Chapter 45. Xiao Zhuo was seducing Yuan Chaolu. ...
The evening breeze rustled against the tent, its howling echoing through the night.
At the same moment, in the tent of Lu Changli, the Minister of Finance, Li Qing'e was kneeling on the ground: "The Yuan family is in dire straits and has nowhere else to turn, so we came to seek your help, Your Excellency."
Li Qing'e cried and sighed, "Since the Second Miss Yuan returned to the capital, no one in the mansion has been at peace. The head of the family has even angered His Majesty and been stripped of his official position. I hope Lord Lu can lend a hand and just ask that the head of the family be reinstated."
The man before her wore a green bamboo robe, leaning back in a chair. The luxurious silk draped to the ground, its patterns shimmering in the darkness. A gentle smile played on his lips, making him appear every inch the elegant nobleman.
Li Qing'e's gaze fell upon that expression, yet she knew his character well, and her body trembled involuntarily.
Lu Changli slowly picked up his teacup and said, "It was just a matter of asking you to get rid of one person, yet the Yuan family couldn't even do it properly. They have only themselves to blame for what they have done."
Li Qing'e, her face and lips pale, cried out, "My lord, since Yuan Chaolu returned to the capital, she has not been in the Yuan residence. We have not had a chance to make our move! I beg you to have mercy on us. The Yuan family is not doing well. There are still several mouths to feed. How will we survive in the future? Are you really going to stand idly by?"
Lu Changli waved his hand with a smile, and the servants behind him stepped forward and pulled Li Qing'e out of the tent.
Li Qing'e gripped the carpet tightly, breathing heavily, her chest heaving, and suddenly raised her voice: "Has the Lu family forgotten what happened back then?!"
Silence fell instantly inside the tent. Lu Changli raised his hand, signaling the people around him to leave.
Li Qing'e broke free from her restraints, her eyes red, and said, "Back then, my husband and I were ordered to carry out this mission, and the Lu family promised to reward us handsomely after the capital was moved. Although we later took over the position of family head, the family declined steadily, and by the time the new dynasty came along, we were completely out of favor. If we had known this would happen, we would have kept the eldest branch of the Yuan family alive, and we wouldn't have ended up in this situation!"
Seeing that Lu Changli remained unmoved, Li Qing'e said urgently, "We dared not act before because His Majesty had just exonerated the eldest branch of the family, and we were afraid that rash actions would arouse suspicion. Now that Yuan Chaolu has attached himself to the Pei family, if given time, the old case will be reopened and we will be found by following the clues..."
She slowly straightened up, raising her hand to cover her lips with the hem of her sleeve: "If it is found that the Lu family was involved in the events of that year, what does Lord Lu think we should do?"
Lu Changli raised his eyes, looking directly at Li Qing'e for the first time tonight, and chuckled: "Is Madam threatening me?"
"How dare I!" Li Qing'e quickly lowered her eyes. "I'm just afraid that if this matter is exposed, it will bring disaster to myself and the Lu family. I hope that Lord Lu will remember our past relationship and show us a way out."
Lu Changli smiled faintly, stood up without saying a word, picked up the longbow on the table, drew the bowstring, and aimed it at Li Qing'e who was kneeling on the ground.
Although there were no arrows on the bow, it was taut and made a creaking sound that made Li Qing'e tremble all over, her inner clothes soaked with cold sweat.
The person above spoke, their voice gentle, "Don't worry, if she really wants to marry Pei Xi, then she really won't be able to cause any trouble. If she finds out anything in the future, Pei Xi will keep her in check and keep her locked up in the Pei residence. Not a single word will leak out. Everything would be for the best."
Lu Changli's face showed no sign of hostility, and his eyes were gentle, but Li Qing'e knew how terrifying the Lu family was, with smiles concealing daggers, and felt a chill run through her body.
With a "snap," Lu Changli released the bow, the bowstring making a crisp sound. Seeing Li Qing'e looking lost and dejected, he sighed and returned to his seat at the table.
It was as if he had just been fiddling with the bow and arrow, a mere unintentional joke.
