3. Male homosexuality
◎Your master...likes men◎
"Let's set off today and enter the palace early so as not to miss the auspicious time."
Xue Ji changed into new clothes this morning, with his hair meticulously combed. He wore a dark blue round-necked brocade robe with a green jade pendant hanging on his neck, which made his neck look even smoother and whiter.
There was not a trace of impurities in his clear eyes. Rong Qianyu felt much better and got up early in the morning and strolled around for half a day.
Looking at Xue Ji's appearance, she always couldn't help but want to get close to him, as if there was some force attracting her. She didn't think of him as a dirty and despicable eunuch, but only as a young man who was not tainted by the worldly world.
I have been away from my hometown for more than two months, and I have been the most relaxed in recent days. I always thought Xue Ji was a gloomy and cruel person, but I never thought he would be such an elegant and refined person.
"My Lord seems to be in a good mood today."
Xue Ji said calmly, "Some things, if you think them through, won't bother you anymore."
"Thank you for all the trouble you've put me on this journey. I'm sure this errand has delayed a lot of your important work. I wonder how I'll be able to thank you someday."
He was indeed extremely reluctant at first, thinking it was a troublesome task and that the princess would be a difficult person to serve.
He had never expected that the future queen would be such a sweet and docile woman, as smart as a little fox. She seemed to be indifferent to worldly matters, but Xue Ji knew that she was definitely not someone who would be content with the status quo and indecisive.
Looking at the princess's passionate attitude, he found it increasingly amusing. "Princess, you are the master. I am only a servant. To be more generous, I am a servant. My duties are all at the command of the master. Princess, please remember this. I will keep it in mind."
The sun is shining brightly today, which is a good time to set off. This is a wild mountain area, so it is not advisable to stay here for long.
In just two days, Rong Pan became familiar with Qingyun and would ask him endless questions whenever he saw him.
"Qingyun, it's only been two days since you came. When did my princess and Lord Xue become so familiar with each other?"
Whenever Xue Ji talked to Rong Qianyu, Rong Pan would always leave and had no idea what they were talking about.
Qingyun was also confused when she saw this. "Sister, you don't know either? Then I don't know either. When the master came back last night, he asked me to find some spices, saying that he wanted to make the incense he was going to make today. He also said a lot of strange things."
Rong Pan looked at the two people chatting and laughing, and was very confused. How could they be so familiar with each other? "Strange words, what strange words?"
Qingyun didn't really hear it clearly, having only gathered bits and pieces from Xue Ji's words. He scratched his head, straining to recall. "What are you talking about? The days ahead will be even more uncomfortable, with the Crown Prince, the Empress, and so on."
"What about the prince?" Rong Pan kept asking.
Qingyun frowned and looked around cautiously before he dared to respond quietly. "Don't you know?"
He lowered his voice and said carefully: "I dare not say these words out loud, sister, you should ask someone else."
After saying that, he turned around and was about to leave.
As a Rong citizen, Rong Pan naturally did not know who the Crown Prince of Zhou Ting was.
The more vague he was, the more she wanted to know, "Hey, tell me quickly, what's going on with the prince?"
She grabbed Qingyun and wanted to ask him something, but he was being evasive and unwilling to cooperate.
"My dear sister, it's not easy for a servant like me to say these words. Please ask the princess to ask my master. I am still making tea for him. I will be leaving now."
Rong Qianyu came over and saw the two of them hurriedly walking. She asked, "What's wrong? Where are you going?"
"Nothing... nothing." Rong Pan didn't dare to mention what happened just now, as it would seem that Rong Guoren was impolite.
Xue Ji followed behind her and looked her up and down. "I didn't look at you carefully yesterday. I didn't expect you to be so beautiful." He said with a smile.
Rong Pan's heart tightened at first, then he stammered, "Thank...thank you very much, sir."
She only knew that Xue Jiming, the Lord of Writing, was in a high position and had great power, and she could not afford to offend him.
He was in a good mood today, so he waved his sleeves and said, "Let's not talk about thanking you for now. I want to ask for a reward. The princess said she wanted to thank me, so how about giving this girl to me?"
"Princess, my Lord..." Rong Pan was so frightened that she almost fell to the ground. What would happen if she became a eunuch's concubine?
Rong Qianyu was also a little surprised and didn't say anything.
