Love Affairs in Chang'an - Chapter 76

Chapter 76 Stay Away All Night
Princess Gaoyang’s mood suddenly became very good. The forest, which had just appeared to be filled with ghosts, was now an infinitely beautiful scenery of the setting sun.

“From the front or from the back?” Qin Mubai held the horse and asked.

“Is there a difference?” Princess Gaoyang didn’t care at first, but when she saw the saddle that wasn’t wide, her face couldn’t help but turn red.

“I’ll hug you in the front, and you’ll hug me in the back. It doesn’t matter to me, it depends on what you mean.” Qin Mubai said seriously.

“Do you have to be so … vulgar?” Princess Gaoyang’s face turned even redder. In order to conceal her embarrassment, she looked at the Fire Cloud Horse and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Wow, what a handsome horse. I rarely see such a horse in the harem’s stable.”

“You should sit in the back, if you don’t want to be scared.” Qin Mubai smiled and said, “Look at you, you’re just a rookie who hasn’t ridden a horse before.”

“I won’t–I’ll sit in the front!” Princess Gaoyang stretched out her arms to grab the saddle. However, the horse was too tall. It was difficult for her to step on the stirrup steadily, let alone flip it up with all her might.

“Hey, hurry up and help me!”

“Coming.” Qin Mubai grinned and walked forward. He stroked her waist with one hand and her buttocks with the other. Suddenly, he exerted strength and Princess Gao Yang flew into the saddle like a willow.

For a moment, Princess Gao Yang fell into the clouds and cried out in fear. Just as she was shaking her soul on the saddle, Qin Mubai lightly jumped onto the saddle and flapped her horse before Princess Gao Yang could react.

“Wow–”

The Fire Cloud Horse’s explosive power was extremely fast. Princess Gaoyang was not in a hurry to prepare and immediately fell back into Qin Mubai’s embrace.

“If you don’t throw yourself into your arms like this, you better grab onto the saddle.” Qin Mubai smiled.

The Fire Cloud Horse accelerated at lightning speed. Princess Gaoyang didn’t dare to open her eyes at all. She could only hear the sound of wind blowing in her ears, causing her entire body to tremble in fear.

“Hey, if you ride slower, you’ll die!”

“Please.”

“… I won’t!”

“Ha!–”

“Oh … I beg you, please, ride slowly. This is my first time riding a horse!” Princess Gaoyang finally pleaded.

Qin Mubai laughed heartily and slowed down the horse’s speed. Only then did Princess Gaoyang sit still in shock. She opened her eyes and saw the forest trees on both sides retreating to the side. A refreshing breeze blew on her face, and she felt a burst of joy and refreshment in her heart.

“Haha! So riding a horse is easy!” She laughed proudly.

“There should be a limit to how thick-skinned you are. Are you riding a horse now? I feel like half of the mutton is on your back. You have to take care not to let half of the mutton fall off the horse.” Qin Mubai laughed mockingly.

“Qin Mubai, there should be a limit to shamelessness!” Princess Gaoyang scolded angrily, “You touched me just now … You underestimated me there, and I haven’t settled the score with you! Now you call me half lamb, and according to what you said, my father is also lamb? Aren’t you afraid that I will sue you for insulting the king?”

“Alright, you only know these two moves. Either you put labels on me randomly, or you have made a false accusation and set me up.” Qin Mubai smiled and said, “I really don’t know what to do with your two ultimate moves for the time being, but … I can ride a horse faster!-Hurry up, Fire Cloud!”

The Fire Cloud Horse galloped wildly with a long hiss as its legs clutched the horse’s belly. A trail of smoke and dust carried Princess Gaoyang’s miserable screams as it floated outside the northern gate of the Imperial City at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain.

After entering Chang’an City, Qin Mubai slowed down his horse. Afterwards, he entered the territory of West City and both of them dismounted. Midsummer dusk was the peak season for people to come out. Chang’an had never set up any sky restrictions at this time, so the market was very lively.

Princess Gaoyang, who had been stuffed in the palace all year round, was already dazzled and overjoyed when she saw such a bustling scene. She had already thrown Qin Mubai’s light and bullying to the back of her mind.

The little girl was really well prepared to come out and play for this moment. Not only did she find a palace maid to exchange for the attire of an ordinary woman, she also deliberately prepared a palace hat to cover her face. At first glance, unless it was someone who was very familiar with her, it would be very difficult to recognize her for a time.

However, this caused Qin Mubai to suffer.

Ever since she entered West City, Princess Gaoyang was like a dragon flying into the sea and flying into the sky. No matter what stall it was, she had to take a look. Regardless of whether it was an agate from the Western Regions or a dessert from Jiangnan, or an exotic spice or even a weapon sold by the Tibetans, she had to admire it for a while, and even bought a large bag.

All of them were handed over to Qin Mubai.

Qin Mubai wanted to watch as she was afraid that she would get lost, but at the same time, she wanted to work as a laborer. He had always sighed in his heart: No matter what era this was, the rich young miss who loved shopping was still a virtue. Looks like this glorious tradition has some history.

West City was big enough, Princess Gaoyang’s interest had risen, and she had forgotten everything. Less than half the way down the street, he suddenly realized that night had fallen. The number of pedestrian shops on the street was decreasing, leaving only a few restaurants, song shops, and Ying Wan prostitutes unclosed.

