Come on, take off her clothes!
Su Qingli's chest rose and fell several times, and she gradually calmed her trembling breath: "Your Excellency is joking. I am only a zither player, not a dancing girl. I am sorry that I cannot obey your command."
As soon as he finished speaking, the surroundings fell silent. Everyone had subtle expressions and looked at Li Que at the same time.
Being looked at as a joke by everyone, Li Que was so embarrassed that he became angry: "How dare you reject me again?"
Gu Jiuxiao quickly grabbed Li Que, who was about to lose his temper: "Brother Li, don't get angry. It's not difficult to make Miss Su obey."
"What do you mean?" Li Que suddenly became interested.
"Brother Li, didn't you ask me to take Miss Su as my concubine? I don't mind accepting her. In the future, when Brother Li comes to visit my house, Miss Su will be at your disposal."
Hearing the conversation between the two, Su Qingli raised the corners of her lips slightly, but there was no smile in her eyes: "If Master Gu really wants to take me as his concubine, he should at least prepare some decent betrothal gifts, right?"
Gu Jiuxiao looked at her coldly: "Tell me, how much do you need as a betrothal gift?"
"Three thousand taels."
"What a ridiculous request! Don't forget that you are no longer a princess, but just a cheap woman in a brothel for men to comment on."
An abandoned woman whose property was confiscated and divorced by Fu Xuechen, was Gu Jiuxiao crazy? Spending three thousand taels to marry a broken woman?
Su Qingli's self-righteous attitude made Li Que and Gu Jiuxiao very angry!
Li Que slammed the table and stood up, angrily shouting, "Su Qingli, who do you think you are? Believe it or not, I will kill you on the spot!"
"Someone, take off her clothes!"
Seeing that Li Que had lustful thoughts, there was nothing these playboys couldn't do!
Su Qingli gritted her teeth, determined to fight to the death.
"Let's see who dares!" Fu Xuechen, who had been sitting quietly, suddenly said, "Everyone get out."
Although his tone was calm, the authority implied in every word made no one present dare to disobey.
Li Que and Gu Jiuxiao were unwilling to give in, but they did not dare to offend Fu Xuechen and could only keep their anger in their hearts.
"As you command, Prime Minister!"
After a while, only Fu Xuechen and Su Qingli were left in the elegant pavilion, looking at each other.
Su Qingli looked at Fu Xuechen in surprise, she never expected that he would help her.
Fu Xuechen leaned over and picked up Su Qingli's veil, holding it in his hand: "You sold yourself for three thousand taels. Miss Su is already so short of money?"
"Please, Prime Minister, return the veil to me. I need to go to another box to play the piano." Su Qingli lowered her eyes, clearly separating herself from him.
"Play it right here." Fu Xuechen said coldly, "I'll pay ten times the price."
Su Qingli naturally couldn't go against money, not to mention that she was in urgent need of money.
She quickly walked to the zither table, sat down, and asked calmly, "Is there any piece of music you'd like to hear, Your Excellency?"
Fu Xuechen locked his gaze on her, his eyes dark and hard to discern. "Of course it's your favorite song, 'Phoenix Seeking the Phoenix'. I heard it's a song about life and death. You and I have been husband and wife for two years, and I've never heard Miss Su play it."
Su Qingli paused her fingertips. The tune of "The Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix" was composed by her and Xie Linyuan during the first snow in Meilin.
She had never touched this song since the day he left Beijing to guard the border.
Never mind, she and Xie Linyuan are already a thing of the past.
She thought of the melody and placed her fingertips on the strings. The clear sound of the seven strings was like a spring breeze blowing across a cold pond, creating ripples across the pond and softening the candlelight.
Amid the lingering music, Su Qingli's gaze unconsciously fell on Fu Xuechen, but she saw that Fu Xuechen was also staring at her.
Su Qingli quickly lowered her eyes and the strength of her fingertips suddenly increased.
Soon, the song "Phoenix Seeking Phoenix" was finished, and she calmly stopped playing: "Master Prime Minister, are you satisfied?"
Fu Xuechen stood up, his slender figure looming over her, carrying with him a faint scent of agarwood.
"Miss Su and General Xie are truly like-minded. Even the music they composed together is so touching and poignant."
Fu Xuechen praised her as usual, but Su Qingli felt a chill down her spine, as if there was something else behind his words.
Suddenly, the man leaned over and put the veil in his hand on her.
The cold jade-like knuckles accidentally brushed against Su Qingli's delicate cheek, and the hot breath brushed against her neck, causing her eyelashes to tremble slightly and arousing a shudder.
Su Qingli stood up suddenly, and her sleeves brushed against the strings of the zither, making a sound like tearing silk.
"I have finished playing the zither, and I will take my leave now!"
Looking at her packing up her musical instruments, there was still a faint red mark on her snow-white neck from his breath.
Fu Xuechen said quietly: "Don't you want three thousand taels? Be my concubine and I will give it to you."
Su Qingli's movement of putting away the zither paused, and her steady breathing suddenly became disordered.
"What?"
The ink on the divorce papers was clearly written, and the disgust in his eyes was still engraved in her heart. What did it mean now?
Fu Xuechen's eyes were as blazing as fire, and his voice was hoarse: "Three thousand taels! Be my concubine!"
His tone was serious and firm. In an instant, humiliation ran up Su Qingli's back like a poisonous snake, and even her fingertips felt numb and tingling.
His sweetheart will soon come to the imperial city and become his legally married wife.
At this critical juncture, he had to humiliate her by making her a concubine.
Her family had indeed fallen on hard times, but her inherent pride would not allow anyone to trample on it like this.
"I appreciate Master Fu's kindness. Even if I, Su Qingli, were to end up on the streets, I would never be your concubine."
Fu Xuechen's eyes suddenly turned sinister. He suddenly pinched her chin, almost gritting his teeth: "You would rather be Gu Jiuxiao's concubine than mine. Why can he do it, but I can't?"
Looking at Fu Xuechen's furious face, Su Qingli suddenly understood something.
She smiled softly, "Master Prime Minister, you serve the emperor after all. Don't you know that the Gu family is extravagant and has squandered all their wealth? If Gu Jiuxiao really wants to take me as a concubine, I'm afraid he is powerless."
What she said just now was just to make Gu Jiuxiao give up.
Fu Xuechen's expression changed, but eventually softened a little.
"Are you short of money because your father was defrauded of several thousand taels in order to secure an official position?"
Su Qingli suddenly looked up at him, but when she thought about it carefully, she realized that he was now in power and it would be easy for him to monitor them.
With his light words, the Su family's dirty secrets were exposed. Su Qingli felt like she was nailed to the spot and had difficulty breathing.
Before she could speak, Fu Xuechen said to himself: "As long as you become my concubine, the money I owe you will no longer be a worry for you!"
Su Qingli straightened her back and said, "Master Prime Minister, you have come to my aid in my time of need. I am deeply grateful, but I would rather support myself than owe you a cent."
Although she was down and out, she still had a strong character. Even though she liked Fu Xuechen, she would not allow him to humiliate her like this.
After saying that, Su Qingli raised her foot and walked away, her back looking resolute.
Just as the door was closed, a servant came running over: "Are you Su Qingli? You...your brother is dying!"
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