Tang Dynasty Hidden Guards

They visited several scenic spots, and Xue Wei, in high spirits, even went ashore with his bow and arrows to shoot some. Yuan Min laughed at him for a long time, saying that he couldn't even distinguish between a mounted bow and a foot bow.

After lunch, the pleasure boat turned back to Luoyang. Tomorrow is the second elimination round, a three-ball shooting game at sixty paces, which is very difficult and will eliminate most of the players. Xue Wei really needs to prepare well. Polo is no longer just a game for him; it is related to his future and destiny. He must go all out and cannot be careless or underestimate his opponents.

The next morning, Yuan Min personally took him to the Qinghuafang Polo Field. The two agreed to have dinner together at Qingfeng Restaurant after the match.

Xue Wei didn't run into his brother Xue Chongjian. He went straight into the polo field with his registration ticket, received a sign, and was the 127th person to enter.

In the knockout stage, players take set pieces on foot, except for the final on the last day when players must take set pieces on horseback.

Today's game is sixty steps and three balls; you have to hit all three balls to pass, which is much stricter than the first time.

But it was a piece of cake for Xue Wei; he scored all three goals and easily won.

It was almost noon when Xue Wei came out. He arrived at Qingfeng Restaurant and went straight to the third floor.

As Xue Wei passed by the private room where the fight almost broke out last time, he unexpectedly witnessed the exact same scene as before.

A group of people sat together drinking and eating. Xue Chongjian, Chen Xuanli, Li Linfu, Chang Yuankai, Li Ci, Li Guo'er and Wu Suisui were there. Li Guo'er was close to Xue Chongjian, almost nestled in his arms, with a bright smile on her face. Wu Suisui was sitting next to Li Linfu, talking happily.

Xue Wei tried to dodge, but Wu Suisui spotted him immediately and exclaimed in surprise, "Brother Xue!"

Everyone looked over and laughed, "Chongyin, what are you doing here?"

Li Guo'er also saw Xue Wei, and as if her hand was burning hot, she quickly shook off Xue Chongjian's hand, got up and rushed out.

Li Guo'er gripped Xue Wei's arm tightly and said urgently, "Wei Lang, Chong Jian and I are just cousins, we really don't mean anything by it. I've been looking for you these past few days, but I don't know where you live. Chong Jian doesn't know either. Can you...can you tell me?"

"He can't!"

Yuan Min's cold voice came from behind her, but she did not step forward, her gaze calmly fixed on Xue Wei.

Xue Wei gently withdrew his arm, took a step back, and said apologetically to everyone, "I'm sorry, I won't be drinking with you all today. I'll treat you all to a good drink another day!"

After saying that, Xue Wei turned to leave, but Li Guo'er grabbed his wrist again and pleaded, "Wei Lang, I've already applied to the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs to cancel the engagement. Please give me one last chance, let's start over, okay?"

Xue Wei broke free of her hand and said coldly, "Princess, your marriage has nothing to do with me. Please don't bother me anymore. That's it!"

He turned and strode towards Yuan Min, gently taking her hand. Yuan Min flipped her hand over, interlocking her fingers with his. "Let's go!"

Li Guo'er watched Xue Wei and Yuan Min leave hand in hand, her eyes quickly reddening. Her chest heaved violently, and a surge of overwhelming hatred erupted within her. She suddenly shouted, "Xue Wei, one day you'll regret this! I'll make you kneel before me and beg for my life!"

Xue Wei ignored Li Guo'er and quickly went downstairs with Yuan Min. Xue Chongjian walked out quickly, and Li Guo'er suddenly threw herself into his arms, hugging him and crying loudly.

...........

Yuan Min and Xue Wei got back into the carriage and returned directly to the main store in Nanshi.

Inside the carriage, Yuan Min remained silent for a long time before suddenly saying, "Old Xue, your brother might have gotten into big trouble."

Xue Wei was taken aback and asked, puzzled, "Why do you say that?"

