31. Scars
Yun Zhihe was stunned, and his jade-like white face suddenly turned red.
But in just a moment, his eyes darkened and his steps to escape stopped.
……scar.
Vicious scars bloomed from the back, and whip and knife wounds danced on the lower back, like blooming.
Yes, in full bloom.
His beautiful back was covered in scars, blooming with beautiful yet cruel flowers.
Yun Zhihe forgot the urge to look away and just stared at his scar in amazement.
"Click—"
The force exerted by his feet caused the branches to break, making a rustling sound.
Yun Zhihe reflexively wanted to dodge.
"who?!"
Lou Zhi suddenly turned his head, frowned, quickly turned over, picked up the clothes on the shore and put them on, then raised his sword, pointed the sword at Yun Zhihe's neck with his toes.
Draw a trace of blood.
Yun Zhihe didn't try to hide on purpose, and he stood there in a daze after his reflex stopped.
There was a sharp pain in the neck.
"you……?"
Lou Zhi paused slightly, his hair still damp, his lips slightly pursed, the outer robe he was wearing sticking to his body with dampness, wrapping around his torso, appearing and disappearing, with a hint of abstinence.
Only the chest is wide open, revealing smooth and beautiful muscles.
Drops of water flowed down his neck and slid across his trembling Adam's apple.
There was a hint of confusion in his eyes, and he pursed his lips, pointing the sword at her with a murderous look.
Yun Zhihe was about to explain when the sword in Lou Zhi's hand trembled. He paused for a moment, then casually swung the sword in a flower pattern and retracted it, moving smoothly and with a calm expression.
Why……?
She hasn't explained yet?
Why, you took it back?
Even so, Yun Zhihe still spoke, "General Lou, I didn't mean to do this... I just came to visit and look for you..."
She pursed her lips, frowned, and looked embarrassed, as if she didn't know how to say it.
It is not a good thing for a man to have his reputation ruined.
"...I just saw you bathing here."
Yun Zhihe bowed his head in fear and trepidation, his voice apologetic, "I didn't mean to do that. I won't tell anyone about what happened today to damage your reputation... When I get back, I'll send you a generous gift as apology, and..."
"Um."
He lowered his eyes, his expression was calm, and there was no emotion in his eyes.
"Nothing."
"But..." Yun Zhihe was about to speak.
“…Nothing.”
Lou Zhi looked up at her again, seemingly unaware that her clothes were disheveled, revealing her sexy body, with the water light shimmering on her skin. He pursed his lips and asked in a low voice.
"Did it scare you?"
"What..." Yun Zhihe was confused, but was interrupted again.
"scar."
Yun Zhihe suddenly realized and thought of the scar on his body that he had just seen.
Looking at the scars, most of them were there a long time ago, but some of the knife and sword wounds looked new, probably scars from the past few years.
"……No."
Yun Zhihe shook his head truthfully.
She suddenly remembered what others had said to slander Lou Zhi.
"He looks quite disfigured. I'm afraid he got his position by doing that in the military camp."
"The face is destroyed and he is old, but he is just a puppet in the hands of His Majesty. How can he have a face that is expressionless in front of others?"
"Killing your wife and selling yourself is really disgusting!"
"There are so many nomads on the border. They probably just hide behind and collect the credit for any battles, big or small. Have they ever actually been on the battlefield?"
"If it weren't for your Majesty's pride, how could he be allowed to control the military power?"
…
Yun Zhihe frowned suddenly.
How could he be called a “puppet who has never been on a battlefield” when he was covered with so many scars?
On the contrary, with those scars, he must have suffered a lot of grievances while defending his country.
She had always disdained those rumors, and when she heard them she would just silence them and frown.
But now, if she heard such words again, she would want to throw the person onto the battlefield to see what fighting is like.
Lou Zhi saw her frowning and thought she disliked the scars on her body. He lowered his eyes and stopped looking at her. In a daze, he saw that his clothes were in disarray and he began to hold his clothes tightly in silence.
Yun Zhihe was still lost in his own thoughts, feeling that some people were ignorant of suffering and were extremely disgusting.
Lou Zhi was silent for a while, then spoke in a hoarse voice.
“…Don’t be afraid.”
Yun Zhihe was stunned, then suddenly came to his senses and explained, "I'm not afraid."
Lou Zhi remained silent.
As if to ease the awkward atmosphere, Yun Zhihe spoke up, "General Lou defended his country, and all his scars are from fighting on the battlefield. How can you be afraid?"
Lou Zhi paused and shook his head.
"That's not the case."
His eyes were calm and his face expressionless, as if he didn't care at all, not realizing how much of a stir his words had caused.
