In the night of Lixia, there was a hint of spring in the air.
In the Mansion of the Marquis Who Calms the North, all was silent. A small fire was burning in the room, and a tiny oil lamp on the table illuminated a small area.
Xu Ruhui and Lu Yan seemed a bit exhausted. They were sitting on either side of the table. On the whole wooden table was spread a map filled with dense markings. Those in the know would recognize that the dotted markings on the map represented the entire northern region of Lixia.
The northern part of Lixia was vast. It was divided into two principalities, the Northern State and Qimen, located on the eastern and western sides of the north respectively, directly facing the nomadic people from the far north, the Donghu. The leader of the Donghu was named Yuwen Nanwang. Just from his name, one could sense his great ambition.
The territory of the Donghu was shaped like a bamboo leaf, narrow from north to south and long from east to west. The population was not concentrated, and the main occupation was animal husbandry. Its people were good at riding and shooting, tall and strong. Their weapons were mostly long - range cold weapons such as swords and crossbows.
As the prince of the Northern State, Lu Yan had fought against the Donghu with Lu Jiang in his early years and had some contacts with them. However, more than a decade had passed. What the differences in their military strengths were and which side would have the advantage in a real war were all unknowns.
When Shen Qingfeng entered, he saw the two of them in this state. He blinked. A draft blew into the room through the open door. Lu Yan was startled. Looking up and seeing that it was Shen Qingfeng, he suddenly stood up, quickly walked up to him, took off his coat and put it on Shen Qingfeng's shoulders, saying softly, "Why did you come by yourself? You should have let me pick you up."
Shen Qingfeng smiled and gently placed his hand on Lu Yan's, joking, "The Marquis Who Calms the North is busy with military affairs. How dare I trouble you?"
"Picking you up is hardly trouble." Lu Yan laughed softly and leaned in to kiss Shen Qingfeng on the cheek.
Xu Ruhui, who was beside them, suddenly seemed to shine with embarrassment. He coughed awkwardly and said, "Brother - in - law is here. I won't bother you two lovebirds then!"
Hearing this, Lu Yan turned his head and glared at him fiercely, signaling him to get out quickly.
Xu Ruhui stuck out his tongue, stood up and walked briskly to Shen Qingfeng. He made a face at the two of them, stretched his head to look behind Shen Qingfeng, and asked in confusion, "Hey? Where's your little guard?"
Shen Qingfeng was taken aback and said, "Little guard... Do you mean Yu Shuang?"
Xu Ruhui nodded. Then, as if he had thought of something, he laughed knowingly and said, "Oh~ I understand. Brother - in - law is here for a date. Naturally, you don't want to bring any outsiders."
This made Shen Qingfeng blush and he leaned closer to Lu Yan. Seeing this, Lu Yan grabbed the back of Shen Qingfeng's head and said to Xu Ruhui, "Get out of here. Don't be an eyesore."
Xu Ruhui pretended to be sad and said, "Woohoo. Sure enough, once you get a wife, you forget your brother. Senior brother, I'm so disappointed in you!"
Lu Yan suddenly felt a numbness in his scalp. He was disgusted by Xu Ruhui's deliberately exaggerated act and shivered all over. He kicked at Xu Ruhui's butt. Xu Ruhui dodged to the side, laughed and ran out in a flash. He also kindly closed the door for them.
Suddenly, there were only the two of them left in the room. Shen Qingfeng had originally come to see Lu Yan, but his tender mood had been ruined by Xu Ruhui. He coughed lightly, struggled out of Lu Yan's arms and moved to the table.
Lu Yan chased after him, hugged Shen Qingfeng into his arms, and kissed his earlobe, saying, "Qingfeng, don't mind Xu Ruhui. Look at me..."
"You're so irresponsible..." Shen Qingfeng's face was a bit red. He turned his head slightly. His eyes suddenly swept across the table and he was stunned. He asked, "What's this...?"
"Oh." Lu Yan said. He pointed at the map and said, "It's a map of the northern part of Lixia. Before you came, I was discussing military matters with Xu Ruhui."
Shen Qingfeng frowned. He stared intently and saw that there was a character "Lu" written on the location of the Northern State. Of course he knew what it was. It was the most powerful army in all of Lixia, the Lu Family Army trained by the Lu family.
The history of the Northern State was the same as that of Lixia. It was ruled by the Lu family through hereditary succession for generations. As a family of military generals, the Lu family had always been dedicated to guarding the northern fortresses of Lixia, serving as the first line of defense against the Donghu. Since the main settlement of the Donghu people was in the western part of the Donghu territory, where the land was flat, the food and grass were abundant, and it was suitable for living, the Northern State, compared to Qimen, bore most of the pressure from the enemy country.