Li Qing'e knew he was truly intent on killing her; her fingers trembled, and she almost collapsed to the ground.
The person above slowly said, "You and your husband have contributed to the Lu family, so I will not let you be destitute and have nowhere to go. I will be in charge of building the pagoda in the western suburbs of the capital. After the hunting ceremony, your husband will take over the job of coordinating materials, and his salary will be paid according to the standards for a fifth-rank official."
Li Qing'e raised her head in disbelief, her eyes still filled with lingering fear, but after a moment a glimmer of hope and a hint of relief appeared.
She hurriedly kowtowed and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Lord Lu! Thank you, Lord Lu! My husband and I will serve you wholeheartedly."
The noblewoman continued to express her gratitude, but Lu Changli gestured for her to leave.
A breeze blew in from outside, ruffling Lu Changli's hair. He looked down at the longbow beside his arm, which was originally intended to be presented to the emperor.
Lu Changli stepped out of the tent, drew a long arrow from the guard's quiver, raised the carved bow, and aimed the arrow at the figure on the grassy slope that had not yet gone far.
The night wind blew into Lu Changli's sleeves, causing his clothes to flutter.
A childhood ailment made him believe he would never be able to draw a bow and shoot arrows again, until he met that woman in Jiangnan.
She was skilled in medicine, gentle and refined, and cured his stubborn illness, so he felt pity for her.
But ultimately, they were not meant to be together.
That night, he sat high on his horse and ordered his men to set fire to the medicinal herb field. As the raging fire engulfed the field and turned it to ashes, the figure staggered and he, too, nocked an arrow and shot it at her.
An arrow piercing the heart.
Several months later, Lu Changli drew his bow once again. As if smelling the blood of a shark, he felt a long-lost excitement. However, a sharp pain in his wrist caused the arrow to veer off course when he released it.
The long arrow pierced the ground beside Li Qing'e, its fletching still trembling. In an instant, Li Qing'e was so frightened that she collapsed to the ground. She stiffly turned her head and saw Lu Changli smiling and waving at her in the night, urging her to leave quickly.
Li Qing'e was stung by that smile. She bowed tremblingly, and with the fear of surviving a disaster, she almost fled in panic.
Lu Changli slowly withdrew his gaze, looking down at his thin left wrist, which appeared particularly pale due to years of pampered living and lack of exercise.
After returning from Jiangnan, his old wrist injury flared up again. Looking back now, it all seems like a dream.
His face regained its gentle expression.
The only thing in this world that can keep a secret forever is the mouth of a dead man.
If the second branch of the Yuan family disappears, no one will be able to trace those old stories back to the Lu family.
The torchlight cast a half-light, half-shadow on his profile. Lu Changli stood in the wind, his clothes billowing, feeling the wind crashing against him like waves.
**
Yuan Chaolu already had a rough idea about Li Qing'e's situation.
The next day, she made an appointment with the emperor to go hunting, and Yuan Chaolu arrived on time.
The afternoon sun was intense, making the riding gear seem to stick to the rider's body.
Guided by Zhong Changjun, Yuan Chaolu entered the forest and saw the emperor sitting high on a chestnut horse amidst the scattered green trees. Beside him, the snow-white celestial horse "Ta Xue" was particularly dazzling in the sunlight.
Yuan Chaolu stepped forward and stroked Taxue: "Your Majesty actually brought Taxue with you."
Xiao Zhuo said, "This is your horse. Since you're going hunting, there's no reason to leave it in the stable."
The emperor's steed snorted at Taxue impatiently, nudging it to get away. The two horses were particularly at odds.
The emperor reached out and soothed its back, and the wild horse finally calmed down a little.
Yuan Chaolu rubbed Ta Xue's hooves, thinking that this horse, like its owner, had a difficult temperament to get along with, and then mounted the horse.
Zhong Changjun presented a carved bow with both hands, "This is His Majesty's favorite bow, which he often used for hunting. This afternoon, Miss, you can use this bow and you will surely be able to hunt many prey."
