Blutbefleckter Tod

Kapitel 33

"Oh? That's perfect. We were just thinking of going hunting outside the city, but we're not very familiar with the area. Since Magistrate Lu has some free time, would you be willing to travel with us and give us some directions?"

"It is getting late, and the sky is quite overcast, so there is a risk of rain. For the princess's safety, I think it would be better to postpone it to another day. If there are no other arrangements tonight, I can prepare a small feast to entertain you all. What does the princess think?"

"Another day is fine, just don't forget! As for tonight, Magistrate Lu, you don't need to worry about it!" Yelü Ping's phoenix eyes lingered on Lu Ziqi's face for a moment, then turned to the ordinary, unremarkable horse beside him, and he sneered repeatedly: "What, is this the fine steed of your Great Song Dynasty?"

"The so-called fine steed is nothing more than whether it shares the same temperament as its owner. If it does not obey commands or even goes against its master, then even a thoroughbred is nothing more than an ordinary domestic animal. This horse and I have a perfect understanding and it is extremely intelligent. For example, it never accidentally hurts passersby, which is quite similar to my usual cautious approach to things."

In his remarks, Lu Ziqi changed his self-reference from "this county" to "I," abandoning official jargon and placing himself on par with Yelü Ping. His final sentence was utterly ruthless, directly accusing Yelü Ping of injuring someone on horseback, attributing it to his inherent arrogance. He further claimed that since Yelü Ping had only recently arrived, he was completely unaware of the events that had transpired beforehand, and this example was merely a casual remark with no specific targeting.

Yelü Ping's pretty face flushed red from the shock, yet she had no way to vent her anger. After a moment of stunned silence, she could only let out a sharp rebuke and ride away in resentment.

Watching the riders disappear into the distance, Lu Ziqi sighed inwardly, concealing his worry. He then smiled and bowed to the onlookers, saying, "It's getting late, everyone should disperse now. My family is waiting for me to have dinner!"

Seeing that he had resolved the matter with just a few words and even managed to turn the tables on the other side, everyone was overjoyed. They returned the greetings, said hello to Song Xiaohua, and then parted ways, laughing and talking about the incident.

It is foreseeable that the county residents' favorability towards the county magistrate and his wife will surge by several percentage points...

Once things had calmed down, Lu Ziqi walked up to Song Xiaohua, brushed the dirt off her, and gently touched her red and swollen cheek: "Does it still hurt?"

As soon as Song Xiaohua grimaced, she aggravated her injury, and had to desperately suppress her overly expressive face, jumping up and down on the spot: "Ouch, don't touch it! Why doesn't it hurt? It hurts so much!"

"He could say so many things before he started to love you."

Seeing her disheveled appearance and the tears quickly welling up in her eyes, Lu Ziqi felt a slight pang in his heart, and his tone softened even more: "I'll take you to the clinic to see a doctor."

"Is it broken? Is it bleeding?"

"No, it's just a little red and swollen."

"Oh, then there's no need to see a doctor. It would be so unsightly to have my face covered in black herbs!"

What kind of excuse is this for avoiding medical treatment...?

Lu Ziqi shook his head, suppressing a laugh: "Alright, anyway, it doesn't look too serious. Applying cold water when we get back should be fine."

"become!"

He led the horse over: "Get on."

Step back: "No!"

Although this horse didn't seem as powerful as the previous one, it was still enough to make Song Xiaohua's legs cramp.

"Don't be afraid, it's called Breeze. It's an old member of the county government and is very understanding."

Hesitantly, Song Xiaohua touched the horse's stiff mane, then patted its forehead, just like in the movies. The horse tilted its head, blinking its big, wet eyes at her, and was indeed very docile. And so, the muscles in Song Xiaohua's legs stopped twitching…

With Lu Ziqi's help, he climbed onto the horse's back and then reached out his hand to him: "You come up too."

Looking at that little hand still covered in mud, I hesitated slightly, but the hand remained stretched out straight, showing no intention of giving up.

With her tense mind relaxed, a faint smile appeared between her brows and eyes.

Immediately, he reached out, grasped it, turned over, and mounted the horse.

As night fell and a cold wind swept across their faces, the two men and their horseman leaned against each other.

At the street corner, a figure in a blue shirt is walking further and further away.

Author's Note: Oh my god, the editor reclassified the last chapter as a VIP chapter again... Those of you who have already read it, please don't buy it!!!

Chapter Thirty-Seven: First Kiss Secured

Before she could even savor the moment, the warm breath emanating from that broad chest nestled against her back caused Song Xiaohua to stumble precariously when a figure lunged at her.

Song Wuque placed his hands on her shoulders, opened his mouth, and gently licked her face a few times with his tongue, making soft "woo-woo" sounds in his throat, as if he were comforting her.

"It's alright, it's nothing serious!" Song Xiaohua was very pleased with this and patted the fluffy head with a smile.

Dogs have such sharp eyes; they noticed her injured face in just one glance and tried to ease her pain with this method. All the hard work of raising him, changing his diapers and feeding him, was truly worthwhile…

Lu Ling rushed over and buried himself in Song Xiaohua's arms. Taking advantage of the dim light, he looked her over carefully and his eyes widened in surprise: "Mommy, what happened to your face?"

He hugged the little dumpling and gave her two quick kisses as usual: "It's nothing, I just accidentally got bumped."

"Mommy must be in a lot of pain, right?"

Lu Ling pouted, thought for a moment, then hugged Song Xiaohua's face and leaned in to lick it as well, but Lu Ziqi, who had been standing three meters away, grabbed her by the back of her collar and pulled her away: "Don't mess around!"

“Ling’er isn’t making a fuss! Mother is clearly very happy when Wuque is like this!” The little radish head, still struggling as he was being lifted into the air, stretched out his arms and kicked his legs: “Then why doesn’t Father care about Wuque?”

