Poules et chiens volent dans le chaos et la renaissance

Chapitre 94

Upon hearing this, Huang Ye's temples bulged with veins. He, a grown man and the heir of a royal family, had been so disrespected by a woman! This was intolerable! He turned back, his eyes flashing with fierce light as he glared at the table opposite him. But he was stunned. The person sitting at the opposite table was also exceptionally beautiful, and even more remarkably, her eyes were a jade-green emerald, their light rippling like spring water, seemingly capable of captivating the soul.

"Insolence!" Before Huang Ye could speak, Ye Yun, the guard who had followed him since childhood, spoke up, "You must not be disrespectful to my young master!" As he spoke, he touched the sword at his waist, which, combined with his tall and imposing figure, was quite intimidating.

Lan Qi ignored Ye Yun's words, her emerald eyes fixed on Huang Ye. Lin You, however, wouldn't tolerate anyone scolding her. She abruptly stood up and yelled at Ye Yun, "What are you yelling about! If your young master doesn't allow people to look at him, he shouldn't go out! Besides, isn't your young master staring at her too? Go tell your young master not to stare at her like a country bumpkin who's never seen a woman before! If he continues to be so rude, this young hero will have to teach your son a lesson on behalf of your master!"

"How dare you! If you continue to speak so disrespectfully, don't blame me for taking action!" Ye Yun raised his eyebrows upon hearing this and stepped forward.

"This young hero is not afraid of you!" Lin Youyi puffed out his chest and stepped forward.

The two glared at each other, neither willing to give in.

Lin You's words made Huang Ye withdraw his gaze. He turned to look at the proud young man with his head held high, and Huang Ye's handsome brows furrowed involuntarily.

Lan Qi, watching from the opposite side, couldn't help but sigh again: "Sigh... This is the first time I've ever seen someone who can look so beautiful even when they're frowning."

Huang Ye was born into royalty, and in all his years, no one had ever dared to make fun of him to his face, let alone this person who kept spouting nonsense. His face immediately turned cold, and he was about to explode when suddenly a series of heavy footsteps came from the stairs, and then a group of people came upstairs, led by Dai Xi.

Dai Xi first saw Huang Ye and was about to step forward to pay his respects, but then he saw Lin You in the hall. His anger surged, and he rushed to Lin You in a few steps: "You little thief! I've caught you!"

Lin You withdrew his gaze from Ye Yun, glanced at Dai Xi out of the corner of his eye, and then sneered, "So it's you. Did I not teach you a lesson last time? Now you come here again wanting me to punch you a few more times?" He raised his fist as he spoke.

Upon seeing the fist, Dai Xi involuntarily took a step back, thinking to himself that he couldn't beat this petty thief. Although he had brought more followers with him this time, it was still hard to say whether he could subdue this petty thief. Then, his eyes darted around, and he ran to Huang Ye: "My lord, this petty thief is a bandit. On my way to Mozhou, I was not only robbed of my belongings by this petty thief, but many of my followers were also injured."

"Pah! You're spouting nonsense!" Lin You immediately shouted.

Huang Ye glanced at Dai Xi, his expression unchanged, then turned his gaze to Lin You. Seeing Lin You's arrogant and unruly look, he frowned again. Just as he was considering whether to ignore him or punish him slightly, a scholar-dressed man beside him suddenly whispered something in his ear. After hearing this, he looked at Lin You, his eyes flashing, and then said to Ye Yun, "Take him down."

These words were exactly what Ye Yun wanted to hear.

"Bah! Do you think you can take down this young hero?" Lin You heard this and immediately shouted indignantly, then threw a punch at Ye Yun first, "This young hero will take you down first!"

The iron fist came straight at him, but Ye Yun neither dodged nor flinched. Instead, he stretched out his fan-like hand and grabbed Lin You's fist.

Lin You hadn't expected him to take the hit head-on, and hurriedly tried to pull his hand away, but it was too late; his fist was firmly gripped in Ye Yun's hand. He quickly slapped Ye Yun's face with his left palm, trying to force him to let go, but Ye Yun simply dodged Lin You's attack by turning his head back, and then tightened his grip on Lin You's fist.

"Ah!" Lin You screamed in agony. "You bull... let go of me!" The excruciating pain shot through his hand, and he could no longer care about hitting Ye Yun. He just wanted to get rid of her hand as soon as possible. But Ye Yun showed no mercy and squeezed harder. Lin You was so pained that he lost all strength and didn't even have the strength to groan.

