Yan Liqiang rubbed his nose awkwardly as he watched the two maids from the Lu Clan lower their heads and left by the courtyard entrance after throwing him a careful look.
Lu Beixin lived in the western part of the rear courtyard, which could be considered the inner chamber of the Lu Clan’s grand manor. Many womenfolk stayed in the inner chamber and usually even male servants of the Lu Clan were prohibited from coming here, let alone outsiders. However, no one stopped him when he came here today. All the guards and maids in Lu Clan were treating him like air.
It seemed like his status as the future son-in-law of Lu Clan was secured. If he were to deny the marriage in the future, he wondered if Old Master Lu would hire someone to come for his life.
Yan Liqiang smiled wryly for a moment before he pushed open the courtyard door and entered.
There was a rockery, a small garden and a small pond inside the courtyard. Beside the small pond was a small, two-story pavilion. The light which seeped through from the inside of the pavilion illuminated the narrow path around the small pond which was paved with pebbles.
Yan Liqiang followed the narrow path to the front of the pavilion then knocked on the door.
“I’m not eating! I’m not eating! I’m not eating no matter what! Cuihe, tell my father that he can starve me to death and pretend he never had a daughter! Why does he still care about me?!”
A voice rang out from inside the pavilion and it seemed to be laced with endless grievances.
Yan Liqiang found out from Lu Peien that Lu Beixin, who lived inside, had already gone on a ‘hunger strike’ for two days. Today would be the third day. Lu Beixin had already spoken, if Old Master Lu was still going to ground her, she would end her life by starvation.
During the grounding period, Lu Beixin was completely isolated from the outside world. Until now, she still hadn’t received news of Wang Haofei’s death. The people from the Lu Clan didn’t dare tell her anything about it. Although Lu Beixin usually appeared to be quite an obedient girl, she had a very stubborn personality. Old Master Lu and Lu Peien were both worried that she might do something irreparable if she knew that Wang Haofei had been killed by King Cobra while he was waiting to meet up with her.
The Lu Clan was already at a loss of how to bring an end to this matter.
While Lu Beixin was speaking inside, Yan Liqiang had already taken out a key and silently unlocked the room door. He quietly entered the room and spotted her.
Lady Lu, who was rumored to have gone on a ‘hunger strike’ for three days was sitting cross-legged on a soft rug in the room. She was munching on osmanthus cakes while talking about starving herself to death. Since she didn’t expect that anyone would come in directly without notifying her, she was caught off guard. One of her hands was still holding a piece of half-eaten osmanthus cake and she seemed to be struggling to decide between eating it or throwing it away.
What was more surprising to Lady Lu was that the person who had walked in turned out to be Yan Liqiang.
Lu Beixin was currently dressed in a form-fitting, yellow fox fur top and a pair of jade-green pleated pants. Her hair was tied up into two cute buns, which appeared to be comfortably casual but also indescribably aesthetic. The way she sat with her legs crossed on the soft rug instantly showed off her nice body figure — the places which should huge were huge, the places which should be small were small, the places which should be round were round and the places which should be slim were slim. She was exceptionally attractive and a delight to the eyes.
Under Yan Liqiang gaze, Lady Lu’s face instantly reddened before she flew into a rage out of humiliation. After shoving the remaining half of the osmanthus cake all into her mouth and swallowing it, she immediately stood up and shot Yan Liqiang a fierce glare.
“Why are you here?!”
“Shhhh…” Yan Liqiang gestured to her to keep her volume down, then sneakily looked around his surroundings. “Keep it down…” He whispered.
Lu Beixin was baffled. She had no idea what Yan Liqiang was up to, so she gave him a skeptical look.
“Brother Wang Haofei sent me here to rescue you!” Yan Liqiang was still speaking to her in a hushed voice as he made his way over to Lu Beixin.
When Lu Beixin heard Yan Liqiang, she was so happy that she immediately jumped up from the soft rug in joy. However, in just the blink of an eye, a skeptical look returned to her face. “How did you guys know each other? And how did you get in here?”
“Did you forget that I’m also now a student in the martial arts academy? I got to know Brother Wang on the first day I entered the academy and I found his graceful bearing truly admirable. I didn’t know anything about Lady Lu and Brother Wang until he mentioned it to me a few days ago when I was drinking with him. I came here with my uncle today. Old Master Lu invited my uncle over to eat bear paws, so I tagged along too. I made up an excuse that I had too much to drink just now, to slip out and secretly find my way here…”
Lu Beixin was still giving Yan Liqiang a doubtful look and didn’t seem to fully buy his story.
“You still don’t believe me, Lady Lu? As predicted by Brother Wang… He told me that Lady Lu will only believe me if I say the five words…” Yan Liqiang smiled wryly.
“Which five words?”
“The pavilion at Plum Gardens!”
