Shen Qingyao shrank back silently. As a cannon fodder, it wasn’t appropriate for her to meddle in others’ affairs.
But upon second thought, she still felt uneasy. That girl looked delicate and frail. It would be too tragic if something really happened to her! So she turned her head to look at Lu Zhao again. He remained unchanged in posture from start to finish, looking incredibly composed.
“Elder Brother Lu Zhao, did you hear that?” Shen Qingyao asked foolishly. If even she could hear it, how could Lu Zhao not hear it?
Lu Zhao raised an eyebrow, not directly answering her, gesturing for her to continue.
Shen Qingyao puffed her cheeks, feeling the brilliance of the red scarf1 on her chest shining particularly bright at this moment, the radiance of human nature awakening. She reached out and tugged on Lu Zhao’s sleeve, whispering, “Elder Brother Lu Zhao, aren’t you going to do anything?”
Logically, someone with Lu Zhao’s high moral character should be righteous and hate evil, right? Shen Qingyao calculated, and concluded that turning to him must be the right move!
Lu Zhao chuckled, thinking that the girl had misunderstood him deeply. He was never the kind of person to intervene in every injustice he saw.
“Hmm?” Shen Qingyao tilted her head, wondering what his laughter meant.
Seemingly unwilling to refuse her request, Lu Zhao turned his face to glance out the window through the crack, but after a moment, he turned back lazily, “No need to intervene.”
The brilliance of the red scarf dimmed. Shen Qingyao pursed her lips, somewhat puzzled why there was no need to intervene. She just felt sorry for the girl outside, but since Lu Zhao said not to intervene, she didn’t have the ability to intervene either. She could only sit quietly and wait to enter the city.
Just as their carriage entered the city gate and passed by the group of people from earlier, Shen Qingyao heard a scream, followed by the sound of someone falling heavily to the ground.
She couldn’t help but peek again, only to see the ‘big shot’ lying in a sprawl in front of her carriage, while the delicate and proud girl, without a speck of dust on her skirt, walked away briskly.
…The development of the situation was somewhat unexpected for her. But she finally understood why Lu Zhao said there was no need to intervene.
How could he have guessed this? Lu Zhao is really something! Shen Qingyao sighed in her heart, and when she looked at Lu Zhao again, there was already a hint of admiration in her eyes.
On the other hand, Lu Zhao seemed indifferent. When he received the admiring gaze from the young girl, his lips couldn’t help but curl up involuntarily.
Neither of them paid any further attention to this little incident. They entered the city smoothly. Although Ning City was not far from the capital, the scenery of Ning City was quite different from that of the capital. Shen Qingyao was quickly drawn to the novelty on the streets. If it weren’t for Lu Zhao holding her back, she would have wanted to jump off the carriage and explore!
Lu Zhao took her to the largest inn & restaurant in Ning City. The innkeeper was a lean middle-aged man with narrow eyes that couldn’t hide his shrewdness. At a glance, one could tell he was a very successful businessman.
Seeing the two of them entering hand in hand, the innkeeper subtly sized them up from head to toe. Apparently, Lu Zhao’s demeanor was indeed extraordinary, and the innkeeper immediately realized that these two must be of noble origin. So he waved off the young waiter who was about to approach and personally greeted them with a smile.
“Dear guests, would you like to stay at the inn or have a meal?”
“Elder… Brother, I’m hungry.” She didn’t feel it before, but after entering this restaurant, the aroma of food wafted over, making her hungry even if she wasn’t. Moreover, Shen Qingyao had been sitting in the carriage all day, barely eating anything.
She turned her head to look at Lu Zhao, wanting to call him ‘Elder Brother Lu Zhao’ as usual, but then she thought, Lu Zhao’s name is too famous in Great Liang Empire. They came to Ning City to avoid attention. If Lu Zhao was recognized, it wouldn’t be good. So she swallowed the part of his name and only said ‘Elder Brother’.
Lu Zhao’s eyes flickered at her choice.
At the same time, the innkeeper swallowed back the words that were about to come out of his mouth, “Lady, what would you like to eat?”
