78. Dull
Lou Zhi stood on the city wall, squinting his eyes and looking into the distance.
In the distance are layers of wild grass grasslands, the weather is foggy, and the setting sun is dim.
Beidi is the border between the barbarians and the Central Plains. Although it is a frontier, the trade between the two is extremely prosperous, so the Marquis of Beidi is also popular.
Lou Zhi paused, pursed his lips, lowered his eyes and prepared to walk out.
He had not arrived in Beidi for two days, and he was quite busy organizing the army and setting it up. Now he had some free time.
But before he could properly recover, someone came to greet him. A plain-looking woman stepped forward, bowed her head, and asked in a personal voice, "General Lou, may I ask... how are your thoughts on that matter?"
Lou Zhi paused, looked at the woman with calm eyes, his expression was calm, and then shook his head.
The woman looked up suddenly, seemingly in disbelief, "You...!"
Lou Zhi glanced into the distance, tilted his head slightly, and then spoke softly.
"…to catch a spy."
In an instant, someone rushed over, and several guards held her down and tried to tie her up.
The woman's voice was hoarse as she sobbed, "You don't know people well enough... You really, uh, really thought he was doing this for your own good...! You..."
Lou Zhi frowned slightly and spoke again.
"Cover your mouth."
"Or..." He paused, his eyes filled with a calm darkness, "You can also cut off your tongue."
The voice is low and hoarse.
The guard next to him paused, then lowered his head and escorted the man away.
Only one person was left downstairs, standing there with his hands behind his back. The sun had already set and the sky was dark. He looked up at the rising moon, then pursed his lips and said nothing.
The jawline was blurred by the afterglow of moonlight and dark shadows, with a slightly reddened look of confusion and calmness at the end of the eyes.
He looked up at the moon for a while and then walked away.
Lou Zhi dreamed of Yun Zhihe again.
He enjoyed such unknown feelings, and even his chest was filled with mud.
He really wanted to hug it gently and kiss it. The eye contact alone made him tremble.
Lou Zhi curled up on the bed, hugged himself, and slept uneasy.
Sometimes he dreamed of the moon, and sometimes he dreamed of Xiao Qinniang, who was pinching his neck.
Asking over and over again, "Why don't you just die?"
Lou Zhi paused.
He struggled with his breathing, sobbing uncontrollably and becoming unconscious. He struggled to hold Xiao Qinnan's wrist, and then, as his father-in-law had taught him, he apologized to his wife.
"Yeah... uh, guh... I'm sorry..."
Then rational tears flowed from his eyes, but his emotions were dead.
Xiao Qinniang yelled frantically, her eyes filled with crazy hatred, "It's all your fault, it's all your fault—!"
Then he slapped him.
Lou Zhi's face suddenly turned red, his throat was loosened, and he breathed heavily, almost uncontrollably.
His messy hair covered his dark eyebrows and eyes.
He could see Xiao Qinnan's angry face through her hair. This was common to him. Even now he could imagine how she would beat him in a moment.
That's just how he is.
A life of submission and obedience, followed by extreme dullness.
Lou Zhi suddenly woke up.
“Haaa…haaa…huh…”
He was breathing heavily, his face flushed with sweat that had lingered, wetting his forehead with an indescribable dampness.
He touched his neck blankly, which seemed to be suffocating, and lowered his eyes. After a long pause, he opened the window and looked up at the moon.
The clouds dispersed, and only the bright moon shone in the sky.
Lou Zhi stretched out his hand and vaguely grabbed the moon several times, his fingertips curled up and trembling.
She pursed her lips, seeming to understand and be calm.
“…I can’t catch it.”
Just like before, Xuanyuan Ying was arrogant and superior. When he was young, he stood beside the stone table in the bamboo forest, wearing gorgeous clothes, and asked Lou Zhi.
"What do you want to do in this life?"
Lou Zhi was sitting on a stone bench at that time, looking up at Xuanyuan Ying's eyebrows and eyes dimmed by the sunlight, and paused, as if thinking.
He only thought for a moment, his expression still a little confused, and said softly.
"As long as your life is not dull, that's all."
As long as life is not dull, it’s fine.
Lou Zhi raised his eyes and looked at the moon.
……it's beautiful.
——
Yun Zhihe has been busy with reform proposals submitted from all over the country recently. Now that the power of the Xuanyuan family has been curbed, Xuanyuan Ying will be able to carry out drastic reforms. The first thing to be eliminated is the corrupt officials of the Xuanyuan family who are taking advantage of their power to bully others.
Yun Zhihe was also extremely busy with this matter.
Before he could rest for a moment, news came that the eldest prince was visiting.
Yun Zhihe frowned slightly.
Qin Duan walked forward. The person behind him was holding a tray. He chuckled, lifted the curtain, and said softly.
"You love reading. These rare books were collected by my brother after many years of searching, so I'm giving them to you. A few days ago, I heard His Royal Highness the Crown Prince say that you particularly liked 'Nine Records of the Taihang Mountains.' These rare books were also collected by our ancestors during their travels. I'm sure you'll enjoy them."
Yun Zhihe paused, looked at the rare copies, and said, "I've been busy with court affairs lately, so I'm afraid I don't have time to look at them. It would be a waste to have such a rare copy. Why don't you give it to someone else?"
Qin Duan looked at her with a smile, but said nothing.
The servant behind him put the things in his hand on the table.