"The wound on your back was inflicted by Xiao Qiniang."
“…It’s not about defending the country.”
Yun Zhihe's breath hitched.
I had heard that Xiao Qinniang was a domestic abuser, but I never thought that she would be so cruel and covered with scars.
Lou Zhi spoke softly again, raising his eyes slightly, as if he was confused.
"The wounds from the battlefield are in front... Do you want to see them?"
He reached out and began to undo the loose waistband he had just fastened, exposing his chest.
“No, no, no, no…”
Yun Zhihe's face flushed red, and she was in a hurry to put clothes on him. Lou Zhi's body stiffened, tensed up, and then deliberately relaxed to let her gather his clothes.
Hands... so soft.
...Did it scare her?
She held his clothes tightly and wrapped him tightly. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief and suddenly realized that she was holding the widow's clothes, and her fingers were against his strong and thin waist and abdomen, conveying a dense and warm touch.
She quickly withdrew her hand, the tips of her ears red.
"Lou, General Lou...yes, I'm sorry..."
She stammered another apology.
Lou Zhi shook his head and tied his clothes in silence, seeming to not care at all.
Yun Zhihe steadied her breathing, looking extremely miserable for a moment, without any of her graceful charm, and her ears were red.
We should forgive her for never having touched a man's body at her age.
I sighed in my heart, and couldn't help but sigh at General Lou's calmness and...ignorance?
The two of them came to the secluded spring. The clear spring water was sparkling with tiny lights, and it was particularly clear and beautiful.
Lou Zhi put on his clothes and the two of them looked at each other.
Although he has a scar on his eye, it does not affect his handsome face, but instead adds a touch of coldness and solemnity.
Yun Zhihe breathed a sigh of relief and tried to speak, "I came here to ask, General, has anyone contacted you recently to try to win you over?"
The reason why Xuanyuan Ying did not allow him to attend the court seemed to be a favor, but there was another meaning - to prevent him from being wooed by anyone and to serve as a soldier of the emperor.
Lou Zhi paused to think, then denied it.
"I haven't spoken to many people in the few months since I returned to Beijing, and no one has contacted me recently."
Yun Zhihe nodded and told him to be careful and not to pay attention to other people's slander or gossip.
"...I only listen to Xuanyuan Ying."
His face remained calm and he spoke the emperor's name without hesitation.
He lowered his eyes to look at her again, pursed his lips, and his eyelashes were covered with a layer of shadow, covering up the darkness.
Yun Zhihe froze and nodded.
“…That’s good.”
Yun Zhihe reviewed everything that had happened from morning to night.
Yuanzi Luo is a rising star, competing with her, so why does she have to secretly pass on information when there are so many people around, and contact him in person in the palace? Isn't it too clumsy?
Then I visited General Lou, but didn’t find him… in the spring… hmm.
She suddenly remembered the awkward contact just now.
In a hurry, I touched his body, and my fingertips seemed to still have a dense touch, warm and burning.
How should...
I just felt that his expression was indifferent, as if he didn't care about reputation and other things, or maybe, I don't know?
Yun Zhihe was stunned.
Considering that there are only two people in such a huge mansion, and considering that he met the wrong person, I am afraid he does not understand the relationship between men and women.
She wanted to say goodbye, but after thinking it over, she said, "General Lou, we should be careful about the relationship between men and women. Don't let others take advantage of you and then slander you."
Even if the playboy just now was her.
Now these words sound like he is being ungrateful.
Lou Zhi was obviously stunned.
He hesitated for a moment, then pointed his finger at the scar above his eye, which looked very old, stretching from his eyebrow to under his eye, and across his pupil.
"Is this...still joyful?"
He said that he looked old and unattractive.
Yun Zhihe was also stunned, and felt a pang of bitterness in his heart.
Men pay the most attention to their body shape and appearance. If their appearance is ruined, their reputation will also be slandered. Now they are cautiously asking themselves whether anyone likes their appearance.
It's really sad.
"The general has a strong character and unyielding spirit, and he is not interested in fame or gain. This is admirable, and naturally makes people happy."
"A man's appearance is not the only thing in the world."
Lou Zhi pursed his lips, lowered his eyes slightly, and asked softly.
"What about you? Will you be happy?"
"……nature."
Yun Zhihe slightly curved his eyes and looked at him, full of admiration for him.
"A general's character is rare in this world."
The girl's hair fluttered in the wind, gently brushing across her pure white face, tinged with a soft smile.
Lou Zhi curled up his fingertips, glanced at his eyes, and nodded slightly. There seemed to be ripples in his dark eyes.
After the turbulent times, it was calm again.
