Dong dong~
In the resplendent and magnificent bedroom, Dongfang Liren knocked on the door gently. After waiting for a while and hearing no response from inside, she pushed open the door of the bedroom.
Zhi~~
The rain curtain outside the window pattered softly. The palace lanterns under the upturned eaves emitted a dim yellow light, illuminating the elegant outer room. Strands of gentle breeze drifted in, and the green jade bead curtains swayed gently in the room.
The room was very quiet and seemed to be empty.
Dongfang Liren entered the room and was about to call out, "Your Majesty?"
However, as soon as she stepped through the door, the door behind her was closed by someone, and then two hands reached out from behind and covered her eyes.
?!
Dongfang Liren's face changed slightly. She thought she had been ambushed by unknown thieves in the empress's bedroom, but what kind of ambush was this?
Dongfang Liren stopped in her tracks. At first, she thought it was her elder sister playing a joke, but the touch of these big hands clearly belonged to a man, and it was very familiar...
"Guess who I am?"
A man's gentle voice, deliberately lowered, sounded in her ear.
Yejingtang? Dongfang Liren was slightly taken aback and obviously a bit surprised, but she quickly remembered where she was...
Dong——
A slight dull sound came from the bedroom.
Dongfang Liren's movements were extremely swift. She pulled away the hands covering her eyes, turned around, grabbed the man's lapel, and directly pressed the extremely handsome man in front of her against the door. Her eyes were slightly fierce:
"Why are you here?!"
As she spoke, she looked at him carefully and found that Yejingtang had disheveled hair and the official robe she had given him today was tattered. It was obvious that he had been through a fierce battle. For this reason, Dongfang Liren tightened her grip a bit and added another question:
"Are you injured?"
Yejingtang was pressed against the door and didn't resist. There was a smile in his eyes:
"I went to find Qiu Tianhe just now and found that Eunuch Cao had entered the palace to cause trouble. I was afraid something would happen, so I came to help. I fought a few moves with Eunuch Cao, and it's nothing serious."
Dongfang Liren suddenly understood. However, after thinking about it, her eyes were full of suspicion:
"I'm asking you why you're here. Do you know what place this is?"
Yejingtang naturally knew that this was the beautiful woman's bedroom. To prevent Benben from discovering the beautiful woman's injury and worrying about it, he could only force himself to make up a reason:
"I was agitated and needed to recuperate. The Taiji Hall is close to here, so I came to Minglong Lake to meditate by the way. Just now, when I saw Your Highness coming, I quietly came over to give you a surprise."
Dongfang Liren was half convinced by this explanation and said seriously:
"This is His Majesty's bedroom. Didn't the palace maid tell you last time that you can't enter without permission?"
Yejingtang smiled and said, "I saw that there was no one here, and Your Highness was walking towards this place. I thought this was Your Highness's residence in the palace..."
"Just because it's my residence, you can secretly sneak in?"
Dongfang Liren let out a soft snort and didn't continue to scold Master Yejingtang. She was curious about where her elder sister had gone and turned to walk towards the screen, intending to take a look in the bathroom where she usually took medicinal baths.
Yejingtang saw this and thought it was not good—if Benben opened the door of the bathroom and found Yu Hu naked in the bath pool, with a red dress and sexy underwear lying beside it, he probably wouldn't be able to explain himself even if he jumped into the Qingjiang River!
In a flash of thought, Yejingtang quickly reached out and grabbed Benben.
Dongfang Liren's wrist was grabbed, and she stopped in her tracks. She turned her eyes back:
"What are you doing..."
When she saw Yejingtang's face, her expression froze slightly.
The drizzle outside the window rustled. The handsome young man was very close. Those bright and piercing eyes carried a bit of indescribable tenderness and stared at her without blinking.
That look was like looking at a delicate flower that he cherished extremely. He wanted to get closer, but he was afraid that any accidental rudeness would damage the beauty in front of him.
Dongfang Liren was just beginning to experience the stirrings of love. Recently, she had made up for her theoretical knowledge by reading "The Tears of Heroic Women", but when it came to the affairs of men and women, she was still as inexperienced as an unmarried young lady.
However, seeing this sudden and special look, Dongfang Liren understood the meaning immediately—he likes me...
"..."
Dongfang Liren's body stiffened slightly. Her originally imposing and cold heroic eyes showed a bit of hesitation and bewilderment. A touch of red appeared on her fair and jade-like cheeks. Her red lips parted slightly, but no words came out.
Yejingtang held her wrist and pulled the tall and slender Princess towards him. Their eyes met, and he said in a gentle tone:
"Last time at Canyang Pool, I accidentally saw Your Highness naked. Your Highness didn't hold it against me and asked me to help the Black Yamen handle cases to pay off the debt. I've been repaying it for so long and have also made some contributions. I wonder if Your Highness is satisfied?"
"..."
Dongfang Liren was pulled closer. The chubby silver dragon on her clothes was at most two inches away from Yejingtang's chest. She had to raise her face and look into the man's eyes.
