Cypress Boat Floating

Summer rain comes suddenly and leaves suddenly. After a heavy rain, the sky clears up in the blink of an eye, and the heavy dark clouds disappear after releasing the rain that has accumulated for several days.

The sun broke through the clouds, hung high in the sky, and cast its light on the earth. The ground, which was still wet after the rain, was baked dry in an instant once it received the sun's light.

In the dilapidated temple, Ye Jianqing sat on the ground, enjoying the plate of cakes brought by Lu Ciqiu. Lu Ciqiu sat opposite her, watching her eat quietly.

Outside the door, Huaixi was guarding and no one disturbed him.

Ye Jianqing was eating cakes, and suddenly thought that she didn't seem to have met him here in her previous life. She couldn't help but feel curious about why he appeared here in this life, so she asked, "Why are you here?"

This is a dilapidated temple, and usually no one comes here. Moreover, beyond the bamboo forest in front is the camp where she was trained, and usually few people come here. And how could Lu Ci Qiu, a prince who grew up in the deep palace, suddenly come to this place?

Lu Ci Qiu glanced at Ye Jianqing and said mysteriously, "Yesterday, I observed the sky at night and found that there was a star flashing in the southeast direction. When I fell asleep at night, I dreamed that a god told me to come here today so that I could find someone who could assist me. So I came."

Ye Jianqing squinted his eyes, obviously not believing his false words: "Did the god tell you that the person you met was a girl?"

Lu Ci Qiu pretended to be mysterious, shaking his head and saying, "I have already calculated this myself. I calculated that the person I met today is not only a girl, but also a girl with strong martial arts skills. This person will definitely be able to help me."

Ye Jianqing rolled her eyes. In her impression, Lu Ci Qiu didn't seem to be such an eloquent and smooth-talking person.

"Give you a hand? So you need someone with great martial arts skills to help you with what?"

Ye Jianqing asked.

She had to find out why Lu Ciqiu came here. Lu Ciqiu was the eighth prince and Lu Zhixing's younger brother. His status meant that he couldn't just walk around.

But now he came here alone, and he was not surprised to see me, and even took the initiative to invite me to eat.

There is something wrong with this person!

"I want to find out the truth, and the process will be very dangerous, so I need someone to help me." Lu Ci Qiu told the truth.

Ye Jianqing raised her eyebrows. Why didn’t she know in her previous life what so-called truth Lu Ci Qiu wanted to find out?

"What truth?"

"I can't tell you now, but I will tell you slowly later."

Ye Jianqing looked at him suspiciously.

Lu Ci Qiu didn't take Ye Jianqing's suspicion seriously at all, as if it was not a very important matter to him. He stood up and walked around Ye Jianqing, saying, "I need someone to help me, and you, probably also need a boss. In this case, why don't we help each other?"

Ye Jianqing smiled. She supported her face with her hands and tilted her head to look at Lu Ciqiu: "Boss? Why do you think I need a boss?"

"When I came in, you were hiding on the beam quietly. It must be no small matter to force a woman like you to climb up the beam and hide there."

Lu Ci Qiu pointed at the red cloth hidden on her chest and continued, "And you are wearing a red cloth to cover yourself. It is obvious that you are hiding from someone and afraid of being discovered. And I think the person chasing you must be very powerful."

"You climbed up a nearly two-meter-high beam and came down easily. You seem quite skilled. And you happened to be hiding from someone. If you were to walk out casually, you would probably be caught before you even reach the market."

After saying this, Lu Ci Qiu looked at Ye Jianqing with a look of determination to win.

Ye Jianqing frowned. How come she never knew that Lu Ci Qiu could even see these things?

"Yes, you are right. I am hiding from someone. Since you know that the person I am hiding from is very powerful, you are still willing to accept me. Do you think you can help me deal with those who are chasing me?"

As if sensing Ye Jianqing's suspicious look, Lu Ci Qiu patted his chest and said, "This is the exchange condition I proposed. I will help you deal with those who are chasing you, and you will stay by my side to protect me. Kill two birds with one stone!"

Ye Jianqing hesitated.

Indeed, she had escaped from the camp in order to find him, but now that he was in front of her, she hesitated. She always felt that the Lu Ci Qiu in front of her seemed a little different from the Lu Ci Qiu she remembered.

Forget it! Ye Jianqing gritted his teeth. Since the opportunity was now in front of him, if he didn't fight hard and seize this opportunity, he would miss it forever.

Even though she had made up her mind to follow him, Ye Jianqing had to fight for a little more benefit for herself. She pretended to be indifferent and said, "It's not impossible for me to agree to you, but I have to know what I can get first. Since you know that my martial arts are not bad, why do you think I must need you to avoid the limelight?"

