Chapter 62: Turning the Tables on the Enemy's Army

  Li Peinan's arm was strong and unyielding, holding him tightly and refusing to let go. The familiar scent of his clothes and breath wafted over him once again, causing Min Anchao to take a step back, but he had nowhere to retreat to. He simply hugged the umbrella handle to his chest, trying to use it to block Li Peinan's advances.

  The blue umbrella was large, and Li Peinan was taller than Min An. He lowered his head to kiss Min An's lips, but Min An panicked and pulled the umbrella ribs down, covering Li Peinan's entire head.

  Li Peinan leaned his face against Min An's shoulder and took advantage of the dim light under the umbrella to steal a few kisses. Having kissed, he still wanted to say one more thing: "Your neck smells nice."

  Min An twisted his body and retreated several steps, his face greatly embarrassed, and couldn't help but angrily say: "Young Master is always teasing me." The umbrella was still being held in his hand as a defensive weapon.

  Li Peinan smiled: "As soon as I saw you, I felt delighted and couldn't help but want to get close to you. How could it be teasing you?"

  Min An had always been intimidated by Li Peinan, and now that his request had fallen through, he was further humiliated by Li's brazen familiarity. He felt a surge of anger and resentment. "You're always so self-absorbed in your own happiness, never considering whether I'm willing or not," he said, screwing up his face, lacking the courage to meet Li Peinan's eyes. With a deep breath, he continued, "I'm no match for you, and I need your patronage, so even if it makes me seethe with anger, I'll swallow my pride and serve you obediently. But tell me, would you be willing to be treated this way if the roles were reversed?"

  Li Peinan replied very quickly: "I'm willing."

  His voice was calm, and his figure standing on the mountain rock also looked leisurely, making Min An want to drive him away. Unfortunately, Min An also knew that he didn't have the qualifications to do so at present.

  "In the silence, Li Peinan asked: 'What should I do to be played with in your applause?'"

  Min An's words were stuck in his throat. Li Peinan said in a low voice: "Why don't you take me as your attendant?"

  Min An's face turned red like a fire: "The young master is noble as the imperial son, admired by the world, but his words are so frivolous."

  Li Peinan replied calmly, "What can Tian Huan's noble family do? If you can't get what you like, you'll live a harder life than ordinary people." He had seen his father searching for his mother in vain since he was young, often standing in the courtyard at midnight, drenched in dew, until dawn broke, and then going out to attend to his duties. From this, he learned a lesson: if you like something, you must work hard to get it, and then use your own hands to secure its position, so that it cannot escape.

  Generally speaking, this is also Li Peinan's way of doing things. However, Wen An has not yet understood him or believed in him. "The emperor and the king have their own demeanor, embracing the world, and should not be as shallow as Gongzi."

  Min An was somewhat presumptuous, but Li Peinan didn't take offense. He followed up by saying: "Why don't you make decisions for me and let me follow your orders?"

  Min An hesitated: "I didn't mean it that way—"

  "The only way is for you to take me as your attendant."

  "That's out of the question, young master, don't try to make any more jokes——"

  "Once I'm caught, I'll be played with in the applause."

  Min An stood silently, and Li Peinan finished his last sentence: "So I answered earlier, very willing."

  Min An's face was about to turn red, he asked himself that he couldn't even argue with Li Peinan, let alone fight him. He might as well hide aside. He held his umbrella and jumped down the mountain cliff, actually his face was too thin to withstand it, and when he fled in a hurry, he didn't choose the road carefully. Li Peinan's voice came from behind: "Fool." Min An originally wanted to rely on the wind to hold himself up, closed his eyes and jumped down, but Li Peinan rushed over and grabbed the umbrella handle, holding him at the edge of the cliff.

  Min An's body trembled as he went out, and he was so scared that he didn't dare to let go of Li Peinan's arm. Li Peinan slowly wrapped his arms around Min An's waist and smiled: "This is what you brought upon yourself, don't blame me."

  Min An Xiu Nu: "If it wasn't for the young master rushing over to grab me..." Before she could finish speaking, Li Pei Nan's two hands had relaxed a bit, allowing the umbrella handle to slip down an inch, and Min An's body leaned back a few more degrees.

  Min An hastily grabbed Li Peinan, not even having time to say a word. The parachute fell towards the cliff bottom, and in the midst of rolling, it was torn apart by the rugged mountain rocks, losing its shape and getting stuck on the rocky spikes. Li Peinan helped Min An stand up straight and said in a gentle voice: "This is why I caught you."

  Min Andi bowed his head and understood, thanking him in a low voice. Li Peinan said: "I saved your life, you just thanked me, it's not worth it."

  Min An guessed that he wasn't going to say anything good, thinking that even if he tried to escape, it would be no use, so he covered his ears. Li Peinan lifted Min An's hand and whispered in his ear: "I'll give you a kiss to repay the favor."

  Li Peinan's words were not a question, but a prior reminder. Min An had no way to retreat, and struggled in vain, only able to cover his face with both hands. Li Peinan quietly looked at him for a while, finally kissing the reddened earlobe that he couldn't protect.

  Min An's ears turned even redder. Li Peinan let go, picked up the bamboo box containing the small civet cat, and turned back to see Min An still standing on the mountain top, calling out: "What are you standing there for, stupid? Go back to the inn."

  Min An slowly followed up. At this time, Xiao Zhi who had been hiding in the mountain stream suddenly appeared and looked at the movement on the mountain, realizing that Li Peinan was not injured, he exclaimed: "Young master, come quickly, my lord is injured!"

