Hearing the unfamiliar sound, Yun Qian Meng immediately became alert. She quickly stood up then moved back, keeping distance with the person despite the uneasiness of her body, and looked at the person in front of her.
The person in front of her looked pretty decent in his elegant garment, but those eyes staring at her contained excessive lewdness, which was rather disgusted Yun Qian Meng.
But what caught Yun Qian Meng"s attention was that why would there be an unfamiliar young man here in the Empress Dowager"s place?
Noticing the man trying to hug her, Yun Qian Meng"s eyes emitted cold rays. It was only because she was not feeling well that she had not been very alert a while ago. If she had reacted slower, she was afraid that she might have already been hara.s.sed by this playboy!
The man looked at Yun Qian Meng up and down with frivolous eyes, then showed satisfaction and said, "You really are a beautiful lady! But if you could wash away the red dots on your face, you surely will be even more attractive."
Being able to distinguish the red spots on her face right away, and that fact that he seemed to be a playboy, Yun Qian Meng knew that he was surely a lecherous man who stayed with women all year round. She calmly said, "If gongzi wishes to see beautiful ladies, why don"t you go to the Imperial Garden? Since there"s a party in the Imperial Garden, there are surely many elegant and beautiful ladies for gongzi to see."
Hearing Yun Qian Meng"s suggestion, envy and hatred flashed through the man"s eyes. He then disappointedly said, "Those ladies aren"t ones whom I could lay my hands on."
Despite what he said, his eyes still flashed with lascivious rays. He stuck out his tongue and slowly licked his lips, making Yun Qian Meng feel rather uncomfortable and disgusted by it. Yun Qian Meng quickly went through the information of all the young men of the families and clans inside her head, trying to figure out the ident.i.ty of this person.
She knew of Yuan Qing Zhou, and the only other person who had the same habits as Yuan Qing Zhou aside from the Empress" brother, Ruan Family"s Ruan Yu Xiao.
Yun Qian Meng carefully observed his manner and bearing. Although this person had red lips and white teeth, he also had a pale white face, bulging cheek bones, deep set eyes, and a thin figure. The elegant robe on him not only did not bring him any demeanour and dignity that a young man from his family should have, but rather showed clearer that he was a lecher who has had too much s.e.xual affairs.
Even though this person"s body did not seem like it could bear the burden of s.e.xual intercourses, after seeing Yun Qian Meng"s delicate figure, he showed a rather vulgar appearance. He stared at Yun Qian Meng with undisguised desire, wanting to immediately throw himself at the beautiful young lady before him.
Yun Qian Meng held back her disgust and said calmly but coldly, "Ruan gongzi is the blood-related brother of the Empress. If gongzi took fancy to anyone, isn"t it just a matter of a word from the Empress? You seem to be undervaluing yourself."
Although she was already quite sure that the person in front of her was Ruan Yu Xiao, she still wanted to be certain of his ident.i.ty, just in case.
The person gave a snort of contempt and replied with disdain, "So what if I"m the brother of the Empress? I am still far short from Chu Fei Yang. Otherwise, he wouldn"t be the one marrying you."
He paused for a bit and closely stared at Yun Qian Meng with malicious intentions. Looking at Yun Qian Meng"s blus.h.i.+ng delicate face, his tone suddenly became excited, "But no matter how good Chu Fei Yang is, he would never have thought that the first man his fiancee would have is me!"
Afterwards, contrary to the weak impression Ruan Yu Xiao gave off, he suddenly became a beast as he pushed himself towards Yun Qian Meng.
But Yun Qian Meng had already been on guard against him. With a quick turn, Ruan Yu Xiao missed his target, while she had already gone behind him and smacked her right hand in between his neck and shoulder. The weak Ruan Yu Xiao fell to the floor without further struggels.
Seeing Ruan Yu Xiao go down, Yun Qian Meng lost all her strength fell onto the stool. Looking at the man on the floor, Yun Qian Meng frowned. Even on a normal day it was already impossible for her to drag a man out without any help, much less in this situation where she was weak and there were maids guarding outside. If she went out like this, her reputation might be all ruined.
But how did the Empress" brother hide in the Empress Dowager"s heavily guarded palace? It was impossible for Ruan Yu Xiao, a gongzi who did not have any legitimate power, to have been able to do it by himself.
It might be that the person behind this was now waiting outside to catch them. One only needed to open the door of the side chambers to catch the scene with Ruan Yu Xiao.
