ZL Ch. 36 - Midnight Rambles!!!!

Dj2212-15 minutes 11.06.2023

Translator: Dj2203

Editor: Dj2203

Shen Lou stepped forward, looked down at Lin Xin who had drunk alcohol, such that a light peach blossom color stained the corners of his eyes red, and the dark blue eyes were covered with light water vapor. He looked like a fluffy wolf cub, lying on his back and taking a nap after eating and drinking.

“What’s the business of the young master visiting late at night?” Shen Lou sat down and put one hand on his side.

“Of course I came to warm the bed,” Lin Xin put his arms around Shen Lou’s neck, pulled him over, and said very seriously, “I admitted in front of the prince that I am your bed warmer, why won’t I come? Wouldn’t it make the prince suspicious.”

When it came to the matter of warming the bed, Shen Lou couldn’t help but blush. At that time, he didn’t know that Lin Xin was reborn, and he tricked him into sleeping with him, and he didn’t know how Lin Xin must have laughed at him in my heart. His eyes drifted away, and he let Lin Xin dangle around his neck, “The prince has a lot of things to do every day, so he shouldn’t care about such trivial matters.”

“That’s hard to say,” Lin Xin pulled Shen Lou to the bed, rubbing vigorously on him, “For a perfect model son like you, there should be some bad rumors to reassure the royal family.”

“What rumors?” Shen Lou asked in a hoarse voice.

Lin Xin smiled softly but did not answer. It was interesting to suddenly regret not getting Shen Lou drunk, taking advantage of the moonlight to become a stain on Shen Qingque’s life. If Shen Lou did that with him at this age, maybe he would never be able to leave him again.

Lin Xin couldn’t hold back such thoughts when they came out, and Lin Xin stared at Shen Lou’s gently sliding Adam’s apple quite emotionally, like a cat staring at a lively fish in a tank. calculating.

“Shen Qingque, I want to ask you something.” Lin Xin leaned on Shen Lou’s body, and greedily inhaled the cold fragrance of plants and trees on his body.

“Huh?” The candles were extinguished in the tent, and the thin moonlight leaked in through the gap in the top of the tent, making it difficult to see clearly, so the sensation of sound and touch became more acute. The clear and shallow hot air got closer and closer, and stopped in Shen Lou’s ear, whispering a whisper.

Shen Lou froze, and it took him a while to recover his voice, “I know.”

“Then teach me.” Lin Xin’s voice was full of innocent curiosity of a young man.

But he was not really a young man, nor was he really ignorant. Shen Lou was silent for a while, took a deep breath, pulled the quilt to cover Lin Xin and said, “Tomorrow I have a sword fight, next time… I will teach you.”

This man was not angry! Lin Xin was very pleasantly surprised, “Then it’s settled, teach me when we return to the palace.”

“…Yes.”

The next day, there was a sword competition in Xianchi.

It was not like the sword competition during Mogui Mountain’s autumn tribute, it was just a game, and the competition was about the skill of controlling the sword. The imperial nobles pierced the iron ring, the imperial nobles shot the target, and the imperial nobles chased the birds…

The children of the aristocratic family competed with each other, comparing their skills, just like juggling at a temple fair, in order to make the Emperor smile.

The crown prince did not enter the competition, but sat with the emperor, and looked at Lin Xin who was sitting leisurely drinking tea, “Would you like to have fun? In terms of age, you are younger than Linfeng and the others.”

Linfeng, were Zhong Youyu’s given characters. When he was fifteen years old, his uncle Zhong Suifeng gave the characters for them in order to let them come back earlier. There was jade in Youyu, so the word was Linfeng; there was no ink in Wumo, so the word was Jianfeng.

“I don’t have a spirit sword, so I can’t play with it.” Lin Xin took off the small sword from his waist and threw it on the table.

This gesture was to reject the prince’s invitation. The prince’s complexion turned gloomy, and he raised his hand to beckon Zhou Kang, the guard standing in the front row, “Father, I have a proposal. This year it is rare for the children of the aristocratic family to gather together. Why don’t you let everyone compete with Zhou Kang? Let’s see if the aptitude of the children of the aristocratic family and the champion of martial arts are higher or lower comparatively.”

Where did they gather? Lin Xin pursed his lips, not saying anything else, the eldest son of the Lin family from the Eastern Region did not come, only a few descendants from the side branch came. Feng Zhong was still inferior to the crown prince in opening his eyes and telling nonsense.

However, the prince and Zhou Kang were already so close at this time? This made Lin Xin a little surprised. He always thought that it was after the crown prince married Zhou Kang’s younger sister as a side concubine that the two started having a relationship.

The emperor thought this idea was interesting, so he set up a ring, with Zhou Kang as the main opponent, and let those young masters come up to challenge.

“There is a peerless master in Mobei, have you heard of him?” Feng Zhuoyi smiled kindly.

“I heard it’s a great nobleman from the northern barbarians, what is it called?” Zhong Youyu raised his hand and said.

“The storyteller said that the man could tear open a cow with his bare hands, but I don’t know if it’s true or not.”

“It must be a bragging. It’s not bad to open a cow with a sword. How do you tear it open with bare hands?”

“If you don’t believe me, ask Shen Da.”

“Shen Da, isn’t it?”

Everyone looked at Shen Lou while talking. He had been fighting in the Northern Desert all year round, so he must be the clearest. Shen Lou looked down, “Wolf Slaying General Wen Shilan.”

“That’s right,” the emperor nodded with satisfaction, “It’s common sense that the number one expert in Beimo comes from a noble family. You have the best spirit sword, the best master deserves to have the best skills. Let me compare your strength with the champion of martial arts today. If anyone can beat Zhou Kang, I will give you a lot of rewards.”