He thought that thankfully he hadn’t spoken too soon. Could it be that these two were not a married couple but rather siblings? But the woman clearly had the hairstyle of a married woman. Thinking this, his narrow eyes once again glanced over Shen Qingyao’s head.
When Lu Zhao heard that she was hungry, he nodded and said in a deep voice, “Prepare a table of food first, something light and refreshing, then prepare a room upstairs.”
The innkeeper nodded repeatedly, then asked uncertainly, “One room upstairs?”
He paused, feeling that these two were probably siblings traveling together, but no matter how close they were, the woman was already married, so why were they still staying in the same room?
So he added considerately, “Is Young Master escorting his sister back to her in-laws’ house? If you’re worried about the safety of this young lady, there’s really no need! Although I won’t say anything about other aspects of the inn, safety is absolutely guaranteed! Even if you stay in separate rooms, there won’t be any danger!”
Lu Zhao’s face darkened. Escorting his sister back to her in-laws’ house? Her in-laws’ house was in the Duke’s residence in the capital, so how could it be in Ning City?
Shen Qingyao realized that the innkeeper must have misunderstood because of how she had called Lu Zhao, but she didn’t explain, just giggled behind Lu Zhao.
Lu Zhao, hearing her giggles, felt both angry and helpless. He reached out and grabbed Shen Qingyao’s hand, holding it tightly, and said with a dark expression, “No need, just one room. Bring the food to the room!”
“Eh? That…?” might not be appropriate.
The innkeeper hesitated a bit more. Even if the man didn’t mind, what about the reputation of the Young Lady?
“Is there any other problem?” Lu Zhao’s expression became even darker, pulling Shen Qingyao past the innkeeper. Then he turned back and said, “Is there any problem with my wife and I staying in one room together?”
“Wife… wife?” Are they really husband and wife? What kind of wife call her husband ‘Elder Brother’? The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment, then realized, could this be some kind of special preference?
He looked at the two of them with a strange look.
Lu Zhao ignored him and led Shen Qingyao straight upstairs.
It wasn’t until they entered the room that Shen Qingyao couldn’t help but burst into laughter. She turned to look at Lu Zhao’s dark face and found it amusing. She had known Lu Zhao for so long but rarely saw him like this.
Lu Zhao closed the door behind them, and as soon as he turned around, he met the mischievous eyes of the young girl. He chuckled inwardly, not really angry, but if this young girl continued to be so carefree, it wouldn’t do.
He deliberately put on a gloomy look as he approached her, “Still laughing?”
Who caused the misunderstanding? He almost became a scumbag who tarnished his little sister’s reputation.
Shen Qingyao wasn’t afraid of him at this moment, and even leaned closer to him, smiling playfully as she breathed into his ear, “Elder Brother… you don’t want me to laugh, do you? Do you want me to cry instead?”
The sweet fragrance suddenly approached, coupled with the warmth beside his ear, Lu Zhao’s eyes darkened, unable to resist the wicked thought that perhaps there would be a time when she cried! But he couldn’t say that now, lest he frighten the young girl.
Shen Qingyao noticed Lu Zhao’s change and chuckled inwardly. Flirting with him was out of the question, but teasing a little was still possible.
So she softly called out again, “Elder Brother?”
This voice felt like a feather lightly tickling Lu Zhao’s heart, not painful but itchy.
Unable to bear it any longer, he reached out and pulled the young girl over, pressing her in front of him. Lu Zhao lowered his voice, leaning close to her ear, “Stop calling me that. If you call me again, I can’t guarantee if you’ll still be able to eat.”
If she called him so again, he couldn’t guarantee that she’d still be able to eat. If she called him so again, he couldn’t help but turn into a beast.
Shen Qingyao was initially stunned, but when she realized what he meant, her face suddenly turned red. An illusion of baby carriage slowly passed in front of her eyes.
“Is what Lu Zhao just said the same as what I was thinking?” Shen Qingyao asked the system, feeling a bit dazed.
But the system just chuckled while happily shipping CP, without giving any substantial opinions or views.
“Tsk, what use are you?” Shen Qingyao muttered disdainfully.
Seeing that Shen Qingyao didn’t respond further, Lu Zhao didn’t tease her anymore. He gently pulled her closer and softly asked, “Still hungry?”
