“Can’t tell?” Jinxia looked at Cen Fu.
Cen Fu nodded his head.
Jinxia furrowed her brows, looked at Cen Fu and said: “You can’t tell, it must be because of his orders. But why do I feel that as soon as you came, Lu Daren became very weird, was it because of what you said?”
Cen Fu took a deep breath, remained quiet.
“Then you don’t have to tell us what the problem is, but you should at least tell us what we can do to help him, or tell us what absolutely not to do.”
Since Cen Fu is a JinYiWei, his interrogation skills are far from her, especially under this kind of situation, Jinxia could only hope that Cen Fu can understand.
Cen Shou on the side also said: “That’s right, Brother, tell us.”
Cen Fu’s face was gloomy for a long time, but he didn’t make a sound either. Jinxia sighed saying: “Brother Cen Fu, then I won’t trouble you anymore, remember this pork should be eaten while it’s hot.”
As she said that, she stood up and walked to the door, before stepping out, she heard Cen Fu’s voice.
“Alright, there’s something I really need to tell you.”
Jinxia hastily turned around, quickly returned to her seat, waiting for him to continue.
“Someone reported the Young Master of bribery and working with traitors, therefore whatever you guys plan to do, you must be careful, don’t let them catch our weaknesses.”
“Receiving bribes, protecting traitors?” Jinxia thought to herself, “What do you mean by accepting bribes? Are they referring to the items Hu Zongxian sent? Then the so-called traitor, is it Hu Zongxian?”
Cen Shou said angrily: “Those things have clearly been returned, why is it still being reported by people? How did his Majesty react?”
“His Majesty only summoned the Old Master and asked him a few things, it can be said that he did not question the Young Master at all, but also did not question the person who reported it.” Cen Fu furrowed his brow, “The Old Master said, this is a tactic of throwing stones to test the water, especially how his Majesty feels about the Lu family, so he wants the Young Master to be careful.”
“Not questioning Lu Daren, only because Hu Zongxian’s punishment isn’t finalized, so he technically does not count as a traitor, but what if he’s fired, then…” Jinxia panicked, then she remember what Lu Yi, having a plan to make the Emperor became more favourable of Hu Zongxian, but with the current situation, the outcome of that plan will be unpredictable, because if things were this easy, Yan Song wouldn’t have dominated his current position that long.
“Anyway, while on duty you have to be careful, it’s better to be a little disadvantaged and don’t be fooled by others, especially with Hu Zongxian’s people, don’t get too close.” Cen Fu advised.
“I know.” Cen Shou replied.
Jinxia nodded her head, said nothing more, then walked out in silence.
***
The night was getting late, Lu Yi walked back and forth in his bedroom. Finally, he couldn’t sleep, so he took his jacket and went out.
Someone knocked twice on the window, Lu Yi removed the window hooks and then pushed them open, Lan Daoxing was seen relaxing on the roof of the house, his robes fluttering.
“Yu Dayou’s legacy sword affair, I’ve taken care of it in order.” Lan Daoxing jumped down lightly, leaned back against the window, took out the few remaining silver from his pocket and handed them over, “Here’s what’s left.”
Lu Yi didn’t count, took the silver and put it away, saying: “Must have been hard for you.”
“Only trivial matters, nothing troublesome at all. The only troublesome part was being pulled away by General Yu to drink wine.” Lan Daoxing laughed.
Lu Yi laughed as well, asking: “General Yu is all right?”
“Pretty good, he’s busy beating up the escaping pirates. Oh yes, after the great victory in Cengang, the Emperor has restored all the officials’ positions.” Lan Daoxing shook his head helplessly, “You can say, a victory like this deserves a promotion, but they’re just happy they’re not fired, especially when General Yu was used as a scapegoat. General Yu is very stubborn and not calculative, that’s why he doesn’t know that Hu Zongxian is using him, he’s just happy that he caught the pirates. This kind person…sigh…he might suffer…”
Lan Daoxing talked for half a day, but Lu Yi still didn’t make a sound. He turned over to look at him, just seeing Lu Yi stare deeply at the moon, his eyebrows tightened, it seems like something is bothering him.
