kvmb Chapter 247 Gone
Chapter 247 Gone
Did Luo An have spies watching them all along? Given their abilities, there's no reason they wouldn't have noticed if someone was following them. If there weren't spies, how did Luo An know so much? What went wrong?
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Qin Jiu's mind: When Xu Sheng went down the mountain that day, given his cleverness, could he have lost control of his steps? If it was just an ordinary collision, with Nian Yao's skill, could she have stopped the momentum?
Unfortunately, Xu Sheng lost control, and Nian Yao was nearly knocked over. When Xu Sheng pulled her up, he must have used a clever trick to force Nian Yao into his arms.
Qin Jiu couldn't help but exclaim, "Young Master, you are truly insightful; you almost fooled me."
Seeing that he had figured it out, Luo An plucked a willow branch and played with it in his hand: "You said that Xu Sheng wanted to be the emperor and Nian Yao the empress, which is fine. Xu Sheng's jokes are always half-serious, and Nian Yao is not a petty person, being a woman of the martial arts world."
You said Xu Sheng bumped into her and then helped her up, and then Nian Yao started cursing at Xu Sheng. Nian Yao is used to being around men all the time, and it's normal for her to put her arm around them. If it was just a simple helping hand, Nian Yao wouldn't have reacted so strongly.
Furthermore, Nianyao told me everything she had seen and heard along the way, which largely overlapped with what you said, except for this one part, which must mean she had some reservations.
Moreover, Nianyao was somewhat guilty at the time, the kind of guilty conscience that comes from hiding something. Luo An suddenly wanted to laugh. Nianyao thought she could hide her little schemes from him?
Qin Jiu touched his nose: "Young Master, the Prince was just joking, and the Gang Leader later gave him a thorough dressing down. The Gang Leader is completely devoted to you, Young Master, so you can rest assured."
Luo An's tone was neither too light nor too heavy: "Since it's a joke, and you're so devoted to me, why hide it? Why not just be open and honest?"
Qin Jiu turned and picked up a stone: "It's better to avoid trouble. Young Master, there's no need to argue with the gang leader over these things."
Luo An quickly denied it: "No, we didn't argue."
Given Yiluan's personality, what else could it be but a quarrel if it happened late at night?
While inwardly scoffing, Qin Jiu replied, "Young Master is magnanimous and will certainly not take such a joke to heart."
Luo An paused in his actions: "Xu Sheng didn't invite you?"
Qin Jiu told the truth: "He did invite me to be his strategist."
Luo An asked, "You agreed?"
Qin Jiu said, "Not yet."
Luo An asked, "What are you hesitating about?"
Qin Jiu said, "Sometimes, I feel that life on Chongming Island is pretty good. My wife and children are here, I can help my master, my brothers get along well, and I can do some small business in the surrounding counties in the future, so I won't starve to death."
Luo An raised an eyebrow: "There's still some time?"
After a long pause, Qin Jiu said, "Young master, although my surname is Qin, I am ultimately a descendant of the Jing family."
It was certain that the Jing family would fall; the signs had been there for a long time. It's just that the Jing family had enjoyed decades of glory, and even a weakened camel is bigger than a horse; no one believed, or wanted to believe, that day would come.
Over the years, Qin Jiu rarely mentioned his identity as the ninth young master of the Jing family in public. But when the Jing family fell, he didn't feel the joy he had imagined; instead, he felt a mix of emotions, and occasionally he became more aware than before that he was the ninth young master of the Jing family.
Luo An said, "You want to achieve great things and revitalize the Jing family."
Qin Jiu tossed a small pebble into the water, creating ripples that spread out in concentric circles. Qin Jiu stared at the center of the ripples: "Sometimes I think like this."
In chaotic times, the fastest way to revitalize the Jing family is, of course, to achieve military merit. Given Xu Sheng's style of leading troops, he wouldn't mistreat Qin Jiu in terms of money and power.
