The ten - mile Wutong Street was, for the first time in ages, crowded with people.
The street was decorated with lanterns and streamers everywhere. The common people were celebrating the peace and prosperity, not just because the New Year was approaching, but also because they were welcoming Lu Yan.
Lu Yan was the Marquis of Dingbei and also the cousin of King Xiawu of the current dynasty. Back then, he and Lu Jiang guarded the northern border. It was rumored that he was a military genius and could often fight against a hundred with ease, leaving behind many epic battles. But most importantly, Lu Yan had sword - like eyebrows and hawk - like eyes, with a tiny mole at the corner of his eyes. He was extremely handsome. At the age of twenty - six, he was still unmarried, which made him the dream lover of many ladies in Li Xia.
A Man stuffed a full five taels of silver into the young servant, and only then was she able to get a window - side private room in the restaurant. Looking out of the window of the private room, one could just see the century - old Wutong Street.
The snowstorm outside had stopped. The snow on the street had already been swept away by someone, revealing the shiny bluestone ancient path that extended from the Bian Palace all the way to the Li Ge City Gate.
In the distance, the sounds of gongs and drums for celebration faintly came. Presumably, the young Marquis Lu Yan had already entered the city and was being welcomed by the people.
A Man brought in the finest Longjing tea. Although the wind outside had stopped, she was still worried about Shen Qingfeng's health. She stuffed three warming stoves into Shen Qingfeng who was sitting by the window looking out. Shen Qingfeng smiled helplessly. Not wanting to let A Man down, he took off his bamboo hat that covered his face, then reached out to take the warming stoves. He put two of them under his feet to warm his clothes and wrapped the remaining one in his arms.
At the head of the street that came into view, the crowd began to stir. The Bu Si Hall had specially sent several grand masters of ceremonies to conduct the rituals along the street. After all, he was a marquis, although a junior one, but still the younger brother of the current king. The rituals were quite proper. It seemed that King Xiawu showed great respect to the Lu family.
Shen Qingfeng propped his face with one hand and stared into the distance. In the middle of the street, a man in black armor was sitting upright on a blood - sweating horse. Because it was a bit far away, one could only tell that he had an outstanding figure and faintly exuded the air of a general. But more than that, Shen Qingfeng now wanted to see his face clearly.
He sat up straight and unconsciously leaned his neck forward a little, sticking his head out of the window lattice.
Finally, Lu Yan got closer. Shen Qingfeng stared intently and couldn't help but open his mouth slightly.
Shen Qingfeng finally understood why Lu Yan had the title of "dream lover". Through the golden paper streamers thrown into the air and the handkerchiefs thrown out by the blushing girls, Shen Qingfeng's gaze finally landed on Lu Yan's face.
This young marquis whom he hadn't been able to take a good look at in his previous life was no longer just handsome. His eyebrows were as gentle as willow branches, and his bearing was lofty. Every gesture of his exuded a noble and imposing air. The beauty mole at the corner of his eyes made him even more alluring. Such a peerless figure, but he had failed to pay more attention in his previous life. Shen Qingfeng silently recited "sin" in his heart. He really couldn't figure out the absurd things he had done.
Lu Yan came to Li Ge to pay homage to the king. Although it was just the trivial matter of a vassal's regular visit to the capital, this time it was cast a shadow because of his engagement with Shen Qingfeng.
The image of this man crying in grief reappeared in front of Shen Qingfeng's eyes. His gaze was somewhat complicated as he sized up Lu Yan who was getting closer.
It was only after dying once that he knew Lu Yan liked him.
He had lived muddle - headedly in his previous life and had been completely unaware of Lu Yan's feelings for him. But it was also partly because Lu Yan had hidden his feelings well. After all, Shen Qingfeng remembered that in his previous life, when Shen Shiqiu begged King Xiawu to take back the engagement, the Lu family not only directly kicked out the palace envoy, but Lu Yan also immediately submitted a memorial asking to cancel the engagement. Since neither side of the engagement agreed, the marriage had to be called off. But when the king's bestowal of marriage was rejected by his ministers, this cancelled engagement became the weakness of both the Shen and Lu families, which could be used as the best excuse for the royal family to suppress the two families at any time.