  Following this shout, it was clear that he had never seen the crown prince's carriage arrive at Haitang Mountain and occupy Min'an's invitation to his family's elders to go hunting. It was only natural to find an excuse for the host, in order to strengthen the unexpected reality. Min'an still resented him for shouting too late, and hastily revealed a look of panic on his face, following the rocky slope as he prepared to climb down.

  Li Peinan squatted down, grasping Min An's collar and asked: "Can you save her if you go down?"

  Min An raised his head with a delighted expression: "Then let's go, young master."

  Li Peinan held on without letting go and said lightly: "It's too high, I don't dare to come down either."

  "Didn't you just jump down very quickly and catch a raccoon dog?"

  "It's different when doing things for you."

  Min An was indeed worried about Xiao Zhi, but didn't say much and had to relax his foot on the ground. Li Peinan suddenly pulled him up and said: "You don't even ask how Xiao Zhi is doing, you just want to rush over?"

  Min An was startled, and in his haste to play the whole set, he had momentarily forgotten about this. He immediately walked along the mountain ridge towards the front, shouting loudly: "Xiao Daren, where are you? How badly are you hurt?"

  Su Shi found Xiao Zhiqing at the bottom of the mountain stream with Min'an. Xiao Zhiqing was lying on her side in a half-mountain stone cave, already unconscious, with fresh blood on her left hand. She was afraid of blood and didn't need to pretend, when the stone tip scratched her arm, she could faint on her own. Su Shi explained that she wanted to sneak into the stone cave to catch a raccoon dog to present to the prince, but didn't expect the mountain rocks to be too sharp, causing her to fall. The mountain cave had a sharp rock protruding from the middle of the mountain waist, just the right distance, a clever place. Su Shi asked Li Peinan's guards to help, and three people worked together to lower a rope, wanting to tie Xiao Zhiqing to the guard's back and then pull them up with the rope force. However, the four of them didn't have enough skill to climb on the cliff without falling off, so the rescue was proceeding unusually slowly.

  Xiao Zhiqing's fall left only enough space for one person to land, and with a glance at his left arm bleeding profusely, Min An anxiously pushed Li Peinan beside him: "Young Master, save Xiao Daren, she is also the Young Master's subordinate."

  Li Peinan saw that Xiao Zhiqiong was indeed unconscious, hesitated for a moment, and then bare-handedly climbed up the mountain rock, leaping into the stone cave. He tied the rope tightly around Xiao Zhiqiong's upper body and waist, holding the knot in his hand, and shouted upwards: "Pull!" The attendants above exerted their strength, and Li Peinan used the force to propel himself upwards, climbing up the mountain rock with a few swift movements, and safely rescued Xiao Zhiqiong.

  Xiao Zhiqin slowly came to, grasped Min An's collar and whispered: "Don't let go, I'm afraid of blood."

  Min An only then realized that Xiao Zhi was afraid of blood, and he had been wondering how she could pretend to be so calm. Now that he understood her trick was real pain, he felt even more sympathetic towards her, and turned back to Li Pei Nan saying: "Young Master's martial arts skills are superior to all of ours, it would be convenient for you to come and go, why don't you take Xiao Zhi down the mountain?"

  "How to carry?"

  Min An sized up the mountain road and said firmly, "Carrying Lord Xiao down will inevitably lead to bumps, Young Master, it's better for you to hold him in your arms and go down."

  Xiao Zhiqiong fainted again.

  Li Peinan suddenly sat down on a rock, furrowed his brow, and sweat seeped out of his forehead.

  Min An didn't hear the reply and turned back in surprise, saying: "What's wrong with you, young master?"

  Li Peinan said in a low voice: "I'm also afraid of blood."

  Min An was even more surprised: "How come I've never heard of it?"

  Li Peinan looked at one of the guards who had accompanied him, and that guard met his gaze, initially stunned and unsure what to do. Li Peinan continued staring at him, then nodded towards the bloodstains on his own white robe. The guard suddenly understood and exclaimed loudly: "The young master is indeed afraid of blood! When he saved Master Xiao earlier, his clothes were already stained with dirt. The young master values cleanliness, but he endured the discomfort and sat down on a rock to catch his breath - it was clearly an act of desperation!"

  Min An looked at the brocade outer garment that was used to keep Xiaoyan warm in the bamboo box, and then looked at Li Peinan who only had a single layer of clothing left on him, not knowing what to say to continue their conversation. The guard stepped forward and volunteered, "I'll take Lord Xiao down the mountain, please take care of the young master." After finishing speaking, he gave a nod to another guard beside him, and the two of them carefully lifted up Xiao Zhi and carried him down the mountain.

  Li Peinan said to Min An: "Come over and help me up."

  Min An turned his head again to measure the road down the mountain, and felt it was even more distant and steep. He looked at the last attendant, who also hurriedly picked up the bamboo box and left. In the end, Min An could only support Li Peinan, letting him press half of his body on his shoulder, and with great difficulty took him down the mountain.

  Min Anlei was sweating profusely and still asked nervously, "Young Master, are you deceiving me? How can you be afraid of blood? Young Master has been on the Western Frontier battlefield, how can you win battle after battle?"

  Li Peinan said in a low voice: "I'll come up with a plan, and Lai Qun will lead the men to fight." As he spoke, his sweat also dripped from his forehead.

  Min An hesitated and said: "But when you bandaged the wolf's injured leg, your hands were very skilled."

  "It's different when doing things for you."

  Min An was still half-believing and half-doubting. As soon as he had the idea of putting Li Peinan on the roadside stone, Li Peinan immediately said: "Wipe your sweat."

  Min An wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. Li Peinan said, "Mine." Min An still had to raise his hand to wipe away the sweat on the calm face leaning against his ear.