Let Me Pursue You - Chapter 74

Lu Shiqing had the habit of going to bed early because of his painstaking efforts over the past two months, but in fact, it was only one more day, and Yuan Cixian was still enjoying the cool in the courtyard, eating the cherries brought back from the Daming Palace by his elder brother.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, cherries were rare and precious fruits, and the sage would give fruits to newly promoted Jinshi every year to show the emperor’s grace. Most of the literati who can get the imperial cherry will write a poem happily, boasting how good the color of the fruit is.

The plate of Luoyang cherries in front of Yuan Cixian is the last batch of this season, and if it is later, even the royal family will not be able to eat it. This time, all the ministers had the honor to taste it under the honor of Prince Nanzhao. Yuan Yu, as a brother, would not forget his sister even if he ate a fruit, and only after bringing it back to her did he go to take a bath to wash off the alcohol.

The end of April is approaching midsummer, the shade is dense and the trees are low, the courtyard is full of delicate and fragrant rose fragrance, and the cherry in front of me is big and fat, round like pearls, jade and red like agate, which makes people feel good when they look at it. The only bad mood is that there are no mosquitoes and horseflies on this hot day, and they have to buzz in Yuan Cixian’s ears from time to time.

After staying for a while, she felt that she couldn’t sit still, and was about to go back to her room to eat alone, when she heard a report from a servant, saying that the crown prince was knocking at the door.

Surprised in her heart, she forgot that a cherry stone was still stuck between her teeth and did not spit it out. She knocked her teeth with a “click”, and let out a “hiss” from the pain. After rubbing her face, she asked, “What did you do?”

The servant didn’t know, and only said that Xiju was alone, he looked like he had drunk too much at the palace banquet, and became drunk at the gate of Yuan Mansion, and he couldn’t get rid of him no matter what. After all, the other party has a noble status, and servants are not easy to be violent, and because Yuan Yu is taking a bath in the bedroom, I had to come to ask her for instructions.

Yuan Cixian thought for a while, spat out the cherry pit, covered her mouth and went out, but when she reached the door, she saw that Xiju was no longer making a fuss, but was lying on the stone steps, motionless, and seemed to be asleep.

She faltered on her feet, glanced at the seemingly empty surroundings, said “Hey” as if in surprise, stopped in the distance and said, “What’s the matter, Your Highness?” After speaking, she turned her head and raised her head. He asked Shicui beside him in a voice, “Does the prince have any followers? Go and have a look nearby.”

After Yuan Cixian finished speaking, she didn’t take a step forward until a group of Jinwu guards who were watching the night hurried over.

Shi Cui explained to her: “Little lady, the maid did not find the prince’s entourage, but met some street envoys.”

She nodded: “That’s fine.” After she finished speaking, she looked at the leader of the Jinwu Guards, “Trouble the street emissary to run this trip, I think the Prince of Nanzhao seems to be drunk, and I don’t know where he is staying in Beijing this time. Where, please work hard and send him back.”

Seeing this, the leader hurriedly clasped his fists at her: “The county lord is polite, it’s the villain’s responsibility. It’s the villain’s negligence that caused the drunk prince to enter the workshop by mistake. The county lord should not care about us.”

Yuan Cixian waved his hands to show that he was okay, and watched them drag away the “sleeping” Xiju from a distance, and did not get close to him from the beginning to the end, until the surroundings fell silent, and then ordered the servants to close the door of the house, Then turn around and walk in.

Shi Cui followed her and asked, “Little lady, what is the prince’s intention?”

Yuan Cixian sneered: “Naturally, he came to drag me into the water. Although the saint treated Nanzhao well, how could he be defenseless against the prince of the enemy country who invaded Dazhou three months ago? Palace banquet In the end, he must have sent spies to follow him. After Xiju noticed it, he simply came to me. Once I got in touch with him, even if you asked you to give him a hand, the spies hiding around might regard me as the same as me. His private contacts, evidence of close relationship.”

That’s why she stopped at a long distance, and called the saint’s most trusted personal guard with great fanfare to show her innocence.

After she finished speaking, she smiled sinisterly: “Believe it or not, if I had stood beside him just now, he would have gotten up shamelessly and dragged me.”

