Too high to reach

Chapter 155 Looks familiar
Not far from where the boy fell into the water, there is a pavilion in the middle of the lake, surrounded by water on three sides, with a bridge connecting it to the shore on one side.

At this moment, the pavilion's doors and windows were closed, and a small boat was moored outside.

Inside the pavilion, a man and a woman were rolling around.

An hour had passed, and the two were still inseparable, clinging to each other.

"...I can't take it anymore, I really can't..." The woman was covered in sweat, her jet-black hair was all disheveled, half-covering her snow-white face.

The man chuckled, "I finally caught you. I won't let you go until you're full."

"I can't even walk anymore, I'll make a fool of myself at the banquet," the woman said breathlessly.

"Ha! At worst, we can just give that old woman some sleeping powder to put her to sleep, then cancel the banquet. Anyway, most people have already left."

“I know they can reach in here. But we should use our strengths where they matter… Don’t let that old woman notice anything amiss.”

The man let out a long sigh: "Is she really stupid or just pretending?"

"Who knows? If it's fake, so many years have passed. But if it's true, it hasn't affected her at all."

"Ignore her, kiss me, again..." The man continued to pester her.

"Goodbye... We'll meet again someday."

"I love it when you say: There's plenty of time in the future!" The man's mouth was buried in the woman's neck, nuzzling her like a little pig.

The woman chuckled and dodged, saying, "I'm thirsty..."

The man stood up and strode over to pour tea; it turned out that this man was the Prince of Yong'an.

At this moment, he took off his fine clothes and was completely naked.

The water was handed over, and the woman lying on the ground took it. She tossed her long hair behind her back, revealing a stunningly beautiful face—it was Consort Dong.

Inside the palace, these two wouldn't dare to cause such trouble.

They went to great lengths to plan this rendezvous.

In the end, neither the Emperor nor the Empress came, so Consort Dong hosted the birthday banquet for the Empress Dowager.

The two of them had already made love once last night, but it wasn't enough. Taking advantage of a short rest after lunch, they did it again.

The Prince of Yong'an, who had maintained his power for so many years, could only act recklessly here. The Emperor's fifteenth son, Li Chen, was a product of this very place.

The two looked at each other, their eyes filled with tenderness. "Alright, that's enough. You should go now."

"I can't bear to part with you." The grown man whined.

"If all else fails, I'll come out again in half a month."

"Then you'd better keep your word!" Prince Yong'an had no interest in other women, only in her.

If the Empress hadn't pretended to be virtuous and tricked the unsuspecting Consort Dong into currying favor with the Emperor, they would have been together long ago.

Consort Dong leaned on his shoulder: "We really have to be careful. That man hasn't been able to get pregnant for many years... If you get me pregnant again, we won't be able to hide it anymore!"

The man chuckled indifferently, "There's always a way. Today, I saw that old woman's Qian Qing'er following our Chen'er again. It's utterly absurd! Can Chen'er marry her? At such a young age, she already knows how to chase after men!"

"Hmph... Anyway, it's still several years before Li Chen'er gets married! The Qian family doesn't care because they have a daughter, so what are we afraid of because we have a son? Let them stick to us if they want." Consort Dong sneered.

Neither of them thought about themselves.

"Honey, to be honest, you still need to be careful around the Emperor and watch out for the Empress. Let him hold out for a few more years. We need to sort things out before we have a better chance of success!"

“I’m keeping an eye on it; even the Emperor himself values ​​his life.”

"The idea that Mr. Jiang gave me was really good. Enclose land, relocate people, and build granaries to store grain. Let the relocated people farm the land while also practicing. In their spare time, they are farmers growing grain, and at the first sign of trouble, they immediately become soldiers. Currently, nearly 20,000 people have been resettled."

You know, although the Emperor has given me power and put me in charge of many things, I have no control over the military.

"How can those two hundred soldiers accomplish anything great? If things go smoothly, in two or three years, we can muster fifty thousand men, enough to shake up grain prices. By then, Chen'er will be older, and with the Crown Prince's influence over me, success is guaranteed."

"And then there's Li Jing, who has troops under his command," Consort Dong said coldly.

"Hmm... Li Jing, I have people around him. Forcing him won't work, and it's hard to find fault with him, so a dirty trick is the best option. However, not now. It would be best if he and the Crown Prince fought to the death first..."

"These important matters should be decided by men."

"Yes, just focus on looking beautiful. In that brocade box are some nice things I just found for you. Wear them to the banquet and show them to me, okay?"

Xu Ke, who was leading a patrol, happened to be nearby. Just now, he thought he heard a woman calling "Someone come here!" in the distance.

But then, laughter came from near and far, and he thought he had misheard.