“What’s wrong?” Lan Daoxing asked.
Lu Yi shook his head, said slowly: “Nothing…. You should stay in Xinhe City for a few days, and then I will arrange for you to enter the Capital.”
“Did something happen in the Capital?” Lan Daoxing figured it out immediately.
“Yan Shifan started sending people to test our limits, seeing the current situation, he’s starting to make his moves on the Lu family.” Lu Yi said, “Since nothing major happened yet, I have to take this opportunity to put you in the palace.”
“The wind blew heavily, making the grass flutter.” Lan Daoxing uttered a poem lightly, he tilted his head to look at Lu Yi, “But, that’s not what’s on your mind. What are you hiding from me?
*[This poem was written by 宋玉家, the meaning of this sentence is the impact of a big events can be contributed from small events, even those we don’t always notice, TN]
“Is there anything else more important than this?” Lu Yi said slowly, “I was indeed thinking about this.”
“No need to trick me!” Lan Daoxing tapped his own head, laughingly said, “Seeing the big frown on your face, there’s only one word — a woman!”
Lu Yi uncomfortably turned around, walked away to pour tea: “Nonsense.”
“You see, your head is only filled with this one word.” Lan Daoxing didn’t let him go, loudly laughed and said, “What happened? That girl troubles you again? Or does she like someone else?”
After a moment of silence, Lu Yi said in a low voice: “I would’ve been better if she liked someone else, at least that person would be more suitable for her.”
Hearing his tone of voice, Lan Daoxing asked in surprise: “Do you have eyes on someone else?”
If someone else asked him about this matter, Lu Yi will definitely won’t say a word, plus his introverted personality, he will definitely remain quiet until the end, but Lan Daoxing isn’t like the others, there’s purity in his eyes, as if there’s some kind of pull, making Lu Yi trust him unconditionally. Plus they’ve been through a life and death matter, Lu Yi have already considered him as his friend.
Lu Yi glanced at him briefly, after hesitating for a moment, then said in a very low voice: “Jinxia is most likely the granddaughter of Xia Yan, daughter of Xia Zhangqing.”
“….” Lan Daoxing was very surprised, after a few moments he replied, “You’re worried about her status?”
“Xia Yan, how much do you know about it?” Lu Yi asked him back.
Lan Daoxing said: “I’ve heard my master say, the Emperor was going to dismiss Xia Yan from his position, but then it took his life. Yan Song reported him to be working with traitors, and his whole family was destroyed because of it.”
Lu Yi remained quiet.
“Does this matter have something to do with your father?” Lan Daoxing finally asked the important question, “Are there any grudges between your father and Xia Yan?”
“Back then, someone reported my father, even though Xia Yan had let go of the matter, but he has hated Xia Yan since then.”
Lan Daoxing didn’t understand what he just said: “What? Let go of your father, but he still hates Xia Yan? What kind of reason is this?”
“Him…” Lu Yi took a deep breath, and said, “That time, he has to personally go to Xia Yan’s house and beg him.”
“….” After a while, Lan Daoxing became speechless, he finally understood the situation: The Lu family have been officials for many years, especially Lu Bing, with a special position, how can he easily let go of this grudge, of course he will hate Xia Yan.
“One hundred lives were lost in the Xia family, more than seventy lives lost within the Lin family. Everyone was her family.” Lu Yi stuttered, “What is she going to do?”
“Are you worried that after she finds out about this, she will hate you?” Lan Daoxing asked.
Lu Yi shook his head: “What I’m worried about is, she will hate herself, which is the thing I’m scared of.” Lu Yi raised his voice with hope, “At least she still have Mrs. Shen and Yang ChengWan and…” Based on the current situation, Mrs. Shen probably still doesn’t know the Lu family is their enemy, but Yang ChengWan has been following his mother even since he became a JinYiWei, he definitely knows about this.”
