Let Me Pursue You – Chapter 53 Part 2
Chapter 53 Part 2
Of course, Lu Shi Qing had several ideas he wanted to do in his mind, but it was difficult to talk about it right now, so he planned to wait until he could talk about it later, and said: “Those who win the ‘cai‘ will get one point, and those who win ‘guicai‘ will get two points. The one with the most point is the winner, and the winner can ask the loser to do one thing in the future.”
Yuan Ci Xian was very bold, and immediately said: “Okay, let you come first.”
The so-called “Wumu” was actually five double-sided almond-shaped wooden dice, with one side painted black and the other white. Two of the wood have patterns on both sides, the black side was painted with calf, and the white side was painted with pheasant, while the other three wood have no patterns on both sides, so there were four different results: calf, pheasant, black and white.
The so-called “cai” was a combination of five double-sided dice thrown together. There were twelve kinds of combinations that could be called “cai“, four of which were the most difficult to throw and were also called “guicai“, which generally counted as double points.
Lu Shi Qing slowly and methodically threw the Wumu, and then announced himself: “Two calf and three black, all black.”
Yuan Ci Xian’s eyes went dark. This was a guicai that only had a one-in-thirty-two chance of being rolled.
She stared at him in a daze: “Did you lie to me?”
He shook his head seriously: “No.” Then he stretched out his hand to signal, “Please.”
She skeptically threw, one peasant and four black, not even ordinary cai.
Lu Shi Qing took a brush to take notes: “The first round, I won two points.”
The two threw many rounds of Wumu under the candlelight, and the more Yuan Ci Xian threw the more she couldn’t believe. After one stick of incense, she glanced at the paper in his hand, and saw that Lu Shi Qing had written down eleven, but she only had three.
She didn’t believe in this evil, she tried her best to watch his hand’s movement, forcing him to slow down the throwing speed, and even suggested that the two exchange seats, but no matter how she jumped up and down, the result was always the same.
After half an hour, Lu Shi Qing won thirty-two points, and she got ten.
Yuan Ci Xian’s face turned green: “Lu Shi Qing, do you hang out in the gambling house every day?”
Lu Shi Qing drank water indifferently, and said lightly: “Do you think I have the time?”
She was so angry by his flat attitude: “It’s me who proposed to play Wumu, how can you not let me win?”
He was a little helpless: “It’s very difficult for me to lose in this kind of game, it’s too much effort to let you win.”
” …”
If he’s so capable, why don’t he go to the gambling house to make a fortune!
Yuan Ci Xian gritted her teeth and couldn’t accept, “Play again!”
“It’s getting late, it’s time to sleep.”
“You have seven consecutive days off, you can sleep later! Play again play again!”
Seeing this, Lu Shi Qing reprimanded her solemnly: “Such a mentality is unwise. Many gamblers like you have gone on the road of no return because of this. After they lost all their family’s property they were still not convinced, so they borrowed money everywhere. In the end, they owed a whole body of debt, and their legs were broken by the creditors, the ending is not well.”
“…”
Was he implying that she would not end well in the future?
Yuan Ci Xian tugged her face, looking like she was about to cry: “If I am chased by the creditor, won’t you pay back the money for me?”
Lu Shi Qing just wanted to use gamblers as an example and use their fate to persuade Yuan Ci Xian, told her to stop early and give up competing with him. Who knew that the thoughts in her head were jumping like galloping horses. He was immediately stunned, then said seriously: “My official’s salary is not high, I don’t think I can afford it.”
Yuan Ci Xian was so angry that she wanted to punch him.
Lu Shi Qing glanced at her tragic defeat and said: “Okay, the winner has been decided, you go back to sleep, there’s something to do tomorrow.”
Yuan Ci Xian stopped making trouble now, blinked her eyes, seemed to understand something, and asked: “Your letter has result?”
He nodded: “His Majesty may call you into the palace tomorrow morning.”