"He and Li Guo'er had a sexual relationship."

"How...how did you know?"

"The manager told me that there is a separate courtyard behind Qingfeng Restaurant where people can stay overnight. The maid saw them yesterday morning when she brought them hot water. They were sleeping in the same bed, and Li Guo'er wasn't wearing any clothes."

After a long pause, Xue Wei said, "She's already slept with my brother, why is she still bothering me?"

Yuan Min sneered, "She's just unwilling to accept it because you dumped her back then. Believe me, if you get back together with her, she'll dump you in three days."

"I believe you!"

"But now your brother has gotten himself into big trouble. Li Guo'er is the Crown Prince's daughter, and she is marrying Wu Sansi's eldest son. This is an important marriage between the Li and Wu families, and it has great political significance. Li Guo'er has proposed to cancel the engagement, and the Wu family will definitely investigate. Once it is discovered that Li Guo'er has an affair with Xue Chongjian, who is Wu Chongxun's brother-in-law, there will be an incestuous relationship between them. Neither the Emperor nor the Wu family will let Xue Chongjian off the hook. Imprisonment would be the least of his worries."

Xue Wei sighed, "I tried to persuade him, but he wouldn't listen!"

Yuan Min suddenly realized something, and her face turned deathly pale.

Xue Wei noticed her unusual expression and quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

Yuan Min's eyes showed fear as she grabbed Xue Wei. "If... I mean if, in order to get revenge on you, Li Guo'er insists that the man she spent the night with was you, you will be unable to defend yourself. The Wu family already hates you, and they will definitely take this opportunity to accuse you of deliberately sabotaging the political marriage between Li and Wu. The Emperor will surely be furious. What should we do then?"

Xue Wei was silent for a moment before saying, "I'm more concerned about you now. Do you believe that I have absolutely no relationship with her anymore?"

Yuan Min held Xue Wei's hand tightly. "Of course I believe you. You would never want a woman who says she wants to marry you while sleeping with other men. But that's not the important thing now. The important thing is that you can't get involved anymore. You need to talk to your brother and make him realize the seriousness of this issue. You absolutely cannot let Li Guo'er become the root of trouble for your Xue family."

Xue Wei nodded. "I'll talk to him this afternoon. You should also have a good talk with my mother. She has to personally intervene in this matter. As long as we force Li Guo'er to marry Wu Chongxun, as long as Li Guo'er realizes that she has no choice, she will definitely choose to keep it a secret and will never do something so foolish as to harm herself and kill the enemy."

...........

In the afternoon, Xue Wei found his brother Xue Chongjian.

They found a quiet little tavern and sat down. Xue Wei got straight to the point: "You slept with Li Guo'er the night before last, in the courtyard behind Qingfeng Restaurant."

Xue Chongjian's eyes darted around. "How did you know, brother?"

"Qingfeng Restaurant is Yuanmin's business. She knows, and so do I, but that's not important. What's important is that you slept with your future sister-in-law. Have you thought about the consequences?"

Xue Chongjian turned deathly pale. "I...we were just drunk and confused for a moment. Besides, I'm not the only man she's slept with these past few months. I know about several of her guards."

"Guards are nothing!"

Xue Wei slammed his fist on the table in anger. "The key is you. The Wu family is watching you. Who will care about the guards? Once this is exposed and the Emperor is furious, do you think you'll still be alive?"

Xue Chongjian covered his face, wailing in anguish, "Brother, I regret it! I've let my wife down, I've let you down, I deserve to die! I really deserve to die!"

"There's no point in saying these things now. Tell me, does Li Guo'er really want to cancel the engagement?"

"She does have this idea, but she is not qualified to cancel the engagement. The Crown Prince has to apply to the Imperial Clan Court, then the Imperial Clan Court has to mediate, and after the Crown Prince and the samurai family reach an agreement, it will be reported to the Emperor, who will then make the decision to cancel the marriage. So what she said to you is meaningless; it's just her wishful thinking."

