Chapter 22
◎So that everyone knows, I am whose possession◎
Cui Hu was also shocked by Wei Xianxi's fierce words and secretly glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.
It's no secret that Lord Wei is a homosexual, but he doesn't even intend to hide it?
Cui Hu coughed, then said indignantly, "That's right, Princess Ning'an is really outrageous. Prince Su clearly gave her to Lord Guo, how can she ask for her back?"
Seeing that Wei Xianxi's expression was getting worse, Cui Hu quickly stopped him and said seriously, "In short, we should both pay more attention these next few days. We've already received a letter from over there, and the goods will be able to be transported away in a few days."
Getting down to business, Wei Xianxi barely suppressed his anger: "Is everything arranged?"
"It's all arranged perfectly, there's no chance of anything going wrong."
Wei Xianxi nodded.
He secretly thought to himself, "A boor is a boor; he can't even speak properly. If it weren't for the fact that this thing still needs him, he would have already..."
However, as long as that thing wasn't removed, it was like burying a mine under his bed for another day, causing him to live in fear every night and never sleep soundly. Now, he's finally made it through the tough times.
Wei Xianxi patted Cui Hu on the shoulder: "Once the goods arrive safely there, you'll be well rewarded. Until then, make sure to guard the place carefully, otherwise, you and I will both—"
He made a throat-slitting gesture.
"Don't worry, I've increased the number of patrols, working in three shifts day and night. I guarantee not even a fly can get in. If the princess asks, we'll have plenty of excuses."
Cui Hu is right. There are regular patrols in Yingkou. Even if Xie Yutang questions him about this, Cui Hu can easily brush it off by saying he is "protecting the princess's safety." If she is really just "eager to save people" and stays here for a few days, she will not notice any flaws.
Xie Yutang and Su Lu exchanged a glance, having gleaned the information they wanted, and then quietly withdrew.
The next day, Xie Yutang deliberately delayed getting up until the sun was high in the sky. When she had breakfast, she noticed some noise outside and sent someone to inquire. It turned out that the guards were catching a cat. They said that a stray cat had been making noise in the front yard the night before, and they were afraid of disturbing the princess's peace, so they organized people to catch the cat and were preparing to kill it.
The wildcat, covered by the guard's hood, seemed to know it was in danger. Its fur stood on end, and it bared its teeth, ready to attack anyone who approached it. For a moment, the guard was unable to subdue it.
"This cat looks cute, and I've been quite bored these past few days, so why don't we keep it?"
The guard glanced at Xie Yutang, then at Su Lu.
...You call this "bored"?
However, since the princess had given her order, the servants dared not neglect it. They put the cat in a small cage and presented it to the servants as if it were a treasure.
Xie Yutang carried the cat back to the house. The little thing was bribed by Xie Yutang's raw meat and had a good meal. It put away its sharp teeth and claws and lazily curled up on her legs to lick its fur.
Xie Yutang went over the next plan with Su Lu again.
They were just missing an excuse, and this little thing was perfect.
"It's up to you now."
Xie Yutang patted the cat's head, and the cat opened its round eyes and meowed softly.
Just as he was about to get up and open the door, Su Lu called out to him.
Xie Yutang was puzzled, only to see the young man looking at the top of her head, "Master's hair is a little messy."
...It must have been scratched while playing with the cat.
She sat down again in front of the dressing table. In the bronze mirror, the boy's well-defined fingers moved through his hair, quickly tidying up a messy sideburn. In the mirror, her eyes were bright and clear, her beauty radiant and dignified.
She was Princess Ning'an, the most favored princess of the Great Yan Kingdom.
It seems that ever since she had him by her side, she has been well taken care of.
The boy put a hairpin in her hair.
Sunlight streamed obliquely through the window, casting shadows on him. He was so handsome, tall and elegant, noble and dignified, yet imbued with a tranquility beyond his years.
Xie Yutang's heart stirred, and he picked up the silk paper on the table and pressed it to his lips.
Su Lu, unusually unable to understand her intention, paused for a moment and asked, "Does Master dislike the color of this lip rouge?"
Before he could finish speaking, Xie Yutang grabbed his collar, forced him to bend down, and pressed the silk paper against his neck.
This is the most vulnerable part of the human body. Any martial artist would instinctively counterattack and defend, but the boy only froze for a moment before obediently standing there, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly in bewilderment: "What is this?"
"If you're going to pretend, you have to pretend convincingly."
"Now everyone knows that you and I have been indulging in debauchery for most of the night. With my vigor, how could I not leave some marks on you?"
Xie Yutang deliberately emphasized the word "fierce".
Last night, she was so close, their breaths almost touching. The slightest movement would have brushed against her hair. They secretly listened to others talking about their "romantic affairs," and she even scratched his earlobe with her fingertips...
The scraped area gradually turned red again, and the boy awkwardly looked away.
Xie Yutang was thinking that since that lecherous man surnamed Wei dared to covet her things, she might as well be "fierce" to the end and let everyone in Yingkou see who this "vixen" really belonged to.