She still didn’t know what tricks Lu Shi Qing was playing, even though she had asked him several times these days, but he always kept people on tenterhooks. Right now, she asked again: “Then tell me, what’s in that letter? Let me know, so I can be mentally prepared.”
He shook his head: “There is no need for mental preparation, and no mental preparation is the best preparation, if you know too much, you will show your flaws.”
Yuan Ci Xian curled her lips: “Are you questioning my acting skills?”
Of course Lu Shi Qing questioned it. He could see that she refused to go to sleep, so he had to say something nice: “No. Accompanying the monarch is like accompanying a tiger, if you can reduce the risk even one point, it’s good.”
Well, these words were still pleasing to the ear. Yuan Ci Xian was comforted, and went back to the room obediently, but after she got up and walked a few steps, she turned her head again and said with a purse lips: “It’s so dark outside, won’t you send me off?”
Send, send, little ancestor!
Lu Shi Qing ordered the servants to bring a lantern, and personally took her back to her courtyard, and left after the candles in her room were lit. Early the next morning, Emperor Huining really sent someone to the Lu Mansion to inform Yuan Ci Xian to enter the palace.
In the face of the emperor who had always been suspicious, it was best not to conceal things that could not be hidden, lest the old emperor found out and thought it the wrong way. Therefore, Lu Shi Qing told him about the fact that Yuan Ci Xian stayed in Lu Mansion as a guest.
When the imperial decree arrived, Yuan Ci Xian had just finished breakfast. She then rushed out, got into the carriage and headed to Daming Palace. And Lu Shi Qing, who had day off at home, sent her to the gate of the mansion, stepped back and suddenly felt that something was wrong with this scene.
It was as if that the wife, who was idling in the house, sent her husband to court.
He frowned and gave a “tsk”, and went back to have some light reading and enjoy the winter solstice holiday.
Yuan Ci Xian arrived at the Zichen Hall with some trepidation. Emperor Huining laughed when he saw her: “Ci Xian, you won’t blame Zhen for calling you into the palace during the winter solstice holiday, right?”
The person who had the winter solstice holiday was Lu Shi Qing, and the old emperor meant that he ruined the rare leisurely solitude between the two.
Yuan Ci Xian said with a smile: “Your Majesty, what are you talking about? Assistant Minister Lu and I will have ample time later, so it doesn’t matter! But you are in a hurry to find me, is there something important?”
“It can be considered important.” He then sighed, “Ci Xian, the real culprit who assassinated you in Shangzhou, Zhen found it for you. At the beginning Zhen misunderstood Shaohe, but it was actually done by the Jiang family.”
Yuan Ci Xian was really taken aback. Since she had discussed with Xu Shan before, she knew that the people who assassinated her were Ping Prince and Nanzhao, but their hands and feet were too clean, and she could not find the evidence with her strength. But now a letter from Lu Shi Qing had stirred thousands of waves with one stone, and pulled the Jiang family into it?
Her just-right stunned expression was exactly what Lu Shi Qing called “No mental preparation is the best preparation”. Emperor Huining saw it and further explained: “Ci Xian, you and your sister-in-law don’t have a good relationship, right? If Zhen knew this, Zhen would have blocked this marriage back then.” After saying this, he sighed bitterly.
Yuan Ci Xian pretended to be ignorant and said: “Your Majesty, what you mean is that sister-in-law sent someone to assassinate me because of her long-standing grievances with me? But she , how could it be possible…”
Emperor Huining really thought she was simple, and sighed: “It’s true that your sister-in-law can’t do it, but the Jiang family still has your sister-in-law’s second uncle.”
Yuan Ci Xian seemed even more surprised: “Your Majesty, this happened so suddenly, I have to wrap my head around it.” After finished speaking, she began to scratch her head, pretending that she couldn’t figure it out, and said after a long time, “Your Majesty, you’re not lying to me?”
