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Yuan Cixian was really annoyed by his scheming trick of delaying the time to consummate the marriage. She thought that seeing him look so relaxed, maybe he would be fine after a while, but she didn't know that he was just a show-off. He was very aggressive at first, but when it came to the point, he surrendered with a bang. Now she only remembers the pain, and all the love is gone.
She angrily called Shicui and Jianzhi, who came with her as a dowry, to clean up the mess. Lu Shiqing wanted to speak but couldn't get a word in. He was left alone with his robe covering his face from beginning to end. After she had finished tidying up, she was allowed to go to the vacated bathroom to take a bath. When she came out after finishing, she saw that she was lying flat in the middle of the bed, with her arms stretched out to both sides, as if she was ready to occupy the entire bed.
As if she heard the noise of him coming out and knew that he was looking at her, she raised her arm and pointed towards the footstool below without even opening her eyelids.
Lu Shiqing coughed softly and returned to the place that should have belonged to him, carrying the bedding.
He now hoped very much that everything that had just happened was just his imagination when he woke up from a sleep, but the dream of infinite springtime he had in Shangzhou last time was clearly not the case.
He frowned, lay down and began to carefully recall and compare his dream with reality to see where he had gone wrong.
*
The next morning, Lu Shiqing woke up from the couch, thinking that Yuan Cixian's anger should have subsided. Just as he was about to get up to see if she had woken up, he saw a pair of pretty feet coming towards his face, about to step on his nose.
In a flash, he suddenly thought of the word "unlucky" that had been calculated by divination.
His face changed, and he subconsciously raised his hands and pinched her ankles. Looking at the white and tender soles of her feet just an inch away from his face, he swallowed his saliva in fear. This surprise on the second day of the wedding was really amazing.
Yuan Cixian also exclaimed "Ouch!" as if she was startled, and quickly retracted her foot, then turned around and looked down at him in horror.
She was confused in her sleep. This big wedding was a forced one, which made her feel a little dazed for the past few days. She learned too much information last night, and she really couldn't recover. In her sleep, she thought she was in Yuan Mansion, so she didn't remember that Lu Shiqing was sleeping on the footbed.
But she thought of his uncompromising plot last night, and felt that he deserved it, and really regretted not stepping faster. She restrained her expression, and without saying a word, she found another empty spot to stay, and then called Shicui and Jianzhi outside to help her dress.
Lu Shiqing calmed himself down, cleared his throat, stood up calmly, and asked her in a pretentious tone: "Is the quilt warm enough?"
Yuan Cihan snorted in her heart, thinking that he was just making small talk. He was very polite when asking for forgiveness and begging for marriage consummation, but now that he had gotten what he deserved, he started to act like a nonchalant person again.
She glanced at him and said angrily, "It's summer, and you ask me if my quilt is warm? If you feel cold, take all my quilts and cover yourself tightly tonight!"
Lu Shiqing choked, thinking that she was so close to him, he couldn't stand the heat to begin with, and it would be even worse if he covered himself with two more quilts. Seeing that she was angry, he softened his tone: "You didn't eat last night, you should..."
"Who said you didn't eat? I'm so angry and full!" Yuan Cixian interrupted him directly, turned around and was about to move the door to the bathroom.
Lu Shiqing didn't dare to act pretentiously this time. He put his arm around her wrist and pulled her into his arms from behind. He whispered into her ear, "Just pretend I didn't ask you the last two questions. Tell me, does it still hurt?"
It would have been better if he didn't mention it. But when he did, Yuan Cixian remembered it again. She turned around and complained, "It didn't hurt before you asked!"
“…” Blame him.
Lu Shiqing frowned, thinking hard about how to remedy the situation so as to avoid having to sleep on the footstool again that night, but suddenly he heard a knock on the door. Thinking it was Shicui and Jianzhi coming to take her clothes and jewelry, he had to let her go uncomfortably.
He was really not used to outsiders entering his bedroom. Especially in the situation last night, he would rather make the bed himself. But who said that now was a crisis, so he had to put aside his pickiness, and he didn't complain about anything. He walked away and dressed, saying that he would wait for her outside.
