When Lin Qiao came to the top deck of the ship as invited by Zou Lvrui, it was almost noon.
Luo Nanchen walked behind Lin Qiao, occasionally tidying up the cape that was about to drag on the ground.
Lin Qiao actually wanted to tell Luo Nanchen that tidying up the collar was more important than the cape. After all, her neck was covered with hickeys left by Luo Nanchen...
It was the first time she knew that hickeys could be left in patches.
Lin Qiao tightened the high - collared dress she had deliberately worn today. Feeling that it didn't cover enough, she tugged it up hard.
Mo Xiujie and the others were waiting on the top deck. Li Gusong and Qu Yinghan were also there.
When Zou Lvrui saw Lin Qiao coming, she couldn't wait to run over. But when she got closer and saw Lin Qiao clearly, her steps hesitated. "M, Madam, are you trying to turn the high - collared dress into a new type of mask?"
Lin Qiao: "..."
There was no one else on the top deck. Everyone was from the palace. There was a large table in the middle, filled with delicious delicacies. It seemed to be today's lunch.
Qu Yinghan looked very pale.
Lin Qiao asked out of concern, "Are you okay?"
Before her words fell, she felt dizzy herself.
Luo Nanchen quickly supported Lin Qiao and half - carried her to sit down.
Lin Qiao: "..."
... She was so busy caring about others that she couldn't even take care of herself.
However, the relationship between Li Gusong and Qu Yinghan should be turning tragic now, right?
Although Luo Nanchen's love line had become a complete mess and none of the heroines had appeared, the side characters remained the same. Li Gusong and Qu Yinghan should still be in a tragic love story.
Qu Yinghan bowed. "It's nothing serious. Thank you, Madam, for your concern."
"That's good—"
Before her words ended, the ship tilted again.
Lin Qiao: "..."
What's going on? Is this ship against her today?
Lin Qiao started to act petty and stopped talking.
What can you do to me if I don't talk?
There was another violent jolt.
This time, even the plates on the table shifted slightly.
Lin Qiao: "..."
Since boarding the ship, it had been unstable. But she hadn't felt it in the room. Now that she had been on the top deck for a while, Lin Qiao felt exhausted and began to feel dizzy.
She even felt nauseous.
Once the discomfort came, it was hard to control. Lin Qiao grabbed Luo Nanchen's arm. "I feel a bit sick."
"Bear with it for a while," Luo Nanchen patted Lin Qiao's back with one hand and opened a barrier with the other to cover the top deck. "Mo Xiujie, go down and check."
Mo Xiujie was extremely efficient. In a short while, he brought back the ship's boss.
The boss stood outside the barrier, his legs shaking like a sieve. "Sir, I'm really sorry. Our goods fell into the sea, and we're salvaging them. Please be patient. We'll finish soon."
Luo Nanchen said expressionlessly, "What kind of goods?"
"This, this..."
Luo Nanchen's voice turned colder. "I'm asking you, what kind of goods?"
True to his reputation as Luo Nanchen's ever - standing personal guard, Mo Xiujie's efficiency was incredibly high. In just these few words, he had already dragged the warehouse supervisor up.
"Sir, we've checked. It's opium."
The boss and the warehouse supervisor trembled even more. They wiped the sweat off their foreheads, looked around, and their small eyes glinted with ill intent.
Luo Nanchen nodded and sneered. His long and narrow eyes were cold. "Oh, for the sake of opium."
Lin Qiao was next to Luo Nanchen, watching him get angry up close.
Her eyes were instantly fixed, and her dizziness and nausea disappeared. All her symptoms were gone.
Because... Luo Nanchen when he was dealing with business was so freaking handsome!
He was even more charming than she had imagined when reading the novel...
Suddenly, Luo Nanchen seemed to remember something more troublesome. He turned to Lin Qiao and said, "Xiaolin, go back to your room first."
Wow, what a domineering CEO tone!!!
Although "Xiaolin" was usually a name a boss would call a subordinate, and she had resisted it at first, in fact, she liked it so much when Luo Nanchen called her that!
Seeing Lin Qiao in a daze, Luo Nanchen felt that the situation was getting out of his control. He even anxiously grabbed Lin Qiao's hand. "Xiaolin..."
"Ah?"
She didn't understand what Luo Nanchen was panicking about and held his hand back.
His hand was ice - cold.
Zou Lvrui was watching from the side. From time to time, she chatted with Li Gusong and Qu Yinghan. "Look at them, Young Master Li. If you were like this, your relationship would definitely progress faster than theirs."
Or she would say, "Hey, don't have conflicts. Just talk things out and it'll be fine."
She even said, "There's nothing that can't be solved. If not, just sleep on it. If one sleep doesn't work, then two."
Li Gusong: "..."
Qu Yinghan: "..."
Luo Nanchen avoided her eyes. "Go back to your room first, okay? Let Mo Xiujie accompany you."
