Chapter 2: The Lecher
Aunt Xuanji was waiting at the foot of the mountain. She was sitting under a tree, resting her feet and looking at the mountain stream.
Seeing Qiandeng coming down, she hurriedly said, "Liuli went to the mountain stream to fetch water just now. I don't know why she hasn't come back yet."
Qiandeng walked to the edge of the mountain stream and looked down.
The trees on the cliff were in disarray, blocking the view below. She could not see Liuli's figure. She could only see the water flowing below between the dead branches, and a vaguely swaying figure, with a piece of royal blue clothing visible through it.
Since her mother's passing, everyone in the mansion has been dressed in mourning like her, and Liuli is no exception. Qiandeng saw that the figure seemed to be a man, frowned, and shouted to the people below, "Liuli, come back!"
There was no response from below, only the gurgling sound of the mountain stream. Mixed in the echoing noise was a scream, which seemed to be Liuli's voice.
She was startled and turned around to see the guards still dragging their horses on the mountain path behind. She pointed to the mountain stream and ran down the slope first.
Beyond the bushes, he saw Liuli's skirt, covered in mud, retreating into the water. It was a bitterly cold winter day, and her shoes and socks were soaked, but in her panic, she didn't care.
In front of her was a young man in royal blue clothes, who approached her with a joking smile: "What are you afraid of, young lady? I just saw you fall and wanted to help you up. Look at you, your shoes and socks are all wet..."
Liuli yelled angrily, "Get out of here! This is the Changhua Prince's mausoleum. I'm a maid in the Changhua Prince's mansion. If you dare to humiliate me, I won't let you go when the people from the mansion arrive!"
She spoke harshly, and the man was stunned for a moment, but he looked at a man who looked like a servant next to him and laughed.
"Very well, a maidservant of the Changhua Palace, then that is right in my pocket! I will definitely take good care of you in the future!"
Seeing them approaching step by step, Liuli panicked and missed a step, fell into the water, and was instantly soaked.
The man called out to his attendant, "Hurry up and pull her out of the water! Tsk tsk, we need to take off her clothes and dry her off..."
Before he could finish his words, he heard a loud snap, and the shadow of a whip flashed before his eyes, and his cheek suddenly felt a burning pain.
It was Qiandeng who caught up and whipped the man in the face.
With a crisp sound, a bloody mark suddenly appeared on the man's left cheek, oozing out blood.
He jumped up, covering his cheek and glaring at Qiandeng in front of him.
Qiandeng pulled Liuli up and protected her behind him, staring at him coldly: "Where did you come from? How dare you try to get involved with the people in Changhua Palace?"
The man covered his burning face and was originally angry, but when he saw that she was dressed in a plain white dress, like a bright pearl in the moonlight in the wilderness of dry grass, he was stunned for a moment and nodded at his attendant, signaling him to catch her.
Qian Deng was already feeling annoyed, so she naturally showed no mercy to this filthy villain. She faced the attendant, but he retreated instead of advancing, and when he was caught off guard, she kicked him, tripping him and sending him tumbling into the mountain stream.
It was freezing cold in the winter, and the long-servant screamed in agony after falling into the water, but Qiandeng ignored him and whipped the evil young man again.
Clothes were thick in winter, so Qian Deng focused on hitting the exposed part of his face. As he screamed, another blood mark appeared on his cheek, which matched the left side of his face.
He was so angry that he rushed forward with a fierce look in his eyes: "You bitch, you are so cruel!"
He looked like a madman, but Qiandeng's face was stern. When he rushed over, he pulled Liuli up and quickly dodged him. With a snap, he whipped him hard again.
He was so frightened that he quickly stepped back to avoid it. The attendant had already climbed out of the water, and with a flash of knife in his hand, he had pulled out a sharp knife from his boot.
The young villain snatched the knife, wiped the blood off his face, and chased after him cursing.
Qiandeng would never fight against the madman with a knife. He pulled Liuli over and ran upwards.
But Liuli had just fallen into the water and her body was frozen stiff. The slope was covered with weeds and she tripped and fell down immediately.
Qian Deng quickly grabbed her and tried to drag her up, but the evil young man behind her had already caught up, grabbed Liuli's ankle and pulled her down fiercely.
Amid Liuli's scream, a sound of breaking air was heard, and a stone flew over and hit the evil young man's forehead heavily.
He was caught off guard and was hit on the head by a flying sharp stone, causing it to bleed. He immediately howled, covered his forehead and fell backwards, rolling down the hillside into the stream.
Amidst the splashing water, the long-servant had no time to chase Qiandeng and the others. He quickly pounced down, calling out "My dear" while touching them.
Qiandeng looked up and saw Ling Tianshui standing on the cliff. Seeing that the man had fallen into the water, he retracted his toes slightly and pushed the stone next to him behind his heels.
However, the hostility that permeated his cold expression was hard to conceal, which made Qian Deng's heart skip a beat. He felt that his expression did not seem like he was saving people, but rather like he was venting the old hatred buried deep in his heart.