As the new bride of the Lu family, Yuan Cixian offered tea to Xuan and then went with her to the ancestral hall in the mansion to pay homage to Lu Shiqing's father who had passed away four years ago, as well as several other ancestors.
Lu Shiqing felt a little pleased when she called him "mother" all the time, thinking that she knew how to control her temper. She was a little boss in front of him, but she would restrain herself in time when outside. This was exactly what he wanted. Thinking of this, he didn't think there was anything wrong with her being a little bossy in private.
When it was time for lunch, Xuan took advantage of the moment when Yuan Cixian went to wash his hands to pull her son over and whispered to him that the couple looked unwell and it might be because he had been too naughty at night. Since they had just gotten married, they should restrain themselves.
Lu Shiqing thought that he wanted to make trouble, but the situation did not allow it. Just like last night, if he dared to try it again, Yuan Cixian would probably be so angry that she would take out a machete.
He clearly didn't succeed but was mistakenly believed to be addicted to sex. He had no choice but to accept it silently and said he would be careful in the next few days.
Xuan nodded with satisfaction and said with emotion: "Mother has been looking forward to having a grandchild for so many years, there is no need to rush for a month or two. You have to be tactful and not let Cixian get too tired, so that you can play the long game and catch the big fish." She then gestured, "It would be best to catch a pair at a time."
Lu Shiqing sighed in his heart. He hadn't enjoyed anything yet, but his mother was already urging him to catch the big fish. If the big fish really came, wouldn't he be alone for most of the year
*
Although Lu Shiqing was granted a nine-day marriage leave by the court, exempting him from attending court and working in the palace, he could not be so free as to ignore everything. After lunch, he went to the study to manage things. Before leaving, he told Yuan Cixian to go to him if he had anything to do. Seeing that she was not in a good mood, he swallowed the words "You can come even if you have nothing to do".
Yuan Cixian went back to her room, sat down and called Shi Cui over to ask about the matter he had secretly instructed her in the morning.
Shi Cui replied hurriedly, "Young lady, I have checked the medical books. The knife that Mr. Xu used was very dangerous. I wonder if he has left any root of disease. We need to ask a doctor to see how he is recuperating recently. It is hard to tell the truth just by reading the medical books."
Yuan Cixian frowned and nodded.
After last night, she already knew that Lu Shiqing had lied to her when he said he was injured in a serious part of his body. Thinking back to the strange things that happened to him a few days after he was stabbed, she concluded that the "injury" Shao He was talking about must be the knife wound on his chest.
She had seen the danger that day, and even if Shao He hadn't said anything, she would have taken care of the matter after learning the truth. But after being reminded, she couldn't help but have an extra layer of worry, fearing that the so-called "root of illness" had happened in her previous life.
Before, she didn't know that the injury was so serious. Seeing Shao He's situation, and the saint ironically asked them to get married on the same day, she felt that it was inappropriate for her to ask about her past life. Now that she knew the truth, she wanted to ask for it without hesitation, but Shao He had already married far away, and she couldn't chase after her anymore. She could only take care of Lu Shiqing for the time being to prevent any trouble.
Shi Cui saw that she looked dazed, and continued, "Young lady, since you have married your husband, don't worry too much about Mr. Xu. I think the Sixth Prince will take good care of him."
Yuan Cixian paused when he heard this.
She didn't reveal Lu Shiqing's dual identity to anyone else, not even her brother. This stance was of great importance, after all, the more people knew about it, the more danger there was, and this danger was for both the insider and the Lu family, and even involved the lifeblood of Zheng Zhuo and a large group of officials in the court.
She paused for a moment and quickly nodded to cover it up, then stood up to find Lu Shiqing. Shi Cui was right, it was useless for her to worry about it alone, she had to find a reliable doctor to see him. It was okay to be angry, but she couldn't just ignore his life or death.
Yuan Cihan walked all the way to the door of Lu Shiqing's study and saw that all the servants had been dismissed. She felt strange and was about to knock on the door and tell him about asking for a doctor, but she heard a faint laugh.
She was slightly stunned. This kind of heroic and loud laughter should never come from Lu Shiqing.