Lan Daoxing sighs, “This…With this situation, it’s impossible not to hate you. According to her temper, she will not hate or resent you, but she will definitely herself, her life and everything. Maybe it’s better for her to be with someone else.”
“I don’t want her to become like that, it will ruin her.” Lu Yi said.
“Then don’t ever speak about this matter, hide it for the rest of your life! Don’t ever let her know.” Lan Daoxing thought about it.
Lu Yi shook his head: “That’s not possible, because I’m not the only one that knows about this.”
“Then, what are you going to do?” Lan Daoxing started to become worried.
After a long moment of silence, Lu Yi’s tired voice was heard: “I’d rather let her hate me than herself.”
Lan Daoxing continues, “At the beginning, you shouldn’t have touched her. Forget it, it’s all fate.”
“Shouldn’t have touched her…” Lu Yi let out a long sigh, and muttered to himself, “Is it too late to do so?”
***
The next morning.
“Lu Daren, the General invites you to visit his place! The thing you said, the results have come in.” This soldier was led to Lu Yi by Jinxia.
Lu Yi said happily: ” So fast! There’s results already?”
The soldier laughed: “That’s right, the General has asked people to search for it everywhere, at first he wanted to find a golden turtle, but after a while, nothing satisfied him. Coincidentally, a white deer appeared in Mount Zhou, the General said this deer symbolizes good luck, although it’s no match to a white tiger, but it’s very valuable, so he wanted to ask Lu Daren to come over and take a look.”
*[The golden turtle is considered to be a very valuable item in history. People view this golden turtle as a good luck, as well as being able to foresee the good and bad futures, TN]
“White deer!” Jinxia, who was listening on the side immediately guessed that this item will be used to give to the Emperor, she quickly said, “I’ve never seen one before, can I come?”
Lu Yi looked at her, slightly stunned, his face was happy, immediately turned into a frown, he said briefly: “You don’t need to come.”
“But I—”
Lu Yi had already followed the soldier out of the residence before Jinxia had finished her words. A sigh of disappointment escaped Jinxia’s lips.
At this moment, Lu Yi could guess what Jinxia’s face looked like, and a sudden pain hit his heart, but he was determined not to give in.
Last night, he had thought about it very thoroughly, Jinxia’s true status, one day she will definitely find out, once she finds out, then….The Xia and Lin family have lost over two hundred lives, this will be the barrier between them, there’s no way to resolve it. Their relationship will turn into a knife that will stab straight into her heart, therefore, Lu Yi would rather Jinxia hate him now, disgusted of him, or even despise him, than one day he would hate himself, than having her beat herself up over their relationship and hate herself.
Her being healthy and happy, that’s what matters to him.
***
On the way to General Qi’s residence, Jinxia’s disappointed expression kept appearing in his mind. Lu Yi didn’t snap out of his thoughts until the soldier reminded him that they’ve arrived.
“Lu Daren, please! The white deer is in the backyard.” Qi Jiguang raised a hand towards him.
“Thank you, General Qi!”
Upon arriving at the backyard, Lu Yi saw a white deer standing in the middle of the yard, which was true that his whole body was white, even his antlers were snow white, and stood upright under the tree, in contrast to the fire of the pomegranate flower, its beauty cannot be described.
If Jinxia was around, she would definitely jump with joy. Lu Yi subconsciously thinks about her again.
Qi Jiguang who was beside him laughed and said: “The most difficult thing is, they don’t use animal traps, they just slowly try to get close to them and then catch them, because of that there are no injuries on his body at all. Just a little thing, it didn’t want to eat, so it got thinner.”
Taking a carrot from beside him, Lu Yi stepped forward to feed him. The white deer panicked and backed away, not intending to eat at all. It even refused to drink the water in the bucket.
Storing the carrots back, in just an instant, an idea flashed through Lu Yi’s head — that’s right, now was the perfect time for it!
