CH 82

Earrings—Why is One Earring Missing? (2)

Chu Ning's heart skipped a beat, and she touched his right ear. It was empty, but her left ear was fine. She wore a pair of turquoise gilt earrings today, which must have been thrown in the Imperial tent in a panic, and she hurriedly explained, "It must have been lost while riding."

With this raising of her hand, her sleeve slid down her arm, revealing a circle of red marks on her wrist.

"What is this?" Xiao Yu's eyes flashed, and he immediately grabbed her arm and looked closer.

Chu Ning looked at the marks on her wrist from Xiao Kezhi’s belt and her heart skipped a beat.

"It's from the reins." She pursed her lips and squeezed out a smile that soon disappeared. "The horse was a little restless today, so I wrapped the reins around my wrists a bit more to restrain it."

He frowned, and after a moment of silence, he said sternly, "Be careful in the future. I told you earlier that you are my wife. How can you ride like those unmarried ladies?"

"Your Highness, I was indeed a bit out of line today. Fortunately, when I was riding, I deliberately chose a place with few people, so it should not have been seen by others." She obediently bowed her head and admitted her mistake, but she unconsciously remembered Xiao Kezhi's different opinion.

"Forget it, let's not make this a habit." Xiao Yu was really tired, and he didn't want to say any more. He turned and walked towards the pool outside, "Come along too."

"Yes."

Chu Ning knew that he would ask her to serve and bathe him, so she followed him to the pool and took off all his clothes for him, kneading his shoulders and neck.

The temperature of the hot springs pool was a little high, and the surrounding water vapor was dense, which quickly made Xiao Yu warm up, and a fine layer of sweat appeared on his face.

The muscles and bones all over his body were stretched, and he couldn't help leaning back again, pinching the two hands that were kneading his shoulders and dragging them closer.

She was forced to kneel forward, leaning her face to his shoulder.

He turned his head to look for her lips and kissed her carefully, as if examining her, delicate and slow.

"Your Highness—" She was already tired, and now she felt even more uncomfortable when she was curled up.

He ignored her and continued to kiss her neck all the way down until it touched the edge of her dress.

"It's in the way."

He looked at the dress and then pulled her into the water.

In the tumbling pool, her hair and dress were soaked and tightly clinging to her body.

He looked at her embarrassed and beautiful appearance with satisfaction, and slowly covered her body with his.

There was some resistance in Chu Ning's heart, and in the blur, she remembered that she didn't have a chance to drink the soup today.

...

At night, in the Feishuang Hall, Jin Jiang was reporting the news that he had just gotten from Bozhou to Xiao Kezhi.

"...It has been verified that Zhao Kui did have connections with the Nanzhao royal family during his lifetime, but at that time, Nanzhao had the second prince in control of the government. The Fourth Prince suddenly killed the Second Prince and ascended the throne himself. Now, Nanzhao is supporting Yang Ying and is trying to expose Zhao Kui's connection with him in the past. When Zhao Lun and his sister heard the rumors that there was going to be a big change in the army in the Imperial court, they became anxious."

"Hmph, Bozhou Army was originally used by the Imperial court to defend against Nanzhao, but now it really has a connection with Nanzhao." Xiao Kezhi threw away the stack of memorials with details in his hand and couldn't help snorting coldly.

At this time, he naturally knew the plans of the Zhao family. It was nothing more than wanting Zhao Yue to enter the palace as a concubine and giving the Zhao family the name of an in-law to the Emperor so that the King of Nanzhao would be afraid and would turn away from Yang Ying and support the Zhaos again. This matter was crucial for the Zhao family, so Zhao Yue wouldn’t let it go.

It was just that the Bozhou army was far away in the south, and it was the largest other than the Ganzhou army. He didn’t plan to move against them for the time being, at least until he cleared up the Central Plains.

"Have people track the forged weapons, currency, and other transactions. Also, find someone to replace Zhao Lun."

Jin Jiang responded immediately, and after reporting the situation of the generals who had come to the capital to report their duties, he retired.

Xiao Kezhi was left sitting alone under the lamp. After thinking for a while, he was about to get up to take a shower, but suddenly, something fell out of his cuff and landed on the wooden floor, making a crisp sound.

He looked down and saw a delicate and small earring shining with the luster of gold and jade.

It was found on the tiger skin blanket after he returned to the Imperial tent during the day.

He paused for a moment as if remembering the situation in the daytime. He smiled for a while and squatted down, picked up the earring, and gently rubbed it between his fingers until the originally cold turquoise was slowly warmed up.

"Your Majesty, the hot spring pond is ready." Liu Kang reminded softly at the door.

Xiao Kezhi hummed, turned around, and walked back into the inner room to put the earrings into the wooden box by the bed.