The situation at the border was tense. General Qin Feng of the Protectorate General's Office was in a stand - off with the Loulan soldiers. Coupled with the imperial spring hunt during which the emperor was assassinated, the sense of war hung over the heads of the common people. Although the situation was urgent, in recent years, the economy and agriculture of the Great Sheng had far outperformed the previous period. Moreover, General Qin Feng had led his troops to raid Loulan a decade ago. So, although many common people knew that a great war was imminent, they were not extremely anxious.
However, in fact, the situation this time was different from before.
Eleven years ago, Qin Feng's wife, Gu Hanfang, died in battle. Qin Feng was heart - broken. The next year, he led his troops to raid Loulan, which brought about nearly a decade of peace to the border and the Silk Road. But many people didn't know that the reason why Qin Feng could successfully repel the Loulan people was that the Xiongnu was far less powerful than it was now ten years ago. Additionally, Hu Ye Ge'er, the son of Chanyu Hu Ye, instigated the Loulan army to attack the Protectorate General's Office and was beheaded by Nie Rong on horseback. Chanyu Hu Ye was heart - broken and was no longer able to interfere in Qin Feng's subsequent invasion of Loulan. That was how Qin Feng managed to clear the Silk Road all the way.
But now it was different. The Xiongnu king had bided his time for a full decade, gathering strength. The hatred for the loss of his son and the drought this year made this war inevitable.
Qin Huaiqiu was well aware of this. So, after reading the family letter sent by Qin Feng, he couldn't calm down for a long time. As the son of a military general, with his father fighting on the battlefield far away, how could he cower in the palace and indulge in pleasure!
He learned about this a few days later than the emperor. After he knew, he originally wanted to escape back to the Protectorate General's Office. But as soon as he heard that Sikong Ting had allowed the Loulan mission to enter the capital, he temporarily calmed down.
The mission's willingness to enter the capital for negotiations meant that it wasn't time for an immediate war yet.
Qin Lan knew that he was worried about General Qin, but there was nothing she could do. The two of them were now locked in this deep palace. Escaping from the palace would expose their deception of the emperor, and not escaping meant suffering from inner condemnation every day.
Because of his worry about his father, Qin Huaiqiu asked Nie Rong to immediately stop searching for Qin Huailian and go back to Qin Feng's side. He also asked Nie Rong to hand over the unfinished search work to other lower - ranked secret guards of the Qin family.
Nie Rong rode his horse back to the Protectorate General's Office at full speed. As soon as he saw Qin Feng, he was scolded severely.
"Who the hell needs that little brat who hasn't even grown his hair to worry about me? Get the hell back and find Lian'er! Don't come to see me until you find her!" Qin Feng angrily slapped the table and shouted.
Nie Rong clasped his fists and said, "Young master has already arranged for others to take over my work. My current task is to protect the general!"
"How dare you rebel? Do you listen to me or that brat?" Qin Feng was so angry that he almost overturned the table.
Hearing this, Nie Rong immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "General! I've already arranged the search for the young lady properly. There will definitely be no delay. But the military situation here is critical for the general. The general has shown me kindness, and I can't just leave the general alone!"
Qin Feng looked at him. His beard twitched with anger. Finally, he let out a heavy sigh.
As for Qin Huaiqiu, although he was always worried, fortunately, for several days after that, Sikong Ting was busy with court affairs and had no time to care about Qin Huaiqiu. Qin Huaiqiu had already made up his mind that regardless of whether Qin Huailian was found or not, if the Loulan mission failed to reach a peace agreement with the Great Sheng and war broke out, he would choose to leave the palace immediately.
Therefore, he had been spending more time practicing martial arts in the Kunning Palace recently. Often, after paying respects to the empress dowager in the morning, he would go straight back to his palace, close the palace gate, and practice martial arts. Every time, Yalan and Ziyun would hide aside, blushing as they watched, thinking that their mistress was even more handsome than a man when practicing martial arts.
Seven days later, Sikong Ting finally redistributed the military forces deployed at the border. He also arranged for the country's grain and military supplies. As soon as the imperial edicts were issued, the Secretariat and the Chancellery got busy. Then he could finally take a little rest. He had planned to have a good sleep in the Taihe Hall, but after dinner, when he went out for a stroll, somehow, he ended up in front of the Kunning Palace.
He was stunned for a moment and stood in front of the closed door.
Seeing this, Xu Xian beside him was about to announce his arrival, but Sikong Ting raised his hand to stop him.
He walked forward slowly, reached out his hand, and gently pushed the door. Unexpectedly, the door wasn't locked inside. With just a gentle push, he opened a crack.
He paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and then pushed the palace door open and walked in.
The Kunning Palace was the largest among the concubines' palaces. There were pavilions and towers inside. After passing through a corridor, he could faintly hear the sound of breaking through the air one after another. He followed the sound and saw that not far away, two maids were crouching behind a big rock, whispering to each other.
Yalan was staring blankly at Qin Huaiqiu's figure as he danced his sword.
Just then, Qin Huaiqiu twirled the sword in his hand, and the long sword flew out of his hand. He did a somersault in the air and kicked the end of the sword hilt with one foot. The long sword stabbed directly into the trunk of the tree in front of him according to his strength. Then he took advantage of this force to leap to the weapon rack. With a hook of his toe, a long spear was picked up and flew into the air. He quickly reached out and grabbed it, then immediately exerted force and wildly waved it in the air several times with the inertia.
"Wow—!" Yalan covered her mouth and whispered in excitement, "The mistress is so handsome!"
"Yeah!" Ziyun was also watching with great interest and nodded in agreement.
