Chapter 812 Who Shoved That Bride into My Bed? (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)

After experiencing that heavenly lightning, the white sturgeon seemed to have undergone a metamorphosis, its skin and flesh regenerating to cover its blood-bronze body.

The newly formed snow-white scales emitted a faint, shimmering white light in the darkness.

The pale white light stood out starkly against the darkness of the room, like a solitary lamp in a dark chamber, casting the young woman's figure behind the bed curtains directly onto the wall inside the bed.

Perhaps mistaking its master's gaze for encouragement, the white sturgeon simply wagged its tail, turned around, and frolicked in the air in front of the bed, circling around and refusing to move...

From the perspective of the desk in the outer room, one can clearly see the young woman kneeling on the bed, wearing a rather thin nightgown.

She was petite and huddled in the corner.

In the dead of night, a lone man and a lone woman in bed—anyone with a brain knows what that means.

Qin Ying glanced at the silhouette of the young woman on the bed, then at Ouyang Rong's expression beside her, her brows furrowed and her words carrying a strange undertone:

"Ouyang Lianghan, are you... keeping a mistress in a gilded cage?"

Ouyang Rong kept his head tilted to the side, his mouth slightly open as he looked at the happy white sturgeon, as if he hadn't heard Qin Ying speak.

Qin Ying looked at him with a complicated and indescribable expression.

Behind the curtain, Rongzhen's face burned with shame.

At this moment, her almond-shaped eyes widened, her gaze almost murderous as she stared at the silly, swaying fish outside.

Like Ouyang Rong, I wish I could barbecue it tonight.

Rongzhen had never experienced such a humiliating scene.

Even when Yi Qianqiu called her "young couple" at Xunyang Grottoes that day, which revealed the truth, she quickly adjusted and resumed her angry expression.

However, right now, she, who is as aloof and proud as she is, is cornered on a man's bed by a silly fish and Qin Ying.

How else can you explain her running into a man's room in the middle of the night and getting into his bed? You can't just say she got lost... Or that she woke up and found herself here, then slapped Ouyang Lianghan and denounced him as a hypocrite and a lecherous scoundrel?

This time, there's no way to clear my name even if I jump into the Yellow River.

After thinking about it carefully, Rong Zhen realized that even if Qin Ying had found her in Ouyang Lianghan's room when she arrived, it didn't seem like a shameful thing. At most, she would just have to explain a few things, and it would be a little awkward.

After all, Qin Ying also came to Ouyang Lianghan's room in the middle of the night, didn't she? They're both unmarried young women, so why can't she?

Rongzhen subconsciously wanted to maintain the image of a dignified and noble female official. In addition, she had another thought that she did not admit to herself, which was to hear what Qin Ying wanted to do when she came to see Ouyang Lianghan in the middle of the night. This stemmed from a kind of deep-seated, faint hostility between them as women.

Just now, when Rong Zhen was hiding behind the bed in the inner room, she heard Qin Ying correct Ouyang Lianghan's form of address and tell him to just call her by her name. A cold smile appeared on Rong Zhen's stern face...

Regardless, she had only wanted to find a place inside the house to hide temporarily.

Whether it's a bed or not doesn't matter; it's just an unconscious act of hiding inside. Perhaps there's a subconscious desire to explore where men sleep, so this is the place I chose. But it's definitely not subjective; it's just... incidental.

However, now, trapped here by a woman and a fish in complete silence, Rong Zhen suddenly realized the seriousness of the matter.

The etiquette and rules she received from childhood made her acutely aware that this was what the mainstream of the era considered lewd.

On the bed, Rongzhen was burning hot, stiff and speechless, almost dead.

To make matters worse, through the curtains, she saw Qin Ying standing by the desk, seemingly waiting for Ouyang Rong. Seeing that he remained silent, she quickly approached and walked towards the bed, saying as she went:

"You've been eavesdropping for so long, why aren't you saying anything..."

Just then, a "thump" sound came from behind.

Qin Ying stopped and turned around curiously, only to see Ouyang Rong suddenly throw a small bundle on the table, then slam it down on the table with a "bang," causing the fish soup bowl on the table to tremble.

His face was displeased, and he shouted angrily:

"This magistrate is getting more and more outrageous. He keeps stuffing everything into my office. First it was fish soup, then lavish gifts, and now he's even hiding something... What kind of behavior is this!"

Qin Ying: ...

Rong Zhen:......

The air inside the room was silent for a moment.

Qin Ying glanced at Ouyang Rong's somewhat angry face, then turned back to look at the silhouette of the young woman by the bed.

Rongzhen couldn't describe her feelings at this moment. She didn't know what she was thinking. As if possessed, she reached out and picked up a wooden pipa from beside her pillow. It seemed to be the one the old musician had given to Ouyang Rong... She hugged the pipa to her chest and reluctantly buried her head.

This scene, seen through the curtains, evoked in Qin Ying's eyes a sense of a pitiful young woman, half-hidden behind a pipa, her petite and charming figure making her truly endearing.

