Chapter 10 Paying the debt of love The door opens, Du Yubai...
The door of the mansion opened, and Du Yubai stood in front of the mansion in white clothes. The man had an upright figure and his wide sleeves fluttered in the wind. Although he had not yet truly entered the officialdom, he already had the intention of being a poor and loyal official.
Hearing the movement at the door, Du Yubai raised his head, put his hands together and bowed slightly to the person who came.
"Lord Deng, are you well? I came here uninvited because I had no choice. My mother was seriously ill at home, and I left Beijing in a hurry. I was not able to inform Lord Deng in time. This was inconsiderate of me. Please don't blame me, Lord Deng."
There was white hair between Du Yubai's eyebrows, and it was not known whether it was frost or dew. It seemed that he must have come to the capital overnight and rushed to the Shangshu Mansion to apologize without any rest.
Lord Deng liked this top scholar from a poor family from the bottom of his heart and was planning to recruit him as his son-in-law, so how could he blame him for leaving without saying goodbye?
Thinking of this, Lord Deng waved his hand to show that it was no big deal, and then turned around and went back to the house. The moment he stepped over the threshold, he paused, and suddenly turned around to look at Du Yubai, a smile appearing on his face.
"Yubai, I don't blame you for suddenly disappearing for a few days, but if I let you go like this, I'm afraid I won't be able to explain to the people in the Ministry of Personnel. They've been searching for you for many days, and I have to give them an explanation."
Lord Deng walked down the steps to Du Yubai, patted him on the shoulder, and spoke earnestly.
Upon hearing this, beads of sweat appeared on Du Yu's forehead, but he didn't dare to say anything more, for fear that Lord Deng would cancel his qualification as a Jinshi with a single order.
"According to Lord Deng's opinion, what should Yubai do?" Du Yubai was very savvy and immediately understood the meaning of Lord Deng's words.
"Hahahaha, you are worthy of being the top scholar that several adults are vying for. You are so smart!" Lord Deng raised his chin towards the mansion, then turned and walked up the stairs.
Du Yubai understood immediately. He lifted the hem of his clothes with one hand, walked up the stairs and followed Lord Deng into the mansion.
Not far ahead, a maid quickly stepped forward and whispered something to Lord Deng, glancing at him. Du Yubai was not in a hurry either, just standing there without looking away.
Not knowing what Lord Deng had ordered, the maid looked at Du Yubai again, nodded in agreement, and then walked towards Du Yubai.
"Mr. Du, my master would like to invite you to have a cup of tea. Please follow me." The maid stood beside Du Yubai with her head lowered, looking like she was obedient.
I guess Lord Deng has something to say.
Du Yubai didn't refuse. He nodded to Lord Deng and followed the maid through the archway, heading straight into the depths of the Deng Mansion. He didn't know where the cup of tea Lord Deng mentioned was.
Outside the archway, Lord Deng was still wearing his official uniform. He was standing under the green trees in a red robe, and was looking at the man in white who was gradually moving away in front of him with a sinister smile.
Since Du Yubai is here, he can't let anyone leave in vain. Deng Yesi is lying on the bed in a disheveled state. Why not take the opportunity to let the two of them meet? Then he can let someone spread some rumors, and then he will get the top scholar son-in-law, right?
"As soon as Mr. Du enters my lady's courtyard, immediately! Right now! Lock the gate. No one is allowed to open it without my order. Otherwise..." Lord Deng raised his palm, pursed his lips, and said viciously, "If anyone escapes, I will beat you to death!"
*
Courtyard, tea room.
Deng Yesi was half-kneeling in front of the low table, making tea, a smile on his face.
Madam Luo came to the mansion with great difficulty. She insisted on letting people try her new tea, which was specially brought from Jiangnan by Jia Lang. She had been reluctant to drink it before.
"Madam Luo, please wait a moment, the tea will be ready soon." Deng Yesi was busy running around, and then she walked around the room with the teapot in her hand. She seemed to be in a much better mood. After she was busy for a while, she suddenly supported her lower back with one hand and leaned her upper body back slightly.
