Chapter 56 He Washes Underwear with a Cold Face
Lu Jinlan sighed and poured some wine over himself. "Let's put on a show of 'truth' spoken while drunk."
As the saying goes, a woman's charm is so profound that it can bring tears to your eyes.
The two went outside, and Lu Jinlan said, "Go and peek at him for me first. If he's sharpening a knife, I won't go in."
Yan Wuxin investigated for a moment and said, "He's washing clothes."
"do the laundry?"
"Hmm, looks like your sleep pants. He's washing them over there with a really bitter look on his face."
Lu Jinlan thought to herself, "Isn't this just like washing my underwear with a cold face?"
She breathed a sigh of relief. "Then I don't need to be afraid of him anymore. This situation can easily be turned into a safe one. Just say that in a moment..."
After the two rehearsed their lines, Lu Jinlan clung to Yan Wuxin, and the two pretended to be drunk, staggering and unsteady as they pushed open the door and went inside.
Ah Qi glanced resentfully at Lu Jinlan's drunken state, but instead of going to greet her as usual, she began washing clothes even more vigorously.
Yan Wuxin complained, "Look, you had to insist on coming back, and they don't even welcome you. Why did you have to come back? It would have been so much better if we stayed at Xunhuan Pavilion."
Before he could finish speaking, with a loud thud, Ah Qi threw the clothes into the basin of water, splashing water everywhere.
Lu Jinlan seemed to be startled awake by the sound. She opened her eyes groggily, her voice still tinged with drunkenness, "Where's my box? Help me find it quickly, I need to take it home."
Ah Qi pulled out an exquisite wooden box. "Here it is! Who would dare steal from you?"
Lu Jinlan hugged the box and closed her eyes again. "It's good that it's not lost. It scared me. I thought it was lost."
Yan Wuxin glanced at A Qi, "Alright, I've brought her back to you anyway. Take care of her yourself. She... drank quite a bit."
Ah Qi glared at Yan Wuxin's retreating figure, sat down on the edge of the bed, and said irritably to the unconscious Lu Jinlan, "It's a wonder you even knew to come back."
He glanced at the wooden box in her arms, still seething with anger. He thought to himself: It better not be some kind of evidence, otherwise I'll steal it right now and see if you'll still be in the mood to go to the pleasure house.
Lu Jinlan held it very tightly, and he had to tug several times to pull it out. When he opened it, he found it was a candied hawthorn that was half melted. He didn't know when she had bought it; she had probably kept it in her bosom, and her body heat had melted the syrup.
The anger in Ah Qi's eyes finally subsided a little. After a moment of silence, he said to himself, "So you still care about me. Humph, at least you have some conscience."
Ah Qi complained a few times in a sarcastic tone, but in the end, he couldn't bear it and frowned as he began to help her take off her shoes and change her clothes.
However, just as his hand touched her belt, she suddenly grabbed his wrist with surprising strength, causing Ah Qi to wince in pain.
Lu Jinlan slowly opened her eyes, looked at him carefully for a moment, and then suddenly smiled, the wariness in her eyes vanishing abruptly. "It's you, Qilang. I thought it was someone else."
Ah Qi glared at her. "Who else could it be but me?"
Lu Jinlan awkwardly let go of his hand without saying a word. In A Qi's eyes, this behavior indicated that he was feeling guilty.
However, he also felt somewhat comforted by her reaction.
At least, she didn't sleep with other men. It was probably just for show, a charade. She's not that kind of person; it's all her friend's fault for insisting she go drinking and carousing.
Before Lu Jinlan could even defend herself, Aqi had already cleared her name.
His expression softened slightly, and he asked casually, "Where did you go? You drank so much?"
Lu Jinlan scratched his head. "What was the name of this place again? Anyway, it was a place I found by chance. The wine wasn't very good either, and she still wouldn't leave, so I had to drink it glass after glass. I couldn't just sit there like an idiot."
As expected, Yan Wuxin was no decent person.
This is the evaluation of most of Lu Jinlan's men, and A Qi is no exception.
"Really?" Ah Qi looked up at her. "Didn't you guys try anything else?"
"Anything else? Nothing. What's there to do in this lousy place, Beizhou? Anyway, I got completely drunk early on. By the way, how did I get back?"
"Pretending." Ah Qi didn't believe it. "You don't even know how you got back? Smell the smell on your clothes."
