A pure heart in a jade pot

Chapter 120

"No," Zhan Zhao turned away and said calmly, "There's nothing else going on."

Mo Yan tugged at his sleeve and pulled him close: "No, if it were just about the princess, the other party would be in the open, so you wouldn't be so nervous. There must be something else going on."

Zhan Zhao sighed inwardly, but still insisted, "No, when have I ever lied to you..." As soon as he finished speaking, he realized that he had indeed lied to Mo Yan, and saying this was tantamount to shooting himself in the foot.

Mo Yan had naturally thought of that too, and was looking at him with a grin.

A gentle breeze, a bright moon, and the murmuring of water.

A black arrow is at my shoulder, and I am in imminent danger.

He led her to recite the poem: "Thinking of the distant, misty waves, the twilight deepens over the vast Chu sky..."

Recalling the events of that day, which seemed so vivid in his mind, Zhan Zhao felt a surge of warmth in his heart and couldn't help but exchange a smile with Mo Yan.

Finally seeing his smile, Mo Yan rushed forward and hugged him without hesitation, saying with a smile, "Big brother, you look like you wouldn't lie, but you're really good at lying."

Zhan Zhao gently stroked her hair, smiling, and remained silent.

"So stop lying to me! I know you're hiding something very serious from me." She nestled tenderly in his arms, not looking up at him.

After waiting for a long time, she finally heard Zhan Zhao say in a low voice, "Xiao Qi, this matter is too important to tell you right now!"

Mo Yan looked up, somewhat annoyed: "Why? Don't you believe me?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head: "It's just not the right time yet."

"Big brother!"

Mo Yan wasn't angry that Zhan Zhao didn't trust her, but rather that he insisted on facing danger alone. The less Zhan Zhao told her, the more dangerous the situation seemed, and the more worried she became about him.

"If you don't tell me, I'll get angry."

She pulled away from Zhan Zhao's embrace, pursed her lips, and stood there, attempting to threaten him.

Zhan Zhao smiled wryly and could only say, "I can only promise you that I will let you know when I need your help."

To Mo Yan, this was as good as saying nothing: given Zhan Zhao's personality, when he needed her help, it was usually because he was already seriously injured and powerless to help.

"Then I'm leaving!"

She turned and walked away in a huff, only to hear Zhan Zhao call out to her from behind: "Xiao Qi!"

Thinking that Zhan Zhao had finally changed his mind, she stopped and waited for him to tell her the truth.

"Don't forget to get up at cockcrow tomorrow."

"..."

Mo Yan stormed off in a huff.

Watching her figure disappear, Zhan Zhao smiled helplessly, then suddenly found it funny. He was the one who was annoyed with her at first, but in the end, she was the one who was annoyed with him, and she even had a perfectly reasonable excuse.

As night fell, everyone in the Datong Pavilion, except for the guards on night duty, had gone to sleep.

Zhan Zhao, following custom, inspected the four corners of the building before returning to his room. He blew out the lamp and was about to rest when he suddenly heard someone knocking on the door…

With just a few knocks, Zhan Zhao's heart tightened. The person was silent; even with his keen hearing, he couldn't hear any footsteps, which showed that their skill was superior to his own.

Who goes there?

He asked in a deep voice, "With such skill, this person certainly cannot be from the Datong Hall."

"When it flies in anger, its wings are like clouds hanging from the sky."

The deep, resonant voice sounded like thunder to Zhan Zhao. It was Hai Dongqing, the person he had been waiting for so long, who had finally appeared.

As soon as the door was opened, the person slipped in and said, "No need to light the lamp."

Zhan Zhao nodded slightly. By the faint moonlight from the window, he could see that Hai Dongqing was dressed in ordinary Hu clothing and wore a leather mask, clearly not wanting to reveal his identity.

Hai Dongqing didn't explain, but sat down at the table without any politeness, poured himself a cup of tea, and then greeted Zhan Zhao, who was still standing there, saying, "Sit down, there's no need for us to be so polite."

Zhan Zhao sat down as instructed.

Hai Dongqing kept babbling on and on: "Sigh, these years have worn me out, I can barely speak properly anymore. It's good that you're here, it's good that you're here, Bao Zheng has finally sent me someone who can talk. How old are you? The moon is beautiful tonight, how about we become sworn brothers first, what do you think?"

Zhan Zhao was speechless for a moment, because he really didn't know what to say. He had finally met this person and thought he would have something important to tell him, but he never expected that the first thing he would do was to become sworn brothers.

"I am twenty-three years old," Zhan Zhao said after a long pause.

"That's great! I'm five years older than you, so I'm the older brother." He reached out and patted Zhan Zhao's shoulder forcefully, saying without any politeness, "Little brother, I've missed you so much!"

"..."

“Brother, you’re quite famous, well-known throughout the land. Many people in Liaodong have heard of you. Now that I’m your elder brother, in the future…” He paused, the light in his eyes seemed to dim for a moment, but then immediately brightened again, “In the future, when people know I’m your elder brother, they will definitely be very envious, hahaha.”

Zhan Zhao smiled and said, "Brother, you have endured humiliation and hardship in the Liao Kingdom for many years. It is my good fortune to have such a brother."

Author's Note: I missed a sentence while copying, oops... here it is!

Chapter 53

Seemingly surprised by Zhan Zhao's words, Hai Dongqing paused for a moment before laughing, "With your words, Southern Hero, I haven't wasted these years. I originally came to see you earlier, but as you know, there was the Empress Dowager's funeral, and there were just too many things to do. Besides..." He looked at him, and the face behind the mask seemed to smile, "...and I also wanted to test you a little more."

Zhan Zhao remained calm and composed, smiling faintly, "It's only natural for my elder brother to act cautiously."

"It's good that you understand. In my line of work, I can't be careless. But you really gave me a fright. How did you end up taking the princess to that embroidery shop? If something had really happened to her, it would have been disastrous."