Quick Wear: Under the Skirt, All Beings Are Equal

Chapter 147 Young General: It's getting late, and the mountains and rivers are already winter

"You're my fiancée."

Chang Qing spoke in a neither light nor heavy voice, and suddenly raised his eyes and looked at Nangong Yunran quietly: "You and I have only met a few times, and we are tied together by marriage. Perhaps we still lack emotional foundation. This is the first time I am someone else's fiancé, and I don't know what to do, but I know that I should protect you."

When Nangong Yunran heard these words, she was stunned for a moment and accidentally broke the pastry in her hand.

She slowly came back to her senses and found that the carriage had arrived at the palace gate. She suddenly didn't want to go back to the palace so soon. She paused for two seconds and said hesitantly: "Well, can I go to the general's mansion to find you next time?"

"Don't worry, I won't disturb you. I just don't want to stay in the palace all the time, and I don't know where to go."

Chang Qing chuckled: "Of course."

She reached out and took off a jade pendant from her waist and handed it to Nangong Yunran. Her eyebrows raised slightly and she said in high spirits, "Take this. No one will dare to stop you when you go to the General's Mansion. If you need it, you can also take this directly to find the Lin brothers."

Nangong Yunran took the jade pendant and accidentally touched the boy's slightly cold fingers. Her heart trembled violently. The other party said it casually, which showed that this was a very normal thing. She actually had a strange sense of sacredness, as if she was taking over a token of love.

He clenched the jade pendant tightly in his hand, feeling it was too hot but reluctant to throw it away.

Chang Qing stood at the palace gate, with no intention of entering the palace. Seeing that the person in front of him was too pale, he felt a little pity in his heart, so he said, "You are not in good health, go back quickly."

In this way, she carried the jade pendant all the way back to the bedroom, took off the hair accessories on her head, changed into comfortable clothes, half-lying on the couch, with her black hair casually scattered.

Nangong Yunran looked at the jade pendant in his hand, was dazed for a moment, and then gently closed his eyes.

"Princess, news has come that the Crown Prince was tripped by the new beauty this morning, so he did not rush to the Spring Dynasty Banquet."

Nangong Yunran put the jade pendant away. A faint smile hung on her pale face. She said softly, "I'm afraid that father will be disappointed with the crown prince again. The Spring Court Banquet is such an important event, but he was obsessed with women. That beauty is indeed quite capable. She was able to seduce the crown prince so much that he couldn't help himself and indulge in lust in broad daylight."

The corners of her eyes slightly raised, and then she looked at her guards: "However, my father has always been particular about balance, so he will naturally not suppress the crown prince too much, which would allow the second prince and his party to become too arrogant."

"I see that the Second Emperor has been quite idle recently. Find him something to do. One of his ministers favors his concubine and kills his wife. He has asked people to submit a memorial to impeach him."

As soon as the words fell, the guard disappeared from the spot.

Nangong Yunran suddenly started coughing again, and only when his handkerchief was stained with blood did he silently put it aside.

Yihuan came in with a bowl of medicine. When he heard that she was coughing painfully, his heart suddenly tightened.

"Princess, do you still want to drink?"

Yihuan looked at the shocking bloodstains on the handkerchief, the pain in her eyes almost overflowing: "This medicine is too harmful to the body, let's not drink it today."

This medicine was prescribed by the Imperial Hospital, but they added a few ingredients that could conflict with the main ingredients and cause serious damage to the human body.

Nangong Yunran shook her head gently, her eyes soft and gentle: "Yihuan, I can only survive in this palace if I am a sickly person and pose no threat to anyone."

She tilted her head slightly and smiled at herself. The dim candlelight beside her fell on her pale face, as if it was covered with a layer of mist.

"Only in this way can they believe that I am dying and can only rely on medicine to stay alive. I am of little use to them and they will not spend so much time on me."

Nangong Yunran never wanted to compete with anyone, but being in the vortex of imperial power, she had to plan some things to save her life.

She had stopped taking the medicine for a long time. When Qingyang pushed her out, her figure appeared in front of the world again.

"Actually, it's not entirely a bad thing. In fact, I suddenly feel a little grateful to Qingyang for rejecting the marriage proposal and making me his fiancée."

Nangong Yunran smiled gently, propped herself up from the couch, frowned, and drank the bowl of black medicine. The bitterness spread from the tip of her tongue, making her want to cry.

