Chapter Thirty-Nine: Enemies Meet on a Narrow Road
Throughout the journey, there was no shortage of complaints and grumbling.
Someone gritted their teeth and said, "This imperial advisor really thinks he's someone important. Making me climb such a long flight of stairs, does he think he's walking a dog?"
The young man in blue robes beside him sneered, "If you have the guts, why don't you go and curse him to his face later?"
"You!" The man's face flushed red. "Are you really willing to be this sucker? My legs are about to break!"
“What can he do if he’s unwilling? He’s the most trusted man by the Emperor right now,” the blue-robed youth said in a low voice. “I heard that this banquet has a hidden agenda. The Imperial Advisor wants to select a chosen one who can bring prosperity to the country.” He paused meaningfully. “My father specifically instructed that we must climb up, even if we have to crawl.”
Li Bao'er listened intently to the conversation, her steps unconsciously slowing down.
The mysterious Imperial Preceptor Fang Xu was said to be a reclusive master whom Consort Zhang had found by chance. She had seen him once from afar at a palace banquet—he always wore a plain white veil, which he never took off even when eating. But she was very curious about what his divination ability was.
"Sister?" Ye Yun's worried voice pulled her back to reality. The little girl looked at Li Bao'er, who was panting and her face was starting to turn pale, and said worriedly, "Let's rest for a while?"
Li Bao'er then realized that she was already out of breath. She sighed and nodded, thinking that she shouldn't try to be strong when she shouldn't.
Looking up, the bluestone steps gleamed dazzlingly in the sunlight, seemingly endless, while that kid Li Yu had already skipped and jumped ahead by twenty or thirty steps, turning around to make a face at her.
"Sister is too weak!" The boy's clear voice floated down from above. "I told you to get up early to practice, but you insisted on sleeping in." Before he finished speaking, he had already run down to help her.
Suddenly, a figure in green walked against the flow of people. Xiao Han handed over a handkerchief: "You look so pale, are you feeling unwell?"
Li Bao'er's fingertips trembled as she took the handkerchief: "You know I've always been physically weak."
Xiao Han suddenly turned around and half-squatted down: "Get on, I'll carry you."
“This is against the rules…” Li Bao’er subconsciously stepped back. She absolutely could not let Xiao Han carry her. There is a difference between men and women, and besides, she was already engaged.
Li Yu glared at Xiao Han with a stern face: "I'll carry my older sister on my back!"
"You?" Xiao Han glanced at Li Yu. "Who was it that carried someone and fell into the lotus pond last time?"
Li Yu's face flushed instantly. That was clearly an embarrassing incident from when he was ten years old!
Xiao Han's words reminded her that the Imperial Advisor had said that everyone should climb the mountain, but he hadn't said that she had to climb it on her own two legs.
As her eyes darted around, she suddenly caught sight of Li Zhou, who was pretending to be dead standing to the side, and a sly smile immediately appeared on her red lips.
"Stop arguing," Li Bao'er suddenly pointed to Li Zhou behind her, "You carry me on your back."
"Me?" Li Zhou's eyes widened as if struck by lightning, and he pointed at himself, asking, "You want me to carry you up the mountain?!"
Li Bao'er nodded confidently.
What a joke! It's not easy to climb these hundred stone steps even with empty hands, let alone with weights. She couldn't bear to see Li Yu or Xiao Han suffer like that.
Since Li Zhou had promised to take care of her today, it was natural for him to carry her on his back. Besides, he was considered her younger brother to outsiders, so there was no question of improper etiquette.
A knowing glint flashed in Xiao Han's eyes. He chuckled lightly, a hint of helplessness mixed with doting affection, "Brother Li is indeed the most suitable to carry his own sister. In that case, we'll trouble you, Brother Li." He deliberately raised his voice, "It'll be a good opportunity for everyone to see how much Young Master Li respects his elder sister."
Li Zhou's face turned pale and then red. Under the intense gazes of everyone, he finally gritted his teeth and squatted down.