Her intentions were so obvious, and she didn't even try to hide them, that Su Lu was both amused and exasperated, turning his head slightly away awkwardly: "That's not necessary—"
"Don't move."
Xie Yutang held him down, "If it gets printed, we'll have to start all over again."
To ensure the lip rouge adhered well to the silk paper, she even thoughtfully scraped it off with her fingernail.
The boy's breathing stopped for a moment.
Xie Yutang lifted the silk paper, quite satisfied with the result, and ruffled the boy's sideburns a bit and wrinkled his collar slightly.
After examining his masterpiece for a moment, he finally stopped, feeling quite pleased with himself.
"The more impeccably dressed I am, the more disheveled and disheveled you should be, and it would be best if you had some suspicious marks on your body—that's how you make the performance look the most convincing, don't you think?"
...
Su Lu was speechless.
He was disliked by everyone since childhood. His mother died early, his father disliked him, and no one was close to him or joked with him.
In his previous life, he spent his life on the battlefield and never had any involvement with any woman.
Although some people had impure thoughts because of his face, even those gazes contained fear—only Xie Yutang was different.
He lowered his eyes with a hint of self-mockery, realizing that since he had been with her, he had been constantly backing down.
“Master, you can be even more vigorous, I can take it—you said that yourself.”
Seeing that the boy ignored her, Xie Yutang became even more enthusiastic. Wherever he turned his head, she followed, blinking her eyes, "Young Master Su, you're not a sore loser, are you?"
...and they even said he couldn't take a joke.
She's already knelt down, put on a dog leash, and even accepted the title of male concubine, what more could she possibly want?
Su Lu laughed.
"If I don't put on the collar you gave me, you can hold the cat in one arm and lead me by the other, and walk around Yingkou, so that everyone will know whose plaything I am?"
Xie Yutang paused, and the smile on her lips disappeared.
Su Lu was furious, but seeing the strange look on her face, he realized he had said something wrong and immediately admitted his mistake: "I'm sorry, actually I—"
Xie Yutang burst out laughing.
She laughed so happily that even the pearl hairpins on her head trembled, as if she were not in a trap where the slightest mistake would lead to utter ruin.
Her eyes seemed to sparkle like stars: "Young Master Su, aren't you quite amusing? You don't need to be so reserved when you're with me in the future."
Su Lu was stunned.
She even noticed these things?
Snow began to fall softly on the mountain peaks.
He lowered his eyes and gave a very soft "hmm".
Xie Yutang smiled and asked, "Can we go out now?"
Su Lu nodded, but before he could get up, Xie Yutang grabbed his sleeve and whispered in his ear, "What did the young master just say?"
Su Lu's fingers trembled, and he awkwardly avoided her gaze.
Xie Yutang, however, was overly perceptive: "You don't mean to say—you actually don't mind being my plaything, do you?"
The guess was spot on.
"..."
The boy pulled his sleeve from her hand, didn't even look at her, and went straight to open the door: "I'm leaving."
Having amused himself enough, Xie Yutang was in a great mood and spent the rest of the day in Yingkou walking the cat. In reality, it was the cat walking him.
The cat seemed to know it had latched onto some powerful patron, and it was in high spirits, wandering around like it was inspecting its territory with an arrogant air.
Princess Ning'an spoiled the cat, letting it run around freely. In half a day, it had almost explored the entire Yingkou.
The cat got tired from walking and was held in Xie Yutang's arms. Its thick tail swayed on the princess's sleeve, looking like a big shot. When they reached an inconspicuous house in the northeast corner, the cat suddenly got startled, let out a cry, jumped off Xie Yutang's arms, and disappeared into the bushes.
Most of the courtyards in this camp were military barracks, but the houses in front did not look like they were inhabited, yet there were guards stationed every three or five steps in front of the gates.
Xie Yutang glanced at them discreetly. These guards were all young and strong, and their guarded posture with knives in hand indicated that they were the elite of the camp.
"This is a military barracks; unauthorized personnel are not permitted to enter."
Xie Yutang had just taken a step forward when he was stopped by two guards at the gate. Their long, silver-gleaming swords were crossed in front of him, making a clanging sound.
"How dare you! Who is the princess? Do you think you can stop her?"
Su Lu shouted coldly.
His tone was calm, yet it carried the ruthless and authoritative aura of a superior, making people shudder and unable to resist the urge to submit.
This is the aura that only generals who have held high positions and wielded great power for many years can possess.
Xie Yutang couldn't help but glance at Su Lu.
This was the first time she had seen him like this, or rather, only in front of her did the boy appear so different.
She couldn't help but recall Su Lu, who was the young Prince Muqing.
More mature and hardened than now, with a chilling aura that seeps into his bones, like the first snowflake on a mountain peak.
They guarded the vast land and rivers, while sitting amidst piles of white bones.
But Su Lu in this world is clearly not the little Mu Qingwang who crawled out of a pile of dead bodies, so why does she feel so similar to him?
When the two soldiers finally realized what was happening, they were already kneeling on the ground, their long swords trembling uncontrollably: "Princess, please forgive us, but we were ordered that this is a heavily guarded military camp, and we must not..."