Lu Ziqi picked up his son and paused for a moment. Song Wuque sat imposingly to the side, twitched his ears, sneezed, and bared his teeth. Lu Ziqi watched, his teeth itching with frustration, yet he could only helplessly watch. Was this dog becoming some kind of spirit? It knew exactly who to fawn over and who to bully…

While secretly chuckling to herself, Song Xiaohua said in a serious tone, "Ling'er, once a day is enough. Any more than that is a waste. How about I let you lick it again tomorrow?"

"Alright then..." Lu Ling nodded reluctantly, then jumped down from her father's arms and hugged the dog's neck to negotiate: "Wuque, Wuque, good Wuque, you're not allowed to take it from me tomorrow, you have to save Mother's face for me to lick!"

Song Wuque was quite pleased with the little hand tickling him. Whether he understood or not was another matter, and whether he agreed or not was another matter. He just lay down on the ground with his four legs in the air, ready for him to serve him to his heart's content.

Watching Lu Ling twirling around the dog like a puppy, Lu Ziqi couldn't help but laugh and scold, "It actually knows how to use this opportunity to extort money!"

The poor brat said, "Of course! Don't you even know who raised it?"

He shook his head: "How could you teach Ling'er to lick people?"

"Wasn't I just trying to uphold your dignity as a father? Did you expect me to tell Ling'er that you were afraid of dogs, which is why you didn't dare to mess with Wuque? Anyway, kids forget things easily; he'll definitely forget everything after a good night's sleep. Besides, even if he does remember, it doesn't matter. It would be great if he really had Wuque's self-healing ability. If he gets hurt in the future, he could just lick it himself and it would be fine. It would save both trouble and money, wouldn't it be great!"

"…………"

Lu Ziqi once again felt a pang of worry about his son's future trajectory...

As they were talking, Lu Ziqi brought a basin of cold water to the front hall and asked Song Xiaohua to wash her face first. Then he used a damp cloth to apply it to her wound.

Almost half of his face was swollen and red to varying degrees, and it would probably take at least three to five days for the swelling to completely subside. That Princess Xingping was simply too arrogant and domineering!

As soon as the conflict between Song Xiaohua and Yelü Ping broke out, a constable who had been secretly protecting the Liao people returned to the county office to report. However, Lu Ziqi was receiving guests at the time, and the constable, unsure of the urgency of the situation, dared not disturb him. By the time the guests left and the news arrived, about half an hour had passed. During this time, two more people reported back on the subsequent developments of the matter.

After asking a few hurried questions, Lu Ziqi felt a buzzing in his head and wanted nothing more than to ride his horse to the destination immediately.

It's all my fault for not thinking things through. I didn't realize that my harsh words would easily draw Yelü Ping's attention to her. He might think that it was all because of her, because of her existence as his wife, that he was rejected, and in such a ruthless and disrespectful way.

Given this princess's temperament, it's unimaginable what she might do...

If we arrive too late, if it's too late, if something truly happens to her because of this, then...

Thinking of this, I was extremely anxious.

Fortunately, no irreparable mistake was made.

She suffered a minor injury, but seemed to be fine. Moreover, she showed no signs of being humiliated; on the contrary, she was quite smug. This girl clearly has no idea how dangerous her situation had just been…

He barely managed to suppress his anger, but his rage nearly spiraled out of control.

Such public provocation and disturbance—even if she were a princess of Liao, what difference would it make? This blatant disregard for the Song Dynasty is utterly disrespectful! And to openly harm her like this—where does that leave Lu Ziqi?!

What use is a man who cannot protect the people of his region, or a husband who cannot safeguard his virtuous wife?

At that moment, anger almost consumed all reason, yet he had to suppress his impulsive rage.

After all, it's not easy to predict what the consequences will be once the constraints of personal feelings are gone. We can't completely stand against Yelü Ping until the very last moment.

One's social status is always a factor that must be considered and compromised upon. That's reality.

However, no matter how much I tried to be patient, I was still embarrassed and lost face.

Yelü Ping left with resentment; would this cause any further turmoil...?

He smiled bitterly to himself. Wasn't he always the most composed and calm person? How could he have lost his composure so easily this time...?

While stealing glances at Lu Ziqi's unreadable expression, Song Xiaohua endured the pain silently, her eyes brimming with tears.

She's fearless, not afraid of rats or cockroaches, but she's terrified of pain. Even the slightest scratch or bump can make her wail for ages, let alone the severe injury to her face, which is most sensitive to pain.

The reason she was so brave and calm at this moment was because she couldn't figure out what Lu Ziqi was thinking.

Throughout the journey, no matter how vividly she described how she had humiliated Yelü Ping, he would at most give a soft "hmm," without revealing any emotion.

Riding on horseback, nestled close to him, felt incredibly blissful, but I couldn't see his expression. So I was left only with trepidation, barely having time to properly experience the 'lewd' reactions brought about by this ambiguous position. What a complete waste of a golden opportunity to seduce him! What a huge loss, a complete rip-off!

But... does his expression mean he's angry? Angry that she disrespected the foreign friends in front of so many people, angry that she talked nonsense and angered that savage princess, angry that her willful behavior brought him trouble and disaster?

Should she just swallow her anger and let others bully her? After being slapped on the left cheek, should she quickly offer her right cheek and then ask, "Is my face hurting your hand?"

Why should she?! If it weren't for his sake, she would have already rushed up and started fighting! Whether she could win or not didn't matter; what mattered was fighting with style and flair – that was Song Xiaohua's style! As the saying goes, even the best fighter fears the reckless. No matter if you're dressed in gold and silver, a prince or princess, one brick and you're down...