"Take a break, I'll make it for you," Luo Qingling hurriedly stepped forward to take the teapot and helped Deng Yesi sit down. "Madam Deng is pregnant now, she can't go through so much trouble, let me do it!"
Hearing this, Deng Yesi covered her mouth and laughed, her whole body leaning on the low couch. She looked at Luo Qingling's skillful tea-making skills and said with a smile: "You called me Yesi, I didn't expect Qingling to be able to make tea. I guess Qingling must have made some preparations for the tea party in a few days?"
"What's a tea party?" Luo Qingling didn't grow up in the capital, so she was naturally unaware of the major banquets held there. She asked while still brewing tea.
"Every spring, the Queen hosts a tea party in the palace, inviting all the high officials and their families to join her for tea," Deng Yesi said mid-sentence. Suddenly, he stood up and approached Luo Qingling, a sly smile on his face. "Qingqing, you haven't been promised to anyone yet, have you? Why not take this opportunity to pick a suitable husband and stay in the capital with me?"
"I've only just reached the age of marriage, it's still too early, and I don't want to... Never mind, I can't make sense to you, so stop making fun of me!"
Luo Qingling was currently thinking about her father, and it was precisely for her father's sake that she had traveled thousands of miles to the capital.
It just so happened that the Empress had recently asked the young prince Qin Yanheng to come and see her. She thought she might as well take this opportunity to establish a relationship with Qin Yanheng so that she could ask someone to transfer her father back to the capital to recuperate. But who knew...
"Alright, alright, I won't say anything. What are you daydreaming about?" Deng Yesi waved his hand in front of Luo Qingling's eyes, his tone somewhat dissatisfied. "I know you don't want to get married too early, because the feeling of living with your parents at home is different from living with your mother-in-law. But Qingqing, you can see that I'm in a worse situation than running away with Jia Lang."
Even now, Deng Yesi's mind is still full of Jia Lang... Luo Qingling didn't want Deng Yesi to continue to worry, so he hurriedly pushed the teacup in front of her and stopped the topic.
There were footsteps outside the courtyard, but the two thought it was just a maid and didn't pay much attention. Luo Qingling stood up and was about to pour out the tea leaves, but when he turned around, he saw the bead curtain at the door of the tea room shaking, and a man appeared outside the room.
"Who's outside?" Luo Qingling asked loudly, but the curtain kept swinging in response. "Who is it? If he doesn't come out..."
The voice suddenly disappeared, and a pair of white hands lifted the bead curtain from the outside. The man walked in with his head lowered and slightly bowed. He walked past Luo Qingling and went straight towards Deng Yesi.
"Du Zhuangyuan?" Luo Qingling had seen this man before. They had met at the Qujiang Banquet that night.
What was Du Yubai's intention in barging into the teahouse so rudely? Furthermore, how did he get in? It couldn't be that Lord Deng had let him in on purpose... However, Lord Deng had always wanted to recruit him as his son-in-law, so this move was not surprising.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong. She hurried forward to stop Du Yubai and said, "Mr. Du, if you have something important to say, why not just say it? It's not appropriate to trespass into the teahouse without permission."
"Yubai just came to ask for a cup of tea, why is this young lady so nervous?" Du Yubai stopped and stood with his back to Luo Qingling. "Could it be that as a newly-minted Jinshi, I can't even have a cup of tea in the Shangshu Mansion?"
"When did I say that Mr. Du is not allowed to drink tea?" Luo Qingling stood in place, squinting at Du Yubai's back with a vigilant look on his face.
Where Du Yubai couldn't see, she quickly gave Deng Yesi a look, signaling the latter to leave quickly.
"Don't the young lady's words mean that you are not welcome to Yubai?" Du Yubai did not move, only his voice came out, which made people a little confused.
Deng Yesi supported herself on the couch with her hands and quietly moved her feet toward the door. Just as she was about to get up and leave, Du Yubai suddenly moved his right foot and continued to walk toward her. Deng Yesi looked up in a daze at Du Yubai, who was getting closer and closer. For some reason, she stopped making any sound.
