CH 63

Two of the Youyun guards’ horses were injured earlier, and one had been stolen by the bandit who fled on horseback. Their little company could only walk toward the city with their injured horses in tow.

The fellow who had been referred to as the “Second Boss” suffered quite a bit during this journey. He’d taken two arrows, and the fletches were still sticking out of his body. It was very difficult for him to walk, so the government officials borrowed an uninjured horse from the Youyun guards and stuck him on it so that he wouldn’t slow them down. The arrow he’d taken to the chest had not hit any vital organs, but the arrow in the back of his knee made it practically impossible for him to walk. He sat on the horse’s back, bound by ropes, and even in this state, he couldn’t resist looking over at Lou Jing. 

He had never seen a more good-looking man in his life. His body was long and slender, and his face was a work of art. That gorgeous body was now leaning weakly against someone else’s chest, making him feel a strong impulse to press the fellow down below him. Of all the men and women who had been kidnapped by the mountain bandits, not a single one could compare to Lou Jing.

Lou Jing saw the mountain bandit’s lecherous look out of the corner of his eye, and he snuggled further into Xiao Chengjun’s embrace. “Husband, that fellow is undressing me with his eyes,” he whined.

Xiao Chengjun looked down at the fellow in his arms, who looked for all the world like he was a frightened, weak little beauty, and he had to resist the impulse to chuckle in amusement. He looked up again, directing his gaze at the trussed up fellow, then gently pressed Scarlet Cloud’s release catch. The treasure sword immediately sprang out, gleaming menacingly in the sunlight. “Keep looking, and I’ll dig your eyes out,” Xiao Chengjun said coldly.

That fellow shrank back and didn’t dare to stare at Lou Jing any more. Beauties were good, for sure, but he needed to be alive to enjoy them. 

Yun Liu hadn’t killed that man in a single shot so that they could interrogate him as to why that group of bandits had attacked them. However, they couldn’t ask anything with the Jiuchang officials present, so the couple could only whisper quietly into each others’ ears.

These bandits had clearly not intended to rob or kidnap them today. They had been seeking revenge. There were three hundred li and a big river that had no boatmen operating the crossing between Xunyang and Jiuchang. How had that refugee made it here? Based on the actions of the fellow who wielded the nine-ringed broadsword, it seemed that these bandits had brothers amongst the ones Lou Jing and his Youyun guards had killed back at the temple. That was probably why they were so intense about tracking them down and killing them.

“Do you think they’re the ones who bought out the boatmen?” Lou Jing asked, his lips against Xiao Chengjun’s ear.

“I don’t think so,” Xiao Chengjun said, shaking his head. His ear felt rather ticklish from having Lou Jing’s warm breath brush against it. He turned slightly to position his lips near Lou Jing’s ear. “They didn’t need to go to the trouble of looking for a constable to do harm to us.” These mountain bandits were actually fairly scared of the government officials and soldiers, and if they had wanted to do something bad to them, they’d have just bought out the boatmen directly.

Lou Jing felt his heart flutter on hearing Xiao Chengjun’s warm, deep voice right next to his ear. He couldn’t resist opening his mouth and biting down gently on that fair-skinned neck right in front of him.

“Oof… stop messing around,” Xiao Chengjun said, patting the fellow in his arms on the back.

The trussed up prisoner on the horse couldn’t resist glancing in their direction at this time, and when he saw what they were doing, he nearly fell off the horse. He swallowed hard, then fixed his eyes elsewhere, not daring to look at them again.

“My Lord!” the leader of the Imperial soldiers suddenly shouted. He ran forward a few steps. 

The two looked up and saw a man dressed in a government official’s robes. He was at the head of a small group of Imperial soldiers, and appeared to have come down from one of the small roads leading into the mountain. Red robes embroidered with a pattern of clouds and wild geese – these were the robes worn by a fourth-ranked official. In Jiuchang County, the only fourth-ranked official was the Prefectural Magistrate.

Obe Alcu ibbxfv ja tlw mjgfoeiis. Ugfofmaegji Zjulragjaf Tjcu ibbxfv ab yf lc tlr obgalfr, jcv tjv jc fifujca, rmtbijgis yfjglcu. Llr ojmf, tbkfnfg, ybgf j wfijcmtbis, kbgglfv fzqgfrrlbc, jcv tf tjv j vffq kbggs ilcf yfakffc tlr ygbkr, ilxfis mjerfv ys ogbkclcu abb boafc.

“Zs Obgv, kf mjqaegfv atf Aledl Zbecajlc’r Vfmbcv Dbrr,” atf Pwqfglji rbivlfg rjlv tjqqlis ab atf Ugfofmaegji Zjulragjaf.