"The mistress can use so many weapons," Yalan said, blushing and full of admiration. "I've never seen anyone use weapons so skillfully."
"Really?"
"Yeah," Yalan replied. Then she felt something was wrong. She looked back and saw that Sikong Ting was already standing behind them, also looking at Qin Huaiqiu wielding weapons in the yard.
"Ah—!"
Yalan couldn't help but let out a scream in fright.
Qin Huaiqiu in the distance was startled. He didn't hold the long spear firmly, and it fell to the ground with a "clang".
"Forgive us, Your Majesty! Forgive us, Your Majesty!" Ziyun reacted quickly. She quickly pulled Yalan down to her knees, pressed Yalan's head with one hand, and kowtowed to Sikong Ting, saying, "We didn't know Your Majesty was coming. We slaves deserve to die!"
Sikong Ting was annoyed that Qin Huaiqiu's perfect practice had been interrupted by her scream. He glared at the two of them and said, "As servants, instead of working, what are you doing?"
"I... I..." Ziyun stammered for a long time and couldn't answer. Yalan was so scared that she couldn't say a word.
Fortunately, at this time, Qin Huaiqiu rushed over after hearing the sound. Seeing Yalan and Ziyun trembling on their knees, he turned his head and glared at Sikong Ting. Then he reluctantly bowed and said, "Your servant greets Your Majesty. I didn't know Your Majesty was in such a good mood to come all the way from the Taihe Hall to scold two maids?"
Sikong Ting also glared at him, then turned to the two of them and said, "Get up and step back."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Ziyun quickly thanked and then pulled Yalan away in a hurry.
Seeing that he had let the two of them go, Qin Huaiqiu didn't say anything else. He turned back to the yard, picked up the long spear that had just fallen on the ground, and carried it back to the weapon rack.
Sikong Ting waved everyone away and walked step by step to his side. He said in a deep voice, "You're not welcoming me?"
Qin Huaiqiu gave a faint smile with no emotion in his tone, "Of course I'm welcoming. How could I not? Your Majesty's presence here really adds luster to this humble place." Thinking of what Qin Lan had told him before about Sikong Ting having feelings for him, he now just felt annoyed and didn't want to talk to Sikong Ting when he saw him.
Hearing this, Sikong Ting took a deep breath and said, "Concubine De, is this how you talk to me?"
Qin Huaiqiu pouted and didn't say a word. So what if Sikong Ting liked him? He was a man. This relationship was doomed to make Sikong Ting suffer. It would be better to let Sikong Ting give up this thought now so that he could feel less guilty in the future.
"Look at me," Sikong Ting almost hissed these words through his teeth. He saw Qin Huaiqiu seem to sigh, then resignedly turned around and looked up at him.
Sikong Ting's breath caught in his throat. He swallowed hard. The next moment, he couldn't hold back any longer and pulled Qin Huaiqiu into his arms.
He gently smelled the fragrance on Qin Huaiqiu's neck. His voice softened. He kissed him and said, "You seem to have grown a bit taller?"
Grown taller? Qin Huaiqiu was stunned for a moment. He didn't feel it at all, but recently he always felt that he couldn't get enough to eat.
"Are you starting to develop?" Sikong Ting said ambiguously. His hands moved down and covered Qin Huaiqiu's buttocks, gently kneading them.
Qin Huaiqiu's mind exploded. He was about to push Sikong Ting away on the spot, but Sikong Ting had anticipated this. He reached out and held him even tighter, then slightly raised his head and bit Qin Huaiqiu's lips.
"Um—!" He knew it! He knew it! Sikong Ting came here just for this kind of thing!
Damn it, why did he always like to kiss people if he couldn't get hard? Qin Huaiqiu couldn't understand.
Sikong Ting held him tightly, and the kiss was deep. Qin Huaiqiu struggled for a long time but couldn't break free. So he simply stopped struggling. After all, Sikong Ting's kissing skills were quite good. He thought of it as being served by him.
Seeing that he no longer resisted, Sikong Ting became even more unrestrained. He kissed Qin Huaiqiu until he was out of breath, then let him go and watched him gasping for air with a blushing face in his arms.
He looked down at Qin Huaiqiu with a complex and strange look in his eyes, which also carried a hint of restraint and entanglement. He lowered his head and kissed his forehead, then with reluctance, he leaned down and took his lips again.
Tomorrow, Dou Yuan would bring He Yanzhi into the palace.
The thing he had always suspected was about to be confirmed, but the closer it got, the less he dared to face it.
He let him go again and looked at Qin Huaiqiu, who was still gasping for air and completely unaware, in his arms. His eyes were filled with extreme pain and crazy lust.
His heart was in turmoil. He clearly told himself that he liked the person in front of him. Whether he was Qin Huailian or not, every frown and smile of his tightly tugged at his heartstrings. But there was still a glimmer of reason constantly spurring him on - if he wasn't Qin Huailian, then who was he?
Sikong Ting's eyes flickered.
In the moonlight, it was quiet all around, only leaving the slightly chaotic gasps of the two of them. This sound was like a drumbeat again and again, directly hitting Sikong Ting's heart.
He could feel his uncontrollable and fanatical feelings for the person in front of him deep in his heart. Finally, his instinct overcame his reason. He trembled as he gently grasped Qin Huaiqiu's hand. Under Qin Huaiqiu's somewhat confused gaze, he placed his hand on his crotch.
"Concubine De, help me."
The night was as cool as water. In the courtyard, one person was burning with passion, while the other was as if falling into an ice cellar.
Qin Huaiqiu felt the strange touch of another man's body in his hand for the first time, and he instantly froze—
Fuck!!!!!!!!!!