Even so, he still sent his men who were following behind him to point out the general direction and tell them to go and take a look.

As soon as I turned around, I seemed to see someone boarding a boat in the pavilion in the middle of the lake.

Is someone in the pavilion?
Why are all the windows and doors closed?

I was just about to go take a look...

"Young Master Xu?" a woman exclaimed in surprise. Turning around, she saw...

She was an extremely beautiful girl.

She looked vaguely familiar... He couldn't quite place her for a moment, and paused for a second. But he was quick to adapt, immediately replacing his surprise with a smile, waiting for the woman to speak.

"Greetings, Mo Wen." Mo Wen noticed his slightly surprised expression, but hadn't expected him not to recognize her. She simply thought his sudden appearance had caught him off guard.

Xu Ke's ears turned red; this was his fiancée... and he hadn't even recognized her.

"Miss Mo... What a surprise! What are you doing here?!" Xu Ke quickly tried to smooth things over.

"His Highness Prince Qi invited my sister to attend the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet. My sister was afraid of being alone, so she insisted on bringing me along. It was indeed a bit of a rush."

"Oh, is that so? I didn't even recognize you! And... the girl has changed quite a bit!" He revealed a suitable appreciation in his eyes.

Mo Wen's face flushed slightly. Her hair was styled particularly beautifully today, with a high bun that made her neck appear long and her shoulders and back straight, making her look much taller.

Her makeup and clothing were in no way inferior to those of the ladies from prominent families here.

...Oh, this hairpin, Xu Ke remembered, the servant had shown it to him when he bought it.

"It's been almost half a year since I last saw you, young master..." Mo Wen said with a sigh.

"Yes. I've been very tired these past six months..." Xu Ke explained.

"It's obvious that you've lost weight, young master." Mo Wen's eyes were full of light as he looked at Xu Ke.

"You've gotten tanned too, haven't you? All that wind and sun all day!" Xu Ke smiled, revealing her white teeth.

"You've worked hard, young master."

"It's really tough. Um, I'm on official duty right now too."

"Then... have I disturbed you, young master?"

"It's not really a disturbance. However, I might... need to patrol that area a bit more."

He seemed somewhat reluctant to leave, pointing behind him. Without turning around, he didn't notice a petite figure emerging from the lakeside pavilion, her cloak wrapped tightly around her, walking along the path on the bridge towards the palace on the slope.

"I see... Well then, young master, please go ahead and attend to your business!"

"Alright. I'll visit you again when I have time." With that, Xu Ke bowed and turned to leave.

Mo Wen stared blankly at his back. They had finally met, and that was all they got were two sentences?

In two months, we'll be getting married!

This time, Xu Ke did turn his head back.

On the lakeside, the wind rustled the willows, and the girl's clothes fluttered gently... a beautiful scene.

……

"It's you? Miss! I'm honored!" A man's surprised voice suddenly rang out beside Mo Yuan.

She's looking for a good man; she's already seen several who she likes.

The men were also secretly watching her, their faces turning red, but they didn't know how to come up and talk to her!

Oh dear, just a bunch of pieces of wood.

I was feeling down when I was startled. I turned around and saw...

"Huh?! You...you are..." You look familiar.

“My name is Zhang Debao! The only son of the Marquis of Zhongyong’s family! We met once at the embroidery shop.”

"Oh, I remember now..." Mo Yuan replied, but her eyes kept glancing at the well-dressed and handsome man.

There's already a start, why aren't you coming over?

“Miss…” Zhang Debao bowed deeply, his face as red as a cloth: “I only caught a glimpse of you last time, and I haven’t yet had the pleasure of asking your name.”

Seeing the man's dazed expression, Mo Yuan couldn't help but laugh out loud: "My surname is Mo. My younger sister is His Highness Prince Qi's betrothed!" Her voice was not quiet.

Sure enough, someone came this way.

"Ah! I see! That must be a very respectable family! My apologies for not recognizing you!"

Zhang Debao was overjoyed; he had been searching all morning and noon! In the end, he had no choice but to conclude that the fairy had not come to the banquet.

I hate myself so much! I should have kept asking and getting to the bottom of things last time!

He didn't pursue the girl because he wanted to ask the shopkeeper. However, he didn't realize it was her first time there and she hadn't bought anything yet, so the shopkeeper didn't know either.

His whole life turned gloomy!

But unexpectedly: after all the mountains and rivers that seemed to block the way, a new village appeared amidst the willows and flowers.

But he happened to run into one.

Thinking of this, my eyes welled up with tears.

Heaven have mercy...

"May I ask who you are, young lady...?" Sure enough, two or three handsome young men arrived.

Mo Yuan presented her best self...

(End of this chapter)