“Hubby,” Qin Yunuan slowly came close. Leng Changxi’s glance melted immediately as soon as he saw Qin Yunuan. Tenderness rippled in his eyes as if a stone had been thrown into a pond.
Qin Yunuan could see the spark of anger in the slightly embarrassed Xie Ruying’s eyes, but she ignored it on purpose. She clung to Leng Changxi’s arm intimately and wiped off the sweat on Leng Changxi’s forehead with her handkerchief. Her every move intended to demonstrate the mutual affection between the two.
“You must have been exhausted,” Qin Yunuan pretended that she only saw Xie Ruying just then. She put on a surprised look and asked, “Oh, who is this beauty? Why haven’t I heard you talking about her before, hubby?”
Leng Changxi sneered and replied, “She’s just a distant relative of my mother.”
Qin Yunuan smiled gently. She took the initiative to approach Xie Ruying and said, “No wonder you look a bit like mother-in-law. You look nice and honest, isn’t that true, Miss Xie?” Nice and honest were the most sarcastic words to use under the circumstances. Xie Ruying had never been nice and honest since the first day she came to Prince Ning’s Mansion.
Even though Xie Ruying had just come unstuck with Leng Changxi, the charming Xie Ruying had some sort of confidence for no reason compared to the seemingly decorous and unromantic Qin Yunuan. Before today, she didn’t have the chance to see Qin Yunuan from such a close distance. She was just jealous and disappointed on the inside. However, after she saw Qin Yunuan, not only did she not get desperate, she actually grew a desire of conquer instead. She firmly believed that conservative people like Qin Yunuan wouldn’t know the fun in bed, while she was able to fully satisfy Leng Changxi.
Xie Ruying squinted her eyes towards Qin Yunuan as if she was viewing the enemy before the duel. She suddenly smiled and said, “I came here a long time ago before Third Young Madam and third young Master had met each other. If Third Young Madam has any questions in the future, feel free to come and ask me. Ruying would definitely tell you everything she knows.”
“It’s unnecessary.” Qin Yunuan smiled faintly, “It doesn’t really matter when did we come to the mansion. What matters are the positions we are in now.” Qin Yunuan raised her eyebrows towards Xie Ruying and said, “Mother had recently passed on quite some accounting related matters to me. I guess you won’t have the answer to them even if I ask you questions regarding these issues.”
What she actually meant was, we were not on the same level.
Xie Ruying’s mouth twitched. The atmosphere had become awkward for her. She bowed and left without saying anything else.
Seeing Xie Ruying leaving, the smile on Qin Yunuan’s face slowly faded. She lightly threw the handkerchief she used to wipe Leng Changxi’s sweat towards Leng Changxi, turned around and was about to leave. However, she was taken by a strong force and stumbled back for quite a few steps. She fell against a strong and powerful arm, and she could smell the sweat and hear the breath of Leng Changxi.
“What are you doing? You’re stinking of sweat.” Qin Yunuan was a bit angry.
“You’re jealous.” Leng Changxi grinned.
“No, I’m not jealous.” Qin Yunuan turned her head sideways to avoid the fiery and manly breath of Leng Changxi, “I’m very tolerant. From now on, feel free to practice swordsmanship in front of whoever you like for as long as you wish.”
Leng Changxi reached out his index finger and tapped on Qin Yunuan’s petite nose tip from behind, as he smiled and said, “I like it when you get jealous.”
Qin Yunuan was triggered, as she suddenly got herself free from Leng Changxi’s arms and turned around, saying to Leng Changxi, “I’m serious, I’m not…” Before she had the chance to say the word “jealous,” Qin Yunuan’s mouth was occupied by Leng Changxi’s affectionate kiss. They entangled like vines, and their romance exploded at the moment.
“Hmm,” Qin Yunuan tried to make a struggling sound, but her attempt was in vain.
After a long while, Leng Changxi let go of Qin Yunuan. His eyes were filled with tenderness and love, and his words were gentle like the breeze in spring. “You went to meet Tang. I was bored, and I missed you, so I could only practice swordsmanship while waiting for you. I don’t know how she got in, but I’ll look into it.”
Speaking of Tang, Qin Yunuan thought of the two servant girls Tang sent and immediately felt bad about it.
“What?” Leng Changxi noticed Qin Yunuan’s emotion.
“Concubine Tang was just delivering two servant girls to serve you in bed.” Qin Yunuan said directly.
Leng Changxi said expressionlessly, “Oh.”
Qin Yunuan raised her eyebrows, “They look quite pretty.”
Leng Changxi said, “Oh.”
Qin Yunuan said, “I heard that mother knows about it too, and she kind of allows it to happen.”
Leng Changxi looked at her, “Then send them to the wood-shed.”
Qin Yunuan smiled, “That’s exactly what I did.”
