The Emperor Reads Storybooks Hidden in His Official Reports 35

Chapter 35: I Am Little Carp’s Husband

“Go with me, okay?”

Zhao Linxu’s voice exploded in his ear. Li Jianyu could even feel the warm breath from Zhao Linxu’s words on his earlobe.

The atmosphere suddenly became ambiguous. Fortunately, the Luoye army behind them was some distance away, so they didn’t notice the strange situation between the two.

Li Jianyu took a deep breath and said clearly, word by word, “No.”

“…”

…Huh?

Li Jianyu said righteously, “No. You go find your mysterious person from that night. If I go with you, what if he gets jealous?”

Zhao Linxu looked at Li Jianyu with a blank expression.

Frustrating.

“Hmph.” Li Jianyu stuck his neck out. “Fickle, inconstant, a floozy.”

“…”

Li Jianyu said, “If I and your mysterious person from that night both fell into the river, who would you save first?”

“…”

“Answer quickly,” Li Jianyu said, looking at Zhao Linxu with a grave expression.

“I’ll save both of them.” Zhao Linxu’s desire to live was strong. Looking at Li Jianyu’s expression, Zhao Linxu felt that if he didn’t answer well, he could be pushed off the horse at any moment, which would be too embarrassing.

“No!” Li Jianyu said with a cold look. “You can only choose one.”

“…I choose death.”

Zhao Linxu tilted his head back, looking as if life were meaningless. “I choose death. I’ll be a pair of ghost mandarin ducks with you in the underworld.”

Li Jianyu said with disgust, “Who wants to be mandarin ducks with you?”

“If you don’t want to be with me, who do you want to be with?” Zhao Linxu had originally just said it casually, but he suddenly thought of the reason he had come out to find Li Jianyu, and Wan Yunliu’s annoying face.

Crap! The matchmaker sent by the Wan family is still waiting in Luoye Garden.

“Little Carp, I also want to ask you, if I and Wan Yunliu fell into the river, who would you save first?” There was a hint of grievance in Zhao Linxu’s voice.

Little Carp wouldn’t agree to go back with him, and the matter with Wan Yunliu was still up in the air. What if Little Carp agreed to Wan Yunliu’s proposal? Was he supposed to snatch the bride?

The tall and mighty emperor of the Great Gong was now in a mess because of a beauty, his IQ plummeting.

Li Jianyu’s eyes widened.

“Quick, tell me, who would you save?” Zhao Linxu’s tone was full of resentment.

Li Jianyu rolled his eyes and turned his head away from Zhao Linxu.

The two of them did not go back to Luoye Garden first, but to the Fulai Inn. Chong Xi and Feng Ju Qianli were staying there.

A waiter led the two of them to a private room, where Chong Xi and Feng Ju Qianli were already waiting.

After exchanging greetings, Feng Ju Qianli did not beat around the bush. He directly took out a drawing and showed it to Zhao Linxu and Li Jianyu, showing great sincerity.

“Have you two ever seen such a creature?”

Li Jianyu took the drawing and frowned slightly.

Zhao Linxu shook his head. “I’ve only seen it in ancient books, never a living one.”

Li Jianyu nodded in agreement. He was the same.

The drawing was of a person with distorted features, but strictly speaking, this person was not human at all, but more like a monster. The monster’s body and limbs were unevenly swollen, and its belly bulged out, even larger than its entire body.

Li Jianyu immediately thought of the slimes from the video games of his past life.

However, this was a disgusting and ugly slime.

Zhao Linxu said, “The ancient books say that this is a greedy Taotie. It has to eat many human flesh a day, and if it’s not full, it will go on a hunting frenzy. Not only is it gluttonous, but it’s also lustful. It will capture beautiful people to satisfy its desires.”

“Yes,” Feng Ju Qianli said with a grave expression. “Feng Juhua and Feng Juheng seem to be secretly training a Taotie army.”

Zhao Linxu’s brows furrowed tightly. Now he finally understood why Feng Ju Qianli had come in person.

This matter was indeed not small.

Chong Xi said, “We found this out after much difficulty and effort. Feng Juhua and Feng Juheng have somehow reached an agreement with the leader of the Taotie. They give the Taotie beauties and human flesh, and the Taotie fights for them. Although the Taotie’s body is huge, it doesn’t affect its movements at all. They are fast and agile, and particularly ferocious. The Taotie army must not be underestimated.”

“I pretended to be kidnapped and lurked for a while. I can now confirm that those two brothers have also sent people to the Great Gong and other countries to capture beautiful people to offer as brides to the Taotie.” Chong Xi shook his head. If one became a bride of a Taotie, how long could they live?

“If they really intend to use the Taotie army to attack our Great Gong, it will likely cause great casualties.” Anger tinged Zhao Linxu’s eyes. He slammed his hand on the table. “Those two Feng Ju brothers, for their own selfish interests, have disregarded human ethics and are utterly devoid of conscience! If the Taotie is really the crazy, man-eating monster described in the ancient books, then they are truly short-sighted.”

In ancient times, when mythical beasts and humans coexisted, the Taotie had killed too many people, so all the clans had united to fight and kill them. After the war, the Taotie population was not large, and they were also cursed by the ancestral sorceresses to stay in the dim underground for the rest of their lives unless humans allowed them to. But now, they had been brought up by Feng Juheng and Feng Juhua.

