Chapter 154

The noon sun poured into the hidden courtyard behind Ruyi Building. The man in strong attire galloped all the way, the dust of the journey not yet shaken off. At this moment, he was standing outside the house, bowing and cupping his hands to report to the room, his gaze always lowered, not daring to peek at the figure behind the layers of bead curtains.

Inside the house, Xiao Baoyue leaned obliquely on the brocade couch, carelessly turning the wine cup in his hand, looking at the clear and peerless reflection in the cup, appearing somewhat uninterested.

"... The matter of the Marquis of Anlu assassinating Yongzhou has been decided, but the specific time of transfer is not yet known..."

Xiao Baoyue suddenly opened his mouth and said: "Tell Father Marquis, be quick. At the latest, let Third Uncle arrive at the garrison before September."

"Yes... The master said that the next Prefect of Kuaiji should be the son of the Prince of Jingling, and Chen Xianda might return to the capital to serve as—"

Xiao Baoyue interrupted: "Don't tell me about these things. I only look at Jingzhou now."

"Yes." Hearing this, the man subconsciously lowered his body a few points.

"How is Gongsun Niang?" Xiao Baoyue's gaze moved away from the wine cup, and his expression became a bit more lively.

The man hurriedly responded: "Madam Xu is doing well, Young Master, don't worry. Madam Xu can already get out of bed now. I'm afraid that in another month or two, we won't be able to stop her." As he spoke, his voice deliberately carried a bit of ease and joy.

"Tell Gongsun Niang to heal well. I will return at the end of August."

The man responded respectfully.

"Go down." Xiao Baoyue returned to that lazy and distant appearance again.

"Young Master..." The man hesitated, his footsteps not moving a fraction.

"What else is there?"

The man took a letter from his bosom, his expression very difficult, his tone hesitant: "This is... the letter from Young Master Xu to the Young Master..."

Xiao Baoyue put down the wine cup, and a mocking smile appeared on his exquisite lips, with a bit of tipsy drunkenness: "His letter can actually be sent here? This is Father Marquis's handwriting, right?"

The man's head lowered even more: "The master's meaning is that Young Master Xu's intentions are very sincere, suggesting the Young Master take a look, and if you have time, it is best to write back..."

Xiao Baoyue sneered: "What sincere intentions? It's that Xu Xiaosi is going to be promoted again, right? What is he doing this time? Minister of Personnel? A bit early..."

The man listened to Xiao Baoyue's sneering voice with a bit of drunkenness, lowering his head, not daring to move, let alone answer.

After a moment of silence, Xiao Baoyue said: "Lian San, take the letter."

Lian San stepped forward. The man felt as if he had been pardoned, hurriedly handed the letter to Lian San, and whispered: "Thank you, Third Steward."

Lian San bowed and smiled, took the letter, and stood aside.

"I will take my leave!" The man very wisely retreated quickly.

After the man left, Lian San said: "Young Master, this letter..."

Xiao Baoyue straightened his enchanting waist, stretched lazily like a cat, and yawned: "Full of nonsense, very boring, burn it."

Lian San hesitated: "But the Duke..."

"I have my own—" Xiao Baoyue frowned slightly when he said this halfway.

Hearing that there was no sound from inside, Lian San called out: "Young Master?"

Xiao Baoyue curled his waist slightly, his face pale as the first snow of winter, enduring the pain and said: "Do as I say."

"Yes, the old slave will burn it immediately... It's just that, is your stomach ailment acting up again? The physician said you cannot drink cold wine anymore!"

A sickly smile appeared on Xiao Baoyue's face, but it looked even more enchanting and peerless, and he said softly: "The wine is not cold, it's boring..."

Lian San felt very worried: "But the physician—"

"Lian San, how did you become as nagging as Gongsun Niang?"

At this time, outside the building, a large group of armored and sword-wearing soldiers broke into the Nanguang Street market. The fish-scale armor plates flashed with intimidating light under the sun, clattering and shaking!

The crowd was panicked by this sudden formation and retreated to both sides. Those with a little knowledge recognized at a glance that this was the Prince's personal guard! They secretly wondered, what are these evil spirits doing here?

The large group of soldiers went straight to Ruyi Building, stopped in front of the door, and then separated like a wave!

A young master in a gorgeous robe with jade pendants walked out from the passage in the middle with a leisurely pace, shaking a fan, followed by a green-shirted beauty with a sword. The onlookers were stunned, and they sighed in their hearts: This is the real noble young master! I don't know which aristocratic clan he is from! He actually has the Prince's personal guard to open the way for him!

May 6th, Broken Day, everything is suitable for breaking.

Wang Yang raised his head, looked at the sun, then flicked his wrist, closed the folding fan with a 'swish,' pointed at the three golden characters "Ruyi Building" on the sign, and shouted: "Come! Surround this building, don't let anyone escape!"

Seeing this, the waiter ran inside like a gust of wind.

The shopkeeper immediately brought a few agile waiters to block Wang Yang and asked with a fake smile: "What does the young master mean?"

Several waiters stared fiercely from behind, their eyes showing no fear or panic, but rather a bit of ferocity.

Wang Yang was not in a hurry and said with a smile: "By the Prince's order, check your shop."

"We are a legal business, what are you checking?"

Wang Yang looked around slowly, as if admiring some scenery, and said casually: "Whether it's legal or not, we'll know after checking."

