PFC Chapter 461 No, it's a brothel
Chapter 461 No, it's a brothel
Upon hearing the sound, Qin Miaoxi turned around in astonishment, only to see Lu Qingchen looking at her with a pale face, helpless and sorrowful, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"Why are you here?"
Lu Qingchen sneered self-deprecatingly, "Yes! How did I end up here? If I weren't here, would I know your true identity?"
[Holy crap! My wife is one of the Four Imperial Guards! How am I supposed to live like this?!]
Qin Miaoxi looked flustered for a moment. She was about to explain when she heard Lu Qingchen mutter to himself, "Now I know why you're denying it. So you have something to back you up!"
Looking up, a pair of bright, watery eyes stared straight at her, feigning solemnity as he accused, "Don't think that just because you're one of the Four Imperial Guards you can take advantage of me and then abandon me. Since you've tainted my innocence, you have to take responsibility for me to the end."
Qin Miaoxi: "..."
Very well, you're good at talking, but please don't say it again.
Qin Miaoxi looked up at the sky speechlessly and weakly replied, "That's all just hearsay."
"Hmph! You still want to lie to me even now." Lu Qingchen's eyes reddened even more. "You tossed and turned me over that night, why didn't you say that?"
Qin Miaoxi appeared before Lu Qingchen like lightning, tightly covering his mouth and whispering a warning in his ear: "Watch your words."
"Isn't what I said the truth?"
Qin Miaoxi's face turned red and then black, and she was as flat as a boiled shrimp, unable to refute him at all.
"what do you want to say in the end?"
"I've already said it, I don't care if you're one of the Four Imperial Guards or not, you have to take responsibility for me, otherwise..."
"What else?"
"Otherwise, I'll go to my senior brother and complain that you raped a respectable young man." Lu Qingchen became more and more aggrieved as she spoke, and in the blink of an eye, she burst into tears.
Qin Miaoxi: "..."
That word is used...very cleverly.
She rubbed her throbbing temples and said, "Whatever it is, it's just the two of us. There's no need to let our senior brother know. Your reputation is important, Young Marquis."
"How can that be? I'm about to lose my wife, my pride is worth a few taels of silver."
Qin Miaoxi glared at him angrily, "You, you're just so stubborn, aren't you!"
In an instant, the world spun around, and Qin Miaoxi was trapped in his arms, her face pressed against his. She looked up and couldn't help but look into a pair of deep eyes.
"Since you won't marry me, how about I marry you?"
Lu Qingchen's magnetic voice was as captivating as a feather, and she was stunned for a moment, "You really want to marry me?"
"Would never dream of it."
[Does my wife's question mean she agrees? Haha! I knew it! So what if they're the Four Imperial Guards? They're all just captivated by my good looks.]
Qin Miaoxi closed her eyes tightly, her fists hardening uncontrollably.
This guy is fine when he shuts up, but he's not human inside.
Ziyan, who had been ignored, finally spoke up, "Miss, why don't you agree to the young master's request? The master once said that the most important thing for a person is responsibility..."
A sharp glare swept over her, and the persuasive words abruptly stopped. Qin Miaoxi's voice was squeezed out through clenched teeth, "Whose side are you on anyway?"
Ziyan blinked guiltily, avoiding her gaze. "Miss, I'm so sorry, the young master really gave me too much."
Qin Miaoxi: "..."
She took a deep breath, trying to stay calm and composed; she simply had no temper.
"Get out of here!"
Lu Qingchen and Ziyan instantly stood up straight, their feet moving in sync, and quickly made their escape.
Amidst their banter, the topic of revealing their identities seemed to have become a thing of the past. Qin Miaoxi and Lu Qingchen tacitly avoided mentioning it, but the atmosphere between them became unusually awkward. He not only avoided her gaze but also frequently hesitated to speak.
"What exactly are you trying to say? Stop beating around the bush."
"I... I want to donate money to build more houses in Zhucheng, Jiangnan." Lu Qingchen lowered his head shyly, his sleeves almost twisted into a pretzel.
Qin Miaoxi raised an eyebrow. "This is a good thing. You can do it yourself. Why are you telling me?"
