Chapter 8. The expressions on their faces were exceptionally vivid and adorable.
"Brother Yue, what exactly should I do about the task His Majesty has entrusted to me?"
Last night, His Majesty summoned him to his room and ordered him to investigate the evidence of Wei Xing's evil deeds, but did not specify what those were, only saying that someone would come to help him.
Seventeen picked up a piece of tender, sweet fish with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth. The pale yellow sauce rolled on the fish, making it very salty and fragrant.
The ingredients and cooking skills here are top-notch; after all, gaining a foothold in Yejing is no easy feat.
Mingyue also picked up a piece of fish with her chopsticks and said with a smile, "I need Seventeen to act in a play with me."
Seventeen looked at Mingyue curiously. Acting? He doesn't know how to act. What kind of act is he going to act in?
"Let's talk while we eat."
There weren't many formalities between them. The two ate and talked at the same time. Looking in from the outside, one could see that the delicate and handsome slender man was sometimes puzzled and sometimes enlightened, with particularly vivid and lovely expressions on his face.
The man sitting opposite him was speaking earnestly, creating a harmonious atmosphere, like an elder giving guidance.
After finishing their meal, Mingyue called the waiter to settle the bill. Seventeen clicked his tongue at the thought of the bill. After the waiter, with his small eyes narrowed, happily took the money and left, he leaned close to Mingyue and whispered, "Brother Yue, when will the palace distribute salaries?"
"Hmm? The monthly payment is issued on the first day of each month."
Seventeen seemed to be thinking about something, then patted his chest and promised, "We can't keep letting Brother Yue spend money like this. When I get my salary, I'll treat Brother Yue to a meal too!"
His eyes sparkled, radiating a dazzling yet simple light. Mingyue's heart fluttered for a moment, and she smiled and agreed.
The two wandered aimlessly through the streets, waiting for their "opportunity".
Seventeen was beautiful, unlike the typical man with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, she was more delicate and graceful.
With delicate, arched eyebrows and a face as white as jade, she was nothing like the rough, worn-out appearance of the other guards in the Dark Guard Camp. No wonder those people were so lenient with Seventeen.
After all, it's really hard to get angry looking at a face like that.
Mingyue's words amused him, and his thin lips curved slightly upward, as if rippling across the clear pool beneath the autumn red maples.
Passersby on the street all turned their heads to look, but the people of Yejing were quite sensible. Although the beauty was dressed in simple guard's clothes, the sword hanging at her waist was no ordinary object. In this vast city of Yejing, one could not think of anyone other than the people in the imperial city who would dare to carry a sword on the street.
The tall man beside the beauty was dressed in an even more understated manner, but their identical postures suggested they were colleagues.
So everyone just glanced at her briefly to catch a glimpse of her beauty before turning their attention away.
Seventeen didn't mind the stares; they weren't malicious, and he didn't care much.
"Hey, where did this little beauty come from?"
A flippant voice rang out, and Seventeen looked up to see a familiar figure—the fat man he had seen that day.
He glanced at Mingyue slightly, and the other party nodded almost imperceptibly. Seventeen immediately understood that this was Wei Xing's great-grandson, Wei Lifeng.
Seventeen frowned as she sized up the chubby man, and was about to walk past him when her arm was grabbed: "Where are you going, little beauty? Want your brother to take you home?"
Wei Lifeng narrowed his small, beady eyes, the lecherous look hidden behind his thick eyelids, but the warmth of his hands emanated through his clothes and touched Seventeen, making him feel nauseous.
"open."
His voice was cold, a coldness that even Mingyue had never heard before, but Wei Lifeng was fearless. Although he obediently let go, he didn't stop talking.
"Don't be so fierce. Judging from your appearance, you work in the palace? Do you know who I am?"
Wei Lifeng's chubby face, covered in pimples, came closer. Seventeen took a few steps back, creating some distance between them.
Wei Lifeng wasn't annoyed by such disdain. Instead, he looked at Mingyue, who was standing silently beside Seventeen, and said, "Is this your good brother? This good brother can't give you a bright future."
The other party's meaning was clear, but Seventeen, who was being pestered, didn't want to pay attention to it and turned to leave.
Wei Lifeng was getting annoyed by being ignored time and time again, but the beauty was really good-looking, and he was tempted and unwilling to miss this opportunity.
"Hey, stop him!"
At his command, the servants who had been following behind without moving finally stepped forward and surrounded Seventeen and Mingyue.
There were onlookers nearby, whispering amongst themselves. Seventeen, with his sharp hearing, overheard everything.
"Oh dear, what's wrong with Young Master Wei again...?"
"That girl who was previously pestering Lord Li, poor young man..."
"Sigh, what can I do now that he's taken a liking to me?"
The people were discussing it, and Seventeen discerned his "result" from it all.
He was taken back to Wei Lifeng's mansion and "played to death".
Seventeen placed his hand on his longsword, glanced around at the servants surrounding them, and pondered how to get Wei Lifeng to take him back while also appearing "reluctant."
Wei Lifeng stepped forward, waving his pretentious folding fan, and glanced at Mingyue, who remained silent, saying, "Your good brother is useless. It's not too late to leave now."
Mingyue remained silent for a moment, glanced at Seventeen, then turned and left through a small opening specially made by the servants, her figure hurried away.
Seventeen coldly watched the tall figure's back, but Wei Lifeng had already pressed himself against him: "I know you work in the capital. If you submit to me, I guarantee you'll rise to the top."
The offer was both tempting and blatant. Seventeen glanced at him but said nothing.
