Chapter 17
Imprisoned between the bed board and the person on top of him◎
After returning from the Lantern Festival that day, Xie Yutang went to the school to listen to lectures in the morning as usual, and practiced riding and archery at Happy Valley in the afternoon. She was naturally gifted in riding and archery, and after restraining herself like in her previous life, she made rapid progress. However, after these days, no one in the school could rival her.
After returning from the school and having dinner, Xie Yutang practiced for an hour in the inner courtyard. He had just finished bathing and was being helped by Granny Wu to dry his hair. He was about to do some more homework on the classics and political theories for tomorrow.
Just as she turned the page of the book, a gentle breeze ruffled a corner of her hair. Xie Yutang turned her head sharply, and at the same time, the teacup on the table flew behind her with the force of a flying arrow.
"who?!"
Xie Yutang practiced her martial arts every day, and her internal strength improved by leaps and bounds. Even the experts of the patrol camp might not be able to easily catch her cup of tea. However, the other party only made a blur, and the teacup hit the corner of the bed and shattered.
Xie Yutang's heart tightened.
To be able to evade the layers of guards at the princess's residence, sneak into her room unnoticed by Huai Jin and Wo Yu, and cleanly dodge her attack, this person must be someone of great importance.
She grabbed the gold hairpin that had just been removed from the table and spun around to attack the man.
She had prepared for a fierce battle, but to her surprise, the other person did not flinch at all. He simply used a defensive stance to block her two palms, which were filled with internal energy, and let her grab his wrist. With a pull and a twist, Xie Yutang pressed him against the wall with his elbows pointing backward.
With a formidable foe before him, Xie Yutang aimed for vital points with every move. He pressed the opponent's wrist back with one hand while the golden hairpin in his other hand was already stabbing towards the opponent's most vulnerable throat.
Suddenly, the candlelight on the table flickered and illuminated the man's face.
Xie Yutang was startled. After realizing what was happening, he quickly withdrew his strength, but the hand holding the golden hairpin was already filled with internal energy. Even with the sudden stop, he only managed to narrowly miss the vital parts, still leaving a hideous wound on the man's collarbone.
Blood immediately seeped from the thin, porcelain-like skin.
Xie Yutang stared at the wound for a moment, then laughed in exasperation: "Didn't you know how to dodge? If I hadn't stopped just now, I could have called the Muqing Prince's Mansion to collect the corpse right now."
Su Lu remained pressed against the wall without resistance, his cheek against the wall, and he could still laugh: "I belong to my master. Even if I die, shouldn't you be the one to collect my body?"
His long eyelashes fluttered, and he asked softly, "Or is it that—the master is unwilling to collect my corpse?"
...
This is completely irrelevant.
She ordered Su Lu to investigate the theft from the armory. He was not one to act rashly, and his arrival late at night must have been for only one reason—he had obtained important intelligence.
Xie Yutang released him, her fair palm facing upwards, and stopped in front of the boy: "Where's the medicine?"
She gave Su Lu a bottle of Jade Skin Cream at Nanfeng Pavilion, but she didn't know if he had brought it with him.
Xie Yutang's gaze lingered on Su Lu's collarbone for a moment, then she paused, surprised that he had used it so soon, and that this injury was thanks to her.
The boy paused for a moment before realizing what was happening, then glanced down at his bleeding wound.
He kept saying he was her dog and her knife, but the first thing she did as his master wasn't to ask about the clues he found, but to apply medicine to him.
Although she knew this was just Princess Ning'an's way of winning people's hearts, her heart still couldn't help but clench tightly.
Su Lu lowered his eyes, took a deep breath, and said with a hint of despair, "You really don't have to do this."
Stop flirting.
Xie Yutang raised an eyebrow, about to speak, when Woyu's anxious voice sounded from outside the door: "Miss, are you alright?"
She just smashed the teacup, making quite a commotion, so Huaijin and Woyu must have heard it.
