Chapter 63 I said you're so easy to coax.
Lou Xueying and Li Pan left the hunting ground camp, but they didn't go too far. The surrounding area consisted of small, raised mounds of earth, with wild grass growing wildly and abundantly. In their field of vision, they could see a few people strolling and chatting.
Lou Xueying believed that since they needed to prevent anyone from taking action in secret, she and Li Pan couldn't stray far from the crowd; otherwise, no one would know where they went, and if something happened, there wouldn't even be a witness. But at the same time, they couldn't stay too close to the crowd, otherwise, all the rebellious things she and Li Pan had said to each other would be impossible to say.
The two sat down on the grassy slope, from which they could see the distant, rolling mountains.
"It's my fault for dragging you into this," Lou Xueying said softly. "I know you really wanted to participate in the autumn hunt."
Li Pan: "What's the big deal about being implicated? It's just an autumn hunt. If I really want to hunt someday, I can find any wild place to hunt. What does it matter?"
Lou Xueying: "His Majesty forced you to come to the autumn hunt, but you didn't participate, and he doesn't seem to have taken any further action. Why do you think that is?"
She also carefully observed Emperor Jinghui's expression at the time. It didn't seem like the resentment of a failed plan. Did he not intend to make a move in the hunting grounds? Could it be that he really wanted to secretly poison him?
“I don’t know,” Li Pan said calmly, “but at least for now, I don’t feel any danger around here.”
Lou Xueying leaned on Li Pan's shoulder and remained silent.
The two of them sat on the ground, enjoying the mountain breeze and the mountain scenery, and remained quiet for a long time.
The Qishan Mountains in autumn are bright and beautiful, displaying varying shades of color under the sunlight. Closer up, they are a deep green, gradually tinged with brown and yellow, until at the farthest horizon, wisps of mist linger above the peaks, transforming into a hazy white. A breeze blows from the valleys, carrying the fresh scent of grass and trees.
Finally, Li Pan couldn't hold back any longer and asked, "Don't you find it a little boring?"
Lou Xueying: "...Hmm."
She was initially alert, but being constantly alert gets tiring, and before she knew it, her mind went blank. When she regained consciousness, she found that the scenery in front of her was still the same, unchanged, and she couldn't help but feel a little lost—was she really going to sit here like an idiot all day?
Li Pan: "Can you weave grass rings?"
Lou Xueying shook her head.
Li Pan got excited and said, "I'll teach you."
He plucked a few thin vines from the surrounding area and began weaving them for Lou Xueying to see.
Lou Xueying initially thought he was just twisting a few blades of grass into a circle, and was about to say that it was easy, but then she discovered that he was adding new grass as he wove. The grass ring he wove not only had neat weaving patterns, but also had a few small grass balls on the side. If you shook it in your hand, the small grass balls would sway back and forth, which was very cute.
Lou Xueying was very curious, holding the grass ring and looking at it over and over: "How do you know how to make this?"
“When I was a child, before the busy farming season, my family would weave straw mats and bamboo baskets to sell for money. We would naturally use these scraps,” Li Pan said. “Now that the flowers are not in bloom, if they were, we could weave them into a wreath, which would be even prettier.”
Lou Xueying smiled, pursing her lips: "This one is pretty too, teach me how to make it."
Li Pan then pulled up a bunch of vines and began to teach her slowly.
Lou Xueying was a smart person. After watching it a few times, she understood it. However, she was not very skilled and accidentally cut her skin on the sharp edges of the grass leaves while weaving.
Li Pan noticed a faint trace of blood on her fingertip and immediately clicked his tongue, saying, "Forget it, I'll make it up."
"No." Lou Xueying turned her back, wiped her fingers, and said, "I want to finish it myself."
"Alright, alright, then you can make it up." Li Pan smiled and stopped interfering.
Lou Xueying finally finished weaving a grass ring. At first glance, it looked quite decent, but upon closer inspection, the structure was looser than Li Pan's, and the whole thing was much softer and more collapsed. The little grass balls were also not rolled into round shapes.
Lou Xueying was somewhat dissatisfied: "This is not good, I want to rewrite one."
She picked out a few more fresh vines and began to slowly weave them.
Li Pan picked up the straw ring she didn't want and put it on his head.