Fearing that Ye Jianqing would not agree, Lu Ci Qiu quickly said, "I can provide all my assistance to help you accomplish anything you want. If you follow me, you will receive a salary every month, and I will give you a certain degree of freedom within the scope of my authority. You can do whatever you want."

Ye Jianqing looked into his eyes and saw full of sincerity in his eyes.

Although I still had doubts in my heart, I agreed.

"Okay, then I promise you, what do you want me to do?"

"I want to find out something, something I don't even know how to find out, but I need you to be able to help me whenever I need it."

Ye Jianqing nodded. "You have to tell me your identity."

"Lu Ciqiu, the eighth prince of the Da'an royal family."

"Ye Jianqing!"

Without any hesitation or doubt, a gentleman's agreement was reached.

But Lu Ci Qiu did not realize that Ye Jianqing was not surprised at all about his identity.

The wind blew, making the window sills on the side rattle, but the temple was extremely quiet, with only the sound of Ye Jianqing eating cakes.

The food warmed her weathered stomach, and the appearance of Lu Ci Qiu undoubtedly brought a ray of light to her directionless life. She didn't know if the current Lu Ci Qiu was still the Lu Ci Qiu she knew, but she was willing to believe that Lu Ci Qiu was still the same Lu Ci Qiu.

Before Ye Jianqing swallowed the cake in his mouth, Lu Ci Qiu took out a set of palace maid's clothes from the bottom of the food box and handed it to Ye Jianqing: "I will go back to the palace later, you have to go back with me. Here are the clothes, change into them first."

Ye Jianqing held the clothes in his hands, looking puzzled: "Why did you prepare the clothes in advance?"

Lu Ci Qiu rarely showed a playful look at her and winked at her, saying jokingly: "I told you, I predicted it in advance."

Ye Jianqing expressed his disbelief.

In her previous life, she had been with Lu Ci Qiu for about five years, but she had never heard that this person had any abilities such as observing the night sky, divination, and prediction.

Unless this person knew something in advance.

Ye Jianqing glanced at Lu Ci Qiu curiously. He was still sitting on the ground eating pastries. When he saw Ye Jianqing looking at him, he just smiled and waved his hand, telling her to quickly go behind the Buddha statue and change.

Ye Jianqing put on the newly-fitting clothes with suspicion, but just as she changed her clothes, she heard the sound of horse hooves outside. Before she could react to deal with her old clothes, Lu Ci Qiu snatched them away and stuffed them into the bottom of the lunch box.

"somebody is coming!"

After Lu Ci Qiu finished stuffing his mouth, he calmly sat on the ground, holding a piece of cake in his hand and putting it into his mouth: "What are you afraid of? Now you are my maid Xiaoqing, we just come here to hide from the rain."

Ye Jianqing nodded and stood behind him obediently.

Huaixi's voice was heard outside the door.

"Your Highness, the Second Prince is here."

Before Lu Ci Qiu could make any move, the door was pushed open and a man walked in.

The man who came in was very handsome, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, but his eyes were sharp. When he looked at people, it always felt like a knife cutting you. He was not easy to approach.

His face was serious and he didn't smile, which made people feel frightened. Ye Jianqing was afraid to meet his eyes, so he lowered his head quickly, for fear of being seen by him.

This person is the person Ye Jianqing wants to avoid the most—the second prince Lu Zhixing.

"Eighth brother, why did you come out without telling me?"

Although Lu Zhi was a serious person, he was obviously relieved when he saw Lu Ci Qiu. Although his words were reproachful, they also carried a hint of pampering, without any intention of blaming him.

"Second brother, I heard from people in the palace that there is a purple bamboo forest in the suburbs, so I came out to take a look. Why did you come out?" Lu Ci Qiu stood in front of Lu Zhixing, with his head just reaching Lu Zhixing's shoulders. When this man saw his brother, he showed a cute and aggrieved look, which melted Lu Zhixing's heart and he couldn't bear to blame him.

"You, you, next time you want to come out, remember to tell your second brother, and your second brother will take you out."

Looking at the friendly and respectful appearance of the brothers in front of him, Ye Jianqing didn't dare to move. He stood obediently behind Lu Ci Qiu with his head down.

In her previous life, she was an assassin under Lu Zhixing, and was very familiar with his style of doing things. Given his doting nature, if he found out that there was a strange person suddenly beside his brother, he would probably have to investigate this person's ancestors for eighteen generations and only feel relieved after confirming that they were correct. And what Ye Jianqing could not stand the most at this moment was this person's investigation.

Although Lu Zhixing looked extremely serious and scary, he really didn't say a word to Lu Ci Qiu, for fear that his voice might be too loud and scare his younger brother.

Lu Ci Qiu's mother had no family. She was originally a pretty martial artist. By chance, she rescued the emperor who was robbed by bandits on the road, and was brought back to the palace.

