Le charme d'une femme puissante se répand à travers le monde

Chapitre 9

"Why?" Even if you don't like me calling you that, you don't have to make me call you "Big Brother" or "Second Brother," right? My face immediately fell. This fox is clearly trying to take advantage of me!

"Why?" The fox looked at me strangely, as if I were an idiot. "Because I am the oldest and you are the youngest."

Damn, what kind of excuse is that! But seeing Lin's willingly and happily shameless expression, I had no choice but to swallow my anger.

"Qinglin..." Sitting in the swaying carriage, I turned my head to look at Long Xiangyu, who was sitting in the middle seat. He seemed to be asleep with his eyes half-closed. I called out softly to Mu Qinglin, who was sitting opposite me.

"Cough...cough..." Mu Qinglin coughed violently twice.

This idiot, are you trying to wake the fox? Fool!

"Second...Second Brother," I said through gritted teeth, seeing his beaming face, "You and...Big Brother come out without any guards or anything?"

In TV dramas, even when the emperor goes out of the palace incognito, he will still be accompanied by several guards.

"Yes!" Mu Qinglin grinned slyly.

"Where? Where?" I looked left and right, then pulled back the carriage curtain to look outside, but I couldn't see anyone except the coachman. Honestly, I really wanted to see the prowess of a master of the imperial palace.

"He's right in front of you!" I guess my silly look as I looked for someone amused Mu Qinglin, and he laughed heartily as he spoke.

"You?" I curled my lip and gave him a disdainful look. "You are indeed fat and strong, but I guess you're all looks and no substance."

"Haha..." A burst of laughter erupted. I glanced at Mu Qinglin; his face was expressionless, his eyes fixed on me, seemingly spitting fire. Wait, it wasn't him laughing. Then who was laughing?

Oh my god! I glanced to the side hesitantly, and sure enough, the fox had been pretending to be asleep with its ears perked up!

Before long, the carriage stopped. As soon as I stepped off, the sight of Longze Lake and the night boats moored along its shores instantly dispelled all the frustration I felt from being tricked by the fox in the carriage.

I walked behind the Fox Emperor and General Qinglin, overhearing them whisper a few words to the owner before heading straight for an elegant painted boat. I followed them onto the boat. To be honest, this night, this boat, this lake reminded me a lot of the Qinhuai River I'd read about in books before.

Upon entering the ship, the forward cabin was spacious, with large windows on all four sides, almost like floor-to-ceiling windows. The light green window paper was adorned with various peach blossoms. Perhaps because it wasn't too late, the peach-colored sheer curtains were gently rolled up, and a breeze blew in through the open windows, causing the small bells hanging from the curtains to ring out a crisp, melodious sound, creating an indescribably cool and pleasant atmosphere. A small table was placed in the center of the cabin, presumably for guests to dine, drink wine, or have tea. On either side of the cabin were soft couches, all light green, with a few peach-colored cushions casually tossed on them. Further forward, there was an open space, occupying more than a third of the entire cabin, with only a rectangular table on it. On the table sat a guzheng (a traditional Chinese zither), presumably for the pleasure boat's maids to perform.

I looked at Fox and Qinglin sitting on either side of me, and was about to walk towards Qinglin's side when Fox patted the person next to him without even glancing at me. I held back; surely sitting far away would be alright?

Soon, two maids carried in plates of incredibly delicious-looking dishes and placed them on the small table in the center. Goodness, these two maids were quite pretty, dressed in light green, but still a little less so than our Cui'er. After a few rounds of coming and going, the table was laden with food and wine; it made my mouth water just looking at it. Ah, I'm hungry.

"Are you planning to watch us eat from this far away?" The fox glanced at me sideways and reached for his chopsticks.

Of all things under the heavens, eating is the most important. I immediately set aside my personal prejudices, moved a few steps to sit next to the fox, picked up my chopsticks, and started eating. Just as I was enjoying my meal, a wine glass suddenly appeared in front of me. I looked up in surprise and saw Mu Qinglin sitting opposite me, holding a wine glass. He stood up, extended his hand to me, and grinned, saying, "Third brother, don't just focus on eating. Come on, let your second brother toast you."

With a mouthful of food in my mouth and chopsticks in hand, I instinctively shook my head. Seeing Mu Qinglin's embarrassed and disappointed expression, I realized what was happening and, while chewing my food vigorously, mumbled, "Actually, I really wanted to have a drink with Second Brother, but unfortunately, I can't hold my liquor. If I drink one, I'll be lying on the ground asleep, which isn't ideal."

That's the truth, I really can't hold my liquor at all.

"It's not as exaggerated as you say." Mu Qinglin turned indignant, clearly not believing me.

