Do you want to
Preparations for the trip back to Beijing are being made in full swing.
Lu Yu was busy all day in the public housing, and Bai Miaoke was not idle either. She wanted to bring some Jiangnan specialties back to her family.
For this purpose, she went to Bai's Bank to withdraw some money, and then took Chun Xing to the street. Lu Yu was worried about her, so he sent Fugui over.
Although Bai Miaoke didn't need anyone's protection, she thought it would be nice to have someone to hold things, so she gladly accepted it.
They strolled around Gusu for a whole day, from the south to the north of the city. Bai Miaoke bought all the novelties in every store, from tables and chairs and incense burners that were rare in the north to beads and hairpins with novel designs.
A variety of small items filled up the cart, and the remaining large items would be sent back to the mansion.
Fugui, who was following behind them, was already stunned. It was the first time for him to see such a scene of spending money like water. His initial shock turned into numbness.
It was already evening when they returned home. Bai Miaoke even packed two roast chickens on the street, one for the kitchen to heat up and the other for Haidongqing as a snack.
When Bai Miaoke was watching the Saker Falcon eating chicken under the eaves, Lu Yu came back.
Bai Miaoke touched the wings of the Saker Falcon, stood up and said, "The busy man is back."
Lu Yu smiled and said, "We will set off tomorrow. I discussed some things with Lord Xu. Did you buy any local specialties today?"
"Yes, I bought a lot. It will be delivered soon." Bai Miaoke said as she waved for the servants to serve the dishes.
The two sat at the table to eat dinner. Lu Yu was indeed very busy in recent days, but no matter how busy he was, he would come back to have dinner with Bai Miaoke. The two also exchanged their experiences of the day, as if it had become a habit.
As for the night, the two still slept in the same bed, but no matter how Bai Miaoke hinted, Lu Yu was very self-disciplined and only did things that could be written in Jinjiang.
Many times, Bai Miaoke clearly felt that his iron-hard weapon was ready to go, but he just went out quietly to take a cold shower.
Bai Miaoke was puzzled about this matter. She had to set off on the road tomorrow, which would be even more inconvenient. She had to find out the reason today.
She washed up in advance and got into bed. She listened to Lu Yu talking to Fugui outside the door about tomorrow's affairs before she came in. Seeing that she had already gone to bed, Lu Yu walked to the table, turned off a light, and then went to the bathroom.
Soon the sound of water was heard. Bai Miaoke waited quietly for him to come out, but she fell asleep without knowing when.
Feeling the presence of a warm heater next to her, Bai Miaoke rubbed towards it dazedly and naturally slipped into his arms.
Lu Yu has become accustomed to Bai Miaoke being extra clingy at night. Although it sometimes makes things difficult for himself, he still enjoys it.
The same is true today.
But Bai Miaoke rested her head on his arm and asked with a groan, "Do you want to?"
Lu Yu closed his eyes, his voice was particularly low in the night: "I don't want to, I have to get up early tomorrow."
So Bai Miaoke touched the hard-as-steel little Lu Yu intentionally or unintentionally, and couldn't help but chuckle and asked, "Why?"
"Let's wait until we get married. Now... it's a little inappropriate."
"What's wrong with that?" Bai Miaoke seemed to understand, but she still wanted to see him stuttering with malicious intent.
Lu Yu hesitated for a moment and finally explained: "Your period... uh, can I... um."
Bai Miaoke was amused by the way he carefully chose his words, and stopped teasing him: "It's here, my period came a few days ago."
"What day?"
Bai Miaoke was stunned by Lu Yu's questioning. Although she didn't quite understand why he asked these questions, she recalled and said, "It's the twelfth of this month. Why are you asking this?"
Lu Yu just hugged her tightly, rubbed her hair, and said to her or to himself, "We'll be back to Beijing soon."
Bai Miaoke hummed softly, gradually feeling a little sleepy in the man's warm embrace, and slowly closed her eyes, so she didn't notice how passionate Lu Yu's eyes were as he stared at her.
The next morning, shop assistants from major stores in Suzhou came to deliver goods. The front yard was filled with large and small items purchased yesterday.
Bai Miaoke hadn't gotten up yet, but Chun Xing had already very experiencedly directed her servants to pack the things into categories and load them onto the truck.
They were about to set off today, and Lu Yu had woken up long ago. He was now in the yard, watching boxes of stuff being loaded onto a special cart for hauling goods.
"Were these all bought yesterday?" Lu Yu turned and asked Fugui who was standing beside him, with a hint of disbelief in his tone.
"Sir, they were all bought by Miss Bai yesterday." Fugui nodded and replied.
"How much?" Lu Yu looked at the fine mahogany tables and chairs and couldn't help but ask Fugui in a low voice.
Fugui scratched his head and said awkwardly, "I still remembered it at the beginning, but later I couldn't count it clearly."
"But sir, don't worry. Miss Bai has already paid for it all." Fugui added in a low voice, looking up at Lu Yu's character.
Lu Yu glared at him and was too lazy to explain to him that he was not reluctant, but was just a little surprised to see such a grand ceremony for the first time.
"Watch them carefully and don't bump into anything." Lu Yu gave the instructions and went back to his room with his hands behind his back.
Bai Miaoke had already gotten up and was sitting in front of the dressing table fiddling with the pearl hairpin she had bought yesterday.
Seeing Lu Yu come in, she smiled and raised two hairpins, one was a golden phoenix hairpin inlaid with agate and decorated with crystal pendants, and the other was a hundred flowers hairpin made of the local specialty silk flowers.
"Which one looks better?" Bai Miaoke asked.