He immediately turned to face Qi Jiguang: “General, I have a request.”
“Just tell me, you don’t have to be shy.” Qi Jiguang said.
“I will immediately find someone, who will be able to take care and feed this deer. Apart from this person, I don’t think anyone else can approach it.”
Qi Jiguang understood: “You mean to let him have an owner.”
“That’s right, not sure if General Qi will allow it?”
“That’s easy, I just give orders.”
“Thank you, General Qi!” Lu Yi said, “Oh yes, I still want to ask General Qi if you can report this matter to General Hu, so he can allow Advisor Xu to visit Xinhe City.”
“This white deer is wanted by Governor-General Hu?”
“Correct! General Qi did such amazing work, Governor-General Hu will be very happy.”
Qi Jiguang couldn’t help but praise Lu Yi’s honest and respectable work, finding the white deer isn’t for his personal gain, but instead was to help Hu Zongxian. General Qi immediately went straight to his study and wrote a report to Hu Zongxian.
“Advisor Xu should also come along?”
“That’s right, Advisor Xu must come, if Governor-General Hu can’t come, Advisor Xu must come.” Lu Yi replied.
Qi Jiguang glanced at him in surprise, but didn’t say anything, continuing to write letters. The letter was stamped with wax, general Qi hastily summoned a soldier and ordered him to send it directly to Hu Zongxian’s place.
The first step is quite smooth, the second steps, and this must be done immediately. Before Yan Shifan smells their behavior, Hu Zongxian must send this white deer to the Emperor as soon as possible.
As his heart was troubled, Lu Yi politely refused being escorted home by General Qi, he wanted to take this opportunity to walk home. As he was about to turn a corner, Jinxia was seen from far away, looking bored, walking and forth in front of the door, it was clear that she was waiting for him.
Lu Yi hide at the corner, sighed helplessly: This stupid girl, his tone was very mean this morning, he was hoping she became mad. Why is she not angry? What are you waiting for?
Lu Yi has to suppress his feelings, it seems that he has to continue to disappoint her, just the thought of having to hurt her, his heart ache tremendously. He didn’t have the courage to face her, so he could only lean against the wall, silently waiting…
Not sure how much time had passed, suddenly someone approached him: “My good grandson, what are you doing here?”
The beggar uncle was standing too close, his big face was right in front of Lu Yi.
“Senior, you…” Lu Yi, who was still not fully awake, just asked, “Why is Senior outside?”
“Why can’t I go out?” The beggar uncle saw that his expression was not right, reached out his hand to stroke his forehead, said hesitantly, “Why do you look a bit like an idiot, did you hit your head?”
“No.”
“What are you standing here for, that little girl has been waiting for you at the door for half a day. Do you see how tired she is?” The beggar uncle pulled him home, “Let’s go home.”
Lu Yi was helpless, and could only follow the beggar uncle home.
Jinxia immediately saw them, quickly stepped up and greeted them with a laugh: “Lu Daren, have you seen the white deer, how was it? I heard the white deer is an extraordinary animal, a symbol of brilliance…”
Before she had finished speaking, Lu Yi suddenly cut her off coldly: “Enough, don’t spread this around, you’ll mess up my plan later.”
His words were loud, not only was Jinxia dumbfounded, even the beggar uncle was also shocked.
“Oh…” After a while, Jinxia could finally answer, and she said slowly, “I understand.”
Lu Yi no longer paid attention to her, he immediately raised his feet and stepped inside.
“You—you, you….”
The beggar uncle became furious listening to him, he intended to chase after him and scold him but then he was quickly stopped by Jinxia.
“What are you holding me for? Did you hear what he said? Are there feelings left in him?” The beggar uncle said in annoyance.
Jinxia kept pulling him, not wanting to let go: “Uncle, you are not in his position so you don’t know what he’s going through. Lately his heart is full of trouble, if we were the one facing these problems, the situation would probably be worse.”
The beggar uncle knitted his brows at her: “Kid, look at you, you don’t have any will!”