As Li Bao'er triumphantly climbed on top of him, she heard him grind his back teeth and whisper, "You definitely did this on purpose."
"How could that be?" She leaned close to his ear and chuckled. "Didn't my good little brother say he would take care of his big sister?"
Li Zhou was speechless, but he realized that Li Bao'er liked to use this incident to morally blackmail him, yet he couldn't refuse...
Although Li Yu understood Bao'er's intentions, she still felt a pang of jealousy. Li Zhou was an ingrate!
Recalling her childhood, Li Yu's disgust for Li Zhou welled up uncontrollably.
Because Li Zhou was born prematurely and was weak and sickly, doctors predicted at birth that he would not live past the age of six. He was born with fair skin and a thin build.
That vicious woman Zhang Yingying doesn't even care about her own son, and the snobbish servants in Lizhou Courtyard often skimp on his food.
When Li Zhou was starving, he would always sneak to Qingfeng Courtyard. His older sister was soft-hearted and, even though she was only a year older than them, she would always share her snacks with him.
When the older sister saw that Li Zhou was pitiful, she felt sorry for him and took good care of him.
Every time they were punished by their father, their older sister would stand in front of them to protect them.
It was this unguarded trust that led the older sister to drink the bowl of white fungus soup that Li Zhou brought from Zhang Yingying's courtyard, almost costing her her life!
"Li Yu?" Xiao Han gently nudged him when he noticed he was lost in thought.
Li Yu snapped back to reality and caught up with the group again.
Li Zhou had just carried Li Bao'er up about twenty steps when a commotion suddenly broke out at the bend in the mountain path.
A sedan chair with a black background and gold patterns was slowly making its way up the official road, escorted by eight guards. The dark gold dragon patterns embroidered on the curtains were faintly visible in the sunlight, so dazzling that it was hard to open one's eyes.
"Another exception!" someone in the crowd shouted first.
"Is the Imperial Advisor treating us like monkeys?"
The crowd erupted in an uproar. Several hot-blooded young men rushed forward, blocking the sedan chair with their arms outstretched: "We demand an explanation today!"
"Clang!"
A flash of sword light appeared, and the fan in the hand of the person blocking the way was broken in two. Just as the person was about to speak, a soft cough suddenly came from inside the sedan chair.
The sound wasn't loud, but it was like a bucket of ice water poured over everyone's heads.
The men blocking the road suddenly changed their expressions and staggered back several steps.
The sedan curtain was gently lifted by a pair of slender hands, revealing half of a handsome and unparalleled face.
A glaring scar beneath the man's eye lingered, and a thin smile played on his lips: "Are you all trying to stop me?"
Li Bao'er froze. That voice... Mu Cenlin!
What a small world! She hadn't forgotten how that bastard had left her alone high up in a tree a few days ago, making her scream her lungs out and almost fall to her death in that embarrassing state! She hadn't even settled that score with him yet, and here he was, swaggering around like this?
Mu Cenlin's gaze swept across the entire room seemingly unintentionally, finally landing precisely on Li Bao'er, who was trying to minimize her presence.
The half-smile on his lips seemed to deepen slightly, and his eyes were deep and unfathomable, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Li Bao'er's scalp tingled instantly, a sense of foreboding washing over her. This madman… was he going to cause trouble in public again? He was currently being blocked in the street, and in his anger, she hadn't forgotten his unpredictable temper and formidable destructive power!
[Host! Stay calm! What's meant to be will be! Remember, you're the best!] 001 is urgently online to provide tactical guidance.
Li Bao'er quickly lowered her eyelashes, not wanting to have anything to do with him, but in her heart she had already cursed Mu Cenlin eight hundred times over.
Bao'er even whispered in Li Zhou's ear, "Quickly slip away to the side and don't cause trouble."
Looking at her "quail-like" appearance, Mu Cenlin's eyes flashed with a barely perceptible amusement. "Is it you? Li Bao'er?"
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