Chapter 122 Choice



Li Rong didn't know whether Cui Yulang was normal or not.

Anyway, the time has been set, and everything has been arranged. She is just waiting for the officials to take a day off in three days, so that she can have a good talk with Cui Yulang.

It was not easy for her to see Cui Yulang in the city because there were spies everywhere, so she could only make an appointment outside the city. It took a long time, so she could only wait until the day of the holiday.

Coincidentally, Pei Wenxuan thought the same.

After moving with Wen into the Pei Mansion left by his father, he spent some time making some improvements and finally settled down.

He didn't bring much with him, which made him feel better. He felt like he was just out for a vacation and would have to go back sooner or later.

I don’t know if it’s because there aren’t many things or because Li Rong isn’t here, but I always feel that the room is empty. When I toss and turn in bed at night, I somehow feel that the bed is too big.

After finally falling asleep, sometimes in the middle of the night, he would reach out his hand and feel that there was no one around him. He would always wake up suddenly, and for a moment he would feel as if he was still in his previous life. Everything in this life was just a pipe dream. When he woke up, he would go back to the lonely days of his previous life. He would be so scared that he would wake up, and then slowly remember what happened and slow down.

When he saw Li Rong in the court in broad daylight, he knew he shouldn't look at her, but he couldn't help but look at her.

I don’t know how Li Rong sleeps when he is not around, or whether she misses him.

So he endured this torment, and every day felt like a year. He could not last more than three days. When the rest time came, Pei Wenxuan decided to go see her.

If it was inconvenient in the city, they had to go outside the city. The Great Summer had a day off every ten days. If they missed today, they would have to wait until the next ten days. So before dawn, Pei Wenxuan asked Tong Ye to knock on Zhao Chongjiu's door and pass his news to Li Rong.

Zhao Chongjiu honestly passed the news to Li Rong. At that time, Li Rong had just woken up and was getting dressed, preparing to go out of the city to meet Cui Yulang.

She felt a little conflicted when she heard the news about Zhao Chongjiu.

She also wanted to see Pei Wenxuan, but Cui Yulang had already made an appointment and the matter could not be delayed. She struggled for a moment and suddenly reacted.

She actually fought for this kind of thing?

"Tell the prince consort that I have to go out of town today for something, so I'll wait until the next day off. It's an important matter, so don't let him mind."

Li Rong looked up and instructed Zhao Chongjiu, then turned around and asked someone to get the things she wanted.

Zhao Chongjiu immediately sent someone to report to Pei Wenxuan. By the time Pei Wenxuan received the message, Li Rong was about to leave the city.

But Pei Wenxuan was ready at this time. When he heard Li Rong reject him, he couldn't help but frowned: "What's wrong with her?"

"The person who responded didn't say anything."

Tong Ye looked at Pei Wenxuan's expression and said cautiously, "How about you take a good rest today, young master?"

Pei Wenxuan didn't say anything. He sat for a while, then stood up and whispered, "No, I have to go and take a look."

Having said that, Pei Wenxuan hurried out the door.

Pei Wenxuan's residence was closer to the city gate than Li Rong's. He calculated the time, took a shortcut and left the city gate early, and waited at the gate.

Li Rong wanted to conceal her identity, so she would not go out in the princess's carriage. An ordinary carriage would blend in with the crowd, and no one could tell who Li Rong was.

Pei Wenxuan was in the carriage, with the curtain rolled up and staring. After waiting for a while, an ordinary carriage rolled up the curtain and said a few words to the guard, who then let them pass. Pei Wenxuan watched for a moment, lowered the curtain, and whispered, "Follow me."

Li Rong's carriage was heading out of the city at a leisurely pace. After a while, Li Rong heard someone outside say, "Your Highness, someone seems to be following us."

Li Rong opened her eyes, tapped her palms with her fan, thought for a moment and said, "Send someone to the teahouse to find Cui Yulang and tell him that the location has changed and to wait for me at the Reed Pavilion. When we get to the front, find a forest to stop and let everyone rest. I'll get off the car in a moment," Li Rong lowered her voice, "and leave two people to help me keep an eye on the road behind."

The guard nodded and did as Li Rong arranged.

The carriage moved forward for a while and then stopped. The guard quickly turned around and asked Pei Wenxuan in the carriage: "Sir, the carriage in front has stopped."

Pei Wenxuan was silent for a moment, then said, "Keep going."

This section of the journey was not long, so there was no need to stop the carriage to rest. Li Rong stopped the carriage, which must have meant that she had discovered him. If he stopped again, he was afraid that it would alarm Li Rong. The best plan now was to let Li Rong think that he had left, and then wait for her in front.

Pei Wenxuan tried to figure out Li Rong's thoughts. With Li Rong's personality, she would not just get off the carriage and stop for a while. After getting off the carriage, she would probably disguise herself again and let someone pretend that she was leaving, and then she would take the second route...

No.

Pei Wenxuan recalled how Li Rong ambushed Yang Quan in the villa. Li Rong might not even take the second route. It would be safer for her. She would also leave a group of guards to follow her. After disguising herself for the second time, she would finally leave.

Pei Wenxuan guessed Li Rong's plan, so he stopped the carriage, led two guards, and quickly sneaked into the woods next to him. He rolled up his sleeves and told the guards next to him: "If you see a guard running by, chase him."

The guards responded and hid nearby as Pei Wenxuan requested. Pei Wenxuan chose an old tree and climbed up, squatting on it and staring at the surroundings.