Xue Ji liked to laugh at people, and was amused by the girl's silly look. "Little girl, what do I want you to do? I don't like women."
The speaker may not mean it, but the listener may take it seriously. Rong Qianyu took all of these words to heart.
A few large, deafening words.
I don’t like girls!!!
In the past, she only knew that eunuchs were impotent and would inevitably do something chaotic, but seeing Xue Ji's handsome appearance, she didn't expect that he was also into this kind of thing.
But think about it, this is normal. With such a high position and power, whatever he does should be reasonable and legitimate.
But I couldn't help feeling troubled.
He doesn't like women?
It was said in the past that eunuchs had twisted minds, and were often vicious, cruel, and moody. She never thought that he was so fond of both men and women. How could she repay him? She couldn't just go and... catch a boy catamite for him. She didn't know what kind he liked, so she had to be sure not to send the wrong one to him.
She muttered to herself, and the more she thought about it, the more scared she became.
"Then let's set off." Xue Ji said.
“…”
"Princess?"
"What!?" Rong Qianyu was shocked.
"I say, let's set off immediately."
She seemed to have completely ignored Xue Ji's words and simply agreed: "Okay... Let's go, okay..."
Xue Ji ignored her and walked straight to the front of the team. Rong Pan didn't hear their conversation. He was still immersed in the shock of being sent to the eunuch's bed. He ran over and patted her, "Princess, what are you thinking about?"
"Have you ever seen a man go on a blind date with another man?"
When Rong Pan heard her ask this, he stood there in a daze, not knowing why she asked this.
Nanny Fang stepped forward and reprimanded Rong Qianyu, "Princess, what nonsense are you talking about? How can someone of your status say such things?"
But she had always been worried about this matter. She had never seen the love between Long Yang and Yang, and she didn't understand this man...
The more she thought about it, the more embarrassed she became. She had never thought about it that way before, but she couldn't help but suspect it.
Is there really no woman in the world who can catch his eye?
The convoy was walking on a mountain road. This was the last section of the mountain road leading into the territory of Da Zhou and also the most difficult one.
After passing this place, the road is flat and leads directly to the palace.
Now is late autumn, the time for harvest and storage, waiting for winter. Ordinary people are self-sufficient and naturally have food to eat.
But the Qianbei people, who live off the land and the water, are different. The weather on the grassland is unpredictable and the harvest is poor, so this is the time when they love to burn, kill and loot the most.
This huge convoy of thousands of people, with gold, silver, treasures, food and medicinal materials, is extremely valuable and is the best target.
Suddenly, there were bursts of horse hoof sounds coming from the mountain, gradually approaching.
Da Zhou and Qianbei are adjacent to each other, and this place is a strategic point where three countries meet. Many Qianbei people would risk crossing the border in exchange for horses and food.
This time, they happened to rob the carriage used by the Rong Kingdom for the marriage.
A group of dark-skinned men with their hair loose and their left collars loose, rode tall and shiny horses, holding the reins in one hand, and galloped down the road.
This is also what Xue Ji is most worried about. Of course, he has no problem fighting alone, but there are so many people on the opposite side, and he doesn't have many soldiers with him. Now he actually encounters them.
"Princess, it's bad. There are Hu people ambushing on the mountain." Qingyun quickly ran to the sedan chair and explained the situation to Rong Qianyu.
She wasn't panicking at all, completely different from the shy girl she was yesterday. "It's important to save the people. We don't have to deal with them for the goods!"
"My Lord has asked me to look after the princess. I have already brought people to deal with the situation."
Several people hid under the cover of the soldiers and watched Xue Ji fighting with others from afar. This was different from his usual calm appearance.
Rong Qianyu was very worried and grabbed Qingyun and ran together, "Then you should come with us. It's not safe for you to be alone."
"Qingyun..." She hesitated and spoke to him.
"What do you want, Princess?"
"How old was your master when he became pure?"
"He seems to be seven or eight years old, which means he has been here for more than ten years."
"Does he have a concubine?"
Qingyun didn't understand why she suddenly asked this question, but he answered her completely. "Your Highness, where did you hear that? My master doesn't like women."
"Not interested in women..." Rong Qianyu's pupils trembled when she heard this, "Your master... is interested in men?"
At such a critical moment, the princess was not worried about her own safety at all. How could she ask such a question? Qingyun knew that she must have misunderstood and heard these rumors from somewhere.
