Chapter 74 Chapter 74 Someone is courting me so soon
Inside the Moon-Watching Tower, the night was as dark as ink.
The drinkers had dispersed, but the corridor lights were still on. The wind rustled beneath the eaves, dimly lighting the room. Lou Qi poured himself a glass of wine, half-lying on the couch, half asleep and half awake. Outside the window were the sparse stars of Liangzhou's deep night.
Suddenly there was a light sound outside the door.
It's very light, like a cat stepping on green tiles, without any trace of human energy.
He didn't move, just gently turned the cup between his fingers, as if he heard something, but also seemed not to care about it.
The next moment, the window paper was torn apart silently, and a black shadow rushed in like the wind.
Without saying anything, the first move was a knife.
Lou Qi slightly tilted his body, swung his sleeves, and the cold blade passed by his throat, cutting off a strand of hair.
"...It's you." He said in a light tone, as if he was yawning.
"Shut up." The man growled, and swung the short blade in his hand straight at his heart.
The knife strikes fiercely and shows no mercy in every move.
Lou Qi simply bent his body, lowered his toes, and dodged all three attacks. He didn't fight back, but retreated step by step, relying solely on his agility. He smiled faintly, "Little rabbit, you're going to kill your master too."
Su Yu sneered, his eyes full of murderous intent. He said nothing, but his sword moves became more and more fierce.
The moonlight fell on her eyebrows and eyes. A corner of her mask was lifted by the wind, revealing a part of her jaw. It was still the familiar face, but the look in her eyes was no longer the same as before.
Lou Qi finally took action after the fifth move.
His fingers stretched out like hooks, so fast that the movements were almost invisible. With a ding, the short blade in Su Yu's hand was freed of its power and was captured by him. He took it away and placed it on the side of her neck with his backhand.
The blade was at their throats, but neither of them moved.
Su Yu still stared at him, with cruelty in her eyes, as if they were going to die together in the next moment.
Lou Qi looked at her, not much surprise in his eyes, just slightly raised his eyebrows: "Your knife, do you want my life, or do you want an answer?"
Su Yu said coldly: "I want you to die."
"It's a pity you can't kill me." He said calmly, suddenly threw the knife aside, let go of her, and said in a lazy tone, "Besides, I won't kill you."
He turned and walked back to the table and poured her a cup of tea.
"It's windy tonight, so drink something hot." He said it lightly.
Su Yu stood there, her chest heaving, as if she hadn't recovered from the life-or-death moment she'd just experienced. She gritted her teeth and stared at the man for a long moment, saying nothing as she gripped the other hidden blade tightly beneath her sleeve.
But in the end, he didn't move.
Lou Qi raised his cup, looked at the steam rising from the teacup, and said in a low voice: "Su Yu, are you blaming me?"
Su Yu gritted her teeth and said, "But when have you ever considered me your own?"
"In your eyes, there's only yourself."
Lou Qi didn't say anything. After a long silence, he whispered:
"Su Yu, you are not a discarded child."
"You were once my sharpest knife."
He paused and added:
"I never thought of abandoning you, but... this journey is too long. If you had continued to follow me, the ending would not be any better than it is now. Since you have already escaped from Ningling, why don't you hide your identity and live a free life? Why did you come to me?"
Su Yu slowly turned her head, and there was finally more than just cruelty in her eyes, but more of a disappointment. She had imagined countless times that she would see him again, either stabbing him in the throat or being killed by him.
But when she really stood in front of him, she realized that she didn't want to kill him. She just wanted to ask: Do you care about me?
But she couldn't say this, so she just said calmly:
"I thought you would treat me differently after we've been through life and death together."
Lou Qi didn't explain, he just lowered his eyes and drank his tea, his voice so soft that it almost disappeared in the night wind:
"Yes, I can't give you what you want. I don't need a family."
She sneered, turned around and was about to leave, but suddenly stopped before leaving and whispered:
"Lou Qi, remember this."
"Even if you conquer the world, you cannot keep the people's hearts."
"I really want to see if you don't care about anyone."
The wind blew in, and the door made a slight sound.
