Chapter 151
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“Why can’t I back out now? I was just about to become the Seventh Lord’s Empress, but the Seventh Lord himself said it’s not possible. We have to get married first, and then the wedding night.” Xue Yao strategically turned around, creating a distance of two steps. When he looked back, Lu Qian was closely following.
The hypocritical brat’s face showed a calm attitude, as if giving the prey its freedom, but the confined space given was approximately a radius of three millimeters around him.
“Your grandpa is not saying it’s not possible. A worthy lifelong husband should be polite in the face of such requests.” Lu Qian bent down, took Xue Yao’s hand, and led him to the candlelight, igniting the lights in the room.
For Lu Qian, lighting the lamp was advantageous. Xue Yao admitted this because this guy’s looks were a cheating existence. When the light came on, Xue Yao’s intelligence was immediately deducted by more than thirty points, and Lu Qian, playing a bit more normally, could continue the ‘matter.’
But at this moment, Lu Qian’s performance was also affected because Xue Yao’s sudden whimsical ‘grip’ just now caused Lu Qian to be ‘ready to take action’.
In such a state, a man’s blood rushed somewhere, and the brain was prone to oxygen deficiency. Lu Qian’s eloquence could only operate at a maximum of fifty percent.
All things considered, Xue Yao still had the upper hand. So, Lu Qian showcasing his looks with the lights on was a compensatory move to maintain equal battleground conditions between them.
“A worthy lifelong husband surely doesn’t speak politely. They are all sincere!” Xue Yao knew that pushing someone to this extent and then calling a halt was unfair, but whoever assessed the opponent’s size would surely reconsider.
“Your granpda is serious. Your grandpa could have married Yaoyao now, but he chose to heed Eldest Brother’s advice and go to gather provisions,” Lu Qian’s gaze softened as he said with a hint of grievance, “Four months without seeing each other.”
Xue Yao felt like he might be struck dead by Lu Qian’s pitiful gaze. He reached out to extinguish the light, but Lu Qian caught his hand.
“What are you doing?” Lu Qian asked him with confusion.
“Turn off the light.” Xue Yao refused to let the enemy use his looks to cheat.
Lu Qian, with a pout, questioned, “Yaoyao is leaving for four months, can’t your grandpa look a little longer?”
Xue Yao fell silent. Apparently, Lu Qian lighting the lamp wasn’t to subdue him with looks but to gaze at him a little longer.
Who could withstand this reasoning? Well, Xue Yao couldn’t, so he gave up the opportunity to extinguish the light. Lu Qian led him in what seemed like purposeless serpentine movements, but they were getting closer to the bed.
“Four months, your grandpa can wait. No hurry,” Lu Qian whispered lowly into Xue Yao’s ear, “Just afraid Yaoyao can’t wait. So tonight, the best husband will make it hard for Yaoyao to let go.”
“Hahaha!” Xue Yao burst into laughter without giving face. “Your Highness is this confident? The first time, Your Highness already knows you’re definitely the best husband? After tonight, I might not want to see you again!”
“Impossible.” Lu Qian didn’t want to joke about such matters. He gazed at Xue Yao seriously, emphasizing each word, “Your grandpa has seen a lot. A lot. Anything you want, you can have.”
In order not to hurt his pride, Xue Yao gently reminded, “There’s a big difference between looking at illustrations and doing it yourself, Seventh Lord. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”
Lu Qian laughed, full of determination as he looked at him. “Let’s give it a try.”
Xue Yao suddenly got mischievous.
From childhood to adulthood, Lu Qian was gifted in almost everything, arrogant to the core. This might be one thing that could humble him a bit.
It was almost a rule that men were “quick” the first time.
Since it was quick, it shouldn’t be too hard to endure, maybe not even enough time to get used to it.
Equally inexperienced, Xue Yao fell victim to his own wild imagination.
The beginning of the “affair” — Xue Yao, awkward but composed, assumed the right posture, while Lu Qian pretended to be calm and skilled, shaking as he helped Xue Yao undress.
The ending came amidst Xue Yao’s howls.
This loud howl wasn’t because Xue Yao was wild in this regard. It was entirely due to pain.
Their first time was not successful.
In the final moments of exhaustion, Xue Yao could only accommodate “less than one-fifth” of Lu Qian.
In the moment of this one-fifth union, it unexpectedly brought the progress of the【Tyrant’s Fluttering Hear Quest】to one hundred percent!
Truly a tyrant who was easily content.
Due to Xue Yao’s painful cry, continuing would probably make Yaoyao not want to see His Highness again.
Lu Qian’s rationality triumphed over his pride. Quietly and obediently, he withdrew, placing his arm around Xue Yao’s lower back, pulling him into an embrace, and softly saying, “This one doesn’t count. Tomorrow, let’s bring some ointment.”
