything wrong at all, and said: “Zhao-daren and this Wang-daren seem to have a good relationship. But Zhao-daren is such a good person that everyone should like him.”

“People who appreciate each other will naturally gravitate toward one another.” After she spoke, Yin Pinglu saw that Yan Mingting’s expression was not quite right and amended, “But my lord and the General are different, they are a match made in heaven.”

Yan Mingting turned his head to give her an appreciative look: “Since you can speak, you should speak a little more.”

Yin Pinglu suppressed a smile and said: “One of you is military and the other is civil. You have mutual respect, and must be with each other till the end.”

Yan Mingting was very satisfied. His chin almost pointed up toward the sky, and he turned to look at Zuo Ran.

“It’s my turn?” Zuo Ran hesitated for a long time, and only said, “I wish you a happy marriage for a hundred years, and a baby boy soon.”

Yin Pinglu patted her, and she immediately changed her words, using all the idioms she knew: “I wish you a hundred years of harmony, harmony brings wealth, you will have great fortune in prosperity…..”

Yin Pinglu was unable to hold back, and laughed out loud.

Yan Mingting also raised his voice and laughed: “Good, the simplest language brings the most powerful blessing.”

Zhao Yelan and Wang Guisheng heard their laughter and looked back at them. Wang Guisheng asked curiously: “I never had time to ask, who are these two girls?”

“Subordinates of Yan Mingting,” Zhao Yelan said.

Although they had not been formally appointed, Yan Mingting made the decision to take the two of them back to the capital. Zuo Ran had thought about going to the border at first and joining Zhong Yuehong’s troop. Yin Pinglu could live in the town and find work, and it would not be a problem for the two of them to support themselves.

But Yan Mingting rejected her proposal. The first reason was that the world was peaceful now, and there were no more opportunities on the frontier. Even if she joined now, she could at most only obtain the position of a small soldier. Secondly, Yin Pinglu’s talents would be wasted. The livelihoods that could be found in the capital were much greater than those in the border towns.

After a final discussion, both of them agreed to go to Beijing. Zuo Ran would serve under Yan Mingting’s command, and Yin Pinglu would temporarily serve as Zhao Yelan’s accountant.

Zhao Yelan’s industries continued to grow, and he was about to open up a goods route in Jiangnan. He needed a clever, capable, and trustworthy person at his side, and Yin Pinglu was currently the most suitable candidate.

They would need a place to settle down and live, and residing in the General’s Mansion would only cause gossip, so Zhao Yelan rented a house in the north of the city to them for a low price, with rent only to be paid annually.

“One of them is Magistrate Yin’s daughter?” Wang Guisheng asked in a whisper.

“En.”

“Although she escaped punishment in the Magistrate’s case, won’t bringing her to Beijing at this time arouse suspicion?” Wang Guisheng asked.

“The more frank and open you are, the less people will doubt you. And what is there to be suspicious of? Will they suspect that I, Zhao Yelan, covet her beauty or riches? Is there anything that I lack?”

Wang Guisheng was speechless after being refuted, and smiled helplessly: “What my lord says is true, I was worrying too much.”

Zhao Yelan walked to the carriage, but was pulled aside by Wang Guisheng.

“Zhao-daren, I solemnly apologize to you for my recklessness and ignorance in the past.” Wang Guisheng cupped his hands and bowed to him earnestly. “I read the books of sages in vain and listened to rumors from the outside world, so I regarded you as a treacherous jackal. I used my brush as a weapon to make insinuations and write articles that insulted you. I truly feel ashamed.”

“Let this matter go, ba. I myself can’t even see who I am, and you outsiders are even more blind.” Zhao Yelan said, “You are not the only one who criticized me, but you are the only one whose abilities I admire. I hope you can accomplish something here and realize your ambition.”

“I will do my best not to let Zhao-daren down.”

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Yan Mingting watched from afar and felt that his eyes were about to go blind, so he turned to Zuo Ran and said: “You keep talking.”

Zuo Ran grimaced and continued to search for idioms and verses: “You and my lord are destined to be together forever and live to a ripe old age, always in peace, with many spacious houses, that, that…..”^[1]

“That shelter the underprivileged all over the world.” Yin Pinglu pressed her forehead as she interrupted her. “It looks like it’s time for you to catch up on your homework.”

Zuo Ran: Wu wu wu.

After bidding farewell to Wang Guisheng, Zhao Yelan boarded the carriage. Zuo Ran and Yin Pinlu sat in the front to drive, and Yan Mingting rode at the side as they set off toward the city gate.

After driving a certain distance, the carriage suddenly stopped. “What happened?” Zhao Yelan asked.

“Mengting, come out and have a look,” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan opened the curtain suspiciously and saw the people on both sides of the road who were gazing at his carriage.

“Respectfully sending off Zhao-daren and General Yan!”

“Zhao-daren, walk slowly and pay attention to safety on the road.”

“When will my lord and the General return to Huaizhou and our Pi County, ah?”

“All the soldiers are welcome to come to Pi County again, we will definitely prepare good wine and food to entertain you!”

“ — Happy journeys!”

Not many people had come back to the city, but they all came out to see them off at this time. The speed of the group slowed down a lot, and everyone followed them all the way to the city gate.

Yan Mingting told everyone to send them off from here, and after waving goodbye to them, he got into the carriage and put a jar of wine on the table, saying with a smile: “This is the Thousand-Home wine that everyone gave you.”

After Zhao Yelan watched the figures of those people drifting away, he looked back and asked in confusion: “Thousand-Home wine?”

“Yes, they didn’t have much left at home, so they thought of this method. Everyone scooped up a spoonful of wine from their home, gathered this jar of wine, and presented it to their most admired Zhao-daren,” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan stared at the novel earthen jar.

“Smell it, is it fragrant?” Yan Mingting opened the lid and handed it to him.