This question is actually very easy to answer.
She could easily dismiss the person, but when Xie Yutang looked at the boy sitting in front of her, whose collar was slightly open due to her earlier actions, revealing a shocking wound on his collarbone, she suddenly hesitated to speak.
That brief moment of hesitation was enough for her subordinates outside to be convinced that something was wrong with her.
The two exchanged a glance, Huaijin took a step back, and Woyu raised his sword with one hand and kicked the carved wooden door hard.
"Bang--"
The bolt snapped, and the door swung open.
Huai Jin and his guards charged into the house in a fighting stance, but were stunned when they saw the situation.
Their young lady was propped up on the couch, with a... young man beneath her?
The boy was like a deer caught in a trap, imprisoned between the bed and the person on top of him, with only a wrist sticking out of the bed, powerless to resist.
Xie Yutang looked up from the boy, squinted and scanned the crowd, stopping at Woyu who was at the head, and said with a half-smile: "You guys have really made something of yourselves, daring to kick down my door."
Huai Jin immediately clasped his hands around his sword, bowed his head, and admitted his mistake: "It was my overstepping, please punish me, Miss. But Miss is currently... busy, I will apologize to Miss again tomorrow morning!"
After saying that, he coughed as if trying to cover up his mistake, grabbed Yu's sleeve and pulled her away, not forgetting to close the door before leaving.
Only after the two doors were closed tightly and the footsteps outside had completely disappeared did Xie Yutang prop himself up on his arms.
—Actually, Huai Jin and Wo Yu were both her confidants, and she didn't need to hide the fact that Su Lu was in her room. But for some reason, in that instant, Xie Yutang thought of those strange picture books in the carriage, and those lewd words like "lock Prince Su to the bed".
—She instantly didn't want those two gossips to know.
Xie Yutang was preoccupied with his intricate calculations and had no idea how close he was to Su Lu.
The incident happened suddenly, and in her haste, she threw him onto the bed and then pressed herself against him. Although she knew that no matter what she did, he probably wouldn't resist, she pressed her upper body almost against him so that Su Lu's face wouldn't be seen.
...
Su Lu could only turn his head away, futilely trying to reduce Xie Yutang's aura, but the aura was everywhere.
Her hair brushed against his face, her body pressed against his, the graceful curves of a young girl pressing against his neck at their most prominent point. If he raised his eyes slightly, he could see the golden begonia embroidery on the collar of her inner garment; if he tilted his head slightly, the tip of his nose could brush against her full breasts…
The crabapple blossoms are unrestrained and ignorant, while the snow on the mountain peaks trembles precariously, as if they are on the strings of a zither, with every tremor causing the snow to fall softly.
Su Lu dared not turn his head or raise his eyes. In the end, he even stopped breathing. He tried to struggle, but his hands were held tightly. It was more devastating than being tortured.
Xie Yutang was still pondering how to explain the sudden appearance of a "male concubine" on her bed the next day when she felt her wrist, which was being held, being lifted slightly. She looked down and finally saw the fish beneath her, who was about to suffocate. The fish's Adam's apple bobbed, and it whispered as softly as a mosquito's buzz: "...Master."
Xie Yutang blinked, then realized something a beat later, let go of her hand, and got up from the bed.
She coughed, then felt that her cough sounded like that of a thug who had raped a respectable woman and didn't want to admit it.
"...I was afraid that too many people would gossip and that it would be detrimental to your covert operations."
Su Lu didn't seem to be listening to what she was saying. After a while, he slowly got out of bed, straightened his clothes which had been pulled open at the neckline, and lowered his head to say "Mmm".
...
Xie Yutang felt that he was more like a thug.
In front of Su Lu, she opened the hidden compartment by the bedside and took out a bottle of Jade Skin Cream. Although she had instructed Imperial Physician Liu to prepare a few more bottles of this stuff, the ingredients were expensive and it was being sold through the Princess's private accounts, so she couldn't be too blatant. Therefore, apart from the bottle she gave to Su Lu, this was the only one she had.