“Can’t tell?” Jinxia looked at Cen Fu.
Cen Fu nodded his head.
Jinxia furrowed her brows, looked at Cen Fu and said: “You can’t tell, it must be because of his orders. But why do I feel that as soon as you came, Lu Daren became very weird, was it because of what you said?”
Cen Fu took a deep breath, remained quiet.
“Then you don’t have to tell us what the problem is, but you should at least tell us what we can do to help him, or tell us what absolutely not to do.”
Since Cen Fu is a JinYiWei, his interrogation skills are far from her, especially under this kind of situation, Jinxia could only hope that Cen Fu can understand.
Cen Shou on the side also said: “That’s right, Brother, tell us.”
Cen Fu’s face was gloomy for a long time, but he didn’t make a sound either. Jinxia sighed saying: “Brother Cen Fu, then I won’t trouble you anymore, remember this pork should be eaten while it’s hot.”
As she said that, she stood up and walked to the door, before stepping out, she heard Cen Fu’s voice.
“Alright, there’s something I really need to tell you.”
Jinxia hastily turned around, quickly returned to her seat, waiting for him to continue.
“Someone reported the Young Master of bribery and working with traitors, therefore whatever you guys plan to do, you must be careful, don’t let them catch our weaknesses.”
“Receiving bribes, protecting traitors?” Jinxia thought to herself, “What do you mean by accepting bribes? Are they referring to the items Hu Zongxian sent? Then the so-called traitor, is it Hu Zongxian?”
Cen Shou said angrily: “Those things have clearly been returned, why is it still being reported by people? How did his Majesty react?”
“His Majesty only summoned the Old Master and asked him a few things, it can be said that he did not question the Young Master at all, but also did not question the person who reported it.” Cen Fu furrowed his brow, “The Old Master said, this is a tactic of throwing stones to test the water, especially how his Majesty feels about the Lu family, so he wants the Young Master to be careful.”
“Not questioning Lu Daren, only because Hu Zongxian’s punishment isn’t finalized, so he technically does not count as a traitor, but what if he’s fired, then…” Jinxia panicked, then she remember what Lu Yi, having a plan to make the Emperor became more favourable of Hu Zongxian, but with the current situation, the outcome of that plan will be unpredictable, because if things were this easy, Yan Song wouldn’t have dominated his current position that long.
“Anyway, while on duty you have to be careful, it’s better to be a little disadvantaged and don’t be fooled by others, especially with Hu Zongxian’s people, don’t get too close.” Cen Fu advised.
“I know.” Cen Shou replied.
Jinxia nodded her head, said nothing more, then walked out in silence.
***
The night was getting late, Lu Yi walked back and forth in his bedroom. Finally, he couldn’t sleep, so he took his jacket and went out.
Someone knocked twice on the window, Lu Yi removed the window hooks and then pushed them open, Lan Daoxing was seen relaxing on the roof of the house, his robes fluttering.
“Yu Dayou’s legacy sword affair, I’ve taken care of it in order.” Lan Daoxing jumped down lightly, leaned back against the window, took out the few remaining silver from his pocket and handed them over, “Here’s what’s left.”
Lu Yi didn’t count, took the silver and put it away, saying: “Must have been hard for you.”
“Only trivial matters, nothing troublesome at all. The only troublesome part was being pulled away by General Yu to drink wine.” Lan Daoxing laughed.
Lu Yi laughed as well, asking: “General Yu is all right?”
“Pretty good, he’s busy beating up the escaping pirates. Oh yes, after the great victory in Cengang, the Emperor has restored all the officials’ positions.” Lan Daoxing shook his head helplessly, “You can say, a victory like this deserves a promotion, but they’re just happy they’re not fired, especially when General Yu was used as a scapegoat. General Yu is very stubborn and not calculative, that’s why he doesn’t know that Hu Zongxian is using him, he’s just happy that he caught the pirates. This kind person…sigh…he might suffer…”
Lan Daoxing talked for half a day, but Lu Yi still didn’t make a sound. He turned over to look at him, just seeing Lu Yi stare deeply at the moon, his eyebrows tightened, it seems like something is bothering him.
