Chapter 41: Tao and Li's Little Props Make Their Appearance
Qin Song was somewhat disappointed; the person she was waiting for was not the one standing before her.
Tao Qingyang was more outstanding than any man in Dayu in terms of facial features alone, and in terms of status, he was her nominal fiancé. Even if they were to share a bed today, she would not feel any psychological pressure.
Unfortunately, she had already lost interest in him.
Alone in a room with a man and a woman, she couldn't muster any romantic feelings.
Meeting his probing gaze, Qin Song felt no guilt whatsoever. Afraid of waking the two maids outside, she lowered her voice and said, "If you can come, of course others can come too."
Tao Qing's smile faded slightly, and a fleeting ruthlessness flashed in her eyes, though it wasn't very obvious.
He didn't respond, but just stared at her, as if trying to find some clue.
Qin Song was slightly annoyed by her stare. "What are you looking at?"
"I admire my fiancée."
Tao Qingyang lowered his voice, straightened his still-cool robe, and leaned casually against the bedpost at the foot of her bed. "I underestimated you. You managed to snatch grain from the northern barbarians with just over a hundred misfits."
"Distorted fruits and cracked dates?" Qin Song leaned against the other bedpost, wrapped tightly in the blanket. "So you're risking your life for distorted fruits and cracked dates?"
Tao Qingyang chuckled lightly, "You overestimate me. I'm just hoping for promotion and a comfortable life."
Qin Song pouted. Anyway, she couldn't see through him and hadn't heard many truths from him, so she changed the subject: "How's the war in the north? Where's A-Yao? Why hasn't she returned yet?"
“We have already reached the walls of Danzhou City. The northern barbarians are holed up inside the city and are not a threat for the time being. As for Ayao,” Tao Qingyang shrugged helplessly, “she is itching to storm the city and no one can persuade her to come back.”
"How can you leave A-Yao on the battlefield? What if something happens to her?" Qin Song asked anxiously, raising his voice slightly.
There was a slight noise, as if someone was turning over outside, and Qin Song immediately bit his lip and fell silent.
Tao Qing looked up and swept his gaze over her lips. Her eyelashes trembled slightly, and then she lowered her head and chuckled softly, as if trying to hide something.
A moment later, he slowly raised his head and looked at her again: "Don't worry, A-Yao is not an impulsive or brainless person."
Since A-Yao's own brother said so, it seems there shouldn't be any major problems. Qin Song calmed down and continued in a low voice, "You should also be careful. It seems the Northern Barbarians have their eyes on you."
"Are you concerned about me?" Tao Qingyang suddenly moved a little closer to her.
"No, that's not it. I'm just worried that if you die, there will be no one to lead the army."
The Great Yu Dynasty valued civil officials over military ones and has always lacked military generals. If he were to die in battle, the court would likely find it difficult to dispatch generals in time.
Tao Qingyang feigned a sigh and shook his head: "When I first visited, Sister A-Song wasn't so heartless."
At that time, she didn't know he wasn't clean.
Qin Song gave his standard fake smile: "Then you can call off the engagement."
Tao Qingyang moved closer to her, forcing a smile, "You should pray that I die."
Qin Song was speechless and felt uncomfortable under his gaze, so he simply pulled the corner of the blanket over himself, closed his eyes, and lay down. "You should go."
Tao Qingyang looked somewhat innocent, "There's no place for me to stay in the yamen."
Qin Song suddenly opened his eyes. "Then you can't sleep here with me, can you?"
"Hmm? That's a good idea. Then I won't leave tonight—"
Qin Song kicked him.
"Hiss." Tao Qing leaned back and grabbed her foot. "This is the last time. You can't kick me again tomorrow."
"What? You're going to be enthroned tomorrow?"
The pale-faced man sneered at her: "Now that you've ascended the throne, you can kick it as you please. After you're done, go to court. But tomorrow I'll have to teach you horsemanship and archery."
Oh no, the Master will be back tomorrow, and archery will be back on the agenda. It'll be time to start practicing hard again.
Qin Song pulled her foot back, glared at him angrily, and said, "Does kicking twice affect your performance?"
able.
Tao Qingyang himself couldn't explain it, but he knew clearly that any slight pain she left on him would cause him to have an unusual reaction.
But he didn't want to show it in front of her. He smiled silently, then got up to leave.
Qin Song called out to him softly, gesturing with her chin towards the bedside table, "Your flute."
Last time he sneaked in, then hurriedly slipped away, forgetting even to take his flute.
Tao Qingyang paused, followed her gaze and opened the small wooden cabinet, but did not rush to do anything, and looked back at her again.
Qin Song couldn't tell what he was wondering about, so he raised an eyebrow seriously and urged him to take it and leave quickly.
As if given permission, Tao Qingyang turned his head, and the sound of unlocking the box rang out.
The young man in red still didn't make any further moves, squatting there, staring intently at the things in the cabinet, without moving.
Qin Song asked curiously, "What's wrong? Nothing?"
"Is this mine?" Tao Qingyang asked in a strange tone.
Qin Song was even more confused: "If it's not yours, whose is it?"
After speaking, the person by the counter reached in and took something out of the counter. They slowly stood up and walked step by step towards Qin Song. "These, are they all mine?"
Qin Song's breath hitched.
The lid of the small red wooden box was opened, revealing a jade flute resting steadily inside. Even more eye-catching than the exquisite flute were the various private items inside the box—
Exquisitely patterned openwork silver bells, smooth yet clearly textured thick and long jade artifacts, and specially made rings with a fine fuzzy finish...