Even if a beautiful woman has a cold face and doesn't say a word, she is enough to make people lose their minds.
Wei Lifeng, a lecherous man, was even less likely to escape. He tried to grab Seventeen's hand, but was suddenly shaken off. He wasn't angry; after all, she would be his sooner or later anyway.
"Don't be scared, little beauty. Brother will treat you to dinner."
"have eaten."
The beauty's voice, like her personality, was clear and cool, like a glass bead hitting white porcelain, making Wei Lifeng's mind even more active.
Such a beautiful voice, if only I could hear it on the couch...
His eyes were practically overflowing with urgency. Seventeen took a few steps back in disgust, but the servants around him remained extremely tight.
Seventeen looked around, seemingly pondering a good plan. Wei Lifeng, unusually patient, continued to persuade him: "People like you, without power or influence, can't even climb up in the capital. Today, I'm not going to do anything to you. Just have a meal with me, and I'll let you go back, okay?"
The greasy and disgusting words rang in Seventeen's ears. He frowned and looked impatient. Just as he was wondering whether to agree to Wei Lifeng's request, a servant suddenly pounced on him. He reflexively picked up his sword sheath to block, but a handkerchief came from behind him and covered his mouth and nose.
Seventeen couldn't dodge in time and inhaled a noseful of white powder, which made him cough. He could have easily kicked the person away, but on second thought, perhaps this was a good opportunity.
The onlookers had already left, presumably well aware of Wei Lifeng's "reputation" and unwilling to get involved.
Seventeen sniffed the air and quickly identified the white powder as sleeping potion. No wonder the servants were all wearing masks.
Wei Lifeng was alert and kept his distance from him early on. He probably planned to kidnap him from the beginning, so why bother with all that nonsense!
Thoughts flashed by, and Seventeen naturally feigned a dizzy state, half-squatting on the ground while supporting herself with her sword sheath, shaking her head and swaying her body.
Wei Lifeng walked up smugly and said, "You're just a lowly guard, what's there to be so proud of? I've played with people of higher rank than you!"
This beast doesn't discriminate between men and women...
Seventeen pretended to be delirious, leaning back, but still holding the sword firmly in his hand.
He closed his eyes and felt as if he were being lifted up. Someone tried to pry out his sword, but failed because they were gripping it too tightly.
"Hmph, you're quite competent. Take him to my secluded residence. I'll have a meal and then head over. Get him all ready!"
Seventeen heard the attendant carrying him respond, and then he was swayed and carried away.
Seventeen was astonished. He had learned from Eunuch Yuanfu and Brother Yue that Wei Lifeng did no good, yet he had brazenly kidnapped someone right under the nose of the capital...
How can Your Majesty be so tolerant? This is a blatant slap in the face to Your Majesty!
Seventeen couldn't understand why His Majesty could allow such a person to run rampant in Yejing for so many years. Doubts arose in his heart, but he still pretended to be unconscious.
Although his eyes were closed, he could tell where he was from the sounds around him.
After rounding the intersection, he heard the voice of an old man selling wontons, and further on, he heard the voice of a candied hawthorn vendor...
In a moment, Seventeen figured it out. This beast's outlying residence was in the suburbs, but unlike the desolate area he and Yue-ge had visited, this place had a pleasant, scenic atmosphere. He guessed it was a good place for high-ranking officials and nobles to recuperate.
He remained completely calm. Although his skills were not among the best in the secret guard camp, they were more than enough to deal with these servants. Besides, he and Brother Yue had already discussed it and were just waiting for the right moment to catch them like turtles in a jar.
Seventeen felt as if she had been put down, her back touching something hard, she couldn't tell if it was a wall or something else.
Several people immediately came forward to take off his clothes. Seventeen knew something was wrong and frantically thought in his mind whether to let them do as they pleased or to knock him unconscious now.
Feeling his outer robe being removed and warm fingers touching his neck, Seventeen gritted his teeth. Fine, he couldn't ruin Yue-ge's plan.
But then, the person undressing him was stopped and muttered, "Hey, don't take his clothes off yet. Have you forgotten the young master's recent hobby?"
"Oh, right, I almost forgot. Thanks, Brother Shan. I was almost going to get scolded."
The two talked for a while, and Seventeen listened intently, feeling increasingly disgusted and contemptuous of Wei Lifeng.
Recently, Wei Lifeng's hobby has been: compulsion.
He would demand that everyone he brought back be dressed, and then he would act as a bully, watching them resist and tearing their clothes to get pleasure from it.
Seventeen was speechless. Did he even need to pretend? This was a real bully!
Judging from what these two people were saying, there were probably other people in this remote residence who had been abducted by Wei Lifeng, regardless of gender.
A surge of anger rose within him. Yejing! Right beneath the imperial city! Wei Lifeng, relying on his grandfather's position as Minister of Rites, was acting so arrogantly and domineeringly! Bullying men and women!
His resentment towards His Majesty inevitably grew stronger.
But Seventeen also understood in his heart that although he still couldn't figure out why His Majesty had left these people hanging for so many years, today was the day His Majesty would settle accounts.
Seventeen listened intently as the two left, then instantly opened her clear eyes, showing no sign of unconsciousness whatsoever.
He looked around and realized he was in a room with a hard bed beneath him. The doors and windows were closed, and the windows seemed to have been boarded up.
This Wei Lifeng, doing this kind of thing, can't even bear to use a soft and comfortable mattress.
Seventeen rubbed her lower back, which had slammed against the hard bed when she was thrown down, and complained silently.
A note from the author:
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