Chapter 3: Beauty Like Jade

  Soon, seven or eight maidservants appeared with wine and dishes. The aroma wafted everywhere - a total of sixteen dishes and three jars of wine. Wang Ping hastily got up and grabbed a jar to fill his own bowl. Lu Qi smiled and also grabbed a jar to first fill Zhu Wu's bowl, then filled his own bowl and put down the jar. The three men raised their bowls, gazed at each other, and with a cheerful "gulp gulp gulp" drained them in one swallow.

  "Good wine!" Wang Ping wiped his mouth and loudly praised, although the voice was loud, there was no unpleasant reaction from another table. In the military, drinking and making noise is a very normal thing, and Wang Ping is also a well-known straightforward drunkard.

  After drinking three bowls of wine, the adults at another table finally raised their first cup. Lord Hu finished his wine and put down his cup, glanced at Lu Qi and others, turned around and ordered, a maid led the way to the main room.

  Soon, a beautiful woman walked out of the main house door, followed by three skirt-clad beauties. The beauties gently walked to the table where Lu Qi and the other two were seated.

  "Madam, I pay my respects to you." Zhu Wu was the first to stand up and salute respectfully in front of the main room. The beautiful woman who came was Hu's second wife, and Lu Qi and Wang Ping also hurriedly stood up to greet her.

  "These three are noble guests, loyal generals of my husband's household. I should treat them with utmost hospitality. And these three are the most charming maids in our household, let them keep the guests company and add to the festive atmosphere." The elegant woman said with a smile.

  "Thanks for your concern, Mrs. Guan." This time it was Wang Ping who spoke on behalf of everyone.

  The beautiful woman smiled, nodded slightly and turned back to the main house. Wang Ping's eyes immediately fixed on the three beauties in skirts, this guy was not only a drunkard, but at this moment he looked more like a lustful demon who wanted to devour people. With a sweep of his eyes, he stretched out his right arm and pulled over a plump and fair-skinned beauty, pulling her onto his lap and embracing her with his arms around her waist, the plump beauty forced a smile, looking embarrassed.

  Zhu Wu was very calm, nodding his head slightly towards Lu Qi, indicating that he should choose first. Lu Qi understood and quickly pointed to a beautiful woman wearing a blue skirt, who looked elegant and refined. The woman looked at Lu Qi with a terrified expression, hesitated for a moment before walking over to sit in Lu Qi's bamboo chair. Meanwhile, the other woman in white clothes, who was also very beautiful, voluntarily sat down in Zhu Wu's bamboo chair.

  "Come, beauty, take a sip." Wang Pingcai embraced the beautiful woman, his left hand holding the wine bowl to her lips. The woman's face turned pale as she hesitantly leaned in to drink, but after taking a small sip, Wang Ping forced the rest of the wine down her throat. She choked and spat out the wine, almost spilling the entire bowl on her chest. As she violently coughed up the wine, tears streamed down her face. Wang Ping then put the bowl back on the table and used his large hand to rip open the woman's blouse, revealing her snowy white breasts. He buried his head in them.

  Compared to Wang Ping's beastly behavior, Zhu Wu and Lu Qi were much more elegant, just hugging the beautiful women beside them and kissing them, their big hands reaching into their skirts to gently caress. The three men's lecherous behavior was quite brazen, but five meters away at another table, it seemed as if they hadn't noticed, smiling and chatting softly with each other as they raised their glasses, never once looking for the beauties to keep them company.

  The sky was bright, Lu Qi put on his clothes under the service of the beauty, he looked at the beauty with a reluctant gaze, this is the most beautiful woman he had ever met in his life. A night of indulgence made him very tired, and the beauty was even more exhausted, swaying dizzily, but Lu Qi still greedily stared at the beauty's stunning figure, that smooth skin like jade, plump and delicate body, making Lu Qi infatuated and unable to extricate himself.

  "Sir, can you take me with you? I want to follow you from now on." The beautiful woman said in a trembling small voice.

  Lu Qi's heart skipped a beat as he woke up from his daze, his expression stunned for a moment before turning heavy. After a while, he spoke in a low voice: "I won't be able to take you away."

  "Sir, you are a trusted subordinate of Master Hu. If you speak up, perhaps Master Hu will give me to you as a gift." The beautiful woman said softly.

  Lu Qi's face had a hint of bitter smile, what kind of capable subordinate was he to Hu Da Ren? Yesterday, he was just a supporting actor in the supporting role. He was able to attend the official banquet only by borrowing the faces of the other three people. From the moment he entered the Imperial Guard, Hu Da Ren had never looked at him straight in the eye. When he opened his mouth to ask for such a beautiful woman, it was purely an act of overestimating himself and asking for rebuke.

  "Don't harbor any illusions, in a few days I'll be leaving the army and returning to my hometown. Lord Hu will never give you to me." Lu Qi said with a hint of despair.