Zhao Yelan sniffed carefully for a moment: “Fragrant.”

“Do you want to have a taste?”

“No.” Zhao Yelan really didn’t want to get drunk and bring himself shame, so he put the wine away. “Since it’s such a good thing, it should be preserved.”

“Right, right, Zhao-daren is right.” Yan Mingting saw through him but didn’t reveal the truth.

The boundary of Pi County was between Huaizhou and Zhizhou. There was an official road going north here, and its next destination was Wancheng.

Three days later, the team arrived in Wangcheng at last. With a wave of Zhao Yelan’s hand, he directly booked the largest inn in the city so that the soldiers could stay comfortably for a few days. This group of people had experienced the most difficult part of the journey.

Zhao Yelan went back to his room to rest and change his clothes. Then he found Yin Pinglu and asked her what to eat and drink in Wancheng.

“There are several special snacks in Wancheng, shiba^[2] dumplings, linglong bean buns, glutinous rice cakes, and sweet bean cakes.”

“Is there anything special about these shiba dumplings?” Zhao Yelan asked curiously.

“Shiba dumplings, as the name suggests, are dumplings made with eighteen different ingredients.”

“Eighteen kinds?” Yan Mingting asked from the side. “I’ve only eaten dumplings with three kinds of ingredients, but none with eighteen kinds. Will so many ingredients not ruin the taste?”

“Thus, it is a test of the cook’s skill. It is necessary to chop carefully in order to preserve the freshness and taste of the ingredients,” Yin Pinglu said.

Yan Mingting couldn’t wait to sample it, so he looked at Zhao Yelan enthusiastically: “Shall we try it?”

“Let’s go.”

These few people set off immediately and asked around for the best place in the lower city to eat shiba dumplings, then walked toward the east side.

A group of people passed by them at this time, and the leader stopped abruptly, turned around, and chased after them with a fan: “Zhao-xiong! Zhao-xiong, Zhao Yelan, it’s me!”

They turned to see that it was Li Yucheng, then turned back around immediately and continued walking forward.

“I thought it would take a while for you guys to arrive, but I didn’t expect it to be so soon.” After speaking, Li Yucheng found that no one was paying attention to him, and continued to chatter non-stop. “Where are you going? Were you looking for me? Ei, it’s a coincidence that we could meet each other on the street, isn’t it heaven-sent fate?”

Still, no one paid attention to him. Li Yucheng stopped walking, and seeing them continuing forward quickly, he didn’t notice their intentions at all, so he could only send away his few followers and jog to catch up until they stopped in front of a shop.

Li Yucheng wiped away his sweat and asked: “What are you here to buy?”

“Ten servings of shiba dumplings,” Zhao Yelan said.

“Ten servings?” Li Yucheng counted the number of people present. Including Gao Tan and the girls, there were only six people in total. “Can you finish eating ten servings?”

“One for each of us.” Zhao Yelan pointed to Yan Mingting. “He’ll have five.”

Li Yucheng was dumbfounded, saying: “It’s a good thing you’re wealthy, ordinary people couldn’t afford him, ah.”

Zhao Yelan suppressed a smile, but Yan Mingting proudly hooked Zhao Yelan’s shoulder: “I have someone to spend money on me, are you jealous, ah?”

Li Yucheng wasn’t jealous at first, but after hearing what he said, hey, he was really jealous.

Who wouldn’t want a walking purse, ah! And such an unparalleled purse it was!

“Zhao-xiong, how about you and me join forces to become the richest men in the country!” Li Yucheng said.

“Are you tired of living, kid?” Yan Mingting rolled up his sleeves in preparation to beat someone up. Li Yucheng was so frightened that he turned around and fled, accidentally bumping into someone and sending them both to the ground.

“Who is walking with their eyes closed, ah? Do you know who I am?” Li Yucheng shouted with bared teeth.

“Fuck your grandma, which grandson is this?” The other party rubbed his bottom as he stood up.

The two stared at each other. When two enemies met, their eyes blazed with hatred.

“Hey! You Fu Qian, you came here to seek death, see if I don’t kill you!” Li Yucheng rushed forward at once.

“Bah, I really ran into a leper on the street, today I’ll fight with you to the death!”

In the blink of an eye, the two were scuffling on the street.

Zhao Yelan and the others looked over and couldn’t help but frown. Yan Mingting stepped forward to separate the two, holding them in each hand like weak chickens as he said: “What’s with this noise, don’t make fools of yourselves here, fight someplace where no one else is around.”

When Fu Qian looked up at him, it was as if he had been struck by lightning: “Yan, Yanyanyan Mingting?!”

“What?”

Fu Qian looked nearby, and when he saw Zhao Yelan, his legs almost went limp in fright.

As soon as Yan Mingting let go, Fu Qian collapsed on the ground, staring at Zhao Yelan in horror.

“What’s wrong with him?” Yan Mingting asked, walking to Zhao Yelan’s side.

Li Yucheng also came over. He remembered that in the capital, Fu Qian was as frightened as a quail upon seeing Zhao Yelan, not daring to make a sound, but it was not as serious as today.

“He seems to be very afraid of you, do you know why?” Li Yucheng asked.

Zhao Yelan waved his fan and raised his eyebrows: “He once accidentally saw me interrogating a prisoner.”

“Then you’re certainly very impressive.” Li Yucheng gave him a sincere thumbs-up. “His father is the Minister of Dali Temple, and he’s not even this scared of him.”

With a pale face, Fu Qian looked between Yan Mingting and Zhao Yelan, then stood up in embarrassment and stepped forward to say: “Zhao-daren, listen to my explanation!”

Everyone looked at him in incomprehension.

“I never had an affair with General Yan! I don’t know where the rumors came from!” Fu Qian said tremblingly, “I’ve been away from home, and I didn’t know there was such a rumor until I received a letter from my family a while ago!”