As expected, the expression on Lu Beixin’s face instantly changed the moment she heard those five words from Yan Liqiang. To her, this was a secret known to only her and Wang Haofei. She had never told this to anyone before. For Yan Liqiang to be able to say it so confidently, Wang Haofei must have been the one who told him that.
“Where is Haofei?” Lu Beixin immediately rushed over to Yan Liqiang, seized him by his shoulders and eagerly asked him.
Yan Liqiang had a serious look on his face. “Brother Wang is waiting for Lady Lu in a secret location. For your sake, he has already made the necessary preparations to elope with you. If Lady Lu feels the same as Brother Wang, then I shall bring you to meet him. If this is not what Lady Lu has in mind, then forget about it and pretend that I was never here…”
Lu Beixin hesitated for a moment before she clenched her teeth and replied, “Fine, I shall go with you!”
“Well then, please pack up your belongings quickly and put on a set of thicker clothes. I have already tricked the two maids outside away just now, they will be back at any time. I shall wait for you outside, Lady Lu…” After saying all these, Yan Liqiang immediately exited the room without looking at Lu Beixin and waited outside.
Lu Beixin was still a little hesitant at first. However, seeing Yan Liqiang had gone out and didn’t urge her again, she instead became more determined all of a sudden.
When it came to mind manipulation, even a total of one hundred Lu Beixins still wouldn’t be any challenge to Yan Liqiang.
As expected, Lu Beixin was very quick. In just less than three minutes, she came out wearing a thick cloak, carrying a sack on her back.
“This way…” Yan Liqiang led Lu Beixin toward the small garden in the courtyard. When they reached the courtyard wall, Yan Liqiang jumped slightly, kicked a few times against the wall and easily made it on top of the three-meter high wall like a swallow. Lu Beixin’s eyes lit up at the sight of his agile body movement from behind. It was probably rare to find anyone with such agility, even within the martial arts academy.
Yan Liqiang straddled the wall. With one of his legs hooked onto the wall, he lowered his body and extended his hand toward Lu Beixin. “Hold on to my hand, I will pull you up…”
Lu Beixin looked at the high courtyard wall then at Yan Liqiang’s outstretched hand. In just less than a second, she decided to accept Yan Liqiang’s offer.
It was pitch black outside. All they could hear was the indistinct voices of people in the front courtyard. Yan Liqiang ‘cautiously’ groped his way in the dark, avoided two patrolling guards and flipped over three courtyard walls before they finally made it outside of the Lu Clan’s grand manor.
A rhinodrake steed was already standing by in a small alley outside the grand manor.
Yan Liqiang mounted the steed first then told Lu Beixin, “Get up here!”
“Why is there only one steed? How are we going to ride it?” Lu Beixin didn’t climb up but was instead staring at Yan Liqiang.
“Well, how many steeds do you think I can ride here alone to the Lu Residence, Lady Lu? Are you also expecting me to hire a marching band to blow their trumpets and beat their drums to fetch you?”
Lu Beixin’s face reddened and adorably demanded Yan Liqiang, “You, get down, let me up there…”
“Lady Lu, are you thinking of making me pull this steed with you riding on it, all the way to the meetup location with Brother Wang?” Yan Liqiang laughed on the steed. “That place is very far from here. If Lady Lu thinks it’s possible to escape like that and isn’t worried about people from the Lu Clan catching up to us, then I don’t mind!”
After struggling and deliberating for a while, Lu Beixin finally clenched her teeth and mounted the steed. She sat in front of Yan Liqiang, as though she was being enveloped in his arms. Both of their bodies were pressed flush against each other. “Let me give you a warning — don’t try anything funny. I’m not that easy to bully…”
“Do you think I’m that kind of person, Lady Lu?” Yan Liqiang smiled. He then shook the reins and squeezed the steed with his feet on the stirrups. Like a racing car, the rhinodrake steed instantly sped forward. The sounds of its hooves reverberated in the air. In just the blink of an eye, they made it through a street inside the compound of the residence and escaped out of the Lu Residence.
…
At the top of the defensive wall of the Lu Residence, Old Master Lu watched the silhouette of the rhinodrake steed vanish into the darkness. After a long while, he averted his gaze and sighed. He gave Lu Peien, who was beside him, a wry smile. “I hope Beixin comes to her senses this time. Liqiang’s method is effective, otherwise, I don’t even know how to settle this!”
“Rest assured, Father. Although Liqiang is young, he is reliable. Ninth Younger Sister will be fine with him!” Lu Peien replied.
“Of course I have nothing to worry about Liqiang. Among the youths, he is the one I am least concerned about. It will be great if something can spark between them. I’ll have nothing to worry about if that’s the case…” Old Master Lu sighed and shook his head.
Qian Su and Lu Peien looked at each other, both of them had no idea how to respond to Old Master Lu’s words…