“What’s wrong?” Lan Daoxing asked.
Lu Yi shook his head, said slowly: “Nothing…. You should stay in Xinhe City for a few days, and then I will arrange for you to enter the Capital.”
“Did something happen in the Capital?” Lan Daoxing figured it out immediately.
“Yan Shifan started sending people to test our limits, seeing the current situation, he’s starting to make his moves on the Lu family.” Lu Yi said, “Since nothing major happened yet, I have to take this opportunity to put you in the palace.”
“The wind blew heavily, making the grass flutter.” Lan Daoxing uttered a poem lightly, he tilted his head to look at Lu Yi, “But, that’s not what’s on your mind. What are you hiding from me?
*[This poem was written by 宋玉家, the meaning of this sentence is the impact of a big events can be contributed from small events, even those we don’t always notice, TN]
“Is there anything else more important than this?” Lu Yi said slowly, “I was indeed thinking about this.”
“No need to trick me!” Lan Daoxing tapped his own head, laughingly said, “Seeing the big frown on your face, there’s only one word — a woman!”
Lu Yi uncomfortably turned around, walked away to pour tea: “Nonsense.”
“You see, your head is only filled with this one word.” Lan Daoxing didn’t let him go, loudly laughed and said, “What happened? That girl troubles you again? Or does she like someone else?”
After a moment of silence, Lu Yi said in a low voice: “I would’ve been better if she liked someone else, at least that person would be more suitable for her.”
Hearing his tone of voice, Lan Daoxing asked in surprise: “Do you have eyes on someone else?”
If someone else asked him about this matter, Lu Yi will definitely won’t say a word, plus his introverted personality, he will definitely remain quiet until the end, but Lan Daoxing isn’t like the others, there’s purity in his eyes, as if there’s some kind of pull, making Lu Yi trust him unconditionally. Plus they’ve been through a life and death matter, Lu Yi have already considered him as his friend.
Lu Yi glanced at him briefly, after hesitating for a moment, then said in a very low voice: “Jinxia is most likely the granddaughter of Xia Yan, daughter of Xia Zhangqing.”
“….” Lan Daoxing was very surprised, after a few moments he replied, “You’re worried about her status?”
“Xia Yan, how much do you know about it?” Lu Yi asked him back.
Lan Daoxing said: “I’ve heard my master say, the Emperor was going to dismiss Xia Yan from his position, but then it took his life. Yan Song reported him to be working with traitors, and his whole family was destroyed because of it.”
Lu Yi remained quiet.
“Does this matter have something to do with your father?” Lan Daoxing finally asked the important question, “Are there any grudges between your father and Xia Yan?”
“Back then, someone reported my father, even though Xia Yan had let go of the matter, but he has hated Xia Yan since then.”
Lan Daoxing didn’t understand what he just said: “What? Let go of your father, but he still hates Xia Yan? What kind of reason is this?”
“Him…” Lu Yi took a deep breath, and said, “That time, he has to personally go to Xia Yan’s house and beg him.”
“….” After a while, Lan Daoxing became speechless, he finally understood the situation: The Lu family have been officials for many years, especially Lu Bing, with a special position, how can he easily let go of this grudge, of course he will hate Xia Yan.
“One hundred lives were lost in the Xia family, more than seventy lives lost within the Lin family. Everyone was her family.” Lu Yi stuttered, “What is she going to do?”
“Are you worried that after she finds out about this, she will hate you?” Lan Daoxing asked.
Lu Yi shook his head: “What I’m worried about is, she will hate herself, which is the thing I’m scared of.” Lu Yi raised his voice with hope, “At least she still have Mrs. Shen and Yang ChengWan and…” Based on the current situation, Mrs. Shen probably still doesn’t know the Lu family is their enemy, but Yang ChengWan has been following his mother even since he became a JinYiWei, he definitely knows about this.”
