Chapter 164
Sure enough, people depended on their clothes just as Buddha statues depended on their gilding.
Dressed in white brocade, Zong Yuan was suffused with an otherworldly, ethereal aura, utterly unlike the little boy in gray from that previous day.
Everyone loved beauty, and Lu Hanzhi could not help but look at Zong Yuan a few extra times.
Suddenly, Yuwen Jue elbowed him from the side. “Wipe your drool.”
Lu Hanzhi instinctively sucked in the corner of his lips and rubbed his mouth, saying, “I have to admit, a replica of the former Capital’s No. 1 Beauty really hits different.”
He guessed that this Xiao Langjun must have used some secret technique from Eastern Sea. Otherwise, how could there exist someone identical to Yin Pingwu?
Unless Yin Pingwu had given birth to him himself, how could he possibly look so similar?
Yuwen Jue said, “This visitor means trouble. He probably came specifically to find you.”
Lu Hanzhi stroked his smooth, beardless chin and said, “No way. Why would he be looking for me? I don’t have any grudge against him. I haven’t even settled accounts with his family over second brother’s matter yet! Hey, tell me—if he walks around a construction site dressed like that, won’t a white peacock turn into a gray peacock?”
Yuwen Jue cleared his throat, and by then Zong Yuan had already arrived before them.
There was a hint of arrogance in the child’s eyes. Just as Yuwen Jue had said, this visitor was indeed ill-intentioned.
Lu Hanzhi was not someone who feared trouble. It was just a kid who had not even grown all his hair yet, sent by the Eastern Sea to Great Zhao for a political marriage, only to be taken into the harem by an old man. Thinking about it, it was actually rather pitiful.
The child did not seem to mind the filth of the construction site at all. Wearing those pristine white, gold-embroidered shoes, untouched by dust, he walked straight over to them.
Lu Hanzhi could not pretend not to see him and had no choice but to step forward, saying, “Oh? Isn’t this Young Lord Zong Yuan? What wind blew you over here? Look at my place—it’s filthy like this. Coming here dressed like that isn’t very appropriate, is it?”
After just a few steps, the white, gold-embroidered shoes on his feet were already covered in mud.
Zong Yuan seemed completely unconcerned. He tapped them lightly against a stone and said, “I just came to have a look—and to meet the Capital’s No. 1 Beauty, Third Young Master Lu Hanzhi.”
Lu Hanzhi casually cupped his fists and said, “I wouldn’t dare. How could I compare with the… high-quality replica… of the former Capital’s No. 1 Beauty?”
“Pfft—” Yuwen Jue could not hold it in and burst out laughing.
Zong Yuan’s little face tightened, icy cold, as he stepped forward and said, “You—”
Lu Hanzhi waved his hand and chuckled. “Young Lord, don’t be angry. It was just a joke. Besides, it’s the truth, isn’t it? Young Master Yin was famous throughout the capital, and now there’s a Little Young Master Yin as well. I’m afraid the Emperor won’t be attending court early again anytime soon. I heard His Majesty intends to bestow the title of concubine upon Young Lord Zong Yuan. From now on, Little Young Master Yin will probably be receiving boundless imperial favor night after night?”
Yuwen Jue stood beside them, holding back laughter to the point of internal injury, thinking that Hanzhi’s mouth had truly been trained to perfection.
Zong Yuan did not know whether Lu Hanzhi was doing this on purpose. Had he somehow found out that he had failed twice to get onto the dragon bed?
It even made him start doubting whether the damned Emperor actually had some kind of problem down there.
In just a few sentences, Lu Hanzhi had angered Zong Yuan to the point where steam practically rose from his head.
Not only had he insulted him as a counterfeit, he had also mocked the Emperor for having no interest in him.
Truly a person guilty of unforgivable crimes—his mouth was just as merciless!
Zong Yuan snapped, “What a sharp-tongued Lu Hanzhi. Hearing about you a hundred times was nothing compared to seeing you in person.”
Lu Hanzhi clasped his fists in a careless manner and said with a grin, “You’re too kind. This is just the beginning. We can spar more another time. So, what exactly brings Young Lord Zong Yuan here today?”
Zong Yuan looked at the towering, rectangular structure before him. Just as he was about to speak, his gaze was stolen away.