"Yihuan, it's so bitter."

Yihuan stayed quietly beside Nangong Yunran. She knew that the princess was most afraid of suffering, but in order to save her life, she had to drink these medicines day after day for years. She was always sick and could neither jump nor travel, and could not even stay outside for too long.

Nangong Yunran picked up a piece of osmanthus cake to dilute the bitterness in her mouth, and her frown gradually relaxed.

"It turns out that sweet-scented osmanthus cake is not so bad. Why is it that the one made in the palace is not as good as the one made outside?"

Yi Huan laughed and said jokingly: "It's not that the work done in the palace is worse than outside, it's just that the people they send to are different."

Nangong Yunran glared at her but did not refute. It must be said that it feels different to have someone backing you up.

Today's situation was set by her. When she saw the arrow coming towards her, her heart trembled slightly. She didn't want to offend anyone, but she also didn't want to be bullied for no reason.

Princess Qingyang and the Second Prince were plotting against her, and the Crown Prince was also trying to take advantage of her. What happened at the Spring Court Banquet was actually the Seventh Princess's deliberate attempt to humiliate her, but she had managed to outwit them.

None of the people involved in this incident are innocent.

Only one person.

Nangong Yunran lowered her eyes gently, with a somewhat complicated look in her eyes. People like that young boy were indeed not suitable to stay in this cannibalistic capital city.

Now that he has come forward, he is afraid that more people will be watching him.

Until now, she still remembers the bright sunlight that made it impossible to open one's eyes, and the cold arrow that flew through the air and pierced the boy's palm, with bright red blood dripping down.

Shocking marks were left on the white clothes, which made people feel heartbroken. She still remembered that he protected her behind him and asked others for justice for her.

Nangong Yunran has seen too many ups and downs in the world in this palace and is always wary of others. But when the young man said, "She has a good temper, but I have a bad temper," she actually shed tears.

The scorching sunlight passed through the boy's back and fell on her eyelids, just like drinking a bowl of green plum soup on a hot summer day, or like peach blossom wine, making the person drunk and somewhat unconscious.

It was rare that at that moment, she didn't think about anything, and forgot about the crown prince and Princess Qingyang.

I just looked at the person in front of me, stayed quietly behind him, and slowly savored the feeling of being protected.

"Yihuan, if people outside knew how scheming I am, would they..."

"Princess, don't talk about yourself like that."

Yihuan interrupted Nangong Yunran. She was the only one who knew how hard the princess' life had been over the years. She had to survive in the cracks and could easily become a victim of power if she wasn't careful. She could only save her life by being careful in everything.

Even though she was a sickly girl and had made it clear that she would not participate in the fight, those people showed no mercy when they took advantage of her, not even a trace of guilt or sympathy.

Now that there is finally someone protecting the princess, she just feels sad when she sees it. The princess feels that she is not worthy of General Xu.

Looking at the bright moonlight outside the window, Nangong Yunran was silent for a long time before she slowly smiled: "Go to sleep. I have things to do tomorrow. I don't know if my father will come to see me, the daughter who escaped death."

From childhood to adulthood, she was like a thief, peeking at other people's fatherly love through the cracks in the door.

At this time in the general's mansion, Chun Heming had also heard about what happened at the Chun Chao banquet. He suddenly woke up in the middle of the night, got up and kicked open the door of Chang Qing's room.

"General Xu, are you asleep?"

Chang Qing was still confused when he was pulled out of bed by him. It was not until he sat on the stone bench next to the bamboo forest that he slowly came to his senses.

"What are you doing?"

Chun Heming said, "I saw that you couldn't sleep, so I specially accompanied you to appreciate the moon. Suddenly, I felt that the moonlight tonight is really beautiful and very suitable for writing poetry."

Chang Qing: “…”

Silently picking up the wine glass on the table, the spicy wine rolled into her throat, and she felt completely awake. Her fair face had a half-smile on it: "You knew I couldn't sleep and specially accompanied me to watch the moon. That's quite considerate."

Chun Heming did not comment. It didn't matter who couldn't sleep. What mattered was that the two of them were sitting here now.

When someone came to the palace, he didn't want his friend to be involved in the power struggle, so he specially investigated Princess Qingyang and found a rough man to disguise as a general.

