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Chapter 129

But, why was Yang Zhen there?

While Wei Luo was feeling puzzled, Zhao Liuli had already jumped down from the carriage.

This carriage was rather ordinary. It wasn’t comparable to the ostentatious carriage that Zhao Liuli usually rode in. It had a bluish green front curtain that was half new and half old and there was only one place servant girl inside the carriage. Zhao Liuli was normally followed by a group of young and old female servants when she was traveling, so the current situation today was rather strange.

Wei Luo chose to stay inside the carriage and wait to see how the situation would develop.

Zhao Liuli didn’t have the spare thoughts to be concerned about this. With red eyes, she asked him, “Are you going to leave today?”

Yang Zhen’s body was stiff as he nodded.

Zhao Liuli’s red and teary eyes look very much like a rabbit’s. She tightly grasped Yang Zhen’s clothes and said, “Older brother Yang Zhen, why didn’t you listen to me? I don’t want you to go. I’ll talk things through with imperial mother. She loves me dearly. She’ll definitely agree to let me marry you. Guang Dong is so dangerous. What will I do if something happens to you? I don’t want you to die. I don’t want you to go…” As she said this, tears streamed down.

Yang Zhen lifted his head and gently wiped at the corners of her eyes. Every time she shed a tear, he would patiently wipe it away. “Didn’t we already agree to this? Your Highness, I can’t wrong you, much less let you suffer with me. If you marry me now, you would only be lowering your status. I can’t give you a life of luxury or a high rank.” He smiled. This was the first time he said words like these.

His gaze was full of soft gentleness as he said, “I want to obtain achievements and return triumphant. I’ll be worthy of you at that time.”

Zhao Liuli wept, “When will you come back?”

Yang Zhen thought for a moment before saying, “I don’t know for sure. At minimum, it’ll be a few months. At most, it could be a year or two.” He looked at Zhao Liuli and asked hopefully, “Your Highness, are you willing to wait for me?”

Zhao Liuli inwardly let out a sigh of relief. She was angry at his hastiness and being too sure of himself, so she deliberately said, “I’m not sure. Imperial mother has recently been looking for a good marriage for me. She also has me looking at court officials’ sons and members of the imperial family. If older brother Yang Zhen comes back too late, I might not be able to bear the pressure from imperial father and mother and marry someone else.”

Yang Zhen knew that Empress Chen was looking for a husband for Zhao Liuli. But, Empress Chen wasn’t an inflexible person. Although the matchmaker introduced potential marriage partners and parents made the final decision, Empress Chen still placed a huge importance on what her daughter wanted. Empress Chen had summoned sons from aristocratic families to Zhao Yang Hall many times so that Zhao Liuli could look at these men from behind a twelve piece red sandalwood divider with paintings of beauties.

In order to evade marriage, Zhao Liuli would either criticize them for being too tall, too large, or too scheming. In short, she wasn’t satisfied with any of them

One time, the prime minster’s heir, Count Zhou Ying, coincidentally met Zhao Liuli as he was leaving Zhao Yang Hall and she was coming back from outside. The two of them met on the outside steps leading into the hall. Because Count Zhou Ying had liked Zhao Liuli for a long time, he offended her in a moment of impulse. Afterwards, Zhao Liuli told Empress Chen about this matter. Not only did Empress Chen firmly admonish the prime minster, she also gave up on the idea of marrying Zhao Liuli to Count Zhou Ying. Moreover, a few days later, there was news that Count Zhou Ying was ambushed on the way home and severely injured. The prime minister still hadn’t found out who was responsible for that attack to this day.

Zhao Liuli had treated this matter as a joke and told Yang Zhen about it. Yang Zhen was wiping his sword as he lightly said, “Those who offend Your Highness can’t be let off easily.”

Zhao Liuli realized at this moment that Yang Zhen was the one responsible for the ambush.

But, when she thought about it afterwards, she actually wasn’t the slightest bit mad. There was even a trace of sweetness in heart. Wasn’t this a representation of Yang Zhen care for her?

Yang Zhen tightly held her hand. He felt both angry and very powerless. He looked at her, “If only I could keep Your Highness in my pocket and bring you away.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. His voice was hoarse as he pleaded, “I’ll do my best to come back soon. Don’t marry someone else. Wait for me to come back to marry you.”

Zhao Liuli lowered her head and rubbed her eyes, “I…”

The winding horn was suddenly blown from beneath the cliff. The heroic sound traveled far and spread to the entire valley. The army’s uniform footsteps followed after the horn was blown. Their morale was high as the military platoon departed towards Guang Dong!