"Princess, how could you have misunderstood? It's just that you are used to being alone and don't like me making noise."
Although my master has never touched a woman, I have never heard that he has a homosexual relationship. This is just nonsense from the mouth of a little palace maid.
The princess actually believed it.
"Then...then what are his hobbies? I want to reward him." Rong Qianyu said hesitantly.
Qingyun declined, saying, "This is all a subject's duty. Princess, don't worry about it. Your Excellency doesn't really care what you said."
"Is this okay?"
Rong Qianyu's mother passed away early, and because of her own affairs, although she was a legitimate princess, she never had a smooth life. Whenever she met someone who was kind to her, she wanted to treat them with her whole heart.
"My Lord has often told me that kindness should be repaid and hatred should be avenged. A person's life should first follow their own wishes. My Lord is not someone who cares about trivial matters. Besides, the princess is a woman, so she will not make things difficult for you."
The fighting was intense at the front, but Rong Qianyu was muttering to herself here.
Not long after, Xue Ji returned covered in dust, his long sword still dripping with blood. "I'm sorry to have frightened the princess. The bandits have been dealt with, but we've lost a lot of goods and horses. I'm afraid we'll have to camp here tonight."
"How is the person?" Rong Qianyu asked anxiously.
"No one was injured."
Xue Ji walked towards him with a five-foot-long sword in his hand, his eyes full of solemnity and majesty.
The breeze in late autumn is bleak and a little chilly. I can only sleep on the street tonight and barely get through it.
"It's raining, and the weather is getting cold."
Xue Ji opened an umbrella and stayed outside the car with her to chat.
"Princess, instead of being sad about the past, you should focus on your life in the palace."
"I haven't asked you yet, Your Excellency, Prince..."
"The prince is about to reach adulthood. He is handsome and has great talent and knowledge." Xue Ji said this, but he was extremely disgusted in his heart.
Crown Prince? What Crown Prince? He praised him, but in his heart he truly despised him. He was a man without a clear mind, no vision, no strategy, and only a little cleverness and decent looks.
"Then the prince should be a..."
"I haven't finished yet. The Crown Prince is a man of deep affection, but affection depends on the person."
Rong Qianyu was puzzled, "What do you mean?"
"The Crown Prince now has a concubine, Tan Liangdi, who gave birth to a little princess last year. She's just over a year old now. Princess, you might think the Crown Prince is in love with Tan Liangdi, but it's not the case. The Crown Prince's crush is on a lowly woman, and that hasn't changed in all these years."
Before coming to the Great Zhou, Rong Qianyu had heard a little about her future husband, but she didn't know him completely.
She was originally a bargaining chip for the marriage, what could she complain about?
She listened to these rumors with great interest, as if they had nothing to do with her. "Then the Queen doesn't care?"
"He is the future emperor, and he can take whoever he wants. Besides, who would care about him if he wants to expand the royal family?"
Late at night, a light drizzle blew diagonally into the umbrella. Rong Qianyu shivered a little. She hid behind Xue Ji and carefully pulled his sleeve to block the wind.
She raised her head and said to him, "Sir, tilt the umbrella a little further."
Xue Ji was distracted for a long time, then he slowly tilted the umbrella a little, tilted his head to one side and said, "The weather will be colder from now on, Princess, please don't get wet in the rain."
"What about this woman?" Rong Qianyu asked.
"Her last name is Cui, and she's a coward who takes advantage of everyone she meets." Xue Ji sneered at this woman and didn't want to talk about her anymore. He wanted to roll his eyes to the sky when he heard her name.
"My Lord, since you said this about her, aren't you afraid that I will tell her later?"
Xue Ji curled his lips and chuckled, "Then it's better for Princess to wait until you meet her before making a conclusion. People's hearts are hidden. In a foreign country, you can only trust yourself..." As he was speaking, he felt a heaviness on his shoulders.
“…”
When he turned around, he saw Rong Qianyu sleeping on his shoulder, humming. It seemed that she hadn't had a good sleep for a long time and must be very tired.
Xue Ji didn't push her away. He looked at her sleeping in the dim light. She didn't look like a seventeen-year-old girl at all. With her fluttering eyelashes and cherry-red lips, she looked like a child.
She was sleeping like a cat. How could Fu Hua like her when she looked so fragile?
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