Chapter 27

Chapter 27

You could tell Murong Jie was really into this sleeve crossbow.

The mechanism and craftsmanship were top-notch—a quality item from the system that actually fits in this timeline.

It was perfect for him while he was weak—he could easily take out a few people with it.

Seeing Murong Jie wasn't saying anything, Lu Yunqi just shoved the crossbow into his hands and said, "Come on, I really messed up, alright? Here, take this—you forgive me now?"

Murong Jie shot him a look and said flatly, "Yesterday... let's just forget it."

Only yesterday was forgiven. Compared to everything he'd done before, yesterday was nothing... and honestly, he hadn't even taken it to heart.

Lu Yunqi, on the other hand, was thrilled. Grinning, he said, "Come on, come on, we've got nothing better to do—let me take you to go beat someone up."

Murong Jie frowned. "Who?"

Lu Yunqi said, "You'll see when we get there."

With that, he grabbed Murong Jie's hand. "Let's go, let's go—watch me knock that old bastard's teeth down his throat!"

At Lu Yunqi's command, Liu Bao drove the carriage to Tianhuan Tower. The moment they walked in, Lu Yunqi started yelling, "Is Lady Jinxiu here? I want her to keep me company!"

The madam rushed over. "Oh, if it isn't Young Lord Lu! Jinxiu's with a guest right now. How about someone else? Lady Jinrong? Or Jinshu, Jinli—any of them work!"

Lu Yunqi puffed up his chest stubbornly. "What? Who the hell dares compete with me for Lady Jinxiu? They got a death wish or something?"

Every young noble in the capital knew Jinxiu was Imperial Uncle Wang's woman, and he'd sworn to buy out her contract. Lately, Lu Yunqi always asked for her whenever he showed up.

The madam had no clue what had gotten into this young lord today—why the sudden insistence on Jinxiu when he'd never cared much about her before?

The madam leaned in and whispered, "To be honest, my lord, the one Jinxiu is with right now is none other than the Imperial Uncle himself. You don't want to pick a fight with him, do you?"

"Ha? The Imperial Uncle? Who the hell does he think he is!" Lu Yunqi thought. He wanted to beat up exactly that Imperial Uncle. If it weren't for him, he wouldn't have even called for Jinxiu.

That rotten, black-hearted bastard—he'd embezzled all the disaster relief money and grain just for his own selfish greed. Relying on his sister being Empress Wang, he was greedy, lecherous, and tyrannical, spending most of every month wallowing in Tianhuan Tower. He looked like he had kidney failure, all bark and no bite.

Lu Yunqi pointed upstairs and yelled, "Hey, you old bastard Wang! Get your ass down here! If you know what's good for you, hand Jinxiu over, or I'll fucking kill you!"

Just then, the Imperial Uncle, who was about to drop his pants in the private room, yanked his trousers up, turned, shoved the door open, and stormed downstairs. The second he hit the bottom step, he started cursing: "Fuck your mother! Who the hell dares talk shit to me, the Imperial Uncle? You still dare call yourself 'lord' in front of me? Looks like you've got a death wish!"

Lu Yunqi lounged in a chair, bouncing his leg, and whistled at the Imperial Uncle. "Your daddy's right here, you little shit. What do you want?"

The Imperial Uncle turned, spotted Lu Yunqi, and immediately cursed, "You little bastard! Others might be scared of you, but I'm not! Don't think you're all that just because your daddy's Lord Nine Thousand Years—my sister's still the Empress!"

Lu Yunqi said, "Oh? What's this? You wanna fight? Come on—whoever doesn't fight today is a bitch!"

The Imperial Uncle was pushed past his limit and barked, "Men! Beat this dog bastard to a pulp!"

At that, the four men the Imperial Uncle had brought lunged forward to attack Lu Yunqi.

But unexpectedly, Lu Yunqi smashed his cup on the floor, and a dozen or so men came charging in from outside. They first knocked the Imperial Uncle's men flat, then laid into the Imperial Uncle himself with a flurry of punches and kicks, aiming right at his crotch. They beat him until his face was black and blue and he pissed himself.

Even after Lu Yunqi and his crew left, Murong Jie was still confused. He couldn't figure out why Lu Yunqi would come all the way here just to beat up the Imperial Uncle.

It wasn't until they were in the carriage that Lu Yunqi, who could never keep his mouth shut, finally let it out: "There's a bad drought and locust plague up north. The old emperor sent that bastard Imperial Uncle to handle disaster relief, but the old scumbag pocketed all the relief money and grain. As a result, the people there are destitute—they've all become refugees, corpses are everywhere, and they're even swapping kids for food! Tell me, does a piece of shit like that even deserve to be called human?"

Seeing Murong Jie stay quiet for a long time, Lu Yunqi turned to look at him and saw a look in his eyes like he'd never really known Lu Yunqi at all.

Lu Yunqi cleared his throat. "What are you staring at me for? I might be extravagant and dissolute, but I've never been careless with people's lives!"

Murong Jie closed his eyes, and Lu Yunqi instantly felt guilty—every reckless thing he'd ever done with someone's life had been aimed at Murong Jie himself.

He cleared his throat again. "Anyway, I know you won't believe me, but look—since that day..." He leaned closer to Murong Jie. "After I gave myself to you, have I bullied you since? No, right? I even gave you fifty thousand elite troops! I swear—not just those fifty thousand, but in the future, when your husband kicks the bucket, the whole Lord Nine Thousand Years' estate will be yours."

Murong Jie snorted coldly. "You'd better stay alive. Bad weeds never die."

At least for now, Lu Yunqi couldn't die. If the Lord Nine Thousand Years' estate ran into trouble, the entire court would fall into chaos.

He still needed a year. During that time, he had to keep the court balanced.

