CHAPTER 245: CHAPTER 243: SHE FURIOUSLY SLAPPED LU YING

Lu Ying’s gaze was excessively cold.

Suddenly meeting his eyes, Shen Yinning’s grip tightened imperceptibly around the Western-style telescope.

Inside the teahouse.

Xue Ling asked curiously, "What are you looking at?"

Lu Ying withdrew his gaze and picked up the teapot in front of him. "Nothing."

He merely had a vague feeling that someone, from a great distance, was observing him.

Could it be that witch?

She also came?

With Luo Xibai?

Tea poured from the spout into the cup, overflowing.

Lu Ying snapped back to attention, wiping up the spill with a towel, his face impassive.

His heart seemed troubled ever since he entered the Jiangnan region.

After the teams for the bride’s send-off and reception merged onshore, Luo Xibai, holding a folding fan, smiled amiably and said, "Though my humble self has been far removed in Jiangnan, I have heard of the Crown Prince’s uprightness and adherence to decorum. Now upon meeting you, your elegance and remarkable bearing are indeed as rumored!"

He greatly emphasized the words "uprightness and adherence to decorum."

As if laden with a hint of sarcasm.

After all, first stealing an official’s wife, and then gifting the official’s wife to his own brother as a concubine.

Such absurd behavior hardly deserves to be called noble and virtuous, does it?

Lu Ying’s expression, however, remained unchanged. "I have also long heard of Lord Luo’s renowned title: ’The Bandit King.’"

Luo Xibai chuckled twice, closed his folding fan, and gestured invitingly, "Please board the boat, everyone!"

Despite his portly frame, his movements carried an air of gracefulness, and as he spoke, he strode away with a precisely measured gait, leading the way.

The bride’s send-off party transferred to Luo Xibai’s grand boat. Lu Ying distinctly heard the sound of an ancient guqin coming from the upper deck.

Its melodies mingled with the wind blowing across the Grand Canal of Jiangnan—a tone steeped in decisiveness, wistfulness, and antiquity.

Was she the one playing the guqin?

Was she aboard this very vessel?

Then, was the earlier gaze fixed on him also hers?

The wound on Lu Ying’s arm began to itch and throb faintly.

He wanted nothing more than to slice open his flesh now, feed a poisonous insect into his wound, and use it to suppress the tumultuous emotions roiling in his heart.

Luo Xibai observed his expression closely and instructed with a sly smile, "Set sail."

The wind atop the river was particularly strong that day.

Luo Xibai made a subtle gesture toward the helmsman and crew members.

Soon, the boat sailing the river began to sway and bob, violently rocking.

Within less than half an hour, members of the send-off team began to lean over the boat’s railing, seasick and vomiting. This included the fragile and delicate palace maids and dowager attendants accompanying the bride—their sickness became so severe that they appeared on the brink of vomiting bile, pitiful and disheveled.

Luo Xibai exaggerated mockingly, "What’s the matter with you Northerners? Even the Imperial Guards can’t handle something as simple as riding a boat—what’s this? If there’s ever a naval battle in the future, how on earth will you manage? Crown Prince, it’s not that this humble servant doubts your Northern soldiers, but their constitution is truly too weak!"

As his words landed, surrounding Southern soldiers burst into raucous laughter.

"Hey, you fat fool, watch your mouth—"

Xue Ling, about to erupt in anger, was stopped by Lu Ying, who pressed on his shoulder.

Lu Ying was acutely aware that Luo Xibai was intentionally making things difficult for them.

This was likely coordinated with Shen Yinning.

Meanwhile, the guqin on the upper deck continued to play. Its notes were light and leisurely, carrying an air of casual elegance.

She certainly had a refined sense of leisure.

Without warning, Lu Ying drew Xue Ling’s sword. Before anyone could register his movement, the trusted helmsman under Luo Xibai’s charge was decapitated from behind—his head severed cleanly at the shoulders.

Blood sprayed from the neck cavity, instantly staining the helm and deck with a deep crimson!

As the lifeless body collapsed with a heavy thud, the severed head rolled across the ground, stopping at Luo Xibai’s feet.

Silence descended upon the surrounding crowd, every person holding their breath.

Aboard the boat, the only sounds that remained were the fierce howling of the wind and the ongoing melodic guqin strains.

