Dad, don't be greedy! My brother climbed into the emperor's bed, and I became famous overn

As dusk settled, the lanterns of Peach Blossom Spring began to light up one by one.

Today is the Dragon Boat Festival, and there's a grand fireworks display tonight. The entire main street is packed with people.

The shops along the river were all decorated with colorful lanterns, and the painted boats on the river were also lit up with gauze lanterns, which were reflected in the water and scattered into a colorful scene.

Gu Mingli and Xiao Ye walked side by side on the street.

Xiao Ye was still wearing that light blue casual clothes, holding a folding fan in his hand, and walking briskly.

Gu Mingli was dressed in a moon-white brocade robe, with a dragon-patterned jade pendant hanging at his waist, which was particularly eye-catching.

Xiao Jue strolled around on the side, sometimes looking at the trinkets on the stalls, sometimes stopping to watch the acrobatic performance.

Liu An and Geng Zhi, along with several shadow guards, followed behind the three masters, not daring to stray too far.

Gu Mingyue, accompanied by Wen Yanzhi, walked on the other side.

They checked out the services offered by Peach Blossom Spring one by one.

"Second Master."

Gu Mingli nudged Xiao Ye with his elbow and pointed to a high platform in front of them.

"We'll have the best view of the fireworks tonight from here."

Xiao Ye looked up and saw that the platform was already completely surrounded.

"No, there are too many people."

"Tsk," Gu Mingli looked around, "Then I'll take you to the riverbank, there's no obstruction."

Xiao Ye gave a faint "hmm".

The third quarter of Hai hour.

The fireworks display has officially begun.

The cannons roared, and beams of light, intertwined with gold and red, shot into the night sky, blasting out a shower of sparks.

The crowd on the shore erupted in cheers.

The cheers mixed with the sound of gongs and drums, making people's ears ring.

The children rode on the adults' shoulders, clapping and shouting.

The old man who sold sugar paintings has stopped doing business and is now gazing up at the sky.

Xiao Ye stood on the high point of the riverbank, with a wide view.

Fireworks exploded and scattered overhead, their light reflecting on his face in alternating flashes.

Gu Mingyue stood on the outside of the line, a few steps away.

She didn't watch the fireworks.

His eyes kept scanning the crowd.

There are too many people tonight.

From her angle, all she could see were heads, making it impossible to tell who was who.

The second round of fireworks went off.

This time it's a rocket.

More than twenty slender fireworks were lit at the same time, hissing and shooting sparks as they shot into the sky one after another.

Bang bang bang!

The sky was bombed and became a kaleidoscope of colors.

Suddenly, several burly men burst into the fireworks display area.

I "accidentally" knocked over a few fireworks racks.

Several rockets failed to fly into the sky.

After the firecracker was lit, it veered off course, leaving a long trail of flame, and shot horizontally into the crowd!

*Screech*

Sparks flew onto people, and some screamed.

"Fire! Fire!"

"Run!"

A rocket flew crookedly over the crowd and crashed into a food stall on the shore, causing the oil pan to overturn and flames to leap three feet high.

Panic spread like a plague.

Starting from the river square, the crowd surged in all directions.

The sounds of pushing, screaming, and running were mixed together.

Geng Zhi reacted extremely quickly.

He shouted sharply, "Protect the Emperor!"

Eight shadow guards emerged from the shadows and instantly formed a human wall around Xiao Ye and Xiao Jue.

Six people faced outwards, with two people holding Xiao Ye's left and right arms close to his body, ready to leave at any time.

Xiao Ye was carried back a dozen steps by the shadow guards and retreated to a blind spot behind a stone wall.

Xiao Jue had already closed his folding fan, and a short blade protruded from the fan ribs, which he was already holding in his hand.

With his back to Xiao Ye, he stared at the surging crowd ahead.

Another rocket flew crookedly overhead and exploded on the rooftop not far away.

Tiles shattered on the ground, sparks flew everywhere.

The shadow guards remained motionless, tightly encircling their two masters in the middle.

The chaos lasted for about half an incense stick's time.

The fireworks maker on the floating platform frantically extinguished all the remaining fuses.

Several patrol boats approached on the river, and the people on board were striking gongs.

"Don't push! Don't push! The fire's out! Don't panic!"

The crowd gradually thinned out.

Perhaps the collective escape was too exciting, because the tourists gathered back at the fireworks display site to join in the fun.