Shizui nodded in agreement. This Prince of Nanzhao has always acted recklessly, as far as the matter of soldiers is concerned, he is usually well-known as a teacher, but he is the only one who is willing to risk the disapproval of the world and wage war when he wants to, without even looking for an excuse.

Yuan Cixian was troubled in her heart, covered her still a little sore teeth, and was about to say that she didn’t plan to eat the unlucky cherry, when suddenly she heard three knocks on the door again from behind.

Is it over? She stopped, walked back with a frown, signaled the servant to open the door, straightened her sleeves and was about to get angry, when the door moved away, she saw Lu Shiqing with a gloomy face outside, seeing her, his eyes were like brooms , swept down from her face to the placket of her dress, the girdle of her breast.

“Why are you here?” Yuan Cixian was so excited by him, he looked down at his **** strangely, and felt that the size was moderate and there was nothing wrong with it.

Lu Shiqing didn’t say a word, his eyes moved up again, and when they fell on the side of her neck, he looked up at the dark surroundings, as if he didn’t think it was real, he grabbed her wrist and walked into Yuan Mansion until he reached the bright hall He let go of her in the corridor, frowned and looked carefully at her neck.

Yuan Cixian reached out to touch her neck, wondering, “What’s on my neck?”

Lu Shiqing fiercely pushed her hand away, motioning her not to block it, and after seeing it clearly, his pupils shrank suddenly.

What’s on her neck? There is a suspicious red mark! Red marks!

This scene almost killed Lu Shiqing. The veins on his forehead throbbed wildly, he gnashed his teeth and said, “What did Xiju do to you?”

Yuan Cixian was almost frightened by him and twisted her neck. She said in a daze, “I didn’t do anything…” After answering, he asked, “How do you know he’s been here? That’s why you came to me?”

Since Emperor Hui Ning was in the deep palace, he might not be able to deal with everything in time by himself, so he asked the spies who followed Xiju to maintain a first-line contact with Lu Shiqing. He just got the news from it. It’s just that the spies had already left when he arrived, so he didn’t have time to meet them face to face and ask about the specific details of Xiju Laiyuan’s mansion. Right now, it was like playing a shadow puppet show in his head, and he couldn’t stop at all.

Seeing that he didn’t speak, Yuan Cixian only put on a murderous expression, and couldn’t help but feel that the place he was staring at was hot and itchy, stretched out his hand to scratch it, and said in surprise: “Hey, what a big mosquito-fly bag!”

Lu Shiqing paused when he heard the words, stretched his neck to look carefully again, only to realize that the red mark was not what he imagined, he was a little embarrassed at once, retracted his eyes and said lightly: “Yes, I just want to say this, there is one on the right, but None on the left.”

The implication is that he was angry because he felt uncomfortable.

Yuan Cixian clutched her neck and called Shi Cui to bring the ointment, feeling that he was being unreasonable: “Just to make you feel comfortable, you have to let a mosquito bite me twice?”

Lu Shiqing frowned, turned sideways with his hands behind his back, and said with a high attitude: “Parents who suffer from body, hair and skin, naturally shouldn’t bite a single bite. You have been living outside with Xiaoxi for a long time before you get into trouble with mosquitoes and horseflies.”

She thought to herself that he was just going to say something, even though she knew that the bag was mostly bitten in the courtyard, but she didn’t want to explain it to this kind of pretender, so she just let out a “chi” and rushed to Shicui who brought the ointment, Put him in place.

Lu Shiqing choked for a moment, seeing that since she made the marriage contract, her wings have become stiffer and her vision has become higher, and she is not afraid that he will run away as a backer, so she gritted her teeth, followed her, and snatched the little one from Shi Cui’s hand. Porcelain vase, said: “I’ll come, you go down.”

This is in the Yuan Mansion, Shi Cui can’t listen to him, heard this and glanced at Yuan Cixian.

When Yuan Cixian heard that Lu Shiqing was going to serve her, she calmed down a little, motioned for her to back down, then raised her chin, tilted her head, stretched her neck under his eyes and said, “Come on.”

He frowned, and reluctantly unscrewed the cap of the porcelain bottle. He did it as meticulously as ever. He dipped some green ointment with his index finger and spread it evenly on her red marks. Take a breath.

