After Marrying the Disabled Crown Prince of the Enemy Country

Chapter 40          Fall Deeper

“Huh?”

Le Zhi widened her eyes in disbelief and cast her eyes suspiciously on Huo Du’s face.

Lin Yuxian, the admirer, was very deeply in love with him, but he did not even know her?

How could this be possible? Le Zhi did not believe it. But there was no trace of lying in Huo Du’s impatient expression.

“Lin Yuxian… She is Huo Xu’s cousin, and the Empress’s niece.” Le Zhi frowned, still thinking that this fact was too absurd, “Moreover, her father is still the Taiwei. Does Your Highness really don’t know her?”

Hearing this, Huo Du snorted and sneered, “It turned out to be Lin Qi’s daughter.”

The Lin clan indeed had a solid foundation in Great Qi, and there had been three prime ministers in their ancestors. But in Lin Qi’s generation, most of the family members were mediocre, and could not even compare with the Shen family, which had a shallow foundation.

If it were not for the younger sister who was the Empress, who had a good means to give advice to the Lin clan, Lin Qi, this bastard, probably would not even be able to sit firmly in the position of Taiwei.

Lin Qi was not only mediocre in qualifications, but also lustful and a gambler. The number of concubines in the Lin Mansion was almost catching up with the Emperor’s harem. If one counted the children born from the concubines and secretly born by some dancers and singers whom he had a fling with, perhaps Lin Qi himself did not know how many children he had.

Among his many children, only Lin Heng, the eldest son from his first wife who served as a lecturer in the Hanlin Academy, was a righteous person. The rest were all unscrupulous and untalented people.

Thinking about this, Huo Du was puzzled by Le Zhi’s puzzled tone. He raised his eyes to glance at her and spoke leisurely, with a casual tone, “Why should I know her?”

Was it possible for him to know every one of the complicated and chaotic family members and children of Lin Mansion?

Was he that free?

Le Zhi had carefully learned about the political achievements and family affairs of many courtiers in the Great Qi through various channels when she was recovering from her injury. She also knew something about Lin Qi, the Taiwei.

But no matter what, the words that Lin Yuxian said to her after she paid respect to the Empress last time, as well as the way she was full of anger towards her today, all show that she had a deep feeling for Huo Du.

Le Zhi thought that with Lin Yuxian’s temperament, she would definitely let the person know if she liked him. She did not expect that she loved him secretly.

“She… should have liked Your Highness for a long time.” Le Zhi pursed her lips, looked at him again, and asked, “When Your Highness was behind the screen just now, you should have heard it.”

The guest room fell into a moment of silence.

Le Zhi stared at the person in front of him and saw that his originally indifferent expression gradually became colder. After a while, he nodded to Le Zhi, then hooked his lips and sneered, “So, do you want to deal with her or me?”

Originally, with Huo Du’s temperament, he could make her disappear silently with just the two words that Lin Yuxian scolded Le Zhi. Over the years, he had grown accustomed to making decisions on his own. But Le Zhi said to him that day, “What’s wrong with saying it out? Why keep it all in your heart.”

At this moment, Huo Du suddenly wanted to know what it felt like to discuss it with someone.

“What?” Le Zhi looked confused, not understanding what he was talking about, “What to deal with? To whom?”

“Lin Yuxian.” Huo Du’s words were concise and to the point.

Le Zhi finally heard what he meant. Her face was full of surprise, very confounded. Based on her current understanding of Huo Du and his tone just now, she could roughly judge that he did not like Lin Yuxian. However, just because people who did not like them like themselves, did he have to kill them?

This too… This was too…

She bit her lip and said softly, “Don’t have to go that far, right?”

Seeing Huo Du silent, Le Zhi plucked up the courage, pulled his sleeves, and said what she thought, “If Your Highness doesn’t like her, just ignore her. There’s really no need… Isn’t it?”

Huo Du stared at Le Zhi with cold eyes, knowing that she misunderstood. His tone was even more unkind, “You don’t mind being scolded. You are really generous.”

So that was it, the corners of Le Zhi’s mouth froze. She recalled what Lin Yuxian scolded her just now, which was indeed vulgar. However, people who did not know would misunderstand when they see Huo Xu and she met here alone, right?

If she just had scolded her, death should not be her crime.

“No, I don’t care. I’m also angry. But it’ll be enough to find a chance to teach her a lesson next time.” Le Zhi smiled, then frowned again and added, “It’s too cruel to kill people because of this.”

Cruel?

Huo Du stopped talking.

Le Zhi looked at him cautiously but could not see the emotions hidden in his eyes.

After a long time, Huo Du stood up with the cane in his hand and said indifferently, “Let’s go back.”

Hearing this, Le Zhi hurriedly stood up and walked to his side to support him. She knew that he could walk by himself, but she was used to doing this subconsciously.

However, Huo Du gently pushed her away and kept some distance from her, “No need.”

With such an obvious rejection, Le Zhi immediately realized that this man was angry again. She lowered her eyes and recalled the conversation between them in her mind, thinking about which words she had made him unhappy again.

Soon, Le Zhi somewhat guessed the reason. Probably her phrase of “It’s too cruel to kill people”. She thought Huo Du wanted to kill Lin Yuxian because she did not like Lin Yuxian, but listening to what he said later, it seemed that it was because Lin Yuxian scolded her.

Although it was a bit extreme, it was to seek injustice for her after all.

Le Zhi thought that although Huo Du appeared to be icy and cold and had a bad temper, he would still uphold justice for her.