Before Zhao Yelan could speak, he continued: “You have to believe me, no matter how tall and mighty General Yan is, how incomparably handsome, dignified in appearance, valiant and formidable, radiant and striking……”

Zhao Yelan narrowed his eyes slightly.

Yin Pinglu reminded Zuo Ran from the side: “Remember, these are all idioms.”

Zuo Ran: “Okay, okay.”

Fu Qian praised Yan Mingting unceasingly, until his speech changed suddenly: “But I don’t like men!”

Zhao Yelan heard the shopkeeper announce that the dumplings were ready. Just as he turned around to take them, Fu Qian tugged on his arm and the dumplings fell to the ground.

He glanced down, then raised his head to look at Fu Qian.

“Zhao-daren, you really have to trust me! Someone must be framing me, coveting my good reputation! Using the name of the most beautiful man in the capital to bluff and deceive, maybe he deliberately seduced General Yan! You must catch this man and punish him!” Fu Qian said emotionally.

Zhao Yelan looked toward Yan Mingting: “Hit him.”

---

[1] This is from Du Fu’s poem, “Song of Thatched Houses Broken by the Autumn Wind.” ⮐

[2] Shiba (十八) means eighteen. ⮐

---

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Chapter Sixty-Six <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Sixty-Eight

Xia Xingchi was so frightened that he almost jumped three feet high. If it wasn’t for the force of gravity, he would have already leaped up.

It was like visiting a big white tiger and quietly smooching it while the fluffball was asleep, but suddenly the big cat pretending to be asleep grabbed him by the back of the neck in one bite.

Seeing Li Chengyuan slowly open his eyes, Xia Xingchi’s face became hot and he said awkwardly: “What nonsense are you talking about? What ‘do I not dare to kiss your lips again?’”

“En?”

Li Chengyuan turned his head slightly. His indifferent expression seemed to contain the subtext of “Then prove to me that you dare.”

Finding that the object of this sentence was ambiguous, Xia Xingchi hastily added: “When did I kiss you, in your dream?”

Li Chengyuan didn’t speak, just sizing him up critically.

Under the focus of such a gaze, Xia Xingchi’s mind, which had been at a standstill for two days, suddenly started to function.

It seemed to have been a real kiss – after the CPR was successful, I was so excited that I accidentally let myself go for a kiss.

…..And even more suffocating was that it seemed to have been in front of the camera and thousands of fans?

A slight smile flashed in Li Chengyuan’s eyes, but his face remained expressionless as he just looked at Xia Xingchi calmly.

Xia Xingchi felt more guilty and irritable when he saw this and said loudly: “It was artificial respiration! I, I’m your savior now, what is with your attitude?”

“En.” Li Chengyuan nodded expressionlessly.

Due to just waking up, his voice was lower and hoarser than usual, a little lazy and attractive: “Not a kiss, just artificial respiration. So for the grace of saving my life —”

Xia Xingchi subconsciously added the second half of the sentence, “I’ll devote my life to you.”

But staring at a certain person’s cold, pale face, he quickly shook his head. The big villain dared to allow him, but he didn’t dare to ask for it.

“Aiya, stop looking for trouble, talk about business. Are you in any pain now? Does your heart hurt? Do you have a stomach ache?”

As he spoke, he reached out to touch Li Chengyuan’s hand that contained an IV. It was cooler than usual, with almost no warmth at all.

These days, it was hard to take care of his big cat’s body, but now they had returned overnight to before the communist liberation.^[1] Just thinking about it made people gnash their teeth, wishing they could chop up that pair Xia Yu and Li Shengrui.

“There’s something wrong with that box of white sugar, have you reported it to the police?” Li Chengyuan asked abruptly.

The police had come last night to take his statement. Xia Xingchi nodded, and asked in disbelief after some thought: “How did you know?”

It was natural for he himself to make inferences with the original book script in his hand, and he’d had a full day since Li Chengyuan’s poisoning to think the whole thing over.

But this person had been in a coma, and now his physical condition was poor, but he was able to find the key to the problem right away.

As expected of a great villain, he was simply terrifyingly sharp.

Li Chengyuan suddenly asked back: “Then how did you know?”

It was that terrifying astuteness again. Xia Xingchi was taken aback by this question.

He remembered at once that from the perspective of the original owner, not only would he not be aware of the Li family’s complicated past, but he should not even know who Li Shengrui was.

No wonder Xia Yu was simultaneously terrified and surprised. He couldn’t figure out how his crimes were known, because “Xia Xingchi” really shouldn’t know so much.

Their plan had actually been practical enough.

If not for his knowledge and inferences about the original book, faced with Li Chengyuan’s sudden illness and unconsciousness, the original ignorant owner would have inevitably rushed to give him the medicine.

Ordinary people didn’t know how to perform CPR. After Li Chengyuan’s cardiac arrest, he should have died on the spot, and no one would have suspected that the heart attack was induced artificially by poisoning.

As Li Chengyuan’s only “family member” by blood, as long as an autopsy wasn’t requested and no objections were raised, Li Shengrui could have easily concealed everything.

“What, you’re allowed to be smart but I’m not?” Xia Xingchi bit the bullet and lied. “Xia Yu isn’t a good person at first glance, isn’t it easy to come to this conclusion?”

Hearing this, Li Chengyuan’s dark amber eyes, like deep pools in an ancient well, slowly moved as he turned his head like a ghost in a horror movie.

Xia Xingchi became timid at once, and quickly bluffed like a little hedgehog with thorns sticking up all over its body:

“Believe it or don’t believe it! You are questioning my intelligence!”

Li Chengyuan just stared at him quietly and expressionlessly, as if he was watching someone putting on a performance.

Xia Xingchi really couldn’t figure this big villain out. His heart became increasingly uncertain, and he couldn’t help but want to grab a pillow and smother him to death.

But before he could lay a finger on him, Li Chengyuan put on a show of coughing.

