After Being Forced to Marry the Evil Star General - Chapter 15
The disturbance just now had gathered a lot of onlookers. It was only when he heard the commotion outside that Zhao Yelan came back to his senses and said in a lowered voice, “Let me down.”
“Aren’t your legs weak?” Yan Mingting teased.
Zhao Yelan pushed him away and stood firm on the ground to show that he was not affected in any way, but his clothes were dirty, which concerned him a bit.
As soon as the two walked out the door, Zhong Yuehong reported: “General, those people committed suicide.”
The subordinates had arrested two groups of people. One group was hiding in the crowd and sneaking around, and the other group was the men in black with strong martial arts skills.
Yan Mingting frowned slightly and walked quickly in front of the men in black. Breathing out, he pulled off their masks. Every face was ordinary, and when their robes were opened, they all wore uniform nightclothes with a sun pattern stitched in gold thread on the collars.
“They seem to be well-trained dead soldiers, but I don’t know which organization this is. They dared to try to assassinate an official of the court in the capital,” He Cuizhang said.
“Let’s give these people to the government first, and see if they can find anything,” Yan Mingting said. He turned around and asked Zhao Yelan, “Do you have any enemies?”
“I do, which one?”
Zhao Yelan had more than one enemy. Looking at the group of corpses, he felt that he could smell them, so he quickly took out his handkerchief to cover his nose, and coughed.
Seeing this, Yan Mingting arranged for his subordinates to stay in place and wait for the people from the government to come and take over, and then brought Zhao Yelan back to the mansion.
“My lord, what happened to you?” Gao Tan saw Zhao Yelan stepping through the door with a weary expression, and rushed to greet him.
“Go and get some hot water,” Zhao Yelan ordered.
“Okay.”
Yan Mingting looked at Gao Tan’s back as he left in a hurry, and his eyes narrowed imperceptibly.
The water was soon ready. Zhao Yelan went back to the room to bathe, changed into new clothes, picked out a slightly scented sachet to wear on his waist, and carried a scent as he walked.
Whether it was a different scent or he had just been exposed to it too much, Yan Mingting had gradually adapted to the scent that came out of the mansion at any time. It didn’t seem too pungent anymore. He asked, “How did the man in black find you today?”
“I went and asked someone to look for the shopkeeper, but a group of people in the crowd bumped into me, and then a man in black appeared,” Zhao Yelan said.
“Do you have anyone you suspect?”
Zhao Yelan shook his head.
Soon, Zhong Yuehong and He Cuizhang came to the mansion and said: “The government interrogations are over, and the rest of the people said they were ordered by Li Yucheng to teach Zhao Yelan a lesson.”
“Who is Li Yucheng?” Yan Mingting asked.
“The son of the Prime Minister,” Zhao Yelan said.
Yan Mingting asked Zhao Yelan thoughtfully: “What about the man in black? Were they with him?”
“They didn’t know about that group of people. I’m not sure if they were other experts hired by Li Yucheng,” Zhong Yuehong said.
“Go and invite Li Yucheng to have a chat.” Yan Mingting put his sword on the table.
However, it didn’t take long before news came out that Li Yucheng had run away from home. They didn’t know where he was hiding, and the Prime Minister was also looking for him everywhere.
“Send someone to track him down.”
“Yes.”
After they left, Yan Mingting glanced at Zhao Yelan and said: “The man in black and Li Yucheng may not be part of the same group. Maybe there are other people who want to assassinate you. You should reduce unnecessary excursions for the next few days. If you must go out, call me to join you.”
Zhao Yelan’s brows rose, and he smiled meaningfully: “Why does General Yan treat me so well?”
“With our relationship, why are you being polite? I can’t let you die as soon as you walk through the door, right? Then I’m afraid that my fate as an evil star will truly be confirmed.” Yan Mingting also smiled.
“Then, thank you, General,” Zhao Yelan said modestly and politely.
“Hiss, why am I not used to you like this? You’ve already said thank-you twice today.” Yan Mingting reached out and touched his forehead. “You don’t have a fever either, ah.”
Zhao Yelan batted his hand away expressionlessly.
“That’s right, that’s Zhao Yelan.”
“It turns out you have poor eyesight.” Zhao Yelan sneered and suddenly pinched his chin with force. His pupils shrank slightly. “I haven’t settled accounts with you just now. Don’t make unreasonable requests. Did I agree to you holding me?”
Yan Mingting frowned: “Then how do you want to settle the score?”
The distance between the two was less than half a foot, and every expression fell into the other’s eyes. During this stalemate, Housekeeper Qin came into the hall: “General……oh! I didn’t see anything! It is easy to go blind when you are old!”
Housekeeper Qin covered his eyes and hurriedly backed away.
Zhao Yelan: “……”
Yan Mingting smiled and pushed his hand away. Touching his chin, the feeling of being tightly gripped by those slender fingers seemed to still linger on the surface of the skin, putting him in a good mood. But what he said made him in need of a spanking: “I just like how you hate me but can’t kill me.”