"Take it."
Su Lu took a while before raising his hand to take it, and Xie Yutang noticed that even his fingertips were red.
It's as exquisite as porcelain.
How could such a person have fought his way in and out of the frontier battlefield seven times without ever being defeated, becoming a god of war general who struck fear into the hearts of the Hu people at such a young age?
Amidst this immense sense of rupture, Xie Yutang glanced at the wound on his collarbone. Though not deep, it was a long, shocking gash.
Oh well, this injury is all thanks to her. If he had fought back seriously, she would have been the one who got hurt.
For once, she showed a shred of conscience and said to Su Lu, "You can apply it yourself."
Upon hearing this, Su Lu fell silent, his fingers holding the medicine bottle twitched, and for the first time ever, he did not immediately administer the medicine: "...I can't see it myself."
Hsieh Yu-tang: "There is a mirror."
Su Lu: "...My hands aren't clean."
Xie Yutang: "Go wash your hands."
Su Lu glanced at her, his eyes not entirely filled with joy. Before Xie Yutang could discern the truth, the young man obediently nodded and quietly got up from the bed: "I'll go fetch water."
"etc."
Xie Yutang pressed the person back down, saying, "I'll go."
She had finally managed to cover up his visit tonight, and she didn't want to cause any more trouble.
Outside the door, the guards, who had just witnessed the princess's intimate moments, gossiped while keeping watch.
"Tsk, the princess's possessiveness is really strong."
"That's how much they treasure it, they keep it tightly covered, they don't want anyone to see even a single hair on it, let alone their face."
"I also want to be noticed by a princess."
"Come on, with your looks..."
"See that wrist? The most beautiful girl I've ever seen while drinking and carousing can't even compare to that guy's wrist."
With a creak.
The sandalwood carved door, kicked by Woyu, made a rather unpleasant sound, and the guards all fell silent.
A moment later, a maid came carrying a basin of water. The carved sandalwood door opened a crack and then quickly closed again.
The guards kept their eyes down and their minds at ease.
The princess truly spoiled her little male concubine.
Inside the room, Su Lu washed his hands in a basin of water, sat in front of the bronze mirror, holding a medicine bottle in his hand, but hesitated to make his next move.
His wound reopened, a long gash extending into his collar, likely caused by her actions while he was pinned to the bed.
Xie Yutang, with a waning conscience, urged again: "Take it off, how can I apply the medicine if you don't take off your clothes?"
This was also what Su Lu hesitated about.
He shamelessly asked twice, but Xie Yutang remained unmoved. She didn't want to touch him, so how could he undress in front of her and offend her so abruptly?
This hesitation, observed by Xie Yutang, caused her a subtle displeasure.
She had already been considerate and considerate of him, and had refrained from using applying medicine as an excuse to take advantage of him, yet he still became reserved.
He belongs entirely to her.
He fastened the chain around his neck himself and then handed the other end to her.
Is this a sign that they want to back out?
Xie Yutang subconsciously touched his left wrist, and the thin golden chain on his wrist made a crisp, light sound.
The boy in front of the bronze mirror looked up, his gaze lingering on her wrist for a moment before being quickly hidden by his long eyelashes.
Did she wear it all the time?
Xie Yutang was about to wave her wrist in front of the boy to remind him that this body belonged to her and that he had to carefully treat every wound when she saw Su Lu open her collar, half-remove her shirt, and pick up some ointment with her slender fingertips, applying it to the wound on her collarbone.
This was the second time Xie Yutang had seen his body.
The first time was on the day she brought him from Happy Valley. She was applying medicine to his wounds, and at that time she was somewhat testing him, wanting to see how much he was willing to obey. She was rough with her touch, and even teased and flirted with him.
How come I didn't notice how beautiful this body was back then?