Hearing the gentle words, Dongfang Liren's whole body tensed up. She tried her best to maintain the appearance of a cold Princess, but the slight fluttering of her eyelashes revealed the confusion in her heart:
"Hmm... I'm quite satisfied. Keep up the good work in the future... Why did you suddenly ask this?"
Yejingtang's eyes were gentle as he looked at the bright and beautiful face in front of him:
"It's nothing, just wanted to ask. If Your Highness is satisfied, how do you plan to reward me?"
Reward?
Dongfang Liren's original plan was to ask for a reward for Yejingtang. But with the current atmosphere, it didn't seem right to say that. Dongfang Liren thought that the reward Yejingtang wanted now should have nothing to do with fame and fortune, but rather something between men and women...
Dongfang Liren hesitated for a moment and asked tentatively:
"What kind of reward do you want?"
Yejingtang smiled mysteriously and pulled Benben towards the window.
Dongfang Liren was a bit dazed, but she still followed him to the small terrace by the lake.
Then, Master Yejingtang beside her domineeringly put his arm around her waist, picked her up, and leaped out of the terrace. He stepped on the water and headed towards the other side of Minglong Lake.
Tap, tap~
A knight-errant and a beauty walking on the water under the moon should have been a very romantic scene.
But it was raining heavily outside!
Dongfang Liren was caught off guard and carried out. The raindrops hit her face. She was so angry that she even forgot she was being hugged by a man. She raised her hand and hit Yejingtang's chest, who was showing off recklessly:
"What are you doing? It's raining so heavily. Can't you go through the main door?"
Yejingtang also thought the rain was a real buzzkill, but he had no choice. He forced himself to act like a carefree knight-errant, landing on the lake surface like a dragonfly skimming the water, using his tattered sleeve robe to shield Benben, who was in his arms, from the wind and rain:
"It's okay. I'll shield you."
Dongfang Liren was very angry with this boyfriend who seemed romantic but was actually a bit crazy. If they struggled wildly, the two of them might fall into the lake together. So she could only bury her head in Yejingtang's arms to avoid the rain and said angrily:
"What on earth are you going to do?"
I don't know either!
Yejingtang held Benben, who had a supermodel figure, and rose and fell on the lake surface. Soon, they crossed Minglong Lake. He didn't stop but picked up a flower umbrella that was being dried among the houses where the palace servants lived. He held the umbrella above their heads and jumped onto the palace pavilion.
Dongfang Liren was held around her slender waist and rose and fell on the imperial city. With the umbrella to shield her, she finally felt better, but she was still full of anger. She looked up at the solemn and extraordinary Young Master Ye:
"Where are you going? Are you abducting me out of the palace?"
Yejingtang didn't know where he was going either. He forced himself to look mysterious as if he was going to give Benben a surprise and walked among the palace pavilions.
Seeing this, Dongfang Liren was really interested and wanted to see what Yejingtang was going to show her, so she didn't speak anymore.
Because it was difficult to maintain balance while being carried and flying, she also put her hand on Yejingtang's shoulder and looked around the imperial city.
Yejingtang had a solemn expression, but his heart was filled with panic.
After knocking down Eunuch Cao just now, because he was afraid that Sister Luo and the others would be frightened by Qiu Tianhe's madness on Minglong Tower, he asked Niaoniao to go back first to ensure their safety.
Without the help of Niaoniao, Yejingtang didn't know if there were any special places around that could explain why he was carrying Benben out in the rain.
After looking around for a while, Yejingtang noticed the afterglow of the towering lights outside the imperial city. His heart moved, and he quickly flew out of Changle Palace and came to the city wall on the outer side of the imperial city.
Tap~
The two figures embracing each other and sharing an umbrella landed on the gate tower of Zhuque Gate.
Outside the city gate was Tianjie Street, which was forty zhang wide and was also the central axis of Yun'an City. One could see the South Gate of the capital at a glance. On both sides of Tianjie Street were seas of bright lights. Looking at it through the rain, the scenery was extremely beautiful and magnificent.
Dongfang Liren stood on the top of the gate tower and looked at the bustling Yun'an City under the night rain. There was indeed a bit of amazement in her eyes. Standing under the umbrella, she looked out:
"You really know how to find a place."
Yejingtang had just chosen a place randomly, but standing on the imperial city and looking out over the entire capital, that feeling of being unrivaled under the whole world really made him feel a bit high-spirited.
Yejingtang held the umbrella above Benben's head, turned his head to look at the bright and charming side profile, and smiled:
"Do you like it?"
Dongfang Liren nodded. Just as she was about to speak, she noticed that Yejingtang was still holding her waist, and her eyes turned slightly cold.
Yejingtang quickly let go of his hand and stood with his hands behind his back.
Only then was Dongfang Liren satisfied, and she looked at the night view of Yun'an:
"The scenery is quite nice. What do you want to do by bringing me here?"
Yejingtang didn't want to do anything embarrassing to Benben either. He just didn't want Benben to worry when she saw Yu Hu in a half-dead state. After thinking for a moment, he said:
"Your Highness, accompany me to enjoy the scenery for a while. Consider it as a reward for me. How about that?"
?
Dongfang Liren felt that these words were very ambiguous and a bit offensive, but she didn't get angry at all when she heard them.