His pupils contracted slightly, clearly astonished by the almost supernatural craftsmanship of the building.
Perhaps he had been staring too intently and forgot to answer Lu Hanzhi’s question.
Lu Hanzhi was in no hurry and simply watched him quietly.
Speaking of which, the heavens really were unfair—why give someone the attribute of being a looks-connoisseur?
Nine out of ten people were face-focused, and Lu Hanzhi was one of those nine.
It did not matter which camp someone belonged to. As long as they were good-looking, that was enough.
Yuwen Jue felt helpless. Hanzhi was good in every way, except that sometimes he was just a bit too improper.
When Zong Yuan finally snapped back to reality and saw Lu Hanzhi staring unblinkingly at his face, he frowned unhappily and said, “Why are you staring at me?”
Lu Hanzhi did not beat around the bush and replied directly, “Because you’re good-looking.”
Zong Yuan: …
Zong Yuan looked at Lu Hanzhi’s outrageously handsome face and said, “Then you might as well take a mirror and look at yourself.”
Lu Hanzhi answered without a second’s thought, “I do. Every day. I’ve already seen enough.”
Zong Yuan: !!!???
He looked at Lu Hanzhi with a speechless expression. After holding it in for a long while, he finally said, “How could there be someone like you in this world… someone like… like…”
Lu Hanzhi stopped deliberately provoking him. He lifted his fan to his lips and smiled, then cleared his throat and said, “So what exactly does Young Lord Zong Yuan want with me? Surely you didn’t come all this way just to trade insults, did you?”
Zong Yuan sized him up from head to toe and asked, “I heard that you once had a falling-out with the Crown Prince’s Side Consort?”
Lu Hanzhi thought to himself, as expected—this was another one who had been thoroughly brainwashed by Su Wan’ning.
It was just that this one was a little different.
Previously it had always been burly men. Why had it suddenly been replaced by a Xiao Langjun this time?
Su Wan’ning was a woman—what use was it for her to recruit a Xiao Langjun?
Everyone knew that although a Xiao Langjun also had his functions, those… only worked in front of men.
Who knew? Perhaps she had some special fetish.
Lu Hanzhi put on an innocent expression and said, “Who told you that? How could that be possible? Wan’er is my cousin—how could I have had any grudge against her? Young Lord must have heard wrong.”
Zong Yuan thought to himself that Lu Hanzhi was indeed difficult to deal with—slick as a loach.
He let out a cold snort inwardly, but it was not convenient to say much more.
Instead, he deliberately asked, “She’s your cousin? That means she’s your aunt’s daughter? Then may I ask—are your aunt and uncle still alive?”
Lu Hanzhi thought, Su Wan’ning was so close to you—hadn’t she told you about this?
For no clear reason, a wave of sadness rose in his heart. The expression on his face dimmed, and he lost interest in continuing to banter with him. “Unfortunately, my aunt and uncle died in an accident, leaving behind only a single orphaned daughter, alone in this world. A solitary grave thousands of miles away—how desolate. In this world, I could treat anyone poorly, but I absolutely could not wrong my cousin.”
He did not know why he had told Zong Yuan all this. Thinking about it afterward, it felt a little foolish.
Zong Yuan across from him was also quite puzzled. The loneliness in Lu Hanzhi’s eyes did not seem fake, yet it was even more impossible for Sister Wan’er to have lied to him. The one who killed her parents had to be this Lu Hanzhi.
Zong Yuan carried his secret in his heart but could not speak it aloud. For a moment, his chest felt stifled, and he no longer wanted to stay.
He had to admit that Lu Hanzhi was indeed a capable man. Otherwise, after committing such a shocking crime, it would not have been possible for everything to remain so airtight.
He looked at Lu Hanzhi with a complicated gaze and finally understood why his sister had forbidden him from interfering in this matter.
Lu Hanzhi was, without question, a formidable opponent.
At this moment, he also understood why his sister had gone through such convoluted lengths—why she had not hesitated to become the Crown Prince’s Side Consort, and why she had not hesitated to let him bear children for that damned Emperor.
In an instant, he lost all desire to continue talking with Lu Hanzhi and instead turned and walked toward the carriage.