Thus, Lin You's martial arts skills were completely wasted as Ye Yun subdued him with his innate superhuman strength. With another wave of his hand, Ye Yun sealed several of Lin You's acupoints, rendering the once arrogant Lin You completely immobile.

"Young Master, what should we do with him?" Ye Yun asked, carrying Lin You back to Huang Ye.

Before Huang Ye could speak, Dai Xi spoke first: "Of course we should..." However, he was interrupted halfway through his sentence by Huang Ye's calm words: "Lock him up in prison."

"Why...why should I be detained? I haven't done anything illegal!" Lin You shouted, sweating profusely.

Huang Ye glanced at him and said, "Just for your disrespectful words to this prefecture, and the fact that this prefecture represents the royal family, your words and actions can be considered extremely disrespectful. It would be fine to execute you." After saying that, he got up and went downstairs without waiting for the wine and dishes to be served, intending to go directly back to his residence.

This surprised everyone in the restaurant, including Lan Qi, who had been secretly watching the commotion. Even Lin You was stunned, never expecting that such a young and handsome man was the newly appointed governor.

"Take him back and lock him in jail." Ye Yun tossed the immobile Lin You to another guard, then quickly chased after Huang Ye.

The guard took Lin You from the guard, then pointed to Lan Qi, who had been sitting there neither running away nor showing any fear, seemingly just watching the show, and asked the scholar, "Mr. Chen, where is this one?"

Mr. Shen glanced at Lan Qi. Seeing her beautiful appearance and luxurious clothes, and that she was with the eldest son of the Lin family, he figured she must be a close relative of the Lin family. He figured that getting her along would be more advantageous, so he said, "Close them all."

At that moment, Dai Xi noticed Lan Qi sitting at the table behind everyone and immediately regretted not having looked ahead. A guard stepped forward to arrest him, and Dai Xi tried to stop him. A follower behind him quickly tugged at his sleeve and whispered, "It will be easier for you to get him after he's locked up." Dai Xi thought about it and realized it made sense, so he gave up.

When the guards stepped forward, Lan Qi remained calm, casually glancing at the street before revealing a strange smile. This astonished the guards, who, looking at this woman of otherworldly beauty, dared not reach out to touch her. They merely raised their hands slightly and said gently, "Please come with us, young lady."

The guards escorted Lin You and Lan Qi downstairs. A crowd of onlookers had already gathered outside. Lan Qi saw Lan Tong and Lan Long, but she ignored them and left with the guards.

Lan Tong and Lan Long dared not move, watching helplessly as their patriarch was taken away by the guards. They recalled that before coming to Mo Zhou, their patriarch had specifically instructed them to treat her as a stranger without her orders. Alas! They didn't know what had gotten into their patriarch; she seemed bewitched, actually agreeing to let that Second Young Master Ming seal her internal energy with his "Interlocking Finger." Now, she had no martial arts skills whatsoever, yet she wouldn't allow them to protect her. They truly didn't know what she was planning.

The news that the prefectural governor had arrested someone at Hongfulou quickly spread throughout Mozhou City.

After Lin You was imprisoned, he didn't make any rash moves, only thinking that his acupoints would automatically release after four hours, at which point escaping would be a piece of cake. However, before his acupoints could be released, he was released in the evening. Just as he was wondering what was going on, he saw his father at the door. He was stunned for a moment, and before he could speak, he received a loud slap across the face.

"You unfilial son! You didn't even know your own limitations before running off to challenge Bi Yao to a duel. Why don't you go? It would be better to die at Bi Yao's hands than to come back and cause me this trouble! You bastard!" Lin Xun scolded his son fiercely.

Lin You's head snapped to the side from the slap, and half of his face went numb. He turned back and glared at his father without saying a word, but in his heart he was thinking: Yes, you can't wait for me to die. Anyway, you have another son. If I die, no one will get in your way.

Lin Xun looked at his son, feeling both angry and resentful, yet helpless.