Yang Zhen squeezed Zhao Liuli’s shoulder as he urged and pleaded, “Your Highness, will you please wait for me?”

Just as Zhao Liuli was about to nod, Yang Zhen flipped over to mount the horse. It was too late. The army had already started moving. He moved two steps forward, but in the end, he still came back, leaned over, brought Zhao Liuli onto the horse, and urged the horse to continue walking forward along the hillside.

Zhao Liuli grabbed the horse’s mane in surprise. Her voice was wrapped up in the wind, “Older brother Yang Zhen?”

Yang Zhen held her by the wrist, slowly followed the line of troops, and explained, “The carriage behind us will catch up in a moment to bring you back to the palace. Accompany me a bit longer.”

Although his words weren’t explicit, the humble request in his tone was too obvious. She couldn’t refuse.

Zhao Liuli gently nodded and took out a small bag embroidered with an interlocking geometric pattern to give to him. “This is for you. Even though you won’t need money while you’re in the army, it’ll still be good to bring money with you just in case.”

She had never worried about the basic necessities and usually never carried money herself, much worry about her livelihood. Now, she had considered things up to this point for him. This really showed how much thought she put to his needs.

Yang Zhen felt touched. He saw her taking off the jade pendant from her neck and changing it with his. “I gave you this jade on my birthday. My piece is the left. Yours is the right. When you come back, let’s change them back again. If you don’t come back, I’ll…”

Yang Zhen lowered his head and blocked her little chattering mouth. He would come back. He would come back even if he had to crawl back. He couldn’t watch her marrying someone else. Otherwise, he would die with a grievance.

One of the soldiers that were below them raised his head and saw the two people on the hillside. He grinned and shouted, “Friend, who are you? You’re so fortunate. Your little wife has traveled a long distance to send you off. This really makes us die of envy!”

These jealous words attracted everyone’s attention.

One by one, the tall and large men raised their heads and saw the touching scene between the two people. Most people couldn’t clearly see their faces, but a person with good eyes said, “Isn’t that Guard Yang? Prince Jing personally recommended him.” He clicked his tongue and added, “A really affectionate person…”

“Who’s the person in his arms?”

“The cloak is blocking her. I can’t tell.”

“From her figure, she looks like a beauty…”

The soldiers enjoyed talking about this topic and looking at the two people even if they couldn’t clearly see. Yang Zhen was someone that Zhao Jie had personally recommended. He would enter the army as the military commander of this detachment. There were naturally many people that weren’t happy with this decision. Now, there was this scene and people had even more to say about him.

A short while later, the carriage from behind caught up to them. Yang Zhen brought Zhao Liuli to the carriage and Wei Luo lifted the carriage curtain to welcome her inside.

The soldiers only saw Zhao Liuli from the back and couldn’t see her face. Just as they were feeling disappointed, a white jade-like hand with a gold bracelet embedded with a ruby and a sapphire appeared from inside the carriage. The luster of the gems shone brightly underneath the sunlight and they briefly saw a delicate figure’s beautiful appearance. Before they had time to clearly see Wei Luo’s face, the carriage curtain had already been put down and blocked the line of sight from outside.

“Damn, so beautiful. How many lifetimes did it take that Yang Zhen to cultivate such good fortune? He’s blessed in every way…”

These words voiced everyone’s thoughts.

Wei Luo and Zhao Liuli went back to the capital. Once they were inside the capital, Wei Luo saw that Zhao Liuli eyes were still red. Empress Chen would definitely be suspicious if she saw her like this, so Wei Luo led her a teahouse on Willow Lane to listen to ping tan.

(Note: Ping tan is storytelling through song that’s usually accompanied by two people playing instruments.)

Wei Luo reserved a private room and went upstairs with Zhao Liuli.

The private room upstairs was separated into two spaces by a partition. There was a private space and a place to lean on the parapet to enjoy the ping tan below. “Du-shi the Tenth Daughter” was currently being sung downstairs and accompanied by musical instruments. Just like Zhao Liuli, the melody was sad and melancholy. The people listening felt sadder, but they couldn’t free themselves from continuing to listen. Wei Luo pinched the spot between her eyebrows. Seeing Zhao Liuli’s tears falling down, she wondered if they had come to the wrong place. She shouldn’t have brought her here to listen to the ping tan…

Wei Luo actually understood Yang Zhen’s point of view. He wanted to seek a better path so that he could grandly marry Zhao Liuli in the future. He didn’t want the girl that he liked to suffer grievances. But, it was understandable for the other participant, Zhao Liuli, to be unwilling to part with Yang Zhen. Wei Luo didn’t have any words to persuade her. She could only wait until Zhao Liuli figured things out for herself.

