Chapter 26: Family tradition, the princess taught well! ...
Midnight, outside Lingnan City
It was late at night and everyone was asleep. In the hazy moonlight, the dark path was covered with mottled shadows of trees, clusters of dense grass were hidden in the night, and a group of people and horses were ambushed in a haystack not far from the path.
"Are you all ready?" Song Youning looked at the path in front of her, and only turned her head and asked in a low voice after making sure that no one had come yet.
"Everything is ready"
Song Youning was wearing a tattered linen shirt, holding a piece of dogtail grass in his mouth, and his hair was tied up with a tattered cloth strip. In order to make the appearance of being convincing, he deliberately carried a big knife on his back to pretend to be serious.
She casually wiped some incense ash on her face to hide her fair complexion, which made her eyes look particularly clear and lively. She squatted in the grass, staring straight at Li Funing who was standing beside her.
Li Funing felt uneasy under her gaze, so he simply folded his arms and looked at her, a sly smile playing on his lips as he teased, "Your Highness, this way... has quite a bit of... rustic charm..."
Song Youning, who was holding a dogtail grass in his mouth, raised his thick eyebrows outlined by charcoal ash and rolled his eyes at him speechlessly. It was already this late and he was still joking.
This glance was originally not a big deal, but who would have thought that after dressing up, Li Funing would attract all her attention.
She was wearing this tattered bandit outfit, which looked very rustic.
But why does Li Funing look so charming in this tattered shirt?
He was dressed in cotton and linen clothes, his hair was tied up with a simple hairpin, and he was tall and slender, with red lips and white teeth. He didn't look like a bandit at all, but more like someone who was kidnapped by a female bandit to be her husband.
Song Youning frowned: "How come you are even more delicate and tender than me..."
"No, you don't look like a bandit at all. Let me dress you up..." The more Song Youning looked at him, the more dissatisfied he became.
After saying that, he stuffed the dogtail grass in his mouth into Li Funing's mouth.
Still feel it is not enough.
He scooped up some mud from the grass and smeared it on his face.
Still think it’s not okay.
He reached out and pulled Li Funing's collar, trying to mess it up.
Who knew that he would avoid the gaze and pretend to be shy: "Master, it's not okay to do this in public..." The look of wanting to refuse but also to accept was clearly a naked seduction.
This guy actually acted out with her in broad daylight?
Song Youning deliberately pinched the soft flesh on his waist and said calmly, "If you can't continue to be the Grand Tutor of Lord Li, come and be my husband. I will provide food and accommodation... It will definitely be easier than working for my father..."
She raised her hand to lift his chin and teased him, "All you need to do is sing a little song and dance for Master Benshan every day..."
She raised her chin proudly and swung the long knife behind her forward, looking like a bandit leader who roamed the mountains.
The moonlight stretched the shadow of her eyelashes very long, but it could not hide the cunning in her eyes.
Seeing that she was in a playful mood, Li Funing was happy to cooperate with him.
Suddenly, she lowered her eyes and smiled softly. A hint of shyness appeared in her usually gentle eyes, and the corners of her eyes turned slightly red, making her look like a young wife who had been molested.
His eyes moved as he said, "If the boss says so..."
He suddenly took a half step towards her, and the two of them got even closer: "But...you have to keep your word."
Song Youning could even feel his body temperature and faint body fragrance through his clothes.
The back of her ears suddenly felt hot, and she turned around guiltily to look at the "bandits" behind her.
Everyone stared at the two of them, afraid of missing such a wonderful scene.
Even though it was dark, it couldn't stop people from enjoying the food.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Song Youning felt his face burning. He swallowed hard and pushed Li Funing out.
Li Funing didn't expect that she would be so easily fooled, and she stumbled and fell to the ground.
A pair of peach blossom eyes looked at her blankly, and the corners of the eyes, which were naturally slightly red, became even redder, and in the night, they seemed to be about to cry.
Song Youning saw him lying on the ground and wanted to explain, but suddenly the sound of horse hooves came from not far away.
The two of them changed color at the same time. Li Funing suddenly turned over and protected her behind him with his backhand, with the crossbow in his sleeve aimed at the source of the sound.
Song Youning looked at the person who came and saw that it was indeed the old housekeeper of the Zhou Mansion. He sorted out his emotions and whispered to the person behind him: "According to the plan."
The Zhou Mansion's carriage had a smooth journey.
Just as the carriage approached the haystack where they were hiding, a huge tree suddenly fell across the road. The guard at the front of Zhou's carriage just shouted "There is an ambush" when more than a dozen commoner bandits rushed out from the woods.
The leader, Song Youning, shouted, "I built this mountain! I built this road. If you want to pass through here, you have to leave money to pay for the passage. Everything on this road belongs to our Wuqi Gang. Why don't you dismount immediately?"