Lin You was his eldest son, the legitimate son on whom he placed high hopes. From a young age, he had been strict with him, and the boy lived up to his expectations, being intelligent and talented, always excelling in his studies and martial arts. However, since his mother's death, in recent years, for some reason, the boy had become increasingly rebellious. If he were even slightly harsh in his words, the boy would not only glare at him coldly but sometimes ignore him for ten days or half a month. A few days ago, after a competition between the brothers, he praised his second son a few times, and the boy left a note and ran away the next day, saying he was going to challenge Bi Yao to a duel. This greatly worried him. Anyone in the martial arts world knew that Bi Yao was someone not to be trifled with; how could a mere child be a match for her? Just as he was anxiously about sending someone to bring him back, his family reported that they had heard on the street that the eldest son of the Lin family had offended the prefectural magistrate at Hongfu Restaurant and had been imprisoned. Upon hearing this, he immediately sent people to inquire, and indeed, his son was imprisoned. After questioning him closely, he learned that the reason his son had been imprisoned for such a trivial matter was simply because he was the son of the Lin family of Mozhou. He had no choice but to ask someone to pull strings and get his son out. Now that his son was out, he was furious at the price he had paid.

"You're still glaring at me!" Lin Xun slapped him again. "I've lost half of the Lin family because of you, you little beast, and you still dare to act tough with me!"

Lin You covered his face and glared at his father: "If I'm a little beast, what are you?"

Lin Xun was speechless upon hearing this, his face flushed with embarrassment, and his anger intensified. He raised his hand and slapped him again: "I'll teach you to talk back!"

This time, Lin You dodged: "You only know how to hit me now that my mother is gone. Humph! You want to beat me to death so you can give all the family's assets to that woman and her son, right? Humph! Good thing you only paid half of the Lin family's assets. Why didn't you pay the whole Lin family's assets?"

"Fine! Fine!" Lin Xun was so angry he was practically spitting fire. "You bastard! You deserve to be beaten to death! It would be better for me to be free if you died sooner!" He grabbed Lin You and dragged him home, determined to give him a good beating.

"Let me go! Where is Feng Yi? How is she? Let me go!" Lin You struggled, but he was no match for his father's iron grip and was dragged home shouting all the way.

At that time, Lan Qi was locked in a woodshed, counting the spider webs on the roof beams.

Normally, if a woman is imprisoned, she becomes the object of abuse by jailers and guards. The guard felt pity for Lan Qi, thinking that she hadn't committed any serious crime, and besides, how could such a beautiful woman be defiled by those people? So he found another woodshed to temporarily lock her up, and would naturally release her once the prince's anger subsided.

At Shenshi (3-5 PM), the guards opened the door to deliver dinner, and then locked the door again as usual.

After eating dry steamed buns and pickled vegetables, Lan Qi watched as it gradually got dark outside, thinking that another day had passed.

She sat on the haystack, pondering the events of the past few months in the shadows, reflecting on the purpose of her trip to Mozhou, her emotions fluctuating between anger and joy, until she drifted off to sleep. She didn't know how long she slept when footsteps sounded outside the woodshed. Though almost imperceptible, she was always very alert in her sleep, so the quiet footsteps still startled her awake. She opened her eyes to complete darkness and silence; it must be late at night. The dilapidated wooden door, without needing to be unlocked, was lifted open entirely, and a figure flashed in, carrying a sliver of light—the lantern he was carrying.

Under the dim light, Lan Qi could see that the person was the attendant who had grabbed Dai Xi in Hongfu Restaurant.

The attendant was startled to see Lan Qi awake, and even more surprised to see her just staring at him without calling out. Unsure of her intentions, he stood frozen in place. After a moment, he tried to move forward, but Lan Qi remained unresponsive. Emboldened, he strode to her side, holding up his lantern. He saw her sitting on the haystack, her knees drawn up to her chest. In the dim light, she shone like a jewel, radiant and beautiful. His desire intensified. He casually hung the lantern, knelt down, and slowly reached out his hand towards Lan Qi.

Lan Qi, however, remained seated, calmly observing the ill-intentioned person who had suddenly appeared in the dead of night.

The attendant's hand drew closer and closer, his breath quickening with tension. When his hand finally touched Lan Qi's shoulder, he could no longer restrain himself. He embraced her tightly, kissed her face, and his hands eagerly explored her body. He felt the soft, yielding flesh beneath his hands, and intoxicated by her sweet fragrance, as if he were in a dream.

Lan Qi remained unresponsive, letting the person move as they pleased. She stared at the spiderweb on the ceiling with her emerald eyes, a subtle, enigmatic smile playing on her lips.