He held the clothes, wrinkled his nose, and sniffed them. "It smells like cheap face powder, it's suffocating."
Seeing that he was about to get angry again, Lu Jinlan quickly said, "Don't move! When you cover the bottom half of the paper, it looks like a person."
Ah Qi was taken aback, and asked rather nervously, "Who does it look like?"
Lu Jinlan reached out and covered his face to examine him closely. "Your eyes are so beautiful, they remind me of an assassin."
Ah Qi held her breath and stiffly changed the subject, "You... how do you remember an assassin?"
Lu Jinlan said, "That assassin was different. Although he came to kill me, I don't think he was that kind of cold-blooded animal. Assassins have to take orders, so you can't blame him. He probably had his own difficulties. Actually, if he hadn't killed me, I think..."
Ah Qi hurriedly asked, "What do you feel?"
Lu Jinlan smiled and said, "I think he's quite cute."
Ah Qi tried his best to hide his joy, pretending to get up casually, picked up his clothes and walked out.
Lu Jinlan: Where are you going?
Ah Qi: "I'll throw away your dirty clothes and go to the kitchen to make you a bowl of hangover soup."
Lu Jinlan said happily, "Make some more late-night snacks, I'm hungry."
Ah Qi: "I understand."
Lu Jinlan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She passed! She could sleep peacefully tonight.
*
As Lu Jinlan had predicted, the Ling family army was on high alert upon receiving the tip-off. They launched an internal investigation overnight, even resorting to torture.
The next day, the spies returned and reported: "The Northern State Camp and the Garrison are investigating internal spies, and many officers have been injured."
"That's great!" Zhao Zhiyu breathed a sigh of relief. "They must have attacked people who knew about or even directly participated in the theft of disaster relief funds. Should we go and bring the wounded over now?"
Lu Jinlan shook his head. "Your Highness, now is not the time. Think about it, if we rashly try to snatch them now, let alone whether we can actually do it, what if they refuse to talk and we can't get solid evidence in a short time?"
Xiang Ruzhen said, "I also think we should wait a bit longer. We're only 20% sure of success right now. It's too early to break ties with the Ling family army."
Lu Jinlan said, "That's right. Actually, I've been thinking about this for the past two days. Four hundred thousand taels of disaster relief silver is no small amount. Even if they used it, there must be more than half left. So, where did they hide the rest of the silver? There must be somewhere. Now that we're investigating so closely, they will definitely send more people to guard this batch of silver more closely."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhiyu slammed his hand on the table and said, "Turing, immediately send me my secret order. Keep a close watch on the Northern State camp and garrison, paying particular attention to the people who have entered and exited in the past few days. Report to me where they have been and who they have met."
Lu Jinlan said, "Also, keep a close eye on that fake servant in the manor."
Zhao Zhiyu glanced at her and said, "There's no need to worry about that. Ah Qi and that servant have always been under my wing, kept in surveillance."
Yan Wuxin's eyes darted around. "Then we can wait for good news."
The three of them came out of Zhao Zhiyu's room. Lu Jinlan and Xiang Ruzhen were still pondering the location of the hidden silver when Yan Wuxin suddenly hooked his arms around their necks and whispered, "Didn't you two think that the way His Highness looked at Jinlan just now was a little subtle?"
The two were taken aback. "What do you mean?"
Yan Wuxin lowered his voice and whispered, "I think that rather than closely monitoring A Qi, she is also monitoring Jin Lan. After all, the two of you spend most of your time together."
Lu Jinlan asked in surprise, "Why would you think that? Do you think she would be afraid of me betraying her after I've given her so many ideas?"
Xiang Ruzhen also said, "Aren't you overthinking it? The Ling family sent people to assassinate Jinlan. No matter how you look at it, there's no way Jinlan would help the Ling family army."
Yan Wuxin's eyes widened: "You don't believe me? Haven't you heard the saying, 'Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger'? Our princess might be the one to sit on the throne in the future. People like her are more cunning than sieves; she's not like us. In terms of competence, I'm not as good as you. But in terms of understanding human nature and being perceptive, you really have to learn from me."
The two exchanged a glance, and Xiang Ruzhen teased with a smile, "No wonder you always stay quiet and withdrawn when we're having a lively discussion. It turns out you've been secretly observing people's hearts all along."
Yan Wuxin clicked his tongue: "These are all insights and gains from my dedicated research. I wouldn't tell anyone else."
