He walked over, placed his hand on his waist, and slowly drew his embroidered spring knife.
The four thugs were intimidated by his imposing manner and hesitated slightly, but they were unwilling to give up the prize that was about to be theirs. So the leader shouted, "Brothers, let's go!"
With a determined heart, these people all stepped forward and began to fight Lu Shenyun, wielding knives and clubs.
Lu Shenyun was the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the most valiant general in the Ming Dynasty, and the former martial arts champion. He didn't take the four of them seriously at all. No matter how mercilessly they swung their swords and clubs, they were quickly forced into a retreat.
The desperate criminals, blinded by greed, became increasingly ruthless. One of them, seeing that he was no match for Lu Shenyun, turned to Qingchen, intending to attack her.
Seeing the situation was dire, Lu Shenyun, while fending off the combined attack of three people, desperately stepped in front of Qingchen. However, he was ultimately no match for the man's blade and was accidentally slashed in the arm.
Qingchen paused for a moment, then called out, "Lu Shenyun!"
"Don't be afraid," he quickly reassured them, then abruptly turned to face the four of them again.
This time, his anger seemed to be ignited, and his every move, punch, and kick became even more ruthless and merciless.
The Embroidered Spring Blade was long and slightly curved, gleaming coldly in the setting sun. He wielded it with unparalleled skill, the blade flashing and disappearing in the blink of an eye. His injured arm, however, continued to bleed, drops of bright red liquid being flicked onto the ground like blooming red plum blossoms.
The four men were utterly defeated and, seeing the situation was dire, tried to flee. Lu Shenyun reacted swiftly, grabbing the man carrying the Qingchen bundle and pressing his embroidered spring knife against his neck.
The other three ran away without looking back.
Lu Shenyun snatched Qingchen's bundle from the man's hand and handed it back to Qingchen, saying, "Take it."
"You're injured." She took the bundle, and nervously pulled out a handkerchief from it, covering his bleeding arm.
He blinked, looked at her calmly, and asked, "Are you alright?"
Qingchen shook her head. "I'm fine."
Seeing the two talking, the subdued man suddenly elbowed Lu Shenyun's injured arm hard. Lu Shenyun groaned in pain and then used his other arm to choke him.
"Behave yourself," he said, slightly annoyed.
Qingchen saw that his arm had been bumped like that, and she felt sorry for him just looking at it. She frowned and carefully wiped the blood from his arm with a handkerchief. "Does it hurt a lot? Let me bandage it for you."
He shook his head. "This man is dishonest. I'll take him back to the Zhenfu Division office first. You go home and be careful."
"I'll go with you." Qingchen shook his head. "If anything happens on the way, it'll be good to have someone to look after you."
Lu Shenyun neither accepted nor rejected the suggestion. He simply twisted the man's arms behind his back and kicked him in the shin. "Let's go!"
Qingchen quickly caught up.
By the time the two men had escorted the man back to the North Office, it was already dark. Stars twinkled in the sky, and the moonlight was faint.
When Deputy Commander Huang Yu saw Qing Chen and Lu Shenyun together, his eyes widened like saucers. Then, he quickly turned away and secretly smiled.
"What are you doing?" Lu Shenyun asked coldly when he saw his appearance.
He immediately became serious and said, "It's nothing."
As they spoke, she noticed Lu Shenyun's wound. "You're injured?!"
In all the years he had known Lu Shenyun, Lu Shenyun had been injured only a handful of times. Coincidentally, two of those injuries were related to this Lord Shen in front of him.
Fate is a really interesting thing.
Huang Yu suddenly recalled Song Yue's assessment of Lu Shenyun when she brought Shen Qingchen to the Northern Courtyard that day: "A chance encounter." He refused to believe that these two could be so simply strangers.
Qingchen asked anxiously, "Lord Huang, do you know if there is any medicine in the yamen? I would like to apply some medicine to Lord Lu and bandage him up."