It means forced buying and selling.
Yun Zhihe remained silent.
The atmosphere was particularly silent, and Yun Zhihe lowered his eyes.
Suddenly, Qin Duan reached out and hugged her. In an instant, the heat of his body was transmitted to her, and his voice was nasal and crying with grievance.
"Really... Brother can't coax you no matter what he does."
“…Don’t be angry.”
"Brother knows he was wrong."
Qin Duan's eyes were a little red and his voice was soft.
Yun Zhihe paused, but didn't push him away. He asked softly, "You conspired with Queen Mother Cheng to conceal the fact that the disaster victims entered the city. When Longcheng was hit by the epidemic, you instigated the generals to demand food and fodder, and colluded with court officials and the crown prince to suppress the poor..."
"Even the downfall of Queen Mother Cheng was completely cleared by Yuan Ziluo. Your Majesty didn't pursue the more filthy things, but I still investigated..."
She lowered her eyes and reached out to wipe away the tears from the corners of Qin Duan's eyes.
"You deliberately caused the young master of the noble family to fall into the water, and you didn't intend to hide it from me. But, who were you meeting?"
Qin Duan looked at her in surprise.
"Brother, Jinniang has grown up."
“…Not a child anymore.”
Yun Zhihe stroked the corners of his eyes, his voice slightly hoarse.
"Jinniang is already able to protect my brother. I don't need my brother to do anything else."
"……May I?"
She frowned slightly and looked at him pleadingly.
Yun Zhihe was not stupid. She was also secretly investigating what Qin Duan had done, one by one, and she was particularly worried.
She was no longer a young girl who had just become an official. She was already quite sophisticated. How could she not know what he was doing behind her back?
Qin Duan paused, then reached out and hugged her.
"Jinniang clearly doesn't know."
He closed his eyes and his voice became hoarse.
"Jinniang knows nothing."
Qin Duan took a deep breath, still smiling. His voice was hoarse, but his eyes were dark and cold. "But will Jinniang still marry my brother?"
Yun Zhihe paused and was about to shake her head, but Qin Duan suddenly grabbed her hand and lowered her head slightly. Her soft black hair caressed the tip of her nose. She heard Qin Duan say.
"...You're not getting married, right?"
The tip of his nose caressed the tip of Yun Zhihe's nose. The touch was soft and especially sexy, and he let out a few soft sighs that seemed to be filled with sorrow.
"Because you want to marry someone else, right?"
He opened his eyes, with the calm waves and the darkness of the deep sea that seemed to be surging.
"You, want to marry someone else."
...almost certain.
Yun Zhihe was stunned. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Qin Duan smiling again, his eyes curved and misty like the moon. "It's okay."
"Brother still loves you very much."
He leaned over, looked at Yun Zhihe's face, lowered his eyes, and got so close that their breaths mingled, and a soft, elegant laugh came from his throat.
"But do you really think he is so good?"
"Do you think he is so pure?"
"If he was innocent and good, why would he have been emperor for so many years?"
Qin Duan smiled, as if looking at an ignorant child, "Jinniang... go and take a look."
“…You were deceived by him.”
Yun Zhihe pushed him away suddenly.
“That’s enough—!”
She didn't know why Qin Duan knew about Xuanyuan Ying and her, nor did she know why he said that. She just pursed her lips and looked at Qin Duan with a cold look in her eyes.
"It's better for you to go back early, brother."
Qin Duan reached out to flick away the ash, chuckled softly, and his expression was calm and composed.
"Then I'll take my leave first, brother."
Yun Zhihe looked at his back.
The white dress like magnolia wrapped around her waist, and then she walked slowly, like a swaying jade lotus, a lotus emerging from the water, a zhilan jade tree, and was especially gentle and elegant.
She was in a trance, with his voice always in her ears.
“…You were deceived by him.”
She was currently deceived, but what else was she deceived about?
Yun Zhihe pursed her lips, took a deep breath, and looked up at Azhi beside her.
"Azhi... go and inquire about the relationship between His Majesty and General Lou many years ago."
She pursed her lips again and said no more.
"...and what happened the year I entered the palace."
It was almost inaudible, and Azhi didn't hear clearly. "Ah?" Yun Zhihe shook his head.
"Nothing."
She pursed her lips and lowered her eyes to look at the solitary book beside her.
Since Yuanzi Luo was investigating General Lou, and someone had a secret meeting that day...
Lou Zhi's social life was simple, and he only followed the orders of Xuanyuan Ying. No one would invite him to socialize again after he calmly refused.
...Was it Qin Duan’s people who had a secret meeting with General Lou that day?
Why did Your Majesty cry that day?
After going around in circles, we come back to the relationship between General Lou and Xuanyuan Ying.
Xuanyuan Ying saw that she was distracted, paused, and asked softly, "What's making you so anxious?"
Yun Zhihe paused and shook his head.
"……nothing."
She reached out and tucked Xuanyuan Ying's hair behind his ear, lowered her eyes, and smiled beautifully, causing him to blush and be stunned.
"Just...missing you."
Xuanyuan Ying's face suddenly turned red.
He closed his eyes, reached out to touch Yun Zhihe's fingers on his cheek, and rubbed them with his face.
"You... I don't know why..." Xuanyuan Ying pursed his lips, "You're so smooth-talking."
He exhaled lightly, his voice slightly hoarse.
"I am very, very happy."
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