"I swear!" I raised my hand as if to swear, and dragged the fox into the mess: "How about I have a drink with you, Big Brother?"

"The second brother is honoring you, what does it have to do with me?" The dragon fox quickly distanced itself from the matter.

“You are the eldest brother and I am the third brother. We should respect the elderly and care for the young. As the older brother, I should naturally step forward when my younger brother is in trouble. We can cut off our heads and shed blood, let alone a mere cup of wine?” I turned to the fox and said with utmost seriousness.

"What about when I, the eldest brother, am in trouble?" The dragon fox looked at me amusedly and shook his head.

"We always look out for our older brother, so we'll protect him when it matters." I'm a very polite person, so you'll always be the one to protect us first, and then we'll occasionally turn the tables on you. That's called being considerate, hehe.

"A shield?" Although the fox asked the question, I could see that Mu Qinglin also looked completely bewildered. Sigh, the difference in intelligence between people is vast. For example, compared to the two people in front of me, the difference is so obvious.

"It means to stand up for us, to prevent others from bullying us, and to be our protective umbrella."

"Okay!" the fox answered crisply.

"Okay? You say okay? Does Big Brother mean he agrees to protect us all the time?" Hahaha, with the Emperor protecting us, such a powerful backer, why would I be afraid of WHO?

Seeing the fox nod seriously again, I laughed so hard my eyes were almost closed and my mouth was practically stretched to my ears. I hurriedly handed a glass of wine to the fox and Qinglin, gesturing for them to drink.

After a few drinks, we became more talkative. We chatted, enjoyed the breeze, admired the moon, and cruised the lake—it was like living in paradise. Then I considered playing a game like "Truth or Dare" with them, but then I changed my mind. After all, I said from the first day I arrived that I wanted to forge my own path and not just follow in the footsteps of my predecessors, playing games they'd already finished. A person should keep their word, haha.

While we were still figuring out which game to play, the fox pointed at me, then at the guzheng on the rectangular table, signaling me to play a tune. Good heavens, I used to study piano, and my favorite instrument is the pipa; I can't play anything else. There's no piano here, and I can't very well be dressed as a man and still be playing the pipa in a hushed manner.

"I don't know how," I simply admitted.

"You said you couldn't play the piano when you were drinking, and now you can't play it either? Nobody believes that." Before the fox could even speak, Mu Qinglin started to get impatient.

"I really don't." My expression was 120% sincere.

"He's supposed to be the prime minister, how come he doesn't know anything? Brother, why did you choose him?" Qinglin asked Fox very seriously. Uh, it seems I also really want to hear Fox say this himself.

"You must be seeing things. I thought the Yun family was so rich that he would know all these things. He spent so much money to buy an official position, but he couldn't even afford to hire a tutor. Sigh!" The fox looked regretful and disappointed.

Ugh, these two are ganging up on me! I'm furious.

"Hey, Erlinzi, do you think a mere warrior like you can play musical instruments?" I really didn't believe it.

"Erlinzi? Who are you calling?" Erlinzi was so angry that his hair almost stood on end.

"Don't like it? Then what should I call you? Mu Mu? Qing Qing? Lin Lin? Xiao Qing? Xiao Lin? Xiao Qingzi? Xiao Linzi?" Before I could finish speaking, Mu Qinglin pounced on me. Luckily, the fox pulled me aside and we narrowly avoided his attack. Because of Mu Qinglin's pounce, the boat rocked slightly. I was startled and cried out, almost falling into the fox's arms.

"Don't call me that, call me Second Brother." Seeing that he couldn't catch me, Er Linzi yelled at me, his voice making my head buzz. What a boor. Humph.

"Big brother, Erlinzi bullied me." I pouted at the fox, momentarily forgetting that I was Yunfeng now, and even pretended to be on the verge of tears: "Big brother said he would protect me."

The fox was clearly taken aback, then burst into laughter. After laughing for a while, he composed himself and said seriously, "Second brother, you mustn't bully third brother. If anything happens, you should always go along with him and give in to him."

Erlinzi stared blankly at the fox laughing, then heard the fox's words, his face turned red, and he dared not resist, almost getting internal injuries from anger. Finally, he looked at me hatefully and said to me in a sinister tone, "If I can play the flute, how about you drink that cup of wine?"

After saying that, he gave me a sly smile. Because I was so convinced that a mere warrior would never do anything refined, I carelessly overlooked the conspiracy hidden behind that smile. After automatically ignoring the fox-like look on his face, I said with great bravado, "Fine, if you can't, then jump off the boat, swim around it, and then climb back on. Big brother will be our witness; no one can renege on the loss."