Yuan Chaolu's fingertips touched the carved bow, admiring its exquisite lacquer and painted decorations that reflected a dazzling light. She gripped the bow tightly, smiled as usual, and turned her head to say, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
She had mentally prepared herself for a long time before coming, trying her best to remain calm, but the person in front of her was even calmer than her, with a nonchalant and breezy demeanor, as if he had not met with the fiancée of a subject today.
Yuan Chaolu and he rode their horses deeper into the forest, their hooves treading over the soft fallen leaves.
"This morning I went to see Lord Pei to decline his invitation to go hunting with me this afternoon. However, Lord Pei said that the warriors were going to have a competition in the afternoon and he needed to preside over the ceremony, so he declined the invitation for the afternoon."
Xiao Zhuo smiled slightly upon hearing this, a smile that startled Yuan Chaolu, who then realized, "It was His Majesty who ordered him to preside over the competition?"
Xiao Zhuo hummed in agreement, but his gaze fell on her posture with the bow on her back: "Do you know how to hunt?"
Yuan Chaolu gently shook her head. "No."
Xiao Zhuo said, "I've always been curious about how you learned horse-taming skills, since you were adopted by a scholarly family in the Northwest."
Yuan Chaolu pulled her horse, dodging the oncoming branches. The heavenly horse followed her closer to the king and nudged the king's horse.
Yuan Chaolu was somewhat embarrassed. He gripped the reins tightly and said, "It was just a method I learned by chance, something that's not exactly respectable. I just tried it out casually that day, and I never expected it to actually make the heavenly horse obey me."
"Your casual attempt has solved a problem that has baffled many of my warriors. Tell me the details."
Yuan Chaolu turned his head to look at the trees beside him, so as not to let him notice his strange expression, and said, "There are many horse farms in the Northwest. It is a rhyme and tune that I accidentally learned from my horse trainer when I was a child."
"Second Miss, are you sure you haven't hidden anything?"
Yuan Chaolu smiled and said, "No."
The emperor stared at her face for a moment, then smiled and said, "I understand."
The words were spoken lightly, as if casually mentioned, yet Yuan Chaolu felt a vague unease. However, given the emperor's temperament, if he were to investigate her past, he would naturally press for answers...
She lowered her eyes in thought, the tassels at her temples occasionally brushing against her face as the horse bounced. When she saw the emperor stop, he pulled her reins, drawing her close. She lost her balance and instinctively braced herself on his horse.
He touched her temple and untied the hair ring in her hair. Yuan Chaolu raised her hand to stop him, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her away.
Xiao Zhuo said, "When Pei Xi was teaching you yesterday, he told you to take these off when hunting in the forest. Wearing them will only cause branches to get tangled in your hair and hinder your steps."
Yuan Chaolu's hand slowly descended, feeling his movements as he untangled her hair. His fingertips were gentle, not pulling her hair at all. In a short while, he had smoothed her hair down, and all the hairpins and jewelry were put into the saddle bag on the side of his saddle.
Yuan Chaolu was about to tidy her hair when he took the hairband and started braiding it for her, his deep voice coming from beside her.
"When hunting, you should be fully focused; your target is the wild beasts in the forest."
Yuan Chaolu only came to her senses after her hair was braided. The emperor summoned someone behind him and handed over the bag of hairpins, asking him to keep it for the time being.
Xiao Zhuo said, "If you don't like outsiders around, I will have them leave."
But with no outsiders around, and the intense afternoon sun surrounding her, Yuan Chaolu felt even more uneasy.
"Show me what Pei Xi taught you the other day."
He gestured to Yuan Chaolu to look ahead; there was rustling noise in the bushes, clearly indicating that there was prey there.
Yuan Chao followed the instructions on how to use the open-nozzle arrow, but failed to hit the prey several times. Xiao Zhuo said, "It seems that Lord Pei's method is incorrect; my cousin has not grasped it at all."
"I hope Your Majesty will enlighten me." Yuan Chaolu lowered her eyes, seemingly seeking advice sincerely.
The emperor's method was to teach her step by step, just like Pei Xi, but he rode with her on the same horse.
