Chapter 200: Chapter 199: Herbal Tea
The distinct knuckles of his hand fell on the paper, merely tapping lightly, yet it made one feel the fingers were relaxed and powerful.
The edges of the neatly trimmed nails showed Du Yunluo’s imitation of Mu Lianxiao’s handwriting—elegant and grand.
Du Yunluo glanced at it, her gaze slowly moving from his fingertips upward to Mu Lianxiao’s face. She curved her lips into a smile.
Since he had seen this piece of writing, there was nothing more for her to hide. Seeing Mu Lianxiao open his mouth to ask for it, Du Yunluo couldn’t help but feel a bit playful. She smiled and said, "You can write one in the same way."
Mu Lianxiao raised his eyebrows slightly; this answer was quite surprising. Looking at Du Yunluo’s mischievous smile, he couldn’t help but smile as well and leaned forward, saying, "I’ll take it back and write one from it."
His strikingly handsome face suddenly magnified before her, and Du Yunluo’s figure was clearly visible in Mu Lianxiao’s eyes. Du Yunluo only felt a surge of heat rush to her head.
He was clearly distorting her meaning!
She asked him to write it here, but he said he would take it back to write, a simple thing, yet he made it all the more ambiguous and tender.
Though separated by the table, Mu Lianxiao’s face was right there, so close that his breath was all over her nose tip. Du Yunluo thought that her nose tip must be sweating.
Hurriedly, she stepped back two steps, glared at Mu Lianxiao, and tried to snatch the paper.
Mu Lianxiao didn’t exert any force with his fingertips, allowing Du Yunluo to pull the paper out at once.
Du Yunluo slightly puffed her cheeks, folded the paper, and slapped it to him, "Here."
Mu Lianxiao’s smile deepened, the little girl’s eyebrows and eyes were full of emotion; that glance held no real power, only making her appear charming and lovely, making him captivated.
Maybe it was the late night, quiet and soft whispers, maybe it was the candlelight under which red sleeves added fragrance, his heart beat heavier and heavier, yet it was so tender, utterly softened.
Mu Lianxiao quietly adjusted his breathing; he thought he should go back now. Tomorrow morning, he had to return to De’an, and Du Yunluo also needed to rest—it was already the fourth hour of the night, if he didn’t leave now, it would be dawn soon.
But looking at the lively Du Yunluo, he was truly reluctant to leave.
After leaving, who knows how long it would be before he could see her again...
Mu Lianxiao simply moved a chair and sat down in front of the table, clearing his throat, and said, "Is there any water?"
Du Yunluo nodded, "There is, it’s cold."
"Cold is fine too," Mu Lianxiao propped his cheek with his hand, but thought to himself, cold was better.
Upon hearing this, Du Yunluo poured him a cup, raised her hand to hand it to him, and also added some for herself.
This tea was brewed by Jin Ling at night, and by now, it had already gone cold. Du Yunluo took a sip, it was astringent, and she didn’t really like it.
On the contrary, Mu Lianxiao drank several cups in a row before stopping.
Indicating Du Yunluo to sit down, Mu Lianxiao opened his mouth and asked her, "Did you ride the horse in the past two days?"
Mentioning this, Du Yunluo’s thoughts moved, she told the story about Caiwei being fed wine-soaked horse fodder by Lu Chun, which caused Huang Jie’s horse to be startled, and also mentioned that Snow Clothes’ horseshoe was loose.
Listening to this, Mu Lianxiao frowned. He knew there were many shady dealings in the inner court, but he didn’t expect a palace maid dared to target the Heir’s wife. But most importantly, it was the matter of Snow Clothes.
Du Yunluo would certainly not mention Mu Lianhui, as it would be utterly foolish to speak ill of his elder sister in front of Mu Lianxiao without evidence.
What Du Yunluo talked about was Ma Dehai. She and Princess Nanyan, being women, were not in a position to investigate the background of a eunuch, but Mu Lianxiao was much more convenient. Though he wasn’t part of the royal family, he had deep trust and favor from the Holy Emperor, had good relations with the Crown Prince, Li Yu, and Li Luan, and often went in and out of the palace, so he certainly had his channels to inquire about Ma De’an.
Du Yunluo only mentioned her suspicions; if Ma Dehai was merely protecting his own interests, she couldn’t blame him for that, as living in the palace wasn’t easy, and Ma Dehai’s choices weren’t to be faulted. But if there was another reason...
Mu Lianxiao was quite concerned, and he was relieved that Du Yunluo listened to him and didn’t ride the horses when he wasn’t around. But he still felt a bit fearful; with Du Yunluo’s poor riding skills, even if Snow Clothes was tame, a loose horseshoe would still be dangerous.
If he didn’t know, it would be one thing, but since he knew, he definitely had to investigate Ma Dehai, whether by coercion or enticing, he had to make him give up the person who acted.
To avoid the enemy in the dark and another mishap in the future.
The two sat across the table.
Du Yunluo thought about him leaving early the next morning, so she asked, "Is the flooding situation in De’an very serious?"
Mu Lianxiao’s expression grew more solemn, and he nodded slowly, "Very serious."
The mountainside by the main road had already collapsed. When he went there, only a single horse could pass. When he entered De’an City, the people were anxious, and the government office worried. He had seen the two towns buried under, which was beyond what "heart-wrenching" could describe.
After much effort, the main road was cleared, and the officials from the Ministry of Industry gradually arrived, only then did the city begin to stabilize.
Unexpectedly, there was another torrential rain overnight, and the river embankment in the city broke.
De’an is built along the water, and with the embankment breached, the whole small city was flooded. Though not to the extent of submerging houses, it undoubtedly compounded the already difficult rescue efforts. More crucially, the main road was once again blocked by fallen rocks.
The government office was overwhelmed, considering evacuating the people from De’an, but the people had lived in the city for generations and with children, they wouldn’t leave easily. Only a few solitary individuals, daring and without family ties, would run out along the rugged main road path, day and night.
Mu Lianxiao didn’t stay in the city; instead, he came alone to the hunting ground to report the situation. Nobody understood the situation in De’an better than he did, he must inform the Holy Emperor.
Du Yunluo gazed at Mu Lianxiao; he only gave her three words, "very serious," without elaborating, fearing she, a woman from a boudoir, couldn’t handle the calamity.
These things were too distant from her life, just like the old bear they encountered deep in the hunting ground. Du Yunluo’s perception mostly came from the bear skin she had seen before.
Floods and landslides, to girls from affluent backgrounds like her, were merely stories from others’ mouths.
But Mu Lianxiao had seen it with his own eyes.
Du Yunluo suddenly remembered the past when she was anxious and fearful about the battlefield. She had asked Mu Lianxiao many times, but he was never willing to elaborate. Then, she always thought, "The more you don’t say, the more scared I will be," but looking back now, perhaps Mu Lianxiao not saying anything was good for her...
Speaking of it, she couldn’t empathize, and it would only make her more bewildered about life and death.
So this time, Du Yunluo didn’t want to pursue how "serious" was indeed serious. She simply reached out and held Mu Lianxiao’s hand resting on the table.
Mu Lianxiao was stunned, Du Yunluo’s small hand was soft, her fingertip was slightly cold, and he instinctively held it back, smiling lightly, "Don’t worry, the Holy Emperor has made a decision, the rescue for De’an will proceed in an orderly fashion."
Du Yunluo nodded.
Mu Lianxiao’s fingertip gently, intermittently, caressed the back of her hand. The disaster in De’an was not something he could resolve single-handedly; though worried, it was not enough to disturb his mind, just as he told Du Yunluo that the rescue would proceed in an orderly fashion.
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