At the southern gate of the city, several guard keepers sat by the gate with long swords hanging from their waists.

“It’s so damn unlucky that it’s finally the Flower Fair, but we have to stay here guarding the gate.”

“Ai, did you hear what they said? The one leading the dance today was Lady Huai Lan.”

“I shouldn’t have changed shifts with that kid. It’s A big loss now.”

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“You deserve it…” One person began making fun of his misfortune, but his voice suddenly stopped.

“How about we find someone to switch shifts…” The other person turned his head and saw the other clearly, and immediately shouted loudly, “Old Liu? Old Liu!”

“What’s wrong?” Several other people also came over to take a look. “This…”

Suddenly there were inaudible sounds of the wind in their ears, and in the next moment the three men fell to the ground.

There was a sound of horseshoes in the distance coming from inside the city gate. Jing Ye followed Lu Baizang to the city gate and saw a few people lying on the ground, all dressed like jianghu people. Two guards in black stood on the side. When they saw the two approaching, they knelt down on one knee and said, “Your Majesty, Lu Gongzi.”

“I promised to bring him out of the city.” Lu Baizang tightened the reins and rode up to the two of them: “Whether you can stop them or not depends on you.”

“Yes.”

He smiled, turned back to Jing Ye, who was looking at the people on the ground, and said, “Your Majesty, let’s go.”

“En.” Jing Ye glanced at the two people standing on the side, pulled his horse, and followed Lu Baizang towards the outside of the city.

The night was dark, and the two of them rode their horses on the road without rest. Lu Baizang was quite leisurely, and he had the idle interest to say to Jing Ye: “Riding a horse under the moonlight can also be considered an act of elegance.”

Jing Ye was not as leisurely and content as him. This body was used to a pampered lifestyle, and after jolting on the horse for a while, he gradually showed signs of fatigue.

Don’t know how long it had been.

Just after leaving a small forest, Lu Baizang heard the faint sounds of fighting in the wind, and couldn’t help but smile: “The men of Pingyue City are a level higher than that of the imperial family after all.”

Jing Ye looked at him: “Do you think the black-clothed guards could stop them?”

Lu Baizang shook his head: “Unlikely. If they could fight to the death, there is a chance that Your Majesty will be able to escape from Pingyue City’s control.”

Jing Ye gritted his teeth.

Lu Baizang looked at him and raised his eyebrows: “However, if I come forward in the name of my Lu Family Villa, you will definitely be able to win without a fight.”

Jing Ye lowered his eyes in silence and quickly said, “What do you want?”

“The seven-star lantern.” Lu Baizang said, “It’s in Your Majesty’s treasury.”

Jing Ye remembered that the seven-star lantern was a secret treasure handed down the imperial family. It was a treasure that the female emperor obtained from the battle with Xirong. Since then it was kept in the royal treasury and had not seen the light of day for decades.

But a living person was more precious than a dead object.

“…Fine.”

Lu Baizang smiled: “I believe that Your Majesty will not break your promise.”

Jing Ye looked up at him: “Of course.”

The two turned their horses and rode through the woods.

Le Zhenghuan was sitting on his horse, looking coldly at the killing in front of him. Suddenly he heard the sound of horse hooves and immediately raised his head.

He had excellent eyesight and soon saw Jing Ye riding alongside Lu Baizang.

“You want to run?” The reins in his hands were squeezed tightly, and the words that reached Jing Ye’s ears were enunciated word by word, “Do you think I will let you go?”

Jing Ye raised his head slightly.

Lu Baizang let his horse stop at a distance, turned to smile at him, and then spoke. His inner strength was deep, and his voice spread across the woods and reached everyone’s ears. 

“City Lord Le.”

The young man in red narrowed his eyes. The guard captain beside him raised his hand, and the guards who were fighting with the black-clothed guards immediately retreated.

“Today,” Lu Baizang said with a smile, “I must take His Majesty away.”

Le Zhenghuan: “What relation does this have to do with your Lu Family Villa?”

“How is there no relation?” Lu Baizang took Jing Ye’s hand and kissed it lightly, “His Majesty is the one I love.”

Jing Ye: “…”

Le Zhenghuan squeezed the reins in his hands, and the guard captain beside him said: “Young Master, think twice.”

He looked at Jing Ye: “You hate me?”

Jing Ye: “I don’t hate you.”

“You said you like me.”

“I do.”

“Then why do you want to be with him!” Le Zhenghuan pointed at Lu Baizang with the tip of his whip, the gesture full of provocation.

Jing Ye suddenly felt embarrassed: “…No, I just can’t be with you.” He looked at the young man in red, “People can only be together after falling in love. You are too young to understand.”

The young man cracked his whip angrily: “Are you much older than me?”

Jing Ye knew that he had accepted the fact that he was leaving, or that he was powerless to stop it. Lu Baizang tightened the hold on his hand and said with a smile, “It’s time for us to go, Your Majesty.”

“Wait.” The young man whistled, and a black horse stepped out of the crowd, “Take it with you.”

Obsidian ran up to Jing Ye, looked at his current mount, and sneezed contemptuously.

Jing Ye smiled and rubbed its head: “Thank you.”

Le Zhenghuan raised his chin and looked at Jing Ye: “You will regret it one day.”

Regret what?

The night wind was calm, Jing Ye wanted to say something to the other, but in the end he smiled, turned around and left with Obsidian.

Lu Baizang took Jing Ye to find a small town and stayed in an inn there. The black-clothed guards left two people to guard the emperor, while the others found their own places to treat their injuries and rest.