Sure enough, Princess Qingyang believed it.

But no one expected that the old emperor would push out the fifth princess who had no sense of existence.

He had investigated Nangong Yunran and knew that the fifth princess was just as the legend said, frail and sickly, had been taking medicine since she was a child, had a weak personality, and her situation in the palace was extremely difficult.

However, precisely because of her physical problems, she did not participate in the struggle between the Crown Prince and the Second Prince. Compared with other princes and princesses, she was much less dangerous.

It's just that a frail, powerless princess actually survived in the increasingly fierce struggle for imperial power, and almost no one paid much attention to her.

Chun Heming didn't know what to say for a moment. He had never had any contact with Nangong Yunran, and he didn't know whether this person was really an immortal who was oblivious to the world outside, or a scheming and disguised person behind the scenes.

The moonlight was hazy, and the bamboos nearby were rustling in the wind. The moonlight stretched the shadows of the bamboos into long, mottled and strange shapes.

The young man next to him had tiny starlight in his eyes, and the starlight and moonlight in the sky all fell on him. His eyebrows and eyes were sharp and clear, while the man in blue next to him smiled gently, diluting the wanton sharpness brought by the young man next to him.

The moonlight seemed to shine through Chang Qing's body. Chun Heming thought, it is enough to have a close friend in life, to drink wine and discuss swords, just like now!

After three rounds of drinking, Chang Qing propped up his head with his hands and looked drunkenly at the sound of a crane singing in high spirits.

Chun Heming's wine was not very good, and he was dizzy after a few cups. Now he was holding a sword and wanted to perform a sword dance for Chang Qing. No matter how Chang Qing tried to stop him, he couldn't. He could only watch him staggering with a sword in his hand, dancing under the moon.

Maybe good looks make people more patient in everything they do. Although Chun Heming was a little drunk, his martial arts roots were still there, and his dance was very pleasing to the eye.

The green color was like flowing clouds and water under the moon, and the sword flowers were sparkling, like the moonlight filling the ground.

With a slight lift of the sword tip, the glass of wine on the table slid down the sword to the hilt. His jade-like fingers slowly held the glass and he raised his head to drink it all.

Chun Heming is a young man from an aristocratic family. He has been learning the six arts of a gentleman since he was young, and sword dancing is no problem for him. He is handsome and different from those pretentious people. His body seems weak but is strong and agile, with the demeanor of a great man.

His handsome face was stained with red. He slowly put away his sword, sat down, looked at Chang Qing and smiled, saying, "How is it? You are lucky to see me today. I have never danced with a sword in front of others."

His meeting with Changqing was purely accidental. To this day, Chun Heming was still ridiculed by Changqing for a long time whenever he mentioned their first meeting.

At that time, Chun Heming used all means to escape the marriage. He disguised himself as a woman and sneaked into a brothel. He was drugged and almost raped. He beat the woman and ran away. He met Chang Qing in his embarrassed state.

The two chatted about the past. Chang Qing carelessly stroked the wine glass with his fingers and asked, "I forgot to ask you, why did you choose to escape the marriage?"

Chun Heming frowned slightly, as if he remembered something very disturbing. He poured himself another glass of wine and said drunkenly: "In fact, what you have gained since childhood, you should give back to the family. I can understand and accept it. Do you know who the girl who arranged marriage with me is? One punch from her could take half my life. Really, when I saw her running towards me, my body was shaking."

"She also called me... said I was a thin dog."

The corners of Chun Heming's lips twitched fiercely, and he felt that his dignity was severely insulted. Although he looked a little thin, he had all the strength that an adult man should have.

It can even be said that he could walk for a whole day carrying something weighing dozens of kilograms without even taking a breath.

Chun Heming looked at Chang Qing's strange gaze, raised his head with a sense of despair, looked at the stars in the sky, and said aggrievedly:

"I am really a little scared. It's not that I look down on her. After all, what I know about her is just the tip of the iceberg. I am not qualified to judge her too much."

"I just felt that I would not live long, so I thought of running away from the marriage. Finally, I heard that the girl also ran away from the marriage."

"We both ran away from our marriage, but why am I so unlucky that I was chased by my family and had to run away everywhere, leaving behind a lot of stains. Xu Jinhuan, you are not allowed to tell anyone about that, or I will not forgive you."