Chapter 71: Joining the Game
When Feng Yanyuan followed Luqi into the piano pavilion, he suddenly felt the true energy in his body stagnate.
After a little practice, his palms felt hot, and he felt as if he had drunk a thousand cups of strong wine. He was drunk and a tingling sensation quietly wrapped around his meridians, condensing his internal strength inch by inch.
Is this... poison?
During the banquet, he first made false statements to test the expressions of the crowd, but found that they were all quite curious about what was written on the brocade - the secret in the brocade was unknown to these three people.
It seems that this situation is more confusing than imagined.
With this in mind, he deliberately hinted at a plan to set up an array for the palace—a feint to test the three men's strengths. If there really was a traitor among them, they might try to take advantage of him before the array was set up, thus catching them red-handed.
His eyes fell on Luqi's swaying figure as she walked forward.
Luqi's reaction was the most obvious. However, these two beautiful women were truly worthy of their reputation, and the poison was administered so silently that even Yuan'er failed to detect it.
Luqi turned sideways and looked back, seeing him standing still. Her drunken cheeks puffed slightly, and she said in a soft, sullen voice, "It's just a zither, not my embroidered couch... Your hesitation makes me very sad."
As she spoke, her slender hands had already lifted the gauze curtain, and inside the warm room wrapped in silk and satin, there was actually only a paulownia wood guqin.
As the guqin came into view, Feng Yanyuan's whole body suddenly shook. He involuntarily took a few quick steps and moved closer to the guqin.
"What a good piano... What a good piano!" He sighed, his eyes unconsciously wandering along the curves of the piano. "Sure enough, seeing is believing..."
Luqi leaned against the piano table, her chin supported by her delicate hand, her gauze sleeves slipped down, revealing a pair of white wrists as white as cream.
"Sir, since you recognize this zither," she leaned forward slightly, her breath carrying a faint aroma of wine, "why don't you just look at it? Why not... touch it?"
These words were extremely ambiguous, coupled with the panting sound, which man could resist them?
Feng Yanyuan, however, was completely absorbed in the guqin, his eyes filled with admiration. Without even looking up, he cheerfully replied, "Well... well, I'm sorry."
His fingers carefully stroked the lightning pattern on the zither's headstock, caressed the traces of time on the nut, and finally stopped at the broken string. Every detail of the zither's body was identical to the legendary "Luqi" precious zither. The tiny "Tongzi Hejing" seal engraved on the dragon gum was exactly the same as the characteristics recorded in ancient books. His long fingers couldn't help but pick up the broken string and pluck it to tune it.
Luqi's fingertips gently stroked the back of Feng Yanyuan's hand, leaving a faint warm touch.
"Sir, these hands..." She parted her red lips, her breath sweet as orchid, "They're three times more dexterous than ours."
Feng Yanyuan seemed unaware and focused on tuning the strings until the last string passed through the Feng Marsh. Then he laughed contentedly and said, "That's it!" Then he hooked the string with his long finger, and there was a "clang" sound, and the lingering sound lingered in the air.
He was concentrating on appreciating the heavenly music with his eyes closed, when he suddenly felt lost in a trance. For some unknown reason, the sound of the zither lingered on, extending and twisting, and gradually transformed into a strange ballad:
"Drinking strong wine, I am intoxicated——"
"The fragrance of the sleeves is so strong that it erodes the soul——"
"Knock on the Huizhou merchants and cut off the dust——"
Each syllable is like a hook, drilling straight into people's hearts.
Feng Yanyuan's eyes blurred as he suddenly saw countless graceful figures floating out from the strings of the zither. Sometimes they transformed into the allure of Luqi, sometimes into the coolness of Yunyuan. Their light gauze skirts danced in the air, their belts gradually widening, revealing their delicate bodies.
A sweet aroma washed over him, and Feng Yanyuan felt his breath stop. Suddenly, he felt a soft body pressed against his back, lips almost touching his earlobe, stirring a subtle shudder.
In the hazy air, he could smell a familiar medicinal fragrance—it was the scent of winter plum blossoms wafting through Yun Yuan's hair at dusk the day before. He seemed to see again that neck dyed red by the setting sun, and that heart-pounding color on the lips...
As my mind gradually faded, an old voice suddenly cut through the fog like a sharp sword.
"Let go of desires and your mind will naturally be at peace. Clear your heart and your spirit will naturally be clear. When you can wield this powerful pen and write even tiny characters without damaging the tip, you will have truly tamed the beast within you."
Elder Yue's teachings, which had pierced through ten years of time, suddenly resonated within his mind. Feng Yanyuan's eyes flew open, and the zhenqi in his dantian, like a dormant dragon awakening, flowed from the qi sea directly into the baihui acupoint, following the same brushstrokes he had copied countless times back then.
The chaos suddenly cleared up, and everything before my eyes became clear.