“Uh … how could this be?” Princess Gaoyang looked at the somewhat empty West City Avenue and was stunned. “Why did the crowded West City Avenue disappear?”

Qin Mubai patted the bags on the saddle and said, “It seems that we have been shopping for too long. It’s already 11 o’clock.”

“It’s 11 o’clock? Isn’t it almost tomorrow?” Princess Gaoyang made a horrified expression and stuck out her tongue. Suddenly, she frowned, “Aiyo, it’s fine if you don’t say it. Once you say it … my legs are really sour and numb. What should I do?”

“What else can we do? Let’s go home and sleep!” Qin Mubai patted the saddle and said, “Come on up.”

Princess Gaoyang took a few steps forward and suddenly stopped. She shook her head back like a rattle drum, “No, you want to touch me again … there, you want to underestimate me.”

“It’s not surprising that all beginners ride horses like this. You’re just a minor child, and I’m not interested in you. Whether you ride or not is up to you. We still have a long way to go.” Qin Mubai said, “Also, don’t expect me to carry you on my back.”

Am I underage? Princess Gao Yang’s heart jammed. Her anger was about to rise, but it was indeed not easy to break out-could it be that she had proven to him that I was “already an adult”? She muffled her cheeks for a while, but she didn’t want to think about it anymore.

“Hehe, if you don’t tell me, I’ll forget to carry me!” Princess Gao Yang chuckled and moved towards Qin Mubai’s back.

Qin Mubai shook his head and smiled helplessly. Suddenly, he grabbed one of her arms and rested it on his waist. With a bit of strength, he quickly placed her on the saddle.

Princess Gao Yang didn’t even have time to scream when she realized that she had already mounted the horse. Her eyes were wide open and her mouth was wide open. She stared at Qin Mubai in horror for a long time without regaining consciousness.

“Really? This can scare a fool?” Qin Mubai smiled and said, “Grab onto your seat. I’ll lead the horse away.”

Princess Gaoyang swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva and finally regained her senses, “Go, where are you going?”

“It’s so late, of course you can only go to one place to stay.”

“Borrowing a night? … Where exactly do you want to send me? Didn’t you agree to go to the number one wine in the world?”

“Number One Under Heaven Wine is already auspicious by this time. It is a proper wine shop and never operates late at night.”

“Then are you going to send me to an unorthodox place?” Princess Gaoyang’s heart suddenly jumped. For so many years, she had never stayed outside the palace without returning home at night, not to mention … she was still with a man!

“Do I look like that kind of unscrupulous person?” Qin Mubai deliberately laughed evilly and let out a strange hehe sound.

“Hey, don’t act recklessly! Thief Military Academy, stinking man! If you dare touch a single hair of mine, I will have Father Emperor annihilate your nine races!” Princess Gaoyang panicked. Only now did she realize that the streets of West City were empty. Only the two of them were walking slowly, and the surroundings were terrifyingly quiet.

“Haha, so you will be scared too. If you had known earlier, why would you have done it back then? Hehe!” Qin Mubai laughed even more sinisterly and licked her lips in an incomparably vulgar manner.

“You, you … you dare!” Princess Gaoyang was so shocked and angry that she couldn’t help but tremble. He really wanted to jump off his horse, but he was also a little afraid of falling. It was truly worthy of the name ‘Tiger Riding Difficult’.

“What do I dare? Haha!” Qin Mubai laughed loudly, “Little girl, where are you going?”

“Then, what do you mean?” Princess Gaoyang’s heart was like a bungee jump. Just now, it was floating high in the clouds and suddenly fell back into her chest. Her heart suddenly lit up and she immediately cursed angrily, “Good you stinky man, bad man, you actually dare to tease me!”

“Shh–don’t make any noise! Here we are.” Qin Mubai raised her head and signaled for her to look at a large plaque in front of a mansion.

“King Wu’s Mansion? Are you mistaken? You actually brought me here!” Princess Gaoyang said in astonishment, “Fourth Brother and Fourth Sister-in-law will definitely scold me!”

“Your royal sister-in-law is not here.” Qin Mubai blinked at her and said strangely, “As for your royal brother … I bet she won’t scold you. Also, no one will ask any more questions or divulge any information on our way in. We’ll treat it as if we were invisible.”

“Oh, I forgot. You used to be a janitor in King Wu’s Mansion. You must have a group of fox friends here and have a very close relationship with my fourth brother!” Only then did Princess Gaoyang feel relieved and giggled, “Not bad, not bad. Come out of the palace to see Fourth Brother and sleep here. Even Father Emperor wouldn’t scold me if he found out. You’re very smart, stinking man!”

“Don’t call me that in front of King Wu.” Qin Mubai’s lips curled into a wicked smile. “Otherwise, even he thought I was running away with his sister.”

“…” Princess Gaoyang angrily puffed up her cheeks and rolled her eyes a few times before cursing, “Stinking man, stinking man, stinking man! Then I’ll curse enough now!”

A moment later, Princess Qin Mubai and Princess Gaoyang sat in Li Ke’s private study, each holding a cup of tea and drinking it sullenly.

Li Ke fell asleep and was woken up. He looked at the two people in front of him with sleepy eyes and said, “Are you … running away?”

Qin Mubai and Princess Gao Yang felt at a loss whether to laugh or cry as they spat out two mouthfuls of tea at the same time.