Gu Moli paused on the rim of the rough porcelain teacup, causing two shallow ripples to spread across the remaining tea at the bottom.
She didn't rush to speak. Taking advantage of the cold, damp wind blowing in from the window, she raised her wrist, which was wrapped in wide sleeves, and slowly pulled back the blue cloth hood that was covering her head from the rain.
The dim yellow oil lamp flickered in the damp wind, its light slowly creeping up her slender neck and landing on her face, which was free of makeup yet possessed an ethereal and otherworldly beauty.
The four guards with swords who were originally glaring at the inn nearly knocked their scabbards against the bricks when they saw that face.
Mei Zhongjun was in a wheelchair, originally had droopy eyelids and maintained the air of the second young master of the Marquis of Luoyang's Residence.
The harsh question still lingered in his throat, but the moment he saw its true form...
The five fingers resting on the rosewood armrest snapped, and the nails almost broke off into the carved hardwood.
His two long, narrow, triangular eyes widened like copper bells, sliding from his snow-white chin down to his neck, hidden beneath a wide, coarse cloth collar.
His sinister features twisted a few times, finally forming a wrinkled face with a forced, insincere smile.
The chilling atmosphere from just now dissipated more quickly than the drizzle outside Luoyang.
Mei Zhongjun leaned forward, his sunken cheeks barely managing to squeeze out two rosy hues.
His Adam's apple bobbed up and down, and when he opened his mouth, he spoke in thick, authentic Luoyang dialect.
"Oh my goodness, Zhuo Niu'er has grown so much, she's really getting good looks, did she drink some soup, meow?"
"Shopkeeper, quickly bring these two young ladies some mutton soup! Add extra meat!"
This incredibly rustic, rural accent exploded in the deathly quiet lobby, startling the shopkeeper who was huddled under the counter.
Qingwu stood beside Gu Moli, her face twitching.
With his right palm hanging at his side, he straightened it, his fingertips resting on the copper spring of the short blade at his waist. He only needed to pry it in half a millimeter further, and the steel blade would pierce through the throat of this sleazy bastard.
Gu Moli's hand landed at that moment, two soft fingers pressing down on the center of Qingwu's wrist bone. The force was not heavy, but it made Qingwu unable to move.
Qingwu gritted her teeth and slowly pulled her hand back into her wide sleeve.
Gu Moli didn't look up at that drooling face; instead, her peripheral vision scanned the edge of the wheelchair inch by inch.
The silver fox fur cloak looked luxurious and heavy, completely covering his knees.
But the jolt Mei Zhongjun had just experienced caused the thick woolen fabric to bulge out two taut ridges at the shinbones of his cloak, where he should have felt nothing.
The muscles were very firm; there was not a trace of the atrophy and shriveling that comes from years of paralysis.
Looking at the four guards, they landed on the balls of their feet first, their heels scraping the ground silently. They wore the standard bronze waist badges issued only to those in the inner court, clearly indicating that they were skilled men recruited from within the palace.
The only family that could put up such a show outside Luoyang City, while also talking about city defense patrols, Marquis of Luoyang's Residence.
Mei Zhongjun saw that the beautiful woman in blue cloth only lowered her eyelashes and did not scream and run away in fear of the weapons.
They assumed she was stunned by his overwhelming boldness, which emboldened her even more, and she slapped her two withered hands loudly on the armrest.
"Look, look! These two young ladies are clearly not locals."
I always said, where in Luoyang could such a pampered person be raised?
He stretched his neck out so long, his eyes glued to his downcast brows, spitting everywhere.
"Young lady, where do you come from? Do you know the rules of Luoyang?"
Let me introduce myself.
My father, Marquis Mei Hongye of Luoyang, is a legitimate Right General of the Golden Guard, commanding the Imperial Guards of Ziwei City!
"Which gate of Luoyang is open or closed, whether it's the nine gates in the south or the six gates in the north, all require my father's approval!"
As he spoke with great enthusiasm, he gestured with his chin toward the four guards behind him.
"Upon arriving in our eastern capital, Luoyang, which of the princes and nobles does not respectfully address my father as Commander Mei?"