“Therefore, we need to join forces,” Feng Ju Qianli said, taking back the drawing from Li Jianyu. “This Taotie not only endangers the Great Gong, but if the Great Xi cooperates with such a monster, it will surely suffer a backlash one day, and it will be the common people who suffer.”

Zhao Linxu nodded.

“This Prince not only wants to reclaim the throne from Feng Juhua, but also to drive the Taotie back underground.” Feng Ju Qianli poured a cup of wine and raised it slightly. “Is Your Majesty willing to join hands with me? My Ghost-Faced Army can still fight against the Taotie, and we are not afraid of death.”

“Since you trust me, I will trust you too.” Zhao Linxu also filled his wine cup and lightly clinked it with Feng Ju Qianli’s. “The Great Gong’s Valiant Cavalry Army was personally trained by Us, and the reputation of the North-South army is probably well-known in all countries.”

“Naturally.”

The two of them drank the wine in one gulp.

The first discussion with Feng Ju Qianli was very pleasant, and Zhao Linxu and Feng Ju Qianli also had a good impression of each other. After the few of them had a meal together, Zhao Linxu and Li Jianyu returned to Luoye Garden.

After returning to the manor, Li Jianyu looked in confusion at the matchmaker and Wan Yunliu sitting in the main hall, with boxes of red boxes placed to the side.

Zhao Linxu’s eyes widened.

Very good. Wan Yunliu even came in person?

“Jianyu, I said I would visit in person.” Seeing Li Jianyu arrive, Wan Yunliu immediately stood up and smiled. “I’ve come to fulfill my past promise.”

Li Jianyu looked at Wan Yunliu in surprise.

“Jianyu, I will treat you well in the future. I’ll take you to travel the jianghu.”

“Oh my!” The plump matchmaker, holding a flower fan, swayed over to Li Jianyu and smiled. “This is truly a perfect match! Great Hero Wan is tall and handsome, and City Lord Li is beautiful beyond compare. A match made in heaven!”

Now Li Jianyu understood what Wan Yunliu was here for.

“A promise? I don’t remember agreeing to anything with you in the past.” Li Jianyu frowned slightly.

“I promised you that I would marry you.”

Li Jianyu rolled his eyes.

He had never agreed.

Li Jianyu had a headache. Although his uncle was now traveling who knows where, it still couldn’t change the fact that the Li family and the Wan family were very close friends. Wan Yunliu’s father had also watched him grow up. So, if he rejected him too harshly, it would not be good for the relationship between the two families.

“You should go back first,” Li Jianyu said, rubbing his brow. “I still have to think about it.”

“Jianyu, so many years have passed. I don’t want to lose you again.”

Clang—

Li Jianyu and Wan Yunliu turned their heads and saw Zhao Linxu slam the sword from his waist onto the table.

Li Jianyu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

That familiar sound.

“Is it this brother with the clumsy hands and feet?” Wan Yunliu raised an eyebrow. This time, it wasn’t that he didn’t know, but he was saying it deliberately.

“We meet again, this brother with the clumsy brain.” Zhao Linxu cupped his fists to Wan Yunliu with a grin.

“…Pfft.” Li Jianyu couldn’t hold it in.

Wan Yunliu was stunned and raised an eyebrow. “What is the meaning of this?”

“Isn’t it a clumsy brain? So self-righteous. What do you mean, you don’t want to lose him again? Weren’t you the one who gave him up first?”

Zhao Linxu had heard about Li Jianyu and Wan Yunliu from Meng Qingshu. He crossed his arms. “To give up your beloved for worldly gain, and now that you have it, you want to get back what you threw away. Isn’t that too greedy? Is there such a cheap thing in the world? You want him to wait for you?”

Wan Yunliu was choked by Zhao Linxu’s words, his mouth agape, unable to say anything.

Li Jianyu tugged on Zhao Linxu’s sleeve, signaling him to stop.

If this continued, it would only get uglier.

The matchmaker also stood to the side, staring blankly at the confrontational Wan Yunliu and Zhao Linxu. In all her years of matchmaking, this was the first time she had encountered such a situation.

Wan Yunliu composed himself. “This is a matter between me and Jianyu. What right do you have to comment here?”

“How do I have no right?” Zhao Linxu smiled, wrapped an arm around Li Jianyu’s shoulder, and pulled him into his arms. “I am Little Carp’s lover, his future husband.”

…?!

Li Jianyu turned to look at Zhao Linxu.

What did you say?

From an angle Wan Yunliu couldn’t see, Zhao Linxu gently pinched Li Jianyu’s waist, signaling that he was just putting on a show for Wan Yunliu to help him deal with the aggressive man.

So, Li Jianyu let Zhao Linxu hold him and didn’t say anything.

Wan Yunliu stared blankly at Li Jianyu.

How could this be…

“I hope you won’t come and disturb our Little Carp again.” Zhao Linxu glanced at the betrothal gifts at the side. “Take them back.”

Wan Yunliu took a deep breath and drew the sword from his waist. “Have a match with me.”

Zhao Linxu raised an eyebrow.

“Alright.”

Li Jianyu’s head was about to split.

Damn it. I feel like a trouble-making, seductive vixen right now.