met free Page 470
Page 470
"You! Be bold!"
Lin'an could feel that Li Chang'an was staring at his face without any restraint, showing no respect whatsoever.
She had never felt this kind of gaze from a man before; after all, no man would disregard her status like this, which made her very uncomfortable.
Her chest heaved rapidly, and her breathing became rapid with tension; she could even hear her own heartbeat.
At this moment, Princess Lin'an couldn't help but feel a little dazed. Was this the feeling when the men and women in the forbidden books got close to each other?
"I am a princess, you step back..."
Princess Lin'an's words came to an abrupt halt as Li Chang'an gently placed the book into her hand and whispered in her ear, "Don't let anyone else see this."
These words brushed against Lin'an's fair and delicate earlobe. The man's unique aura made her shrink her neck, her whole body trembled involuntarily, and her breath seemed to stop.
Then, Li Chang'an's handsome face, with a smile on it, gradually receded.
Lin'an felt her cheeks burning, hurriedly stuffed the book into her sleeve, and rushed out.
"Li Chang'an, you must not tell anyone about what happened today!"
"What's the matter?" Li Chang'an asked innocently.
Lin'an covered his feverish face with both hands, momentarily speechless, "The book...the book thing."
"Your Highness, it would be inconvenient for you to go out now, as it may be difficult to do so."
Lin'an could guess that his face must be very red; it was indeed quite embarrassing to go out like this.
Li Chang'an comforted her, "Actually, there's nothing wrong with these books. I don't know why they're listed as banned books. Men should marry when they're of age and women should marry when they're of age. If they love each other, they should have the freedom to get married."
Lin'an sat back down, trying to forget the blushing and heart-pounding feeling she had just experienced, but the scene she had just witnessed had emboldened her.
"Li Chang'an, let me tell you, from today onwards, we are in the same boat."
"But if Father finds out you gave me forbidden books, I might get a scolding, but you'll lose your head."
After this incident, Lin'an completely reverted to her charming and adorable nature, losing all her princess airs.
"Your Highness, does this mean I will be guilty of the same crime as Heng Hui?"
Upon hearing Heng Hui's name, Princess Lin'an stood up, hands on her hips, and declared, "Heng Hui is innocent!"
"If you ask me, there's nothing wrong with eloping. The problem is that Pingyang and Henghui were too stupid. If they had eloped with someone like you, who could have harmed them!"
Lin'an uttered these words almost without thinking, which clearly indicated that they were well-considered opinions.
“The princess is right. It is Pingyang and Henghui who lack the ability to protect themselves.”
Upon hearing Li Chang'an affirm her opinion, Princess Lin'an beamed with joy, feeling as if she had found a kindred spirit. Her charming peach blossom eyes sparkled with moisture, exuding boundless allure.
"So you agree with me too! The first time I met you, I thought you were a good person, and now it seems that my judgment was excellent!"
"The matter of the banned books is a secret between the two of us. Don't worry, as long as you don't offend me, I will keep it a secret for you."
"Especially Huaiqing, we must never let her know that she has always liked to bully me since she was little!"
Before anyone knew it, Lin'an had started talking nonstop.
"Li Chang'an, I'm leaving now. I'll come visit you again later."
Lin'an herself didn't know why she was in such a good mood today. If she had known it would be so easy to get the second half of the book, she would have come to the door long ago instead of waiting for so long.
On the carriage back to the palace, Princess Lin'an rested her chin on her hand, a smile playing on her lips, savoring the blush and heart-pounding feeling she had just experienced.
She touched her earlobe again and fanned herself with her hand. The tingling, itchy, yet comfortable feeling was gone.
Since it cannot be replicated, one can only savor it repeatedly, and this feeling is even more interesting than reading a storybook.
That very evening, Princess Lin'an finished reading the story of The Romance of the Western Chamber.
To her surprise, after finishing The Romance of the Western Chamber, there was another story that began, called The White Snake Lady Forever Imprisoned in Leifeng Pagoda.
However, she quickly got angry because after seeing the scene where Xu Xian bought realgar wine, it stopped happening!
In the dead of night, Princess Lin'an lay flat on her bed, her peach-blossom eyes wide open, her mind a jumble of thoughts.
One moment it's a scene from The Romance of the Western Chamber, the next it's the story of the White Snake, and then it's a scene of Li Chang'an speaking in my ear.
In short, Biao Biao's happy and peaceful life was completely disrupted by Li Chang'an, and she has never had a good night's sleep since.
Li Chang'an also received news that Fu Xiang from the Jiaofangsi was going to be dressed up.
In the original novel, when Xu Qi'an was getting free rides from Fu Xiang, Fu Xiang had already been a prostitute for over a year. Although Fu Xiang was just a corpse controlled by Ye Ji, Xu Qi'an still enjoyed being a corpse driver for several years.
Fu Xiang's looks and charm should be similar to Si Lili and Yu Youwei. Such a woman is both gentle and beautiful as well as skilled in arts and crafts. She is indeed unique and irresistible.
Li Chang'an had already made up his mind. He was determined to attend the tea ceremony at Shulong, and once he had Shulong for Fuxiang, no one else would be able to sleep with this courtesan.