The old steward stopped the carriage, sat on the horse and sneered, pulling out Governor Zhou's token from his pocket: "You are blind, do you know whose carriage this is?"
Song Youning tore off the dogtail grass he had just held in his mouth, took two steps forward, looked him up and down, and sneered: "Oh, you old man are still so arrogant? I don't care whose carriage it is. As long as it's on this road, it's mine..."
"Little Pear, do it..."
Song Youning shouted this sentence with great vigor, clapped his hands, then turned around gracefully and sat down on a big rock beside him.
He crossed his legs and shook them deliberately, looking like a little bandit roaming the mountains.
The cold night wind blew a few leaves past her feet.
There was no movement.
Song Youning's eyebrows twitched, and he forced himself to shout again with a bandit-like aura: "Um... This mountain is mine! If you want to live here from now on... uh... Little Pear..."
"Get started!"
There was still dead silence behind her, only the horses pulling the cart opposite snorted, as if mocking her.
Song Youning finally couldn't help but turn her head, only to see Li Funing standing there motionless, his handsome face frowned, staring at her straight, as if he had suddenly been hit by a spell.
She quickly stood up and rushed over, winking at him and speaking in a low voice with gritted teeth, "Do it? What are you daydreaming about?"
Li Funing finally woke up from his dream, blinked, and looked at her in confusion: "What did you just call... me?"
Song Youning: ...
Song Youning stamped his feet anxiously and grabbed his sleeve, "Didn't we agree on this? You are my heir... Bah! Bandit henchman! Do you command me when I give orders?"
"Why don't you move!"
The guards on the opposite side had already put their hands on the hilts of their knives. The leading guard taunted, "What kind of brat is this trying to imitate an adult in robbing people? Get out of here!"
Seeing that the plan was about to fail, if he didn't come up with something... Song Youning suddenly reached out and twisted Li Funing's ear: "Little Pear! I'm talking to you! You don't want your ears anymore, right?"
The pinch was done with skill, and Li Funing's fair cheeks immediately flushed.
He hissed in pain, a hint of fondness flashing in his eyes, and then he lowered his head obediently: "I was wrong, I was wrong. What are your orders, Your Majesty?"
She hurriedly let go and cleared her throat in a fierce manner: "You go! Talk to them. If they voluntarily hand over the things, I will spare their lives. If they don't accept my toast, I will punish them..."
"Yes, I obey your order!" Li Funing smiled and walked slowly towards the Zhou Mansion's carriage.
He didn't look like he had just been punished by the boss, but rather like he had just finished flirting with his wife.
He straightened his torn collar and walked towards Butler Zhou with elegant steps. His posture did not look like robbery, but rather like he was going to attend a poetry reading.
After walking a few steps, he stopped in front of the carriage and bowed politely: "My dear man, my king has a rule that he will never take action against anyone who can come to him with a letter. If you are willing to voluntarily hand over the goods to us, we will let you leave safely..."
"If you don't want to... then we'll have to beat you up first, extort money from you, and then let you go... Think about it carefully."
The old butler heard such a "polite" robbery for the first time. His gray beard trembled three times and he almost laughed out loud. He stroked his beard and said sarcastically, "You kid, your king scolded you silly, didn't you?"
He waved his hand and said, "Hit him!"
Four guards rushed over, their swords flashing like snow.
Just as the knife was about to come down, a red figure flew over and held Li Funing tightly in its arms. Their skirts overlapped and they spun in the air.
The sword in the red shadow man's hand made a "bang" sound, blocking the flying sword.
The two men descended steadily from the sky and stood beside Song Youning without any expression. Their postures were extremely ambiguous.
Xiao Lin teased, "Master Li, this prince saved your life!"
"How about Master Li, since the three of us grew up together, let me pay off the debt for the Dragon Mother Temple? Okay? It will save my father from scolding me in various ways every day..."
To others, the way the two talked was just like a story about a brave knight falling in love with a weak scholar, who then rejected them in every possible way.
Song Youning felt as if everyone's gazes seemed to pierce through them both. They all stretched their necks to watch, afraid of missing this wonderful scene.
She felt ashamed. She quietly took two steps behind a tree and muttered to herself, "I am not in the same group with them... Don't come here! Don't come here!"
Li Funing slapped Xiao Lin's hand that was resting on his waist and refused righteously: "No"
Xiao Lin raised his eyebrows: "Why?"
"That's the betrothal gift for the princess..."
Xiao Lin was stunned, feeling deeply humiliated. "What? You're using my money as a betrothal gift to the princess. How can you be so shameless?"
The old butler in the distance squinted his dim eyes and watched as this group of "bandits" started to make a commotion in the middle of the road, while the "polite" young man and the red-clothed swordsman were arguing with each other.
The bandit leader hiding behind the tree was even weirder. He covered his mouth and muttered something while hiding behind the tree, as if he was possessed by a ghost.