"I don't need an escort. If you tell me to go back, I'll go," Lin Qiao still didn't understand. "Alright, I'll go back."
Mo Xiujie was holding the two men effortlessly and had also heard the conversation between Luo Nanchen and Lin Qiao. "Sir, what should we do with these two?"
Li Gusong walked over very consciously. "I'll handle it."
He had been fed up with Zou Lvrui's nagging for a long time, but he couldn't just brush her off because she was Lin Qiao's friend. Moreover, Dong Peirong was a civil official, and his cultivation was not even enough to strengthen his body. Among those present, besides Mo Xiujie, he was the only military official, so there was no other choice.
Li Gusong turned to Qu Yinghan and said, "You go back with Madam."
Qu Yinghan nodded.
Luo Nanchen's tone was almost pleading. "Xiaolin."
"Okay, okay, I'll go back to my room," Lin Qiao couldn't help but pinch Luo Nanchen's face. "Don't worry."
Zou Lvrui naturally followed.
"Hey, you can tell the family status right away."
Lin Qiao was thinking about something else and didn't understand. "Ah?"
Zou Lvrui, the analysis expert, was on the line. "He told you to go back to your room. First, he was giving you an order when he was focused on business. Then he realized and started to discuss it with you. In the end, he was almost begging you. Your family status is really high."
Lin Qiao was not in the mood to listen to this. She nodded perfunctorily and even said a thank - you that didn't match the situation.
Then she turned to Mo Xiujie and asked, "What is Luo Nanchen going to do? Why does he insist on me going back to my room?"
Mo Xiujie had been with Luo Nanchen since he ascended the throne. He must know Luo Nanchen better than she did. Asking Mo Xiujie was definitely the right choice.
Mo Xiujie pursed his lips. "Maybe the sir is afraid that you'll ignore him if you see his fierce side?"
"??? Is he that childish?"
Mo Xiujie nodded vigorously. "The Em... Sir is really that childish."
???
Mo Xiujie looked like a gossip. There was a smile on his lips as if he was shipping a CP. "He thinks you'll be scared by this kind of scene, so he told this subordinate to take you back to your room. He's afraid you'll ignore him in the future."
"??? But I think Luo Nanchen is so cool and handsome like this?"
"... This subordinate will convey your words exactly."
"..."
Damn it, the domineering CEO persona is much more popular than the gentle persona, okay?!
She really likes this kind of persona!
... Maybe she had maintained the aloof image of the empress dowager too well usually, and Luo Nanchen didn't know that she had a fiery heart.
Of course, the premise of being a domineering CEO is still having a good - looking face.
Even more of course, this domineering CEO can't be a crazy one.
For example, the kind of domineering CEO who says "shift", the one who takes out someone's kidney, the one who sends someone to prison, the one who takes out a million yuan that is one - meter thick and weighs more than twenty kilograms from his pocket, and even the one who wants to change the air in the hospital...
Luo Nanchen was naturally not in that category.
Lin Qiao asked, "What will happen to those two?"
Mo Xiujie looked a bit embarrassed. "I think you won't want to hear it, and the sir won't want you to know either."
"Tell me. I've seen all kinds of things."
She had read so many novels, okay? What could be scarier than a human pig?
"Then don't tell the sir," Mo Xiujie lowered his voice, afraid that Luo Nanchen could still hear. "If nothing unexpected happens, they'll be thrown into the sea to feed the sharks."
Lin Qiao was a bit surprised. "Really? Is it okay to seize the ship so openly?"
Mo Xiujie shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with it. The Em... Sir has done much more ruthless things. Moreover, the court has ordered that opium trafficking is prohibited, but they're so blatant here. Seizing the ship is actually a mild punishment."
She of course knew how ruthless Luo Nanchen could be, but she felt a bit sad that she wasn't with him during this process.
Wait... Why did she already have the consciousness of being a wife?!
Mo Xiujie felt that he hadn't sold Luo Nanchen enough and continued, "Madam, do you remember General Meng Erliu?"
Meng Erliu? wasn't he that colleague from the 21st century who wanted to plot a rebellion with her and was then demoted to the border by Luo Nanchen?
"Remember. Why did you suddenly mention him?"
"The sir demoted him to the northern border, a place with no war threats, very barren, and almost no need to defend. He took back the military amulet, confiscated his personal guards, and reclaimed his mansion. A war god went to the northern border alone, with no battles to fight and no money to spend. And this General Meng didn't seem to have committed any crimes. He was just always sticking to you during the spring hunt. You tell me, isn't the sir ruthless?" Mo Xiujie clicked his tongue. "If I were him, I'd go crazy."
Lin Qiao felt a bit sorry for Meng Erliu.
But then she thought there was nothing to feel sorry for. It was all Meng Erliu's own fault. If he hadn't come to her to plot a rebellion at the beginning, he'd still be a great war god now.
Suddenly, a figure flashed in front of her eyes and rushed straight towards Lin Qiao!