Lou Qi quietly pushed open the cup of tea. The clear tea swayed slightly, reflecting the silent expression on his face at that moment, and a distant look of melancholy emerged in the depths of his eyes.
He suddenly remembered that he first met Su Yu in Youzhou City that year.
From that year on, wars broke out everywhere, refugees were everywhere outside Youzhou City, and there were thousands of starving people.
He was thirteen years old that year, already mentally mature, and watched the world with a cold eye.
Su Yu, who was only nine years old, was as thin as a skeleton and dressed in rags. He was mixed with a group of hungry refugees and fought with others like a wild beast for a bite of food.
He sat in a luxurious carriage, watching the scene through the window carelessly.
Until a detail hurt his eyes. A half-grown boy, relying on his tall stature, snatched a pancake that Su Yu had worked so hard to get.
Su Yu didn't cry, beg for mercy, or even make any sound.
She was just like a wolf cub forced into a desperate situation, her eyes cold and resolute.
Almost in an instant, she pulled out a small knife from her tattered sleeves, and with a flash of cold light, the boy's throat was cut precisely. Blood gushed out, staining the pancakes and the muddy ground red.
The crowd fell silent in an instant. At that moment, Lou Qiye actually wanted to take her away. It was not out of pity, but the excitement of discovering prey and an appreciation of the extreme cruelty.
He slowly got off the carriage, and the guards around him immediately surrounded him vigilantly, but he just walked straight towards the thin figure stained with blood but with an expressionless face.
He stretched out his hand, which was long, slender, and powerful with distinct joints, and carried an innate sense of control.
"May I have your name?"
She shook her head and said nothing.
"Then follow me."
Su Yu didn't ask, but just put her cold little hand into his palm like a tamed wild cat.
He brought her back to his mansion and personally arranged a master for her, teaching her everything he could, including martial arts, strategy, and even how to hide her edge.
They grew up together, spending every day together. He gave her the name: Su Yu.
He thought that this uncut jade would eventually become an extremely sharp and handy knife. He had trained many people around him, all of whom had their own uses, but none of them could execute his intentions so thoroughly and follow through on his orders so resolutely as Su Yu did.
Therefore, he treated her better than anyone else, good enough to make her mistakenly believe that she was special and unique.
He never thought of abandoning her. He just suddenly felt that he didn't want to use her anymore. Maybe he was tired of this pure use, or maybe he saw through the undue dependence in her eyes.
So, he simply found an opportunity, an opportunity that would make her completely give up but would not actually take her life, and abandoned her.
He knew that with Su Yu's ruthlessness, she would definitely be able to escape from this desperate situation and even live better than anyone else. He just hoped that she would completely give up the desire to follow him, hide her identity from him, live a free life, and never appear in his sight again.
But he never expected that Su Yu would come back with a heart full of resentment and come back to assassinate him.
Lou Qi's thoughts suddenly came together. Su Yu's last hateful warning was clearly directed at Jiang Ci! The teacup in his hand fell to the ground, and he rushed out the door.
The night was as deep as ink, and most people in Liangzhou City had already fallen asleep.
In the backyard of the governor's mansion, the wind blew over the eaves, Lou Qi turned over and jumped onto the roof silently.
The night was silent. He leaned over and hid in the shadows of the tile ridges. His eyes followed the corridor and landed in front of an unopened window.
The window was tightly shut, yet it let in a faint light from the room. A candlelight still blazed, and a figure, half-loose, was reflected on the paper window. Sitting at a desk, head bent, he wrote.
His eyes moved, and he knew in his heart that Su Yu didn't come after all.
He did not leave immediately, but sat down on the spot, leaning his back against the roof, letting the wind blow across his face, his eyes never moving.
She seemed unaware of the movement outside the window. After a moment, she stood up, took off her coat, and slowly untied her hair, her movements as calm as ever.
Lou Qi tilted his head and looked at the silhouette taking off his hairband and throwing it casually on the shelf. He turned around and threw himself into the bed curtain, then turned over and sat up, gathered the quilt and lay down on the bed, as if he was having trouble falling asleep.