Xue Wei sighed, "Yuan Min is very worried now. Li Guo'er will smear me and accuse me of sleeping with her to get revenge on me. She will also accuse me of ruining her marriage with the Wu family. I will have no way to defend myself."

"No! If she dares to do that, I will stand up for her. I even have witnesses. The manager of Qingfeng Restaurant brought us late-night snacks, and a waitress from the restaurant brought us hot water and saw us sleeping together. Brother, I will never implicate you."

"Does she want to marry you?"

"She doesn't want to!" Xue Chongjian sighed. "She told me herself that the only person she ever wanted to marry was you, brother. She really hates you today. Love turns to hate. I think she will marry Wu Chongxun and then do everything she can to get rid of you. She not only hates you, but she hates Yuan Min even more. If Yuan Min falls into her hands, I don't even want to think about the consequences. Brother, you need to have a knife, otherwise you won't be able to stop her ruthlessness, and you won't be able to protect Yuan Min either."

Xue Chongjian knew his brother was right. The historical Li Guo'er was someone who dared to poison even her emperor father. What else was she incapable of? If he didn't have a knife, his and Yuan Min's fate would be extremely tragic. For his own sake and for his wife's sake, he had to get Wu Zetian's knife.

…………

In the afternoon, inside the Phoenix Tea House in Zhengpingfang, Princess Taiping, Li Lingyue, was sitting opposite Li Guo'er.

Li Lingyue placed two testimonies on the table. "These are the witness statements, proving that you were with Xue Chongjian the night before last, and also proving that the two of you slept together. I asked Chongjian, and he admitted it too."

"Auntie, it's true, but I don't want to marry Chongjian!"

Li Lingyue shook her head. "I just want to tell you that if you try to frame Awei, I won't let you succeed!"

Li Guo'er blushed and paled in turns; Li Lingyue had hit the nail on the head—she did indeed want to take revenge on Xue Wei.

"I...I didn't mean that!" Li Guo'er lowered her head guiltily.

"I didn't think of the best option, but you have to make a choice immediately."

"What to choose?"

Li Lingyue didn't answer her directly, but said calmly, "I helped you with your first period, and I wrote it down. It was the 20th. There were a few more periods after that, and I kept records of those as well, all around the 20th. As for you and Chongjian sleeping together, it was the night before last, which was the fifth day of the lunar new year. Chongjian said he didn't use protection. Do you understand what I mean?"

Li Guo'er's face turned deathly pale. The fifth day of the lunar new year was her fertile period, and she was very likely to get pregnant.

"Auntie, what do you want me to choose?"

"Choose between Xue Chongjian and Wu Chongxun. If you want to marry Chongjian, I will talk to my mother to cancel your engagement with Xue Chongxun and make Chongjian divorce his wife and marry you. But if you still want to marry Wu Chongxun, then go back to him immediately and have a real relationship with him as soon as possible. He won't find out. I will take care of eliminating the people in the know. Only the three of us will know about this. If I don't say anything and Chongjian doesn't say anything, this matter will be buried forever."

Li Guo'er lowered her head and after a long while said, "Aunt, I don't know how to choose?"

"Let me make myself clear! By choosing Chongjian, you've chosen happiness. He may be a good husband, but he won't amount to much. I know him well. You'll live a quiet life together, with nothing to do with power."

But if you choose Wu Chongxun, you're choosing power. The Wu family will fully support you in becoming a princess of power, and your future power may even surpass mine. However, Wu Chongxun is a womanizer; don't expect him to be devoted to you. You can also seek emotional support elsewhere. So you can only choose one: power or happiness; you can't have both.

Li Guo'er asked in a low voice, "Can we choose Xue Wei?"

Li Lingyue sighed inwardly; even now, she was still not giving up.

Do you think he will choose you?

Li Guo'er fell silent. A deep hatred slowly welled up in her eyes, and her voice lowered. "I've made up my mind. I choose power!"