Lan Daoxing sighs, “This…With this situation, it’s impossible not to hate you. According to her temper, she will not hate or resent you, but she will definitely herself, her life and everything. Maybe it’s better for her to be with someone else.”
“I don’t want her to become like that, it will ruin her.” Lu Yi said.
“Then don’t ever speak about this matter, hide it for the rest of your life! Don’t ever let her know.” Lan Daoxing thought about it.
Lu Yi shook his head: “That’s not possible, because I’m not the only one that knows about this.”
“Then, what are you going to do?” Lan Daoxing started to become worried.
After a long moment of silence, Lu Yi’s tired voice was heard: “I’d rather let her hate me than herself.”
Lan Daoxing continues, “At the beginning, you shouldn’t have touched her. Forget it, it’s all fate.”
“Shouldn’t have touched her…” Lu Yi let out a long sigh, and muttered to himself, “Is it too late to do so?”
***
The next morning.
“Lu Daren, the General invites you to visit his place! The thing you said, the results have come in.” This soldier was led to Lu Yi by Jinxia.
Lu Yi said happily: ” So fast! There’s results already?”
The soldier laughed: “That’s right, the General has asked people to search for it everywhere, at first he wanted to find a golden turtle, but after a while, nothing satisfied him. Coincidentally, a white deer appeared in Mount Zhou, the General said this deer symbolizes good luck, although it’s no match to a white tiger, but it’s very valuable, so he wanted to ask Lu Daren to come over and take a look.”
*[The golden turtle is considered to be a very valuable item in history. People view this golden turtle as a good luck, as well as being able to foresee the good and bad futures, TN]
“White deer!” Jinxia, who was listening on the side immediately guessed that this item will be used to give to the Emperor, she quickly said, “I’ve never seen one before, can I come?”
Lu Yi looked at her, slightly stunned, his face was happy, immediately turned into a frown, he said briefly: “You don’t need to come.”
“But I—”
Lu Yi had already followed the soldier out of the residence before Jinxia had finished her words. A sigh of disappointment escaped Jinxia’s lips.
At this moment, Lu Yi could guess what Jinxia’s face looked like, and a sudden pain hit his heart, but he was determined not to give in.
Last night, he had thought about it very thoroughly, Jinxia’s true status, one day she will definitely find out, once she finds out, then….The Xia and Lin family have lost over two hundred lives, this will be the barrier between them, there’s no way to resolve it. Their relationship will turn into a knife that will stab straight into her heart, therefore, Lu Yi would rather Jinxia hate him now, disgusted of him, or even despise him, than one day he would hate himself, than having her beat herself up over their relationship and hate herself.
Her being healthy and happy, that’s what matters to him.
***
On the way to General Qi’s residence, Jinxia’s disappointed expression kept appearing in his mind. Lu Yi didn’t snap out of his thoughts until the soldier reminded him that they’ve arrived.
“Lu Daren, please! The white deer is in the backyard.” Qi Jiguang raised a hand towards him.
“Thank you, General Qi!”
Upon arriving at the backyard, Lu Yi saw a white deer standing in the middle of the yard, which was true that his whole body was white, even his antlers were snow white, and stood upright under the tree, in contrast to the fire of the pomegranate flower, its beauty cannot be described.
If Jinxia was around, she would definitely jump with joy. Lu Yi subconsciously thinks about her again.
Qi Jiguang who was beside him laughed and said: “The most difficult thing is, they don’t use animal traps, they just slowly try to get close to them and then catch them, because of that there are no injuries on his body at all. Just a little thing, it didn’t want to eat, so it got thinner.”
Taking a carrot from beside him, Lu Yi stepped forward to feed him. The white deer panicked and backed away, not intending to eat at all. It even refused to drink the water in the bucket.
Storing the carrots back, in just an instant, an idea flashed through Lu Yi’s head — that’s right, now was the perfect time for it!