Huang Yu was a sensible man; even if there was medicine, he would say there wasn't. "Oh dear, this is really unfortunate. The yamen's wound medicine is all used up. Seeing how much he's bleeding, we should hurry and find a clinic to treat him. Please forgive me, Lord Shen, but I have some matters to attend to at the yamen. I'll trouble you to accompany Lord Lu..."
"Okay." Qingchen agreed without hesitation, then looked up at Lu Shenyun, "Let's go quickly then."
Lu Shenyun, who had been glaring at Huang Yu, shifted his gaze back to Qing Chen and nodded silently.
As the two turned to leave the Zhenfu Division office, Huang Yu watched their retreating figures and muttered under his breath, "What are you glaring at? You're so honest. I lied to him for your own good. Only a fool would say that the office has all kinds of medicine."
Lu Shenyun seemed to have heard something, turned around and glanced at him. He immediately shut his mouth, smiled obsequiously and made a "take care" gesture.
It was dark, and there were few pedestrians on the road.
Lu Shenyun, who was walking briskly, was suddenly stopped by Qingchen. "Don't you feel any pain at all? Your blood is still flowing."
As she spoke, she hastily bandaged his wound with a handkerchief to stop the bleeding.
Lu Shenyun didn't say anything, but just let her tend to his wounds.
A gentle night breeze carried a slight chill, rustling the leaves of the trees lining the street. Moonlight fell on Qingchen's face, making her skin appear fair and radiant, and her lips a pale red.
"Okay." After she finished bandaging him, she looked up at him. "Let's hurry and find a clinic."
The two walked for a while, but none of the clinics were open. They then went to Cheng Yi's clinic, but it was also tightly shut. A note was posted on the door: "The doctor is away earning money and will return in a month. Qingchen, please open the door and take whatever you need. You have a key."
In the past, when Qingchen brought her father to the clinic for treatment, the time was often uncertain. Cheng Yi would sometimes go out to buy medicine, and fearing that she would be standing outside when she arrived, he gave her a key so that they could wait inside.
Qingchen hesitated for a moment, then took out the key and opened the door.
"Please have a seat, I'll go get the medicine."
After she finished speaking, she lit a lamp and then went to Cheng Yi's medicine box to find medicine. Fortunately, Cheng Yi hadn't taken all of it; there was enough wound medicine left.
Then, she boiled some hot water, poured it into a wooden basin, brought it to the table, and grabbed a clean, dry cloth. Her movements were swift and efficient.
Lu Shenyun sat quietly watching her busy herself for him, feeling as if he were in another world.
Six months ago, he first saw her at this clinic, and she was just as busy saving his life.
From then on, the seeds of love were sown, and fate began to intertwine them in subtle ways.
Qingchen prepared these things, first helping Lu Shenyun roll up his sleeves, then using a dry cloth soaked in hot water to wipe away the bloodstains around his wound.
Her movements were very gentle, and as she wiped him, she looked at him nervously, asking, "Does it hurt?"
Lu Shenyun shook his head decisively.
Qingchen suddenly remembered that when she removed the arrow from him, she didn't use any anesthetic. The knife went straight into his thigh, and he didn't even groan.
Resilient, resolute, aloof, and taciturn, Lu Shenyun is such a person.
And yet, one day, this same person confessed his love to her, saying, "I'll take care of you and support you for the rest of my life."
She still remembers that day when it was snowing heavily. He was wearing a black cloak and a fur collar around his neck. His face looked very handsome and determined in the snow.
Lost in thought, Qingchen didn't notice that she had already wiped his wound several times with a cloth.
However, Lu Shenyun's arm remained outstretched, and no matter how much she hurt him, he didn't utter a sound.
Qingchen finally came to her senses and saw that the dry cloth had wiped away more blood from him. She abruptly withdrew her hand. "I'm sorry. I... I was lost in thought. Why aren't you saying anything?"