Although she forgave him for concealing the truth over the past year, she did not particularly trust him now because of his previous superb acting skills. She was always afraid that he had a third identity. So when she heard this laughter that was obviously inconsistent with his behavior, her first reaction was not whether there was someone else in his room, but whether he was playing a role with this kind of personality.
She was just about to sneak into a corner when she heard a vague "who" coming from inside. But the voice was not loud, and it didn't sound like someone was questioning her outside, but someone inside.
He has good hearing.
She heaved a sigh of relief, thinking that Lu Shiqing was talking to someone, not role-playing. Sure enough, the next moment she heard his voice, asking her to come in.
As there was no one around, she pushed the door open and went in. After walking around a screen, she looked up and saw Zheng Zhuo sitting inside.
She was not surprised to see this. When she heard the word "who" and looked at the servants being dismissed, she knew that the person who came was probably him. She thought that maybe this study was also connected to the secret passage to Xu's house last night, so the others in the mansion didn't know he was visiting. And the reason why she was able to get close was because Lu Shiqing had told the servants guarding the door to let her in.
He was smart enough to know that she lacked trust in him and acted honestly.
Seeing this, Yuan Cixian gave Zheng Zhuo a simple salute.
Zheng Zhuo nodded slightly at her and called her "County Lady."
Lu Shiqing coughed softly, feeling uncomfortably.
Zheng Zhuo looked at him helplessly and changed his words, "Mrs. Lu."
Yuan Cixian commented angrily: "I think 'County Princess' sounds better. Your Highness should just call me as before. It can also save a word of saliva."
Lu Shiqing's face darkened. He had just praised her in his heart earlier, could she give him some face now
She shrugged her nose at him, pretending to be "let's fight" and then found a suitable corner seat to sit down and asked, "What are you guys talking about?"
The last time the three of them met like this was at the stone pavilion on the mountain during the Flower Festival. Yuan Cixian was filled with emotion after asking this question. All the little glances between Zheng Zhuo and "Xu Shan" that day emerged in his mind. He really hated himself for being fooled. He thought that Zheng Zhuo, his accomplice, was not a good person either.
Lu Shiqing was also lamenting the scene of "things have changed and people have changed" in his heart, so he didn't pay attention to what Yuan Cihan asked, but saw Zheng Zhuo suddenly laugh. He was holding it back at first, with only his shoulders shaking slightly, and then it seemed as if he really couldn't hold it back anymore and burst into laughter.
Yuan Cixian blinked twice slowly and looked at him strangely: "Your Highness, did I say anything funny?"
Zheng Zhuo thought it was funny, too funny. Before she came, Lu Shiqing was asking him why he confessed so quickly last night, what went wrong, and if there was any magic way to avoid it.
Whenever he recalled the difficult and puzzled expression on his face just now, he could laugh for three days and three nights.
Lu Shiqing already knew what he was laughing at. His face was so dark that ink could be seen on it. He gritted his teeth and said, "Zheng Zhuo, be quiet."
The fact that he called him by his name confirmed Yuan Cihan's guess: the relationship between these two people was indeed very close. Zheng Zhuo did not regard him as a subordinate, and he did not consider himself a humble subordinate either.
Thinking of this, Yuan Cixian frowned slightly, and suddenly heard Zheng Zhuo cough and asked: "Then you don't want to know the answers to those questions just now?"
"I don't want to think about it anymore." Lu Shiqing replied with gritted teeth, "Don't bother with your concern."
After he finished speaking, he explained to the confused Yuan Cixian: "The Sixth Prince just told me a joke."
Zheng Zhuo immediately replied, "Yes, it was about the story in "Zou Ji's Advice to the King of Qi" where Zou Ji felt that he was not as handsome as Xu Gong, the Duke of the North."
Lu Shiqing: “…”
Yuan Cixian burst into laughter and remembered the Sanskrit article that Lu Shiqing had taught her to write. Now she finally understood why he was crazy at that time.
Lu Shiqing felt that it would be a disaster for Zheng Zhuo to stay here, and frowned and asked him: "Do you have anything else to do? If not, take some rice dumplings back and eat them slowly."