Qin Ying shifted her gaze slightly and asked:

"So...you don't know Ouyang Lianghan either?"

Ouyang Rong did not answer, but only sighed.

Before anyone knew it, his palm had already blindly drawn a Kui Xing talisman and tossed it out the window.

The white sturgeon, which had been lingering by the bed in the inner room, was like a cat seeing a fish. It turned its head and trotted past Ouyang Rong, then swam out the window to look for the talisman.

The shimmering white light disappeared, and naturally, the silhouette of the "poor, self-sacrificing young woman" on the bed in the inner room could no longer be seen.

"Let's go out first. Perfect timing. Let's go to the county government office and see what Magistrate Diao's plans are."

Ouyang Rong gave his advice with a serious expression.

Qin Ying hesitated for a moment, then turned her gaze away from the bed in the inner room and nodded.

"Okay, let's go."

On the bed in the inner room, Rongzhen, who had been holding her breath, suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

Ouyang Rong turned off the lights and went out.

However, when Qin Ying walked into the courtyard, she turned around and saw that before leaving, the young man in the scholar's robe took off his scholar's robe jacket and placed it on the table outside the curtain of the inner room before turning around and continuing to leave.

Qin Ying pursed her lips, a hint of emotion in her eyes.

The lights inside were turned off, and the two left one after the other.

On the bed, Rongzhen listened intently, hearing the two figures walk away and some fragments of conversation drift over:

“Ouyang Lianghan, you are so considerate. Everyone knows you are not interested in women, yet your subordinates acted so recklessly, and you are still magnanimous. You even treated that young lady with care, afraid of hurting her self-esteem... I think that the young lady in bed probably came willingly after learning it was you. She must admire you quite a bit. Why don't you go back and tell her not to break her heart, and gently persuade her not to have any unrealistic hopes…”

Qin Ying made a suggestion.

Ouyang Rong walked on, hands behind his back, saying nothing...

Inside the room, Rongzhen's small face froze for a moment, then she suddenly lifted the curtain, dropped the pipa, and ran out barefoot.

When he reached the door, Ouyang Rong and Qin Ying were already far away.

The courtyard was empty.

Only a disheveled young woman with a cold face remained by the door.

...

The next morning, dew still clung to the branches.

Penglangdu.

An official ship bound for Raozhou has temporarily docked.

The group split into two fleets.

Ouyang Rong, Rong Zhen, and Qin Ying led fifty lightly armed soldiers into battle.

Qin Yanqing led the remaining armored soldiers behind, and because there were more of them, their pace was slightly slower.

Qin Ying and Qin Yanqing are boarding the ship under the command of their subordinates.

A beautiful young woman in palace attire passed by the two of them.

"Ms. Officer..."

Qin Ying paused, noticing that Lady Rongzhen's expression was rather unpleasant. She coldly walked past her without saying a word.

Ouyang Rong was examining the waterway map on the deck.

Rongzhen walked to his side.

Standing side by side.

The lady-in-waiting gathered her sleeves, stared straight ahead, and said nothing.

Ouyang Rong didn't turn his head; he kept his head down, browsing the map.

Rongzhen was the first to make a move.

She slowly turned her head and looked at him.

The air grew quiet.

Fortunately, footsteps came from behind, breaking the silence.

It was the sound of Qin Ying and Magistrate Diao's footsteps.

Magistrate Diao must have just arrived and rushed over to see the person off.

Qin Ying's voice carried a hint of dissatisfaction:

"Magistrate Diao, did you prepare everything in Governor Ouyang's courtyard?"

"Yes, that's right."

Magistrate Diao, with dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn't slept all night, nodded hurriedly.

Qin Ying frowned:

"Watch your step. We're racing against time. If you keep playing those flattering tricks, you'll be wasting even a second of Governor Ouyang's time."

Magistrate Diao was taken aback for a moment, then his mind cleared, and he looked at Ouyang Rong with concern:

"Minister, the fish soup I prepared and sent over, did you get an upset stomach?"

Just as Ouyang Rong was about to speak, a voice interrupted from the side:

"The soup is very well made. I have tasted it as well. You are very thoughtful."

Rong Zhen's cold expression had softened somewhat at some point. Ouyang Rong and Qin Ying noticed that her pretty face remained calm as she raised her head and asked:

"By the way, what's your name again? Please repeat it. I'm sorry, I can't quite remember."

Magistrate Diao's face lit up with joy, and his fatigue vanished instantly.

"It's alright, it's alright. Your Excellency, you must have a bad memory. My surname is Diao, and my given name is..."

Magistrate Diao quickly gave his name, and Rong Zhen nodded slightly, as if he had remembered it.

Qin Ying frowned slightly, as if about to speak:

"It's not just the soup, Your Excellency, you don't know..."

"alright."

Ouyang Rong waved his hand, interrupting Qin Ying, and said to Rong Zhen, who was giving a cold snort and glancing sideways, and to the magistrate Diao, who was not looking at him:

"It's time, the ship is about to leave, we can't afford to be late."