The pain exceeded expectations, causing Xue Yao to involuntarily gasp. Surprisingly, instead of comforting, Lu Qian thought about coming back tomorrow. Angrily, Xue Yao declared, “I don’t want to anymore. I don’t like the Seventh Lord!”
“Like,” Lu Qian exposed Xue Yao’s lie, “Yaoyao likes your grandpa the most. Since childhood, you couldn’t bear to be without your grandpa.”
“I used to consider you as a brother.” Xue Yao raised his head, feigning toughness. “Childhood friends are boring. I used to look forward to encountering a stranger, that kind of love at first sight in a crowd. That feeling is refreshing!”
Lu Qian was momentarily stunned, images of the little reader-in-waiting going to the south and exchanging glances with various men flashed in his mind.
His brow immediately furrowed!
“Why are you silent?” Xue Yao mischievously waited for Lu Qian to feel jealous before revealing it was just a tease.
“Angry, Seventh Lord?”
Lu Qian lowered his eyes, earnestly looking at him as he replied, “They will one day become as commonplace as your grandpa, but they will never compare to how much your grandpa adores Yaoyao.”
“Who said that? How do you know no one will like me more than you?” Xue Yao, charmed by Lu Qian, felt ecstatic. Even his toes curled with excitement. Sweet words masked the pain in a certain part of his body, but he still insisted on playing tough!
Lu Qian confidently smiled and didn’t pursue the topic further. Instead, he asked, “Why do you suddenly want to go to Jiangnan to gather provisions? The granary isn’t lacking. Why not just directly allocate supplies from there?”
Xue Yao: “……”
This little pig’s trotters! Suddenly becoming clear-headed and difficult to deceive after everything was done. Why didn’t he ask these questions before taking action?
To avoid interrogation, Xue Yao let out a sigh, pretended to be tired, mumbled something incomprehensible even to himself, then tucked his head and pretended to fall asleep.
After a quiet moment without Lu Qian’s further questioning, Xue Yao breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, he felt Lu Qian gently place a kiss on his forehead and hold him even tighter.
Upon waking up, Xue Yao found Lu Qian missing. The happiness of being tightly embraced in his dream instantly faded, taking away the sweet smile from the corners of Xue Yao’s mouth.
After the joint efforts of both parties last night, they managed to achieve one-fifth. Wouldn’t it be normal for them to show some tenderness?
How could he just leave without saying goodbye?
An hour later, Xue Yao had to gather with the team heading out of the capital to procure provisions. He could only temporarily set aside the dispute with the little pig’s trotters.
After dressing, Xue Yao walked out and saw three familiar eunuchs standing in the courtyard, each holding a gift.
The lead eunuch approached, explaining that these were gifts prepared by Prince Ning.
Early in the morning?
Xue Yao wondered if Lu Qian had left before dawn.
Fortunately, before Xue Yao could express his anger, the eunuchs presented a note written by Lu Qian.
The note mentioned that Lu Qian would climb onto the roof every morning to sneak a peek at Xue Yao, fearing his eldest brother might catch him and change his mind.
This guy was quite meticulous. He probably left after Xue Yao fell asleep last night.
Xue Yao chuckled, thinking it made sense. Endure these four months, and they could try the marriage.
After leaving the capital and boarding the ship, Xue Yao began to explore the rewards for completing the Fluttering Heart quest.
In addition to the known ultimate mall openings, there were also over eight hundred free Whitewashing Points lottery draws.
With no immediate need for exchange, Xue Yao entered the Multiverse Record Reference Line Mall to see if he could freely search and browse future events. This was indeed a true ability of foresight!
Opening the ultimate mall, a map panel appeared in the void. Xue Yao tried clicking it, finding that only the green area of the map was clickable.
Clicking on a part of the map would expand into more specific locations. Within these locations, names of people Xue Yao had encountered would appear.
Clicking on a name would extend several white lines on the right. Clicking one of these lines would immediately start playing a certain period of that person’s life. At a specific moment, the scene would abruptly stop, shrinking into a white dot. To the right of the dot, several more white lines would emerge.
After several attempts, Xue Yao understood how to use this mall.
This future prediction mall didn’t provide a definite future. Each line represented a crossroads in life, guiding the person toward different paths, without an absolute future.
Searching for the palace on the map of the capital, Xue Yao saw Lu Qian’s name not in Nansan Hall but unexpectedly in the Qianqing Palace.
Qianqing Palace was where the emperor resided, meaning Lu Qian was destined to ascend to the throne.
Without checking Lu Qian’s future for now, Xue Yao went to the place where the empress lived to see if he was there.
Surprisingly, he couldn’t find himself!
Exiting the palace map, he finally found himself in the Xue residence.
Xue Yao’s name was in a dark gray color. Clicking it prompted a message:【Host’s future cannot be predicted.】
He couldn’t even see his own future!