The Dragon Boat Festival is coming soon.
Zheng Zhuo waved his hand to indicate that there were plenty of rice dumplings in the house and there was no need to take his. He then said, "Of course I have something important to do, otherwise I wouldn't be so tactless as to disturb you the day after your wedding." After he said that, he glanced at Yuan Cihan beside him.
Lu Shiqing understood the meaning of this look and thought that he was concerned about her presence, so he hinted that he should ask her to leave.
He quickly said, "Just tell me." He indicated that he didn't have to hide anything from her in the future.
Yuan Cixian was satisfied in her heart, but pretended to be indifferent on her face: "You guys talk about business, I won't listen." After saying that, she pretended to leave.
Lu Shiqing knew her tactics of playing hard to get. If he let her go now, she might suspect that he really had a secret. He frowned, twitched his chin, and silently told her to sit back.
Yuan Cixian buried her head and smiled quietly. After returning to her seat, she heard Zheng Zhuo say, "It's like this. The spy I arranged in the Ministry of Justice got the news that the third brother might make a move on Cai Siqing again."
She was slightly stunned when she heard this, but then she quickly realized that her initial suspicion was correct. Cai He was the fake bait thrown out by the real "Xu Shan".
Zheng Zhuo continued, "Do you still remember the smuggling salt case in April? The Minister of Revenue was involved at the time, but was eventually found not guilty by Cai Siqing. Now the case has been reviewed by the Ministry of Justice, which has collected some evidence to prove that he accepted bribes and shielded criminals. Once such a crime is proven, dismissal and investigation are inevitable, and I guess Third Brother will not stop there. I'm afraid there are some crooked tricks involved."
Lu Shiqing said "hmm" faintly, as if to indicate that he understood.
"In your opinion, should we save him this time? Last time in March, Third Brother took action and I was able to escape, but this case is really very involved. I'm afraid that if you take action again, you will be exposed."
Yuan Cihan was a little surprised when she heard this.
She originally thought that even if they pushed Cai He out, they should have thought of a way out, but she didn't expect that they would have to sacrifice a living person who was a third-rank official, an innocent person.
She opened her mouth and was about to interrupt to ask how could she not save him, when she heard Lu Shiqing answer very straightforwardly: "Save him."
He continued, "There is no reason to sacrifice Cai He. I said I would protect him. If I don't save him a second time, the first risk will be meaningless. I know you are worried that if you continue like this, you will be unable to defend yourself, and it will be easy to distract your attention and destroy your own walls. So this time, I will come up with a way to solve the problem once and for all."
When Lu Shiqing said this, his attitude was firm and straightforward. Yuan Cixian looked at his serious expression and couldn't help but hold her breath.
When she first learned the truth last night, she was still thinking that if Lu Shiqing was Xu Shan, she would rather the lie never be exposed, so that she would not be sad when she recalled the times he had deceived her, but now, she seemed to have different ideas.
She suddenly thought that Lu Shiqing was Xu Shan, the Xu Shan whom she admired and respected, the Xu Shan who was kind and righteous and would never look down on others. This was a very good thing, very good thing.
She looked at him from afar, watching the sunlight coming in from the window shining on his tall nose and making his eyes sparkle.
Those eyes didn't just contain her, but also those people she cared about as much as he did.
Thinking of this, the corners of her lips slowly curved up, finally forming a crescent shape.
*
After the two of them finished their discussion, Zheng Zhuo said goodbye and left. Seeing that she was still looking at him foolishly, Lu Shiqing couldn't help but ask, "I wanted to ask you just now, why are you grinning like an idiot?"
Yuan Cixian came back to her senses, smiled and shook her head, and said cunningly, "Nothing." Then she seemed to remember something and said in a restrained tone, "Lu Shiqing, I'm going to ask you a question, and you have to answer it seriously."
Lu Shiqing said "Oh" in confusion, and then she said, "If one day, the Sixth Prince and the Yuan family have a conflict of political interests, or even a life-and-death confrontation... If he abandons the Yuan family like he abandoned Cai Siqing, will you protect my family?"
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