Lanting

Kapitel 36

"No, you're not wrong." Qing Jianyue smiled gently. "It's late now, not a good time to think about such nonsense. Lord Lu, you should rest. There's an important meeting tomorrow, and you must focus on dealing with the Sky Eagle Sect. The life and death of Lu Family Fortress is in your hands, so don't worry about those things."

Lu Qingcheng stared intently at him.

Kiyomi Tsuki laughed again, "Go to sleep. Let me help you to bed. Don't forget, you paid a fortune to hire me."

Like a gentle breeze, the sadness and melancholy in Lu Qingcheng's eyes were swept away. A captivating radiance shone on his face, dazzling Qing Jianyue's eyes. Lu Qingcheng smiled softly, "Okay."

After helping Lu Qingcheng lie down, Qing Jianyue extinguished all the other lights and candles in the room, leaving only a small silver lamp. He tiptoed toward the carved door, but Lu Qingcheng called out to him.

Qing Jian Yue couldn't help but hang her head in dejection, thinking to herself: This kid, he's never settled down. Every night he's like a difficult, unruly child, constantly causing trouble. Was Wang Jie this annoying when she served him? Returning to the bedside, she lifted the gauze curtain and said irritably, "Master, do you need to poop or pee, or are you hungry and want something to eat?"

Lu Qingcheng ignored his rude words, put her arms under her head, and her eyes flashed with a glint more cunning than a white fox. "I can't sleep. Coax me to sleep."

Kiyomi Tsuki's jaw fell off with a snap.

Lu Qingcheng laughed, "Jianyue, your jaw dropped. You look so funny."

Kiyomi Tsuki adjusted her nearly dislocated jaw, thinking to herself: Damn it, they're teasing me again. "Would the Lord like me to sing for you, or tell you a story?"

Enraged, Qing Jianyue's face contorted into a ferocious expression. Lu Qingcheng, unconcerned, pressed further.

"Tell me a story. Don't listen to anything supernatural or weird, just tell me your story."

"Tell me my story?"

Kiyomi Tsuki thought: So they wanted to know about me. What's there to talk about in my past?

“Tell me something that will make me laugh. If I don’t laugh, you won’t be able to go home tonight.” Lu Qingcheng looked at Qing Jianyue’s bitter face, her long eyes sparkling with smugness and mischief.

Kiyotsuki's face turned pale, and he cursed inwardly: "You damn brat, you big bastard who died belly up, you stupid turtle who crawls one step and kowtows the next. You want to hear a joke? Fine, I'll laugh your belly raw tonight, or I'm not Kiyotsuki."

He put his fingers in his mouth and chewed on them, blinking his bright, starry eyes as he racked his brains. His focus made him completely oblivious to how strange Lu Qingcheng's gaze was upon him. A sudden inspiration struck him, and Qing Jianyue laughed, sitting cross-legged on the bed without even taking off his boots. Lu Qingcheng didn't mind at all, and even moved over to make room for him.

"I suddenly remembered a joke. You know I love to eat. Because I love to eat so much, I once wanted to become a master chef. To become a master chef, you need to apprentice under a famous chef. Later, I found out that Master Shen Yanchen of Shendao Manor not only has unpredictable knife skills, but is also a master chef who can eat and cook."

"Shen Yan? I've heard of him before. He seems to be related to Madam Long of Tianlong Fortress?"

"Yes, that's right. Shen Yan's father, Shen Longling, is the younger brother of Shen Longjing, the maternal grandfather of Madam Long."

"Alright, let's leave aside their kinship. Tell me your story first. You didn't actually go to Shen Dao Manor to become Master Shen's apprentice, did you?"

"I've paid my respects."

"You prayed?" Lu Qingcheng asked in surprise.

"There's a reason for that. When Shen Yan was in his thirties, he married a stunningly beautiful woman who admired his culinary skills," Qing Jianyue said, her words flowing freely. "However, he had a bad habit: he snored loudly in his sleep, so loudly it shook the mountains and the sky. No matter how much you shook him, you couldn't wake him until dawn. Eventually, his wife couldn't stand it anymore and asked to sleep in separate rooms. He didn't want to, but what could he do? How painful it was not being able to sleep with his beloved wife every night! Do you know what happened next?"

