Xiao Li had issued a strict order, and while the Princess Manor's gates successfully blocked Liu Xueyin, they couldn't stop Lu Yanzhi's winged heart.
"Princess, this is honey cake specially made by the Lu family's cook. It's excellent for the throat and can help mask the bitterness after taking medicine."
Lu Yanzhi personally brought the honey cake to Xiao Li, his gentle and submissive attitude making unknowing observers think they were a harmonious married couple.
Xiao Li held the medicine bowl, swallowing the bitter liquid sip by sip. Medicine was never pleasant, but she didn't even furrow her brows, let alone touch what Lu Yanzhi had brought.
Lu Yanzhi clearly knew Xiao Li wouldn't accept anything from him. He was simply employing the slow-boiling frog strategy, mainly to express his attitude.
After sitting with Xiao Li for a while until she finished her medicine and started drinking water, he finally spoke again.
"Bixia has ordered Gu Ling's corpse to be hung outside the city for public exposure. After several days, it has already decomposed and stinks. Commoners entering the city are terrified when they see it. Could the Princess persuade Bixia to take down the corpse for proper disposal?"
Lou Yan remained unmoved: "What does the Princess mean by this?"
Lou Yan's eyebrows twitched slightly: "Saving the Princess is this servant's duty. I dare not claim merit."
In fact, the Emperor's death owed some credit to this County Lord, and she had done it all for her true love, Lu Yanzhi.
Through her relationship with Liu Xueyin and her actions, she successfully avoided being implicated in the Chen family's downfall, changed her identity to enter the Princess Manor, and became the only maid by Lu Yanzhi's side.
After speaking, she stood up directly and went to the pavilion. Lou Yan paused for a moment before ultimately following her with the items in hand.
Liu Xueyin had been stopped an hour earlier, and Lu Yanzhi came to persuade an hour later.
Xiao Li put a medicinal throat lozenge in her mouth and agreed: "Alright."
Lou Yan held a box in his hands and presented it: "This is the Eight-Treasure Lung Nourishing Paste prepared by the Imperial Kitchen. Bixia ordered this servant to deliver it."
Xiao Li finally spared him a glance. One mad dog dead, now another loyal dog comes.
Lou Yan showed no emotion: "Thank you for the Princess's great favor."
When a person dies, their debts vanish. She didn't concern herself with matters after death.
It's worth mentioning that the Chen Family County Lord didn't love the Emperor, but rather Lu Yanzhi.
Xiao Li directly interrupted, emphasizing: "The opportunity only comes once. It won't wait for you~~~"
"This servant pays respects to the Princess.Her throat had improved considerably over the past two days, allowing her to speak reluctantly, though her voice remained somewhat hoarse – so unpleasant she disliked it herself.
Perhaps it was because Xiao Li's smiling face had been too radiant and dazzling moments before, making him suddenly feel very uncomfortable inside.
Broad shoulders, narrow waist, brimming with wicked charm, sexual tension maxed out – but… he was a eunuch! "How much sorrow can one bear? Just like a eunuch visiting a brothel!" Haha, Xiao Li amused herself with these internal thoughts, nearly bursting with laughter, her lifted toes twitching slightly.
Lou Yan kept his eyes lowered, his vision filled only with those slightly swaying toes.
Of course, these were all events of the future.
The current Empress Dowager came from the great Chen clan. The Chen Family County Lord was the Empress Dowager's niece, sixteen years old this year. Her arrival at this time likely meant she was preparing to enter the palace.
Xiao Li slightly raised her chin, full of pride: "You saved this Princess. This is your reward."
Gu Ling was dead, and Liu Xueyin couldn't possibly ignore it. How could she not be heartbroken seeing the young man she cared about left exposed on the city walls? When she came to see Xiao Li earlier, it was likely to both accuse and plead—saying she was willing to give anything to spare Gu Ling’s body.
In any case, Xiao Li felt that Lou Yan could be won over. If he was too aloof to be swayed, she still had to maintain a good relationship with him, at the very least to prevent him from holding a blade to her neck.
Since Lou Yan wasn’t picky, Xiao Li had no choice but to offer him the gift she had prepared earlier. Surprisingly, Lou Yan didn’t refuse it.
Lu Yanzhi looked at her in astonishment, genuinely surprised by how readily she agreed.