The two bowed to her in unison and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Master."
Yan Wuxin gritted his teeth and put his hands on his hips in anger, "You're hopeless! You must remember my teachings, or you'll suffer the consequences later!"
The two men supported her from both sides, saying, "Let's go, Master Yan, it's time to eat."
*
In recent days, the Ling family army in Beizhou City has been in a state of panic. Cheng Yuanqing and Ling Xia have used harsh and cruel methods to investigate the mole. Many officers who were once prestigious have been tortured. Almost everyone in the Ling family army is in danger.
Zhao Zhiyu also summoned his two veteran ministers, Cui Mingfei and Yu Jifang, preparing to gather all forces to deliver a fatal blow to the Ling family army.
As everyone was having a private conversation inside, Turing knocked on the door and entered. "Your Highness, Cheng Yuanqing and Ling Xia met with Master Gong again today. Our men followed them secretly and discovered that Master Gong disappeared in the Daqingshan area."
"Daqingshan?" Zhao Zhiyu found the location of Daqingshan on the map and murmured, "Could it be that they hid the disaster relief funds here?"
Yu Jifang said, "Very likely. This place is remote and there are few pedestrians. Moreover, it is not far from the Beizhou camp, which makes it convenient for supervision."
Zhao Zhiyu nodded. "In other words, if we surround Daqingshan now and dig deep, we're sure to find something?"
Yu Jifang shook her head, looking troubled: "Daqingshan stretches for more than 30 miles, it's too big. They wouldn't leave the silver out in the open, would they? They wouldn't put it in a cave, they've most likely dug a tunnel. On such a big mountain, finding a small tunnel entrance is as difficult as climbing to heaven. Even if we surround the mountain, it will take two or three months to search it, and who knows how many unexpected things will happen in the meantime."
Cui Mingfei said, "Lord Yu is right. She knows the geography of Beizhou better than any of us. Searching the mountains is not the best strategy."
Zhao Zhiyu sighed and looked at everyone. "Jinlan, do you have any ideas?"
Lu Jinlan thought for a moment, "Your Highness need not worry, there is a way that we may try."
Everyone leaned forward, and Lu Jinlan whispered, "That Master Gong is difficult to follow because she is skilled. But not everyone can have such skills. Those male assassins are all under her command, but apart from Ah Qi and that servant, the other assassins haven't shown up for a long time. I guess they are carrying out a new mission, which is very likely to guard the disaster relief funds."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Yu Jifang said, "That's right. His Highness is keeping a close eye on things right now, so the Ling family army certainly wouldn't dare to touch any of the registered soldiers. The assassin that Master Gong brought is just what they need to do."
Lu Jinlan snorted coldly, "Cheng Yuanqing and Ling Xia dare not act rashly against the Ling family army, firstly because they are afraid of giving us leverage, and secondly because they haven't been forced into a corner yet. If they knew that we already knew the whereabouts of the disaster relief funds, they would have no choice but to act. The vanished assassins and the vanished disaster relief funds should be together, but how many assassins are there? At most a few dozen. What can they possibly hold?"
“Let’s give the Ling family army another push and force them to reinforce Daqingshan. Not every reinforcement can be as skilled as Master Gong. If there are too many people, they will be exposed. As long as we follow them and find the tunnel, we can catch them red-handed and wipe them out in one fell swoop.”
Everyone nodded in agreement after hearing the first few sentences, but when they heard the last sentence, they couldn't help but gasp.
Cui Mingfei: "Isn't it too risky to confront the Ling family army head-on? What if they decide to rebel and turn against us?"
Yu Jifang also shared this concern: "The Beizhou camp has 80,000 troops, plus more than 10,000 in the garrison, making nearly 100,000 Ling family soldiers. This is no small number. If a mutiny is launched, it will be like stirring up a monstrous wave. If His Majesty investigates, we... well, it's not that I'm afraid of taking responsibility, but Your Highness needs to think ahead about how to handle the situation."
The room was silent. Zhao Zhiyu said with worry, "The people I brought, plus the guards from various government offices, add up to less than two thousand. Let alone ending things, even starting them will be difficult."
Xiang Ruzhen suddenly asked, "Could Your Highness possibly transfer troops from elsewhere to provide support?"
She pointed to the state border next to Daqingshan Mountain, "Daqingshan Mountain is not far from the Beizhou camp, nor is it far from the Lingzhou camp."