Li Rong changed clothes with Jinglan in the carriage. She wore a veil and pretended to be an ordinary woman. After Jinglan changed clothes, they could no longer be distinguished. Everyone gathered around and talked noisily, and after a while they returned to the carriage.

The carriage moved forward for a while, and Li Rong waved to the two guards who stayed in the dark, and the guards immediately ran away.

The guards moved forward. Pei Wenxuan saw the guards running over from the tree. He waved to the people who were ambushing in the grass. After Li Rong's men ran away, his men chased after Li Rong's men.

Li Rong waited in the dark for a while, figuring that most people would have left, and finally turned around and ran out from under the tree, quickly running towards the Reed Pavilion.

There was no one else around at this time, and she ran in a hurry. Pei Wenxuan sat on a tree, watching Li Rong running all the way, and he frowned.

What exactly is the purpose of Li Rong's reaction?

He was somewhat puzzled, but kept silent. He waited until Li Rong ran past his tree and ran far away. Then Pei Wenxuan came down from the tree and ran after Li Rong.

Li Rong ran and looked around, while Pei Wenxuan followed and hid all the way. Both of them were not professional spies, but they maintained a strange harmony. After running for a long time, Li Rong finally arrived at Luwei Pavilion.

Cui Yulang had been waiting there early. He was wearing a blue shirt, his hair half tied up with a headband, and holding a jade flute in his hand. The moment he heard Li Rong's footsteps, he turned around with a smile. From the angle of the corners of his lips to the arc of his turn, everything showed an exquisite manipulation.

Li Rong was panting, leaning her hands on the pillar of the pavilion, watching Cui Yulang's performance. She had expected this, but still, she was choked and her breathing paused the moment Cui Yulang turned around.

Li Rong was like this, and Pei Wenxuan who was hiding in the dark could not help himself and only regretted that he did not kill him last time.

Although reason told Pei Wenxuan that Li Rong must have taken the initiative to find Cui Yulang for important matters, he still felt it was an eyesore to see the two of them standing together.

Fortunately, he still suppressed his impulse, stayed in the dark, and cooperated with Li Rong's arrangements.

"Your Highness." Cui Yulang saw Li Rong entering the pavilion and bowed respectfully to her. Li Rong held onto the pillar to slow down for a moment, waved her hand, indicating that she didn't need to bow, and then walked into the pavilion, saying, "There are people following us today, so let's keep this short."

"In your last case, the local magistrate took away your friend's exam quota?"

"Yes." Cui Yulang straightened his expression immediately when he heard Li Rong asking about business. Li Rong took the teacup and said slowly, "What's the matter?"

"Wangzhou Zhangping County."

"Where's your hometown?"

"yes."

"You are an official from the Ministry of Rites," Li Rong raised her eyes, smiling, "Can't you handle such a small matter?"

"Your Highness, you are joking," Cui Yulang smiled bitterly, "It's just a government office without any real power. What can it do?"

Li Rong sat on a bench surrounding the pavilion, looking at the river outside. She said calmly, "You have complaints."

Cui Yulang didn't say anything. Li Rong turned her head, looked at Cui Yulang and laughed: "Last time you said you recommended yourself as the pillow and bed..." Li Rong stood up and walked in front of Cui Yulang. She stared at Cui Yulang, who smiled but said nothing.

Cui Yulang was a frequent visitor to brothels and was used to hanging out with women. It was said that he didn't need to spend any money when he frequented brothels. Every time he paid the bill, he would compose a poem, which would one day become the most popular song in Huajing.

Such a person, facing Li Rong's eyes and scrutiny, did not retreat at all, and even took a step forward, approached Li Rong, lowered his head and looked at Li Rong, and said affectionately: "Your Highness, what do you think?"

There was a crisp "click" sound. Pei Wenxuan watched their actions from a distance. Although he couldn't hear the content clearly, he couldn't help it and directly broke the branch in his hand.

Li Rong felt as if she heard something, but she thought it was an illusion. She looked around the reeds nearby, but saw no one. She thought for a moment, gestured to Cui Yulang, walked a little further toward the river, and then asked in a low voice, "Are you doing this for your friend or for yourself?"

"Why do you say that, Your Highness?" Cui Yulang was a little surprised. Li Rong chuckled and looked up at Cui Yulang: "Master Cui, have you never thought about doing something in the officialdom?"

In his previous life, Cui Yulang was a dissolute man who lingered in brothels and had no interest in government affairs. But Li Rong had read his poems and felt that such poems were not written by someone who had no interest in officialdom.

The most important thing is that Cui Yulang's family was not rich. His father was just an ordinary private school teacher. He had been studying since he was a child, and the effort and energy he needed to put in was beyond the reach of ordinary people.

After paying such a high price to enter the officialdom, how could one not have any ambition? When he left, he probably left in utter disappointment.

After all, in the officialdom of Daxia at that time, there was no place for people like Cui Yulang.

But in this life, he came to her to complain.

Not only did he complain, he also wanted to sleep with her, attempting to become her lover. As long as he became her lover, he would have an extra help.

"Actually, I understand what Lord Cui meant," Li Rong leaned against the pillar and looked at Cui Yulang with a half-smile, "Complaining is just an excuse, and recommending myself is the real reason. The reason why I recommend myself is just because Lord Cui now," Li Rong raised her hand to support her head and looked at Cui Yulang, "just wants a backer."

Cui Yulang smiled and said nothing. Li Rong thought for a moment, "But I'm also very curious. If you want to depend on someone, why didn't you take action earlier? And," Li Rong raised the fan and pointed at herself, "why did you choose me?"


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