After she finished speaking, she suddenly felt a tightness in her heart, and her gaze changed from casual to wary. Could this guy be trying to get her to spend money?
This is not necessarily a bad thing. Winter is approaching, and the temperature has dropped sharply. The people of Jiangnan have just experienced a plague and their bodies have not yet fully recovered. If a cold wave comes at this time, the plague may resurface. It would be better to reinforce houses and prepare firewood as soon as possible so that they can get through the crisis more quickly.
However, she spent most of her money on buying herbs, and now she has very little left. Should she ask her senior brothers and sisters to borrow some?
Just as she was lost in thought, she heard Lu Qingchen say, "Aren't you one of the Four Imperial Guards? If I don't report to you, who else should I report to?"
He emphasized the words "Four Imperial Guards" with a sharp, resentful tone that made one's teeth ache.
"Okay, I understand. Go ahead and do it!"
Since that day, Lu Qingchen has been so busy that he is rarely seen. He and Qin Miaoxi each performed their duties, and soon the cities in Jiangnan had a new look. Who could still see the desolation when the city was locked down by the plague?
The soldiers stationed inside the city have all been transferred outside the city and will soon leave Jiangnan to return to their camp.
Those were Fu Yifan's troops, originally intended to resist Emperor Meiji's private army, but in the end they all became a solid shield protecting the plague-stricken area.
That day, Fu Yifan found her and instructed her, "Junior Sister, I need to go to Cao Gang. You will be in charge of this place for the time being. The newly appointed prefect has already set off and will arrive in about a month."
Qin Miaoxi frowned. "So long?"
She traveled at top speed and completed the journey in just two days; even the most slow prefect shouldn't have taken that long.
Fu Yifan patted her shoulder and said softly, "There are some things that still need your attention; he can't rush them."
There's no need to spell it out; everything is understood without words.
"Don't worry, senior brother, I will definitely handle it properly."
Inside the government office, Qin Miaoxi put down the accumulated official business and stretched wearily.
I really don't understand why anyone would be so foolish as to fight for that position. She only read the memorials for a few days and already felt dizzy and lightheaded, wishing she could just fall asleep.
The thought that even an emperor would have to watch this every day is more suffocating than being tortured.
"Miss, would you like to go out for a stroll and rest your eyes?"
"That's good. Now that things in the city are on track, we don't need to keep an eye on things every day."
The two strolled leisurely through the garden of the government office. The once vibrant flowers, neglected for so long, had long lost their color and were gradually withering away. The desolate scene of the garden made the howling cold wind seem even more biting.
Looking at the artificial hill in the distance and the jade tiles under her feet, she sneered, "That city lord's family really knows how to enjoy life. This courtyard alone must have cost a lot of money!"
He's really daring; he even used jade to pave the ground, which shows that he's embezzled far and wide over the years.
"Don't worry, Miss, all the silver they embezzled has been used for disaster relief. Every citizen in the city has received ten taels of silver!"
No wonder the city lord's daughter is so arrogant and exploitative. Is the city lord's family acting like local tyrants?
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but complain, "What's wrong with Senior Brother? This is his territory, how can there be such corrupt officials here?"
Ziyan answered truthfully: "The lord said that the city lord's actions are extremely secretive. Jiangnan is a prosperous and wealthy place with many complicated accounts. The amount he embezzled each time was not large, and it was difficult to trace because it was mixed in with the huge amount of daily expenses. In addition, his methods are clever, which is why he has not been exposed for many years."
“When we investigate further, we often find a corrupt official, but by then the core is already rotten to the core. I don’t believe that he is the only corrupt official who is abusing his power.”
"Yes."
After a long silence, Qin Miaoxi changed the subject, "Um, what has the young marquis been up to lately?"
Having not been bothered for quite some time, she felt an inexplicable awkwardness, and even missed it a little.
"Young Master Marquis..." Ziyan pursed her lips and remained silent for a long time before finally speaking with difficulty, "Young Master Marquis has been staying at Yanchun Pavilion recently."
"Is Yanchunlou a restaurant in Jiangnan?"
"No, it's a brothel."