Chapter 49 No Longer Tormented by Me
Long Zhaoming closed his folding fan and laughed loudly, "Since that's the case, then I don't need to worry. I was worried that Little Seventeen might be dissatisfied with His Majesty's concealment."
Seventeen curled the corners of her lips and shook her head slightly: "No way."
"That's good. Let's go see this person tonight."
The tip of the fan landed on the note. A hint of excitement flashed in Long Zhaoming's eyes, and Mingyue also curled the corners of her mouth into a half-smile.
That group of people finally couldn't hold back any longer.
The situation in Yejing is not good. Emperor Jing is still seriously ill and has not shown his face. Everything is being handled by Yuanfu and Chen Jing.
The late emperor did not have many children to begin with, and only a few were old enough to be considered the eldest: the crown prince, Emperor Jing, and the Prince of Huainan. The rest were just young boys who were naturally incapable of shouldering great responsibilities.
However, the late emperor ascended the throne by stepping over the corpses of his brothers, and had no imperial relatives at all. At this moment, Yuanfu had a wrinkled old face and dark circles under his eyes.
Chen Jing patted his shoulder to comfort him, saying, "You've worked hard, Grand Eunuch. Hang in there a little longer, His Majesty will be back soon."
Yuanfu knew the plan. He only needed to wait until the person behind it got restless, and then Chen Jing would take them down in one fell swoop before he could show his face.
The letter he was holding was the one that Lingwu brought back.
"The letter said that those people are getting restless, perhaps because His Majesty has not shown up for a long time and they are starting to have ideas."
Chen Jing nodded: "There's no need to worry about His Majesty. We just need to defend Yejing well."
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Seventeen yawned and squatted on a thick tree branch, looking down.
This person insisted on meeting at midnight. I hadn't slept much last night, and now I had to stay up all night again, so I couldn't help but feel a bit angry.
Just as he was lost in thought, a light footstep approached from afar.
Seventeen snapped back to reality and stared intently at the direction from which the footsteps were coming.
A man dressed in a black robe approached, seemed to look around, and was about to leave when Seventeen noticed that he had no internal energy and therefore did not know martial arts.
Just as the man in black robes turned to look at the empty bandit camp, a gleaming sword was placed against his neck.
The man in black robes shuddered and instinctively tried to run, but the icy touch on his neck kept him rooted to the spot.
"Did you invite me here?"
The young man's clear voice sounded ghostly at this moment, and the man in black had no doubt that if he said the wrong thing, the sword would be plunged directly into his neck.
"...yes."
Who are you?
"You all." The man in black robes was surprised. His master had only said that this young man was skilled but naive, but now it seemed that his master was wrong.
"How about... you release me first?"
Seventeen squinted and didn't move. After a while, he sheathed his sword.
The man in black robes turned around to look at him. He saw that the young man was dressed in black, with a tall and straight figure like a swallow. His face was not covered at all, and his breathtakingly beautiful face was particularly enchanting in the cold and eerie moonlight.
Like a fairy who has stepped out of the forest.
"Ahem, don't be nervous. We invited you here because we have something important to discuss..."
The man in black robes composed himself and whispered a few words to Seventeen. Seventeen frowned and looked at him with a half-smile: "You just told me that so easily? Aren't you afraid I'll turn around and report you to His Majesty?"
"Heh heh, don't you and I both know His Majesty's current situation? Besides..."
Before he could finish speaking, another person walked in from the outside, seemingly having been waiting for a long time. Seventeen turned his head and looked at him with surprise: "Your Highness?"
He blinked, then looked at the man in black robes, squinting as he asked, "So, Your Highness..."
"Hehe, Little Seventeen, we just met."
Long Zhaoming was putting on a serious face, which Seventeen found a little unusual, but she still remembered their agreement.
"Your Highness actually..."
"Little Seventeen, now that my brother's fate is uncertain, how long do you think Yejing can hold out?"
The threat in his words was obvious. Seventeen's face darkened, his grip on the sword tightened, and all the muscles in his body tensed up.
The two people in front of him watched him calmly. Since Long Zhaoming came out, the man in black robes had become much bolder and couldn't help but say a few more words of advice.
Seventeen, however, simply looked at Long Zhaoming, her eyes filled with indescribable emotions.
Long Zhaoming's heart skipped a beat. If his elder brother saw this, he would probably beat him up again.
After waiting for a while without receiving a response from Seventeen, the man in black robes became a little anxious and looked at Long Zhaoming, who shook his head slightly, indicating not to disturb Seventeen.
Seventeen paused for a moment and then said, "Let me think about it."
After saying that, he turned and left. Long Zhaoming narrowed his fox-like eyes as he watched the departing figure. The black-robed man beside him asked anxiously, "Your Highness, why not push him a little further?"
"There's no need. Now that my brother is seriously ill, even if he reports this matter back to Yejing, it won't do any good. It's better to give him some time to think it over."
The man in black robes seemed to understand something: "Your Highness is right. Then I shall take my leave."
Long Zhaoming stood alone in the desolate bandit camp. Although he knew that Xiao Mowen was not far away, he still felt a strange sense of loneliness.
When Seventeen returned to the inn, Mingyue was still awake and was sitting at the table in his room waiting.
"Brother Yue."
"Yes, you're back. Are you hurt?"
Seventeen shook his head, and Mingyue poured him a cup of tea.
"No, that person was just a lobbyist; the person behind it hasn't shown up yet."
He was somewhat discouraged as he said this. If he could resolve the matter sooner, perhaps he could return to Yejing sooner. He... missed His Majesty.
"By the way, Brother Yue, has the letter been delivered to Yejing?"
