Peace Order-Chapter 117 - 75: Cutting Off the Young Lady Midway_3

Li Guanyi asked in confusion, "If you want to look, why don’t you go have a look? Isn’t today for the outing in the countryside?"

Xue Shuangtao replied with a smile, "How can we? Even if we go outing, it’s with the ladies to the outskirts of the city, beside a little stream to compose poems and make witty replies. They say it is to see me off, but actually, they just want to use this opportunity to gather together, to compete in this and that, to struggle against each other."

"They feel that aside from family background, they are not inferior to me."

"They won’t say it openly but will insinuate it, and I have no choice but to respond with a smile. It’s very tiring."

Li Guanyi said,

"What kind of outing is that? Isn’t that just openly competing and secretly fighting?"

"It’s meaningless."

Xue Shuangtao laughed, looking very practiced, "That’s how it is with the aristocratic families."

Li Guanyi looked at the young lady, saw her calm demeanor, different from usual, glanced at the knife at his waist, thought about the bow and battle halberd on his back, and felt that he couldn’t stand by and do nothing. He rubbed his temples and asked, "So do you want to go on an outing?"

Xue Shuangtao said, "Hmm?"

"What do you mean?"

Li Guanyi cracked a grin, "I’m just asking if you want to go have a look."

The young lady nodded and said, "Of course I want to look, but..."

Li Guanyi said, "If you want to look, then come out and look. Talking so much, you can see much clearer from here than from a small lattice inside." He reached out his hand, and Xue Shuangtao hesitated a moment before taking hold of his sleeve and coming out, but who would have thought the young man would reverse his hand and grasp her wrist.

Then he pulled her outside.

The scenery of Jiangnan Road and the sky suddenly filled Xue Shuangtao’s vision.

The wind of Jiangnan, the azure sky, white clouds, willow trees on both sides, the fluttering robes of the young man, his unrestrained laughter.

Not confined to the small lattice indoor.

Li Guanyi grabbed her, pulling her out in one move.

His right hand seized the dagger, and with a turn, he slashed.

The cold glint of the dagger flashed by.

The reins of the two horses attached to the carriage snapped, with a clang, Zhao Dabing’s carriage suddenly stopped by the roadside. Zhao Dabing was startled, then he saw the young man pulling up Xue Shuangtao in one leap. Li Guanyi seated himself on one horse, and Xue Shuangtao was pulled up and then landed on the other horse.

Turning his head back, the young man shouted, "Old Zhao, sorry to borrow your horses without asking!"

"I’ll explain it to the old master when we get back!"

"I’m taking the young lady here for a proper outing."

The two horses had initially intended to bolt, but Li Guanyi glanced at them, and like a tiger beside him calming down, the horses became gentle and then took off at full speed. Xue Shuangtao, dressed in her riding skirt, eyes wide with astonishment, said, "You you you, where are you going?!"

"I’ve already received the invitation. I can’t simply not go, let me return."

Li Guanyi said, "I find those poetry gatherings of aristocratic daughters, all polite on the surface but backstabbing in secret, to be tedious."

"If you don’t like it, then don’t go. Brooding with a frown doesn’t suit the young lady you are at all."

He said jokingly,

"If you’re in a bad mood, won’t you stop stocking my weapons in your accounts?"

Xue Shuangtao’s eyes widened.

She felt a nervous tension at the thought of breaking the rules that had always been followed, her heart beating fast.

Instinctively, she replied, "But, that’s not proper etiquette."

"I can’t simply not go, what would they say about me if I didn’t?"

Li Guanyi said softly,

"Young lady, you don’t have to live under the scrutiny of others."

"Even when entering the palace, it’s the same; don’t overexert yourself."

He voiced his concern, "These things won’t affect the Xue Family. Within reasonable bounds, making yourself happier isn’t wrong. You are going to be in the palace soon. Just indulge yourself this once, it’s okay."

The horses raced rapidly along the street, moving away from Zhao Dabing and the Xue Family’s carriages. Old Zhao yelled from somewhere, "Hey hey hey, be careful young brother, don’t bump into anyone!"

The maid Qing’er shouted, "Mr. Li, young master, no, Li Guanyi!"

"What are you doing?!"

"How should I explain this to those ladies?"

Grinning, the young man said, "Just tell them this, Sister Qing’er..."

He turned around, and somehow, although he didn’t touch the zither, his demeanor had changed. It seemed to match the style of the second Chapter, a spontaneous air of carefree grace emerging from him. This transformation wasn’t deliberate, he wasn’t even aware of it, yet his Cultivation Technique began to operate on its own, starting to ascend. He merely laughed and said,

"Tell them an unruly fellow has abducted your young lady!"

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