Chapter 58

 

Lu Shi Qing carried the paper kite back to his room like a treasure, the smile on his lips could not be stopped no matter what.

Not far away, Lu Shuang Yu, who didn’t know what was going on, stared at this scene dumbfoundedly, feeling somewhat complicated. After tomorrow, her brother would be twenty-three years old, maybe this was the legendary rejuvenation of one’s youth vigor.

Lu Shi Qing explained his official trip matters to Xuan shi during dinner, omitting the specific whereabouts and reasons. Firstly, Emperor Huining instructed that in order to avoid turmoil among people, the war was temporarily concealed within the capital, and all courtiers who were discussing matters in the Xuanzheng Hall today were prohibited to speak of it to the outside world.

Secondly, the so-called peace talks were supposed to be held when both sides intended to cease fighting, but now Great Zhou unilaterally intends to retreat from the enemy, so Lu Shi Qing was tantamount to charge into the knife’s edge. If he exposed his purpose and whereabouts early, it was likely to cause a fatal disaster, so the fewer people who know about it, the better.

It was not beneficial for Xuan shi and Lu Shuang Yu to know too much.

It’s just that the two of them were not stupid. The emperor had always loved Lu Shi Qing. If it was not necessary, he would not be ordered to go on a official trip at the end of the year. In such a situation, afraid that there was only one possibility, that is, an urgent military situation. But where exactly the war broke out, as people who lived in the back house, they really had no way of knowing.

Lu Shi Qing went back to the study after dinner, lit up the lamp and finished sorting out the military report and studied the route of the trip going south. He took a bath and went to rest near the second watch (9-11 pm). Before going to bed he recalled Yuan Ci Xian, and couldn’t help but take out her paper kite again. After seeing this, he suddenly felt something was not right.

Wait a minute. Although this love poem could be regarded as bold and unrestrained, such a roundabout method didn’t seem like Yuan Ci Xian’s style at all. What’s more, he remembered that he had hinted very clearly today, and she also clearly understood his meaning. Since she had come all the way to Lu Mansion, how could she just hang a kite and leave?

At first, Lu Shi Qing was concerned about the Diannan matters, and at the same time, his blood was provoked by certain words in the poem. Only now did he realize that something went wrong.

His complexion gradually became ugly, and after he figured out the whole thing, he couldn’t help throwing off the quilt in a fit of anger.

Damn his meddling eyes, it’s better to poke these two eyes!

Lu Shi Qing had a mouthful of blood in his heart, he wanted to vomit but couldn’t vomit, so angry that he was pacing back and forth in front of the bed in his inner clothes. His return date from Diannan could not be determined. If Yuan Ci Xian continued to misunderstand like this, when he returned to Chang’an, wouldn’t he receive a thick book of poems?

No way.

He glanced at the dark window, grudgingly put his clothes on and come out.

Lu Shi Qing spent a lot of trouble avoiding the night curfew patrol for nearly three hours. When he arrived at the Yuan Mansion, he struggled for a long time, and finally made up his mind to imitate the scene from those romance storybook, visiting the woman’s boudoir at night. But as soon as he got close to the outer wall, he was caught by a servant with a lantern who hurried out of the side gate and called him: “Is it Assistant Minister Lu?” The other person poked his head at him in the darkness, “Diannan Prince explains, if you come, please wait for him in the central hall.”

“…” The storybook is full of lies.

Lu Shi Qing, who was waiting for the opportunity to have a night visit to the boudoir for the first time, turned dark in an instant. He wanted to turn around and leave, but he knew that if he gave up the opportunity tonight, he wouldn’t be able to see Yuan Ci Xian for a long time, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow the servants to the central hall.

Yuan Yi Zhi who didn’t seem to have slept at all, soon came, and when he saw him, he scolded him coldly: “It seems that Assistant Minister Lu doesn’t remember his promise with me.”

All the way from the side gate to the central hall, Lu Shi Qing had already returned to his usual posture, completely lack of any embarrassment, he said with a smile: “Lu is indeed not a gentleman. To me, the weight of a promise is no more important than life and death. If I were to die tomorrow, I have no intention of keeping that promise tonight.”

Yuan Yi Zhi raised his eyebrows: “If I remember correctly, Assistant Minister Lu kept telling His Majesty that you are completely sure.”

Lu Shi Qing smiled lightly: “If I don’t say completely, how can His Majesty agree to my request? You know the situation in Diannan better than I do, you know that this matter can never have 100% certainty, that’s why you left the door open for me tonight, willing to allow me to see her and say goodbye.”