Could it be that... he knows this evil young man, and there is some deep hatred between them?
Thinking of the young man's fearless look when he talked about the Changhua Palace just now, Qian Deng suddenly became suspicious. But seeing that Liuli was so cold that her face turned blue and her limbs were stiff, he didn't care about anything else and quickly pulled her up.
Ling Tianshui leaned over the edge of the cliff, grasped her wrist through her sleeve with his strong and powerful hand, and pulled them both up.
Cui Fufeng heard the noise and rushed to the edge of the cliff. Seeing that they looked miserable, he hurriedly asked what had happened.
Qiandeng took the cloak from the car and put it on Liuli, saying evasively, "It's nothing. She accidentally slipped and fell into the stream while fetching water for Aunt Xuanji. Let's go back quickly."
As she spoke, she glanced back at Ling Tianshui, and seeing that he only curled his lips slightly and kept silent, she nodded slightly at him, took Liuli on the horse, and told them to return home.
On another official road going in the opposite direction of Qiandeng was the eldest princess of Gao State with a dark cloud on her face and Xiao Fuyu who was angrily whipping the grass and trees on the roadside.
Seeing that she was still furious, Princess Gao finally said, "Alright, it's just a horse. We can send someone to Dayuan to find another one someday."
"I just can't get over this! Xueyun was my most beloved horse, and they beat her to death. Not to mention the Lingling County Lady, even the men around her don't even take our Princess Mansion seriously. This is simply too much!" Xiao Fuyu said angrily, "Why should I apologize to her after they killed my horse? Why does she, a mere county lady, dare to ride on the head of a princess like me?"
Princess Gao said coldly, "Just because she saved the Queen and the Crown Prince, and her entire family of loyal and brave men perished, she's the only one left. You must respect her from now on—especially since you'll be the Crown Princess in the future, so you must be even more cautious."
"What do you mean she saved the prince?! Isn't it just changing clothes and running for a while during the chaos? If I were in the palace at the time, wouldn't I have helped the prince to distract the rebels? Would she have been able to save him?"
"Okay, shut up." Princess Gao glared at her unhappily. "Didn't you see that Cui Fufeng? Be careful. Anyone who messes with him will suffer. If you see them next time, try to stay away from them."
Xiao Fuyu bit his lower lip and kicked the horse angrily, feeling very angry.
Li Gaosheng urged his horse to walk faster with them, leaving the others behind.
He whispered soothingly, "Princess, please be at ease. The Princess of Lingling is only relying on the Emperor and Empress's nostalgia for the past, but their entire Changhua Palace is almost gone. How much longer can their glory last? Princess, you were personally appointed by the late Emperor to the Crown Prince. In the future, when you will be the mother of the world, who in the world will not grovel at your feet? Comparing yourself to her, aren't you dishonoring your status?"
"Mother, I've always said that no one around you can compare to Li Zhanshi!" Xiao Fuyu finally smiled, tugging at the reins and turning to Princess Gao. "But this Lingling County Lady is quite good-looking, what do you think?"
"No matter how beautiful you are, without a father or mother and disfigured, and looking at those shabby clothes, you are truly dull and gloomy." Princess Gao's face was sullen as she raised her hand to straighten the golden flowers on Xiao Fuyu's head. "You resemble your mother in her youth, bright and beautiful, suitable for wearing makeup. Unlike some people, you will never be worthy of wearing a full head of golden flowers in your entire life."
When Li Gaosheng heard the word "Golden Flower", he suddenly remembered something and said with a flattering smile, "Come to think of it, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince specially ordered a pair of Nine-Tree Golden Flower Hairpins for the Princess some time ago!"
Xiao Fuyu's eyes lit up, and he immediately put aside Qiandeng's thoughts: "What is Nine Trees Golden Flower Step-Shake? How come I don't know about it?"
Li Gaosheng lowered his voice and laughed, "A month ago, the Eastern Palace was checking the accounts, and I noticed a set of Nine Trees of Golden Flowers that the Crown Prince personally ordered the Inner Palace Bureau to make. The treasury sent it with the finest red gold and imperial pearls. Just think about it, with this kind of design, and the level of attention the Crown Prince paid to it, is there anyone in the world other than you, the Crown Princess, worthy of using it?"
Xiao Fuyu raised the corners of his lips and hummed softly, unable to conceal the joy in the corners of his eyebrows and eyes.
Princess Gao couldn't help but laugh and said, "Ayan has really grown up. She even knows how to prepare surprises for Fuyu."
Xiao Fuyu pouted: "He prepared a surprise, why hasn't it been delivered yet?"
"Wait two more days, you will know on your birthday, right?" Princess Gao smiled at her.
The bad mood brought about by the conflict with the Princess of Lingling County was swept away. Xiao Fuyu hurriedly dismounted his horse and returned to the city excitedly.
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