Editor: Otwentyfirst

  Hua Zhu Yu grew rigid but after a moment, revealed her dimpled bright smile. "Lord Chancellor, you said you were interested in me in front of others, but now you are not acknowledging it? Lord Chancellor likes me, naturally I am overwhelmed by favor."

  Didn’t you want to put on an act, then go on ahead with the act, let’s see who can act till the very end. Who cares, she already knew Ji Feng Li would never be interested in men.

  "When did this Chancellor not acknowledge that! This Chancellor was afraid Bao Er didn’t like this Chancellor! If that’s the case, then that’s great!" Although Ji Feng Li spoke in a graceful and sweet voice, his eyes were filled with derision.

  Clasping his hands, he alighted the carriage and Hua Zhu Yu quickly followed after.

  The sky was gradually getting dark.

  Reclining against a bamboo chair beneath the osmanthus tree in Feng Yuan, Ji Feng Li was enjoying his tea. Displayed on the table in front of him were a few light dishes.

  Lan Bing quickly entered and took a seat in front of Ji Feng Li, carefully asking, "Lord Chancellor, was Tong Shou speaking the truth?"

  "What did Tong Shou say?" Ji Feng Li slowly asked.

  Lan Bing’s face distorted and it wasn’t until a long while later did he have the courage to say in a heavy tone, "He said Lord Chancellor is fond of that Yuan Bao."

  Ji Feng Li wrinkled his brows and asked, "And your thoughts are?"

  Lan Bing dwelled in silence for a while before replying, "This subordinate is unsure. But Lord Chancellor didn’t show interest in Miss Wen or the Third Princess so this subordinate is suspicious if Lord Chancellor really has a broken-sleeve!"

  Ji Feng Li was reaching out to the plate of peanuts and when he heard this, his movements halted. Knitting his brows, he stated, "Don’t worry, this Chancellor doesn’t have a broken sleeve!"

  "This subordinate also heard from Tong Shou that Yu Yuan from Drunken Village Brothel dared to use the beauty charm against you today. If you were a normal man, why weren’t you seduced by her?" Lan Bing felt it was hard to comprehend.

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  Ji Feng Li shot him a cold glare. "It’s just a beauty charm. That’s not enough to give me a hard time. This Chancellor only needed to employ my internal force to counteract it."

  Lan Bing laughed, "Then you must’ve wasted quite a bit of energy. But by doing so wouldn’t Yu Yuan notice that Lord Chancellor knows martial arts?"

  Ji Feng Li replied, "Beauty charm doesn’t work on women or men with broken-sleeves."

  "So its like that!" Lan Bing came to a realization. "This subordinate knew Lord Chancellor did so on purpose. But Lord Chancellor, you really gave me a fright. If you really had a broken-sleeve and Lan Bing had to follow you everyday, I would have to be wary and anxious of losing my chast.i.ty." As soon as the words left his mouth, he instantly felt an incoming rush of air current heading directly for his mouth so he clamped down quickly. Luckily his teeth had stopped the object which turned out to be a peanut, right in time.

  Lan Bing quickly swallowed it and continued to ask, "Lord Chancellor, you’re just going to let Yuan Bao tarnish your reputation?"

  "That’s exactly what this Chancellor wishes. If not, I wouldn’t have brought him along to the brothel in the first place." Ji Feng Li reclined against the seat. Swirling steam rose from his teacup, reflecting in his ink-dark pair of eyes that were gentle and radiant.

  A rumor began to spread, faster than people could ruminate. After the pa.s.sing of just a few days, news had spread far and wide throughout the Imperial city that the Left Chancellor was fond of Hua Zhu Yu. This was the second time Hua Zhu Yu had become famous, the subject of people’s discussions in Southern Kingdom.

  In the sixth month of that year, the Song Jiang dam collapsed and Left Chancellor Ji Feng Li took responsibility of setting out to resolve the issue. On the journey, he did not forget to bring Hua Zhu Yu along, further attesting to the validity of the rumors.

  Hua Zhu Yu didn’t understand why Ji Feng Li brought her along. Furthermore, she couldn’t fathom the reason why Ji Feng Li, who held all the power within the grasp of his palm, was personally setting out to deal with this flood problem when he could very well just a.s.sign this task to some other official to resolve.

  On the second evening of the journey, their carriage came to a stop at the foot of the mountain. Draping on his black cloak, Ji Feng Li alighted the carriage.

  Hua Zhu Yu was stunned at the destruction left behind by the typhoon and at the half destroyed Song Jiang dam. If they didn’t repair it soon the three towns nearby would surely flood. They had received news of the severe flooding in Xuan Zhou when they were enroute earlier. That was why Ji Feng Li changed course and brought everyone here.

  The city of Xuan Zhou was presently bombarded by relentless rain showers. Occasionally, lightning would strike, tearing through the clouds, illuminating the gloomy skies only to be followed by the drumming of thunder, inducing fear in the people.

  Standing tall on the steep slope, Ji Feng Li’s gaze was fixed forward, half his face obscured by the murky rain, appearing somewhat indistinct. Only his pair of dark, phoenix eyes flashed with a sharp gleam.

  Hua Zhu Yu had never seen such an expression on Ji Feng Li, who always had on a gentle and refined demeanor.

  Dun dun duuun! Say what? JFJ doesn’t actually like Wen Wan? So why did he do so much for her? Another mystery!