"I'm not in pain."
Qingchen pursed her lips, put the cloth into the water, then took the medicine and applied it to him little by little.
Fortunately, although the cut was long, it wasn't very deep. She moved very gently, applying the medicine while saying with some self-reproach, "I'm sorry, it's my fault that you got hurt."
“It’s none of your business,” he said. “Those are the people I’m investigating.”
"Investigate?" Qingchen asked, puzzled.
“Recently, a gang has emerged in the capital, specializing in luring people out to trade with silver under the pretense of selling houses, and then ambushing and robbing them. This has happened many times already. I suspect they are members of the White Lotus Sect.” He continued, “Today I received news that someone was selling a house, which had already been sold several times. I felt something was wrong, so I went to take a look. I never expected that you would be the one who got scammed.”
His presence there was neither accidental nor due to him following her.
Qingchen listened thoughtfully. No wonder those people knew there was silver in her bag; it turned out they had conspired with the person selling the house.
Thinking about it carefully, Qingchen felt a chill of fear. If Lu Shenyun hadn't come, she might be...
Lu Shenyun added, "The world is in a bad state. Many people are starving and freezing, so they have resorted to crooked ideas. I don't blame you."
"...No matter what, you got hurt because of me."
Lu Shenyun ignored her question and instead asked, "You want to buy a house?"
She nodded. "Mm."
"Why buy it in such a deep alley?"
Qingchen's eyes dimmed. "I just happened to see it."
"oh."
He gave a curt reply, but his thoughts couldn't help drifting towards Song Yue's residence. However, he didn't ask any questions.
After applying the medicine to Lu Shenyun, Qingchen bandaged him up. She had helped Cheng Yi before and had bandaged other patients, but she wasn't very skilled at it.
"I didn't wrap it up very well, will it feel tight?" she asked.
He shook his head. "No problem...it's fine. If you want to buy a house during this time, I'll go with you to look at some. It's too dangerous."
The house is intended as a gift for Mingxiang, who will be going to the Xu residence soon, so she needs to buy it in the next few days. However, this is her own business, so she won't trouble him.
"No need, you're always so busy. I can go see it myself."
“I’m not doing this for you,” he suddenly said. “The leader of that group hasn’t been caught yet, and more people will suffer. I’ll go with you and inquire around. Maybe we can find them.”
Although he appeared cold on the outside, he was warm-hearted and cared deeply about the people.
Hearing this, Qingchen nodded, "Alright then... thank you."
"I'll take you home."
Recently, a saying has been circulating among the noble ladies in the capital: the imperial court has four handsome men.
They are Song Yue, Lu Shenyun, Xu Silin, and Shen Qingchen.
Song Yue and Lu Shenyun, needless to say, are familiar faces in the court, naturally sought after by various powerful families. Xu Silin, the most sought-after second-generation official in the Ming Dynasty, has now been promoted, making him even more desirable than before. As for Shen Qingchen, her rapid promotions in just a few months, coupled with her position as the Crown Prince's tutor and a favorite of the Emperor, suggest a limitless future. Her background is already a hot topic in the court, and coupled with her good looks, she has become everyone's ideal husband.
These four men were given a title by someone unknown: the Four Great Beauties of the Imperial Court. In modern terms, they were eligible bachelors or highly eligible bachelors.
This rumor quickly spread, so much so that when the ladies of high society gathered recently, the conversation always revolved around them, especially among the single women who held great enthusiasm and longing for them.
Because these four people had different personalities, and the noble ladies also had different preferences, they naturally divided into different camps and supported different people.
For example, Xie Huiying, the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Anqing, who is related to the Lin family, and was also Qingchen's former student, has a crush on Qingchen's type.
“Of course, Grand Secretary Song is the best. He became a Grand Secretary at a young age, and he is also the number one talent in the Ming Dynasty. He is born with a noble and dignified appearance and an elegant demeanor. Even the woman of the Duke of Dingguo waited for him for eight years. If he is not the best, who is?”