Yuan Yi Zhi didn’t say anything as if tacitly acquiescing, he stared at him for a long time, then said: “Boy, I know you’re not the kind of person with bull-head heroism, and you will be able to persuade Nanzhao and Tubo to retreat, but the premise is that you have to have a life to talk.”

Lu Shi Qing nodded. It was true that going to Diannan this time, in the word “peace talk”, it was easy to “talk” but difficult to get “peace”.

Yuan Yi Zhi took out a piece of crescent-shaped solid-color imperial yellow jade from his wide sleeve, handed it to him and said, “Take it, I don’t need to teach you how to use it.”

Lu Shi Qing looked down and hesitated slightly.

Before this, he was still not sure whether Yuan Yi Zhi had secretly cultivated his own private army in Diannan. When he helped Zheng Zhuo win over Yuan Yu, he also made several roundabout inquiries, but to no avail. Unexpectedly, the answer came to the door by itself.

This piece of imperial yellow jade, presumably, was a token that could command that private army.

Yuan Yi Zhi handed over such things to him, no doubt letting him hold the lifeblood of the Yuan family in his hands. If he had the heart, he could hand it over to the emperor later, and put the Yuan family to death.

Lu Shi Qing couldn’t help but feel a little surprised.

He was silent, stretched out his hand to push it back and said: “You should know that there is more than one way to defeat the enemy. I insisted on personally going to the south, exactly to prevent Nanzhao from putting Yuan family at a disadvantage in this battle, and making His Majesty all the more afraid of you. If I use this piece of jade to save my life, all my efforts will be in vain, and it may even make the situation worse, so why don’t I just give up this trip?”

Yuan Yi Zhi laughed brightly: “Here, it’s my moral obligation. Whether you use it or not is your choice, it has nothing to do with me. You just have to remember that you can marry my daughter only if you’re alive.”

Lu Shi Qing shook his head with a smile, stretched out his hand to take it: “Thank you, Diannan Prince for your help.”

He sneered, as if signaling him not to be too happy too early, and then said: “I will ask my servant to call her to the central hall, and I will give you two sticks of incense time.”

Lu Shi Qing hurriedly said: “No.”

Yuan Yi shook his eyebrows “Why?”

“I think you didn’t tell her about the war after you returned from Xuanzheng Hall, and you’re not planning to tell her the news that I’m going to the south, which will make her worry. In that case, if you let her come to the central hall, and she learn that you arranged this meeting, how can she not be suspicious?”

Yuan Yi Zhi choked.

That’s right, his daughter was so smart, she would likely detect some clues.

Lu Shi Qing took advantage of his choking to continue: “If you really sympathize with me, why not leave this matter to myself.”

Yuan Yi Zhi instantly became furious: “Are you telling me that you’re going to her boudoir?”

“Yes. But you can rest assured that if I’m really unruly, I would have been unruly long before you came to Chang’an. Of course, if you don’t agree, I have no choice but to go back home, and whether I can see her again is depends on Heaven’s will.”

It’s really justified, and won a lot of sympathy!

Yuan Yi Zhi was suffocated for a long time, but felt that he couldn’t refuse the trivial request of a “dying person”, so he pretended that he didn’t know anything, flung his sleeves and left, but before going out, he turned around and added: “A stick of incense!”

On third watch of the night (11pm-1am), Yuan Ci Xian was sleeping soundly when she was suddenly awakened by a “bang” sound from the rear window. When she woke up, she realized that there seemed to be a thief breaking in, so she hurriedly sat up, and between the hazy sleepiness she reacted quickly. From the movement she thought it was not a cat or a dog, so she immediately wrapped herself in the quilt with one hand, opened her mouths and was about to shout, but then heard someone whisper: “It’s me.”

Hearing this she was stunned, blinked sleepily, then saw Lu Shi Qing go around the screen in her room and stood in front of her bed, bringing cold air inside.

She shivered and recovered a little bit, but she couldn’t believe her eyes. She rubbed her eyes before tilting her head and said in a daze, “Damn it, did I write love poems until I got trap in hallucination?”

She hadn’t had this kind of dream where she could actually see a human face for a long time.

Lu Shi Qing thought to himself that he probably had gone crazy for coming here, but he said, “Yes, Yuan Ci Xian, congratulations on dreaming of me.”