Lou Xueying caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of her eye, couldn't help but laugh, and said, "That's not right."
Li Pan: "What's so bad about it? It's quite fun."
Lou Xueying: "It would damage the prestige of you, Marquis of Wu'an."
Li Pan: "I don't have any subordinates here, so what's the point of having any authority?"
Lou Xueying: "Don't wear that. Once this one on my wrist is healed, it will definitely look much better than that one."
Li Pan: "Then let's all wear them."
“Then I want to wear one too.” She leaned her head over, gesturing for him to place the grass rings he had just made for his demonstration on her head.
Li Pan: "Your red dress and gold hairpin don't really match this."
"It's okay, I'll wear it."
Li Pan rolled his eyes, picked up the grass ring, stood up, and took a few steps back.
Lou Xueying looked at him, puzzled.
Li Pan raised a grass ring, gestured with his wrist a couple of times, and finally flicked his wrist, the grass ring landing squarely on Lou Xueying's hair.
Lou Xueying: "..."
Lou Xueying stood up abruptly: "Li Pan!"
"Eh." Li Pan responded, took two steps back, and with another flick of his hand, another grass ring was placed on Lou Xueying's hair bun.
One leans to the left, and the other leans to the right; they're quite symmetrical.
Lou Xueying got annoyed, stopped weaving the grass ring she was halfway through, and threw it directly at Li Pan.
Unfortunately, her aim was poor and her strength was insufficient; the grass ring fell halfway before it even reached Li Pan.
Li Pan smiled and picked it up, then walked to Lou Xueying's side: "Here, take it back."
Lou Xueying turned her face away: "I don't want it anymore."
Li Pan straightened the two straw rings on her head, stacked them together, and laughed, "Why did you give up halfway?"
Lou Xueying: "Who told you to use me as a punching bag?"
Li Pan: "Then I'll be your stake to play with."
Lou Xueying snorted: "I don't care."
Li Pan smiled, said nothing, looked at the half-finished grass ring in his hand, and continued weaving.
Lou Xueying secretly watched him and saw that he moved quickly. In no time, he changed a large ring into a small ring and tied the extra vines into a knot, making it even more exquisite.
Li Pan glanced at her sideways. Just as Lou Xueying was about to casually look away, he grabbed her wrist and put the grass ring on her wrist.
—Now it's turned into a grass bracelet.
Lou Xueying turned her wrist, watching the grass bracelet sway back and forth, and couldn't help but laugh again.
Li Pan: "So easy to coax."
Lou Xueying: "What?"
“I told you you’re really easy to fool,” Li Pan said. “This stuff doesn’t even work on the girls in our village, but it seems to work on you quite well.”
Lou Xueying immediately raised her eyebrows: "You used the same trick to fool the village girls?"
"Oh, no, because the girls in the village can weave their own," Li Pan said with a grin.
Lou Xueying pouted.
Suddenly, she felt an itch on her forehead. She scratched it casually and saw a dark, wriggling fat worm crawling on her hand. She was so frightened that she jumped up and screamed, frantically shaking her hand.
Li Pan was startled and quickly stood up: "What's wrong? What happened?"
Lou Xueying's face turned pale. Seeing that the bugs were gone from her hands, and fearing that they had fallen onto her clothes, she started patting her clothes everywhere, jumping up and down while anxiously saying, "There are bugs! There are bugs! Quickly take that thing off my head!"
Li Pan quickly pulled the grass ring off her head, threw it aside, and comforted her, saying, "It's gone, the bug is long gone."
He then noticed the grass bracelet on her wrist, and casually took it off and threw it away as well.
Lou Xueying stood on tiptoe, almost wanting to lie on top of Li Pan, and exclaimed in panic, "What a huge bug! How disgusting!"
"It's all my fault, it's all my fault," Li Pan repeatedly admitted his mistake. "I didn't see the bug crawling on your head and put it there."
Lou Xueying: "You, look at me more closely, are there any other bugs on my head?"
Li Pan checked carefully and said there was nothing there, and Lou Xueying finally caught her breath.
“This place isn’t good, let’s find somewhere else.” Li Pan took her hand and walked away to another place.
Lou Xueying's features were all scrunched up, and every few steps she would shake her feet, as if afraid that insects would crawl on her.
Li Pan turned to look at her, hesitated for a moment, then bent over and said, "I'll carry you on my back."