However, Lu Ci Qiu's mother died during childbirth, and the emperor, who had three thousand beauties in his harem, had long forgotten that he had ever brought a commoner into the palace.

The mother died, leaving a newborn baby alone in this world, with no way to survive. God is merciful, and the second prince Lu Zhixing's mother, Concubine Shu, felt sorry for the child, so she took the initiative to ask the emperor to raise him, and then brought Lu Ci Qiu back to the palace to raise him.

Ever since Lu Ci Qiu came to Ninghe Palace, Concubine Shu treated him like her own son. Lu Zhixing was also very good to him, personally teaching him his lessons and taking him to practice martial arts. When other princes bullied him, he would take the initiative to stand up and protect him.

In Lu Zhixing's eyes, although this younger brother is not from the same mother, he is still his own younger brother.

"Have you gone to see? The weather is not very good today, I guess you won't be able to see anything." While speaking, Lu Zhixing looked outside.

Although the rain outside has stopped, the ground is still hot from the sun. If you go out at this time, you might get heatstroke.

"I haven't been there yet. It started raining heavily when I just got here, so I had to take shelter here. Now, as soon as my second brother arrived, the rain stopped." Lu Ci Qiu said to Lu Zhixing with a smile. It was just a simple sentence, but it made people feel particularly comfortable when listening to it.

"How about I take you there when the rain stops?"

"No, second brother, I've been out long enough. I have to go back to the palace quickly, otherwise mother will worry." Lu Ci Qiu shook his head.

"Okay, let's go back first. I'll take you to a more fun place next time."

Lu Zhixing took Lu Ci Qiu and walked towards the carriage outside.

When Ye Jianqing saw the two of them walk out, he hurriedly lowered his head, picked up the box of pastries, and followed Lu Ci Qiu closely.

Lu Zhixing and Lu Ciqiu got on the carriage: "Brother came in a hurry and rode a horse. I hope you don't mind giving me a ride back to the palace."

"Second brother, you're joking. Are you still angry with me for running away secretly?" After hearing what he said, Lu Ci Qiu deliberately frowned and said pretending to be aggrieved.

"Yes, yes, it's brother's fault, brother's fault." Lu Zhixing was afraid that his younger brother was wronged. Even though he knew that he was pretending, he still rushed to comfort him.

"Then, second brother, please come in." Lu Ci Qiu bent down, stretched out a hand, and motioned Lu Zhixing to get in the car.

After Lu Zhixing got in the car, Lu Ciqiu followed behind him. But as soon as he sat down, Lu Ciqiu lifted a corner of the car curtain and said to Ye Jianqing: "Qing'er, get in."

Ye Jianqing nodded and said, "Yes," then he got on the carriage and sat next to Lu Ci Qiu.

The three of them sat in the carriage together in silence.

The carriage set off back to the palace.

Ye Jianqing lowered her head, not daring to look up. But she could feel Lu Zhixing's eyes lingering on her from time to time, with an exploratory look. It seemed that Lu Zhixing had already become suspicious of her.

She was so frightened that her hand holding the food box began to sweat.

"Who is this?" Lu Zhixing asked puzzledly.

"Second brother, this is my newly selected palace maid, her name is Xiaoqing." Lu Ci Qiu smiled and slightly turned his body to block Lu Zhixing's inquiring gaze.

"Oh." Lu Zhixing raised his eyebrows: "How come I didn't know when my eighth brother changed his maid."

"I didn't change her. I just saw that this maid was pretty and capable a few days ago, so I transferred her to the palace to take care of her."

Lu Zhixing stopped talking, and that inquiring look disappeared. Ye Jianqing felt as if the mountain pressing on his back had temporarily disappeared, and he couldn't help but feel relieved.

But when I thought that I might have to meet the second prince every day in the future, I became even more worried.

She really didn't know whether it was a good or bad thing to go with Lu Ci Qiu. Why did she meet Lu Zhixing as soon as she went out? It was really bad luck.

The carriage entered the city and Lu Zhixing got off.

He stood there and thought carefully about what happened in the ruined temple. He remembered that when they walked out of the ruined temple just now, the woman's steps were light. If he hadn't practiced martial arts, he would not have been able to hear her footsteps. Such a person, beside Lu Ci Qiu, was inevitably a little curious.

A man behind him came up, leading his horse: "Master."

"Go, investigate who the maidservant next to the Eighth Prince is, and also investigate why the Eighth Prince appeared in the ruined temple."

"Yes." The man agreed, handed the reins to Lu Zhixing, and left to carry out the task he had assigned him.

Looking at Lu Ciqiu's carriage going away, Lu Zhixing's eyes were filled with chill. He would never allow anyone to hurt his beloved brother. No one!