After he climbed onto the celestial horse, Yuan Chaolu subconsciously raised her body and moved away from him. This resistance was naturally noticed by the person behind her. "If she is unwilling, I will naturally not force my cousin."
Yuan Chaolu hurriedly replied, "Your Majesty is willing to teach, how could I, a humble woman, refuse?"
Facing the blinding sunlight, Yuan Chaolu squinted, only able to see his exquisite silhouette in the light. He raised his hand to shield her forehead from the light and smiled, "My cousin is truly understanding. I will naturally teach her well."
The horse carried the two forward. The space on the horse was already limited, and it had to accommodate the two of them, forcing them to stand extremely close. After Yuan Chaolu realized what the man behind her was thinking about her, she could no longer interact with him as usual.
He held her half-encircled in his arms, rendering her immobile and causing her blood to rush to her head. Several times he personally raised his hand behind her to guide her, but she always missed her target.
"Even when Pei Xi taught you like this yesterday, you were still so absent-minded?" His lips drew closer, and the forest was already hot. His breath brushed against her neck, making her feel even more embarrassed and hot.
With the whip pressed against her lower back, Yuan Chaolu didn't dare to move an inch.
"Why is my cousin so afraid of me?" he asked with a smile, lowering his cheek.
Yuan Chaolu said, "I was not absent-minded. I was just stupid and did not understand what Your Majesty said. I hope Your Majesty will enlighten me again."
"Then practice well." He slapped her buttocks with the handle of the whip, making a crisp sound. Yuan Chaolu's face flushed red, and she turned around to look at him with displeasure.
Xiao Zhuo laughed and said, "There is no ruler here. If you don't concentrate, I will have to use this whip to remind you."
Her eyelashes trembled slightly as she stared at him for a long time, unable to utter a single word. She simply shifted her body, moving her hips forward slightly to distance herself from him.
Xiao Zhuo asked as if he already knew the answer, "What's wrong, cousin? Do you think I'm strict?"
Yuan Chaolu felt as if he were entangled by vines, so she put the bow and arrow back into his hand and said, "Your Majesty, I am tired and need to rest for a while. Let's go and take a look ahead."
The horse stopped by the lake. Xiao Zhuo dismounted first, then used his hands as steps to help Yuan Chaolu down. Yuan Chaolu instinctively hid in his arms, using his body as a shield, and said, "Is there really no one here? Those warriors are practicing archery in the forest. Would they come here to refill their water? I saw flags and signs nearby. I'm really afraid someone will see us."
Xiao Zhuo said, "Then hurry up and finish resting so we can enter the forest as soon as possible."
Yuan Chaolu withdrew her hand from his waist and watched him walk to the lake to refill his water bag. Just then, a commotion came from the woods in the distance.
Several horses galloped from afar, startling a flock of birds in the woods.
"Lord Pei, Lord Pei!"
Those people asked, "Is there a place to rest up ahead?"
Upon hearing this, Yuan Chaolu rushed forward and saw that Xiao Zhuo was still calmly feeding the horses and drinking water. Without thinking too much, she grabbed him and pulled him into the forest.
Not long after the two figures disappeared, the horses of the warriors emerged one after another from the jungle opposite.
After several people were eliminated in the competition, it was time for the halftime break, and Pei Xi led everyone to rest by the lake.
He stood under the tree, brought the water pouch to his lips, and spotted the silhouette of a maroon horse on the opposite shore of the lake.
"It's His Majesty's horse..."
Pei Xi knew that His Majesty enjoyed hunting. In the past, His Majesty would naturally have stood on the high platform to watch the warriors' competition, but today he did not show up, which was very unusual. It made sense that His Majesty was hunting here.
However, soon after, the figure of a snow-white horse came into view.
A celestial horse, treading on snow, emerged from the forest and drank water by the lake on the opposite side.
Pei Xi's eyes flickered slightly as he gripped the water pouch in his hand.
The warriors behind him hadn't rested for long when they saw Lord Pei suddenly mount his horse and gallop straight towards the other side.
Deep in the jungle lies a hidden cave, concealed among lush vegetation.