When His Majesty went on his incognito tours back then, it was my father who personally escorted the imperial entourage!
When he got excited, Mei Zhongjun almost jumped out of his wheelchair and licked his chapped lips.
"With this continuous rain, the inn can't even keep up with the heat of mutton soup properly. Isn't it unfair for the young lady to stay here?"
"Why don't you come with me into the city? A new three-story heated pavilion has been built in the west wing of the Marquis's mansion. The floor is scorching hot, and it's covered with whole Persian red felt sheets."
"Go and rest for the night, change into fine silks and satins, wouldn't that be a hundred times better than eating cold rations here?"
Upon hearing the words "the forbidden palace of Ziwei City," Gu Moli's eyelashes, which were hanging on the table, fluttered slightly.
Ziwei City.
Luoyang is a crucial strategic location, and also an iron gate that the future Emperor Gu Moran will inevitably have to pass when he enters the Central Plains.
If we could control the throat of the Marquis of Marquis of Luoyang's Residence,
These nine gates of Luoyang are no different from the curtains in one's own backyard; one can lift them or remove them at will.
Brother Ran needs this convenience.
Thinking of this, the icy chill that had been lingering around Gu Moli vanished in the blink of an eye.
She leaned on the greasy wooden table with one hand, her thin shoulders shrugged slightly, and a thin layer of mist rose in her eyes.
When she looked up again, she resembled a delicate begonia trembling in the cold rain.
"He's actually the young master of the Marquis's mansion?"
Young Master... you invited us to go?
Wouldn't that be too presumptuous?
"Are you truly capable of managing the Marquis's mansion?"
Gu Moli's voice was weak, with a trembling sob at the end, and she twisted the faded handkerchief in front of her chest with both hands.
His flustered and bewildered demeanor upon hearing the news of the noble family's arrival was completely genuine.
"Make the decision? I am the second young master, and my word is law in the Marquis's mansion!"
Mei Zhongjun was completely captivated by that sweet, delicate sob, feeling that the young woman before him was not only so beautiful that it made his bones melt.
This timid and dependent demeanor only fueled the rage within him, sending flames of anger raging to his very core.
He couldn't wait to stretch out his withered hand, his five fingers curled into claws, and reach straight for Gu Moli's snow-white wrist.
"Come on, come on, follow me, and I guarantee you'll enjoy all the riches and glory!"
Just as her hand was raised halfway into the air, Gu Moli pretended to be startled by the rude action and let out a soft cry. She stumbled and fell forward.
"Miss, be careful!"
Qingwu, swift as a ghost, rushed forward with a startled cry.
He seemed to frantically reach out to support Gu Moli's waist, but his slightly bent right knee, at the moment their bodies intersected, was enveloped in a hidden force capable of shattering mountains and splitting rocks.
It struck Mei Zhongjun squarely on the right side of his shin, where the fox fur coat covered him.
The movement was extremely well-hidden.
To outsiders, it looked like nothing more than a loyal maidservant tripping over her wheelchair in her panic.
"Click!"
The dull creaking of bones was muffled beneath the thick fox fur.
Mei Zhongjun's "paralyzed leg," which should have been completely numb under his cloak, suddenly bulged with several purplish-black veins.
A piercing pain shot through his bones and straight to his head, so intense that his eyes almost popped out of their sockets, and he managed to let out a muffled howl like a dying wolf.
The scream had barely reached the back of his tongue when he forcefully stifled it back down.
They actually screamed.
Wouldn't the fact that Second Young Master Mei feigned disability to avoid being summoned by the imperial court and suppressed by his elder brother, while secretly holding the secret guards, be completely exposed?
"Ah, young master, are you alright?"
Gu Moli's face scrunched up in a frown.
Large beads of cold sweat rolled down Mei Zhongjun's forehead, and his face twitched violently.
His two rows of back molars clenched so tightly they clicked, and he forced two cloudy tears to well up in the corners of his eyes.
On that distorted face, he still had to grin and smirk in a Luoyang accent.
"No... it's okay, I... I'm fine! I don't feel any pain at all!"