Xue Yao had no choice but to exit and return to the palace map to find Lu Qian. Clicking on him, another prompt appeared:【Prediction results for this target are classified data. The host has no access permission.】
Xue Yao: “……”
What a stingy system!
Unable to view it directly, Xue Yao had to be a bit clever. He searched for information about his and Lu Qian’s future from Lu Jinan’s prediction lines.
However, he couldn’t exploit any system vulnerabilities. All event lines related to Lu Qian and himself were grayed out and couldn’t be opened for viewing.
The system was truly firm.
Xue Yao, in self-abandonment, cracked sunflower seeds and began watching the daily life of his Male God, Lu Jinan. He truly was… a model husband!
Unfortunately, there was too much content unsuitable for children. Xue Yao didn’t want to offend Princess Consort Rui, so he exited for now.
It seemed there was a sense of shame when viewing the private lives of familiar people. Xue Yao couldn’t adapt for a moment, so he chose some people he had absolutely no recollection of and browsed through their daily lives.
Unintentionally, he clicked on a completely unfamiliar name in Pingrong County, and the interface started playing the daily life of a young man.
After scrutinizing for a while, he finally remembered. This young man was the one who delivered a basket of dry rations to Xue Yao on the day he returned to the capital after controlling the plague.
Unexpectedly, this young man had grown so tall.
Xue Yao proudly curled his lips. If not for his struggle against the plague back then, this boy wouldn’t have survived.
Smiling, Xue Yao’s forehead gradually furrowed.
In the scene, the young man sold the fields, continued seeking medical treatment with his mother, and then the scene shrank into a white dot.
Quickly clicking on the white dot and the subsequent reference line, the young man’s mother still died of illness. After the funeral, the family couldn’t make ends meet.
Afraid to look at the next reference line — such a result meant that even if the young man didn’t starve to death, he could only resort to begging.
Xue Yao exited the system, feeling a sense of unease.
Being able to see others’ futures meant getting used to standing idly by when it came to life, death, and sickness. Otherwise, even if he had three heads and six arms, he wouldn’t be able to handle it all.
Xue Yao decided to forget the tragedy he had just witnessed and stepped out of the cabin for some fresh air.
Perhaps it was a coincidence, but the grain ship had just reached Lushan, not far from Pingrong County.
This coincidence surprised Xue Yao!
Why did the ship arrive just after he saw the tragedy of the people in Pingrong County dying from illness?
Was this a test from the heavens?
If he turned a blind eye to the suffering, would he lose Lu Qian?
Lately, Xue Yao has been particularly fond of metaphysics, often muttering to himself: “If it doesn’t rain tomorrow, it means I can be with Lu Qian for a lifetime”; “If Grandfather wears those leather boots today, it means Lu Qian will love me forever”…
Even unrelated matters could have their future arranged by it.
Encountering such a coincidence at this moment provided Xue Yao with an excuse to intervene!
He immediately had the ship docked, determined to see if the ailing woman in Pingrong County could still be saved.
People on the grain ship, upon hearing that Xue Yao wanted to visit the folks in Pingrong County, tried to dissuade him, citing official duties that couldn’t be delayed.
In reality, there was nothing that couldn’t be delayed. This grain collection was solely to keep Xue Yao and Lu Qian separated for a while. It wasn’t about collecting a significant amount of grain since the granary was well-stocked, and they could gather it all in Jiangnan.
Even after collecting the grain, Xue Yao couldn’t return directly to the capital. Lu Jinan instructed him to recuperate in Jiangnan until the end of the year. He would have to stay in Jiangnan for two or three months, so he had plenty of time.
However, others were unaware of the true intent behind this task, and they requested Xue Yao to first go to Jiangnan for grain collection, complete the task, and then return to Pingrong County.
Since the grain collection would take at least a month, and considering the urgency of the illness, Xue Yao had his subordinates go to Jiangnan first to handle the task while he stayed behind to visit the villagers. He promised to join them within ten days.
Consequently, two individuals were assigned to accompany Xue Yao off the ship, while the rest continued their journey to Jiangnan for grain procurement.
Xue Yao rented an “open” donkey cart to travel into the mountains, quickly being recognized by the local peasants in the fields.
The villagers hailed him from afar as the “Living Deity,” with some joyfully approaching and others bowing from a distance.
It was surprising that after three or four years, the villagers could still recognize him at a glance.
Surrounded by the locals, Xue Yao returned to the county and noticed that almost every household in Pingrong County had his portrait, somewhat resembling him, draped in flowing robes, truly resembling a living deity.
The enthusiasm of the mountain villagers overwhelmed him. Only after noon did some of them return to their farm work.
Xue Yao inquired with an elderly person about the residence of the young man.
Fortunately, the system had the name of the young man. After getting the answer, Xue Yao immediately set out to visit.
