Chapter 87
"Ah Ying, don't move. Just let me hold you like this for a while."
The low and gentle voice was like the sound of a stream, flowing gently into Yu Ying's ears, without any lust, but the words were full of tenderness.
Yu Ying's pounding heartbeat gradually slowed down, and even her stiff body gradually softened.
She leaned trustingly in Fu Wei's arms, her palms against his chest, feeling the strong beating inside his chest.
This was the only time since Yu Ying first fell in love that she had completely relaxed in the arms of an adult man.
Her cheeks and chest felt slightly hot.
Fu Wei's breathing gradually became calmer as he embraced the soft and warm body tightly. A faint herbal fragrance lingered in his nostrils, making him want to get closer and bury himself deeper in the crook of her neck.
After a long while, he exhaled his warm breath and called out softly and slowly, "Ah Ying."
"Hmm?" Yu Ying responded to him.
"Aying." Another low murmur.
Yu Ying understood that he just wanted to call her name.
Seeing that he had been holding her for a long time, and her legs and feet outside the bed gradually became numb, she had no choice but to push him away.
Fu Wei raised his head from the crook of her neck and looked at the person in his arms with confused eyes.
When he lowered his head, Yu Ying also raised her head and looked at him.
The room was quiet, the dim and soft candlelight reflected on the handsome face, and the black eyes were full of light.
Yu Ying saw her little self in those sparkling black eyes.
In Fu Wei's eyes, the world is big, but he can only see her.
She seemed to also feel the affection for herself from his black eyes.
In this brief moment, Yu Ying temporarily forgot the extravagant hope of going home which she knew was impossible. At this moment, her heart was pounding.
It is almost impossible to meet someone who likes you wholeheartedly, respects you, and whom you like too.
But now Yu Ying encountered it.
A faint smile appeared on Yu Ying's face involuntarily. Seeing Fu Wei's drunken and dazed look, she stood up slightly, stretched her neck, suddenly pecked his exceptionally rosy thin lips, and then retracted her lips in an instant.
Although Yu Ying's cheeks were flushed, she still looked at him with a smile.
Fu Wei seemed to be frozen at this moment.
He stared at her blankly. After two breaths, his eyes slowly widened, and then stars seemed to twinkle in his eyes.
But unfortunately, at this moment, there was a knock on the door, and the voice of Wu Xiaoyamen came from outside the room: "Madam Yu, the hot water is here."
Yu Ying took his arm away from her waist and said softly, "I'll go get some water."
As she finished speaking and was about to get up, Fu Wei suddenly woke up from a dream, and instinctively put his arms around her waist again, lifted her up, and then lowered his head to capture her lips.
This time it was Yu Ying who was so shocked that her eyes widened, not knowing how to react for a moment.
Both of them had no experience, but Fu Wei relied on instinct to suck on the soft lips. Just as he was about to pry open the lips and teeth, there was another knock on the door.
"Is Madam Yu not here?"
Yu Ying suddenly came to her senses, her face flushed, and she pushed Fu Wei away with force.
Fu Wei, who was pushed away, looked at Yu Ying in a daze, as if he didn't understand why she pushed him away when they were kissing each other so happily.
Yu Ying: ...
Fu Wei's expression was too innocent, and for a moment she felt an inexplicable sense of guilt.
In a moment, Yu Ying quickly shook her head to get rid of this absurd idea.
She took advantage of Fu Wei's confusion, quickly pulled his hand away, and escaped from his arms.
After taking two steps back, she turned around with a flushed face and walked towards the door.
Wu Xiaoyacha, who was waiting outside the house, thought that Madam Yu was not in the house and had gone out temporarily, so he waited outside with water.
But at this moment, the door suddenly opened and Wu Xiaoyacha was surprised to see Madam Yu. He said, "I thought Madam Yu was not in the room."
Yu Ying felt embarrassed, but she tried to calm herself down. She smiled slightly and said, "I was busy taking care of my husband just now, so I didn't respond for a while."