The lip color that had just recovered a little bit suddenly faded away, as if Xia Xingchi’s not-so-loud voice had disturbed his heart.

“Where does it hurt?” Frightened by the scene of his life hanging by a thread, Xia Xingchi didn’t dare to argue with him anymore. “Should I call the doctor?”

“No need. You take off your clothes and come warm my bed.”

Li Chengyuan sat up and took a sip of warm water, giving the order naturally.

“Ah?” Xia Xingchi tilted his head. “Why are you so confident that I’ll sleep with you in broad daylight? Sir, that will be an additional price.”

Just as he was about to remind him that his “accompany him to sleep for a month” service had expired, Li Chengyuan smiled faintly: 

“I seem to have heard someone say that if I survived, they would work for free for the rest of their life – was that another lie?”

Xia Xingchi: “…….”

Was it too late to assassinate the benefactor now?

He’d only had one breath left at that time, and it was simply too hateful to remember not only being kissed, but also what promises he had received.

But considering how weak Li Chengyuan’s body was now, entirely cold and not producing heat, he still forgave the vile, exploitative boss and took off his coat, getting into bed.

The beds in the VIP wards were much bigger, and two people could squeeze in together.

Xia Xingchi’s heart, which had been tense all night, relaxed at this moment, and he fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.

He drowsily felt that Li Chengyuan was holding him in his arms, but didn’t care. Instead, he took the initiative to put his ear against Li Chengyuan’s chest, feeling more at ease as he listened to the sound of his heart beating.

Li Chengyuan lowered his gaze, quietly observing the red and swollen eyes of the person in his arms due to tears, and the bruises under his eyes due to lack of sleep. It was obvious that Xia Xingchi didn’t realize how he looked.

In the end, Li Chengyuan finally touched the ends of his eyes lightly with the hand not connected to the IV. Distressed, but at the same time feeling a sweetness in his heart, he kissed him gently after the other fell asleep.

– – –

At the same time, Xia Yu also stayed up all night in a hotel without sleep, and was making an angry phone call with dark circles around his eyes.

“How did Xia Xingchi come to the conclusion that Li Chengyuan didn’t just have a heart attack?! He actually called the police, and now they’ve taken the box of sugar away!”

No one knew whether Li Chengyuan was dead or alive. After all, this was not the capital, and Xia Yu didn’t have time to find a suitable mole to spy on them, and didn’t dare to make any more suspicious moves.

He was nearly scared out of his wits when the police came last night and took his statement, but fortunately, he had experience in crying on the spot, so the police didn’t suspect much for the time being.

On the other side of the line, Li Shengrui was silent for a moment, and finally offered comfort: “Don’t worry, there will be no evidence to prove that you did it.”

Li Shengrui didn’t have him use a bottle to hold the powdered drugs, but a paper package. He sprinkled the drug into the box of sugar and tossed the paper package into a stream. Even an immortal god wouldn’t be able to find it in these twisting mountains and deep forests.

Li Shengrui analyzed:

“Your fingers never touched the box, so there will be no fingerprints.”

“No one had ever used that box of sugar before yesterday. It was prepared by the program crew and handled by countless individuals.”

“The most important thing is that you have no motive for doing this. His death is of no direct benefit to you, and the police don’t know about our relationship.”

Xia Yu quickly grasped another key point: “You want to dissociate yourself from me? Li Shengrui, you don’t want to marry me, do you?”

After he spoke, there was a long silence on the other end of the line.

Fear and sleepless exhaustion made Xia Yu irritable, and he shouted irately:

“Li Shengrui! I took such a fucking risk to do this and now you want to throw me away once you’ve used me?!”

“Have you forgotten that I still have recordings and other evidence in my hands? If I get caught, don’t even try to run!”

Li Shengrui immediately said: “No, A-Yu, don’t worry. Just wait until the heat dies down and nobody is suspicious about it anymore. I love only you, and will definitely get a certificate with you.”

He appeased him with sweet words for a long time before Xia Yu finally felt relieved, but asked in fear: “But the police are not easy to deal with. What if they find out…..”

“No, you have to believe that they won’t, or else your expression will give something away – before you’re under suspicion, get rid of all the evidence.”

“I’ve already thrown away the paper package the drugs were in.”

“No, also delete all the recordings and videos on your phone. These are all vulnerabilities.”

Xia Yu was taken aback for a moment, and then sneered: “Are you having ideas, ah? Once all our call recordings have been deleted, do you want me to take the blame alone?”

Li Shengrui naturally couldn’t admit that he’d had this idea, and said gently: “A-Yu, I will marry you no matter what. Those things will get you caught by the police, I’m only thinking about your wellbeing.”

Xia Yu, however, had already seen his true intentions. He jumped up and cursed him then and there, then directly hung up the phone.

If the track of the original book was followed, and no one noticed their vicious means of seeking wealth through murder, they would smoothly collect the inheritance and experience the original happy ending.

But now all that could be seen were vivid and comical scenes of self-destruction, and the lively act of dogs biting dogs.

– – –

In the VIP ward on the top floor of the hospital.

The nurse knocked on the door and came inside to deliver the medications. She also brought a little bear pillow and various snacks as gifts for Xia Xingchi.

This was a gift bag that everyone had purchased together. After all, the way he had sat there silently and shed tears yesterday had melted everyone’s hearts.

At the thought that he had to sit there and face his lover’s life-or-death situation alone, and seeing all the rumors and malicious insults on the internet, the nurses bought him gifts to try to cheer him up. At the same time, they spoke out in hopes that everyone could see the truth.

Unexpectedly, upon opening the door, the nurse found that Li Chenyuan had already woken up, and was lowering his head to put a ring on Xia Xingchi’s middle finger while he slept. It was an engagement ring.

After all, there was no one who didn’t know Xia Xingchi’s identity now, so he didn’t need to hang it close to his chest.