Xie Yutang perfectly captured Princess Ning'an's arrogant demeanor. Without even glancing at the two kneeling soldiers, she strode straight over. However, before her foot landed, a sudden gust of wind rushed towards her, and a long sword came straight at her. The sword wasn't meant to stab her, but rather aimed at the ground an inch in front of her feet.
Xie Yutang didn't even raise an eyebrow, neither dodging nor avoiding. Just as the knife was about to pierce the ground in front of her feet, something flew out from behind her and lightly grazed the blade. The knife seemed to have lost its force out of thin air, and with a thud, it fell limply to the ground.
For a moment, there was complete silence.
Upon closer inspection, everyone realized it was just a small pebble.
Cui Hu was utterly shocked. He had poured seventy or eighty percent of his inner strength into this blade, and the force of the blade was so great that it could be driven completely into the ground, with only the hilt protruding. This thunderous force was meant to give Princess Ning'an a taste of her power.
Unexpectedly, instead of being intimidated, he was the one who was intimidated first.
Cui Huqing looked up at the young man who had made the move.
The moment his gaze fell on the other person, he suddenly paused, abruptly pulled away, and then couldn't help but steal another glance, his face displaying a complex, shocked, and indescribable expression.
In short, it's about to break.
—But he clearly looks like he's just been played!
He took the heir of the Prince Muqing's mansion as his male concubine, watching him moan and groan in bed, only to find out he was an unfathomable, cold-blooded killer.
—Are all royal ladies these days playing this high-stakes game?!
Cui Hu swallowed hard, forcibly suppressing his wandering thoughts, and bowed respectfully to Xie Yutang: "So it is Your Highness. This humble general did not know Your Highness was here. I thought a thief had broken into the military camp, and acted rashly. Please forgive me, Your Highness."
That's blatant lying. With Cui Hu's internal strength, he probably already knew Xie Yutang the moment she arrived at the door.
Xie Yutang was too lazy to expose her: "Move aside, I need to go inside to find the cat."
Cui Hu stood his ground, making a show of looking around: "Your Highness, did you see that the cat did indeed run into this courtyard?"
"What, am I lying?"
"This humble official dares not." Cui Hu was respectful but did not back down in the slightest, firmly blocking Xie Yutang's way. "However, this is a military stronghold. Unless His Majesty personally orders it, no one is allowed to enter."
Xie Yutang scoffed: "Even if Father Emperor had eight hundred hands, he couldn't possibly manage such trivial matters."
...
Cui Hu's lips twitched. "Princess, you'd better stop talking. Even if you dare to say such things about the current emperor, I dare not listen to them."
"Lord Cui, it's one thing to use such words to deceive those ignorant local officials, but to use them to deceive me is surely a gross underestimation of me."
Xie Yutang changed the subject, "Besides, I just came in to find a cat. You're pulling out a knife and bringing up my father to pressure me. Could it be that there's some hidden treasure here?"
Cui Hu was startled and couldn't help but wonder if Xie Yutang's words had any deeper meaning or were just a casual remark. His mind raced, but he didn't show any emotion on his face. He said with a forced smile, "Your Highness, please don't make such a joke. I am just doing my duty. Please don't make things difficult for me."
"What if I insist on making things difficult for you?"
Cui Hu flicked his palm, lifting the long sword from the ground and holding it in his hand. He then swept it horizontally in front of him, saying, "Then don't blame me for being impolite."
With a clear ringing sound, Cui Hu reacted quickly, channeling his inner energy to resist. However, even with all his internal strength, he was still shaken by the unsheathed sword energy, which made his tiger's mouth go numb.
Su Lu, holding the hanging scissors, stood tall and elegant, blocking Xie Yutang's way.
He simply held the sword, its tip hanging at a seemingly casual angle, but Cui Hu knew at a glance that even he and all the guards here were no match for this one man.
In other words, if Xie Yutang insists on breaking through, he can't stop him.
Cui Hu was fully focused and ready to take action.
A long, soft meow rang out, and a ball of black, yellow, and brown fur rolled out from somewhere, landing steadily at Xie Yutang's feet. It rubbed against her sideways, and the tip of its fluffy tail even tugged at the hem of Xie Yutang's skirt.
"I have finally found you."
Xie Yutang picked up the cat with a beaming smile, her expression genuinely joyful. She examined the cat thoroughly, turning it over and over. "Luckily, it's not injured. You're not allowed to run around like that anymore, understand? Otherwise, when I come looking for you, someone will throw knives at me, and you might accidentally wander into some military camp and get beaten up by a group of people."
...
Cui Hu's face flushed red and then turned pale. He pretended not to hear, sheathed his sword, forced a stiff smile, and cupped his hands, saying, "Congratulations, Your Highness, on finding... uh, your beloved cat."
Xie Yutang then said that the cat's tail tip was dirty and that he needed to take the cat back to bathe it, and left without staying for long.
Cui Hu saw the man out, and as soon as he turned around, the smile on his face vanished completely. He whispered urgently to his confidant, "Quickly go and call Commander Wei. Something terrible has happened. Tell him to come over immediately."
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