CH 108

How could the carriage be sound-proof? Yuan Ci Xian held back her breath, panting unbearably. She had to admit that this account was indeed very gruelling.

Lu Shi Qing was very quick the first time, after all, he had been a vegetarian for so long. But he was not so easily disarmed the second time. Despite hearing her surrender and persuasion to settle it however he wanted later at home, he was indifferent.

Once they returned home and shut the door, it was called enjoyment for her, but now it was torture. Compared to her silent for nine years, wasn’t this already merciful enough?

Lu Shi Qing felt that he was extremely generous, so he became even more ruthless.

Yuan Ci Xian’s bun was about to come loose, and the head ornament on her head kept hitting the carriage wall, making her feel nervous. She was just about to reach out and fix it when Lu Shi Qing suddenly stopped.

She was stunned, then saw his pained and slightly pale face.

“Why, what’s the matter?” she asked in a panic. Why it looked like he was broken somewhere.

“Back sprain.”

“…”

Yuan Ci Xian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Settle the account until you break yourself, what is this called? This is called fail to steal a chicken but still lose the rice, and losing your wife and losing your army!

The second half of the journey in the carriage was simply unbearable. Lu Shi Qing exercised his muscles and bones, and felt that it would not be a hindrance. He said it was a trivial matter, so he was about to continue the act. Yuan Ci Xian didn’t know if he wanted to save face, or if he was really fine, anyway, she didn’t dare to strain his waist anymore. Seeing that he was persistent, she thought to finish the job quickly, changed her posture, then lower her body and was about to sit down.

Unexpectedly there happened to be another pothole. Now no one could hold back, one “Ng” and one “Ahh”. (tn: what is the onomatopoeia for “that” sound?)

An old man passing by on the street sighed loudly: “The world’s morals are getting worse!”

Yuan Ci Xian felt hateful inside, she beat Lu Shi Qing angrily, and said in a low voice: “What’s the big deal? Haven’t you been sat on by Guanyin before?”

“Aren’t you the same?” He looked at her with sweat on his forehead. “Haven’t you been sat on a lotus flower before?” (tn: Guanyin is often depicted sitting on a lotus flower, so then umm… interpret it yourself)

Back then, for the arrival of Yuan Shu and Yuan Zhen, the two of them had done all kinds of horizontal tango. This was not a new style, but they had never encountered any potholes before.

Yuan Ci Xian felt that the streets of Chang’an City should be repaired.

However, Lu Shi Qing was thinking, the number of trips in the carriage with her was too numerous to count, why didn’t he think of taking advantage of this natural terrain before.

The two said “Lotus Lu” and “Guanyin Yuan”, at least they finished sorting out and returned to their places before they reach Yongxing Lane. Yuan Ci Xian gave Lu Shi Qing a careful inspection of his lower back, and it was indeed nothing serious, just rest for two days.

But he still had dark face.

She flicked his chin to tease him: “Isn’t it just to settle the account, you can for settle it the rest of our life, take your time, let me show you my prowess in these two days.”

Lu Shi Qing felt that a woman who talked love and dirty words together was really dangerous.

Later, while Yuan Ci Xian was idle, she remembered her elder brother’s request for help. She wanted to discuss it with Lu Shi Qing, or go back to Yuan Mansion to visit him the next day, but she heard that Princess Jia Hu would leave Chang’an in a few days.

This news was not surprising.

Lu Shi Qing had already told her what Huihu Khan meant before, but for Emperor Huining, seeing that Jia Hu had a heated fight with Yuan Yu in the capital for a few days, it would be better if there was no marriage. Then he asked about the princess’ intention through the envoy, and they expressed that she didn’t seem to be interested in the princes. After a few days of polite hospitality, it was no good to offend the Huihu at this embattled moment by forcibly conferring her marriage with Zheng Zhuo.

However, the old emperor still didn’t give up completely, and only planned to wait for the political situation in Great Zhou to stabilize before making arrangements for the marriage. He gave Jia Hu a hint, saying that the mountains and roads are far away, and if she wanted to come to play next time, he would let Sixth child go to the Huihu to pick her up.

How could he pick her up? Of course it means welcoming the bride.

But Jia Hu didn’t seem to understand, and said: “Okay, if His Sixth Highness is busy, others can do it too.”

On the day when Jia Hu left, out of politeness, she took away a bunch of rewards from the emperor, as well as the meeting gifts from the princes. She packed almost all these things into one carriage, and bought another one specially for Yuan family’s ointment.