The Lu family had lived up to expectations. None of the Donghu people had ever been able to step into Jiayuguan in the generations of the Lu family. The Lu family had produced generals for generations, and the number of Lu family members who had died on the battlefield was countless. Even Lu Yan's father, Lu Jiang, had failed to break through with a small team of the Lu Family Army. The whole team had died under the iron cavalry of the Donghu. So far, there was only a cenotaph for him. In the vast Northern State, the Lu family had built a solid Great Wall with their blood. The loyal bones of the Lu family's predecessors were not yet cold, and the whole family was full of loyal heroes.
Shen Qingfeng reached out his hand and gently stroked the small emblem of the Lu Family Army on the table. It was taken off from the shoulder guard of Lu Yan's armor and should have been casually placed here. The gilded character "Lu" was surrounded by a red fine pattern, which made people's eyes hot.
The distant memories came back. He suddenly remembered that in his previous life, Lu Yan had never returned after their farewell at the long pavilion. At that time, there was a power struggle within Lixia. He and Xia Chuli had forced the abdication of King Xia Jie, imprisoned Xia Yonglin, and killed Xia Yanhe. Such a great upheaval in the court was extremely worrying internally, but at that time, there had never been any external troubles. Thinking carefully, it was Lu Yan who was guarding the Northern State at that time. The Donghu's plan to go south had been firmly blocked outside Jiayuguan by Lu Yan.
Shen Qingfeng held his breath. His slender hand began to tremble slightly.
Lu Yan reached out his hand and held Shen Qingfeng's hand in his own. He rested his chin on Shen Qingfeng's shoulder and asked softly, "Qingfeng, what's wrong with you?"
Shen Qingfeng was stunned and came back to his senses. He said, "It's okay..."
Lu Yan looked at him. Although Shen Qingfeng had come to find him on his own, Lu Yan knew that Shen Qingfeng had stayed with Xia Chuli for a long time. He had tossed and turned all night last night. It was not until a little eunuch who had received a reward secretly sent a message, saying that it seemed that there had been a dispute in the room. Peeping through the window, one could see Xia Chuli kissing Shen Qingfeng.
"Did he resist?" Lu Yan had propped his head up at that time, his eyes lowered. There was no expression on his whole face. It was hard to tell whether he was extremely indifferent or extremely angry.
The little eunuch was not familiar with Lu Yan. How could he know that Lu Yan's appearance was very dangerous at this time? He had taken fifty taels of silver from Lu Yan and knew that Lu Yan was a prince and must have a lot of money. So he had a wicked idea and wanted to extort some more silver from Lu Yan. He said, "Your servant didn't see clearly whether Young Master Shen resisted or not. The memory is a bit fuzzy. Your servant will think about it carefully..."
What he meant was that he wanted Lu Yan to give him more money. But Lu Yan just replied with an "um", then suddenly stood up and walked past him. The little eunuch was stunned. Thinking that he had overplayed his hand, he was about to tell the whole thing. But before the words "Young Master Shen resisted" reached his lips, he felt a chill on his neck. His pupils suddenly shrank, and the bright red and hot blood gushed out from his neck.
He looked at the blood on the ground in fear and reached out his hands to cover his neck in vain, but it was useless. His aorta and windpipe had been cut. This poor little eunuch only managed to make a few indistinct sounds before he "thumped" and fell to the ground. He twitched for a while and then lost his breath.
Lu Yan knew that the little eunuch was greedy and stupid. Since he had taken on such a task from Lu Yan, he should have known that he couldn't escape death. Lu Yan also knew that he could have waited for the little eunuch to finish speaking before silencing him, but why?
Why was he afraid to hear it?
Lu Yan suddenly closed his eyes. Shen Qingfeng in his arms was a bit cold. This coldness was different from the severe cold in winter. It was more like the thousand - year - old ice, like frozen earth, like cold iron. For a moment, Lu Yan opened his mouth in vain. He wanted to bite hard on this person's neck, violate him fiercely, and defile and possess him from the inside out with his essence. But in the end, he just opened his mouth and let out a silent roar where Shen Qingfeng couldn't see, and finally gently kissed the back of Shen Qingfeng's neck.
"Didn't you come to see me?" Lu Yan adjusted his voice and asked hoarsely.
You came to see me because you still miss me, right? So is my speculation wrong?
At this moment, Lu Yan suddenly found the clothes on Shen Qingfeng's body very annoying.
He could easily tear the collar, and he could also quickly pull off the undergarment. He wanted to press him under him and make him moan in the process of penetration - it seemed that only in this primitive way could Lu Yan suppress his cruel speculation that was about to get out of control.