There was a faint smile in Li Chengyuan’s eyes. He was obviously very satisfied with this.

Seeing her come in, Li Chengyuan immediately raised a hand and made a gesture for silence, signaling her not to wake Xia Xingchi.

Xia Xingchi’s fingers were a little ticklish from being grabbed. He pulled his hand away and turned over, subconsciously burrowing into Li Chengyuan’s arms and rubbing his face against his body. Then he hummed in contentment and hugged his waist without letting go.

“Li, President Li,” the nurse whispered. “It’s time to take your medicine.”

This person was completely different when awake than he was in a coma. Although the coldness of his face could be seen when he was unconscious, when he woke up, his aura was so strong that it was frightening.

Clearly, this was the aura of a person of high rank who had been in power for a long time.

Except for the trace of warmth when he looked at Xia Xingchi and smiled just now, his face was expressionless and cold.

Li Chengyuan nodded to her to express his gratitude, but saw the person in his arms rubbing his eyes in a daze and murmuring drowsily:

“Hmm…..what time is it, has Auntie Li cooked yet? I want to eat ribs…..”

“Hungry?” Li Chengyuan lowered his gaze and stroked his hair.

“En, I want to eat braised pork,” Xia Xingchi said.

He stared at Li Chengyuan sleepily for a few seconds, wondering, “why do your pajamas look like a hospital gown?” Then he suddenly remembered where they were.

Before he could let go of a certain person, he saw the nurse holding the medicine in her hand and looking at them with a smile reminiscent of a “hee hee hee” emoji.

Xia Xingchi had just woken up, and saw such a weird and terrifying smile first thing. The costume was also very horror movie-esque. He couldn’t help but shiver and quickly hide under the blanket, almost thinking that they were being haunted.

Li Chengyuan was helpless: “Come out and eat when you’re hungry.”

Familiar cold fingers grasped the back of Xia Xingchi’s neck, and only then did he come back to his senses and peep his eyes out of the blanket.

The nurse also found that her smile was a little scary, so she quickly suppressed it, and couldn’t help but whisper eagerly: “I knew Yuanchi CP was real! Oh my god, it’s really sweet, hehehehe!”

It was the first time Xia Xingchi had seen a fan with his own eyes, and it happened to be a CP fan. Hearing this, he glanced at Li Chengyuan with a guilty conscience.

After all, the relationship between them was purely a monetary stand-in and bed-warming-tool relationship. A certain person himself had said that it was because of the cold that he hugged him.

He heard the nurse lady say indignantly: “It’s time for all those rubbish-spewing people on the internet to see clearly! I really want to follow through the network cable and beat them!”

These words reminded Xia Xingchi.

After the nurse left, he decided to take another look at how public opinion had fermented. In the end, it didn’t seem so scary to curl up in Li Chengyuan’s arms and look at his phone.

Opening Weibo to look through it, his eyes caught on his own name again. It seemed that the turmoil had not yet passed.

Unexpectedly, when he took a closer look, he found that the subject was still him, but the content of the entries had been turned upside down:

#Xia Xingchi CPR education#

#Xia Xingchi handsome and lovely, a cool sweet pea#

#The importance of mastering an over-the-shoulder technique#

#Yuanchi CP: This is love#

. . . . . . 

Fans and passers-by who had been working hard to speak out and tell the truth suddenly found that they could speak unimpeded at last. The mighty black marketing and rabble-rousing trolls had all been banned and dealt with. Slander lawsuits were inevitable.

[I am one of the doctors involved in the rescue, and I would like to popularize the science on “why not take the medicine” that everyone is suspicious of. Nitroglycerin is not a panacea for all heart conditions. Mr. Li must not take the medicine when he has severe arrhythmia and hypotension, or it would certainly accelerate the deterioration of his condition]

[I knew it! I knew our Xingchi baby would never harm Mr. Li! Otherwise, what else was he doing CPR for?]

[Wu wu I’m touched. Although justice took its time, it did come. Xingchi suffered]

[OK, I apologize. I just watched the clips and not the full video before following suit and cursing people]

[Even if he made a mistake, who told Xia Xingchi not to explain himself, ah?]

[Upstairs, are you okay? Mr. Li was being saved at that time, how the hell do you think Xingchi would be in the mood to explain?]

[I’m really going to cry, when Xingchi was the most helpless, someone maliciously set off such a huge storm online. I’m so sad]

[This was definitely fucking done maliciously by someone. The truth was in front of our eyes, but we weren’t allowed to do anything. Were our mouths covered to bring the wrong rhythm?]

[@Xia Yu, was it cool to be shoulder-tossed? Don’t you have anything to explain about hindering the rescue time?]

Xia Xingchi’s violent beating of Xia Yu in front of the camera vividly demonstrated what it meant to be fast, ruthless, and precise. The whole action was done in one go, especially the professional, stylish, and capable over-the-shoulder throw at the end, which was simply shocking.

When the before and after sections of the video were released, it was not at all like what Xia Yu’s fans were shouting, that “Xia Xingchi deliberately refused to give Mr. Li medicine, and Xia Yu wanted to stop him in the name of justice but was beaten by him.”

In the video, Xiao Yu deliberately stalled for time when they were racing against death every second, and unreasonably accused Xia Xingchi of wanting to commit murder.

[What’s this about a deliberate delay? Xia Yu is just too kind, ah, he didn’t understand how the medicine worked and thought Xia Xingchi was trying to kill someone]

[Is it a coincidence that he just happened to mistake Li Chengyuan for his fiance? He got addicted to the fame and deceived himself?]

[Thank you for the laugh. Claiming to be Mr. Li’s family member, trying to prevent the real family member from boarding the helicopter, @Xia Yu, what the hell were you doing?]

[I have never seen such a fast and awesome face slap in my life. He was severely “face-slapped” within 20 seconds of finishing his sentence]

[Feigning ignorance in front of others, is he mentally ill?]