There were indeed a lot of mysteries here in the Imperial Palace. There were also a number of people who wanted to implicate her. Everyone seemed to be suspicious, but there was only one thing that is sure: This incident was not done by the Empress Dowager.
With the Empress Dowager"s cleverness, she would not have let something like this happen to Yun Qian Meng in her palace. Despite the inherent danger of doing something this high risk, if it had succeeded, Yun Qian Meng would be doomed forever. The Empress Dowager, who was always careful and cautious, would not risk the future and destiny of the Qu Family just to get her.
It was possibly that the Empress Dowager did not know about this; rather, even she might have been included in the plan.
So, among all the people with intimate relations.h.i.+ps in the palace, Yuan De Taifei, the Empress, Hai w.a.n.g, Rong xian taifei, etc., who was the real culprit?
"Hiss…" She felt slight pain from her ankle, before Yun Qian Meng collapsed onto the table as if all her strength was stripped from her. She did not even have the strength to lift her arms.
"b.i.t.c.h! You dare do that to me? You don"t want you live anymore, huh?" Suddenly, Ruan Yu Xiao, who had fainted a while ago, stood up from the floor, holding a silver needle in his hand.
If Yun Qian Meng guessed correctly, Ruan Yu Xiao surely pierced her ankle with this needle just now.
It had been able to let paralyze her immediately. She was afraid that Ruan Yu Xiao might have used something terrible on her.
"Humph! You even dare use these filthy tricks in the Imperial Palace. If word of this spread, isn"t Ruan gongzi afraid that the Empress might be punished by the Emperor?" Yun Qian Meng really had no strength, but she did not show weakness and answered rather strongly. Coldness emitted from her body, and Ruan Yu Xiao, who thought that she would be afraid, suddenly became afraid of her instead.
But seeing Yun Qian Meng, who could not even move a finger, lying on the table, Ruan Yu Xiao laughed. His obscene eyes looked all over Yun Qian Meng and he even dared to pinch Yun Qian Meng"s chin. When he touched the smooth and silky skin, he could not help but praise it. He then impatiently unb.u.t.toned Yun Qian Meng"s cloak, his eyes turning red. "You"re indeed a well-bred lady from a prestigious family. This skin is well maintained, even better than those courtesans in the pleasure quarters. I would be so willing to die after this. Oh but, maybe the Empress Dowager will grant you to me to calm this issue. Stay obedient, little beauty! Otherwise, don"t blame me for being ru-"
Ruan Yu Xiao"s eyes suddenly enlarged and his whole body fell back.
Yun Qian Meng felt her shoulders warm again. The cloak that had fallen a while ago were placed back onto her shoulders. A pair of strong and warm hands helped her up and brought her against a chest.
"Xi Lin!" Chu Fei Yang"s cold voice echoed in Yun Qian Meng ears. A black shadow suddenly appeared in front of the two. A man in black knelt on one knee in front of them, awaiting Chu Fei Yang"s orders.
"Take off all his clothes and throw him in front of the city gate. Let him be unable to speak for the rest of his life!" Chu Fei Yang"s voice was cold and merciless and in Yun Qian Meng"s ears, she heard nothing but intense anger.
Xi Lin acknowledged, then immediately lifted Ruan Yu Xiao by the collar and disappeared from the room.
"You…" Yun Qian Meng not only felt weak, but she was even losing her consciousness. Yun Qian Meng narrowed her eyes trying to raise her head and look at Chu Fei Yang, but saw a straight face with eyes emitting dangerous rays, totally different from his normal smiling and cunning appearance, yet it made Yun Qian Meng feel at ease.
Chu Fei Yang lowered his head and looked at her. Her face was blus.h.i.+ng and there were dots that she had intentionally put to look just like measles all over the body, which not only destroyed her beauty, but people would be afraid of getting infected and thus not dare to go near her. It seemed that she knew how to protect herself, so Chu Fei Yang"s expression eased up and his stiff face relaxed. At her delicate appearance and her eyes half open, Chu Fei Yang felt his heart pounding. Without any explanation, he bent his knees and carried Yun Qian Meng in his arms.
"Let me down!" although she was close to being unconscious right now, Yun Qian Meng could still feel what Chu Fei Yang was doing and she immediately wanted to stop him. Her brows slightly knitted, but it only added to her demeanor. She looked even more lively than her usual appearance that only politely smiled to people.