Thinking about it now, the bestowal of marriage came so suddenly. Presumably, it was also part of King Jie's scheme. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that one was the Shen family with sufficient influence in the court and the other was the royal Lu family beloved by the people.
Most likely, the man sitting in the Bian Palace had long anticipated that the young self in those days had only had Xia Chuli on his mind, which was why he had designed such a play.
Shen Qingfeng's thoughts shifted slightly. A strange look appeared between his eyebrows, but his eyes unconsciously followed the man on the horse. Unexpectedly, the man, as if sensing something, suddenly turned his deep eyes, and their gazes met across the air.
Shen Qingfeng immediately froze in place. Their gazes seemed to penetrate time, making Shen Qingfeng unable to tell whether it was reality or fantasy for a moment. It was Lu Yan who reacted first. He suddenly tugged on the reins, and the blood - sweating horse reared up on its front hooves and neighed loudly, then suddenly stood still in place.
Lu Yan turned his head and continued to look at Shen Qingfeng. There was a look in his eyes that Shen Qingfeng was familiar with. It was as if a raging fire suddenly ignited around them, and the figure in the flames reappeared, slowly overlapping with Lu Yan's figure in front of him.
"Little Young Master!" A Man quickly grabbed the bamboo hat and quickly put it on Shen Qingfeng's head before the people downstairs could look over following Lu Yan's gaze. Only then did Shen Qingfeng come back to his senses. He smoothed down the white veil on the bamboo hat to cover his face, then suddenly stood up and said, "Let's go quickly!"
He had just caused a scene in the Shanhe Hall. Although Shen Shiqiu didn't mention it, Shen Qingfeng knew that he had really embarrassed the Shen family. If people found out that he had come to see Lu Yan, he didn't know what gossips it would cause.
Seeing Shen Qingfeng get up and leave downstairs, Lu Yan suddenly panicked and shouted, "Wait!"
His shout was full of energy, which startled Xu Ruhui, who was accompanying him. Xu Ruhui looked up along Lu Yan's line of sight and said, "What are you doing? Did you see a beauty?"
But Shen Qingfeng was not willing to stop. He turned around and walked quickly, disappearing from the window in an instant.
Xu Ruhui sighed and said, "This back view must belong to a beauty. Senior brother has good taste! Let me go and meet her."
"Get out of here!"
Lu Yan pushed him away and immediately dismounted from his horse, rushing straight towards the teahouse. But unfortunately, when the people around saw Lu Yan get off his horse, they all surrounded him with bright eyes. Especially those girls with ulterior motives, who even leaned towards Lu Yan shamelessly.
Lu Yan was extremely anxious. He pushed through the crowd while struggling to move forward. Behind him came Xu Ruhui's sour voice, "You've already been bestowed a marriage, and you're still thinking about someone else? Do you want to marry two at once? The old master of the Shen family will surely be furious..."
Lu Yan turned a deaf ear and just kept moving forward. But unfortunately, there were already a large number of people on the Wutong Street. By the time he squeezed to the bottom of the teahouse, the figure in the white clothes had already disappeared without a trace.
Shen Qingfeng returned to the Shen Mansion at the fastest speed. Because he had walked in a hurry on the way, he started coughing violently again as soon as he entered the room. A Man quickly went to the kitchen to get some hot pear soup and brought it to Shen Qingfeng. But Shen Qingfeng only took a sip and lost his appetite. No matter how A Man persuaded him, he wouldn't eat. He just leaned on the cushion and coughed lightly from time to time, staring at the velvet quilt in front of him, not knowing what he was thinking.
In fact, he wasn't ready to meet Lu Yan yet.
If he hadn't known Lu Yan's feelings for him, if he hadn't seen Lu Yan kill all the way from the northern border to Li Ge for his sake, he wouldn't be so confused now.
But he had seen it. The trembling figure crying in the flames and the fleeting glimpse of the man on the horse just now were enough to make Shen Qingfeng at a loss.
After knowing these things, how should he face Lu Yan now?
Shen Qingfeng lowered his head and looked at his pale hands. His mind was completely blank.
Now he just wanted to protect the safety of everyone in the Shen Mansion. As for Lu Yan... Shen Qingfeng closed his eyes wearily. He could only take one step at a time.