"Huh?" Lou Xueying was taken aback. "This...this isn't necessary, is it?"
Li Pan: "Aren't you afraid of bugs? The grass here is tall, which makes it easy for bugs to hide. I'll put you down when we find a place where the grass is shallower."
Lou Xueying hesitated.
Li Pan: "Hurry up, what's there to think about? If you keep thinking, more bugs will come."
Lou Xueying bit her lip, and with a light jump, she managed to climb onto his back.
Li Pan turned his arm around her leg and smiled.
"Let's go!" Li Pan took off running across the grassy slope.
Lou Xueying: "Hey you—"
Before she could finish speaking, her words caught in her throat.
Li Pan also abruptly stopped in his tracks.
As I ran up the grassy slope, I came face to face with two officials who had come together. We stared at each other, bewildered.
Lou Xueying: "..."
She silently buried her face in Li Pan's back, a faint sense of death about her.
Li Pan was the first to react, clearing his throat lightly: "Lord Wu, Lord Wang, you also have the leisure to stroll around here?"
"Uh..." Lord Wu said awkwardly, "Lord Wang and I seemed to have heard someone scream here just now, and fearing that something had happened, we came to check..."
Lou Xueying's face flushed red, and she secretly nudged Li Pan, signaling him to put her down quickly.
Li Pan remained unmoved and said, "Haha, my two lords, there's no need to worry. My wife just saw a worm and screamed in fright. She's fine."
"Oh, oh... that's good." Lord Wu chuckled twice, trying to make conversation. "So, Lady Hou... sprained her ankle? There are imperial physicians at the camp. Your Excellency can have one take a look."
"Thank you for your concern, Lord Wu. I didn't twist my ankle. I was just worried there might be bugs on the ground, so I took her to another place."
Lord Wu: "..."
"Well, the Marquis and his wife are truly a loving couple, a beautiful story indeed!" Lord Wang's lips twitched as he said, "Then we will not disturb you any longer, farewell."
Lord Wu and Lord Wang walked away quickly. Despite being civil officials, they walked at such a fast pace. They must be in great shape!
Lou Xueying secretly glanced up, and only after seeing that the person had walked away did she angrily pinch Li Pan's waist: "Why didn't you put me down?"
Li Pan: "Why should we put you down? They already saw us."
Lou Xueying: "...How embarrassing."
Li Pan: "What's so shameful about this? I, the dignified Marquis of Wu'an, carry you on my back, and I don't mind at all. Does that lower your status?"
Lou Xueying remained silent.
He lifted Lou Xueying up a little higher and laughed, "Alright, stop being so dramatic, let's go somewhere else to play."
Meanwhile, after walking a short distance, Lord Wu and Lord Wang turned back at the same time and glanced at the two men who had already gone far away.
Lord Wu: "He actually carried the lady away like that... Marquis Wu'an, cough, he really doesn't care about details..."
Lord Wang shook his head, stroked his beard, and sighed, "Although I knew long ago that Marquis Wu'an doted on his wife, it was hard to imagine just how much he doted on her until today. Only today do I realize that Marquis Wu'an's wife doesn't even have to walk by herself!"
Lord Wu: "Did you see that? Marquis Wu'an has a grass ring on his head. How interesting."
Lord Wang: "They're still young after all; they can even handle a blade of grass."
Lord Wu: "But speaking of which, didn't he catch a cold? How come he still looks so energetic?"
Lord Wang paused for a moment, then said, "Perhaps... being with Madam makes it harder to feel sick?"
"……Yeah?"
"...Right?"
“Alright,” Lord Wu readily agreed, “then let’s say that.”
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Author's note: Autumn outing time (。)
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The following is a commercial break for my completed works [poor thing]:
If you enjoy stories of women disguising themselves as men to raise a younger emperor from a treacherous minister, then check out: *The Imperial Court's Beautiful Eunuch*
If you enjoy stories of forceful love and revenge, but ultimately the protagonist becomes an empress, then check out: *The Golden Phoenix*.
If you enjoy watching stories of swapped souls and brilliant, action-packed Mr. and Mrs. Smith, then check out: *2gether*.
Actually, this is the first time I've written a story with a delicate female protagonist and a rough male protagonist (wiping sweat).
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