Right then, Maner came in to report that Leng Wu was waiting outside for some emergencies.
It was their romantic moment, but they both knew that Leng Wu wouldn’t ask Maner to report to them without urgent matters.
“Let him in.” Leng Changxi said as he put on his last coat. Qin Yunuan figured that Leng Changxi must have some important issues to deal with, so she was about to leave. However, Leng Changxi dragged her back to him.
“I have no secrets in front of you.” What Leng Changxi meant was to have Qin Yunuan staying by his side. He always knew that Qin Yunuan’s not just any woman. He would like to hear Qin Yunuan’s advice on certain strategies and tactics.
Leng Wu followed Maner into the courtyard and arched towards Leng Changxi, “General Leng, Minister Liu sent someone to deliver a message.”
Minister Liu? The one who just lost a son and nearly passed out due to sorrow in the palace? It had just been a few hours since the confirmation of young master Liu’s body, yet Minister Liu was here to find Leng Changxi, who was just an acquaintance.
Leng Changxi felt weird about this too.
“What did he say?”
“The one who delivered the message used the form of an encrypted letter, and I didn’t dare to peek it.” Leng Wu said as he took out a slip of paper from his sleeve and handed it to Leng Changxi. There were just a few words on it. It was like a poem or a proverb, but the words didn’t seem related. However, it made people feel like it was trying to deliver some message.
Leng Changxi looked at it for a while, and his eyes lit up, as Qin Yunuan next to him had already revealed its secret, “Connect the first word of the first sentence and the second word of the second sentence like this, hubby. Minister Liu wants to meet you at the First Boite of the Royal City tomorrow at noon.”
Leng Changxi smiled, “I just found out its secret too.”
“Are you going?” Qin Yunuan only cared about Leng Changxi’s attitude.
“I’m not familiar with Liu Yunshan.” Leng Changxi called Minister Liu’s name directly. It looked like he was thinking and hadn’t made up his decision yet.
Leng Wu added, “The one who delivered this message said that Minister Liu wants to ask you for a favor. But in return, he would exchange it with some information from ten years ago.”
Ten years ago. Leng Changxi frowned, and Qin Yunuan’s heart skipped a beat. She knew that Leng Changxi was responsible for investigating the fire in the Weiyang Palace ten years ago. What Minister Liu meant by ten years ago was….
This night, Leng Changxi fell asleep after the lingering of the two, but his eyebrows were twisted even in his dreams.
Before noon on the next day, it was already populated around the First Boite of the Royal City. The rich and famous people who had their seats booked in advance entered the Boite with servants and servant girls holding the parasols for them. Since the previous owner Su Chenghai sold the Boite, it seemed to have become even more popular.
However, no one knew that the actual owner of the Boite was Leng Changxi. In fact, it was Leng Changxi all along.
The First Boite of the Royal City, where the rich and famous gathered, had become the location where Leng Changxi obtained information secretly. Every waiter and manager here were carefully selected. Apart from being capable of martial arts, what was more important was being smart, sensitive and loyal. They had constantly been providing information and resources to Leng Changxi by talking to the guests.
“General, Minister Liu arrived a quarter of an hour ago. He’s in room number one.” The manager saw Leng Changxi. On the surface, he was just talking to Leng Changxi like any other guests, but he told Leng Changxi much about the situation in the room.
He also secretly made a gesture to Leng Changxi.
“What does this mean?” Qin Yunuan, who accompanied him, repeated the manager’s gesture just now as they walked around a corner.
Leng Changxi held Qin Yunuan’s hand and said faintly, “It means that there are a first class master and two third class masters in the room.”
Even though she didn’t know how powerful they were, Qin Yunuan could tell from Leng Changxi’s calm and confident look that the master guards of Minister Liu were like children to Leng Changxi.
People had been arranged to secure the room, and no random people were allowed to go near. The one guarding the door was a servant of Minister Liu. He looked at Leng Changxi coldly and suddenly said, “My master had only invited General Leng.”
“Oh,” Leng Changxi nodded indifferently, and he suddenly held Qin Yunuan and said, “Let’s leave then.”
At that moment, Minister Liu in the room said, “Let them in.”
Leng Changxi smiled cunningly under his chilly mask. He didn’t mind about the courtesy and led Qin Yunuan into the room directly.
“I had heard that General Leng and Madam Leng are a pair of lovebirds, but I didn’t expect General Leng to bring your wife to such an occasion. General Leng is charismatic indeed.” Minister Liu was sitting straight by the table, which was already full of snacks and fruit wine. Even though Minister Liu was trying hard to keep his spirit up, he looked distressed from just losing his son.
Leng Changxi merely grinned slightly, as he said directly, “All I want to know is whether the information Minister Liu has is worth me paying a visit here.”