Yuan Ci Xian was suspicious when she heard this, pinched her arm fiercely. Her arm hurt so much that she let out an “ouch”, and then with a “hiss” of a cold air said: “Lu Shi Qing, how could you lie through your teeth, it hurts so much.”

At this time, she completely sobered up, and while she was shocked by the omission of the guards in the mansion, she was curious of the reason why Lu Shi Qing came here, and questioned him while wrapping herself in a quilt: “How did you come in the middle of the night, why did you sneak into my boudoir…”

In the middle of her talking, Lu Shi Qing, who suddenly leaned over, pinched her chin lightly, and even the two lips that opened and closed were engulfed in his mouth.

Lu Shi Qing repeated his old trick, took advantage while she was speaking to knock open her teeth. It’s just different from last time, his kiss this time changed from the ignorant sweeping kind, into delicate and long, dripping like rain kind. While his Adam’s apple was rolling, little by little, very slowly and gradually, he grabbed her fragrance.

It didn’t seem to be dominated by desire, intending to tear her to pieces, but more like a painful sorrow that could not be dismissed.

Yuan Ci Xian was slightly aware of it, and was slightly startled. She didn’t why she thought, he is in such pain, could it be because his cleanliness obsession again?

She had not seen him for a few days, and he ate her saliva as soon as he came, but he still had the gall to be disgusted. Who forced him to eat? Don’t kiss then, what kind of kissing is this!

Yuan Ci Xian was so angry, and she wouldn’t let him go so easily any more. This time she learned how to be smart, and hit the nail on the head, and bit his tongue hard.

Lu Shi Qing frowned in pain and withdrew, feeling a faint fishy sweetness, he looked down at her and said, “Is that how you bit me?”

Yes, biting Qingqing off to survive the winter.

She wiped her lips, looking very disgusted at him: “Why are you playing a hooligan?”

“You asked me why I sneaked into your boudoir.” He just answered her with practical actions.

Yuan Ci Xian looked at him hatefully: “Apart from this, don’t you have anything else to say?”

“Oh. Also, I read your poem, and the metrical verse is acceptable.”

Who wants to listen to him talk about these things.

Yuan Ci Xian pointed out: “Lu Shi Qing, you stripped my clothes once in Shangzhou, slept in my carriage once in Shuzhou, and broke into my boudoir once in Chang’an. You held my hand once, hugged me four times, and kissed me three times. You done all this and still don’t plan to marry me? Still dare to say that you don’t like me?”

Finally said it. Lu Shi Qing had been waiting for this day for a long time. But she didn’t say it sooner, she didn’t say it later, she said it when he wasn’t sure of the answer.

Seeing him choked, Yuan Ci Xian became more and more angry: “My father will not really peel your skin. When will you come to propose marriage?”

Yuan Ci Xian really didn’t want to force him with those trivial matters earlier, but seeing her father had come to Chang’an, but Lu Shi Qing was still unmoved. If it delayed until her father returned to Diannan, wouldn’t he have reason to delay her for another year.

No matter what, they had to take advantage of these few days to decide on the marriage.

However, Lu Shi Qing really couldn’t count the day. There was war in Diannan and the trip was full of dangers. If he promised her now, but something happened to him, he would really make her a widow.

He hesitated for a while, and said an appropriate answer: “Next time.”

What kind of perfunctory statement is this. Yuan Ci Xian was so annoyed that she wanted to slap him, but he continued to add: “Next time you see me again.”

She froze slightly, then her eyes lit up: “Really?”

Lu Shi Qing nodded with a serious expression.

Yuan Ci Xian’s temper came and went quickly, she patted the edge of the bed to signal him to sit down, and then asked: “That’s simple, to avoid long nights and many dreamsit means that if a situation drags on, something unfavorable may happen, I will go to see you tomorrow at New Year’s Eve.”

Lu Shi Qing didn’t sit down, sighed in his heart, and refused: “I’m not free tomorrow, just stay at home. It’s getting late, I should go.”

Yuan Ci Xian refused to let him go, grabbed his arm, and dragged him to the edge of the bed: “Tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve, you’re not staying at home? It’s fine to propose marriage at your house, anywhere is fine, I will come.”

Seeing that he was silent and did not answer, she pinched his arm again, frowned: “Did you hear me? Tomorrow, wait for me to come to your house and propose marriage to me.”

What kind of marriage proposal is this. Lu Shi Qing couldn’t help but smile in his heart, seeing that he couldn’t leave if he didn’t agree, he had no choice but to blink and said, “Okay.”

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