[He’s stupid and poisonous, and his behavior is thoughtless and vulgar. What I’m more concerned about is his motive. Did he want Mr. Li to die?]

[I know, I know. If he can’t get it, then he’ll destroy it. It’s just like a few days ago when his fans insisted that Mr. Li was a scumbag]

[So the Yuanchi couple originally came to show their affection, but someone stepped in? God, the sugar these days has been stained with shit by this dead green tea. Damn, I wish Xia Yu would stay 200 yards away]

When Xia Xingchi appeared in front of everyone and his fiance’s identity was exposed, the thing that Xia Yu feared and hated the most really happened.

What he was most proud of was his status as a rich second generation, which had always been something his fans bragged about. And at this time, a group of microscope-wielding netizens comparable to Sherlock Holmes promptly put forward questions:

[I have a question……Xia Yu said “our two families have a marriage contract,” and the invitation is also from the “Xia family,” so could it be Xia Xingchi?]

[Fuck! Thinking about it carefully, could these two be from the same family?]

[Possibly, this surname is quite rare. So could it be a coincidence that they have the same surname?]

[Impossible! Our Xia Yu is the young master of a wealthy family. Even if he doesn’t work in the entertainment industry, he can go back and inherit the family property. Who doesn’t know that your idol came out of a mountain valley?]

[Although, Xia Xingchi is Mr. Li’s lover. He seems to have dozens of times more property than Xia Yu? What are you showing off?]

[So it seems Xia Xingchi is a young master from a wealthy family. Damn. Get on this, detectives, I smell melons!]

---

[1] Back to before the communist liberation = a loss of progress, back to when life was harder. ⮐

---

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Chapter Thirty-Four << Table of Contents >> Chapter Thirty-Six

As night fell, the entirety of Baihe Mountain Village was enveloped in drizzle, and a string of lamp lights reflected in the wet bluestone alleys with the unique tranquility of Jiangnan.

Liang Shu sat at the table and closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the rain outside the window. The food on the table went untouched.

Seeing that it had almost gone cold, the Lieutenant General at the side had no choice but to clear his throat: “Prince —”

“Take it away.”

Lieutenant General: “…….”

His name was Gao Lin, and he had been in the Northwest Military Camp since he was a child. He had fought on the battlefield since the age of ten, and had several brushes with death. Now that he had gained merit and status, he hadn’t seen much of the world and had never been out of Yacheng, so Liang Shu specially asked him to return to the bustling Imperial city with him this time. His intentions were good from the start, but who would have thought that a marriage task would pop up halfway?

After a while, Liang Shu opened his eyes and asked him: “How long are you going to stare at me?”

Gao Lin’s gaze continued to fall on Liang Shu’s face. He was also very puzzled, ah. Regardless  of status and military merits, even with this face alone, how could it be that she would rather commit suicide than marry? He was full of words he couldn’t speak. That Liu family’s young miss had no vision. If you don’t want to marry, then don’t marry. Why did she have to go to the teahouse to cry and complain? Now look, the prince couldn’t even eat and drink.

Thinking of this, he deliberately lowered his voice, showing care and concern: “Anyway, if I were a girl, I would certainly not refuse to marry the prince.”

Liang Shu’s eye twitched imperceptibly. He raised his head, and Gao Lin was also very cooperative, hurrying to take up an affectionate and emotional posture. The candlelight danced around the two figures. Liang Shu looked at him for a moment and felt a headache coming on: “You stay away from me in the future.”

Gao Lin hehe’d dryly: “Then the prince should take a couple bites. This osmanthus duck isn’t bad. I’ll leave directly after eating.”

Liang Shu glanced at the greasy duck on the table, but still had no appetite. At this moment, someone outside the door sent in a letter signed with a crescent moon. Cheng Suyue.

She was Gao Lin’s adoptive sister, and had been in the military camp since birth. When she was a child, she paid no attention to beauty or ugliness and was a wild girl who rolled in the mud. She could ride a horse in wartime, manage accounts when idle, cook and doctor, but she didn’t read enough books and had little scholarly ability.

Gao Lin shook out the letter in bewilderment: “Not rushing to Baihe Mountain Village, what kind of letter do you write like a scholar…..Oh! Kidnapped?”

Cheng Suyue wrote this letter as if she were a weak lady, crying that she had been kidnapped by a group of bandits while passing Fuhu Mountain. After receiving the letter, Elder Brother and Third Young Master should hurry up and bring the gold to redeem her in person without delay.

Gao Lin couldn’t figure it out. If this group of people could kidnap A-Yue, they must be very skilled, so what kind of bandits were they? And the stronghold was actually built on Fuhu Mountain, which had eighteen dangerous peaks in a row, surrounded by greenery and towering ancient trees, with apes swinging from thick vines like ghosts and shadows all day long. When it rained, even the stones were damp and musty. Who could live there and eat their fill?

Liang Shu said: “That group of people are not her opponents.”

“Huh?” Gao Lin paused and read the letter again, pondering how it felt. If she really had been kidnapped, she would only be able to redeem herself with gold, so why would she mention that the “Third Young Master” should go together with him?

As such, there was a problem. According to Cheng Suyue’s past style, unless there was a major event involving the collapse of the world, she would never make trouble in front of Liang Shu. But what would be considered a major event in Miss Cheng’s eyes? The Wolf Clan’s sneak attack on Chunfeng City didn’t count, the famine in Yumen didn’t count, and the flooding of the Bailong River didn’t count. On account of these troubles, she could figure out a solution by herself, so there was no need to worry the prince.

What secrets were hidden in the Fuhu Mountains that were more important than foreigners, famines, and floods? Thinking of this, it was inevitable that Gao Lin would be curious, so he tentatively asked: “When is the prince planning to leave?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Gao Lin paused for a moment. “But Baihe Mountain Village……the emperor has given a command. This time, even if knives rain down from the sky, the prince’s marriage cannot be delayed.”

