Chapter 162 A Talented Man and a Beautiful Woman
The setting sun dyed Qingyun Lake red, and a breeze blew, creating ripples on the lake surface.
As the sky gradually darkened, there was no one around the lake, only a cruise boat was left, quietly waiting for its guests.
I don't know how long it was, until it was completely dark, a figure appeared by the lake. The man covered his body with a cloak, and his wide hat covered his entire face tightly. All I could see was that he was eight feet tall and a thin man.
The lantern hanging on the bow swayed gently in the wind, and suddenly sank, and someone got on board.
The man lifted the gauze curtain and leaned in slightly. He immediately saw the man sitting at a small table playing chess alone. He paused and called out, "Xie Jieyuan, I've long heard of your name."
Xie Suzhou's hand, which was holding Heizi's, froze in mid-air for a moment before slowly lowering it. A sigh escaped his lips. He slowly stood up and bowed to the visitor, "I, Xie Suzhou, greet Your Highness the Third Prince."
"Get up." Yan Mu walked to the table, lowered his eyes to look at the situation on the chessboard, and looked away without taking off his cloak. "I'm late, and I made Xie Jieyuan wait for a long time."
"Your Highness, you are truly flattering me." Xie Suzhou's expression was calm. His large, bony hands grasped the teapot and filled it for the person in front of him. "Your Highness is of noble status. You have already given me enough honor by coming as promised."
Yan Mu raised his head, the brim of his hat covering most of his face. His voice was hoarse, like a hollow shell without a soul. "It was not my intention to ask you to come here, and I didn't mean to tease you. If Xie Jieyuan is angry, you can vent it on me. I will never refute it."
Xie Suzhou paused as he was pouring tea for himself, looked up in surprise, and looked at Yan Mu with a solemn and complicated gaze.
After all, he is a prince, and his mother is one of the four concubines. He was born noble, and he should not have developed such a character, being humble and timid, and careful to please others. As a prince, he actually apologized to a commoner. He was not afraid of being laughed at by outsiders if the news got out.
Xie Suzhou glanced at the curtain behind him, pursed his lips, and asked in a deep voice, "If someone forces you, Your Highness, can't you refuse?"
"Refuse?" Yan Mu laughed at himself as he recalled the woman's furious look. He raised his hand to take off his hat, revealing a face covered in bruises. "Xie Jieyuan, look at me. Do you think I have the right to refuse?"
Yan Mu's cheeks were swollen, with five fingerprints clearly visible on his face. There was also a bruise under his eyes, as if he had been punched. His hat fell off, and through the candlelight, one could vaguely see the whip marks on his collarbone.
Xie Suzhou's face changed slightly and he was speechless for a moment. The cabin fell into an eerie silence.
Seeing his expression, Yan Mu's smile widened, and the corners of her eyes turned red. "I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. I came here today because I wanted you to see how I can help a loser like this."
Xie Suzhou's brows were twisted into a knot. Seeing his sad expression, he wanted to say something to comfort him, but he didn't know where to start.
This is the prince, the blood of the royal family. There is only one person who dares to kill him.
"I'm not in good health, nor am I very smart. Even if I have countless counselors around me, I'm still a useless person who can't be helped." Yan Mu pulled the corners of his lips, tears flashing in his eyes. "My mind has never been on the country. I only know how to raise cats and dogs and tend to flowers and plants. Maybe I wasn't born to be in an imperial family."
"Even beggars outside can run away after being beaten, but I..." Yan Mu lowered his eyes, staring at the tea leaves floating on the water, with a bitter smile, "The palace is really huge, with 9,999 rooms and countless high walls. No matter how far I run, I'm just circling around the palace."
"Xie Jieyuan, no matter what others say about me, don't listen or believe it. I'm just a waste." Yan Mu looked at him, a tear falling from the corner of her eye. "I know you are a person with great talent and a delicate heart. Your ability should not be wasted on me."
"Assisting me is assisting the Lin family. Although I am incompetent, I don't want this kingdom to change its owner."
Yan Mu almost tore open all the scars he had accumulated over the past twenty years, and spoke frankly, not hesitating to throw away the so-called face of the prince with his own hands, in order to let Xie Suzhou see himself clearly and not make wrong judgments.
Xie Suzhou stared at him, his thin lips parted, "Why did Your Highness suffer such a beating?"
Yan Mu closed his eyes, and the smile on his lips faded a little, "I... fell in love with a girl."
Xie Suzhou's expression changed slightly. He lowered his head, took a sip of tea, and remained silent.
"When I first met her, I fell in love with her. She was kind and sincere, not at all delicate and artificial like others. She even jumped into the lake to save my kitten, but she came from a humble background, and my mother strongly opposed it. I even considered resisting, but she ended up having the palace servants drown my cat and imprisoning me. If it weren't for our agreement, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to leave until now."
Yan Mu sighed, as if accepting his fate, "Forget it, forget it..."
"Your Highness, this situation may be resolved."
Yan Mu suddenly looked up and looked at him in disbelief, "What did you say?"
"This isn't a dead end. If Your Highness can trust me..." Xie Suzhou lowered his eyes and tapped the chessboard lightly with his fingertips, "perhaps there's still a glimmer of hope."
Yan Mu slowly sat up straight, his eyes somewhat fixed on the man in front of him, and murmured, "I... would like to hear the details."
Xie Suzhou's lips curled up slightly, he glanced at the curtain behind him, and whispered, "Ah Cheng."
Yan Mu was stunned. Following his gaze, a bare hand gently lifted the green curtain. The girl he had been thinking about day and night was standing in front of him. Yan Mu stood up in a daze, unable to believe his eyes, "Miss Zhao..."
"Greetings, Third Prince." Su Cheng bowed and saluted. Before he could speak, he straightened up, pulled out a kitten from his sleeve, and gently placed it on the table. "Your Highness, look, who's here?"
"Yue... Yueyaer?" Yan Mu's body swayed, and he almost knelt beside the table. His eyes widened as he stared blankly at the cat he had raised. "You're not dead... You've even gained some weight. Why is that?"
"Yueyaer is very smart. She probably broke free from her restraints and escaped from the palace by hiding in the泔水车. Somehow she found her way to the Zhao family and I happened to run into her." Su Cheng sat down next to Xie Suzhou and put her hand on his wrist very naturally. The latter poured tea for her and did not forget to push the snacks in front of him in front of her.
Yan Mu noticed the little movements between the two and his body stiffened for a moment.
Their postures are so intimate that it would be impossible to act it out without any emotion.
Yan Mu's eyes wandered across their faces, and he smiled bitterly, not knowing what he was thinking about.
The talented man and the beautiful woman are truly a perfect match, and they even look like a couple.
Su Cheng straightened his expression, looked at him quietly, and whispered, "Your Highness, you have been oppressed by the powerful and forced by your mother's family. You have been surviving in this day-to-day life for twenty years. Have you never thought about solving the problem from the root?"
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