Luo An said, "Since Xu Sheng has designs on you, he won't give up so easily."
Qin Jiu said, "The prince said that if the battle of Qilian Mountain goes smoothly, Nanfei will soon return, and a war between Nanyue and Dongyang will be inevitable..."
"Why is it inevitable?" Luo An asked. "He wants to be emperor, but what makes him so special?"
An Liangchen is not one to sit idly by and wait for death, and Luo An is unlikely to help Nan Yue. Xu Sheng wants to unify the world and become emperor himself? That's too difficult...
Xu Sheng often spoke in a half-serious, half-joking manner, but Qin Jiu didn't believe he was joking at all. Xu Sheng had also teased Nian Yao on Chongming Island before, but it was mostly verbal; he never laid a hand on her.
Why is he acting this way now? Does he genuinely want to be emperor, or is he trying to force Luo An into submission? Becoming emperor presents numerous difficulties for him, so what benefit would he gain from forcing Luo An?
Nianyao fell asleep on the table. In her dream, she was dressed in thin clothes, sitting on a snow-covered mountaintop, hugging her arms and shivering from the cold.
Suddenly, a ferocious-looking polar bear roared and pounced on her. Nianyao was startled and reached out to block the bear, rolling to the side as she did so.
In her dream, she was descending from the mountaintop, but in reality, Nianyao tumbled off her chair and fell to the ground, knocking everything off the table and shattering it all over the floor...
Tiger heard a noise in the yard and, thinking something had happened, kicked open the gate. He saw Nianyao lying on the ground and exclaimed, "Chief, why are you sleeping on the ground?"
Nianyao glared at him, then simply spread her arms and legs and lay down in a starfish position: "It's cooler on the ground."
"Oh! Then get some sleep, boss." Tiger scratched his head and went out.
Nianyao yawned, got up, and planned to go back to her room to sleep, but she couldn't fall asleep after lying down on the bed. She simply got up and went to the room opposite to see how Xue Yunting was doing.
The room was empty, and the bright red wedding quilt was neatly laid out. The quilt was a gift she had bought for her wedding; the original quilt had gotten dirty, so she took it out of the closet and put on a new one.
Nianyao's heart stirred slightly, and she yanked back the quilt, revealing the longevity lock and longsword neatly placed on the bed. The longevity lock was a gift from Xue Yunting to Duan Mingzhu, and the longsword was Xue Yunting's personal sword.
An ominous premonition arose inexplicably, and Nianyao grabbed the longevity lock and longsword and rushed out the door: "Tiger!"
Tiger and Bu Zhi were sitting under the eaves eating watermelon when Nian Yao yelled at them, causing the watermelon they were about to eat to fall to the ground: "You pay for it..."
Nianyao yelled, "All you ever do is eat! Where are you?"
Tiger asked, puzzled, "Who is it?"
Nianyao picked up her sword and smashed it at Huzi: "Where is Xue Yunting?"
Tiger rolled away to avoid it, then stood up and said, "I'm leaving."
Nianyao asked, "When did you leave?"
Hu Zi was tilting his head to calculate the time when Liang Qingcheng said, "It's probably been about an hour."
It seemed like she hadn't slept for very long; an hour had already passed? Nianyao looked up at the sky; the sun was high in the sky, it was indeed getting late. She said with a stern face, "Why didn't you stop me?"
Tiger said objectively, "General Xue, he's a guest, not a prisoner. You were in the room, and you didn't stop him..."
Seeing Nianyao's longsword about to be drawn, Hu Zi gritted his teeth as if he could bite. He quickly jumped onto the pavilion, stood behind Eighth Sister, and pleaded with Liang Qingcheng for help: "Ninth Sister-in-law, you be the judge!"
Nianyao turned and walked towards the front yard, where the tea room was also empty. She was seething with anger and shouted, "Luo An, come out here..."
"I'm here." Luo An said calmly as he walked into Xianzhou Garden side by side with Qin Jiu.