“Your Majesty, what if Zhou Kang wins??” Shen Yingying jumped up and asked, because she was short, she could only pop her head out after a few jumps.

“If Zhou Kang wins, I will make him a marquis of ten thousand households.” Zhou Kang’s family originally had a thousand households, and getting ten thousand households would improve his salary, which was an extremely generous reward for people from small families. You must know that even though the Marquis title was hereditary, usually you had to make great contributions to get it.

Hearing this, Zhou Kang immediately knelt down to thank him, his eyes full of fighting spirit.

The guards brought out a small box of Luli and placed it under the competition stage. Everyone could take a piece when they came to the stage.

This contest was not a performance, but a real sword match. You could hurt people, but you couldn’t kill people. If Zhou Kang won against five people in a row, it would be considered as Zhou Kang’s win.

“I’ll come first!” Luo Zhan, the second son of Marquis Wangting’s family, was the first to raise his hand.

Everyone who was discussing the order was taken aback, looking at him quite speechlessly. Heir Wangting didn’t come, if he was there, he would definitely beat his younger brother up. All the children of the big family were asking what Shen Lou meant, only Luo Zhan jumped out without hesitation.

Shen Lou raised his hand slightly, signalling them to let him go.

Luo Zhan jumped onto the stage and raised his chin contemptuously at Zhou Kang.

“Please.” Zhou Kang drew his sword out of its sheath, pointing the tip of the sword at the ground, then the Luli lit up, and the abundant spiritual power surged instantly.

The sword energy was vertical and horizontal, and the aura opened and closed like a lotus flower. Luo Zhan’s arrogance was not without reason. His skills were considered good among his peers, but it was a pity that he was still a little tender when facing Zhou Kang who was already in his twenties. After less than thirty strokes, he was kicked off the ring.

The accumulation of spiritual power and moves took time. Young people’s ability to control the spirit sword was naturally inferior to adults. Even if they were the proud sons of aristocratic families, they would still suffer a disadvantage against the experienced martial arts champion.

Shen Lou estimated Zhou Kang’s strength and frowned slightly.

“Imperial brother, do you want to try it?” The crown prince asked Feng Zhong who was sitting next to Lin Xin eating snacks.

“No, no, no, I’m not good at swordsmanship, cough…” Lin Xin stomped on his toes under the table, Feng Zhong didn’t dare to cry out, but his face was flushed, as if he was choking on mung bean cake.

“Xiao Mo!” Zhong Youyu exclaimed suddenly, as on the ring, Zhong Wumo’s arm was scratched by the spirit sword, and he fell unsteadily.

The eldest sons of big families, such as Zhong Youyu and Shen Lou, would not come out to play unless it was absolutely necessary. After losing four games in a row, everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, very unwilling. The difference in strength between the two sides was obvious, they were all youngsters who had not reached the weak crown, and if they wanted to win against Zhou Kang, they couldn’t unless they were a genius like Shen Lou.

“Shen Da, how about you…”

“I’ll go!” Shen Yingying pulled out the big bow behind her back, “Can I use a bow and arrow?” If the heirs went out, the prestige of the aristocratic family would definitely be damaged, and the common people didn’t care how old you are.

“Qiuting, don’t do it.” Shen Lou stopped his sister and put one hand on the Yu Yuan Sword.

“I’m here to ask for advice!” Lin Xin jumped up suddenly, jumped directly onto the martial arts arena from the royal high platform, and looked up and down Zhou Kang, who was still looking normal after the round robin battle, “Your Majesty, is this a member of a noble family?”

“Naturally.” Feng Zhuoyi smiled with great interest, and he also wanted to know how the apprentices taught by Zhu Xingli were different from others.

“Wait a minute, I don’t have a spirit sword in my hand, this small sword can’t stop Guard Zhou’s move.” Lin Xin threw the thin sword at his waist back to the high platform and turned his head to look at the aristocratic family members below the stage.

Without further ado, Shen Lou untied Yu Yuan and threw it up, “Use this one.”

“Hoo—” There was a gasp from the crowd. The natal spirit sword was extremely precious to immortals, especially Shen Lou, whose sword was personally forged by Zhu Yangai, the number one forging master at this time. Shen Lou lent it to others without any hesitation, his demeanor was really admirable.

Lin Xin touched Yu Yuan, which looked like the afterglow of nine days, slowly raised his head, and hooked his fingers towards Zhou Kang.

Zhou Kang didn’t rush forward, instead he took half a step back and cautiously swung his sword forward. His intuition made him feel danger. The young man in front of him had a strong killing intent towards him.

“Om——” Yu Yuan Sword, in Shen Lou’s hands, was as chic as a rainbow piercing the sun, with a bright wind and a bright moon, but in Lin Xin’s hands, it was like a scorching sun, burning the sky and destroying the earth. The Luli‘s spiritual power was as vast as a galaxy falling, and at the same time, dots of fluorescent light were escaping from Zhou Kang’s body, gathering all of them in the sword body.

Everyone only saw the more and more dazzling aura, and the sword moves of the two people were almost becoming afterimages.

“This Lin Xin is so powerful.” The crown prince was very surprised.

The emperor couldn’t hide his surprise. After a loud bang, the dust settled. Lin Xin casually held his sword, pointing it at Zhou Kang who was lying on the ground, “You lost.”

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Notes:

Wen Shilan, He Liuhun, etc. The name refers to the Xianbei language (Donghu language) of real history, not the surname Wen. Wen Shilan means stone, and He Liuhun means hero.