The so-called tea gathering is about writing poems and composing essays. Li Chang'an has too many of Liu Yong's brothel lyrics in his mind, and countless erotic songs and poems. From this perspective, serving the courtesan Fu Xiang is also an opportunity to make a name for himself.
However, just two days before Fu Xiang was to be given a comb, Yang Yan came to his door with a serious expression.
In the past three months, besides Fa Hun, Li Chang'an has also helped the night watchman catch a top-ranking fourth-grade thief.
Wei Yuan was quite considerate; he wouldn't bother Li Chang'an unless there was a major case, but he himself often came to Li Chang'an for tea, talking at length about the great achievements of the Shanhaiguan Battle back then.
"Brother Li, this matter is rather troublesome. In just one month, five women have been murdered in the capital."
Li Chang'an had never run any intelligence agency in his life, nor had he paid special attention to news from the capital, but he was able to suppress the murder of five women, which seemed quite remarkable.
Yang Yan continued, "They were all virgins around sixteen or seventeen years old, with top-notch looks and figures, but they all died tragically, their life essence drained. It seems like a powerful evil spell."
This world has demons and cultivators, so it's not surprising that there are evil arts, but to dare to do this in the capital city is truly audacious.
"The most recent murdered woman was a courtesan who was about to be courtesan at the Jiaofangsi (a government-run entertainment institution). Because of the incident with the courtesan, a new courtesan was chosen instead."
Li Chang'an said, "You've kept this matter very well under wraps; the Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau) hasn't released a single word about it."
Yang Yan said, "The Jiaofangsi is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites, which is the imperial court's territory. Once this matter becomes public, who would dare to go to the Jiaofangsi?"
"So you came to me this time because you were confident you could find him?"
Yang Yan said, "The astronomers from the Imperial Observatory helped examine it and said that the murderer's aura is still near the Jiaofangsi (a brothel), and they estimate that he will also target the courtesan of the Jiaofangsi."
"Moreover, the women who were murdered before were all top-quality alchemical furnaces for the Taoist sects, and the courtesan who is about to be slept with is also a top-quality alchemical furnace."
Li Chang'an clicked his tongue in surprise. The courtesan who was about to be dressed up was Fu Xiang. Could it be that the murderer's target was Fu Xiang?
However, Fu Xiang is a split soul of a nine-tailed fox, and ordinary flower thieves are no match for her. If someone dares to pick Fu Xiang, they will be killed instead.
However, like Xue Ji who goes by the alias Xiao Yuenü, Ye Ji is definitely a top-tier furnace vessel, making her a very likely target.
"Now that the new courtesan is about to be put to work, the murderer should be about to make his move."
Yang Yan paused for a moment and said, "I didn't expect Brother Li to also be concerned about the news of the courtesan's comb. We believe it is true, so we would like to ask Brother Li to join us in catching the murderer."
The Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau) was not far from Li Chang'an's residence, making it convenient to travel back and forth. Li Chang'an immediately agreed to go and hunt down the flower thief that night.
Late at night, in the Plum Shadow Pavilion of the Imperial Music Bureau.
Fu Xiang had just finished playing a piece when she stared blankly into the empty courtyard with her beautiful eyes. Faint sounds of joy could still be heard coming from the girls' rooms.
She knew everything about the courtesan's murder a couple of days ago, and now she was her next target.
The fourth-rank demon girl, Ye Ji, is not afraid of any flower thieves; in this world, a fourth-rank demon is already extremely powerful.
However, she was worried that the flower-picking case would attract night watchmen and sorcerers, and if they got too involved, they might expose their identities.
She stayed in the Imperial Music Bureau in the capital to gather intelligence; she had a mission, and it would be very troublesome if she were exposed like this.
The fox spirit was extremely perceptive; she knew that there were several fourth-rank masters near the brothel tonight.
"That damn flower thief, he actually set his sights on me. I don't know whether to say he has good taste or bad taste."
"This body is beautiful, but it's not something you can just eat."
Just as she was about to get up and get into bed, a stealthy figure emerged from the floor.
The dark figure chuckled twice and pounced on Fu Xiang.
Just as the dark figure was about to grab Fu Xiang's neck, Fu Xiang also circulated her qi to prepare for a counterattack, but then she heard a faint sound coming from outside the window.
"Demons, come forth and stand before me!"
The next instant, the man in black remained motionless, and the beautiful and charming Fu Xiang suddenly appeared outside the room.
Fu Xiang found herself staring into the eyes of a handsome man, who had clearly used the power of words to make them come true.
"Huh? Girl, are you a demon?"
Li Chang'an asked the question knowingly, and Fu Xiang instinctively wanted to attack him, but then several golden gong figures suddenly appeared from the surrounding area.
These figures all rushed into their rooms, clearly heading to catch the flower thief.
Fu Xiang was shocked, because Li Chang'an had seen through her identity.
Just as she was about to run away, she suddenly heard Li Chang'an say, "Miss, you don't want your identity to be known by others, do you?"
Fu Xiang instantly realized that the night watchman who could make his words come true, and who was also a fourth-rank cultivator, could only be one person: Xue Ji's lover, Li Chang'an!
Could it be... that Yukihime sold me out?
Chapter 282 Fu Xiang's Thoughts, Martial Arts Enters the Fourth Rank
Li Chang'an's words, which were considered lawful, were not heard by the other night watchmen, so Fu Xiang's mind began to stir.