Yang Xin looked stunned, then his eyes moved toward the tied-up fellow on the horse. He nodded slightly. The worry on his face had not decreased. It was only when Lou Jing and company walked closer with their horses did he look a little livelier. As Yang Xin looked at Xiao Chengjun, he thought to himself that this young man had a really impressive bearing, and wasn’t one to be trifled with. He decided it would be prudent to introduce himself at this point. “This official is the Prefectural Magistrate of Jiuchang. If you have urgent matters to attend to, please say so when we’re at the government office. You’ll be able to mark your attendance there and leave after that if so,” he said. 

Xiao Chengjun nodded inwardly. This Prefectural Magistrate seemed like a capable person who could read the room. “My brother is injured, and it’ll be difficult for us to get off the horse to greet you properly. I hope your Lordship does not take offence,” he said.

“No matter,” Yang Xin said, waving a hand. He turned and got on one of the carriages that had stopped by the roadside.

When they arrived at the government office, Yun Ba was given the task of explaining the situation to the Prefectural Magistrate’s assistant. At the same time, Yun Shiliu was tasked to get more information on the Jiuqi Mountain Bandits’ hideout. Lou Jing and Xiao Chengjun went to speak with the Prefectural Magistrate on their own.

“What can I do for you two gentlemen?” Yang Xin asked rather tiredly. 

“My surname is Lou, and I’m here on my father’s behalf to meet with you, Lord Prefectural Magistrate,” Lou Jing said. His right arm was still in a splint, and he couldn’t act in his usual sharp, stylish manner. He could only use a single hand to make a plain greeting.

Yang Xin’s eyes widened immediately. “You… you’re the Anguo Gong Shizi? Ah, I’ve been most impolite…” he said.

“Lord Yang, there’s no need to be so formal. I can’t disobey my father, so I’m really just here to do the bare minimum,” Lou Jing said. He had a good impression of this Yang Xin, and he didn’t want to make things difficult for him.

Yang Xin invited them into the interior of the government office to have some tea. He changed into his daily-wear robes, then came out to meet his guests. 

Xiao Chengjun trusted Lou Jing implicitly, and thus hadn’t asked what Lou Jing was intending to do. When he heard that this matter had something to do with the Anguo Gong, he couldn’t help frowning. He was very clear as to how things stood between Lou Jing and his father, and he knew for certain that his Consort would never do any favours for him.

“Don’t frown,” Lou Jing said, putting down his teacup and massaging the knot between Xiao Chengjun’s brows. “Look at that deep crease between Prefectural County Yang’s brows. If you keep frowning, this handsome face of yours will also have a worry line. That wouldn’t be good.”

Xiao Chengjun held his hand and smiled slightly. He was about to say something when Yang Xin came in, now dressed in plain green robes. He stopped himself from speaking further.

“My hospitality is lacking. I hope Shizi does not take offence,” Yang Xin said, forcing out a smile and clasping his hands in their direction. He did not ask who Xiao Chengjun was – he looked to be very close to Lou Jing, and had a dignified bearing, so it was clear that he was a member of the nobility in the Capital. If Xiao Chengjun didn’t wish to reveal who he was, then Yang Xin couldn’t very well ask, either. 

“Lord Yang, you are too polite,” Lou Jing said, smiling. “Your Lordship need not worry. I’m not here to chase you for anything. If you have any difficulties, please speak freely. My Lou family is not one that cannot be reasoned with.” His father might be an unreasonable person, but he was certainly not going to let the Lou family’s name be dragged down because of him.

When Yang Xin heard this, he couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief. “Shizi, it embarrasses me to say this, but I want to make clear that I’m not deliberately trying to delay the wedding. My daughter had set off for the Capital last month, but… sigh…” he said, sighing deeply as his voice trailed off.

When Xiao Chengjun heard this, he felt his heart give a painful squeeze. A wedding? Sending their daughter? For the Lou family to take pains to connect with the Yang family so many li away, and for Lou Jing to have to listen to his father… wasn’t the only thing that checked both boxes Lou Jing’s own wedding?

“I’ve seen the situation here for myself on the way here, and I will report the same to my father. Don’t worry, Lord Yang,” Lou Jing said. He was actually trying to hint to Yang Xin that this matter could still be discussed; he wasn’t being forced to send his eldest daughter to be a Side Consort in the Lou family. 

“Sigh. I wish to be upfront with you. My daughter isn’t in my residence anymore,” Yang Xin said, the worry lines on his face deepening even further. “After she set off for the Capital, she was kidnapped by the Big Boss of the Jiuqi Mountain Bandits!” As he said this, his eyes turned red at the rims, and he looked like he was about to burst into tears.

“What?” Lou Jing exclaimed, shocked. The boldness of these Jiuqi Mountain Bandits had truly reached appalling new heights.