"How about it?"

"Shen Yan went to see doctors everywhere to cure his snoring so he could sleep with his wife every night, but no doctor could cure him. When I found out, I went to him and said that I had a family secret recipe that could cure his snoring. But I had one condition: he had to take me on as an apprentice and teach me how to cook."

Lu Qingcheng's curiosity was piqued, and she asked, "Did he agree?"

Kiyomi Tsuki exclaimed excitedly, "He was so excited! He treated me like a god. So, we became a master and apprentice, and he taught me. It was so enjoyable. I'll make it for you sometime when I'm free and happy. But, unfortunately, I didn't learn the whole thing. He only taught me for twenty days before he couldn't hold back anymore and insisted that I pass on his secret recipe for curing coughs. I said, 'Okay, but only to his wife, because only his wife can cure it.' That day, after I passed it on to his wife, the couple had a wonderful time together that night."

Lu Qingcheng asked skeptically, "It's so amazing, what's the secret formula?"

Kiyoshi Tsuki said in a serious tone, "It's very simple. I told his wife that all she needs to do is prepare a mallet and put it on the bedside table. When he starts snoring at night, she should give him a whack with the mallet. If he doesn't wake up, she shouldn't hold back and should keep hitting him until he wakes up, and see if he still dares to snore."

Lu Qingcheng sat up in surprise, "Wouldn't that kill him?"

"It wasn't that serious. But the next morning, before dawn, he came looking for me with a head full of bumps, yelling and shouting. Do you know what he was yelling about?" Qing Jianyue vividly imitated a man's furious voice, baring his teeth and claws, "Qing Jianyue, you little bastard, get out here! I'm going to kill you! You actually taught my wife to hit me with a stick! What kind of ancestral secret recipe is that?"

Lu Qingcheng laughed so hard she fell onto the bed, "You, you bad guy!"

Kiyomi Tsuki smiled and said, "I admit this trick is a bit underhanded, but I didn't lie to him. Using a stick to cure snoring is my own secret recipe. If I pass it down to my descendants, wouldn't it be an ancestral heirloom?"

Lu Qingcheng burst into laughter again, tears streaming down her face.

Kiyomi Tsuki grinned and asked smugly, "Funny, isn't it? Be careful not to laugh your belly off."

The laughter gradually subsided, and Lu Qingcheng covered her face with her hands, seemingly trying to calm her overly excited emotions.

Qingjian Yue asked, "Lord of the Fortress, may I go back to sleep now?" After saying that, he let out a long yawn to prove that he was indeed sleepy.

Lu Qingcheng sat up and patted the headboard. "Come sit over here."

Kiyomi Tsuki was baffled. "What are you doing?"

"The pillow isn't comfortable, I want to rest my head on your lap," Lu Qingcheng said casually.

Kiyoshi Tsukiya's mouth dropped open in utter shock. "I'm not a pillow, I'm your personal bodyguard whom you hired at great expense."

"Then sing me a song. Only after you've lulled me to sleep can you go to sleep," Lu Qingcheng commanded seriously.

Kiyomi Tsuki fell off the bed to the floor. She was furious.

Chapter Eighteen: The Trap

Kiyomi Tsuki angrily got up from the floor. Suddenly, a rapid knocking sounded at the door. Lu Qingcheng asked, "What is it?"

Zhang Zhichun said from outside, "Lord, Cao Wei requests an audience, saying that something happened at the Peony Garden."

The Peony Garden? That's Qingfeng's residence. Cao Wei? He's Qingfeng's personal bodyguard. Has something happened to Qingfeng?

Lu Qingcheng quickly got out of bed, and Qing Jianyue, no longer caring about her temper, immediately helped him put on his clothes. Lu Qingcheng didn't even have time to put on his boots before hurriedly walking around the sandalwood screen.

"Let him in."