Zhao Yelan was extremely angry, but he had unexpectedly hit the mark again, so he had no choice but to walk towards the gate, fuming.
“Where are you going?” Yan Mingting shouted from behind.
“Going outside to seek death and confirm your reputation as an evil star!” Zhao Yelan was so angry that he couldn’t control his mouth.
Yan Mingting laughed loudly, then followed after him and found that he was not wandering aimlessly, but straight in a certain direction, and wondered: “A clothing shop?”
Zhao Yelan ignored him and walked straight into the store.
“Yo, why did Zhao-daren come in person?” When the shopkeeper saw the big guest, he happily greeted him. “Are you here today to buy cloth or ready-to-wear?”
“Is the silk delivered a few days ago ready?” Zhao Yelan asked.
“The embroiderers are rushing to make it. The material you provided is so good, we don’t dare to be sloppy.” The shopkeeper said with a smile, “Why don’t you take a look at the newly arrived materials?”
Zhao Yelan nodded and wandered around.
Yan Mingting stood in the lobby, out of place and surrounded by women and children who secretly pointed at him and snickered. He awkwardly walked to Zhao Yelan’s side: “When are we going back?”
“What’s the rush? Since I’m out to seek death, of course I have to get results. Don’t you want to find out who is working behind the scenes?” Zhao Yelan casually picked up some fancy fabric and held it to Yan Mingting’s chest. “How about this one?”
“They clearly want to kill you, how can you be sure that I can catch the mastermind?” Yan Mingting shook his head. “It’s no good, I don’t want it.”
“Just a gut feeling.” Zhao Yelan’s lips curled. “Who said I would give this to you, it is for Gao Tan.”
“Is this the great General?” The shopkeeper covered his mouth in surprise and his eyes lit up. “So striking and handsome, with a casual and elegant bearing!”
The surrounding voices suddenly became louder, people looking at Yan Mingting in surprise as they pulled their companions in to whisper. The expressions of admiration and astonishment on their faces were beyond words.
The corners of Zhao Yelan’s mouth twitched, and he said in a low voice: “You are frequently active in the city these days. Before long, the rumors of your ugly appearance will crumble. General Yan might as well take a look at these women, each is beautiful in her own way, and if it’s love at first sight, you can take her back to fill in a room.”
The people around were peeping at them, so Yan Mingting could only lower his head and whisper in his ear with a smile: “Furen is stunning, second to none in the capital. I am already satisfied.”
Zhao Yelan shot him a cold look, threw the cloth on the table, and left angrily: “Are you the only one who deserves such good material?”
“Didn’t you get it for Xiao Gao?” Yan Mingting gave a muffled laugh, chased him out two or three steps, and suddenly stopped and grabbed his arm. He said in a low voice, “There is someone.”
Zhao Yelan was about to turn his head and look, when a big hand pinched his cheek.
“Don’t look, just keep going.”
“……”
The two went outside the city as usual, and as soon as they stopped, Yan Mingting pulled out his sword and stabbed in a certain direction behind him, provoking a black shadow from a tree, and the two quickly became entangled.
The people had been drawn out. Yan Mingting fought at will. In the corner of his eye, Zhao Yelan was still standing there foolishly in his original spot. “You go first, I’ll follow behind!”
Zhao Yelan looked up at their battle, but couldn’t hear clearly, and frowned: “What do you mean, braised pork?”[1]
“……”
As soon as Yan Mingting was distracted, the man in black immediately diverted his attention, turning around to stab directly at Zhao Yelan.
In an instant, seven or eight men in black appeared from nowhere behind them to block the sword, attacking simultaneously. The man immediately sprinkled some poisonous powder and left the place in a flash.
Zhao Yelan took two steps back, and his mouth and nose were covered by Yan Mingting just in time. The group of men in black ran into Yan Mingting head-on as they narrowly escaped from the poisonous powder.
“Who are you?”
The group of people didn’t answer and were about to retreat, when they were stopped by Yan Mingting.
Standing in front of Yan Mingting, Zhao Yelan had just said, “Leave me alone,” when Yan Mingting hugged him tightly around his waist, and then his feet were in the air as his whole body flew up with him.
“Hold on tight, no matter what.” Yan Mingting thought that he was going to risk his life, and said with a straight face, “At worst, we die together, and we will be a pair of good brothers in the next life!”
Wind whistled in his ears along with the piercing sound of weapons clashing, and danger visible to the naked eye was right in front of him. Numerous sharp weapons passed before him, his body was tugged back and forth, and he brushed shoulders with death several times. Zhao Yelan’s heart almost stopped beating.
Before he fainted, unable to take it anymore, he cursed: “Yan Mingting, go to hell!”
[1] Both sentences Yan Mingting spoke ( nǐ xiān zǒu, wǒ duànhòu) sort of rhyme with ‘braised pork” (hóngshāo ròu). ⮐