How could this be a robbery? It was clearly a troupe that had come to the wrong place! They performed a grand opera for them, and the few scattered bandits behind them were talking nonsense with their mouths bulging.
"Asan, did you hear what they were saying?" The old butler quietly tugged at the sleeve of the guard beside him.
The guard shook his head. "It's too far away to hear, but I seemed to have heard something about a betrothal gift. Could it be that those two have a homosexual bent?"
The old housekeeper pursed his lips and sneered, "Young people nowadays..." Suddenly, he remembered something and lowered his voice to a very low voice, "While these crazy people are not paying attention, we..."
Before he could finish his words, the bandit leader behind the tree suddenly jumped up!
"It's so noisy!"
Song Youning kicked away the two people who were blocking his way, and the soft sword at his waist was unsheathed with a clang.
He rushed to the carriage in two steps and kicked the old butler who was about to run away. "Old man! I have changed my mind. I don't want to waste my time talking to you!"
The old butler's beard trembled with fear: "Think twice, man! This is Zhou..."
"Zhou, you bastard! The one we arrested is you, Zhou..."
Song Youning flipped his wrist and slapped the back of the sword on the old butler's face, leaving a red mark.
She turned around and yelled at Li Funing, who was still struggling with Xiao Lin, "Are you two still making trouble? Why don't you get over here?"
After hearing this, the two finally shut up and crawled over.
Seeing that she was distracted, the old housekeeper rolled his eyes and suddenly took out a handful of lime powder from his sleeve and threw it in front of Song Youning!
"careful!"
Song Youning reacted extremely quickly and blocked it with his arm, so the lime powder hit nothing. How could he dare to launch a sneak attack?
Song Youning was so angry that he jumped into the car and swept his right leg, tripping the old housekeeper to the ground.
"Are you still planning sneak attacks?"
She stepped on the old butler's back as he tried to crawl away, and gently poked his butt with the tip of her sword. "Hand over all the silver you have! Compensate the mountain master for his efforts!"
The old housekeeper howled in pain: "W-what fee?"
"Compensation for the attack you just made on my head."
Li Funing squatted down, pulled the purse from the old housekeeper's waist, and waved it: "This is interest."
Song Youning raised his eyebrows and looked at Li Funing.
I didn't expect this nerd is so good at blackmailing people?
Li Funing looked at her with innocent eyes, but his hands skillfully touched the old housekeeper all over his body.
Silver bills, jade pendants, gold melon seeds...even the private money hidden in the sock pockets was not spared.
"Of course! This boy is teachable!" Song Youning nodded repeatedly. This kid is more sensible than that silly boy Xiao Lin.
Li Funing stuffed all the spoils into her waist pocket and whispered in her ear, "Your family has a long tradition of learning, and the princess taught you well..."
His warm breath sprayed on his ear, Song Youning's hand trembled, and the tip of the sword poked another hole in the old butler's butt.
The old housekeeper howled like a pig being slaughtered: "Ouch! Hey, two heroes, spare my life!"
Xiao Lin had already sat on the roof of the car without knowing when, chewing on an apple he had gotten from somewhere: "Tsk tsk, you two, you are violating public morals in broad daylight."
"Shut up!" Song Youning and Li Funing said in unison.
Seeing the two of them being affectionate with each other, the old housekeeper suddenly took out a knife as thin as a cicada's wing from his sleeve and stabbed it at Song Youning!
"clang!"
A sword fell from the sky and accurately knocked the knife away.
Xiao Lin jumped off the carriage, his face suddenly cold, and stepped on the old butler's wrist: "Hey, old man, do you think I don't exist?"
“It hurts…it hurts.”
Song Youning laughed, and his laughter made the old butler shudder.
She slowly put away her sword and fished out a thorny vine from the grass nearby. "Since you don't want to accept my toast, how about drinking a penalty?"
Li Funing considerately removed the sharp thorns from the armrest for her, then wrapped it in his handkerchief and handed it to her.
“Bang!”
The first whip hit the old butler's thigh, and the cloth immediately tore open, revealing a bloody mess.
"This whip is for human trafficking!"
“Bang!”
The second whip hit his back and the old butler curled up like a shrimp.
"This whip is to punish you for your shameless sneak attack!"
“Bang!”
The third whip ripped the old housekeeper's hair bun apart, and his gray hair covered his face.
"This whip..."
She tilted her head and thought for a moment, "I'll beat you, you ugly toad!"
Li Funing couldn't help but cover his mouth with his sleeve.
Xiao Lin danced and clapped on the roof of the car: "Good reason!"
The old housekeeper was already crying with tears and snot streaming down her face: "Auntie, please spare my life! I won't dare to do that again!"
Song Youning shook the cane, feeling it was boring, and waved at Li Funing: "I'll leave the rest to you."
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