Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 129 Mouth Seal

Several Hu merchants stared at the token with sharp eyes, but said nothing.

Gu Jie pulled out a scroll from the sandalwood box and slowly unfolded it.

It was a yellowed blueprint. Although it was incomplete and the pattern was blurry, it was clear from the outline that it was a small part of the crossbow structure of the Divine Arm Camp...

Alim's eyes suddenly lit up and his throat rolled.

"As soon as I entered the city, I heard that Princess Pingle had frequent hysteria and behaved improperly. She was reprimanded by the Emperor of Daliang and was confined to the Princess's Mansion..."

Gu Jie's eyes flashed.

Wasn't he also conflicted in his heart?
Princess Pingle committed such a serious mistake, but His Majesty only punished her lightly, which was no different from every time Pingle made a mistake in the past.

Therefore, Pingle can do whatever he wants...

He knew very well what the consequences of betraying Pingle would be.

Gu Jie took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Everyone who has been doing business in the capital must know that the most noble princess in Daliang is Her Highness Pingle. She is the apple of His Majesty's eye. His Majesty's punishment of the princess is just a show. After some time, when the storm has died down and everyone has forgotten about this matter, the matter will be over and there is no need to take it to heart..."

Alimu shook his head.

The bronze face approached, and the scimitar reflected Gu Jie's suddenly shrinking pupils.

"Sir, the integrity of the Xizi merchants cannot stop the calculations of those with ulterior motives. I'm sorry that I can't do this business. Please go ahead."

His tone was cold and he made a "please" gesture.

At this moment, a waiter from the inn happened to knock on the door.

The waiter asked, "The food and wine are ready. Excuse me, sir, are we ready to eat?"

Gu Jie didn't answer him, his Adam's apple rolling slightly.

"I heard that Master Alim once used 100 pieces of silk to exchange for a captured caravan from horse thieves. Why don't you dare to exchange two boxes of pepper for a highway now?"

Alim's face changed slightly.

Obviously, the other party came after finding out his identity.

Alim lowered his head and whispered a few words to the old Hu businessman beside him in Size language, then slowly raised his head and asked Gu Jie.

"What does Princess Pingle want?"

Gu Jie then smiled and said loudly, "Waiter, serve the food."

He sat down and greeted everyone, "You all have come from afar, and I believe you must be hungry. Let's talk while we eat."
-
Outside the Accord, someone was calling for food and wine.

An inconspicuous figure flashed past quietly, walked quickly across the corridor, and pushed open the hidden door next door.

In the room, Li Zhao and Xue Sui were leisurely sipping tea.

The aroma of tea wafts through the air, intertwining with the faint scent of incense in the house, creating a peaceful and cozy atmosphere.

There is a chessboard in front of him, with black and white chess pieces arranged in an orderly manner, and the situation is in a stalemate.

The spy hurried in and whispered a few words in Li Zhao's ear.

Li Zhao's mouth curled up slightly, "The fish has taken the bait."

Xue Sui stroked the teacup with his fingertips, looking at the dusk quietly spreading in the summer outside the carved window, and listening to the crisp sound of the copper bells of the Xiz caravan coming slowly amid the hustle and bustle of the inn.

"Pingle is willing to spend a huge amount of money, even daring to touch the blueprints of the Divine Arm Camp..."

Li Zhao took a sip of tea, smiled and shook his head.

"The abacus is clanging loudly, but one does not know that the mantis is stalking the cicada, while the oriole is behind."

Xue Sui put down the teacup and met Li Zhao's gaze: "What is your Highness? A yellow bird? Or a mantis?"

Li Zhao raised his lips and said jokingly, "I can be a cicada, your cicada."

Xue Sui: “…”

"If the cicada is willing to fall into the trap, why can't it turn around and bite the oriole?" Li Zhao laughed softly.

The elegant tea fragrance and the scent of ambergris from his cuffs intertwined, disturbing people's hearts.

Xue Sui's hand, as he placed the chess piece, happened to hit his.

The two looked at each other and quickly separated their overlapping sleeves.

Xue Sui felt his scent on his sleeves.

She raised it up and sniffed it in an unromantic manner, frowning unhappily. When Li Zhao made another move, she suddenly hit the back of his hand with the chess piece, very hard.

"Your Highness, be careful of getting your eyes pecked by a bird when you play chess so seductively."

"Hiss..." Li Zhao looked at her in pain.

The chirping of cicadas outside the window suddenly became sharp.

Li Zhao suddenly smiled and held her hand as she was about to take it back.

"Safety is known..."

He guided her hand and inserted the black piece in his hand into the deadlock.

"The best hunters often enter the game as prey—"

When Xue Sui thought of what she said to him that day when they went to Youhuangju, his eyes flashed slightly.

"It remains to be seen who the hunter is. But you and I are no match, at least, not yet."

Not now, but the future is still unknown.

Li Zhao chuckled softly.

"Then let's see who captures whom first?"

The candlelight danced in his eyes, and the arc at the end of his eyes that seemed to be smiling but not smiling was like a silk thread, wrapping around his throat inch by inch, trying to see through him.

Xue Sui's neck suddenly tensed up. Under the skin that was burned by Li Zhao's gaze, it seemed as if thousands of ants were lurking, and the heat mixed with the summer heat was climbing up his spine...

That feeling is very strange.