This pile of ointment was obtained by sending people to Yuan Mansion the day before she left.

Yuan Yu was terribly annoyed at that time, thinking that it was just an ointment, but all the trick in the book had come out, so he said “give her all, give her all”, and then gave all the ointment boxes in the warehouse to her servant.

Not to mention whitening products, there were all kinds of products for treating bruises, calming the nerves, preventing mosquito bites, and fragrance paste. It could rotate throughout the year, and never worried about running out in a lifetime.

As a result, the servant came again the next day, saying that the princess was very sorry for receiving so many gifts, so she decided to reciprocate and return him a gift.

Although Lu Shi Qing had sent a message a long time ago, telling Yuan Yu not to hide, as hiding would make Emperor Huining even more suspicious, and let him behave like a fool who didn’t know anything about taboos. But he still didn’t want too many involvements with this princess. Hearing the words, he tactfully declined.

However, the servant said that the princess had already set off, and the gift could not be return, so he must accept it.

Well if you have to accept it then accept it, just throw it in the warehouse and be done with it. Just as Yuan Yu thought this way, the servant cheerfully brought one thing that couldn’t be thrown away in the warehouse: a big white dog with thick hair and a silly expression.

The servant said that it was called Da Bai, and it was the princess’s pet. At the end, he emphasized that it was female.

Good Heaven, it was a match for Xiao Hei’s name, it’s still the opposite sex. What do you mean by this?

Yuan Yu didn’t want to collect living things, after receiving it he had to raise it, he didn’t have that much spare money. So he asked the servant to take it back on the grounds that the princess must not be used to losing the companionship of her beloved pet.

Whoever expected that just as he finished speaking righteously, he was slapped in the mouth: Xiao Hei jumped out and ran to rub Da Bai’s neck.

Oh, this is spring season indeed.

In case he refused again, the servant quickly got away and left, forgetting to say that if they have puppies, he must send one to the princess.

Yuan Yu sat at the foot of the stone steps, watching two different breeds of dogs rubbing against each other as if they were old friends, and spit out a breath of boredom.

The only companion was also taken away. Well, he’s the only one who is single.

Yuan Yu was sentimental for a few days, seeing that Xiao Hei and Da Bai were still meek and tame, playing like old friends, he felt a little better in his heart. But spring was spring after all, dogs were easy to get into heat, and on the day he was careless, two dogs pierced the window paper, crossed the mountains and rivers, and flew up the sky together.

He was heartbroken, and as expected, after another twenty days, he found that Da Bai was pregnant, and she had a reaction, starting to vomit and lose her appetite.

The dog had been raised for a month, although not his original pet, he still had some affection after all, so Yuan Yu was also very uncomfortable. He picked up Xiao Hei as if wanting to beat him up, and lecture him for making Da Bai like this.

This was consensual, Xiao Hei was also very aggrieved. As a dad-to-be, he ran to guard Da Bai’s side.

It’s just a coincidence that when Yuan Yu said this, it happened to be the Buddha’s birthday on the eighth day of Fourth month. Yuan Ci Xian was instructed by Xuan shi to go back to her maiden’s house to sweep the dust in the ancestral hall. Naturally, Lu Shi Qing also accompanied her.

When the couple entered the door, they saw him talking to the dog, and then looked at each other in blank dismay.

When they returned to Yongxing Lane, Yuan Ci Xian and Lu Shi Qing were worried: “You said that my brother has been a widower for a long time and very lonely, is there something wrong here?” She pointed to her temple.

Lu Shi Qing’s eyebrows rose. Who said something like this about their own brother? If Lu Shuang Yu dared to talk like this behind Lu Shi Qing’s back, he would punish her by copying Sanskrit a hundred times.

But Yuan Ci Xian was different.

He nodded in agreement: “But you can’t bring him to us.”

Yuan Ci Xian also knew that it was not right, and sighed: “It would be great if I could quickly give brother a suitable marriage match, or if Father and Mother live in the capital for a long time, they won’t let him become this melancholy and depress.”

Lu Shi Qing became serious when he heard this, took her into his arms and said: “It’s almost here, Yaoyao.”

Yuan Ci Xian was stagnant for a while.

These days, she was not unaware of the strange and restrained atmosphere in the court. Maybe it started when Lu Shi Qing swapped back their child from Xi Ju’s hand, or maybe it was earlier, when the war broke out between the Turks and Huihu.

Now, the Turks have been repelled by the combined force of Huihu and Great Zhou, but Chang’an City was becoming more and more cloudy and dark, like the thunderstorm days that often visited the early summer of Fourth month.