Yu Jifang's eyes lit up. "That's right. If the Song family's cavalry ambushes the border area between the two prefectures, they can reach Daqingshan within a quarter of an hour."
Zhao Zhiyu frowned in surprise. "It's not that I don't want to mobilize troops, but that I have no authority to do so. As a princess, I can borrow three or five hundred soldiers from the general for any temporary purpose. But if it exceeds eight hundred, I must show my military tally. This is an ironclad law of Hua Kingdom."
"Even if I'm not afraid of being held accountable by the Empress Dowager for violating regulations, people still have to listen to me. Apart from the Empress Dowager herself, the generals in various regions only recognize the military seal, not the person, and there's nothing I can do about it."
Everyone fell silent again. Yu Jifang glanced at Lu Jinlan and said pointedly, "Even if you don't recognize someone, you should at least acknowledge your family. Isn't young Master Lu General Song's son? A son is like a daughter. If his own daughter is begging her, General Song wouldn't be unmoved, would he?"
Everyone turned to look at Lu Jinlan, who scratched his head helplessly.
Actually, she had thought of mobilizing the Song family army when she proposed this plan, but as she spoke, Yan Wuxin's previous reminder inexplicably came to mind, and she suddenly realized that it was very inappropriate for her to bring up this matter.
Oh, troops that even the princess can't mobilize, and you think you can just move them like that? Aren't you digging your own grave? Just wait to be feared.
However, since the topic had been raised, she pretended to be unsure and said, "Young Master Song and I are not yet married, and besides... besides, my mother-in-law would never rashly use troops for my sake. If His Majesty investigates, it would be a serious crime."
She deliberately exaggerated the situation, and sure enough, Zhao Zhiyu took the initiative to assume responsibility, saying, "If the Empress Mother investigates, I will take full responsibility. You only need to ask General Song to send troops for us. The Empress Mother is wise. We had no choice but to act in this emergency to solve the case of the stolen disaster relief funds. She will not pursue the matter."
Lu Jinlan pretended to ponder for a moment, then said, "Alright, then Your Highness, please write a personal letter explaining the reason. Since A-Qi is with me and it's inconvenient for me to leave, I will also write a letter. How about... Wu Xin takes both letters to see my mother-in-law?"
Zhao Zhiyu acted swiftly and decisively, "Okay, I'll write it now."
Lu Jinlan asked her to write this letter as a precaution, to prevent anyone from accusing the Song family army of misusing troops in the future. She also wrote a letter explaining the cause and effect.
Both letters were handed to Yan Wuxin, and Zhao Zhiyu instructed, "In the letter, I wrote that I hope General Song can deploy 30,000 troops at the border between the two states. Once we give the signal, we should ask her to enter Beizhou with overwhelming force to stabilize the situation. I deliberately wrote 30,000 more than necessary. If she refuses, 20,000 will do, or at the very least, 10,000. At worst, we can launch a surprise attack and have the imperial guards arrest all the officers of the Ling family army. Without a leader, I doubt they will dare to rebel."
Yan Wuxin nodded repeatedly, and Lu Jinlan said, "I'll see you out."
Once outside, Lu Jinlan quietly slipped the token Song Jingxiao had given her last time into Yan Wuxin's hand, saying, "When you get to Lingzhou, if anyone makes things difficult for you, just show them this. This is my mother-in-law's token; I hope it will help you have a smooth journey."
Yan Wuxin said, "Don't worry, you can wait for my good news."
After Yan Wuxin left, the steward of the government office went to the kitchen and asked, "The male servants who serve in the room are sick today. Who among you can go to the main hall to serve the gentlemen dinner later?"
Upon hearing this, Thirteen hurriedly raised his hand, "I... I've served in wealthy households before."
The butler glanced at him and said with disdain, "You look rather clumsy and stupid, not like a clever person at all. Oh well, we're short-handed, so we'll have to use you."
Thirteen happily went to change his clothes, unaware that this was a carefully woven trap for him.
Having learned from her previous experience, Lu Jinlan changed her strategy, no longer expecting A Qi to spread the message. Since there was another spy in the manor, she might as well use him and avoid taking any detours.
As expected, Thirteen was greatly shocked after overhearing a few whispered words at the banquet. Without caring about anything else, he immediately ran out of the governor's mansion like a dog being chased, heading straight for the Northern Prefecture camp.
Those monitoring him were taken aback. "Boss, why doesn't he go find his master?"