After all, a man who regarded fame and fortune as nothing and only did things to make a beautiful woman smile, which woman would hate such a silly man?
Dongfang Liren blinked her eyes and didn't refuse. However, she still added:
"Considering that you, the lecher, have made great contributions this time, I won't bother with these small details. I'm fair in rewards and punishments. I will give you what should be given to you even if you don't want it. Starting from tomorrow, you will be the deputy commander of the Black Yamen and enjoy the treatment of a fourth-rank military position..."
Yejingtang hesitated: "I'm okay at handling things, but I'm not good at being an official."
"It's just to give you an official status. It's not like I'm asking you to sit in the yamen and manage people. You can go and handle things when there's something to do, and when there's nothing to do, you can enjoy the imperial salary and deal with your private affairs. I won't punish you."
"That's good."
Dongfang Liren let out a soft "hum~". To prevent the rain from getting on her python robe, she leaned closely against Yejingtang and quietly looked at the night view of Yun'an.
Yejingtang felt that it was a bit inappropriate to just stand there like this. After thinking about it, he handed the umbrella to Benben, then put his hands together and blew a tune against his mouth:
"Wu~ wu~~"
A tune that was like the flying sand in the desert sounded. Dongfang Liren's eyes moved slightly, showing the same surprise as Luo Ning.
Dongfang Liren held the umbrella above Yejingtang's head. After listening intently for a moment with her bright eyes, she also hummed along:
"En~ heng heng~..."
Although Dongfang Liren usually spoke very domineeringly and her voice as an elder sister was high and cold, when she hummed a little tune, it was very gentle and pleasant to the ear.
Yejingtang stopped his tune and turned to look at the noble Princess beside him:
"Your Highness also knows this tune?"
A look of pride appeared in Dongfang Liren's eyes: "I'm proficient in playing the qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting. It's a little tune that everyone in Shazhou knows. Do you think you can deceive me?"
Yejingtang smiled and didn't try to show off anymore. He stood with his hands behind his back and seriously watched Benben humming the little tune.
"En heng heng~~"
The drizzle fell on the towering city gate tower, and countless palace lanterns swayed under the upturned eaves.
The young man and woman with peerless looks stood at the very top of the city gate tower, snuggling up to each other under the flower umbrella.
The fine raindrops fell on the umbrella surface, forming a curtain of rain around the two of them. The woman's gentle humming came from under the umbrella and then dissipated in the rain curtain. It seemed that the whole world only had the two of them leaning against each other.
The woman looked at the fireworks of the whole city, while the man stared at the woman without blinking.
Dongfang Liren hummed seriously for a while and found that Yejingtang had been looking at her. Her back straightened involuntarily, and her face gradually turned red.
Although she didn't really want to admit it, it seemed that they were indeed having a secret tryst as a man and a woman.
According to the process described in "The Tears of Heroic Women", wouldn't this lecher hug me and kiss me with his tongue and even put his hand inside my clothes to touch the chubby dragon...
Dongfang Liren had recently made up for her theoretical knowledge and really knew the process of a tryst between a man and a woman. Her eyes secretly glanced at Yejingtang from time to time, not knowing whether she was on guard or waiting.
Yejingtang sensed that Benben had misinterpreted his intentions. If it were normal, it would be okay to enjoy the scenery here slowly, but Yu Hu's injury hadn't healed yet, and it would be troublesome if something happened while she was taking a bath alone.
So although the atmosphere obviously hadn't been properly set, Yejingtang still raised his hand and reached around Benben's back, pretending to put his arm around her shoulder.
Sure enough! Dongfang Liren found that Yejingtang was really following the process. She quickly stopped humming and looked at him with a guarded expression:
"It's getting late. Let's go back."
Yejingtang smiled softly: "Okay, I'll send Your Highness back to the mansion." As he said this, he put his arm around Benben's waist, tapped his toes lightly, and jumped down from the city gate tower, heading towards Mingyu Building, which wasn't too far from the imperial city.
Dongfang Liren felt that Yejingtang was setting a trap for her, so she was very careful along the way, always paying attention to whether Yejingtang's hands were misbehaving and groping randomly.
As a result, Yejingtang was very gentlemanly. Except for holding her to shield her from the wind and rain, there was nothing excessive. In a short while, they had already arrived at the main street of the mansion. They crossed the wall and came to Mingyu Building in the back garden.
Tap~
The two of them landed in front of the tall building, and Yejingtang let go of his hand:
"Your Highness, please rest early. I'll come to visit you tomorrow."
"...?"
Dongfang Liren was naturally a bit stunned to see that Yejingtang really planned to leave. It probably meant—Although I don't mean to let you succeed, why aren't you following the process? Are you just going back so cleanly and simply?
This isn't what's written in the book...
She definitely couldn't say these words explicitly. Dongfang Liren slightly tidied up her clothes and looked at Yejingtang:
"Your clothes are torn. Come up and take a seat. I'll find you a clean set of clothes to change into."
Yejingtang had read a lot of miscellaneous books for many years and knew what these words meant. If he went up now, who knew what would happen.
But there