"Are you sure it's mine?" A man's voice, devoid of emotion, came from above.
Qin Song swallowed hard, awkwardly looking up to meet Tao Qingyang's unyielding eyes, his cheeks burning slightly.
Who put his jade flute here?!
After a moment's thought, she sat up again without making a sound, licked her lips, and said, "Yes, it's for you. Take it."
Tao Qingyang pushed aside the jade flute and picked up a string of small bells: "Who am I using this with?"
He already looked like he could sleep well, and with this thing in his hand, it was really hard for anyone to resist.
His beautiful peach blossom eyes stared straight at Qin Song, his gaze dark and unfathomable, and he deliberately shook the small bell in his hand.
A clear, silvery voice rang out, making Qin Song's nerves throb.
She quickly threw off the covers, stood up, and grabbed his hand: "Don't shake them, you'll wake them up."
Qin Song tried to stop the intoxicating sounds, but the person in front of him suddenly stopped moving. After a long while, he slowly said, "If you don't let go, I really won't leave."
They were so close that his breath fell on the top of her head, and Qin Song realized that their actions were too intimate, and even their breathing was hot.
He held the bell in his hand, the edge of the bell and his fingers pressed against her chest. She could feel the softness of the thin fabric, the calluses on his fingertips from handling knives and guns, and the slight warmth.
Qin Song immediately released him, took a half step back, and accidentally bumped into the wooden plank of the bed.
Tao Qingyang reacted quickly, grabbing her and pulling her into his arms.
The movements were so loud that the rustling of the fabric was especially noticeable in the quiet night.
Qin Song's leg was still sore when the sound of two maids giggling against the door suddenly came through.
Qin Song felt inexplicably nervous. Why were they gossiping about everything? Did they even know who was involved?
Xiao Liyu would have to spend ages coaxing her to find out.
Thinking of this, Qin Song stomped on his foot hard, "Get out of here."
The man didn't move, but let out a heavy sigh, sounding like he was struggling to breathe.
He looked down at her for a long while with an ambiguous expression before gently putting the bell he was holding back into the box, closing the jade flute as well, and turning to place it on the counter.
"Thank you for your kindness, Sister A-Song. I'll use it again in the future."
After saying that, he quietly climbed out the window and left.
The room was empty, but the scent of rosemary still lingered, and Qin Song's cheeks were still burning.
They must be in a very difficult situation.
The next morning, Qin Song ordered his men to lock the windows.
Then he summoned Chen Xing and asked her why she had put the flute into the small wooden box.
Unlike Jiang Yue, Chen Xing didn't like reading and had no interest in miscellaneous books. She had no idea what those things were and didn't even look closely. She scratched her head in confusion and asked, "You instructed me to put these two things away properly, so I put them together. Is there anything wrong with that?"
This is so inappropriate! It's bad enough that it caused Tao Qingyang to misunderstand, but we almost lost something valuable!
Qin Song sighed, not knowing how to explain to them, and simply instructed them to separate the collection and release before going out to welcome Master Shen back to the yamen.
The teacher still looked somewhat tired and didn't rush to start teaching.
In the afternoon, with Qin Daoji's tacit approval, Qin Song went with Tao Qingyang to the suburban horse farm.
·
With some clues emerging about the source of the illness at the clinic, Li Yu has been staying there for the past two days, spending no more than two hours in bed each day. In the evenings, he can only gaze at his beloved from outside the window, not daring to go in and disturb her.
He was able to finish his shift early today, so he quickly took a shower and went to Qin Song's residence under the pretext of checking on Jiang Yue.
Recalling his last intrusion, he felt like a rat in a sewer, so offensive while she was asleep. But for that very reason, he deliberately avoided entering for two days, afraid that he would be unable to resist taking even bolder actions.
He felt guilty and remorseful. If she asked, he would take the initiative to admit his mistake and let her punish him.
A knock came at the door, and Jiang Yue, looking much better, opened it. "Young Master, you've finally arrived. Should I continue to feign illness? Lying in bed all day is too uncomfortable."
A Zhao, who was following behind Li Yu, was afraid that the secret would be discovered, so he quickly stopped her and said, "Isn't it better to lie down? Why don't you switch with me?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he was met with a look from Li Yu that seemed to want to rip his bones out.
Ah Zhao immediately realized his mistake, "Uh... Young Master, that's not what I meant. I'm not worthy to stay in Miss Qin's room. Ugh, I'm not even worthy to carry Miss Qin's shoes."
Li Yu's expression did not improve. She glanced coldly at A Zhao, then looked at Jiang Yue, "Where is Song Niang?"
The affectionate nickname that came out so naturally made Jiang Yue scream inwardly: Sure enough, something must have happened between Young Master and Miss Qin.
Suppressing her excitement, she replied, "Miss Qin took Chen Xing out of the city this afternoon to learn riding and archery from General Tao. They should be back soon."
"Tao Qingyang?" Li Yu's voice was cold.
Jiang Yue nodded, "Yes, I heard they returned last night. By the way, young master, shall we sleep at the clinic tonight?"
"Why?" Li Yu was already impatient.
Jiang Yue lowered her head: "We did not mean to disturb you and Madam Qin last night. Please forgive us. We will sleep in the clinic, so you will not need to go in and out through the window."
Li Yu frowned more and more deeply, "You mean 'I' and Song Niang last night?"
Even the usually carefree Jiang Yue noticed her young master's gloomy mood and knelt down to beg for forgiveness, "Young master, please calm down. We were out of line last night, please punish us."
-----------------------
The author's note: Tao has a lot to say.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