Yuan Ci Xian knew that once this rain fell, no one in Great Zhou, Nanzhao, Huihu, and Turks could stay out of it, and no one wanted to stay out of it.

After a while, she let out a long breath: “Is there no way to escape this battle?”

Lu Shi Qing hugged her tightly, resting his chin against the hair on the top of her head, and exhaled lightly: “There is me.”

That night, thunder strike. Yuan Ci Xian was held in Lu Shi Qing’s arms, he covered her ears, and she fell asleep anxiously. After many months, she returned to that dream again.

It was also a rainy day on the Lu Bridge, but it was a bone-chilling drizzle. Yuan Ci Xian heard Shaohe’s voice in a dream for the first time.

She stood on the bridge, her voice sounded a little hoarse: “For so many years, I thought he wanted power, wanted influence, wanted to let Great Zhou change its surname, but it turned out it was all wrong.”

Someone on the side asked cautiously: “Princess, what did you see in Prime Minister Lu’s private house?”

Shaohe smiled wryly: “A secret passage with a tombstone inside. It’s clean and tidy with four words written on it.” Speaking until here she took a long breath, tremblingly exhaled, then continued, the tone already contained some tears, “My Wife Ci Xian…”

The maid on the side was startled subconsciously, as if she was covering her mouth tightly, so she didn’t let gasp out loud.

Shaohe’s voice became a little closer, and it seemed that she couldn’t restrain herself from hugging her knees and squatted down.

There were subtle pattering sounds, like rain and tears.

She cried and said: “He didn’t want to usurp the throne at all, he wasn’t interest in men at all, and he didn’t die of illness at all. He fought for power, he didn’t get married for so long, and he died young, all because of…” She didn’t go any further, but said, “I have been cultivating in Dunhuang for so many years, thinking that I have seen everything and let go of everything… But when I heard the news of his death, when I saw the tombstone…”

“Wasn’t he very shrewd? Why didn’t he snatch her and protect her? Why did he let himself end up like this? Since he can reject me so mercilessly, then he should live a beautiful to show me!”

Shaohe kept crying. No matter how the maid on the side tried to persuade her, it was useless.

Finally, she finished crying and regained her composure. When she spoke again, her tone became extremely cold: “Back then, Yuan Ci Xian died here, died at Lu Bridge, right?”

The maid said “Yes”.

Shaohe said: “I’m a little tired, you go over there and bring the horse over.”

Listening until here, Yuan Ci Xian seemed to have guessed something. After a sound of footsteps hurried away, she heard Shaohe whisper to herself: “If I also die in Lu Bridge, in the next life…will you remember me till death?”

After saying that, there was a sound of a huge heavy object falling into the water.

Accompanied by the scream of the maid in the dream, Yuan Ci Xian sat up abruptly, dripping with cold sweat, panting urgently, she subconsciously touched the bed beside her, but found that it was empty and there was no one there.

Hearing the sound of rain outside the window, she suddenly couldn’t help burst into tears, and blankly called out on the dimly lit bedroom, “Shi Qing…”

She called once but no one came. She called again but still no one come. She stumbled and ran out of bed to shout, ran to the door, and just about to open the door, when a shadow fell outside. It was Lu Shi Qing who brave the rain to return, and opened the door one step earlier than her.

He was startled when he saw her bare feet and tear-stained face. He quickly closed the door, and led her into the room: “What’s wrong? There is an urgent report outside, so I went out for a while.”

Yuan Ci Xian didn’t speak, she turned around and hugged him firmly, clinging tightly to his arms, not even noticing the word “urgent report”. She shook her head desperately and said: “Lu Shi Qing, I won’t die, I won’t die, in this life I definitely won’t die before you.”

Lu Shi Qing’s throat choked. Probably guessed something, he smoothed her hair, and asked: “Dreaming again?”

She nodded, then fell silent, crying and sobbing in his arms.

Lu Shi Qing originally didn’t want to ask her anything more at this moment, but now the situation was urgent, he had to say: “Yaoyao, Huainan is rebelling, Great Zhou is going to be chaotic. Be good and tell me if there is any useful information, I’ll take precautions early.”

Yuan Ci Xian looked up in astonishment, and then gradually came to her senses, remembering the “urgent report” he just said.

She slowly let go of him, sanity returned to her head little by little, and calmly said after a while: “The reason why Xi Ju know about the secret passage of Xu Mansion is because of Shaohe.”