The Empress’s Gigolo

On a vast and boundless grassland, countless fork-horned cows and jumping sheep were scattered all over with their heads lowered as they nibbled on the vegetation.

A series of hoofbeats could be heard as a line of mounted figures riding on fork-horned cows appeared at the fringe of the grassland. The leader, a bald and burly man, was sitting on his mount. His gaze was like a falcon’s as it scanned the entire grassland, pausing briefly at certain places.

“Have you found their trail?” a lady behind him asked.

“No,” the man replied with a deep voice before lowering his head to analyze the tracks on the ground. He then pointed in a direction and said, “They have gone in that direction. Pursue them!”

After that, the mounted party rode off with the wind like a bunch of dark clouds.

A long while later, a few of the fork-horned cows that were gathered together began to disperse in all directions. This subsequently revealed the two teenagers who were hiding among them.

“Let’s go!” The boy held the girl and quickly ran off in another direction. They eventually stopped after a while and immediately fell in the grass.

“I thought that we had been discovered just now.” The girl was around 18 years old and wore a shirt made out of soft fabric. Her clothes weren’t exactly eye-catching in Lan City, but they had attracted many people in other places. Clothes made from such fabric weren’t something that ordinary people could afford.

The girl didn’t look extremely beautiful, but she had a wild nature and a heroic spirit that was exclusive to aboriginal females. She looked a little terrified at the moment.

The boy had very short hair, a square face, thick eyebrows, and big eyes. He was wearing a set of dark colored clothes. He originally looked young and inexperienced, but after a few days of running away, he began to have a firm and persistent look on his face.

He didn’t reply after listening to what the girl said because he felt that they probably had already been discovered just now. The leader of the search team was one of the imperial bodyguards and was named Du Yong. He had always been privately keeping an eye on the boy and had probably pretended that he didn’t see him.

“I have let you down.” Du Laoliu sighed. The search team had already gotten close to them, and there was a very low chance that they could get away. At the moment, he felt that he wasn’t just resigned to fear, but also guilt for his partner.

If not for him, she wouldn’t have had to leave the comfortable life she had at home and wouldn’t have ended up running for her life now.

“I’m most willing to do this!” Shi Jiyue held his hand tightly and consoled him. The frightened look on her face immediately vanished; replacing it was determination.

Du Laoliu held her hands tightly and replied, “We will definitely escape.”

Regardless of whether it was for her or for himself, he definitely had to escape.

“Yes!” Shi Jiyue nodded. “How good it would be if we were just ordinary people. You wouldn’t be criticized due to your talent and I wouldn’t have to be forced into an arranged married. Leading an ordinary life like an ordinary person is something that people like us yearn for.”

Du Laoliu felt an ache in his heart when he heard this and held Shi Jiyue’s hand even tighter.

“Let’s go! We will reach the Nineteen Streams after one more day of traveling south. It will be hard for them to track us down once we get there.” After taking a short rest, Du Laoliu held her and stood up.

“Let’s go!”

After an entire day and night, both of them were drenched in sweat. They originally estimated they would reach the Nineteen Streams in 24 hours. However, after running into the search team, they had to change their route and were unable to reach their destination by the estimated time.

“Keep going! We are almost there.” Shi Jiyue dragged Du Laoliu as they climbed up a hill.

Du Laoliu was already exhausted by now and could only rely on Shi Jiyue, whose strength far exceeded his own, to drag him along.

“We are there… We are almost there…” Shi Jiyue gritted her teeth as she climbed up the hill. At this time, her body also started to tremble as she almost reached the state of burning out.

It had been exactly four days. They had been running for four days with practically no food over the last two days. They could only rely on eating the wild fruits along the way to allay their hunger, but this was far from meeting the needs of their bodies.

If not for the support given to her by the thought that they would be able to escape as long as they reached the not too distant Nineteen Streams, she also wouldn’t have been able to hold on any longer.

The duo’s clothes were torn, tattered, stained with mud, and looked sorrier compared to the day before.

After dragging Du Laoliu up to the peak of the hill, he immediately sprawled on the ground and breathed heavily. Shi Jiyue was barely standing and looked into the distance.

“Listen! There’s the sound of flowing water. We aren’t too far away from the Nineteen Streams—it’s just across this forest!” Shi Jiyue said joyously as she sat on the ground.

“I hear… I hear it… Our escape is about to succeed…” Du Laoliu was barely able to choke out these words amid his heavy panting.

“Unfortunately, you won’t be able to cross this forest…” A man walked out from the trees.

The couple’s facial expressions immediately changed.

After Du Laoliu struggled to stand up and looked at the person walking out of the forest, his face turned deathly pale.

“Father!”

“Hmph! Very well done!” that man said angrily.

“Father, let us go!” Du Laoliu struggled to kneel on the ground.

“Go? Go where? Where else can you go? If you could escape despite so many people tracking you down, I would respect you for that. However, how are you intending to hide this plan of yours? Currently, the Shi family has already prepared a trap at the river and are waiting for you to arrive. I have come to take you back and to at least save you from some embarrassment.” The man’s voice sounded rather resentful toward his son for failing to meet expectations.

…

Three days later, the haggard-looking Du Laoliu and Shi Jiyue were tied up and escorted back to Lan City on mounts.

The closer they got to Lan City, the more nervous the both of them felt.

When they arrived at the city gates of Lan City, Du Laoliu looked at the people standing outside the gates. He saw his mother, his good friend Xu Peng, a few students from the school, and the person that he hated the most, Tu Yu.

Tu Yu walked in front of Du Laoliu and Shi Jiyue. Initially, he looked deeply at her with a gaze that was complicated and hard to understand. There was admiration and also hatred.

“I used to like you a lot.” Tu Yu’s voice sounded very empty.

“I, however, have never liked you,” Shi Jiyue replied with a look of austerity.

An odd smile suddenly appeared on Tu Yu’s face as he said, “The marriage has already been decided. Even after such things happened, I will still marry you! Haha! Hahahahaha!”

His laughter was filled with frost.

He then turned to Du Laoliu and said softly, “Did you think that you could escape? Did you think that you could come out unscathed after trampling on the reputations of the Shi family and the Tu family? Do you know that I enjoy watching the way you guys struggle so hard? You are like bugs with their tails stepped on—so powerless. You worked so hard for nothing.”

“I want to challenge you to a duel! The winner can marry Shi Jiyue!” Du Laoliu suddenly roared at the top of his lungs. He was very clear that if nothing were to change, Shi Jiyue would definitely be forced to marry Tu Yu. However, even though Tu Yu used to adore Shi Jiyue, from his words just now, he would definitely take revenge on her.

Even if Du Laoliu had to die, he couldn’t allow Shi Jiyue to marry Tu Yu.

“You trash! What a disgrace!” the man sitting on his mount immediately scolded him with an angry look on his face after he heard Du Laoliu’s voice. However, he didn’t stop Du Laoliu.

“Our marriage has already been set…” Tu Yu let out a smile. “Regardless of whether I accept the duel, Shi Jiyue is bound to marry me! What right do you have to challenge me to a duel? Do you have what it takes? You are just a useless person. Even the person you like has already been betrothed to me. You have nothing!”

Soon after, Tu Yu’s tone started to change as he continued, “Merely a useless Four-way Heaven person, yet you want to challenge me, a Kismet Heaven warrior… I have no reason not to accept! I will be kind enough to give you a chance, and at the same time, I can witness how you try to struggle and fail after being trampled in the mud—how you can only detest yourself for being so helpless. This will make me very happy! Haha! Hahahaha!”