A thin layer of muscle taut over the bones, slender but not weak, with perfect lines when taut—a body truly forged in the life-or-death battlefield.
"...Master, did you notice anything about that duty roster?"
The boy's ears hadn't faded all night, and he couldn't stand being stared at any longer, so he finally spoke up to interrupt her. He didn't dare look at her while he was speaking, and kept his head down, carefully applying medicine to his wound.
Xie Yutang leisurely looked at it for a while before finally taking pity and turning his gaze to the duty roster.
Su Lu's visit tonight was indeed due to the discovery of a major clue—they could use this as a starting point to unravel the mystery and uncover the true culprit behind the armory theft.
The armory was guarded by the patrol battalion, which was able to transport a large number of weapons out without anyone noticing. Even if the guards in the patrol battalion were not the masterminds, they were certainly not innocent.
The most direct way to find out the problem with the personnel on duty is to retrieve the duty roster for that day. However, this duty roster is an internal secret of the patrol battalion, and even the guards of the patrol battalion cannot easily see it. It is unknown how Su Lu obtained it.
Xie Yutang carefully studied the form, which showed that the night shift personnel were divided into ten shifts, from 7 PM to 3 AM, changing every half hour, and were labeled as team one, team two, ... up to team ten according to the order of their shifts.
Her nails, painted with crimson nail polish, lightly touched the "Eighth Team" mark.
"You've also noticed the problem here."
Su Lu was not surprised that Xie Yutang could see through the clues so quickly. He washed his fingers, which were covered in ointment, in the basin and then carefully dried them with a towel. "A normal patrol takes 45 minutes, with shifts changing every half hour, which is plenty of time. But this team..."
Xie Yutang said, "It took a full hour to complete the shift handover."
"It's not uncommon for shifts to be handed over early or late in the patrol battalion. It's possible that team members have family matters to attend to and need to leave early, or that they encounter an emergency on the way and are delayed. They just need to note the reason on the handover form."
Su Lu pointed to a line of small print after "Team Eight": Team member Da Wu had diarrhea and went to the doctor's house in the West Market to find medicine, hence the delay.
“I went to the doctor in the West Market to inquire, and no one came to my door looking for medicine that night.”
Xie Yutang seemed to be deep in thought. He raised his hand and took a drawing from the desk, spreading it out flat on the table: "You mean, this group of people may have used this extra time to move the military equipment in the patrol camp?"
Looking at the map of the capital city of Yan spread out on the table, Su Lu knew that Xie Yutang had thought of the same thing as him, and a smile appeared in his eyes: "There are two possibilities now. First, this group of people did not patrol at all, and started transferring the weapons from the beginning of the handover. Second, this group of people only started transferring the weapons after patrolling the area."
"The former had nearly an hour, and the latter had more than half an hour."
The boy's slender fingers drew two circles on the map of the capital, with the patrol camp as the center. The area between the two circles was the entire range that this squad could reach with its weapons.
Xie Yutang picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and circled the area on the map as Su Lu pointed out. The mystery that had been shrouded in mist suddenly seemed to have been unraveled.
She lowered her head and pondered: "The quantity of weapons is huge, and we need to keep it hidden. There aren't many places that meet both of these conditions at the same time. This range can be narrowed down further."
Su Lu smiled as he looked at Xie Yutang, who was deep in thought with his pen in hand, his eyes filled with undisguised admiration: "Then, Master, which places do you think are most likely to be the most likely locations?"
The candle on the table burned quietly. The woman in front of the table had just finished bathing and was not wearing any makeup. Her cascading black hair was tied up in a simple bun, but it could not hide her magnificent and noble appearance, like a begonia under the moon with rich colors.
Xie Yutang lightly raised her wrist and circled three places on the map of the capital.
She raised her eyes and curled her lips, the moonlight flashing into her eyes for a moment: "One of them is the most suspicious."
[Author's Note]
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