The shopkeeper's eyes turned cold, he lowered his voice, and his tone was threatening: "Has the young master thought about the consequences of doing this?"

Wang Yang blinked and also lowered his voice, asking seriously: "Do you know what a dandy is?"

Seeing Wang Yang suddenly lower his voice, the shopkeeper couldn't help but be happy, thinking he was starting to be afraid and willing to negotiate. But who knew, Wang Yang actually asked such a brainless question, so he had to say: "I would like to ask the young master for advice."

Wang Yang waved his folding fan and revealed an arrogant smile: "A dandy is someone who doesn't think about the consequences, just feels good. Today, I am a dandy!"

He pointed his fan backward and called out lazily: "Qingshan, do it."

Chen Qingshan kicked sideways, her long legs drawing a vigorous straight line in the air. Before the shopkeeper could react, he was kicked away! The waiters were about to pounce like wolves and tigers, but a large number of soldiers poured into the shop, their blades forming a forest! The military captain pressed the hilt of his sword and roared loudly: "By the Prince's order to check the shop, no one is allowed to move. Those who resist will be killed!"

The bamboo wind rose lightly, and the bead curtains clinked.

In the courtyard, Wang Yang stood smiling outside the house, tightly surrounded by eight swordsmen, the sword shadows like frost.

He looked leisurely, lightly waving his folding fan, looking at the figure behind the curtain: "If I don't go out within half an hour, they will come in to search."

Xiao Baoyue endured the stomach pain and laughed a few times: "Wang Yang, I really underestimated you, being able to bring the Prince of Badong's personal guard here. How many people came?"

"Actually, it's not many, mainly because you have experts here. I was afraid a strong attack wouldn't be enough, so I brought more." Wang Yang smiled and looked at Lian San.

Lian San no longer had that gentle and polite smile as before, but stared coldly at Wang Yang, the killing intent in his eyes intense.

Xiao Baoyue raised his head slightly: "Considerate, but a bit cutely stupid. You let them come in to search, search for what? I didn't commit a capital crime like you. Even if the Prince of Badong comes in person, what can he do to me?"

Wang Yang smiled: "He can't do anything to you. But I pretended to be from Langya, thanks to your cleanup. Firstly, hiding the confessions of Team Leader Xue and others; secondly, modifying the reply of the Ministry of Personnel; thirdly, helping me fabricate my identity background. If I committed a capital crime..."

Wang Yang's smile faded, and he slowly stretched out the folding fan in his hand, pointing at the figure behind the curtain: "Then you are an accomplice!"

Xiao Baoyue pressed his stomach and laughed weakly: "You are indeed shameless enough."

Wang Yang said speechlessly: "If I weren't shameless, I would have been played to death by you! You can't expect everyone to be a gentleman and then be played by you stupidly, right?"

Xiao Baoyue's pain began to recede: "Makes sense. But since you are so shameless, the charges you arranged for me definitely aren't just accomplice, right?" His voice actually carried a bit of expectation inexplicably!

Wang Yang said as a matter of course:

"That's natural! You directed me to monitor the Prince of Badong. To put it mildly, this is called 'planting spies and peeping at the imperial prince'; to put it seriously, this is 'secretly peeping at private secrets, waiting for extraordinary things'! Harboring evil intentions, it can be said to be clear. Is it to hold the imperial prince's handle to use? Or is it as bold as a bucket, secretly framing? This is not something I can know. When the case is questioned, don't worry, under normal circumstances, I will only confess truthfully and will not implicate you!"

After speaking, he revealed a cheap smile.

Xiao Baoyue's long autumn eyes were full of smiles, shining brightly: "I didn't expect you to be quite interesting, much more interesting than those talented scholars! I think you should enter the Censorate in the future, you really have talent in this area!"

Strictly speaking, what Xiao Baoyue did wasn't monitoring, after all, he just asked Wang Yang to relay the Prince of Badong's words to him. But described by Wang Yang, the nature was much more serious. If it were publicly reported in the court, I'm afraid it would be difficult to refute.

Wang Yang laughed and said: "Forget the Censorate, I'm not interested for the time being. How about being a Princess's husband?"

"Oh? You still want to marry a princess? You are bold!"

"Hey! If the heart is there, the dream is there!"

The two were talking about life-and-death struggles, but neither cared, as if they were joking. Neither was willing to show any tension, as if each had their own reliance.

Xiao Baoyue said leisurely: "Also, you don't even plan to keep your life, so it's good to dream more."

Wang Yang waved his hand, his voice hearty: "Anyway, I'll be silenced by you sooner or later, life or not is not important!"

"Where did you get that? When did I say I wanted to silence you?"

Wang Yang pretended to be surprised: "Does this kind of thing need to be said? You order me around, treat me as a servant, doesn't this mean you are holding my life? Yes, you are more powerful than me, I can't counter-kill, but splashing you with blood is always okay."

Xiao Baoyue clapped his hands and praised: "Oh! A man's anger, blood splashes five steps! Magnificent!"

Then he sighed: "Pity, we are further than five steps away, your blood won't splash on me."

"Is that so?"

Wang Yang smiled, looked directly at the figure behind the curtain, and took a step forward.

Ever since he was held hostage by the woman that day, he had been standing seven steps away to answer. Now that the long sword was approaching, he was not afraid at all, and took two more steps. The sword formation surrounding him had to move forward with his steps.

Wang Yang opened his arms, smiling brightly: "Look, five steps."

Xiao Baoyue's expression turned cold.