Something is wrong with Du Yubai!
Luo Qingling's hand hidden in his sleeve secretly grasped the Golden Dragon Sword, and with the other hand he quickly stepped forward holding the teapot. Then he pretended to slip and suddenly poured the teapot full of hot water forward, and the tea deepened the color of half of Du Yubai's sleeve.
"Mr. Du, I'm so sorry... Ugh!"
Suddenly, a black line wrapped around his neck. Luo Qingling stared at Du Yubai with wide eyes. The latter chuckled and turned around slowly. There was an obvious red mark on his neck - it was the monster that kidnapped Deng Yesi, his aunt and others that night!
Luo Qingling glanced at Deng Yesi's slightly bulging belly and immediately realized: the monster disguised as Du Yubai came for the baby in Deng Yesi's belly!
The golden dragon sword in his hand shook slightly, probably because he sensed the evil spirit.
Luo Qingling hid the hand holding the sword behind her back. She looked up and glared at Du Yubai, wanting to take advantage of his unpreparedness to launch a sneak attack, but Du Yubai seemed to see through Luo Qingling's thoughts.
He bent slightly and moved closer to her. He opened his thin lips slightly and a wisp of black smoke came out of his mouth, instantly surrounding Luo Qingling.
Something.
Luo Qingling was about to raise his Golden Dragon Sword when he found himself unable to move an inch. Oh no! The demon had become clever after not being seen for a few days, now figuring out how to immobilize a person before harming them, denying their prey a chance to escape.
She gritted her teeth and swung her sword-holding hand forward, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find the right point to exert force and could only watch Du Yubai walk towards Deng Yesi.
We must not let him suck the baby out of Deng Yesi's belly!
Luo Qingling felt a chill in her heart. The Golden Dragon Sword kept vibrating in her hand, but she was powerless to do anything.
In front of him, Deng Yesi was lying on her back on a low couch, with white threads emerging from her lower abdomen. Du Yubai was half-kneeling in front of her, closing his eyes with an expression of enjoyment on his face. He opened his mouth slightly, and white threads flew from Deng Yesi's abdomen into his mouth.
no!
In a hurry, Luo Qingling moved the hand that was gripping the hilt of the sword, and a golden light flew out from the sword. In the blink of an eye, it pierced Du Yubai's back, leaving a big hole behind him. His body was broken, but no blood flowed out. Instead, black smoke came out from it.
Du Yubai stood there in a daze, slowly lowering his head to look at his body which was missing a piece, then slowly stood up and turned to look at Luo Qingling, still sucking the white silk bead from his mouth.
Behind her, Deng Yesi seemed to have lost consciousness, staring straight at the beams with no light in her eyes. As the last white silk flew out of her belly, Deng Yesi instantly turned into a pottery figurine.
This monster is truly arrogant! He broke into someone's house in broad daylight and just... turned them into terracotta figurines?
Luo Qingling struggled to break free from the black smoke that was controlling her, but the black smoke seemed to have consciousness and became tighter and tighter. In the end, she even had difficulty breathing.
Du Yubai lowered his chin with a gloomy expression, his dark eyes fixed on Luo Qingling. He did not move, as if he was thinking about how to deal with her.
"You stinky monster, if you dare to touch me, I will never let you leave this teahouse!" Luo Qingling cursed loudly, just to give herself courage. After all, the winner was clear at the moment, and she couldn't lose so shamefully. She at least struggled before she died.
Du Yubai seemed not to hear anything, with no expression on his face. He raised his foot and slowly walked towards her, with black smoke continuously coming out of the hole in his chest that had just been pierced by the Golden Dragon Sword.
It’s bad, it’s bad, this time she is the one who can’t leave the tea room - Luo Qingling suddenly closed her eyes, praying in her heart that she would not be so painful when she died.
The yellow talisman flew out and stuck directly on Du Yubai's forehead. The latter stood still. Luo Qingling closed his eyes and did not see this scene.
Suddenly I felt a breeze blowing past my ears, blowing up the hair on my temples, accompanied by a sneer.
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