He patted Magistrate Diao on the shoulder and left behind eight words:

"You have done your best; keep up the good work."

Magistrate Diao breathed a sigh of relief, then beamed with joy and disembarked.

As the river waves lapped against the shore, the official boat slowly set off.

Magistrate Diao, along with his subordinates including the county constable and assistant county magistrate, waved goodbye vigorously from the shore.

Qin Ying could no longer contain herself. She leaned on her sword, stepped forward, and shouted to Magistrate Diao on the shore:

"If the young woman you're hiding on the couch is from a respectable family, then appease her properly. If she's become interested because of your empty promises, then make her give up completely. Don't let her gossip outside and ruin Governor Ouyang's reputation. I can testify that nothing will happen!"

The words echoed along the shore.

Magistrate Diao paused, then subconsciously looked around:

"Little girl, what little girl..."

Upon seeing this, the county lieutenant, county magistrate, and other trusted subordinates all shook their heads:

“Reporting to the magistrate, we absolutely did not make any arrangements. Everyone knows that the governor is a virtuous and upright man. Why would he flatter him like this and make arbitrary arrangements? Wouldn't that just be asking for trouble?”

Magistrate Diao lowered his head and thought for a moment, then his expression suddenly changed.

The county magistrate asked cautiously with concern, "Your Excellency, what's wrong...?"

Magistrate Diao suddenly patted his chest and said loudly:

"That's right, it was arranged by me. It was a young woman who delivered fish soup. Yes, that's it. I was so busy that I almost forgot about it. Oh dear, I'm so stupid. I'm not as clever as you all. How could I test the governor with this? Actually, it wasn't intentional. It was just a fish soup delivery. I guess the young woman was just being naive. But look, she failed. The governor remained unmoved. He is truly a role model for us all!"

No one noticed anything amiss and readily agreed.

Magistrate Diao finally managed to smooth things over and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he secretly glanced at the official ship that was gradually disappearing in the distance, and the aloof figure of a girl in palace attire that could be vaguely seen on it.

Only four words echoed in my heart:

My goodness.

The governor is indeed a role model for us all!

Magistrate Diao's face was filled with utmost respect.

Meanwhile, on the deck.

The atmosphere was a little awkward.

Qin Ying, who had just said a few words, vaguely sensed something and turned around to find that Rong Zhen's figure had disappeared.

"Prefect Ouyang, where is the Lady Historian?"

Ouyang Rong turned around and walked towards the cabin:

"Maybe he's in a bad mood."

Before Qin Ying could ask any more questions, he had already left.

Ouyang Rong entered a spacious and private cabin, closed the door tightly, and walked to the luggage rack.

On the shelf was a cloth bag about the length of an adult man's arm, which appeared to contain a scroll.

This is all of Ouyang Rong's luggage.

Everything was packed into the Peach Blossom Spring painting.

Compared to the heavy sword case, carrying only a bronze scroll behind it is much easier and faster.

"Does she like you? Is she trying to make me look bad?"

Rongzhen's voice suddenly came.

Ouyang Rong did not turn around.

It was as if she already knew that the Lady Historian was inside, but she hadn't gone to look at her since she entered the room, and had silently come to examine the Peach Blossom Spring Map.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Ouyang Rong shook his head and walked straight away.

Rong Zhen stood by the bedside, waiting, and asked somewhat angrily:

"Why don't you just say it's me? What's the big deal?"

Ouyang Rong nodded in agreement: "I would like to, but you were the one who hid first last night, and I didn't even have time to stop you. I feel like you were the one who panicked the most."

Rongzhen lowered her head slightly and remained quiet for a while.

She first looked up and glared at Ouyang Rong, "You wish! If you do that, you'll be getting the best deal."

He paused, then said hesitantly:

"Well, I am different from the embroiderer. I must have a proper title. I can't be so confused. I want to stand by your side with dignity, so that no one can point fingers at me. Actually, some of what that Qin family girl said was right. I am definitely not the kind of 'little girl' she described, the kind of dissolute little girl that the world despises. Absolutely not."

The girl in palace attire raised her delicate chin and couldn't help but emphasize it again.

Ouyang Rong pursed his lips and nodded. Then, remembering something, he took out a small bundle and gestured to her.

"What's going on? They're really giving this to me..."

Rongzhen suddenly interrupted, getting down to business:

"I overheard what you and Qin Ying discussed last night. Your concerns are not without merit. As far as I know, Li Congshan doesn't really listen to Yi Qianqiu. His Qi Refining Technique is quite unique, capable of tracking enemies. It's the most effective scout talent, which may be related to Qiu Shenji's lineage... In short, this group of White Tiger Guards could indeed put the Prince's Mansion in mortal danger."

Ouyang Rong narrowed his eyes.

Rongzhen turned her face away and said softly:

"I will go with you to find Li Congshan and Miaozhen. I will handle things! With me here, let's see if they dare to kill and silence us."

Ouyang Rong was slightly taken aback and took another look at the noblewoman of the Wei family in front of him who was desperately siding with outsiders.

(End of this chapter)