Chu Fei Yang saw all her expressions, he closed his mouth and did not want to speak, but his tight arms around her reminded Yun Qian Meng that this man had been angry. His anger might need to be let out onto someone before he could calm down.
"Is Yun Xiaojie resting inside?" Qu Fei Qing"s voice unexpectedly came from outside.
They heard the two maids guarding outside the room reply in the affirmative, it was then followed by the sounds of footsteps coming closer.
Yun Qian Meng was alarmed. She looked at Chu Fei Yang anxiously, but she could not exert any effort now and could only open her eyes wide to tell him to leave. But her cute expression ended up just making Chu Fei Yang smile. Carrying her, he hid behind the screen so that the Empress Dowager"s people would not see them.
"Meng"er." Maybe in fear of disturbing Yun Qian Meng"s rest, Qu Fei Qing did not bring any yatou in. But when she entered the room, it had been empty so she had worriedly called out.
"Biaojie!" Yun Qian Meng tried to reply. Although her voice was soft, but it was rather clear in the silence.
"You silly girl, you"re already sick, but why aren"t you resting in bed?" Qu Fei Qing looked around and saw the shadow behind the screen, so approached it while speaking to Yun Qian Meng.
"Oh!" After a soft scream, Qu Fei Qing immediately covered her mouth and looked at Chu Fei Yang with a panic-stricken Yun Qian Meng.
What frightened Qu Fei Qing even more was that why did Chu Fei Yang do things that may arouse suspicion? He not only intruded into the Empress Dowager"s palace, but he was even carrying Yun Qian Meng. If others were to know of this, then Yun Qian Meng would live being judged by others for the rest of her life.
"She"s injured." Chu Fei Yang was rather clever. He immediately knew what Qu Fei Qing was thinking about and was quick to explain.
"Injured? Where?" as expected, that s.h.i.+fted Qu Fei Qing"s attention. She immediately approached Yun Qian Meng and pulled her hand over to examine it. Only after holding her hand did Qu Fei Qing realize the problem. Why was Meng"er unable to hold onto her hand?
"Benxiang will send Yun xiaojie home first. I hope that Qu xiaojie could cooperate with what follows." Chu Fei Yang calmly said. The coldness and mercilessness from his anger a while ago was completely unnoticeable.
Qu Fei Qing naturally understood what Chu Fei Yang meant. She immediately took off Yun Qian Meng"s cloak and tightly held it in her hand as she nodded, "Don"t worry, the most important thing now is to send Menger back. Could Chu xiang please not mention today"s incident to anyone."
Qu Fei Qing still did not forget to remind Chu Fei Yang to protect Yun Qian Meng"s reputation.
Chu Fei Yang looked at the Yun Qian Meng, who was already sleepy but still trying to open her eyes. He then quickly took down his black cloak and wrapped Yun Qian Meng in it, carefully covering her face before he he quickly brought Yun Qian Meng away from this dangerous place.
"Ying"er, Mu Chun, Le Yao, come serve me." Qu Fei Qing walked to the bed, pulled down the curtains, then called Yun Qian Meng"s and her yatou in.
Yun Qian Meng felt an up and down while in Chu Fei Yang"s arms. After a while, they entered a carriage, which then immediately started to move. After the carriage b.u.mped along the road for a while, Yun Qian Meng"s consciousness came back. She moved her neck and saw that the cloak that had covered her face had already been taken off by Chu Fei Yang.
Under the dim light, Yun Qian Meng saw Chu Fei Yang"s eyes which were as bright as the stars and as deep as the ocean. They stared at her, making her face blush and burn even more.
Even inside the carriage, Chu Fei Yang had no plans of letting go of her, so she felt somewhat uncomfortable and exerted some effort in increasing their distance.
But Chu Fei Yang did not want to do as she wished, he only tightened his arms around her until her face was pulled to his chest again. Hearing the strong heartbeat, Yun Qian Meng stayed her imagination and tried to keep calm. "Why was xiangye in the the Empress Dowager"s palace?"
The Empress Dowager"s Feng Xiang Gong was one of the most securely guarded places in the palace. It was surrounded and protected by skilled guards all around. It should be impossible for random people to enter so easily.
"If I didn"t appear, what were you planning to do?" Chu Fei Yang did not allow Yun Qian Meng to dodge the question and asked her straight to the point.