"In my opinion, Song Yue is a bit too old. Xu Silin is a better choice. His family background goes without saying; he is the eldest son of the Grand Secretary. In addition, he has now been promoted to a fourth-rank official and will surely follow in his father's footsteps to enter the cabinet in the future. This will make the Xu family's power in the court even more unshakable. Moreover, he is also quite talented, yet he has a cynical and unruly demeanor, which is truly captivating."
“I think Lu Shenyun is the best. Although he looks a bit aloof, he is exceptionally skilled and has superb martial arts. The commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard—just hearing that title makes one yearn for it.”
Xie Huiying was attending an early spring tea party. After listening to all this, she finally spoke slowly and deliberately: "They're all wrong. Shen Qingchen is the best. He got to his current position without relying on anything; it's all due to his own abilities, which alone makes many people feel inferior. He's handsome, and his personality is gentle and considerate. He's incredibly charming when he's lecturing to me. Oh, and he can also draw very beautiful picture books."
The noble ladies argued back and forth about who was the best among the four men. But what they didn't know was that one of the four handsome men was a woman, and that the other three all liked her.
Since they didn't see eye to eye, Xie Huiying figured they didn't know how to appreciate things, so she didn't bother to say anything more to them and left the gathering before it was time to go home.
On the way back to her residence by carriage, she passed a jewelry shop, and after thinking for a moment, she got off the carriage.
Just as she was getting off the bus, two people walked past her. Xie Huiying glanced at them casually and blurted out, "Teacher Qingchen?"
Hearing the sound, Shen Qingchen turned around, and Lu Shenyun beside her also stopped and turned around.
Xie Huiying was stunned for a moment when she saw Lu Shenyun. "An ice cube?!"
Qingchen was also slightly taken aback: "Little Aunt?"
Lu Shenyun remained silent.
"How did you two end up together?" Xie Huiying asked, puzzled.
One is her teacher Qingchen, and the other is her childhood nemesis. How did these two end up together?
Leaving aside her teacher Qingchen, Lu Shenyun is the one who made her cry since she was a child.
A few days ago, she even ran into him when she went to buy a hairpin! As a result, not two days later, the hairpin she had her eye on was delivered to her residence, saying it was a birthday gift from the Lu family.
Even so, her impression of him remained unchanged! Both sets of parents had been trying to arrange their marriage, but she was absolutely unwilling!
She disliked people like Lu Shenyun; he was not only an ice block but also a brute, utterly unlikable. She didn't want to spend her days with someone like that. She preferred a scholar who was both eloquent and gentle, like Teacher Qingchen.
She had even written a letter of refusal to marry him. If her parents ever brought the matter up, she would send it to Lu Shenyun to express her resolve!
She doesn't want to marry Lu Shenyun, Lu Shenfeng, Lu Shenyu, or Lu Shenxue; she wants to marry someone like Teacher Qingchen. That's true love.
“Aunt, we’re planning to go take a look at the house,” Qingchen replied.
"Teacher Qingchen wants to buy a house? Lu Shenyun is an ice block, you shouldn't be with him." Xie Huiying said bluntly.
Qingchen turned and glanced at Lu Shenyun, but he didn't say anything.
Seeing this, Xie Huiying immediately said, "Look, look, that's just how he is. If you call him an ice block, he'll immediately give you an icy face."
“…Aunt, Lord Lu must be just like that.”
"That's not all. Teacher Qingchen, you don't know, he's a really mean person. When I was four years old, I watched him practice swordsmanship, and he yelled at me and made me cry. Tell me, who would bully a four-year-old child?"
"..." Qingchen felt a little embarrassed. He glanced at Lu Shenyun again, but Lu Shenyun still didn't say anything, looking like he didn't want to explain.
To ease the awkwardness, Qingchen immediately changed the subject, asking, "What brings you here, Auntie?"