Lu Yunqi looped his arm through Murong Jie's and shook it. "Oh, so you can't bear to see me die? You're such a good brother. How about I give you a kid? Look, we've slept together so many times—maybe I've already got your baby in my belly. Sigh, tell me, if I really give you a son, would you be a good dad?"

Murong Jie thought Lu Yunqi was genuinely insane. This was worse than when he used to just beat him. So he said in a cold, low voice, "Fine! You'd better pop one out, or I'll kill you for sure!"

Lu Yunqi chuckled. "You said it! If I give you a son, you can't kill me then. We've agreed, right? Pinky promise!"

With that, he stuck out his pinky and forcibly linked it with Murong Jie's.

Murong Jie happened to glance at Lu Yunqi's face and was struck by his smile—when had he ever smiled so brightly and vividly?

In the past, Lu Yunqi's smiles had always been arrogant and domineering, always pointless, always insolent and rude.

For a moment, Murong Jie couldn't tell illusion from reality. He closed his eyes and said nothing more.

Lu Yunqi went on, "I heard the Third Prince snuck out during his house arrest, and because he hurt the Second Prince, he got stripped of his title. The emperor even sent two guards to lock him up in his own residence?"

Murong Jie gave a faint "mm." Lu Yunqi went on, "I also heard the Second Prince is pissed and thinks the whole thing was the First Prince's doing, so he's been making trouble for the First Prince lately?"

Murong Jie gave another faint "mm."

Lu Yunqi continued, "I heard some ministers have petitioned the emperor to name the Crown Prince early to keep the dynasty stable, and most of them back the First Prince?"

Murong Jie gave yet another faint "mm."

Lu Yunqi was at a loss for words. "Can you say more than one word?"

Murong Jie: "Yes."

Lu Yunqi: ...

"Forget it, I'll be the bigger man! Hey, wait—isn't that the Second Prince's carriage up ahead?"

With that, he stuck his head out and saw the Second Prince's carriage heading toward Tianhuan Tower.

Lu Yunqi said, "Looks like the Second Prince is off to see Miss Xie, huh? Sigh, so he's dead set on fighting his brother to the bitter end? Guess a man needs both the throne and the beauty to prove his worth."

Murong Jie, unusually chatty, said a bit more: "You'd better worry less about other people's business. You beat up Wang Kun—the Empress will definitely make a big deal out of this. Don't underestimate the head of the Civil Official Bloc. You won't get off easy this time."

Lu Yunqi said, "Why would I want to get off easy? I've been waiting for them to throw me in jail!"

Murong Jie had no idea what Lu Yunqi was up to, but he figured there was no way he'd actually get locked up. Just Lu An alone—that brother-obsessed maniac—if he found out his little brother had been thrown in jail, the first thing he'd do was lead his two hundred thousand troops to tear down the Imperial City Bureau prison.

As Murong Jie predicted, when the Empress heard the young palace maid's report, she shot to her feet in fury. "What? You're saying the Imperial Uncle got beaten up by that spoiled brat of the Lu family?"

The young maid replied, "It's absolutely true, Your Majesty. The Imperial Uncle was seriously hurt and had to be carried back to his residence by servants. They say... that part was damaged, and he might never be able to do his husbandly duties again."

Hearing this, the Empress was even more furious. She smashed her teacup with a crash and roared, "How dare he! Today, I'll make this Lu Yunqi pay!"

As she spoke, she rose and went to the Qianyuan Hall, kneeling on the ground and weeping: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, oh Your Majesty, you must seek justice for me! I have only one brother, and he was beaten like that by Lu Yunqi. He wasn't just hitting my brother—he was slapping the royal family in the face! Last time he galloped his horse within the palace grounds, Your Majesty said it was understandable. This time he beat my brother while under house arrest—what do you say should be done about this?"

The Emperor's head ached from the Empress's wailing, and he spoke: "Enough, enough. That Lu Yunqi is the son of Lord Nine Thousand Years, and the four borders now rely heavily on him. Tell your brother to stop provoking him!"

The Empress wept even harder, saying: "By heaven, I swear, Your Majesty, the common folk on the streets all saw it—it was clearly Lu Yunqi who went out of his way to provoke the Empress's brother. If even in this matter you would side with him and refuse to seek justice for me, then I might as well... banish myself to the cold palace—strip me of my rank, Your Majesty!"

The Emperor waved his hand wearily and said: "Fu Hai, go summon the Young Lord Lu here. I will ask him what this is all about."

Fu Hai acknowledged the order and galloped off at full speed to fetch Lu Yunqi.

Lu Yunqi had barely stepped through his door when Fu Hai summoned him to the palace. He turned and grabbed Murong Jie: "Come on, come on—I'll take you to see some more fun."

Murong Jie didn't want to go; he had other matters to attend to tonight, but he was powerless to resist and could only be dragged into the palace by Lu Yunqi.

The Emperor was also weighed down with worry. Recently, the military situation in the Hexi Corridor had grown dire, and the north couldn't do without Lu Tong. It seemed likely that the Hexi Corridor would be lost this time.

The Hexi Corridor had been a strategic stronghold since ancient times, but if the northern border could not be defended, then the Yan people from the north would pour straight into our Great Xia, and by then there would be no turning back.

Well, between the two, he had to pick one—the Hexi Corridor would have to be sacrificed for now, and perhaps the Jin State could hold the line for a while.

Seeing Lu Yunqi arrive, the Emperor beckoned him over and said: "Yunqi, tell me, what happened between you and the Empress's brother today? Is there some misunderstanding here?"

Lu Yunqi blinked his eyes and shook his head: "No, Imperial Uncle, there's no misunderstanding at all—I deliberately beat him up!"

Everyone present: ???