Xiao Li was momentarily confused. Chen Family County Lord? Who is that?
But the target was Lou Yan, a eunuch—wasn’t that somewhat absurd? Xiao Li had indeed prepared a gift for Lou Yan earlier, but she wasn’t entirely satisfied with it. After all, it was a life-saving favor, and she ought to repay it properly.
Lu Yanzhi remained seated, completely ignored.
“Your Highness flatters me. This is merely my duty.”
As a princess, Xiao Li was never short of fine possessions, especially recently, having acquired quite a few from the Emperor and received numerous gifts. Her two storerooms were packed to the brim. Xiao Li smiled and said, “You saved my life; it’s only right that I thank you. That—”
No matter how many times Xiao Li looked at Lou Yan, she couldn’t help but be struck by his striking appearance. How could the same eunuch’s robes look so exquisite on him? The purple base with black patterns seemed tailor-made just for him.
Lou Yan conducted himself with propriety—respectful but never obsequious—as if he had only come to deliver something.
???? What a moving love story indeed.
Highly skilled in martial arts and a close attendant of the Emperor—that alone was enough reason to go to great lengths to win him over.
Lou Yan couldn’t possibly know these details, so his reminder couldn’t have been for that reason. She had to think further back.
He really showed her no consideration at all.
Opening the storeroom and letting him choose freely—that was a gesture of utmost sincerity.
Since Lou Yan was a eunuch, offering herself was out of the question. Material compensation would have to suffice. Clatter!
But, perhaps in return for the generous reward, he reminded Xiao Li, “The Chen Family County Lord will enter the palace tomorrow.”
Xiao Li was about to have someone fetch the items but paused mid-sentence. She stood up and said slyly, “Come with me.”
So, she could still smile like that—as if gazing at a man she admired. Whether she had ever looked at him that way, he could no longer recall, but that smile lingered in his mind.
Xiao Li thought: Go ahead and wonder. I can’t be bothered with you.
The lock on the storeroom fell to the ground with a clang. Xiao Li pushed the door open and declared grandly, “Choose. Whatever catches your eye, it’s yours.”
Of course, if someone could provoke her to the point of whipping a corpse, that would indeed be a feat.
In the later plot, Xuan Yang became pregnant and went mad. Xiao Li had never met this County Lord who became a consort, but she ended up forming a close friendship with Liu Xueyin because Liu Xueyin supported her in pursuing her true love.
After much thought, she finally recalled this side character.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that there was some scheme at play.
Xiao Li didn’t bother with formalities: “Even if you hadn’t come, I would have gone to the palace to find you in a couple of days.”
But unexpectedly, she was denied entry. Then, Lu Yanzhi, unable to bear seeing his beloved suffer, rushed to her aid.
This County Lord was enfeoffed as a consort immediately upon entering the palace and was set to be promoted to Noble Consort once she became pregnant. The Chen family intended to use this daughter to challenge the Empress, hoping to produce another emperor with Chen family blood.
Xiao Li sighed. This person was hard to deal with.
Lou Yan said, "Princess, please give your orders."
What wouldn't she agree to? She wanted Gu Ling dead, but she wasn't a pervert who enjoyed desecrating corpses.
Xiao Li raised an eyebrow. "For delivering some pastries, we're troubling Lord Lou Yan himself?"
Of course, the most important point was that he was a eunuch. After winning him over, she wouldn't have to worry about emotional entanglements. He was practically born to be a… partner? It was somewhat hard to describe.
Naturally, when the Emperor later died and Chen Wang usurped the throne, the Chen family's plans came to nothing.
Lu Yanzhi was observing Xiao Li when he saw her eyes suddenly light up, a sweet smile blooming on her face that momentarily dazzled him.
She had said that as long as she could stay by his side, it would be her greatest happiness.
"Rise. What brings you here?" In her cheerful mood, even her sore throat felt better.
Not to mention he was good-looking—pleasant to the eyes.
Come to think of it, that County Princess Chen often came to the palace in her youth to accompany the Empress Dowager. She disliked the original host, frequently mocking her behind her back and often framing her for misdeeds, getting her punished by the Empress Dowager.
It could be said that half the suffering the original host endured in her youth under the Empress Dowager was thanks to her.
In that case, she couldn't let this person off easily.