Shen Qingyao dared not tease anymore! She quickly shook her head, biting her lip. She couldn’t continue teasing. If she did, wouldn’t White Moonlight learn to drive on the bed? How terrible would that be!
At this point, the food had arrived. Seeing that she behaved well, Lu Zhao reluctantly let her go, mainly because there wasn’t much they could do right now, and he was afraid the girl would really starve.
“Let’s go eat.” He ruffled her fluffy head, letting her go. Shen Qingyao eagerly wanted to escape. When she withdrew from his embrace with a flushed face, she inadvertently glanced at the top of his head again.
[40]
…Is he unable to handle this much?!
After arriving in Ning City, Lu Zhao visibly became busy. For two consecutive days, he left Shen Qingyao alone in the inn while he went out on business.
Shen Qingyao didn’t have much objection to this. After all, he was helping the male lead and it was worth it.
To take care of Shen Qingyao, Lu Zhao temporarily hired a maid for her in Ning City. The maid’s name was Hongyun. She was young but very efficient. Compared to Cui Qiao, she was more lively and active, which made Shen Qingyao less bored.
“Madam, the weather is nice today. Would you like to go out for a walk?” That day, Hongyun opened the window, looked outside, and thought it wasn’t good for Shen Qingyao to stay indoors all the time, so she suggested.
Shen Qingyao thought about it and felt it was fine. So she nodded, and after a bit of tidying up, they went out.
However, they didn’t go far. Ning City was hot, and Shen Qingyao was afraid of getting sunburned. So after a few steps, they climbed up to a teahouse by the lake under Hongyun’s guidance. They chose a window seat where the breeze was gentle, and they could see the lake view downstairs. Shen Qingyao sipped the characteristic flower tea of Ning City and was very satisfied.
“Ning City is indeed quite different from the capital. It feels even more bustling than the capital,” Shen Qingyao casually exclaimed while the waiter was wiping the table.
The waiter paused and immediately came over with a proud smile. “Of course! After all, Ning City is known as the land of prosperity! The dragon vein of Great Liang Empire is here! How could it not be bustling!”
Shen Qingyao’s eyes flickered. Dragon vein meant gold mine. The gold mine in Ning City wasn’t a secret in Great Liang; everyone knew about it. But this waiter only mentioned the gold mine, indicating that the iron mine in the dark corner must be well hidden by the governor of Ning State. She wondered if Lu Zhao was doing smoothly there.
“Yes,” Shen Qingyao smiled and echoed, then asked, “I heard that Ning City is highly valued by His Majesty. Those who can be officials in Ning City are all trusted by His Majesty, right? Is that also true for the governor of Ning State? It’s amazing.”
“Definitely!” The waiter became enthusiastic. The current governor of Ning State has been in office for several years, with remarkable achievements and is highly respected by the local people. The waiter couldn’t help but praise, “Lord Gu not only gains the Emperor’s favor, but he himself is also a talented and virtuous official! He is a great official! Back then, even the Emperor intended to marry the Princess to him! But I don’t know why Lord Gu refused, sigh!”
The waiter’s tone was full of regret. Shen Qingyao was stunned. Princess? As far as she knew, there was only one princess in Great Liang, and that was her mother-in-law, Grand Princess Duanhua.
…She really didn’t expect this.
She just wanted to casually inquire about some information, but unexpectedly, she got involved in her own mother-in-law’s affairs. How sinful.
*Ahem.* Shen Qingyao cleared her throat, interrupting him. “Is Lord Gu really that good?”
The waiter paused again, then sighed, “Well, not entirely.”
“Oh?” Shen Qingyao’s eyes lit up. Did he have any weaknesses? Please elaborate. This information might be useful to Lu Zhao!
“It’s Lord Gu’s son… he’s a bit too indulgent!” The waiter looked frustrated, as if the person mentioned was his own son.
Shen Qingyao opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by a loud shout from the staircase. Something fell to the ground with a crash, and someone angrily yelled, “Alright! You’re badmouthing me behind my back again while I’m not here!”
Shen Qingyao : …Oops!
- in China, red scarves could symbolize ‘revolution and sacrifice’, also ‘patriotism and loyalty’. ↩︎