Xiao Chengjun interpreted Lou Jing’s reaction as concern for his bride’s safety, and the hands hidden in his sleeves slowly clenched into fists. He knew in his heart that he should trust Lou Jing, but he also knew that, logically, Lou Jing was right smack in his marrying years, and he still had yet to take a wife. He shouldn’t go on fooling himself.

Lou Jing was too intent on inquiring about the mountain bandit situation and didn’t notice his husband’s reaction. 

Yang Xin spoke frankly to Lou Jing about recent events. It transpired that, at the time when there were still some troops stationed in the county, he’d led them to fend off the bandits when they harassed the commoners, and by a sheer stroke of luck, captured the Big Boss of the Jiuqi Mountain Bandits and threw him in jail.

Subsequently, when the Prefectural Governor started his own operations to eradicate the mountain bandits, all the county’s soldiers were recalled for this purpose, and the only soldiers that were left were the ones guarding the city walls. He was only given a few soldiers to use as Prefectural Magistrate, and this coincided with the time when he had to send his daughter to the Lou family. As such, he was only able to send a few family servants to protect his daughter on her way to the Capital. When his daughter’s small entourage left Jiuchang City, she was suddenly kidnapped by mountain bandits.

“The Fourth Boss of the Jiuqi Mountain Bandits is trained in military strategy, and he asked me to let go of their Big Boss if I wanted my daughter back,” Yang Xin said. He couldn’t stop himself from sighing deeply as he got to this part of the story.

He was a scholar, and wasn’t very good at dealing with these mountain bandits. He’d let the Big Boss go, but those bandits hadn’t held up their end of the deal and refused to let his daughter go. Today, he’d brought some people with him to try and negotiate with the bandits, but the Big Boss had unexpectedly said that he was going to make his daughter his wife and Bandit Chieftess. Yang Xin had been so angry on hearing this that he nearly keeled over. 

“My poor, pitiful daughter… Your father has really failed you…” Yang Xin wailed. Tears started running down his cheeks as he said this. He had studied hard and endured hardships for many years so that he could have a good career as an Imperial official and give his family a good life. He never would’ve thought that things would go so far wrong, and that his innocent daughter would be the victim in this whole mess.

Lou Jing sighed. “Why don’t you ask the Prefectural Governor for some soldiers?” he said. Yang Xin was really an unfortunate fellow. He’d heard that Yang Xin was a distant relation of his paternal Second Aunt’s, and had only come to borrow money from Lou Jianyu when he was really at his wits’ end. He’d never thought that Lou Jianyu would stipulate the condition that he had to send his daughter to marry Lou Jianyu if he couldn’t pay up on the loan. That kind of term was completely unheard of. Lou Jianyu had only added it in because Yang Xin was fairly good looking, and he guessed that Yang Xin’s daughter would be pretty as well.

“The Lord Prefectural Governor asked me to go and get troops from the Nansi Prefectural Troops instead. However, that army only moves on the command of the person with the Army Seal. There’s no way I can get any soldiers from there,” Yang Xin said. He felt great hatred toward that Prefectural Governor, but he was his superior, after all, and he couldn’t say too much about him.

“Lord Yang, don’t worry. I…” Lou Jing hadn’t finished speaking when Xiao Chengjun suddenly rose to his feet next to him. 

“Yuanlang?” Lou Jing asked in confusion.

Xiao Chengjun gave him a long look. Pain flashed momentarily in his dark eyes, and he then turned abruptly to leave. Regardless of whether Lou Jing had agreed to this marriage or not, his genuine interest and concern in this young lady was as plain as day. He couldn’t bear to stay here and listen to this any longer.

“My apologies,” Lou Jing said to Yang Xin, astonished by Xiao Chengjun’s reaction. He quickly rose to his feet as well, bowed quickly to Yang Xin, then chased after Xiao Chengjun.

“Yuanlang, Yuanlang!” 

Xiao Chengjun walked very quickly, and Lou Jing’s arm was still badly injured. It hurt when he ran, and it was difficult for him to catch up. “Ouch! It hurts…” Lou Jing said, hissing in pain.

At that, Xiao Chengjun finally stopped in his tracks. Just as he turned around, he felt the world spin, and before he knew what was happening, he was pinned to the floor by Lou Jing.

Lou Jing’s face looked rather pale, and he pressed down on Xiao Chengjun’s shoulder as he spoke. “What’s gotten into you?” he asked.

Xiao Chengjun closed his eyes. This had crossed his mind before. There was nothing official between them. If Lou Jing couldn’t wait for him to ascend the throne and decided to marry a wife and have children before that, he wouldn’t say anything. That was what he’d decided. However, when faced with the actual situation, he found himself completely unable to accept such an outcome. “Did you agree to this marriage?” he asked. 

Lou Jing stared blankly at Xiao Chengjun. “Huh?” he said in confusion.