"My beauty, my beauty, my darling. I've lived for decades and never seen such a beauty as you. If I could be close to you just this once, I would die content." The attendant was rubbing against her, muttering incoherently. He ripped open her belt and then pulled open her outer robe. Seeing the exquisite curves beneath her inner garment, he was instantly aroused and longed to rush to that blissful place.

At that very moment, Lan Qi suddenly turned her face and smiled gently at him, like a pomegranate flower in the dark night, her charm penetrating to the bone, making him completely infatuated. His hands trembled as he reached out to undo her inner garment... Suddenly, a gust of wind swept in from outside the door. Before he could react, he was swept up by the wind and violently and swiftly slammed into the corner of the wall. Blood splattered and brains gushed out. He died without even a howl.

Despite this sudden change, Lan Qi remained calm, lying quietly on the haystack, only the smile on her lips deepened.

A figure landed lightly in the woodshed, picked up Lan Qi from the ground, and flew away silently as it had come.

The figure carried Lan Qi and flew towards the city outskirts. Lan Qi neither struggled nor spoke, obediently letting the figure carry her until they reached a lake outside the city. Then the figure threw Lan Qi into the lake.

In March, the lake water was icy cold. Lan Qi shivered as soon as she entered the water, but she didn't care about the cold. Instead, she stood up from the lake, looked at the people on the shore, and chuckled. The more she laughed, the happier she became, and the louder she laughed, until finally it turned into a loud, hearty laugh.

The people on the shore stared at her coldly, without saying a word.

After a while, Lan Qi stopped laughing, swam to the lake shore, and looked at the usually elegant and refined Second Young Master Ming, whose handsome face was now frosty and whose brows were sharp. She couldn't help but smile: "Fake Immortal, so you have such a face too."

Ming Er didn't speak, but simply raised his hand and pushed Lan Qi into the lake again: "Wash yourself clean." The Second Young Master's usually gentle voice was now as cold as the lake water.

Pushed into the lake again, Lan Qi wasn't angry and stood up. However, she had no internal energy to protect her at the moment, and she couldn't help but shiver when the cold wind blew, but she still had a bright smile on her face: "Okay, I'll wash myself clean."

With that, she raised her hand and flicked the outer robe she was wearing onto the lake surface. The inner garment, after absorbing water, clung to her body, revealing her curves. She slowly moved her fingertips down from the collar, peeling the inner garment away bit by bit to reveal a sliver of green silk underneath.

Ming Er stood on the shore, looking at the person in the lake. In the icy lake water, her body couldn't help but tremble. She was so fragile, yet the light in her blue eyes was brighter than the moonlight under the frosty sky. It was so contradictory, yet so captivating.

"What do you want to do?" Ming Er asked coldly.

“Oh, Minglang, we know each other so well, isn’t your question redundant?” Lan Qi said with a smile.

He wasn't asking about her current actions, and she wasn't answering about her current behavior either.

She lost the bet in the capital, and he sealed all her internal energy, making her as weak as an ordinary person.

Was that bet something he had planned all along? She thought the answer was: maybe yes, maybe no.

As for how many of the dangers she had experienced over the past few months were caused by her enemies and how many were caused by him, she did not want to investigate in detail.

When the spies reported that the Lin family of Mozhou had discovered two more gold mines in the Kunwu Mountains, she knew their next struggle had begun. But… he could scheme, and so could she. His scheming was perhaps driven by a desire for an answer, and she, too, longed to know the answer.

When Lan Tong and Lan Long were no longer by her side, and all the vendettas and assassinations suddenly disappeared, just as she was about to resign herself to her fate, he finally appeared.

So, at this moment, the answer is now before them.

Lan Qi's undergarment fell onto the lake surface with a soft sound.

Now, she was left with only a pinkish-green bodice, standing almost naked in the icy lake. The cold moon and silver frost in the sky reflected on the lake's surface. With her black hair, snow-white skin, and alluring blue eyes, she resembled a fairy in the night, a water spirit, bewitching all beings.

Ming Er stood motionless, his eyes fixed on the center of the lake.

Lan Qi bent down, scooped up a handful of cold water, and poured it over her head. The water droplets cascaded down like crystal pearls in the moonlight, making her hair and body look as if they were draped in watery gauze, shimmering and glowing.

Ming Er finally moved, walking step by step down the lake shore and into the lake, then step by step approaching Lan Qi. Finally, the two faced each other in the middle of the lake, a foot apart, with ripples spreading around them.