Lu Ying coldly sheathed the sword, lifted his sharp, shallow gaze, and turned to the vice helmsman—who stood frozen in terror, like a wooden statue—and asked, "Now, will you steer the boat properly?"

The vice helmsman trembled, instinctively glancing at Luo Xibai with fear-filled eyes.

Luo Xibai’s face turned ashen as he gripped his folding fan, teeth clenched. "Crown Prince, what is the meaning of this?!"

Lu Ying narrowed his eyes indifferently. "They say Southerners excel in navigation, yet this man can’t even steer a boat properly. Lord Luo, you are wealthy enough to rival nations—why hire such an unremarkable fraud? I killed him for you; you should be thanking me."

The Imperial Family’s overwhelming aura of authority radiated from him, pressing upon Luo Xibai until he could barely breathe.

Luo Xibai stared at him warily, then spun quickly on his heel and ascended the boat’s staircase to the upper level.

Reaching the top, he swung open the intricately carved wooden doors, his forehead dripping with sweat from frustration and anger. "Sister, that Lu Ying is utterly outrageous! He killed one of my men! Doesn’t he realize the South is my territory?!"

Shen Yinning paused, stilling her fingers on the guqin strings.

Lu Ying could be detestable when it came to feelings, but he was never the kind of ruler who would kill indiscriminately.

Why was his action so ruthless this time?

She rose and retrieved a pristine white handkerchief from her sleeve pouch, personally helping Luo Xibai wipe the sweat from his forehead. "Brother, don’t panic—"

Before she could finish, a figure exuding an oppressive energy appeared at the doorway.

Lu Ying, clad in a dark robe and golden hairpin, stared coldly at Shen Yinning as she assisted Luo Xibai with wiping his sweat.

Luo Xibai gasped in shock, pointing at Lu Ying. "You—you—you... How dare you barge in here unannounced?!"

Lu Ying didn’t even glance at him. "Get out."

Luo Xibai became enraged. "Who are you telling to get out?!"

Lu Ying ignored him further, his expression steadfast. He calmly raised his right hand, channeling his inner strength, and Luo Xibai felt a powerful force pull him toward the doorway. In an instant, Lu Ying swung his black embroidered, gold-lined wide sleeve, and the two intricately carved doors slammed shut before Luo Xibai’s face with a resounding "bang"!

"What’s wrong with this man?!"

Luo Xibai shouted, pounding on the doors, but no matter how hard he knocked or kicked, the doors remained firmly shut.

Inside the room.

Lu Ying watched Shen Yinning intently.

She wore her hair in a golden hairpin peony bun, paired with a Jiangnan-style pearly white silk corset and a pomegranate-red robe adorned with gold threads. Draped over her shoulders was a delicate water-red gauzy cloak. She stood gracefully, and despite it being only a single month since they last met, her beauty seemed even more enchanting and radiant.

Lu Ying’s eyebrows subtly frosted over.

She had certainly adapted to her surroundings quickly.

His voice was laced with emphasis as he spoke deliberately. "Robbing imperial merchants, proposing to the Princess—in just one month, you seem to have grown quite skilled."

Shen Yinning toyed with a small intricately carved golden fan. "What is the gentleman’s name, and where does he come from? Little ol’ me doesn’t know you, nor understand what you’re saying."

"Shen Yinning."

"There’s no Shen Yinning here." The girl took a graceful step forward and teasingly brushed Lu Ying’s cheek with the small golden fan, her gaze soft and flowing. "Here, there’s only the lovely Lv Zhu of Liang Garden..."

Lu Ying grasped her slender, delicate wrist.

The image of her tending to Luo Xibai earlier lingered heavily in his mind.

Almost unconsciously, he tightened his grip, speaking in a low voice, "You’ve been stirring turmoil in Jiangnan all to force me to come from the Capital to see you? Now that I’m here, what exactly do you want? Or perhaps you want me to see for myself how much the men here adore you?!"

"You’re hurting me!" Shen Yinning winced in pain, struggling against his hold.

Lu Ying frowned and subconsciously relaxed his hand.

Clutching her wrist, Shen Yinning’s phoenix-like eyes shimmered with tears.

Her skin was delicate, and at this moment, her pale wrist was tinged with a startling red, making for a heart-wrenching sight.

She rubbed the wound gently and then, abruptly, slapped Lu Ying across the face.