Yuan Chaolu led Xiao Zhuo into the cave, and soon after, they heard the neighing of horses and the sound of horses' hooves breaking as they trampled through dry branches in the distance.
But the person in front of her was still speaking, "My cousin brought me here and left the horse outside. Even so, people outside will still notice..."
Before she could finish speaking, Xiao Zhuo was pinned against the stone wall by her. She placed her fingertips on his lips, signaling him to be quiet.
Behind them were jagged rocks, and in front of them was the soft body of a young girl, her heart rising and falling, pressed tightly against his.
Her ragged breaths, still lingering, brushed against his Adam's apple, carrying her rich, fragrant scent. Xiao Zhuo tilted his head back and laughed, "So afraid of your fiancé seeing you, yet you accepted my invitation?"
Yuan Chaolu opened his mouth silently: "Shut up first."
She nervously looked outside, realizing that someone had truly lost their mind and dared to order the emperor to shut up. Yuan Chaolu realized this as soon as she finished speaking.
The emperor smiled at her, then raised his slender fingers and, to Yuan Chaolu's stunned gaze, took her hand and gently stroked her cheek.
Yuan Chaolu tried to pull her hand away, but it was held even tighter.
"Pei Xi helped you dispose of Lu Yu's body, and I also helped you. You should think about how to repay me."
The man's voice was deep and clear, echoing throughout the cave.
Yuan Chaolu covered his lips with hers. He squinted at her, his breath tickling her palm. Yuan Chaolu wanted to tell him to stop talking, but a tingling sensation came over her.
Xiao Zhuo bit her fingertip.
Yuan Chaolu's hands trembled violently, and he became even more reckless, his tongue licking her, the warmth enveloping her fingertips.
The sunlight streaming in from outside shone on his eyebrows and eyes, making him look like a fox, with a blatant seduction.
He said in a hoarse voice, "He only helped you, and you want to be his wife? What about me? Cousin, isn't it a bit too biased towards him and towards me?"
Yuan Chaolu wanted to step back, so she let go of him and turned around. Then she heard the person behind her say, "I have never told you before, but I injured my wrist when I went to look for you that rainy night."
"It hurts so much." The emperor sighed softly, as if he were truly in great pain. "Does my cousin really want to leave?"
Yuan Chaolu stopped in his tracks and turned around. He was leaning lazily against the stone wall, his eyes filled with a smile, showing no sign of pain whatsoever.
The next moment, he suddenly grabbed her waist and pinned her against the wall.
The man's palm was burning hot, and the heat seeped through the thin fabric of his clothes. His fingertips seemed to lightly caress her lower back. Yuan Chaolu suddenly thought of the afternoon when he had used a whip to strike her from behind, circling around her like this, sending shivers down her spine. Yuan Chaolu instinctively tried to break free.
He held her tightly, a wisp of hair falling from her forehead, brushing against his eyes and adding to the ambiguous and tender feeling.
In the cramped space, their breathing could be clearly heard.
Yuan Chaolu looked at the man so close to her, his Adam's apple bobbing slowly with each breath. He deliberately used his knee to pry open her legs, the action blatantly provocative. Yuan Chaolu couldn't take it; her ears burned even hotter.
She spoke, her voice softening: "I'll think about it when I get back."
He noticed this and let out a muffled laugh.
"No." He whispered in her ear, his thin lips brushing against the throbbing veins on the side of her neck.
Yuan Chaolu felt that the next moment, he would open his lips and bite her neck. Her whole body was overwhelmed by an inexplicable heat, and her breathing was completely out of rhythm.
Outside, there was a cacophony of noise, the frantic sound of horses' hooves, as if someone might burst in at any moment and discover this secluded world within the cave.
He took her fidgeting hands in his own, lowered his gaze and kissed her wrists, like an elegant lion bowing its head before her.
Yuan Dynasty wrist bones are soft.
He kissed her for a long time before finally raising his eyebrows, his eyes filled with a flirtatious air, and said leisurely, "Sister, have you decided how to repay me?"
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Author's note: Being a mistress is full of exciting moments.
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