Wu Xiaoyacha didn't suspect anything and handed the basin over, asking, "Madam Yu, do you have any other instructions?"
Yu Ying took the basin and shook her head, saying, "No more. I'll trouble Wu Yacha tonight."
Wu Xiaoyacha was flattered and said, "It's not a bother at all. It's my honor to be able to help Mr. Fu."
Wu Xiaoyacha's words were full of respect. It seemed that Fu Wei really stole the limelight tonight.
After letting Wu Xiaoyacha go to rest, Yu Ying held the basin in one hand and closed the door.
When he turned around and walked back into the house, Fu Wei, who was still in a daze just now, had already laid down and fallen asleep with his eyes closed.
Yu Ying couldn't help but smile, and then put the basin of water on the stool beside the bed. She sat down on the edge of the bed, took a handkerchief, dipped it in water, wrung it half dry, and wiped Fu Wei's face and hands.
*
Compared to Fu Wei's love of wine when drunk, County Magistrate Zhou was completely different.
County Magistrate Zhou was sent back to the house by the yamen runners. Unexpectedly, due to his wife's anger, he kissed his son awake.
Magistrate Zhou hugged his half-asleep son and kissed him, saying happily, "My good son, today Daddy is really proud of himself!"
Madam Zhou said angrily, "My brother is very particular about his bed, and he was woken up by a drunkard like you just when he fell asleep."
County Magistrate Zhou grinned at his wife, put his son down, and hugged his wife in his arms. He smacked her face, which reeked of alcohol, and made his wife push him away in disgust.
Unable to bear it any longer, Madam Zhou threatened, "If you don't let go, when you sober up, I'll make you go out to sleep and let the people in the government office laugh at you!"
County Magistrate Zhou was under such a tight grip that he had to reluctantly let go of his hand, but he still had a smile on his face.
Finally able to breathe, Madam Zhou exhaled a breath and said, "Look how happy you are! Someone who didn't know you would think you had found gold today."
County Magistrate Zhou laughed: "I really did pick up gold, but it wasn't me who picked it up, it was Fu Wei who picked it up!"
Madam Zhou asked in confusion, "What's going on?"
Magistrate Zhou lifted his son, who was rubbing his eyes, into his arms and said, "That old man from Wu'an County wanted to make fun of me and Yu County. He had his staff embarrass Fu Wei, hoping to humiliate me in public by humiliating Fu Wei. Unexpectedly, Fu Wei humiliated him back with his own strength. In the end, even the prefect praised Fu Wei."
Wu'an County and Yu County are neighboring counties and have always been at odds with each other.
But since the magistrate of Wu'an County had been in office for more than ten years, compared to him who had only been the magistrate of Cangwu County for three years, it was obvious who the prefect would favor.
After what happened today, County Magistrate Zhou finally breathed a sigh of relief.
After the excitement wore off, Magistrate Zhou, who was only half drunk, calmed down and patted his son on the back. He said, "Taking advantage of the prefect's good mood, Fu Wei dared to suggest that I ask him to reduce Yu County's taxes by 30% next year and promise to pay the full amount the year after."
Every year, Yu County’s taxes are paid the latest and the worst.
If we can reduce or exempt 30% of taxes, people will be able to breathe a sigh of relief this year.
Madam Zhou was stunned: "You went?"
County Magistrate Zhou said, "With such a great opportunity, I naturally went. Every year, Yu County is short of 20%, so 30% isn't too much. The governor criticized me a bit, but he agreed in the end."
Upon hearing this, Madam Zhou couldn't help but laugh and said, "It seems that you really want to make use of that young Master Fu."
County Magistrate Zhou nodded. "He's quite capable. At least he knows more than the rest of us who've been isolated in Yu County for three years."
Wuling County is a superior county after all, and the news is much better than that of the remote Cangwu County, and it knows much more about the affairs of the court than they do.