Yuan Cixian was shaken by him, retracted his neck, felt slightly unsteady under the numbness, cleared his throat, handed him a brocade handkerchief to signal him to wipe his hands, and said: “Okay, you can go back. “

Lu Shiqing suddenly felt that the wound on his chest that had finally healed seemed to be in pain again, and he gritted his teeth and said, “You won’t give me an explanation about the small house?” Did she want to **** him off?

Seeing that Lu Shiqing was finally willing to put down his face and asked straightforwardly, Yuan Cixian turned his head and snickered, and decided not to embarrass him anymore, turned around and answered solemnly: “What can happen? He fell in front of my door, and I can go up to help him.” Him? The saint’s spies are nearby, so I’m not stupid, okay?”

Lu Shiqing knew that she wasn’t stupid, but he couldn’t stop his horrific imaginings, and came all the way, one to prevent her from falling into Xiju’s tricks, and the other was to seek peace of mind.

He heard “Oh”, as if she believed what she said, he didn’t ask any more questions, and said: “Then I’m leaving, you go and rest.”

Yuan Cixian felt soft-hearted, grabbed his sleeve and said, “Wait, the sage gave some cherries, you can eat them.”

Lu Shiqing didn’t pay much attention to appetite, and raised his eyebrows when he heard this: “Why don’t you eat it yourself?”

“Forget it, the cherry pits give me a toothache.”

After she finished speaking, she dragged him to get the cherries. Unexpectedly, just as she stepped into the small open-air courtyard, a black shadow flashed past, and then there was a “bang”, as if some pots and pans had been overturned. The plate of cherries rolled to the ground one by one. The next moment, the culprit, Xiao Hei Youyou, came out from under the table, lay on all fours, and crouched in front of the two of them with his head curled up, as if pleading guilty.

Lu Shiqing stopped in shock, and quietly hid behind Yuan Cixian. This open-air courtyard is where he sat when he came to the banquet as Xu Shan. Fortunately, the delicate and frail Jiang Birou was still in the house at that time, so Yuan Yu didn’t allow Xiao Hei to run around. With his keen sense of smell, Yuan Cixian might have spotted him 10,000 times.

Yuan Cixian didn’t know the twists and turns in his heart, only felt the flesh hurt so much that his heart was bleeding, pointed to Xiao Hei and said: “You, now, immediately, immediately, disappear before my eyes.”

Xiao Hei let out an “ow” and ran away.

Seeing her heartbroken look, Lu Shiqing twitched the corners of his mouth: “Anyway, it’s not you who ate it, just treat it as I finished it. The fruit in Luoyang Cherry Valley is the same as the one given by the emperor. When the season comes next year, I’ll ask someone to pick some. .”

Yuan Cixian let out a dejected “Hmm”, glanced at it but saw that there was still a cherry on the plate, her eyes lit up immediately, she brought it over and said, “There is one more, you might as well eat it here.”

Lu Shiqing choked. In fact, he really didn’t want to eat that much, but seeing that Yuan Cixian was willing to share with him what he cherished, he was naturally a little moved, so he took it and stuffed it into his mouth. Just as he was biting through the flesh, seeing her looking at him so earnestly, he suddenly felt an itch in his heart, and suddenly lowered his head and pecked her lips.

The kiss was caught off guard, and Yuan Cixian felt the sweet juice overflowing her lips, as if it was about to drip down her chin in embarrassment. She subconsciously wanted to tell him to stop, but unexpectedly fell into his trap. As soon as the teeth are opened, a piece of pulp is sent to the mouth.

Immediately afterwards, Lu Shiqing let go of her lips, sucked the juice that fell on her chin, and seeing that she was dumbstruck, he explained very calmly: “Aren’t you disgusted by your teeth?”

Only then did Yuan Cixian realize that the fruit in her mouth had been pitted.

However, this method of removing nuclei and feeding is too unclean!

He can’t treat her like this just because she has no cleanliness!

She wanted to dislike it, but she was embarrassed to spit it out in front of him. She lost her face and bit the bullet and chewed the fruit pulp. After chewing, her expression suddenly changed, and she said in surprise, “Wait, what about the cherry pit?” ?”