“You go now and tell Master Liu that when this prince finishes dealing with the troubles at hand, he will visit another day.” Liang Shu spoke again, “Also, what is the origin of that person in the teahouse today?”

“Liu Xian’an, Miss Liu’s older brother.” Gao Lin said, “His reputation is not small. He has become the laughingstock of the whole nation, that is, he would rather commit suicide by jumping into a lake than copy an extra page of a book. If you calculate in detail, the prince was also pitted by him after coming to Baihe Mountain Village.”

This was true, but it must be that Liu Xian’an fell in love with the princess first, and then the subsequent mess happened.

Liang Shu nodded: “Take him.”

“Take him? What are you taking him for?” Gao Lin was puzzled. Although he also felt that Liu Xian’an was odd, his behavior was bizarre, and his outlook was not good, he was Liu Fushu’s own son after all. So he also took an indirect approach and reminded his prince that if there was no legitimate reason, he feared that it would be difficult to ask for the young master of Baihe Mountain Village. Let alone because of a grudge, just casually grabbing hold of others and maneuvering them to your side to knead them flat and round, how about we forget about it?

“Just say that this prince wants to know more about Miss Liu.” Liang Shu waved his hand. “All right, go and return quickly.”

Gao Lin: “…….”

Although this excuse sounded barely reasonable, Gao Lin knew in his heart that according to the prince’s considerations, this action had nothing to do with “wanting to know more about Miss Liu,” but a lot to do with Liu Xian’an’s sentence, “I would rather jump into a lake.” Gao Lin understood how much the emperor valued the Liu family, so he didn’t want to make too much fuss, but the prince could not be persuaded. So in the end, he could only go to Baihe Mountain Village with a long sigh, thinking that if Doctor Liu sincerely loved his son and was reluctant to part with him, as long as he put a stop to it, there was still room for change in this matter.

He never imagined that as a result, after Liu Fushu heard the whole story, he simply agreed and ordered someone to pick up the Second Young Master from the waterside pavilion. Seeing that he was going to pack this person up and send him to the inn immediately, Gao Lin hurriedly stood up to dissuade him, there’s no need to hurry, we will leave tomorrow morning, tomorrow morning.

“Then it is settled.” Liu Fushu held Gao Lin’s hand with an earnest gaze. “He will leave tomorrow morning, ah.”

The knot of Gao Lin’s throat rolled: “Ai.”

Everyone in the Liu family was like this. The one who should marry the prince was unwilling, and the son who should be kept was sent away. Every move in the chess game was completely outside of Lieutenant General Gao’s predictions. Was this the difference between jianghu people and military people?

In the back house, Liu Nanyuan also heard about this incident and immediately ran to her er-ge’s courtyard to discuss how to use this opportunity to thwart the marriage.

“It’s not difficult.” Liu Xian’an opened his fan and waved it at his sweaty younger sister. “Whatever kind of person he likes, I will tell him you are the opposite. Apart from appearance, what part of your temperament cannot be changed?”

Liu Nanyuan thought this was a good method.

Liu Xian’an asked another question: “Let’s hear it, you don’t want to marry the prince, but what kind of person do you like?”

Liu Nanyuan replied without taking the time to think: “I like gentle looks, smiling lips, a body that is tall and thin, fair skin, less strength, prone to stomach pains, coughing when the wind blows – what are you smiling at!”

“Not smiling, not smiling.” With eyes like a spring breeze, Liu Xian’an tapped her head with the handle of his fan. “Don’t worry, ba, I will definitely ensure that you marry a good man.”

“It’s a deal, ah!”

Liu Nanyuan gave him a ceremonial hand clap, and thus entrusted her future to this second brother who was well-known throughout the country for his ignorance.

After Liu Nanyuan left, Liu Xian’an sat up from his beloved soft couch and sent a servant to pack his luggage. Regarding the matter of going to Fuhu Mountain, he didn’t have any resistance. He didn’t feel like going out before because there was no need to go out, but now that he had a legitimate reason, it didn’t matter if he went.

In comparison, Madam Liu’s reaction was much greater. On the one hand, she was like her husband, hoping that her son could go out for a walk instead of lying down all day long. But on the other hand, she felt that Fuhu Mountain was a precipitous and difficult place. Even if there were soldiers and horses from the Imperial court escorting him all the way, she would be worried all the while. So she arranged a team overnight and ordered them to take good care of the Second Young Master.

Liu Xian’an said: “Mother, don’t worry, I know what to do.”

Madam Liu sighed and pulled him to sit in a pavilion: “You should not only help A-Yuan, but also take care of the royal face. Don’t go too far. I heard from your father that His Royal Highness is not easy to get along with, so you must be careful along the way and not clash with him.”

Liu Xian’an responded time after time, and after sending his mother back to her chambers, he went to go listen to a few words of instruction from his father. Then he yawned and returned to his waterside courtyard, washed up, and fell asleep.

The rest of the people in Baihe Mountain Village did not sleep. The small carts creaked and groaned for most of the night, transporting all kinds of goods needed for travel. Although in the heart of Second Young Master Liu, the ultimate dao should not be to eat food, but to take the wind and dew as sustenance and sit on the back of the sun and moon, free and unfettered, he had not yet reached such a state of immortality and could not go without food.

In fact, it was not just Baihe Mountain Village. Liu Xian’an traveling far away was a rare thing for the people of the city, so everyone stood on both sides of the street early in the morning to watch the excitement. Some people inexplicably applauded, and the racket spread to the inn. Liang Shu frowned slightly: “What is going on?”

Gao Lin said truthfully: “Answering the prince, nothing is wrong. Second Young Master Liu is at the door of the inn. Shall we invite him in first?”

Liang Shu leisurely got out of bed and put on his clothes: “No need.”

Gao Lin choked. Why was there no need, it would make them look very rude to target a certain person before they left.