“I just attended a literary gathering, but I found it rather boring, so I was about to go home when I saw you all,” she said. “You don’t know, all the noble ladies in the capital are talking about you these days.”
Qingchen was a little puzzled, "What are they talking about?"
"The four most handsome men in the court. You and this ice-cold guy are both among them, along with Song Yue and Xu Silin." Xie Huiying recalled the scene of the gathering with relish. "You all have your own fans now. As for me, I naturally support Teacher Qingchen the most. I just didn't expect that this ice-cold guy would have someone who likes him. I really can't see what's so good about him."
"..."
Qingchen was somewhat helpless. She had finally managed to change the subject, but unexpectedly, it returned to Lu Shenyun.
Lu Shenyun remained silent, standing quietly behind Qingchen, like a husband who had no intention of getting involved in the women's conversation but was patiently waiting.
"And another thing, this ice-cold guy only knows how to practice martial arts, he's a boring person..." Xie Huiying continued to "accuse" Lu Shenyun of his past "bad records," and once she started talking, she couldn't stop.
Although she was very emotional, the content was actually harmless.
After listening to what she said, Qingchen felt that the two of them were like ice and fire, respectively, and were truly natural enemies.
After saying all that, Xie Huiying inquired about Qingchen's recent situation, subtly expressed her longing for her, and then got into her carriage and left.
Once the carriage had driven away, Qingchen couldn't help but ask the person beside her, "So you've known each other since childhood, and your families are old friends. Why didn't you say a word just now?"
Lu Shenyun said calmly, "There's nothing to say."
Qingchen raised an eyebrow. "Then it seems she was right. You really are a block of ice, and you've done quite a few 'bad things'."
"I never bullied her."
It was a very plain statement, and it sounded somewhat weak.
Qingchen smiled slightly, "Then it seems there's been a misunderstanding. You're probably not one to explain yourself much, which only deepens the misunderstanding. You seem a bit awkward, am I right?"
Lu Shenyun looked at her.
Huang Yu also said that he was a bit awkward. His original words were: "You are not dark at all, just a bit aloof, but you always put on a gloomy face, pretending to be a moving iceberg, and your eyes look at people as if you can kill them."
"I know this is wrong," he suddenly said in a muffled voice.
"Huh?" Qingchen was taken aback. "No. Everyone has a different personality. You just have your own unique way of expressing yourself. There is no such thing as a superior or inferior personality. I am the same. I have many flaws in my personality."
“From a young age, my father always told me that we are the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and we must be careful with our words and actions, otherwise we will cause a lot of trouble,” Lu Shenyun said. “So, I’m not very good at speaking.”
Qingchen listened quietly, thinking that a large part of personality formation is innate, so everyone has no choice in the matter. In addition, he was born into a family of Imperial Guards and was influenced by his father's way of doing things. Later, he became the commander of the Imperial Guards, so it was only natural that he became cautious and taciturn.
"When my father was the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he offended many people and had many enemies. So he made us learn martial arts from a young age so that we could protect ourselves."
"So that's how it is," Qingchen said.
He was explaining, seemingly still holding a grudge against Xie Huiying for saying he was boring. This person may seem cold, but he's actually quite sensitive and perceptive.
Qingchen suddenly realized that this seemed to be their first heart-to-heart talk.
Her gaze fell on Lu Shenyun's injured arm, noticing the bandage she had used to bandage his wound. She asked, "It's been several days, why haven't you changed the bandage yet? Is the wound any better? Does it still hurt?"
He shook his head and subtly hid his arm behind his back. "It doesn't hurt."
Despite being a cold and handsome man, his actions seemed somewhat childish. Qingchen couldn't help but curl the corners of her lips into a smile.
Are you hungry?
"Mmm." Qingchen nodded. "I'm hungry."
"Let's go eat together," Lu Shenyun said.
"good."
A few days later, Mingxiang entered the Xu residence.
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