But he found that there was no woman's silk dress in front of him, only this paulownia guqin, and even Luqi had disappeared.
Feng Yanyuan flung aside the purple gauze curtains and darted towards the door. Before his fingertips touched the carved door, he heard Commander Xiao's roar and heard explosions from the inner courtyard. He flung open the door and saw flames rising from the northeast corner, staining the night sky blood red.
This Luqi is quite anxious...
He had not yet finished sneering and was about to go out when he suddenly heard the sound of dripping water behind him.
"While I was bathing," Luqi's voice was shrouded in mist, "you have lost your patience, sir. Are you leaving?"
Feng Yanyuan suddenly turned around—the woman behind the screen was wrapped in a plain gauze, her wet hair dripping with water as it trickled down her snow-white shoulders. Her delicate face, flushed by the heat, was as vibrant as the firelight in the inner courtyard.
Not her?!
He looked towards the fire again, his brow furrowed. Who is that?!
While he was in doubt, Feng Yanyuan shot out of the door like an arrow.
Luqi stood by the door, half of the golden bell rope wrapped around her fingertips, a cold light flashing in her eyes: "You can actually break my demon guide..."
Feng Yanyuan flew down to the inner courtyard, only to find Commander Xiao had already driven away the surrounding palace guards. As the firelight flickered, his pupils constricted—the black iron anklet bound Yun Yuan!
The girl squatted on the bluestone slab with her knees hugged, her scattered hair covering half of her face, revealing only her tightly pursed lips.
"Yuan'er! Why are you here?" He took two steps forward and reached out to hold her shoulders.
As soon as her fingertips touched the familiar fabric, Yun Yuan suddenly broke free, her movements so violent that the chains around her wrists rattled. She avoided his gaze, her voice soft as a thread, "I was just thrown in here to try out a trap."
"Who?"
"Don't worry." Yun Yuan finally raised her eyes, but her gaze passed him and looked into the distance: "She is not the beautiful woman who was playing the zither and the qin with the young master just now." She said this very softly, but the ending tone trembled slightly.
"Relax...what do you mean?" Feng Yanyuan was stunned and tried to find her gaze, but she avoided him. She looked up at Commander Xiao and said, "Please take me to the stone prison to await trial." The girl's straight back cast a stubborn shadow in the firelight, and her eyes always avoided Feng Yanyuan's pursuing eyes.
Commander Xiao frowned, doubts rising in his heart.
His original plan was to test whether there were any accomplices within the palace, so he set up an ambush in the inner courtyard of the palace. He initially suspected that the girl had second thoughts about Feng Yanyuan, perhaps serving as a contact, but seeing Feng Yanyuan's concern and lack of suspicion, he hesitated again.
He thought of Zuo Xiaoyao. Yesterday, he had privately asked Zuo Xiaoyao, "Why did the prince insist on seeing the silk in private? Do you know what's inside?" At that moment, Zuo Xiaoyao simply shook his head and smiled, "Commander Xiao, who in Shouchun City doesn't know that the prince wants to recruit the Third Young Master Feng?" Then, patting him on the shoulder, he said meaningfully, "Even when beating a dog, you have to look at the owner first, let alone this beloved one the master longs for, yearns for day and night. Don't you agree?"
The more Commander Xiao thought about it, the more he hesitated to speculate, fearing they might be plotting something he hadn't figured out, which would displease the prince. He could only politely escort her to the stone prison. Just before locking the door, he saw Feng Yanyuan follow him in. He hesitated for a moment, then mumbled, "This door...must be locked!"
Feng Yanyuan expressed his gratitude. Commander Xiao locked the prison door and instructed the guards to take good care of the two men. Then, full of suspicion, he went to report to the prince.
The two were silent for a while, and Feng Yanyuan suddenly chuckled.
Yun Yuan gave him a sidelong glance and turned away angrily.
Feng Yanyuan leaned forward and leaned over to search her eyes: "I was wondering why Little Zhuge was so distracted today. Not only did he fail to identify the poison, but he was also captured. It turns out that..." He deliberately dragged out his tone, "He was jealous!"
Yun Yuan didn't want to see his smug look, so she dodged left and right, trying to get away from him. But he pressed on, pressing her until her back was against the stone wall. She finally looked up and glared at him, then suddenly, like a cat, sniffed at his clothes.
Feng Yanyuan was startled at first, then he burst into laughter and opened his arms generously: "Smell it carefully."
There was indeed no scent of powder. Yun Yuan raised an eyebrow and said, "Young Master is the first one to escape unscathed after being struck by Lu Qi's Heavenly Demonic Induction. The taste of that soft jade and warm fragrance..."
Before she finished speaking, Feng Yanyuan suddenly leaned close to her neck and sniffed, then covered his nose exaggeratedly: "The sour smell of this aged vinegar is so pungent that it makes me unable to open my eyes."