Get ready to watch the performance.

The shadow guards breathed a sigh of relief, but their formation remained intact.

Xiao Ye looked around through the gaps in the human wall, his face instantly turning grim.

"Where are Gu Mingli and Gu Mingyue?"

Geng Zhi was taken aback and quickly looked around for the person.

Xiao Ye frowned, raised his hand to push aside the two shadow guards blocking his way, and took two steps out.

His gaze swept over the inside and outside of the stone wall, and then over the riverbank.

There was no crescent-white brocade robe, nor a lotus-root-colored skirt.

Gu Mingli and Gu Mingyue have disappeared.

Those two guys have more than just ordinary knowledge in their heads!

One is a crucial engineering talent! The other could be the future purse strings for the imperial court!

But now, both of them are gone!

Xiao Ye's face instantly darkened.

Geng Zhi's forehead was covered in sweat, and he raised his hand to gesture to the shadow guards around him.

The four immediately split up to search.

Liu An was so anxious that he kept wringing his hands.

"Second Master, this entire Peach Blossom Spring belongs to the Gu family; there shouldn't be anyone here..."

"Go find it!"

Xiao Ye's anger was evident, and everyone lowered their heads, not daring to speak again.

"Issue my imperial decree. The governor of Jiangzhou is to immediately mobilize troops to seal off all city gates. The Imperial Guards are to be dispatched to search for Peach Blossom Spring and the surrounding ten li!"

One of the guards received the order and disappeared into the night.

……

outside the city.

The abandoned City God Temple is overgrown with weeds and consists of crumbling walls.

Half of the roof of the west wing had collapsed, and moonlight leaked through the hole, shining on the broken tiles and dust on the ground.

Gu Mingli slowly opened his eyes, his head still spinning.

He was put over the head with a sack by a group of people, his mouth was gagged with rags, and his hands and feet were tied.

They were thrown onto a handcart and transported out.

My vision was blurry for a moment, and it took a few shakes to see my surroundings clearly.

A dilapidated temple, stone pillars, moonlight.

He was bound hand and foot to a wooden post, the ropes digging painfully into his wrists.

Gu Mingli moved his fingers; they could still move.

The good news is that it hasn't stopped.

The bad news is that it's tied quite securely.

He glanced to the side.

There was another person tied to his side.

The young man, in his early twenties, wore a wrinkled dark blue brocade robe, his hair was neatly combed, and his face was smeared with ash.

Gu Mingli stared at him for two seconds.

Pei Yu then coughed lightly and slowly opened his eyes.

He snapped out of his lethargic state and straightened his back.

She looked up at Gu Mingli.

Her eyes quickly welled up with tears, and her lips trembled slightly.

Her voice was soft and gentle, with just the right amount of choking.

"Young master... it's truly ironic that we've ended up in the same situation."

He turned his head, his wet eyes looking at Gu Mingli, his chin slightly raised.

The moonlight shone on his profile, casting a halo around it.

"May I ask your honorable name, sir? Where are you from? Has anyone from your family come looking for you?"

Gu Mingli looked at him speechlessly.

This guy is tied to a pillar, and he can still strike this pose?

Have you been making too many historical romance short dramas?

Professional actor.

Gu Mingli didn't respond at all.

He looked down at the knots in his clothes, then at the base of the pillar.

The wooden pillars were embedded in the ground at their base, and some of the floor tiles were loose, with a section of broken brick protruding from the gaps.

"Brother," Gu Mingli said.

Pei Yu perked up and quickly moved her pitiful face closer.

"Please speak, sir."

"Kick that brick under your foot over here for me."

Pei Yu was stunned.

"Why did you kick it over there?"

"Use it as a fulcrum between the rope and the pillar. When you push your wrist outwards, the rope loosens. It's the principle of a lever, you know?"

Pei Yu's tearful expression froze on her face.

"Argument, argue about what?"

"A lever. A stick placed on a fulcrum, one end is pressed down and the other end tilts up. Archimedes said, 'Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.'"

Pei Yu: "..."

Pei Yu's tears were still clinging to her eyelashes, and she was completely stunned.

Before he was kidnapped, he carefully prepared three sets of talking points:

"Hero Saves the Beauty" version, "Shared Misfortune" version, "Offering Oneself in Return" version.

In the end, none of them were used.

The "emperor" doesn't follow any set rules.

How are we supposed to talk today?!