The leading guard deputy captain handed Jing Ye a letter, written by Gu Hong himself.

The letter reported that Zhao Mingde had been staying at home out of illness, but secretly kept in touch with ministers in the court and often summoned the aides he kept in his manor to discuss matters. There were also more and more letters between his wife Xu shi and her brother Xu Ming.

However, no one had yet discovered that the emperor was no longer in the capital.

Jing Ye read all the way to the end, only to see at the end of the letter: Ting Qiu has returned.

Li Tingqiu?

The door was pushed open with a creak, and Lu Baizang walked in with the food and put it on the table. He said with a smile: “It’s time for dinner, Ah Ye.”

Jing Ye’s forehead twitched. After entering the town, this man kept calling him “Ah Ye” with the excuse of hiding his identity.

Forget it, “Ah Ye” was at least better than “Ye Ye” or “Ye’er”.

Lu Baizang opened the lid of the food box and took out three dishes and one soup. The ingredients were very ordinary, but all the dishes looked tasty and smelled fragrant. There was even the fragrance of bamboo leaves in the rice. Jing Ye put down the letter, raised his chopsticks and tasted it.

Lu Baizang didn’t even realize that he was actually a little nervous: “How is it?”

Jing Ye chewed it slowly, looked up at him, and couldn’t help but laugh.

Lu Baizang: “…What are you laughing at?”

“Lu…Villa Master Lu.” Jing Ye’s eyes curved and he tapped his cheek with the end of his wooden chopsticks, “You have a smudge here.”

Lu Baizang touched it with his hand, and sure enough.

Jing Ye still smiled and said, “If Villa Master Lu’s playboy reputation hadn’t already been so well-known, I would have thought you to be the most virtuous husband in the world.”

“But I am.” Lu Baizang stretched out his hand to hold him, “I only hope Ah Ye won’t dislike me.”

“No one will believe your lies.”

“You don’t believe me even if I tell the truth.”

Lu Baizang looked at Jing Ye who shook his head, then continued eating. The two of them were just like an ordinary couple, sitting in an ordinary room, one eating and the other smiling and watching on.

Wait. Villa Master Lu suddenly realized, why am I the…?

The two of them rode southward. After passing through several prefectures and towns, they arrived in Zhengzhou.

Zhengzhou was a prosperous place. When the two arrived, there seemed to be more people than usual.

Jing Ye led the horse by the reins and followed Lu Baizang into the city to find a place to stay. After two hours, they still found nothing. All the inns with good food and lodging were full, while the lesser ones were passed by Lu Baizang.

Jing Ye had been on the road for two days, and his physical strength had improved a lot. He didn’t feel tired despite following him around, so he simply observed the condition of the streets and houses here.

The two of them rested in a tavern. The tavern was also very lively. People in simple attire were sitting everywhere, talking enthusiastically about the “Flower Fair”, “Liu Gongzi”, “Miming Pavilion” etc..

How could Lu Baizang be willing to drink the wine in the tavern? He asked the waiter to remove the tea and wine from the table and only serve a pot of water. Jing Ye said: “There ia also a Flower Fair in Zhengzhou?”

Lu Baizang said with a smile: “Any decent pleasure house in the world would hold such an event every eighth or ninth month of the year.”

“Oh…” Jing Ye nodded and smiled, “Isn’t that Liu Rushi, Liu Gongzi, an old friend of yours? Why not find him to borrow a place to stay?”

Lu Baizang’s mouth stiffened, and he felt inexplicably embarrassed: “How does Ah Ye know?”

The waiter brought the pot of water over, Jing Ye reached out and poured a cup, saying with a smile: “The girl who waited on me during Lady Bhai Lan’s dance I’m back in Pingyue City told me this.”

“…Actually, I only met him once.”

“En, I understand.” Jing Ye smiled, “But we have to find a place to stay for one night. Lu Gongzi is good at socializing and will definitely have the other smiling and pleased.”

Lu Baizang: “…”

Then they actually went to Luyi Tower, the largest brothel in Zhengzhou.

Seeing Jing Ye beside him speaking gently to the little servant girl who was leading the way, making the little servant girl blush, the Villa Master Lu began to reflect for the first time whether building the villa’s liaison offices in various places into brothels… was actually a little inappropriate?

Luyi Tower had several small buildings built near the water, dedicated to the residence of some of the most popular top names in the pleasure house. The most exquisite one belonged to Liu Rushi, who was as famous as Huai Lan.

As night was approaching, Liu Rushi finished playing a piece of music, raised his head and said to the guest in front of him: “Liu Gongzi, the time has come.”

The guest looked at him still entranced, came over and kissed him on the cheek and said, “Wait for me tomorrow night.”

“Ru Shi will be waiting for you at that time.” Liu Rushi lowered his eyes slightly to hide the displeasure in his eyes.

Liu Gongzi stroked his face one last time and walked away, looking back every three steps or so.

The older woman who served Liu Rushi opened the door and came in, holding a cloth and water in her hands: “Gongzi.”

The woman wetted the face towel with water. Then took it and wiped his face carefully.

“This slave has good news.” The woman smiled.

Liu Rushi turned to look at her: “What is it?”

“You might not believe it but,” The woman leaned forward and said in a joyful tone, “Master Lu is here.”

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

“What?” Liu Rushi straightened up, “How…when did he arrive?”

“Just now, gongzi, will you still see guests tonight?”

Liu Rushi was stunned for a while, and then said hurriedly: “…I won’t see anymore. Come quickly and help choose some clothes for me.”

“Ai, this slave will go now.” The woman looked at his lovesick look, covered her lips and smiled softly.

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