Clip-clop, clip-clop...
It was noon, and the sound of horse hooves once again appeared outside Ranfang Street.
Ye Jingtang led the big horse and walked slowly along the street. He was holding a book and a painting scroll wrapped in silk in his hand, secretly pondering the saber technique along the way. Niaoniao was chirping, probably chatting about the beautiful lady they had met earlier.
The sun at noon was too scorching. There were no craftsmen on the street, and Shuanggui Alley was even more deserted.
As soon as Ye Jingtang led the horse into the alley, he withdrew his thoughts and poked his head to look. He saw that the yard was clean. The bed sheets and quilt covers that had been washed in the morning had been taken in.
The doors and windows of the west wing were open. There was a small desk inside, but no bed.
The kitchen was neatly tidied up, and there was no one in it. The main room had its doors and windows tightly closed, and there was no sound coming from inside.
Ye Jingtang stopped the horse outside the courtyard gate and walked towards the main room:
"Miss Luo?"
Swoosh swoosh~~
There was the sound of taking clothes in the room, followed by a cold and icy voice of a noble and beautiful woman:
"Go and buy a few jin of salt."
Ye Jingtang could tell that Miss Luo was putting on a dress. He held the painting scroll and walked towards the main room:
"I'm coming in to put something away..."
"Little thief!"
Ye Jingtang stopped under the eaves: "Okay, okay, I'll wait until you're dressed before coming in. Does it still hurt?"
There was no response from the room.
Ye Jingtang shook his head helplessly and said seriously:
"I went to the palace today and learned the Dragon-Slaying Order and the Jade Bone Diagram. But I couldn't bring out the Minglong Diagram, so I can't teach it..."
"I don't care about it at all."
"I also went to Minglongtan. Practicing the Minglong Diagram there is very fast..."
"Isn't that the empress's bedroom?"
"The Princess led me there. I'm afraid there's no way for you to enter Chengan Hall as you wished."
"Why?"
Ye Jingtang stuck close to the door and said mysteriously:
"I heard from a poor palace maid that the current empress likes women. I'm safe, but it's too dangerous for you to go in."
"..."
There was no sound from the room. Presumably, she was stunned by the news. After a while, she said:
"Never mind if it's not possible. Regarding the murderer from yesterday, I've already asked Yunli to notify the branch master outside the city. I expect to receive news in a few days."
"That's good. I was just worried about how to help the Princess solve the case."
"Hmph..."
After the two of them communicated through the door for a while, the door opened from the inside.
Luo Ning showed herself. With her long, wet hair draped over her shoulders, she looked as if she had just taken a bath. She was wearing a light cyan home summer dress, white embroidered shoes on her feet, and her face without any makeup was as plump and fresh as a lotus flower emerging from the water. Her cold and aloof temperament that seemed to be detached from the mortal world made the sweltering summer feel a bit cooler and more refreshing.
The only discordant thing was that Luo Ning was holding a sword and her eyes were very fierce.
Ye Jingtang walked into the room, put down the book, and held the painting scroll:
"This is a calligraphy and painting bestowed by the Empress Dowager. It should be enshrined at home carefully in the future..."
Before he could finish speaking, he saw the cold Miss Ning blocking his way with a sword. Her eyes were like those of a tragic chivalrous woman who had her innocence destroyed by a little thief and had come back for revenge:
"Let's settle the score from yesterday first!"
Ye Jingtang looked at the tip of the sword in front of him: "Miss Luo said that if you couldn't hold it in, you wouldn't blame me..."
"I can hold it in!"
"That's right. Miss Luo saw that I couldn't hold it in and helped me out of helplessness. You can't dismember me now, can you?"
Luo Ning put on an expression of slight anger: "You knew I was helping you. Why did you use those methods to insult a woman?"
Insult?
Ye Jingtang couldn't agree with this statement and asked: "How did I insult you?"
"You..."
Luo Ning really couldn't bring herself to say it. There were some things she didn't even dare to think about. After holding it in for a long time, she just said:
"You're not a baby anymore. You..."
Weren't you quite happy?
You secretly peeked at me when I stopped, and you even leaned your face towards me on purpose...
You even wanted to suffocate me!
Ye Jingtang knew that Miss Luo was shy. He comforted her gently:
"Okay, I was wrong. Next time..."
"There won't be a next time!"
Luo Ning twirled the sword in her hand and held the sword in a reverse grip behind her back. She turned sideways, looking like a cold and elegant sword fairy:
"Don't think that just because I helped you yesterday, you can have a good time every night. If you dare to remember what happened yesterday..."
Ye Jingtang took a few steps closer: "Miss Luo said she would help me regulate my body. Have you changed your mind?"