Rather than beating around the bush, it was faster and more efficient to just ask her directly. It would also prevent this cunning girl from changing the topic.
Yun Qian Meng was dumbfounded. She did not expect Chu Fei Yang to be serious, so unlike usual. When he looked at her with his eyes full of reproach for her carelessness a while ago, Yun Qian Meng"s heart trembled. She awkwardly avoided the eyes that were staring at her and somewhat tiredly closed hers, planning to reply with silence.
"You think drawing red dots on your face would make those l.u.s.tful gongzis step back?" Yun Qian Meng seemed unwilling to talk, so Chu Fei Yang spoke somewhat angrily. He then took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped away the red dots on Yun Qian Meng"s face while continuing to speak, "Such an ugly face, how could he still have manage to put his hands on you?"
Hearing that, Yun Qian Meng suddenly opened her eyes, only to see Chu Fei Yang"s laughing expression. She immediately knew that she had been tricked and her glowing eyes immediately glared at Chu Fei Yang. "You"re right! I"m so ugly but Chu xiang still won"t let go."
Chu Fei Yang only shrugged indifferently and replied, "I can"t do anything about it. The Emperor sanctioned the marriage."
Yun Qian Meng felt upset. Based on Chu Fei Yang"s tone, it seemed like he did it unwillingly, but it was he who had asked for the decree for marriage yet he seemed to have forget about that fact.
Chu Fei Yang was still concentrating on wiping away the red dots on Yun Qian Meng"s face. His brows knitted tighter with every dot he wiped, as if the real appearance of Yun Qian Meng was worse than that with the dots.
"Sorry to bother Chu Xiang for having to do something you don"t like." Yun Qian Meng bitterly said at the sour expression on Chu Fei Yang"s face.
Hearing a series of laughter, Yun Qian Meng raised her head and looked up, only to see Chu Fei Yang laughing happily, far from the fake smile he had a while ago. Yun Qian Meng"s ears were then closely pressed to his chest. Hearing his heartbeat, she knew that Chu Fei Yang was really amused right now and she also knew that his happiness had originated from her.
Yun Qian Meng felt somewhat awkward at becoming the source of someone else"s amus.e.m.e.nt. She then turned away from Chu Fei Yang"s lively handsome face and looked at the night sky outside the carriage.
"Next time, try to bring more yatou when you leave the house. I will also send some bodyguards to your xiangfu to guard your courtyard." Although there were already guards he put in secret, Chu Fei Yang did not tell her so Yun Qian Meng would not get angry at him again.
"Wouldn"t that be too excessive? And also too eye-catching?" Yun Qian Meng did not want to be in the spotlight. She did not know how many envious people would be attracted by Chu Fei Yang"s actions. She was afraid that these people who were keeping quiet for now would start trouble again behind the scenes.
"This is to let both of us be more a.s.sured and also to serve as a warning for others." Chu Fei Yang lightly said. His arms held her powerless body tightly but not enough to hurt her and also did not let her be shaken by the trembling carriage.
Yun Qian Meng"s eyes turned and stared at Chu Fei Yang"s eyes, "You know who is behind today"s incident?"
Chu Fei Yang gave her a calming smile then said, "Rest well. I will settle all the problems."
But Yun Qian Meng had never been obedient. It was impossible for her to let someone who tried to frame her get away with it. Yun Qian Meng"s expression became gloomy and she coldly said, "Chu Fei Yang, I am related to this incident—the victim, actually. I have the right to know the truth."
Unconsciously, Yun Qian Meng spoke in the tone she used in her past lifetime. Currently, her head was filled with thoughts of catching the suspect and did not realize it.
On the other hand, Chu Fei Yang slightly raised his brows after hearing her words. He stared at Yun Qian Meng with eyes filled with happiness. That somewhat fanatical look made Yun Qian Meng realize her mistake. Thinking of how she would explain it to him, she suddenly heard Chu Fei Yang say, "Finally, it"s not Chu xiang anymore."
Yun Qian Meng was somewhat shocked, but she could not help but feel grateful that Chu Fei Yang had not noticed her improper words. But right after that, Chu Fei Yang said, "Meng"er, your manner of speaking a while ago is quite new."
Hearing him call her so intimately, Yun Qian Meng"s ears blushed red. She pretended to be calm and coldly said, "I am not pedantic, I don"t need to always speak so strictly. Who allowed you to call me Meng"er?"