Ming Er reached out, his long, warm fingertips landing on Lan Qi's shoulder. The moment they touched, Lan Qi trembled slightly, but she quickly regained her composure and simply looked at Ming Er.

His warm fingers brushed aside the dark hair clinging to Lan Qi's shoulders, then slowly moved along her cold, jade-like skin, sliding little by little, before landing on the back of her neck. With a flick of his fingertips, her bodice slipped down, instantly exposing a perfect body to the moonlight.

Ming Er's gaze slowly slid over her brows and eyes, over her stunningly beautiful face, over her slender neck, over her firm, snow-white breasts, and down... Then his icy expression slowly relaxed and crumbled, his calm gaze gradually becoming bright and burning. It felt like a long time, yet also like only a moment, when Lan Qi felt a sudden tightness at the back of her head, and then Ming Er's face was close before her eyes. Then, her lips were fiercely kissed, and her body was tightly pulled into a warm embrace.

At that moment, it felt as if a flame had been ignited; it was painful and intensely hot.

So she opened her lips and bit back with the same force, while her hands tightly wrapped around his neck.

In the center of the lake, under the bright moon, the two people bit each other's lips and tongues, their bodies intertwined, rising and falling in the lake.

In the middle of the night, a terrified scream came from the official residence of the governor of Mozhou, waking everyone in the residence, including the governor, Huang Ye, who was sound asleep.

After Dai Xi returned home, he waited until dusk when Huang Ye finished his official business and returned to his residence. Only then did he hurriedly send someone to the state prison to retrieve the person, but the messenger returned saying that the young master's desired person was not in the prison. Dai Xi didn't believe it and went again himself, searching the entire prison, but still couldn't find the beauty. Could it be that the prison guards had taken her away without his permission? This thought crossed his mind, and considering the beauty's stunning appearance, he decided it was possible, so he questioned the prison guards. The prison guards, of course, dared not offend the young master of the Grand Chancellor's family and vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

Even after being released from prison, Dai Xi remained treacherous. He sent his trusted aide, Dai Xiong, to question the guards who had been there during the day. This time, they finally got the information: the beauty was being held in the woodshed of the prefectural government residence. Upon receiving this news, Dai Xi was eager to immediately approach the beauty. However, Dai Xiong remained calm and pulled him back, saying, "It's still early. The young master is certainly not yet at rest. Even if you go, you won't get the beauty. Why not wait until nightfall, when everyone in the residence is asleep, and then sneak in from the back to meet her? Wouldn't that be better?"

Dai Xi found this reasonable and decided to let it go for the time being. As the night deepened and all was quiet, he called for Dai Xiong, but Dai Xiong was not there. Unable to wait any longer, he summoned two other attendants to accompany him quietly to the back gate of the official residence. They pried open the door and slipped inside. Carefully searching, they found the woodshed with its door wide open. The three men, carrying lanterns, entered and saw Dai Xiong's corpse in the corner. Dai Xi, pampered and spoiled, had never witnessed such a gruesome sight. He screamed and fainted, attracting the attention of the guards in the residence.

When Huang Ye arrived with Ye Yun and the others, Dai Xi had already woken up, but she was still filled with fear. Huang Ye ordered her to be sent away, leaving two attendants behind to give her instructions.

After the two attendants finished recounting their story, Huang Ye's face turned green. He made up his mind to write a letter the next day to send Dai Xi back to the capital. He waved the two men away. Ye Yun had already thoroughly searched the woodshed, including the circumstances of Dai Xiong's death, but unfortunately, he found no clues.

Huang Ye knew that this matter must be related to the woman from earlier that day, so he instructed Ye Yun: "You immediately take people to keep watch over the Lin family, and invite the eldest son of the Lin family back at Chenshi (7-9 AM) tomorrow." Lin Youding knew the woman's background.

Ye Yun accepted the order and left.

Huang Ye instructed the guards to clean up Dai Xiong's body, and then went back to his room.

He pushed open the door, only to find two uninvited guests inside. One was a woman in purple robes with blue eyes, the same one from earlier that day; the other was a man in a blue robe with an elegant and otherworldly appearance, who looked like a banished immortal under the lamplight. The woman in purple robes was holding the things Lin Xun had brought her earlier that day, looking at them. They were two maps, maps of the locations of two gold mines.