Luo Ning paused for a moment and hesitated slightly: "I'll ask Madam Wang later how often I need to regulate it."
"Okay, we'll follow the doctor's advice. Then what about the previous bet..."
?
Luo Ning turned to look at Ye Jingtang with an incredulous look in her eyes:
"On the boat last time, you said you wanted to eat... you know what. You ate more than just one bite yesterday, right?"
Ye Jingtang said seriously: "Yesterday was a different matter. I'm just asking. If Miss Luo wants to fudge it, I'll just pretend it never happened."
Fudge?
Luo Ning took a deep breath, and her chest heaved a bit. But in the end, she gritted her teeth and turned her head away:
"I always keep my word. How could I fudge you..."
Before she could finish speaking, the man leaned closer.
!
Luo Ning was so startled that her delicate shoulders trembled. Maybe she remembered the scene from last night, and a hint of fear flashed in her eyes. She raised her sword and tried to break free.
Ye Jingtang bent down and hooked his arm under Miss Luo's knees, picking her up in a bridal carry:
"We agreed. Don't be angry, and don't hit me. I just don't want Miss Luo to break her promise."
"You..."
Luo Ning stared at him with her beautiful eyes, but she had no way to deal with this thick-skinned little thief. She could only turn her head away, look at the ground, and maintain an aloof attitude, ignoring him.
Ye Jingtang was used to it and even liked this kind of attitude. He sat down in front of the bed and picked up the painting scroll:
"This is the Empress Dowager's calligraphy and painting. Hang it up later. Don't damage it, or you'll lose your head."
Luo Ning originally had no interest, but when the painting scroll was unfolded in front of her and showed the "Picture of a Peddler Selling Chickens", her eyes moved, and she sat up a bit:
"Is this a painting personally done by the Empress Dowager?"
Ye Jingtang nodded slightly and observed it carefully: "That's right. There's only one such painting in the world. Can you see anything special about it, Miss Luo?"
Luo Ning didn't know how to comment. She looked at the painting:
"Wasn't Empress Qin from Jiangzhou? Why is her painting skill like this..."
"Daughters from a family of generals not knowing how to paint is normal. By the way, the Empress Dowager is not old. Have you ever met her?"
"Jiangzhou is a granary, and the Qin family controls the Great Wei Navy. The empress became the empress dowager even though the emperor died halfway because the deposed emperor wanted to win over the Qin family. The current empress's ascension to the throne also couldn't have happened without the support of the Qin family. This kind of noble family is completely different from a martial arts family in the Jianghu. How could I possibly know her?"
Ye Jingtang didn't know much about the court, so he just nodded slightly.
Luo Ning was from Jiangzhou. Although she was from a martial arts family in the Jianghu, she was also a noblewoman. Her skills in playing the qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting were not low. After carefully observing the strokes of the brush, she was a bit surprised:
"Although the painting is average, this painting method does have a bit of the shadow of the True Man Xuanji."
Ye Jingtang blinked his eyes: "How did you see that?"
Luo Ning raised her hand to indicate the clothes of the man in the painting:
"I lived on Yuxu Mountain for a while. The True Man Xuanji also taught me how to paint portraits. First draw the bones and then the skin. This technique is exactly the same as what the True Man Xuanji taught me back then."
Ye Jingtang was a bit surprised: "You know the True Man Xuanji, Miss Luo?"
Luo Ning didn't really want to talk about these old matters. She said casually:
"I'm quite famous in the Jianghu. What's so strange about knowing her?"
Ye Jingtang thought so too. She was the most beautiful woman in the Jianghu...
Now she was being held in his arms. It was really fulfilling to think about it...
As his thoughts strayed, his heart became flustered.
Luo Ning's waist had a perfect curve, and her buttocks were very plump, with just the right amount of weight. Through the fabric, he could feel the smoothness of her skin. It was like having a soft jade ball sitting on his legs.
Ye Jingtang was holding his wife whom he had already been intimate with. It seemed that there was no reason for him to stick to the way of a gentleman...
Luo Ning was originally looking at the painting scroll, but she gradually felt something was wrong. She frowned and said:
"Move your saber aside. The handle of the saber..."
Luo Ning turned her eyes and saw that Ye Jingtang's saber was placed aside...
What is that thing poking me...
?!
Luo Ning's cold and beautiful face twitched, gradually turning as red as peach blossoms in February. Her eyes also widened a bit, and she was on the verge of becoming ashamed and angry.
Ye Jingtang said seriously: "Don't be angry. I didn't move around. It's just a normal reaction. If I didn't have this reaction, Miss Luo should be angry instead."
Luo Ning gritted her teeth, moved aside a bit, and continued to admire the painting.
But how could she focus on it?