Turing: "Uh, he probably felt the matter was urgent and there wasn't enough time, right?"
Turing was right; Thirteen did indeed think that way, and he even went a little further.
Cheng Yuanqing and Ling Xia were together when they heard that Thirteen had arrived, so they quickly ordered him to come in.
Thirteen dismounted and ran wildly all the way. When he entered the house, he was still out of breath. Upon seeing the two of them, he knelt down on the ground, crying.
"Generals, something terrible has happened! The Crown Princess has found out the whereabouts of the disaster relief funds, and they are about to come and seize them. I'm afraid my master has already been placed under their surveillance!"
"What?" The cup in Ling Xia's hand fell to the ground and shattered with a crash.
Thirteen wiped away her tears. "That's right. I heard it with my own ears. They're already plotting when to make their move. Generals, please think of a way to save my master and my fellow disciples who are still guarding the silver."
Enraged, Ling Xia drew her precious sword and roared, "Things have come to this, let's just rebel!"
"No!" Cheng Yuanqing hurriedly said, "Let me think about it."
Cheng Yuanqing pondered for a moment, "If they want to take it, they'd better have the ability to do so. Those few soldiers aren't even enough for our Ling family army's warhorses to trample. They must have borrowed troops from Song Jingxiao next door."
Ling Xia asked, "Does the Crown Princess have such influence that Song Jingxiao would lend her troops?"
"Have you forgotten? Lu Jinlan is about to become Song Jingxiao's son; they're family. If she wants to borrow some troops, why would Song Jingxiao refuse?"
"Damn it! I knew Lu Jinlan was going to ruin our plans, and I should have killed her long ago. Now look what's happened, she's going to kill us all."
Cheng Yuanqing took a deep breath. "It's not too late to kill her now. Right now, we need to prepare three things immediately. First, send elite troops to reinforce Daqingshan; second, report everything that happened here to the two masters; third, have Master Gong give Ah Qi a death order that Lu Jinlan must be eliminated before sunset tomorrow."
Thirteen paused for a moment, then began to worry for Seven. If Seven couldn't bring himself to do it, then it would be his Seventh Brother who would die.
*
That night, everything was eerily quiet, as if it were the calm before a storm.
Lu Jinlan and A Qi went to bed early, but neither of them could fall asleep.
Lu Jinlan suddenly said, "Things here are almost over. Once everything has settled down, you will come back to the capital with me."
Ah Qi laughed, "What good would it do to go back to the capital with you? Do you think you'd marry me?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them. He didn't know why he had said them; he secretly hoped to marry her one day, yet he uttered these insincere words.
Lu Jinlan did not answer; her silence in the darkness made A Qi's heart sink even further.
He gave an awkward laugh and tried to make amends, saying, "I was just kidding, don't be angry."
"I will marry you," Lu Jinlan promised firmly.
"What?"
"I'm not joking. Come back to the capital with me, and I'll marry you."
Ah Qi was stunned for a moment, his heart pounding wildly.
He suddenly sat up. "Then can you marry me right now?"
Lu Jinlan laughed and said, "Now? How can we get married now? Even if there is no wedding, we should at least decorate the bridal chamber, set a date, and exchange tokens or something."
"No, now. Today is a good day, I don't want to wait a moment longer. Give me a title now. Yingzi will do, okay?"
Lu Jinlan said helplessly, "Alright, then call me 'wife' and we'll consider the ceremony complete. I'll give you a token later."
"My lady." Warm lips brushed against her ear. "My lady, is the wedding night the only time the ceremony is considered complete?"
Lu Jinlan smiled and said in a low voice, "Where in the world is there a young man as proactive as you?"
"You don't like it?"
Lu Jinlan pursed her lips. "I like it."
Ah Qi smiled and kissed her lips, feeling light and dreamlike.
He felt that he might die soon. Being able to marry Lu Jinlan was like a last meal given to him by heaven.
He thought, "My life has been too bitter, but at least I have a place and a name in her heart before I die. It's a blessing that God has been kind to me."
If only the happy times could last a little longer.
A rapid knocking at the door early in the morning shattered Ah Qi's sweet dream.
Xiang Ruzhen urged from outside the door, "Jinlan, get up quickly. Something terrible has happened. His Highness has ordered us to go there immediately."
Lu Jinlan rushed out the door; he didn't even have time to hug her.
Soon after, his master appeared before him silently.
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