She didn’t see Lu Shiqing spit it out.

Lu Shiqing’s expression also changed drastically, and he suddenly stretched out his hand to hold his throat.

He… he was so excited that he swallowed it…

Yuan Cixian heard that cherry pits were poisonous, so she immediately urged him to vomit, but seeing that he couldn’t vomit, she called Yuan Yu over after taking a bath, and beat him **** his chest and back.

Lu Shiqing was tormented by the brother and sister until half of his life died. He thought that it wasn’t that the cherry pits were poisonous, but that the Yuan family was poisonous. In the end, I read the ancient books and ran to rescue the scene. According to the story, the cherry stones are poisonous, as long as they are not bitten, they will not hurt their lives.

Only then did Yuan Cixian let Lu Shiqing go suspiciously, and told him to seek medical advice promptly if he felt any discomfort.

Lu Shiqing reckoned that he might never touch cherries again in his life.

Fortunately, as Cai Zhi said, Lu Shiqing was fine, and in the afternoon of the next day, he dragged his body, which had been beaten by Yuan Yu sorely, to the Daming Palace for the martial arts meeting.

The prince of Nanzhao went to Chang’an as an envoy, so naturally a palace banquet could not be enough to entertain him. Today Emperor Huining ordered people to build a ring in the palace from the rain pavilion, and said that he would invite Xiju to have a look at the court corner of the Zhou Palace. To put it bluntly, it is actually a display of the great Zhou’s force.

Yuan Cixian guessed that the old emperor had a grudge because of what happened last night, so he invited her and elder brother temporarily, saying that they would be invited to attend as clan relatives and watch together, but in fact, he probably wanted to see Xiju and her Yuan. Whether the home can wipe out “sparks”.

When Lu Shiqing arrived, Yuan Cixian was already chatting and joking with her elder brother in the Ziyu Pavilion, when she saw him coming, she winked at him and sent her a glance.

Yin Shao and the princess were on the side, and he felt that she was flirting with him deliberately, but he didn’t refute her face. He bent his mouth towards her, sat down on his seat, and then nodded to the courtiers around him as a greeting .

After Emperor Huining took his seat, the contest began.

This Ziyu Pavilion is a good place to enjoy the cool in summer. The palace people took pains to bring water from the mountain spring to flow down from the eaves of the pavilion, paving four water curtains on all sides. The suspended waves are like waterfalls. Sitting in them, it feels cool and refreshing like being in autumn.

In the huge pavilion, the sage is at the top, next to the empress of the Liang Dynasty, and the second is the second, and behind are several royal children including Zheng Zhuo, Shaohe, and the brothers and sisters of the Yuan family. Dear, Lu Shiqing and several other courtiers are at the outermost periphery.

In the middle of the arena, two shirtless men came up, and when the person in charge gave an order, they fought together, and the fight was in full swing. When one fell and the other fell, Emperor Huining called out “Hello”, and there was thunderous applause from all around.

After a few rounds, Yuan Cixian really felt that she was applauding like a fool, but seeing that everyone was doing the same, even Lu Shiqing smiled and remained calm, so she could only hold back and continue to clap her hands vigorously.

After several rounds, Emperor Huining finally called a stop, turned around and asked Xiju how he felt.

Naturally, Xiju brought out the few beautiful Chinese words he had learned last night, and when asked if he wanted to send his entourage for a friendly competition, he refused: “I am here this time, not for the sake of Competing with His Majesty, although martial arts is for fun, it will inevitably hurt the peace, or not. But the grand event is rare, and I don’t want to defeat His Majesty and everyone’s happiness, so let’s change to a gentle game.”

Emperor Huining raised his eyebrows with great interest, motioning for him to speak.

“I heard that there is a game called catapult in the court of the Great Zhou Dynasty, which is to shoot birds with golden marbles and slingshots for fun. I have an idea-please send someone to collect miscellaneous birds, and hang a scroll around the neck of each bird. Some of the books and silks are marked, while others are left blank, and then I and all the shooters present will shoot birds with slingshots, and compete to see who gets the most marked books.”

When he said this, he smiled playfully: “The winner in the end will be able to ask His Majesty for a prize.”