He immediately turned to face Qi Jiguang: “General, I have a request.”
“Just tell me, you don’t have to be shy.” Qi Jiguang said.
“I will immediately find someone, who will be able to take care and feed this deer. Apart from this person, I don’t think anyone else can approach it.”
Qi Jiguang understood: “You mean to let him have an owner.”
“That’s right, not sure if General Qi will allow it?”
“That’s easy, I just give orders.”
“Thank you, General Qi!” Lu Yi said, “Oh yes, I still want to ask General Qi if you can report this matter to General Hu, so he can allow Advisor Xu to visit Xinhe City.”
“This white deer is wanted by Governor-General Hu?”
“Correct! General Qi did such amazing work, Governor-General Hu will be very happy.”
Qi Jiguang couldn’t help but praise Lu Yi’s honest and respectable work, finding the white deer isn’t for his personal gain, but instead was to help Hu Zongxian. General Qi immediately went straight to his study and wrote a report to Hu Zongxian.
“Advisor Xu should also come along?”
“That’s right, Advisor Xu must come, if Governor-General Hu can’t come, Advisor Xu must come.” Lu Yi replied.
Qi Jiguang glanced at him in surprise, but didn’t say anything, continuing to write letters. The letter was stamped with wax, general Qi hastily summoned a soldier and ordered him to send it directly to Hu Zongxian’s place.
The first step is quite smooth, the second steps, and this must be done immediately. Before Yan Shifan smells their behavior, Hu Zongxian must send this white deer to the Emperor as soon as possible.
As his heart was troubled, Lu Yi politely refused being escorted home by General Qi, he wanted to take this opportunity to walk home. As he was about to turn a corner, Jinxia was seen from far away, looking bored, walking and forth in front of the door, it was clear that she was waiting for him.
Lu Yi hide at the corner, sighed helplessly: This stupid girl, his tone was very mean this morning, he was hoping she became mad. Why is she not angry? What are you waiting for?
Lu Yi has to suppress his feelings, it seems that he has to continue to disappoint her, just the thought of having to hurt her, his heart ache tremendously. He didn’t have the courage to face her, so he could only lean against the wall, silently waiting…
Not sure how much time had passed, suddenly someone approached him: “My good grandson, what are you doing here?”
The beggar uncle was standing too close, his big face was right in front of Lu Yi.
“Senior, you…” Lu Yi, who was still not fully awake, just asked, “Why is Senior outside?”
“Why can’t I go out?” The beggar uncle saw that his expression was not right, reached out his hand to stroke his forehead, said hesitantly, “Why do you look a bit like an idiot, did you hit your head?”
“No.”
“What are you standing here for, that little girl has been waiting for you at the door for half a day. Do you see how tired she is?” The beggar uncle pulled him home, “Let’s go home.”
Lu Yi was helpless, and could only follow the beggar uncle home.
Jinxia immediately saw them, quickly stepped up and greeted them with a laugh: “Lu Daren, have you seen the white deer, how was it? I heard the white deer is an extraordinary animal, a symbol of brilliance…”
Before she had finished speaking, Lu Yi suddenly cut her off coldly: “Enough, don’t spread this around, you’ll mess up my plan later.”
His words were loud, not only was Jinxia dumbfounded, even the beggar uncle was also shocked.
“Oh…” After a while, Jinxia could finally answer, and she said slowly, “I understand.”
Lu Yi no longer paid attention to her, he immediately raised his feet and stepped inside.
“You—you, you….”
The beggar uncle became furious listening to him, he intended to chase after him and scold him but then he was quickly stopped by Jinxia.
“What are you holding me for? Did you hear what he said? Are there feelings left in him?” The beggar uncle said in annoyance.
Jinxia kept pulling him, not wanting to let go: “Uncle, you are not in his position so you don’t know what he’s going through. Lately his heart is full of trouble, if we were the one facing these problems, the situation would probably be worse.”
The beggar uncle knitted his brows at her: “Kid, look at you, you don’t have any will!”
