Not Your Typical Villianess - Chapter 217

The main courtyard of Prince Wu’s residence

Su Liya glanced down at the thick blanket on her shoulder and smiled. She brought up her hand to the blankets and rubbed her fingers on the fabric, getting a good feel of the texture of the blanket before looking over her shoulder at Baozhai and whispering, “thank you”.

Baozhai smiled, nodded and returned to her previous sport beside her mistress. She looked up to the sky, “how breathtaking” she muttered mouth open. Su Liya glanced at her maid and smiled, she rubbed both hands and sighed. She glanced at the vast compound surrounding the Pavillion, it was well graded and decorated with peach trees l, flowers and sculptures.

She liked to look out the window regularly, the view under the full moon felt magical to her. Like it stepped out of a painting hanging at the museum. Sometimes she wished that she had crossed over with her phone just so that she could take a picture of the natural sights she had seen at this time. Certain sights were nearly impossible to find at modern times. Thanks to the rapidly developing future, science and technology brought both positive and negative impacts on humanity.

Back at the massive gates, Lu Yaozhu rode into the street at a considerably high speed pulling the rains and bringing his horse to a stop at the gates to his residence. The horse stopped in front of the strong wooden gate, written on the nameplate on top of the gate was “Prince Wu’s Residence”. The six guards at the gate stood at attention as he got down the horse. Two low-level guards rushed forward to rein in Lu Yaozhu and Yu Tao’s horses, while two other muscular guards pulled the gate open for Lu Yaozhu

“Welcome home, Your Highness”, the guards chorused as he walked in.

“mm, keep up the good work”, he replied as he walked past them. Long lines of Lamps were lit from the pathway from the gate to different courtyards and sections of his new residence.

The steward caught up to him as he neared the main courtyard. It was already very late and like most servants, the steward, uncle Xie had turned in for the night but was awoken by sudden loud knocks on his room doors by the guard who came over to alert him of his Lu Yaozhu’s return.

“Your highness, welcome home your highness. I am sorry for coming back so late, is there anything I can do for you?”

Lu Yaozhu glanced at the older man’s wrinkled face, he liked this older man’s work so far. He was neat and efficient in his work. He slowed down his pace to a much more manageable pace for the older man, “it is alright, I don’t need anything else. I will be turning in for the night, is Liya asleep”, he quickly remembered that it was very late in the night, glanced up at the sky and continued, “my bad, it is already so late. She should be asleep”, he glanced down at his steward and smiled, “as should you, turn in for the night. There is no need to follow me around, you work hard enough to make life comfortable for me. You deserve longer hours of rest”.

Uncle Xie smiled, cheeks red, “oh I don’t mind your Highness. It is my duty to serve you, I can accompany you for as long as you like”.

Lu Yaozhu paused and turned to the older man, he placed both hands at her waist and smiled, ” uncle Xie, I understand that you want to put on a brave face with me but there is no need for that. It is late, you are not getting any younger. Please turn in for the night, I would hate for you to risk your life for me”.

Uncle Xie pulled back and nodded, smiling sheepishly he replied, “oh, okay…. Then I won’t keep you here”. He gave a deep bow, turned around and continued down a well lit slim pathway at the side that led to the servant waiters. Lu Yaozhu watched him leave until he was completely out of sight before continuing on the path to the main courtyard.

The cool night breeze blew, raising a few loose strands of his hair, “Yu Tao, find out when his Majesty will be free tomorrow and inform Yu Fang to get ready. We will be entering the palace tomorrow unfailingly”, Lu Yaozhu said without looking back.

“Yes, your Highness”, Yu Tao replied. His forehead furrowed as he remembered a noteworthy fact concerning the murder case his young master was investigating. He but his lips as he contemplated reminding Lu Yaozhu of this issue or maybe letting it go since it was a rather delicate situation. The Crown Prince’s little act of rebellion against the Lu Family and the Empress had complicated things for everyone. He glanced at his master’s expression a sighed thinking, ‘Zhongshan Ling was a loose cannon that aimed at even his allies, in the end, is such a man worth saving’.

In the end, he decided not to bring up a hurtful fact like this to his young master, it was his understanding that his young master doesn’t wish to abandon the Crown Prince just yet. Sometimes you act dumb to make someone you care about happy.

Lu Yaozhu paused briefly at the entrance of the compound of the main courtyard on seeing Su Liya leaning forward on the balcony. The moonlight on her flawless face was a sight to behold, she was brighter than the moon itself. Her lips tugged up as their eyes met. All the worry in his mind slipped away and his lips tugged up involuntarily, she was like a beacon in his eyes.

Baozhai and Yu Tao exchanged gazes and silently retreated to give the couple their privacy. The couple were stuck in their world they barely noticed any of their personal servant’s little actions. Lu Yaozhu ran walked to Su Liya and pulled her into his arms. He hugged her tightly lifting her in his arms.. Su Liya wrapped her hands around him and kissed him gently.