Lu Yu walked forward and looked at it carefully. Finally, he reached out and took the golden phoenix hairpin and put it in her hair.
Bai Miaoke shook her head, and the crystal pendants collided and made a crisp sound, like a clear spring in the mountains.
"Let's go." Bai Miaoke was satisfied and got up to go out.
In the yard, Chun Xing and Fugui were still helping to put things away. There were carts lined up in a row, filled with Bai Miaoke's "trophies".
Chun Xing wrote down the last stroke, handed the list to Bai Miaoke, and said, "Miss, everything has been arranged. There are ten trucks in total. Here is the list of goods. Please take a look."
Bai Miaoke took it and read it through quickly. After making sure that there was nothing missing, she waved her hand and said, "Let them take the official road. It would be great if they can reach the capital before the end of the year."
After arranging all this, Bai Miaoke noticed Lu Yu's hesitant expression and took the initiative to ask, "What's wrong?"
"Who are you buying so much for?" Lu Yu asked casually.
"Then don't worry about it. I have my own arrangements." Bai Miaoke smiled cunningly and got on the horse without waiting for his answer.
They decided to ride horses on the way back. Both of them were eager to go home, so they didn't delay much on the way.
Rong Qing led the Jinyiwei to walk in front to explore the way, Prince Xiang and Xu Ge Lao's men followed at the end, and Bai Miaoke and Lu Yu walked in the middle. When they came, Bai Miaoke was very curious about the scenery on the road. When they went back, it was early winter. There were only bare tree trunks and withered yellow grass on the road, and there was no longer any beautiful scenery of wild flowers everywhere.
Bai Miaoke was also riding on the horse, absentmindedly playing with a jade pendant. Lu Yu recognized that it was the one left by her mother. He said, "I will come back with you after things are done."
Bai Miaoke looked up at him. She didn't expect that he would be so sensitive to her mood. She had to leave not long after meeting her uncle. Bai Miaoke felt really empty inside.
Bai Miaoke forced a smile at him and cheered herself up again.
They returned to Huzhou before dark and met King Xiang again.
But this time it was a little different. There was someone following Prince Xiang, and that person was none other than Yuan Wenshi, the Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple who had come to persuade him last time.
I don’t know what happened recently, but the two people who were arguing fiercely that day now sat together at the table in harmony to meet Lu Yu and Bai Miaoke.
"Thank you for your help, Your Majesty. I will return to the capital now to report, and will report the truth to Your Majesty then." Lu Yu raised his glass and toasted King Xiang.
"Since I enjoy the honor of a prince, I have to shoulder the responsibilities of the royal family. There is nothing wrong with that." After saying this, King Xiang glanced at Yuan Wenshi who was sitting next to him.
The latter said, "Prime Minister Lu, can I have a word with you for a moment?"
Bai Miaoke was picking up a piece of osmanthus lotus root. When she heard this, she looked up and rolled her eyes at him. He was on guard against her.
"No need, this is my fiancée." Lu Yu refused coldly.
Yuan Wenshi hesitated for a moment, but still revealed Ma Hongzhe's plan in its entirety:
"The Grand Tutor made a deal with His Royal Highness Prince Kang, agreeing to help him collude with the State of Yan to capture three cities. The State of Yan promised to send troops to help Prince Kang seize power. I believe you have discovered the weapons and food he has stockpiled in Jiangnan. This is all the work of Ma Hongzhe."
"When did it start?" Lu Yu asked.
"As far as I know, it started ten years ago. But there is one thing I really can't figure out, and I would like to ask the Prime Minister to solve it." Yuan Wenshi said.
"What's the matter?" Lu Yu asked calmly.
"What is the purpose of this, Taifu?" Yuan Wenshi also asked.
In the entire ten-year plan, King Kang wanted to seize power and sit on that position, while the State of Yan wanted three important border cities.
Only the Grand Tutor Ma Hongzhe, what on earth is he doing? This is not only a puzzle for Yuan Wenshi, but also a puzzle for Bai Miaoke.
Lu Yu pondered for a moment and glanced at Bai Miaoke, who seemed to sense something and looked at him.
"I don't know." Lu Yu finally said only two words.
Afterwards, they talked about the plan to return to the capital and the series of arrangements made by King Xiang to guard the south of the Yangtze River.
But Bai Miaoke didn't listen carefully. She was staring absentmindedly at the tea leaves swirling in the cup.
On the way back after bidding farewell to King Xiang, Bai Miaoke couldn't help but ask:
"You actually know, right? Is it related to what happened back then?"
Lu Yu was silent for a moment before he slowly spoke: "Yes."
"I found Concubine Yu's dowry nanny."
"She told me that during the years that Ma Hongzhe stayed in Jiangnan, he had a close relationship with Concubine Yu, who had not yet entered the palace. However, they were eventually forced to separate by an imperial decree from the late emperor. So Ma Hongzhe held a grudge against the late emperor and started planning these things ten years ago."
Bai Miaoke's eyes widened in disbelief: "You mean he is willing to start a war just for the love and hatred he had back then? Even to the point of making our people in Da Qi homeless?"
Lu Yu nodded with difficulty. He was unwilling to believe it, but whether it was the words of the nanny or the results of Jiangnan's investigation, they all proved that this was the fact.
Bai Miaoke closed her eyes and clenched her fists so tightly that her fingertips turned white. She wished she could return to the capital immediately and cut the tutor into pieces.
A pair of warm and powerful hands held up her fists, gently pried them apart one by one, and interlocked their fingers tightly with hers.
"I will always be with you." What has happened cannot be changed. Lu Yu can only promise her that no matter what she wants to do in the future, he will be with her.
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