He lowered his eyes.
After she left, he still leaned against the tree trunk, looking at her back, rubbing his scars with his fingertips over and over again.
The calluses on his fingertips were rubbing against him.
It seems... not bad.
Lou Zhi remembered when he first joined the army.
He made this scar himself.
Most of the male soldiers recruited by the border army are tools for sexual gratification. The men are weak and have no ability to fight. Once they enter the military camp and have no ability, they are just prostitutes who sell their bodies. Their status is so low that even a sinner like him can be a male soldier.
But he had the ability. The killing methods his mother had taught him were applicable to all situations. The broken knives issued by the military camp were covered with the blood of the enemies.
He could stand on equal footing with the female soldiers in the barracks, and basically no one regarded him as a lowly male soldier. He could always come back with the heads of the enemies in his arms after every battle. Amidst the smoke of war, he would walk towards the barracks from afar with a bunch of heads tied around his waist and a broken blade in his hand. The heads hanging from his waist made him look as fierce as a Shura ghost.
His face was covered in blood, his hair clotted into strands by the blood, leaving only a pair of obsidian-black, calm eyes, deep and unfathomable.
It makes one's scalp tingle.
The commander did not think highly of him, even though his abilities were better than those of some of the female soldiers, she never relented, only saying one word.
“…It’s not enough.”
There were even a few people who were not afraid of death and broke into his tent in the middle of the night, wanting to kiss him, hug him, and have sex with him. He first knocked them unconscious and then threw them out.
Later he asked his tentmate, "Why do you always want to come into my tent? I'm not weak, and my voice isn't pleasant."
The person traveling with him was a lowly male prostitute soldier. Xiao Qinniang had died not long ago, and his body was covered with scabby scars. It was this man who helped him deal with them.
When she saw the scars on his body, her eyes were filled with pity, and she hugged him and cried.
He murmured, "They are all miserable people...", and then sobbed softly.
Hearing Lou Zhi's question, her face softened, she thought for a long time, and then touched his eyes.
"You are handsome."
"And, especially your eyes, they are very beautiful, like gemstones, dark and hazy as the sea."
Lou Zhi thought about it and picked up the dagger. The dagger was black and sharp, a magical weapon, the only thing his mother left him.
He wanted to dig out his eyes.
But after digging it out, he could no longer see and could not kill the enemy. He frowned and raised his hand. There was a winding trail of blood from under his eyebrows to under his eyes.
The man looked at him in surprise.
Lou Zhi endured the pain and said to him seriously, "If you do this, your face will not be handsome, and your eyes will not look good either."
Serious and calm.
He was afraid of pain, but the wounds on his body caused by Xiao Qinnan were more painful than those on his face.
What happened to the people who were traveling with him in the end?
Lou Zhi paused as his fingertips were stroking the scar, and he looked up in a daze.
...was tortured to death by a group of female soldiers.
There was not a single piece of good meat on the body, and he died with his eyes open.
At that time, Lou Zhi had just returned from a battle and failed to protect him in time, giving the group an opportunity to take advantage of him.
How did Lou Zhi come about?
He closed the man's eyes, squatted down and looked at him silently for a long time. He didn't cry or shed tears, and his eyes never turned red for a moment. His pair of dark eyes were like the deep sea, bottomless.
Bury the person.
Then he took off the heads of those people.
He was holding the heads of those people, his body was covered with sticky, warm blood, and every step he took left a bloody mark. Everyone was afraid and no one dared to stop him. They watched him walk to the commander-in-chief's tent.
Lou Zhi raised his hand and used his thumb to wipe away the blood stains that were stuck to his lips. His face was expressionless, and there was thick blood on his eyelashes, almost covering his pupils. He looked up at the coach, and blood was flowing down his cheeks.
In an instant, it was gloomy.
He asked her again and again with a hoarse voice.
“…Is that enough?”
“…Is that enough?”
She was too frightened to answer, Lou Zhi paused and threw all the heads onto the table.
"Hey...is that enough?"
At that time, the murderous aura and cruelty on his body startled the battle-hardened woman. She was inexplicably afraid and spoke with a trembling voice.
"Enough, that's enough."
Since then, his achievements were noticed by the court, and the newly crowned emperor Xuanyuan Ying gave him military power.
The building stops hiding the memories, and the eyelashes cover the darkness.
As his mother said, he was born to kill.
He looked blankly in the direction where Yun Zhihe left, remembering how she looked when she touched him, and remembering when he touched her fingers when they first met.
The sky was hazy at that time, dark clouds obscured the moonlight, and the moonlight was reflected on her body.
The touch was warm and tepid, with an unforgettable fuzzy feeling.