  The beautiful woman sat on the edge of the bed with a disappointed expression. Lu Qi looked at her, feeling a pang in his heart, and turned his head to say indifferently: "I'm just a powerless martial artist, you'd be better off staying at Lord Hu's house than following me. Take care of yourself, I'll leave now."

  "Wait a minute." The beauty suddenly raised her head and shouted.

  "Do you have anything else?" Lu Qi withdrew his body and asked in a low voice.

  The beautiful woman looked at Lu Qi with a complex gaze, and after a few seconds, she suddenly turned around, stretched out her hand to grab the hem of her skirt, searched for something on it for a while, squeezed out a round object, grasped it in her hand, stood up facing Lu Qi, and extended her hand holding the round object towards him.

  "Sir, this is a treasured pearl passed down from my ancestors, named Pixie, also known as the Moon Dragon Pearl. Please take it, sir." The beautiful woman said with a sorrowful tone.

  Lu Qi's face changed color, staring blankly at the round object held by the jade hand in front of him. It was a pearl approaching the size of an inch in diameter, with a semi-transparent milky white body and a halo outside that shone like moonlight. At first glance, it was clear that it was a treasure worth a city. He stared for ten seconds, then suddenly reached out to grab it and held it in his hand, before looking at the beauty with a serious expression.

  "This is a very important matter, why give it to me?" Lu Qi asked in surprise.

  The beauty's expression was sorrowful and she said bitterly: "This body of mine is no longer my own, keeping it would be useless. I'm giving it to you now, sir, only hoping that in the future you can help me."

  Lu Qi furrowed his brow, and his hand holding the treasure bead was slightly sweaty. This was a treasure that could bring either fortune or disaster, and taking it might lead to calamity. After weighing the pros and cons in his mind, he resolutely returned the treasure bead to the beauty's hand.

  "I can't help you, go find someone else for assistance." Lu Qi said with a resolute tone.

  The beauty was stunned, she didn't expect that such a precious treasure would still be unwanted by someone. She looked at Lu Qi with an astonished gaze for a while before softly saying: "Sir, I have fate with you, take this treasure pearl away. If I continue to keep it on me, in less than a few days it will belong to the Hu family again. My plea is not for sir to definitely fulfill it, but to leave a glimmer of hope in my heart, hoping that one day sir can help me within his capabilities."

  In a soft and delicate voice, the beautiful woman had already put the precious pearl into Lu Qi's armor pocket. Lu Qi hesitated for a moment before silently accepting it. The beauty spoke reasonably; such a treasure would eventually be taken away by the Hu family, and once it was taken, this beauty wouldn't get any benefit from it.

  "Alright, I've accepted it, but let me tell you, I'm not a good person and currently have no ability to help you with anything. Don't hold too much hope." Lu Qi said solemnly.

  The beauty whispered: "Sir, I know about this aspect. I only hope that one day when I have the opportunity to be independent, sir can use his wealth to redeem me."

  Lu Qi's voice said: "Your meaning is to let me sell the treasure pearl and use wealth to redeem you."

  The beauty nodded and said, "Yes, but I know that this kind of treasure is not easy to part with, and I also know that you can't directly redeem me from Lord Hu. Therefore, I can only wait for an opportunity. I heard Lady Hu say that it won't be long before we are sent to the capital, and I know that I may become a concubine in the household of a high-ranking official in the capital. If I really become a concubine of a high-ranking official, I will find a way to write a letter to you, and at that time, I hope you can redeem me with a large sum of money."

  Lu Qi nodded and smiled faintly: "Your self-rescue strategy is good, but you're too trusting of me, it's a bit rash."

  The beauty said: "Sir, I only have this one chance, whether you believe it or not, it's all up to fate."

  Lu Qi took a light breath and smiled: "Don't worry, I'm a man who values loyalty, although I love wealth and beauty. You've paid the price for my help, and my name is Lu Tianfeng. If you really leave the Hu family in the future, just send a message to the Lu family in Shizhen County, and I'll find a way to redeem you and make you your own master."

  "The slave thanks the master." The beautiful woman knelt down with a curtsy.

  Looking down at the snow-white beauty, Lu Qi couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva, suppressing the surging flames as he bit his lip and asked in a low voice: "What's your name?"

  "My servant's original name was Du Bingyan, now her name is Lü Zhu." The beauty hastily replied in a low voice.

  "Alright, I've remembered. Let's meet again by fate." Lu Qi said as he turned around and walked towards the door in big strides. He was afraid that if he stayed a moment longer, his passion would be hard to suppress. Now that dawn had broken, he couldn't kiss her jade-like face again.

  "Hubby." A soft and gentle voice called out, Lu Qi's heart skipped a beat as he stopped in his tracks, his back quickly being wrapped in a warm and soft body.

  "Master, I am willing to be your concubine and serve you. Please don't forget me." The soft voice behind him was so moving that it made Lu Qi's heart ache with tenderness.

  "Alright, I won't forget, let go." Lu Qi said with suppressed passion in his heart, and as soon as he finished speaking, he walked out of the room without daring to look back.