When Liang Shu passed by the window, he took a casual glance and saw at least seventeen or eighteen carriages parked on the long street. Together with the guards and servants, they turned three or four corners.

“…….”

Gao Lin explained from the side: “I heard that Second Young Master Liu has always been well-clothed and well-fed. This time, since he is traveling far away and doesn’t know that we are going to a bandit’s den, it is normal to bring more followers.”

Liang Shu was displeased: “Send them away.”

Gao Lin took the order and went downstairs to find the steward of Baihe Mountain Village. He mentioned nothing about the bandits, but said that the prince did not want to disturb the common people along the way, so he had ordered everything to be discreet and not ostentatious.

The steward looked puzzled and didn’t know what answer to give, but a sentence came from the carriage next to him: “It doesn’t matter. Uncle Zhong, you can take these people back first, just leave A-Ning behind.”

Gao Lin mollified: “Don’t worry, Young Master Liu, with the prince here, there will be no trouble along the way.” Because the prince himself is the biggest trouble.

He swallowed the second half of the sentence out of conscience, coaxing and deceiving, and finally sent the team from Baihe Mountain Village back, leaving only Liu Xian’an’s carriage parked in front of the inn.

And Liang Shu had not come downstairs yet.

Gao Lin thought to himself, what could be taking so long? So he went to the second floor and found that his prince hadn’t finished changing his clothes yet.

Liang Shu stood in the middle of the bedroom with his arms wide and his neckline half open. A group of servants were bustling around him. The brocade fabric on his body was full of flowing light and color, the neckline embroidered with color and the buttons inlaid with white jade. It could be seen that he had actually dressed according to the ostentation of meeting a future wife.

Gao Lin had no idea why this grand ceremony had come about: “Prince, we aren’t going to Baihe Mountain Village, right?”

“We’re not going. I’m wearing it for the people outside the door to see.” Liang Shu raised his chin leisurely. “Although he cannot go to Baihe Mountain Village, this prince still yearns for it, so he expresses his affection with clothing as a consolation.”

Gao Lin: “…….”

The group of people outside the door belonged to Liang Yu. Ordinarily, emperors placed spies around powerful officials and did everything they could to keep it secret, but Liang Yu was just the opposite. He used this group of bright, strong men to continuously warn his brother, “If you have the audacity to disobey and make trouble, I will break your dog legs when you come back.” It was quite straightforward.

Liang Shu tidied up his clothes, drank another cup of tea, and then leisurely went downstairs with his hands behind his back.

There were still some people on either side of the street who had not dispersed. Because there was nothing to do anyway, it was better to bask in the sun here. There were also a few cute, bold girls. They originally wanted to wait and see Second Young Master Liu come out of the carriage, but never thought that Second Young Master Liu wouldn’t come out, but the Third Prince did.

Naturally, they couldn’t just stare at the prince unscrupulously. One girl hurriedly bowed her head to salute. Her face was flushed, her heart beating fast, and her mind was full of the scene of Liang Shu descending the steps just now. Against the light, she couldn’t see his face clearly. She only had time to take a quick glance at the decorations on his cuffs, spreading splendidly like a thousand flowers blooming, extravagant and intimidating.

After making Liu Xian’an wait at the door of the inn for an hour, Liang Shu felt a little better. He walked to the carriage and opened the curtain casually: “You —”

His words stopped abruptly, because Liu Xian’an was not waiting, but was soundly asleep, leaning comfortably on a pillow with his right hand supporting his head. There was even a slight smile at the corners of his lips, as if he was having a good dream, and it seemed as if waiting three or four hours more would not be impossible.

Liang Shu lowered the curtain and knocked heavily on the door with the hilt of his sword.

Bang!

Everyone around was startled, and Liu Xian’an in the carriage was naturally also startled. His heart beat wildly, and he sat up straight with a trace of bewilderment in his eyes. Because of the heavy curtains, only a few rays of light could penetrate through. Fine dust drifted faintly in the carriage, and the surroundings were completely silent.

Based on this, he judged that the people in the inn were not ready yet, otherwise it would be impossible for the soldiers and horses to be so quiet.

Maybe it was just a trivial dream, ba.

Second Young Master Liu changed his position, closed his eyes, and continued to sleep.

Those outside the sleeping person’s carriage were shocked.

Had he not woken up, or did he just refuse to come out after waking up?

Seeing this breach of etiquette, Liu Xian’an’s servant was also anxious. He wanted to go up and call his young master, but the prince was still standing in front of the carriage, so he could only desperately look at Lieutenant General Gao with pleading eyes.

Gao Lin lowered his voice and asked: “Your family’s young master, what is his plan?”

“There is no plan,” the boy quickly said. “My family’s young master just loves to sleep. He won’t move even if thunder strikes. You have to shake him hard to wake him up.”

Gao Lin was still trying to think of ways to smooth things over, but Liang Shu on the other side had already taken a big stride forward, bending down to get into the carriage.

The whole situation immediately became stranger.

The little servant said in a daze: “Why did the prince go in? Then I…..can I still serve the young master?”

Gao Lin’s head ached fiercely. He ordered someone to arrange for the boy to be placed elsewhere first, while he rode his horse to stand guard beside Liu Xian’an’s carriage. “Cough cough cough.” He cleared his throat for a while like an old smoker, in order to remind his prince not to take everything too far.

At the same time, he had to explain to the emperor’s people that the prince couldn’t wait to talk to Young Master Liu because he was so anxious to get married, ah. Come, everyone, leave immediately, don’t delay.

The convoy drove out of Baihe City just like that.

Because the prince was having a conversation, everyone tried to keep quiet and not make any extra noise.

Liu Xian’an slept safe and sound.

His unconstrained mind wandered in the vastness of the wilderness.

And he had no idea that there was an extra person in the carriage.

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Chapter One << Table of Contents >> Chapter Three