Madam Zhou thought for a moment and then said, "If you use Mr. Fu more, I will help his wife more."
"Alright."
After chatting for a while, Madam Zhou suddenly thought, "Young Master Fu has become so popular today. Will the person who was mistakenly taken away with him know that Young Master Fu is working under you and target you?"
Magistrate Zhou sighed and said, "We can only fight against the enemy with our own troops and block the water with our own soil. However, I am the magistrate of Cangwu County, under the jurisdiction of Prefect Shen. Moreover, if Fu Wei can gain Prefect Shen's appreciation, he will also be considered one of his own. Even if that person knows that Fu Wei is working for me, as long as the Prefect of Wuling County does not intervene, if that person takes action, he will be considered to be crossing the line and challenging Prefect Shen's forces."
After a pause, he continued, "Because Cangwu County is a lower county, Prefect Shen has to respect the Prefect of Wuling County. But even so, Prefect Shen has not been dismissed for so many years due to his inaction. It is obvious that someone in the court has his back."
"Even if the Wuling County Governor wanted to take action, he would think twice, let alone a mere man without an official position, who is only the son of the Governor. He is not qualified to challenge Governor Shen."
At this point, County Magistrate Zhou finally realized why Fu Wei had caused such a big fuss today.
There may be something fishy about the failure of the first arrow tonight. After all, if the next four arrows all hit the center of the bull's eye, there is no way they would be in the third ring.
It seems that the defeat is real, but the deviation is deliberately widened to make people lose interest, and then an arrow hits the bull's eye to mobilize everyone's emotions and make this competition more exciting.
After some speculation, it all made sense. County Magistrate Zhou suddenly laughed out loud: "This Fu Wei is really quite capable!"
In the end, he and Yu County are the ones who benefit in the end. No matter whether this competition is Fu Wei's plan or not, who cares!
*
That night, Fu Wei had a good dream.
The next day, Yu Ying got up early because she wanted to buy ingredients for making lip balm.
When Fu Wei woke up, there was no one beside the bed.
He sat up, holding his forehead. He had a splitting headache after the hangover.
At this time, the door was pushed open from the outside.
He looked up and saw Yu Ying coming in with a tray.
Seeing that he had woken up, Yu Ying closed the door and turned to walk away: "You were so drunk last night, you must have a headache when you wake up this morning, so I made you some hangover soup."
When she reached the bedside, Fu Wei took the hangover soup away. Still hungover, he asked her in a hoarse voice, "Did I say or do anything wrong last night?"
Yu Ying recalled how she had kissed him on impulse last night, and then he kissed her back, and she suddenly felt her cheeks getting very hot.
"No!"
She spoke so decisively that Fu Wei looked at her suspiciously.
When Fu Weiwang came over, Yu Ying quickly turned around to pick up the basket on the table and said, "I have other things to do today, but I'm late because I made you some hangover soup. I don't have time to talk to you right now, so I'll leave now."
After saying that, without waiting for Fu Wei to speak, he walked straight towards the door.
Open the door, go out, close the door, the three actions are done almost in one go.
Hidden danger...
I always feel like something is wrong.
He frowned slightly, looked away, and lowered his head to drink the hangover soup.
As I took a sip of the hangover soup, all sorts of memories from last night suddenly flashed through my mind.
He hugged her.
She kissed him.
He kissed her back.
The scalding hot hangover soup burned Fu Wei's mouth, bringing him back to his senses instantly.
I don’t know if those red ears were caused by the burns or by the memories of last night.
Fu Wei put down the hangover soup, then slowly raised his hand and placed his fingertips on his lips.
I vaguely remember the touch of her gentle peck last night, and... the lingering fragrance she left behind.
Fu Wei leaned back against the bed and raised the hand that was originally on his lips.
His entire palm covered the upper half of his face, obscuring his eyes, but the corners of his mouth still uncontrollably rose slowly.
The smile on his lips gradually brightened.
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