She had spent ten years in the Old Mausoleum Swamp, licking blood on the blade. She had been forced to the edge of a cliff by her senior brother’s sword against her throat, and she had also fought hand-to-hand with wolves in the mud. She had had skin contact with her senior brothers, but she had never tasted such a taste—

The ambergris on the man's robe was like a living thing, entering his lungs with his breathing, making him feel upset. What a shameless Li Zhao!

Relying on his charming and extraordinary looks, and the subtle connection with the love poison, he came to seduce her?
Xue Sui suddenly sneered, pulled his hand back, grabbed the belt around his waist and pulled it hard.

Li Zhao leaned forward unexpectedly, the jade belt buckle hitting her palm, and the veins on his arm that was supported on the table bulged slightly, "Xue Ping'an!"

Xue Sui raised his head and moved closer, his breath brushing against his Adam's apple.

"My Lord, hide your tail! Otherwise, I don't mind loosening up your muscles for you, and then I'll capture you and serve you as a snack..."

The two looked at each other.

"Bang!" There was suddenly the sound of porcelain breaking from next door, accompanied by the chattering conversation of several Sitz merchants.

Li Zhao didn't move at all, his nose almost touching her forehead.

"release!"

"Humph!"

The two intertwined figures were reflected on the screen and then quickly separated.

Xue Sui tiptoed over, put his ear close to the wall, and listened carefully.

Li Zhao approached: "What are they talking about?"

Xue Sui raised the corner of his mouth slightly: "They say that when jackals are grabbing meat, they hate it most when someone holds a torch and watches the show..."

Li Zhao raised his eyebrows slightly.

Xue Sui: "I'm talking about people like His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. He seems to be indifferent and carefree, as if he is staying out of things, but in fact he is hiding behind the scenes, stirring up trouble, and has bad intentions..."

Before she finished her words, she suddenly felt a warm breath passing over the back of her neck.

"That's a sloppy lie!"

Li Zhao let out a light laugh and slowly leaned his head towards the wall.

The wide sleeves brushed across her collarbone, and the man's breath mixed with his body temperature seemed to turn into an invisible spider web, enveloping her in place.

His body was so close that his breath almost burned the sensitive skin on the back of Xue Sui's neck.

"Do you really think I don't understand, so I'm just talking nonsense?"

Xue Sui's breathing stagnated, he raised his head and was about to retort.

Unexpectedly, Li Zhao slowly lowered his head, and his face accidentally brushed against Xue Sui's lips.

A trace of light red lip balm remained quietly on his cheek.

She was stunned.

Li Zhao was also somewhat caught off guard. He squinted his eyes slightly and stroked his face. Looking at Xue Sui's tense face which had become serious, he couldn't help but chuckle.

Xue Ping'an is such a blockhead, he has no romantic intention at all.

Li Zhao suddenly took a half step back and slowly wiped away the remaining red on his cheeks.

"They clearly said that the hawk will eventually peck out the wolf's eyes... You are that little wolf!"

Xue Sui: “…”

It is difficult to understand the profound meaning of Xizi language when interpreting it in Zhongzhou dialect.

But in this situation, Li Zhao chewed out every word from his throat. His deep gaze, the slightly upturned corners of his mouth, and his face that was rubbed red, all seemed to be hiding danger.
-
Gu Jie next door has already left.

The rest was all in the language of the Xiz caravan.

After Gu Jie left, the leader named Alim actually bowed respectfully to a seemingly inconspicuous old man in the caravan.

"The High Priest..."

"Call me Arach."

"Yes, Alahe." Alim said, "It is said that women in Zhongzhou are as weak as lambs. I think Princess Pingle from Shangjing is more vicious than a scorpion in the desert... She wants to treat us like cattle and horses, but I am afraid she has made a wrong calculation..."

Arach snorted.

He imitated the tone that Gu Jie had just used and uttered some awkward Zhongzhou Mandarin.

"The sand fox took the lamb away and wanted to repay it with a wolf cub... Bah, who wants to do a beheading business with her! Mu Ya's revenge should be repaid with blood."

"Did Mu Ya...die at the hands of Princess Pingle?"

Arach looked solemn. After a while, he shook his head and said, "We have to find a way to meet with Princess Wenjia. Once we ask the princess, everything will be clear."

Before he finished speaking, the sound of a sad Hujia suddenly rose from downstairs, like a cry of complaint, piercing through the bright lights of the inn.

A woman dressed in sky-blue gauze, her skirt fluttering like a light cloud, slowly walked up the wooden stairs.

She was alone, without her maid.

When she reached the door of the Xiz caravan, she stopped and knocked gently.

"Swallow from Xizi, I want to see the honorable Master Alim."

She spoke in the Sitz dialect.

A sentence like the agitated sand before a desert storm, brushed into everyone's ears.

Arach stood up suddenly, and because he moved so hastily, he knocked over the teacup.

The tea flowed down the table and dripped onto the blue brick floor.

The woman, wearing an exquisite veiled hat, walked in slowly, her embroidered shoes stepping on the wet tea. She looked at the surprised Sizi people and smiled slightly.

"The girl is...?" Arach's voice trembled.

The white fingertips slowly touched the veil on the veil and slowly pulled it open, revealing a beautiful and charming face.

"I'm the one you're looking for."

Happy Valentine's Day! My fellow readers~

Li Zhao: Is this how you celebrate the festival?
Xue Sui: What else?

Li Zhao: I shouldn’t have wiped off the lip balm marks if I had known.