“Why would Zhen lie to you?” Emperor Huining showed her the evidence, “This is a secret letter intercepted by Zhen’s informant yesterday.”
Yuan Ci Xian took it over and looked at it. This was not the letter that Lu Shi Qing handed to Yuan Yu earlier, but it was indeed from the Jiang family. The destination of the letter was Shangzhou, and the content was to explain to some local official to pay attention to the actions of the Yuan family in recent days, and taught him some ways to deal with it in case of emergency.
Yuan Ci Xian roughly understood after reading the letter. The reason why those assassins were able to escape despite the complete blockade of Shangzhou must be because there were spies in the local area, and the official in the letter presumably was their coordinator.
For some reason, Jiang Min discovered that this official might be exposed recently, so he sent someone to write this secret letter to remind him. Unexpectedly, it was intercepted by Emperor Huining.
Yuan Ci Xian returned the letter to Emperor Huining with a worried expression, sighed, and pretended to be a little frustrated.
Seeing that she was unhappy, Emperor Huining naturally had to make decisions for her, so he asked, “Ci Xian, how do you want Zhen to deal with this matter?”
She thought for a while and said, “Although Minister Jiang targeted me because of personal grudges, he is honestly loyal to Your Majesty, Ci Xian must have made Your Majesty feel awkward at this time.”
These words were so understanding, and the old emperor was pleased: “It’s only proper for Zhen to make decisions for you, and Zhen will do whatever you want to do.”
Yuan Ci Xian sneered in her heart. Emperor Huining definitely wouldn’t kill a third-rank official for her, and these words were just to coax her.
At this juncture, the most important thing she should do was to retreat.
She shook her head and said: “Your Majesty, in the final analysis, this matter is a grievance between sister-in-law and me, and Minister Jiang is only doing this for his own family. I don’t blame Minister Jiang. If you really want to make decisions for me, please deal my sister-in-law for me.”
This kind of understanding words were very pleasing to the ear.
Emperor Huining asked: “What do you want?”
“Since sister-in-law treats me like this, then our Yuan family will have her without me, or have me without her. My brother is soft-hearted, and maybe he can’t do it. I hope you can help me sweep my sister-in-law out of the door. This way I can relieve my anger.”
Emperor Hui Ning seemed to think that her angry appearance was cute, and laughed loudly, “What’s so difficult about it? Zhen promise you.”
Yuan Ci Xian and Emperor Huining chatted for a while before she left the Daming Palace. The Jiang family’s affairs were not over yet, her seemingly magnanimous concession today was actually paving the way for the future, and driving Jiang Bi Rou out was only the first step.
She returned to Lu Mansion contentedly, and the first thing she did was to run to Lu Shi Qing’s courtyard to thank him.
Lu Shi Qing seemed to have expected that she would come to thank him long ago, and personally opened the door of the study, ready to accept her praise, but pretended to be indifferent he said: “Happy, satisfied?”
Unexpectedly, Yuan Ci Xian’s praise was beyond his expectations, and she directly threw her arms around his neck, hugged him and said, “Lu Shi Qing, you are so awesome!
Lu Shi Qing was overwhelmed, and before he said anything, he heard her whisper in his ear: “Shall I give you a reward? I heard that the reason why you’re afraid of dogs is because you were kissed by a dog seven years ago…”
Before he could react, he suddenly saw her let go of his neck, then stood on tiptoe, brought her lips closer, stuck out her tongue and licked his lips, and then asked with a smile, “Is it like this?”
Uwahhh~~ ☺️
Thank you for the chapters ❣️
Honestly, who hasn’t been kissed by a dog or a cat at some point? Is it really that important? My cat likes to lick my face, cause he’s a weird little cat, and sometimes he catches my lip. Just go an wash it with soap and voila. Why do you have a psychological shadow and everything? lol
Because we don’t have this cleanness obsession. If you know the TV series “Monk” you’ll understand 😅