Like it's soft on the tip of my heart.
...How strange.
Also, I like it very much.
…
"His Majesty."
Inside the Shengchen Palace, Eunuch Li carefully brought a bowl of medicine and woke up Xuanyuan Ying, who was taking a nap with sleepy eyes.
The decoction is dark in color and has a strong smell.
This medicine is specially made and is several times more bitter than ordinary decoctions.
“Gurgle gurgle…”
Xuanyuan Ying frowned slightly, then took the medicine again, tilted his head back, and drank the whole bowl with his Adam's apple trembling.
Eunuch Li lowered his head and gently massaged his lower abdomen.
"Your Majesty, this medicine was specially found by me from an old doctor in my hometown. It nourishes the uterus and body, and dispels cold and keeps you warm."
"If you take it on time, you will surely get pregnant soon."
Xuanyuan Ying felt a slight pain in his throat from the pain, but he kept a calm expression, forced himself to suppress the discomfort, and endured the churning in his stomach and the feeling of vomiting.
Ever since he drank the bowl of aphrodisiac given by Cheng Guomu at the age of fifteen, his body has become cold and weak. His hands and feet are cold in winter, making it extremely difficult for him to conceive.
Eunuch Li brought another plate of candied dates and asked softly, "Your Majesty, would you like some candied fruit? The medicine is bitter."
Xuanyuan Ying shook his head. "Candied fruit will suppress the medicinal properties, so it's not necessary."
He paused, put his hand on his lower abdomen, rubbed it with his fingertips, and asked Eunuch Li in a hoarse voice.
"At my age...if I take good care of myself, will it be easy for me to get pregnant?"
Eunuch Li pressed his lower abdomen and coaxed him, "Your Majesty is only twenty-seven years old. Although you may not be as easy to conceive as a teenager, you are not as bad as a teenager. Your Majesty does not need to worry."
Xuanyuan Ying pursed his lips. When he heard the word "twenty-seven", he seemed to be stung for a moment. He was silent for a long time and lowered his eyes.
"Is there any way to conceive a girl?"
Eunuch Li smiled happily, "Your Majesty, don't worry. These ladies all love men who give birth to daughters. Even Madam Yun is probably no exception."
"I will take care of your health and I will definitely be able to win you a girl in one fell swoop!"
Xuanyuan Ying was silent for a moment and then nodded.
While massaging him, Eunuch Li sighed, "Your Majesty... The Second Prince seems to have settled down. He hasn't been racing or having fun lately, but has been staying in his room studying the men's discipline."
"I just sent a copy of the 'Men's Rules' for you to read. A few eunuchs are leaving to teach him the etiquette of a husband."
There was a hint of worry on his face. "You've really made up your mind to marry Madam Yu Yun, then..."
Xuanyuan Ying tightened his fingertips and closed his eyes. Thinking of the unique passion of a young man in the Second Prince, his heart ached.
“…I understand.”
Eunuch Li continued, sighing, "And Master Wen, I've lived so long, I know what these young masters are thinking. He needs to be on guard against them too."
"Last time when Lord Wen was dismissed from office, if this old servant hadn't left in time, Master Wen would have cried in Madam Yun's arms. He looked so pitiful, and those fox eyes were so alluring..."
Xuanyuan Ying was in a daze and raised his hand to let Eunuch Li leave.
"...I'll stay alone for a while."
He knew that his wife was popular.
Xuanyuan Ying pursed his lips and simply opened the memorial he had been reading halfway.
Several months had passed since the murder in the downtown area, and the investigation had reached a deadlock. Su Lin was under great pressure, and the court officials were increasingly dissatisfied, all accusing her of abusing torture and driving people crazy.
Especially those from poor families, the number of letters they write is even greater.
The poor families were declining, and in order to suppress the power of the aristocratic families, they could only seize this opportunity to punish Su Lin.
The Su family is a prominent family. If Su Lin is punished, it will also suppress the limelight of the aristocratic family.
...For the moment, it is enough for the aristocratic family to have Yuanzi Luo.
If Su Lin is dealt with, the aristocratic families will not be too dissatisfied, and they can also give an explanation to the poor families.
Xuanyuan Ying thought for a moment and then asked someone to draft an edict to punish Su Lin.
He rubbed his aching temples to suppress the discomfort and tingling in his stomach.
He turned to the shadow guard in the dark and said, "Continue to investigate the incident in the downtown area. There must be something hidden. He is so meticulous in his work... I'm afraid he has a bigger trick up his sleeve."
His eyes darkened as he looked at the shadows of the trees outside the window, swaying in the wind and bursting with vitality.
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