The night was deep, and the moon threw a dappled, flickering light between the branches and leaves of the trees.
In the Western Depot.
The melodious cry gradually reduced.
Bedside, the two men were both sweating and gasping. One lay while the other sat.
Lu Qiange rested for a while, his cold eyes casting on Ming Lan.
A small whip came down, and the skin of his thin exposed chest had already turned a piece of bluish red. Tiny beads of blood oozed from all the overlapping whip marks.
However, while feeling the lacerating pain of the wound, the abnormal eunuch showed an expression of both pain and satisfaction on his pale and sweating face.
That extremely contradictory expression was noticed by Lu Qiange. At once, he felt his scalp tingling. Several layers of gooseflesh crept all over his body.
Ming Lan's red face was like being covered with the rouge. His beautiful, watery eyes look
The moonlight enveloped the entire Western Depot prison in silence, with a few thin clouds floating in the night sky.After relishing a jug of liquor, Warden Qiu was napping on the narrow bed in the guards' quarter.Xiaochun walked in and sat on the bench with a sullen face."Oh! It always gets busy when it's my shift. Damn it!"Chattering complaints, Xiaochun picked up the jug on the table and shook it.Realizing that nothing was left, he threw the empty jug away with a dissatisfied mouth curl and then picked some peanuts for a chew.Warden Qiu opened his sleepy eyes and looked at him on the other end of the table. Reeking of alcohol, he asked lazily."What's wrong?""Why! We've got four Western Depot guards coming to pick up the arsonists in a carriage before.Just now, four other people showed up outside the prison and insisted that they were sent by the Western De
The pain of the slap lingered on his cheek before it died away with elapsing time.Gu Yunyao's weep dawdled by his ears."You might hide what you had done from Yunxi, but it would not escape my eyes. You know Yunxi loves you, yet you abandoned her to wed the maid of the Kunning Palace for the Eastern Depot's sake. You were ambushed and to keep your own life, you schemed to sacrifice Yunxi for the antidote. Yunxi is so silly to not have seen earlier that she's not your love. Otherwise, how could use your dearest for yourself and the Eastern Depot?"Taking all her anger in his vision, Leng Qingtang turned his head at Gu Yunyao silently with a calm expression.Then, he muttered hoarsely."Has Your Grace released all your fury? If so, please take your servant back to the palace and worry me no more. Sneaking disguised out of the court in broad daylight does not suit one of high status like you!"Gu Yunyao's ey
Under the moon, Kunning Palace.Leng Qingtang looked down and glanced around leisurely, causing all the servants kneeling on the ground to feel their scalp tightened and a gush of chill in their hearts.Even Empress Qian, who stood arrogantly on the steps, went weak at the knees while facing the powerful gaze of Leng Qingtang. If it were not for the maid's help, she would be likely to sit on the ground awkwardly.However, she was the Empress, the Emperor's wife, who should always act as a mother of all the people.Thinking of this, Empress Qian tried her best to endure the anger in her chest. She tightly clenched her lips and gritted her teeth, and the facial features twitched on her graceful face.Then she thought, "I have never done anything to frame the Commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot. Even if I did, he would not have the ability to cover the sun with one hand and dare to do anything under the eyes of everyo
In the Western Residence after the Eastern Depot.Qinger sat on the bed, weeping with her eyebrows drooping. The azurite feather narrow-sleeved blouse she wore turned wet with tears at this time, stained with spots.The round bun on the top of her head had got loose, and messy hair fell on her forehead and temples. But she would rather sit in a daze than bother to raise her hand to fix them.Just now, Xiao Xiaoshen still called her outside, while she just hid in the room without burning the candle. The door was locked tightly, and she pretended to have fallen asleep.That day, she sneaked into the Mansion of Ming with Yuan Qian, the tenth captain, to rescue Gu Yunxi, but they failed. She was drugged and lost her senses later.She had no recollection of the fact that she was besieged by the guards of the Western Depot.When she woke up, she was already in the prison of the Western Depot.At tha
Leng Qingtang went back to the Southern Residence of the Eastern Depot tiredly.He had seen Yuan Qian, the tenth captain, just now.When he entered the room, he saw the men of the tenth tribe gathering around his bed.The badly injured boy had a pale face, losing his former vitality completely.The naive dimples were gone from his thin cheeks. His eyes looked dry and gloomy with dark circles.He lay on his back decadently and despondently with no spirit, which caused a sudden pain in Leng Qingtang's bright black eyes.Jiang Huaian had already treated Yuan Qian and the four secret guards, and left the unique ten-star tendon pills for them made by Tantai who was the medical sage.The injured were repeatedly told to take them on time according to the doctor's advice, so that after a season, their severed tendons and vessels could recover then.However, his superb medical skills could
Ming Lan walked in from outside the palatial garden with a group of servants and eunuchs behind him. Once he stepped over the threshold with his exquisite and clean boots, they stood in the porch of Weiyan Chamber with their hands and eyebrows down, waiting quietly.Ming Lan raised his eyes, just to see Gu Yunjin, who was grinning, walked to him quickly.She wore her hair in a gorgeous and flamboyant bun, and her hairpin was ringed with pearls, all of which were matched appropriately.She was wearing a pleated skirt of thin silk with light floral patterns on it, and the center of front with embroidered magnolia blossoms on it revealed her slender neck and delicate collarbone.Her eyes were shining. Her clear and watery eyes which looked into Ming Lan's seemed to be suppressing some unexplained excitement.Gu Yunjin raised her hand and held Ming Lan's right arm lightly. She led him forward, saying coquettishly.
After hearing of the accident of Lord Duan, Ming Lan immediately left Gu Yunjin behind. Following the eunuch who reported the incident, Ming Lan led the people of the Western Depot to the Imperial Ceremony Office.On the way, Ming Lan heard the little eunuch's explanation of the incident.A few days ago, in the middle of the night, a maid suddenly jumped into the lotus pond of Xianghe Garden in the Palace.When internal officials pulled her from the bottom of the lake with difficulty, they found she had been out of breath. Via attestation, it was learned that the body was Caiping of Shanggong Bureau.People from Shanggong Bureau found a suicide note under her pillow when they sorted the relics for her.It was stated that Caiping was taken a fancy to by Duan Shaochun, the Supervisor of the service center, and was drugged and insulted after Duan Shaochun failed to threaten her.Before or after the incident,
In the middle of the courtyard of the Imperial Ceremony Office, Ming Lan stood under the sun.The beads of sweat from his temples and forehead wet the edges of the black net-patterned hat and dripped down his cheeks, washing off lines of the delicate makeup apricot-flower powder on them.Both he and Leng Qingtang were the second-class minister, the dignified Master of the Depot, but now he stood under the sun while Leng Qingtang sat on the fauteuil.The disparity had already made Ming Lan feel unhappy.Besides, as the Western Depot's Commander-in-chief, he was sneered in front of the twelve departments' chiefs and his subordinates by the Eastern Depot's Commander-in-chief. It indeed broke his face and self-esteem!Ming Lan could no longer bear it!"Leng Qingtang, enough is enough—"Ming Lan's beautiful eyes stared wide, and two cold blade-like rays of light shot from his eyes straight to the m