Yun Yuan raised her hand and elbowed him, and he covered his chest with his hands and grimaced.
"I am a humble woman, so naturally I cannot compare to the beauty's beautiful body and delicate figure."
Feng Yanyuan raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "My concubine?"
Yun Yuan glanced up at him and asked, "Sir, do you like this self-proclaimed title?"
"Just because I like you, I have to change my mind?" Feng Yanyuan smiled lewdly, with unconcealable pride in his eyes.
"Tao Niang said..." She pouted, "Men like to hear it."
Feng Yanyuan couldn't help but laugh: "So the one you're talking about with such gritting your teeth is also from the Taoyao Sect?"
Yun Yuan frowned angrily: "If you don't like it, then forget it. I am just a servant, how could I..."
"It's you I like."
This confession caught Yun Yuan off guard. Her heart skipped a beat. She raised her bright eyes in panic and met his smiling eyes. She quickly lowered her eyes and looked away, her cheeks burning.
"As long as you stop calling yourself a slave, you can call yourself anything." Feng Yanyuan leaned closer. "If you call me 'Zi Shang', or..." He deliberately dragged out the last syllable, "Lang..."
As soon as the word "Lang" came out, Yun Yuan interrupted him hastily: "Sir... Young Master, you set up a trap today. Could it be that you have even taken Luqi's aphrodisiac incense into account?" Her eyelashes trembled like butterflies in panic, but they could not hide the increasingly bright red color on the tip of her ears.
Feng Yanyuan chuckled softly, pulling out a sachet from his sleeve and turning it between his fingers. "Speaking of which, what exactly is in this? Last time, the drug dissipated with a flick of the wrist, but why is it completely ineffective today? I'm forced to use my true energy to break through the chaos."
Yun Yuan stared at the sachet and suddenly realized: "Did you take Hanmei Powder?"
"So that's what it's called?" Feng Yanyuan shook the sachet. "Song Hezi said this one is worth every herb in his medicine house. I wanted to risk it myself, but the pharmacist was busy mixing vinegar, so I had to take some myself to save my life."
"How can Hanmei Powder dispel the demonic attraction?" Yun Yuan couldn't help laughing. "It's a feast for all seven orifices. If used properly, it can cure inner demons..." Her eyes flickered, and the pent-up energy had mostly dissipated. "But the Soul-Locking Incense that blocks internal energy is somewhat toxic... I'm afraid it's because of Hanmei Powder that this true energy is rushing out and causing trouble. Otherwise... I don't know how happy the young master would be right now."
Feng Yanyuan said helplessly, "How can you say you're happy? Since it's just a show, you have to be hypocritical. Unlike you, you didn't even look up the whole afternoon, and yet you made me drink that drugged wine."
Yun Yuan snorted softly, "You didn't seem forced at all when you went to the Qin Pavilion. I heard that Luqi's qin is a replica of Sima Xiangru's qin, from the wood to the strings, even the tiniest cracks are exactly the same." Her eyes flickered, "I think you've got what you wanted."
Feng Yanyuan felt uneasy and could only say awkwardly, "It's just... it's just a guqin..." His voice gradually faded away. Seeing Yun Yuan turned away again, he quickly changed the subject and asked, "How... how did you get caught?"
Yun Yuan frowned upon hearing this. "I don't know what got into me today. I chose a secluded and deserted path. That person was waiting outside the Qin Pavilion. I really let myself be manipulated."
Feng Yanyuan was overjoyed when he heard this regret.
Yun Yuan suddenly raised her eyes and asked, "What exactly is painted on that brocade?"
Feng Yanyuan paused, then said with a serious expression, "A map of the palace."
Yun Yuan was slightly stunned. "What's this plan?" She carefully sorted out her thoughts. "This spy came here to frame you, but also took the opportunity to inform the Prince of Huainan—there's a mole in the palace?"
Feng Yanyuan sighed softly, "That's right. And judging from today's tests, none of these people know what's written on this silk."
"Yes..." Yun Yuan nodded and said, "Otherwise, Luqi wouldn't have risked poisoning the young master. That person also captured me first to test the trap. These two are cautious, but they don't know there is a plan behind the game..."
"Or maybe," Feng Yanyuan said coldly, "I was abandoned."
The two looked at each other, reflecting the same worry.
"Luqi is alone. If Your Majesty touches her, it will only damage your reputation. But if you punish that person..." Yun Yuan frowned, "I'm afraid that this would be a trick of killing someone with a borrowed knife and diverting the trouble to someone else."
Feng Yanyuan was stunned: "Do you know who it is? Are you sure you can find that person?"
"I left a backup plan when I was captured." Yun Yuan nodded slightly, "But this truth... I'm afraid it will be another trap for the King of Huainan."
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