The villagers were curious why the Living Deity had specifically come to visit the eldest son of the Zhang family. Xue Yao smiled, saying his mother might be unwell.
The villagers were collectively astonished at his words!
Indeed, the wife of the Zhang family had contracted tuberculosis. Recently, she had ignored advice, insisted on working in the fields, and her condition worsened suddenly.
The Living Deity truly possessed extraordinary powers, accurately predicting even this matter. He personally rushed from the capital just to save an ordinary peasant woman!
Xue Yao found himself surrounded by a crowd of commoners on the way to Old Zhang’s house. Suddenly, people around him collectively knelt down, some wiping tears, shouting, “Living Deity, save us from suffering and hardship.”
Helpless, Xue Yao tried to soothe the crowd by shouting, but by the time he reached Old Zhang’s house, his voice was so hoarse that he couldn’t speak. He resorted to gestures, signaling the son of Old Zhang to lead the way to see his mother.
Xue Yao was no expert in medicine, but thanks to the various prompts from the villagers, he correctly identified the illness – tuberculosis.
In ancient times, this was considered a terminal illness, but for Xue Yao, it was not a challenge.
His ultimate apothecary was now accessible, providing top-notch, technologically advanced herbs that could even be searched freely.
Some herbs surpassed the technological level of Xue Yao’s original era. The antidepressant pills he bought earlier had a production date over a hundred years later than his original time, with remarkably effective results.
Returning to his residence, Xue Yao immediately exchanged the latest technological medicines from the shop.
After handing over the medicine to the ailing woman, Xue Yao decided to stay in Pingrong County for a full ten days to observe whether her condition improved, to avoid misdiagnosis.
In addition, he inquired about other tuberculosis patients in the village and arranged the same course of medication for them.
•••
Evening at the study in the mansion of Prince Rui.
The Left Deputy Minister of Revenue, upon seeing Prince Rui set aside the memorial, immediately spoke up, “Your Highness, officials from the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War jointly accused Prime Minister Yang of trivial matters, clearly acting on someone’s instructions. It’s evident they aim to gradually weaken the Prime Minister’s influence, then step by step, challenge you!”
Lu Jinan seemed impatient, rubbing his temples and sighing. “Just go back. Talking more is futile. It’s not that I don’t trust you. If it’s true as you say, let them go. Everything I do is ultimately paving the way for Seventh Brother. If they truly wish to sideline me, I welcome the peace.”
“Your Highness!” The Left Deputy Minister of Revenue urged anxiously, “We understand your intentions, but there may be something suspicious about this matter.”
“What’s suspicious about it?”
“The ‘prodigy’ from the Xue family is likely the mastermind behind this! Think about it, when you connect the dots, Xue Yao, seemingly without ambition, willingly serving as a reader-in-waiting, now allowing Prince Ning to marry him! It shows this person has a deep scheme. He not only influenced the late emperor to change the heir but now aims to sow discord in the brotherly bond between you and Prince Ning! Prince Ning, under some kind of sorcery, unquestionably follows this person’s commands. Someday, he will control the court, and…”
The Deputy Minister of Revenue paused, his eyes flashing with a cold chill.
Lu Jinan, initially looking melancholic, couldn’t help but chuckle at the words. Thinking of Xue Yao’s silly demeanor beside Old Seventh, he shook his head with a wry smile. “You’re overthinking it. Xue Yao genuinely lacks ambition. It’s not an act.”
“Your Highness!” The Deputy Minister of Revenue lamented, “You’ve fallen under his spell! Your eyes have been blinded!”
“Alright, alright…” Lu Jinan looked like he could barely contain his laughter. Knowing Xue Yao personally and juxtaposing that with the official’s imaginative version of Xue Yao, the strangely contrasting image made him want to laugh. “The impeachment document against Prime Minister Yang has concrete evidence, but that does not prove that they had a premeditated plan. Master Li, please be patient and wait. If it is true as you say, I will naturally investigate it thoroughly.”
“Your Highness! We can’t wait any longer!” The Deputy Minister of Revenue, deeply loyal to Lu Jinan, risked admonishing him. It wasn’t for the sake of his own official position. He genuinely suspected Xue Yao of sowing discord and conspiring against imperial authority.
He took two urgent steps forward, bowing. “Now that Xue Yao has volunteered to go to Jiangnan for grain collection, it’s the perfect opportunity. I’ve made arrangements. Whether he accidentally falls into the river or encounters bandits on the mountain road, it will be flawlessly executed. Prince Ning will have no reason to suspect you!”
Lu Jinan’s smile froze on his face. With a sharp sound, he slapped the table, causing the inkwell to topple!
“You want to harm Xue Yao?!”
“Your Highness, everything I do is for…”
“Guards!” Lu Jinan kicked open the door and rushed out. “Prepare the horses! Quickly!”
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