Zhao Jie probably knew about this matter. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have agreed to let her come out. Wei Luo picked up the Ru Yao chrysanthemum-shaped teapot, poured tea for herself and Zhao Liuli, then she pushed a colorful teacup with a chrysanthemum pattern in front of Zhao Liuli. “Liuli, I’m afraid that this teahouse will be drowned by your tears if you keep crying.”

(Note: Ru Yao was a famous kiln factory during the Song Dynasty known for its amazing glazing techniques.)

Zhao Liuli wiped her tears, twisted Wei Luo’s hand with her thumb and forefinger for a second, and said, “Mean Ah Luo. You’re actually making fun of me. Do you think I want to cry? I would stop if I could.”

Wei Luo avoided future attempts by sitting down on the other side. After sitting down again, she supported her cheeks in her hands and looked at her. “It’s a good thing that Yang Zhan went to Guang Dong to bring order there. Don’t you think that he’ll do beyond what’s required? Perhaps, His Majesty will betroth you to him without him even asking when he safely come back in triumphant.”

Wei Luo’s words weren’t impossible. With Yang Zhen’s abilities, it would be easy for him to accomplish meritorious service.

Hearing her words, Zhao Liuli’s cheeks turned red. “But…” She was worried that he would get injured.

Wei Luo added, “When that times comes, won’t you be so lovingly inseparable from your older brother Yang Zhen that passersby will be envious to death?”

In the end, Zhao Liuli was an unmarried girl. Her face wasn’t thick-skinned like Wei Luo’s, which had been toughened by Zhao Jie’s training. She immediately became embarrassed, “Y-you dare to make fun of me! Ah Luo, I know what goes on between you and imperial brother.”

Startled, Wei Luo asked, “What?”

Zhao Liuli moved close to her ear and whispered, “The elderly female servant that imperial mother arranged in Prince Jing’s residence comes to the palace to report every day. She said that you and imperial brother don’t leave the bed until very late each day. Tell me, what do the two of you do in your bedroom every day?”

This time, Wei Luo was the one that blushed. She pushed Zhao Liuli away and denied, “I’m not telling you.”

It was Zhao Jie’s fault. Never mind that he would pester her at night. Most of the time, he wouldn’t let her leave the bed after he practiced martial arts in the morning. He would hug her when his body was covered in sweat, pressed her down, and do it one more time. Then, he would carry her to the cleaning room to bath…

Wei Luo wouldn’t say anything, so Zhao Liuli kept insisting that she tell her. After they went back and forth about this for a while, Zhao Liuli’s mood improved. She wasn’t as sad as before and she gradually smiled.

Wei Luo stayed with her to talk for a while after that. Because Wei Luo had drunk too much tea, she started to leave the private room to go to the back courtyard.

Right after Wei Luo pushed open the divider, she heard the door from the neighboring private room opening. Wei Luo didn’t pay attention to this. They were in the most inner private room, so they had to pass by the neighboring private room to leave. She walked forward two steps, inadvertently lifted her head, and met someone’s shining gaze.

Li Song was standing at the private room’s doorway. He was expressionlessly staring at her. There was a delicate and slightly familiar looking girl standing behind him. She was the singer that had recently acted as Du-shi.

The girl curiously stretched out her head and asked, “Master Li, why did you stop?”

Li Song reached a hand out, pressed it against her face, and pushed her back her into the room without any tender, protective feelings towards the fairer sex. His thin lips lightly said, “Go away.”

That girl was slightly unwilling to accept this. He had been so gentle before. Why was he suddenly treating her differently? Just as she was about say something, she saw his malicious face and immediately flinched. She blankly stood there.

Wei Luo looked away as if she had looked at something filthy. She started to walk past Li Song.

But she had only taken one step forward when his figure blocked her path in a flash. Wei Luo furrowed her eyebrows. She took a step left, but Li Song also followed her step. She took a step to the right, but he also went to the right. The man’s tall and slim body blocked the woman’s path as if he was a motionless towering mountain peak.

Li Song lowered his eyes to look at her and saw that her long eyelashes were trembling like two fluttering butterfly wings. Just as he was about to stretch his hand out to grab her, she had already raised her eyes. Her eyes held contempt and scorn. It was the type of gaze that Li Song hated the most. For a brief moment, he wanted more than anything to rip away these beautiful eyes and break her wings, so that she wouldn’t be able despise him or push him away anymore.

A light flashed through Li Song’s eyes. No one knew what he was thinking.