Just as he was about to get into the carriage, Zong Yuan turned back once more, smiled at Lu Hanzhi, and said, “We will meet again. I hope that the next time we meet, you will bow to me.”
Only after watching Zong Yuan’s carriage depart did Yuwen Jue ask, “Bow to him? What did that mean?”
Lu Hanzhi replied, “It means he wants to become our little mother.”
Yuwen Jue: …
Lu Hanzhi continued, “Tsk, he really is still young. Twice already and he still hasn’t figured it out. With things like this—and with him looking like that—and the Emperor still doesn’t touch him, there’s obviously something wrong.”
Yuwen Jue asked, “He seemed to hold a deep grudge against you?”
Lu Hanzhi said, “That’s what it felt like, too. But I really don’t know him at all!”
For inexplicably gaining an enemy, Lu Hanzhi also felt very innocent.
He patted Little Ah Zhu inside his belly, who was causing a fuss, glanced at the sky, and said, “Shall we head back?”
Yuwen Jue nodded. “Let’s go back.”
On the way back, Lu Hanzhi’s carriage unexpectedly ended up riding side by side with Zong Yuan’s.
Zong Yuan’s carriage—whether the Emperor had done it deliberately or not—was decorated like a concubine’s fragrant carriage.
It moved slowly and gracefully, overflowing with ethereal elegance yet also somewhat contrived.
Lu Hanzhi leaned out and called, “Oh? The future Concubine Yu really is virtuous and gentle!”
Zong Yuan, not knowing whom he was venting his anger at, kicked off his gold-embroidered shoes, flipped onto a horse, clamped his legs around its belly, and galloped off, disappearing in no time.
Lu Hanzhi whistled at his retreating figure and said, “Quite the stubborn little temper!”
Yuwen Jue said helplessly, “Stop teasing him. He’s just a child.”
Lu Hanzhi replied, “Has he even turned sixteen? The Eastern Sea really has committed a sin.”
Yuwen Jue said, “In Great Zhao, girls can be selected for the palace at thirteen, and among commoners, marriage at thirteen is also acceptable. Why call it a sin?”
As a modern person, Lu Hanzhi naturally could not understand the ancient rationale behind early marriage.
After all, living conditions in ancient times were inferior to modern ones, medicine was underdeveloped, and average life expectancy was low.
To encourage population growth, ancient societies promoted early marriage and early childbirth. On average, families needed five or six children to effectively prevent negative population growth.
Lu Hanzhi cheerfully watched Zong Yuan’s attendants panic as they hurried after him, then instructed He Ming to change direction and head toward the estate.
He had previously promised Zhong Yao that Ah Chan and Xiao Liuzi would come for pottery lessons three times a month.
Ah Chan mostly came to mess around—running after crickets with the guards, catching grasshoppers, splashing into the water to catch fish—he had practically become a wild child.
Zhong Yao, however, was very patient. He even wove cages for the grasshoppers Ah Chan caught and fired proper cricket jars for the crickets he collected.
In fact, after spending more time together, Lu Hanzhi discovered that Zhong Yao was actually cold on the outside but warm on the inside.
He had woven more than a dozen different grasshopper cages for Ah Chan, clearly showing how deft and skillful his hands were.
He was also very attentive. The bamboo strips he used were all soaked and softened first, for fear of scratching a child’s hands.
From a distance, Lu Hanzhi saw them cleaning up the fired pottery. To make it interesting for the children, Zhong Yao had specially fired small clay figurines for them.
Xiao Liuzi was obediently painting the little clay figures, completely unaware that Lu Hanzhi had come to pick them up.
Zhong Yao turned his head and glanced at Lu Hanzhi, then turned back to Xiao Liuzi and said, “Ah Yao, your Shi Die has come to get you.”
Xiao Liuzi turned around, looking utterly confused at him, and Zhong Yao’s expression instantly changed.
Lu Hanzhi stepped forward with a smiling face and asked, “Ah Yao? Why did Ah Yao call Xiao Liuzi ‘Ah Yao’?”
Zhong Yao stood there in silence, momentarily unsure how to answer Lu Hanzhi’s question.
Then he heard Lu Hanzhi say, “But that name actually sounds quite nice. Our Xiao Liuzi still doesn’t have a formal name. Why don’t we just give that name to our Xiao Liuzi?”
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