Chapter 261: No One is Allowed to Disturb
Thinking that Xingnong was also participating, the Grand Commander nodded: “Compete well. Since you’re the captain, you need to take care of your teammates. Teamwork is essential in team competitions, so listen to your teammates’ opinions.”
Zhang Ruohua thought Chu Yuehou was encouraging her and said happily, “I will!”
She was happy not only because she was the captain but also because she could go to Jin Kingdom with the Crown Prince.
It was a pleasant surprise that the Crown Prince would personally lead the team for this formation master competition.
The journey to Jin Kingdom would take more than a month, and she was confident that she could develop feelings with the Crown Prince during this time.
Zhang Ruohua was not qualified to attend the palace banquet, but she still heard that the Crown Prince had promised at the banquet to only marry the Crown Princess for the rest of his life. She believed that this was a compromise he made under the threat of the Jin Kingdom Emperor.
A lifetime was too long. Which ruler could truly only marry one person for a lifetime?
Once the Crown Prince ascended the throne and Chu Kingdom became more powerful than Jin Kingdom, he wouldn’t need to worry about that promise anymore.
The Grand Commander was unaware of her thoughts. He had something on his mind, so after a couple of perfunctory responses, he strode back to his room, called Chang Ding to give him some instructions, and then rode out of the city overnight.
~
The next day, before dawn, Zhang Ruohua packed her luggage and boarded a carriage, heading towards the city gate for the assembly.
She had brought a lot of things, so she arranged two carriages, one for her luggage and one for herself.
She thought that she could invite the Crown Prince to her carriage on the pretext of asking him about formations.
Zhang Ruohua arrived at the city gate with a smile on her face.
Outside the city gate, mule carts were neatly lined up on one side of the road, not hindering the movement of the common people.
The mule carts were loaded with one exquisite carved wooden chest after another, each tied with a large red flower.
Imposing soldiers stood guard beside the mule carts, holding red-tasseled spears.
Zhang Ruohua’s expression stiffened in the carriage. She immediately understood what this was!
This was the betrothal gift!
The mule carts formed a long line, seemingly endless!
The surrounding people looked on curiously, and some even started counting.
Everyone was discussing: “Is this the betrothal gift for the Crown Prince’s wedding? There are so many!”
“How many betrothal gifts are there? It feels endless!”
“Did the Crown Prince empty the national treasury?”
Chu Tiankuo sat in the carriage, helping Xingnong review the formations she had designed. He was so focused that the noises outside couldn’t distract him at all.
Only when Bai Hua reported that all the participating formation masters had arrived did Chu Tiankuo reply without looking up, “Let’s go!”
Then Bai Hua took the driver’s seat and led the way!
After traveling by land for a day, they boarded a ship before nightfall.
After boarding the ship, Zhang Ruohua let out a sigh of relief in her room!
Chu Tiankuo had been staying in the carriage the whole way, and Zhang Ruohua had no chance to discuss formations with him.
But it would be different on the ship!
They would be on the ship for several days, and she could visit his room every day to ask him about formations!
She would have a good sleep tonight and be full of energy to ask the Crown Prince for guidance tomorrow in her best appearance.
~
On the other side, after boarding the ship, Chu Tiankuo stayed in his room and had Bai Hua guard the door. Unless he went out or called for someone, no one was allowed to disturb him.
On the way, Chu Tiankuo had asked Bai Hua to collect the formation designs of the young formation masters. Bai Hua thought he wanted to study those formations in peace, so he dutifully guarded the door.
Then Chu Tiankuo entered the space to meet Xingnong.
As soon as Xingnong appeared in the space, she saw the formation designs on the table.
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She sat down: “Are these the formations designed by those formation masters for the competition?”
After three days in the carriage, her buttocks were sore. As soon as Xingnong sat down, she felt uncomfortable and took another soft cushion from the side, sitting on two cushions stacked together.
Seeing this, Chu Tiankuo asked, “Are you tired?”
Xingnong nodded while looking at the formation diagrams: “My back and waist ache!”
It was probably because her period was about to start.
Chu Tiankuo was skilled in medicine, so he said, “I’ll massage some acupoints for you, and you won’t feel the pain anymore.”
Thinking he was going to give her a massage, Xingnong immediately stood up and lay down on the bed, patting her lower back and gesturing: “Okay, then massage me!”
Without any massage experience, she naturally thought that massages were done lying down, so Xingnong very consciously lay down.
Chu Tiankuo: “…”
Actually, she didn’t need to lie on the bed.
He just needed to press a few acupoints on her shoulders and back.
But he didn’t say anything and walked over silently.
Chu Tiankuo started massaging her and taught her to identify the acupoints.
Madam Gu’s old bones were also aching from the journey. Xingnong thought that if she learned this, she could massage her grandmother, so she listened attentively at first. But it was too comfortable, and she fell asleep in less than fifteen minutes!
Seeing her asleep, Chu Tiankuo stopped the massage. He thought it would be uncomfortable for her to sleep on her stomach and wanted to turn her over, but he was afraid of waking her up. In the end, he didn’t move her and decided to let her sleep for a while.
He sat beside her, looking at her sleeping face. A few strands of hair fell on her forehead, and he reached out, gently brushing them away.
His hand touched her smooth and delicate skin, and he couldn’t help but move it away, gently touching it with the back of his hand. Worried about waking her up, he quickly retracted his hand and just squatted by the bed, watching her.
The girl’s long, raven-like eyelashes curled slightly upwards, her small nose was delicate, and her rosy lips were slightly parted. He looked at her, and couldn’t resist kissing her gently.
Xingnong wasn’t sleeping deeply. As his breath approached and his lips touched hers, she woke up. She reached out, wrapping her arms around his neck and deepening the kiss.
After an unknown amount of time, Chu Tiankuo reluctantly stopped. If he didn’t stop now, he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to stop at all.
Both of them were slightly breathless. After calming down a bit, Chu Tiankuo said, “Are you sleepy? Let’s sleep early tonight?”
Xingnong shook her head and sat up: “I’m not sleepy. It’s just that your massage was too comfortable. Let me look at the formation designs.”
The two of them stayed in the space, studying the formations designed by the other formation masters all night, and then together, they gave their suggestions for modifications.
It was almost dawn when Xingnong left the space and continued on their journey.
Fortunately, she could catch up on sleep during the journey, so she didn’t have to worry about lack of sleep.
Chu Tiankuo had been busy preparing the betrothal gifts for the past few nights. He had carefully selected each item, all of them extremely rare and valuable. He hadn’t slept much for several nights in a row, and last night, he had spent the whole night discussing those brain-taxing formations with Xingnong. He planned to use today to catch up on sleep. So, the next day, when Zhang Ruohua woke up and carefully dressed herself to find Chu Tiankuo, she was stopped by Bai Hua at the door.
Then, in the afternoon, Chu Tiankuo invited each formation master to his room one by one. Zhang Ruohua waited patiently until nightfall. All the formation masters had left except for her!
Looking at the dark night, Zhang Ruohua’s heart leaped with joy, waiting to be invited by Bai Hua.
However, after waiting for a long time, there was no news. She went to ask and was told: “My master has ordered that no one is allowed to disturb him!”
Zhang Ruohua: “…”