She silently followed him beside him, followed his footsteps around the screen, and walked to the side of the bed. Then she watched Huo Du pull the red rope that fastened the curtain to the bed, and in an instant, the bed’s wooden board moved backward, revealing the dark secret passageway.

The two walked down the secret passage silently.

Candles were burning on both sides of the secret passage. Although the candlelights were dim, people could still see the road under their feet clearly, so that they would not be hurt by stumbling.

Le Zhi looked at the figure walking in front of her who always kept a distance from her. Her eyesight was excellent that she could see all around her clearly, even in dim light.

However, she suddenly stopped.

“Your Highness, it’s too dark here. Can you lead me along?”

Huo Du did indeed stop.

Le Zhi vaguely heard an inaudible sigh. After a while, she saw Huo Du turn around and take two steps towards her, without any expression on his face, but he still stretched out and handed his hand to her.

Seeing this, Le Zhi hurriedly held his hand, as if she was afraid that he would regret it. She turned his fingers gently, passed between his fingers, and intertwined both their ten fingers.

In this way, he should not be able to get rid of her, right?

She lowered her head and smiled slyly.

It was impossible for Huo Du to miss any of her subtle expressions, but said nothing, just led her forward.

“Don’t be angry, Your Highness.” Le Zhi shook his arm lightly as she walked, with a tender voice, “I didn’t mean Your Highness was cruel. I’m actually very happy that Your Highness wanted to vent his anger for me because others scolded me.”

The intertwined hands swayed in the air as they walked, and gradually, the temperature of the two hands became the same.

Huo Du felt Le Zhi’s soft fingers gently rubbing the back of his hand, either intentionally or unintentionally, and the slight tickle touch reached his heart. In a dazed, he felt that her fingers were not rubbing against the back of his hand but gently scratching his heart.

Actually, he was not angry.

Le Zhi was right that he was cruel and apathetic. There was nothing to be angry about.

Huo Du did it on purpose, purposely pretending to be angry. Because he knew that as long as he was angry, whether it was out of gratitude or helplessness, Le Zhi would come to coax him. He enjoyed her coquettishly coaxing him immensely.

Most people would inadvertently fall deeper and deeper into people or things that they could not resist.

But Huo Du was different, he was not inadvertent. On the contrary, he was very sober. He watched soberly as he got stuck, and even pushed himself into it.

Not long after, Huo Du chuckled softly.

A lunatic like him still had this day.

Hiss, interesting.

Le Zhi heard his laughter and breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that this man’s temper came and went quickly.

—

This narrow secret passage actually led directly to the Taizi Mansion.

Le Zhi walked out of the secret passage with her cherry lips opened in surprise.

What exactly was Huo Du’s brain made of? It seemed that as long as he wanted, he could play everyone in the palm of his hand.

She stared at his side face with an entrancement and reached the bedroom unknowingly.

“Have you seen enough?” Huo Du said hopelessly, “Someone is waiting for you.”

Le Zhi’s face blushed suddenly. She followed Huo Du’s words and turned her head to look ahead, only to see the housekeeper and Li Yao were pacing back and forth outside the bedroom anxiously.

Seeing her coming back, the two hurriedly stepped forward and reported the matter in detail.

The night was getting darker, and everything was so quiet.

It had been a long time since Li Yao and the housekeeper left. After Le Zhi took a bath, she wore apricot-colored bedclothes, held the abacus and account books, and sat on the armchair to calculate carefully. She did not believe how could the shop lose so much?

But as time passed, her face became heavier after she finally read all the account books.

As the housekeeper said, the shop management was really bad.

It was not the problem of the shopkeeper or shop assistant, but the business itself, which was a small profit but a quick turnover business. When it first opened, common people flocked to the store, creating the illusion of good business. Therefore, the shopkeeper increased the number of stock purchases.

But when the freshness wore off, they went to visit the old shop again. As a result, too many goods were stocked up, and sweets and pastries could not be stored for long, so a lot was wasted.

According to this trend, the shop that had yet to make much profit would soon start to lose money.

Le Zhi was so worried that she was dazed while holding the account book. Suddenly, the abacus and account books in her arms were taken away and thrown onto the table casually.

“Sleep.”

Huo Du, dressed in crimson bedclothes, pulled the dazed Le Zhi to the bed, and then lowered the bed curtain.

After a long time, Le Zhi still tossed and turned and could not sleep. The money she used to do business was borrowed. If the money was done, how could she pay it back? Besides, she had to pay it back three times.

Le Zhi was in a depressed mood and sighed involuntarily.

Suddenly, the curtain of the bed was pulled open silently, and the candle lights from outside shone into the bed. Le Zhi looked at Huo Du who was sitting up, feeling a little guilty. Perhaps because she had affected his sleep.

She also sat up and said softly, “I’m sorry, I…”

“Can’t sleep because the shop is losing money?”

Le Zhi frowned and nodded.

“Do you want to turn a loss into a profit?”

Hearing this, Le Zhi’s dim eyes flashed a glimmer of light, “Of course, I want to!”

“All right, I can teach you.” Huo Du approached her and hooked his lips, “Then, come and kiss me first.”

These words were too sudden, and Le Zhi’s heart was shocked.

She looked at the person in front of her with wide eyes.

She saw a clear gleam in the peach blossom eyes, and it was getting darker and darker.

The author has something to say:

Du: Wife, kiss me quickly!!!

Zhi: …I’m stupid.