The General Who Only Knows How to Spoil His Beloved and Write Stories 66

Chapter 66: A Debt of Love (Part 2)

The room was decorated with the character for “joy” (喜), and the bed, bed curtains, and cushions had all been changed to red, creating a festive atmosphere.

Mu Linglong was combing Xiao Zijun’s hair.

Xiao Zijun sat before the bronze mirror, which reflected his radiant appearance.

“Don’t be nervous,” Mu Linglong smiled. “It’s not the first day you’ve known General Zhuo.”

After Junce and Sheng Luo were defeated, they became vassal states of Langxuan. Rong Feijun had dispatched princes and local officials to govern them, but Zhuo Fang was still a general, just with a different master.

“I met Brother Zhuo when I was fifteen,” Xiao Zijun said, lowering his head with a smile.

Looking at the mirror, he was suddenly reminded of a long time ago, the first time Zhuo Fang had praised him for being beautiful…

It was nine years ago. At that time, the King of Junce had held a banquet to entertain the envoys from Lanjia. Lanjia was a neighboring vassal state of Junce, with limited land and few resources, and was constantly in internal strife. It was, in a word, a worthless little country.

At the banquet, the King of Junce, Ruan Chengren, raised a toast to Zhuo Fang and laughed heartily. “Beloved minister, you performed so well in the competition this morning! Your martial arts are superb, and you are invincible on the battlefield. You are truly a treasure of our Junce!”

Ruan Chengren was overjoyed because Zhuo Fang had defeated all of Lanjia’s warriors in a row. Junce had really shown its might in front of a foreign country this time.

The King of Lanjia had been trying his best to curry favor with him. Now, seeing him value Zhuo Fang so much, and that he was also a person of stature, he had the idea of ingratiating himself. Zhuo Fang was a thick thigh to hug!

He stood up and raised a toast to him. “General Zhuo’s martial arts are extraordinary, a dragon among men! It is a pity that such a talent has no beautiful wife or concubine by his side.”

With that, he clapped his hands, and a group of dancers filed in. And surrounded by these dancers, in the center, was a beautiful woman. She was wearing a pink gauze dress, her smile dignified and generous.

“That is my humble daughter, Wanting,” the King of Lanjia said, pointing to her. “Wanting has been practicing dance since she was a child, and her skills are passable. I don’t know if she can catch General Zhuo’s eye. Please take a look.”

“I wonder if the King of Junce would be willing to be a matchmaker with me and bring about this marriage?”

Now that he had said this, although Ruan Chengren was unwilling to let Zhuo Fang marry into a small, unprofitable country, he could only agree to let Princess Lanjia perform a dance and had a eunuch summon the musicians.

Zhuo Fang felt a little uncomfortable. Are they trying to force someone on me?

He was a straightforward person, and his heart didn’t have as many twists and turns as these kings. He didn’t like it, and that was that. So, his expression was not very good. But the King of Lanjia had a thick enough skin. For the sake of Lanjia’s future interests, he had thrown caution to the wind and just pretended not to see.

Before long, the eunuch hurried back.

“Your Majesty, it’s not good!” he whispered in Ruan Chengren’s ear. “There was no arrangement for song and dance tonight, so there is only one musician in the palace, and by a stroke of bad luck, he is ill! The other musicians are on their way from their homes, but it may take a while…”

Ruan Chengren frowned.

If they couldn’t even produce a single musician in front of Lanjia, wouldn’t that be humiliating?

He remembered his conversation with Minister Xiao that morning and smiled. “It’s just for some fun. There’s no need to trouble the musicians. I heard that Minister Xiao’s youngest son’s zither skills are quite good? Why don’t we have Young Master Xiao accompany the princess!”

It was a double entendre. Not only did it cover up the embarrassment of the lack of musicians in the palace, but it also seemed to carry a hint of contempt and disdain for Lanjia.

The King of Lanjia’s face stiffened, but he quickly recovered his smile. “Then that is truly Wanting’s honor.”

Xiao Zijun was startled to be called out by him. He hadn’t even had time to swallow the delicacy in his mouth and just stared blankly, feeling the eyes of everyone in the hall on him.

Although Father had mentioned to the Emperor that I had learned the zither, he hadn’t said my skills were very good…

He walked to the center of the hall, slightly apprehensive, and took the guzheng from a servant. The dancers and Princess Wanting also took their positions.

One of the dancers came up to him. “You can play Jiangnan, right?”

He nodded. It was a very basic piece, easy to play, but not so easy to dance to. The song was gentle and melodious, and not everyone could use it to attract others’ attention. The dance had to be light and fast, but also graceful. Ordinary people would often dance quickly and lose their elegant posture, and if they danced slowly, they would lose the joyous feeling of Jiangnan. It was a difficult balance to strike, but this princess was clearly no ordinary person.

Before he started playing, he glanced at Zhuo Fang and saw his impatient expression. He hadn’t given the graceful princess a single look. And the King of Junce was leaning back on his dragon throne, an undercurrent of turmoil in his eyes.

Xiao Zijun roughly understood the situation. After a moment of thought, he played the first note.

The sound of the zither was clear and melodious, elegant and bright. It was graceful and light, as if Jiangnan were right before their eyes. But if one listened carefully, one would find that the rhythm of the piece was… a little strange?

The dancers’ steps gradually fell into disarray. Princess Wanting could barely maintain her composure at first, but the dance was already difficult. Now that the rhythm was chaotic, in order to keep up with the fast and slow tempo, her dance naturally couldn’t be called beautiful.

Looking at the messy, from originally elegant postures to women desperately flailing to keep up with the music, Zhuo Fang raised an eyebrow and, seeing the corner of Xiao Zijun’s mouth uncontrollably lift, he smiled inwardly.

Xiao Zijun was good-looking, fair-skinned, and his features were gentle. But at this moment, a mischievous, triumphant smile was on his gentle face, and a glint of cunning shone in his eyes.

Zhuo Fang stared at him without blinking, lost in a daze without realizing it.

Although he’s being mischievous, he’s strangely cute…