Mingyue paused, nodded, and said, "Judging by the days, it should be almost here. Don't worry, His Majesty will be fine."
These words reassured Seventeen, although he guessed that His Majesty was alright, and this was probably part of his plan, he couldn't help but feel some worry...
"That man is certainly adept at using threats and inducements. Why hasn't Your Highness returned yet?"
"Does Little Seventeen miss me?"
Long Zhaoming's nonchalant voice came from outside. Mingyue frowned and looked at the person who came in through the door.
"In a few days, I will send a letter back on behalf of Little Seventeen, and they might believe it."
Long Zhaoming also sat down, looked around, and found that there were no new cups, so he could only give up regretfully.
"It's late, let's talk about other things tomorrow."
Since he wasn't welcome here, Long Zhaoming simply went back to sleep.
The moonlight outside was shimmering, making it impossible to tell that a heavy rain had fallen during the day. At this moment, the bright moonlight shone on the peaceful town like a thin veil.
＊
"Let's search that bandit camp another day and see if we can find those weapons."
Mingyue always felt that the weapons were still hidden in the back mountain. If they weren't, the bandits wouldn't have needed to guard this place; they would most likely still be carrying them with them.
Long Zhaoming nodded, picked up the bowl, and slurped a big mouthful.
This is a specialty of Fenglin Town. The warm and sticky soup washes away fatigue and refreshes the mind.
"And about the matter of Magistrate Pu... I've thought about it, let's not alarm him for now."
Long Zhaoming put down his bowl, pondered for a moment, and said, "When we have some free time, let's sneak over to that place and see if we can find anything."
Seventeen naturally obeyed his decisions unconditionally, Mingyue didn't care, and Zuoyou had no impact on their plans.
Nothing much is happening today, and there's no need for them to worry about anything else; the garrison troops will handle those matters. In this peaceful and prosperous city, they need to be given some tasks to keep watch.
Knowing he had nothing to do today, Seventeen turned over and went back to sleep. Halfway through his sleep, he was suddenly awakened by a clap of thunder, which startled him so much that he sat up abruptly.
Rubbing his slightly sore eyes, Seventeen put on his outer robe and went to close the window, not wanting the rain to drift in.
"Seventeen? Would you like to come down and get some food?"
Seventeen turned around, and Mingyue was standing at the door looking at him.
"Brother Yue, what time is it?"
"Just past Shen Shi (3-5 PM)."
Mingyue walked into the room and smiled at Seventeen, who was still a little sleepy, saying, "Eat something before you sleep. You haven't eaten much today."
Indeed, I ate breakfast in the morning, and after finding out that everything was fine, I went back to my room to sleep. I slept until late afternoon and didn't even have lunch.
"Okay, I'll change my clothes."
"Alright, I'll take it. Judging from your appearance, you'll probably have to sleep again later."
Hearing Mingyue's teasing with a smile, Seventeen felt a little embarrassed, but then he thought that it was no wonder. He hadn't slept much the night before and the night before, so he should take a good rest today and catch up on his sleep.
As the two were talking, another clap of thunder struck, breaking through the window and piercing a sliver of light in the gloomy sky.
Seventeen paused, then, as if remembering something, a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He glanced at Mingyue and asked, "Brother Yue, aren't you afraid of thunder today?"
Mingyue choked up, realizing this was a joke. "What about last time..."
A jumble of thoughts raced through Mingyue's mind. Almost instantly, she realized that since Seventeen was so lenient with her "lie," did it mean...?
Thinking about it, he wanted to get closer to Seventeen, but then he remembered his current appearance and restrained himself, retreating: "I'm scared. I might need Seventeen's guards to protect me later."
Seventeen stared at him with wide eyes, looking incredulous.
Brother Yue, how could you say such a thing!
These overly ambiguous and suggestive words made Seventeen somewhat suspicious, but...
"Okay, stop thinking about it, I'll go get the food for you."
Mingyue placed his large hand on Seventeen's head and rubbed it, his voice filled with laughter. Seventeen watched him leave, then reached out and touched his head; it was warm and quite comfortable.
The two of them ate their meal lazily together. Seventeen yawned, and Mingyue looked at him and smiled, "Want to sleep a little longer? There's a lot of spring rain, it'll probably rain for a while longer."
Seventeen shrugged and shrank back under the covers, only peeking out with her eyes as she looked at Mingyue: "Brother Yue, are you going to rest for a while too?"
Mingyue paused in her act of standing up, looking at Seventeen with a complex mix of emotions in her eyes: "Seventeen, are you inviting me?"
Seventeen was speechless at his question, blushed, covered her head, and ignored him.
How annoying.
Mingyue laughed as she looked at the "cicada pupa" on the bed. Her low laughter reached Seventeen's ears, tickling his eardrums and making his heart beat faster.
A deep sleep washed over him, and Seventeen drifted back into a dream, where he saw His Majesty once more.
His Majesty, his dragon robe stained with blood, calmly looked at him, but Seventeen was far from calm. His heart almost stopped as he ran over and asked in a panic, "Your Majesty, what happened? How could there be so much blood?"
Emperor Jing lowered his eyes slightly, looking at the seventeenth prince who was as tall as his chest. He reached out his blood-stained hand, lifted the prince's somewhat rounded chin, and laughed, "I'm about to die, aren't you happy, seventeenth prince?"
"His Majesty...?"
Seventeen stared at him blankly. Why? Why was he happy? His Majesty was dying, why was he happy?
"Seventeen, from now on you can assist Long Zhaoming well, be the sharpest knife in his hand, no longer troubled by me, and I will no longer be yours..."
Before Emperor Jing could finish speaking, Seventeen disrespectfully covered his mouth, but his eyes were clearly red.
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