Ye Jingtang looked at Miss Luo's appearance of being ashamed, angry, and unable to vent her feelings. Although he knew it wasn't very gentlemanly, it really made him more excited.
Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Ye Jingtang picked up the book beside him:
"By the way, I also found a rare book from the previous dynasty today. You can't buy it on the market at all. Would you like to appraise it, Miss Luo?"
Luo Ning saw that the book was bound with golden silk and knew it was a precious item collected by a famous person. In order to find something to suppress the distracting thoughts in her heart, she took the book:
"You're actually reading books now. Are you really planning to become an official?"
"Reading is to increase my knowledge. It has nothing to do with becoming an official."
Dongfang Liren was afraid of being discovered, so she wrapped an extra layer of paper on the cover. The title of the book couldn't be seen. After opening it, the annotations by famous masters came into view, followed by a vivid "Picture of a Beauty Holding a Sword".
Luo Ning, who was in a state of confusion, saw the picture of the beauty and her eyes lit up. She suppressed her thoughts and looked at it carefully:
"This painting... seems to be the work of the painting sage of the previous dynasty. The craftsman who did the block printing must also be a master..."
Seeing the surprised look in Miss Luo's eyes, Ye Jingtang smiled and turned to lean against the head of the bed, letting Miss Luo lean on his shoulder.
Anyway, Luo Ning had to be held. Sitting on the bed was more comfortable than sitting on the little thief. So she didn't struggle and leaned quietly in his arms, seriously flipping through the book.
Luo Ning could be considered well-read, but she had never really read this book. Although the book was exquisitely made and the words and writing style were quite magnificent, the content inside was in plain vernacular. It started with a beautiful and outstanding chivalrous woman who accidentally got injured and fainted. The whole article was full of descriptions of her figure, such as "ice-like skin and jade-like bones, transcending the mortal world"...
Luo Ning felt a bit strange in her heart. When she saw the male protagonist in the book carrying the female Taoist nun back to the house to treat her injuries, she couldn't help but say:
"This person... Why is he just like you?"
Ye Jingtang said seriously: "There's a big difference. I didn't touch a girl when she was fainting."
You just forced yourself on me when I was awake, right?
Luo Ning thought about it and decided not to quarrel with the little thief. She continued reading the book. Because the plot was really fascinating, she became more and more engrossed and even forgot about the little thief beside her.
Whoosh... Whoosh...
The pages of the book were turned, and the room became quiet, with only the chirping of summer insects:
Cicada~~
Ye Jingtang held his cold and beautiful wife in his arms and read the book. It could be said that he was even more focused than Luo Ning.
As a result, when it came to the crucial plot, Luo Ning turned the page, and a vivid picture appeared in front of her eyes:
The chivalrous woman holding a sword was unable to resist, with a look of grief and indignation in her eyes.
The little thief puckered his lips and his hands were groping around...
?!
Luo Ning's face turned red instantly. She quickly closed the book. Then, thinking it wasn't right, she turned her head and glared at him angrily:
"Little thief, did you learn those methods from this book?"
Ye Jingtang felt that Miss Luo's reaction was almost the same as that in the book. He said softly:
"Men understand these things when they reach a certain age. It has nothing to do with whether they learn it or not."
Luo Ning thought so too. Because she wanted to see how the chivalrous woman would deal with the little thief later, she continued to turn the pages.
Ye Jingtang was looking at the illustration. When he saw this, he raised his hand to stop her: "Wait a moment. I haven't finished reading it yet."
?!
Luo Ning's eyes turned slightly cold. She calculated the time and found that it had already been more than a quarter of an hour. She quickly closed the book:
"Time's up. This is Yunli's bed. You go and buy a bed yourself. Do you really want me to pay for it?"
Ye Jingtang still wanted to read more, but he didn't say anything. He just reminded her:
"You can read this book to relieve boredom, but don't damage it. It's a rare item collected by the court, and I'll be held responsible if it's damaged."
Luo Ning was puzzled: "How could I possibly damage the book?"
Ye Jingtang knew that Miss Luo would keep her word. Even if she got angry and ashamed later, at most she would beat him up and wouldn't burn the book. So he stood up and took out a red envelope and placed it on the dressing table.
Luo Ning was leaning against the head of the bed reading the book. When she saw this scene, she was a bit confused:
"What do you mean?"
"This is a red envelope given by Third Aunt. Yesterday was just a misunderstanding. Don't take what happened yesterday to heart, Miss Luo. I'm going out now."
Red envelope?
Luo Ning thought about it for a moment and felt something was wrong - Was he treating her as a younger generation or as a concubine?
Judging from what happened yesterday, the latter was more likely...
Luo Ning took a deep breath and wanted to scold Ye Jingtang, but she saw that Ye Jingtang had already run away...