Through a piece of window paper, she was wrapped in soft light.
Soon, Wanniang pushed the door open quietly, added the quilt for her, and whispered a few words. A faint response came from the room, which was vague and difficult to distinguish.
Wanniang carefully turned off the lights before going out.
The room grew dark.
The bed curtains hung low, and the shadows reflected on the window became blurred, leaving only a few traces of sleepless breath hidden in the silence.
Lou Qi did not move at all.
He just sat there, looking at the window that had never been opened.
It was not until the sky in the east began to brighten that he slowly stood up, withdrew his gaze, and left silently.
The next day, the weather was fine and the breeze was gentle, making it a perfect time to go out.
Jiang Ci was dressed in a light-colored, plain and elegant skirt, with only a silver crabapple flower pinned in her hair, looking pure and elegant. She left the house with Wanniang.
"Miss, why are you going out so early? Is there something urgent?" Wan Niang asked curiously.
Jiang Ci smiled slightly, her eyes flickering with a hint of girlish playfulness. "I heard that the Brocade Pavilion in the south of the city has just received a batch of embroidery and fans, which are quite unique. My sister and brother-in-law will be returning to Zichuan in a couple of days. Let's pick out some gifts together today and give them to them when they return. It will be a token of our appreciation."
Upon hearing this, Wanniang smiled and said, "Young lady, you are very thoughtful. Miss A-Lian and the eldest brother-in-law will surely be happy."
The master and servant walked through the bustling streets, where the hawkers' cries, the children's laughter, and the clatter of horses' hooves intertwined into a harmonious picture of the city.
As soon as you step into the store, a wide variety of women's products will come into view: Shu brocade handkerchiefs, Suzhou embroidery sachets, various kinds of pearl hairpins and hairpins, as well as small silk fans, all of which are exquisite.
Jiang Ci walked between the shelves, her eyes lingering, and suddenly, her sight was attracted by a round fan.
The fan was exquisitely crafted, with the fan cover made of the finest Xiangfei bamboo and the edges inlaid with fine pearls. The most special thing was the pattern on it - it was not the ordinary flowers, birds and auspicious clouds, but two vivid shadow puppets, one male and one female, with agile postures. Jiang Ci found it novel and unique, and could not help but reach out to take it down and examine it carefully.
"Wan Niang, look at this fan, isn't it unique?" she asked softly, with admiration in her eyes.
Wanniang took a closer look and exclaimed in admiration, "It is truly unique. I have never seen a round fan with such a pattern before."
The two of them carefully selected several gifts suitable for Jiang's sister and brother-in-law, paid, and walked out of the store with the packages. Jiang Ci still held the shadow puppet fan in his hand, looking at it as he walked, carefully savoring the ingenuity of the fan.
Jiang Ci was so engrossed in watching a stall selling candy figurines when he tripped over a raised stone brick. His body swayed, and the fan in his hand slipped out of his hand, landing lightly on the ground with a clatter.
"Oh!" Wanniang exclaimed and was about to go forward to support.
Jiang Ci didn't care about the slight pain in his ankle and quickly bent down to pick it up.
At this time, a slender figure was faster than her.
She felt a darkness in front of her eyes, and a faint scent of sandalwood brushed past her nose. The man had already taken a step forward, bent down, and picked up the fan that had fallen on the ground with his slender fingers.
Jiang Ci raised his eyes and met a pair of smiling eyes.
It was Lou Qi.
He handed the fan to her, with a perfect curve at the corner of his mouth, and his voice was clear and gentle: "What a coincidence, Miss Jiang. I didn't expect that we would meet here."
At this time, on the road not far away, Ji Yang was riding on a black horse with a black cloak hanging down.
He had just arrived at Zichuan City at full speed and was about to go to the Governor's Mansion when his eyes accidentally swept across the street corner and happened to take in this scene.
He saw Jiang Ci and the man very close to each other, saw the man bending down to pick up the fan for her, and saw their eyes meet.
Ji Yang's face darkened in an instant, and his hand holding the reins tightened unconsciously.
"Humph, someone is showing off their attentions so soon."
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